Category: ultra marathon

One in the bank…

…one of many children… ~ Jane’s Addiction

Hit the Basin up this morning for the kick-off for the ’09-’10 ski season. I was a little rusty on the first run for sure and my new liners, courtesy of Larry’s Bootfitting, will take some getting used to (yes, they are STIFF), but otherwise, it was a good first outing.

Luke and I didn’t last very long – not due to any physical, out of shape-ness – but due to the ever building crowd of snow sliders flocking to one of only two mountains open for business. We made about 6 runs before calling it a day and Exo was actually spinning at a much faster tempo than normal. Our final foray into the maze was a 15-minute affair… only an hour or so after catching first chair. Alan is promising more terrain will open soon and with Keystone set to turn next week, the crowds should thin a bit.

I hit the gym on the way home to log some time on the treadmill and do a few surges. Temps climbed today which resulted in a squishy mess on local roads and trails. I definitely would love to get a treadmill at some point. Plop in a movie and bust out 15 miles. Sounds like a great combo to me.

Tomorrow is the date for the annual New York Marathon. This one is definitely on my list of “must-dos” as it is not only enormous but would be really cool to run through all five boroughs. Fred Lebow started the event back in the early 70s (if memory serves). There is a pretty good movie that goes into a lot of interesting detail about the event: Run For Your Life. The New York Times published an article recently about a man who created his own NYC marathon by walking around his block 75 times. I like DIY.

Tomorrow I have a long run on the schedule. Definitely not “planned” yet as I have no clue where it will be but probably will end up somewhere in Boulder. Unless you have other ideas…

~stubert.

Pace Chase…

I didn’t feel so bad ’til the sun went down. ~ The White Stripes

Headed out to the Res around dusk to run with Chase during his 24-Hours of Boulder effort. I just missed him when I arrived so got to spend some time with his lovely wife, “Saralee” while we waited for him to come back around. It was a beautiful night without a cloud in the sky. Perfect weather for a run.

Chase’s other crew member, Duane, had headed out “just to the top of the hill” and ended up doing a full lap. Nice work off the couch, Duane! I took over pacing once they returned to base camp and we headed out across the dam for the first of two laps (for me).

The course is an out/back that starts on pavement by the main Res center, runs east past the boat dock, across the dam then back west across the spillway and up to the north-side trailhead where it turns around at the second aid station (adorned last night with many great jack-o-lanterns) and heads back. Pretty cool in that you get to see the front-runners hauling ass on what is really a very flat, fast course. Chase was spinning great splits during my stint as pacer and we alternated running/walking for 3.5 hours or so.

I hung up my shoes after 2 full laps (15+ miles), defrosted my thoroughly dysfunctional hands (why I didn’t wear my gloves is beyond me) and headed home. Chase had completed 9 laps (64+ miles) when I left. He was gunning for a full 100 miles and was still on track at midnight. Hoping to hear more later today and I’ll post information when I get it.

All in all, it was fun to get out for a nighttime run with a bunch of other lunatics. If you have never taken some part in a 24-hour, lap-style event, you should give it a whirl sometime: as spectator, crew, pacer, team member or solo runner. They are a lot more spectator-friendly than traditional ultra events for sure.

~stubert.

UPDATE: Just got word that Chase did 12 laps, 85.7 miles total. Hung it up at about 6:00 this morning after 21 hours. Had visible bruises on the soles of his feet – Yikes! Nice job, Chase. That is a proud effort, rolling all but about 22 miles of that solo.

Run, rest, repeat…

…and proud we are of all of them. ~ Maude Lebowski

Killer week on the trails. Missed out on a run on Saturday due to some water turning from liquid to solid in the old house pipes but managed to get that all fixed up in time to get in a great run on Sunday. Rach and I did get to go see Tosca which was simulcast from The Met. These events are just awesome. Definitely go see one if you can.

Sunday, I just spun around the neighborhood trails for two and a half hours. Snow flurries kept me company throughout and it turned out to be a great run. Finished it off with about 15 minutes of “barefoot” running in the Vibram FiveFingers KSOs and I must say, I really like these puppies. They do really poorly in the snow but otherwise are quite kickass.

Took Monday off then hit the Casa Trails again on Tuesday for a quick warm up then a series of 45 second to 1 minute surges. Really felt great. Working on a lot of new tricks after spending time with Janet Runyan and Matt Nasta last week. They are hosting a workshop on the 24th in Boulder. Anyone seeking to get some great gait analysis and mechanics assessment should definitely check it out. Worked on relaxing from my head down with particular focus on my feet, neck and arm swing. Feels great.

Wednesday, I hit the Betasso trails for some tempo work. My warm up was mellow but resulted in a PR for the loop then I kicked it into high gear for 40+ minutes. Betasso is a challenging loop somehow. Just steep enough to put the ouch on a person without a lot of flat terrain on which to coast. I felt a little hammered after the run and headed down to Boulder for the last night of jury selection for this year’s Adventure Film Festival. Mark the calendar (November 12-14), it is going to be a good one.

Tonight’s run can only be described as “effortless”. Took the KSOs out again for the duration of the run and just did a fun little Popsicle loop out my back door. (Well, front door, we don’t really have a back door at my house.) Just felt amazing. One has to be a bit careful with foot placement while running on trails with the FiveFingers but everything just feels right. Posture, stride length… everything seems really put together. One tends to run a lot “lighter” with these anti-shoes and I definitely could feel the difference. Part of the run was on fairly hardpacked dirt which definitely took a little getting used to and I don’t think I will be replacing my regular shoes anytime soon but I do plan to make “barefooting” part of my regular regimen.

So all in all, I am feeling rather awesome when it comes to getting my run on. And just in time for winter! This weekend should be a blast as I am pacing an online friend at the 24-Hours of Boulder race. Only know him through his blog and a few emails/messages back and forth. Should be fun. If you have time, spin out to the Res on Saturday after 9:00 to cheer on all the ultra runners. I’ll be there after dark if that works better for you.

I’ll let you know how that goes.

~stubert.

Well that was satisfying…

I haven’t felt that good since Archie Gemmill scored against Holland in 1978! ~ Mark “Rent-boy” Renton

Two good runs in a row. That must be some sort of record.

Yesterday I got out early which was, I must admit, highly refreshing. Morning in the mountains is just different somehow. Anywhere, really. Things are more calm, collected. The quiet envelops you. And you can just settle into what you are doing without distractions found the rest of the day.

I headed out for a quick warm up on trails followed by several surges. I must admit, my abs have been bothersome of late but not so much that I can’t enjoy myself and I have managed to finally get a tentative grip on running relaxed. By the time I hit the pavement for my first of 4 surges, I still felt fresh, fast. I spun nearly 5 miles in 40 minutes total with a good warm up and cool down. Pretty happy with that.

Today I headed out for my “long” run. The target was 1:20 and how I got there was really up to me. I selected one of my favorite routes with lots of hills and technical trails and told myself I would be happy if I ended up with 7 miles at the end of it all. I ran down the Beav then up into the forest that makes up what I like to call “the Triangle”. This area represents part of the Roosevelt National Forest broken up by South Boulder Creek, Highway 119 and South Beaver Creek Road and is home to some of my favorite local trails – a couple of which I created. After climbing up Creekwood and heading out Judges, I dropped down Little Hope to Ski Thing and then climbed back up to Funky Boss via Sofa Spring. From there, I headed back up to Diver Down and then finished up by reversing my normal route on the Casa Trails and back home. Felt really great for most of the run with a couple of places I power hiked and went way anaerobic on one of the climbs before saying “screw this” and hiking. I have run everything on this route at one time or another but some sections are STEEP and I am working on hiking big ups but hammering the downs. In any event, I finished up with 8 miles in 1:20 on the nose for an average of 10-minute miles. VERY happy with that result.

I also made some progress on the shed over the weekend and just need to get a few more things in order to finish it up. Qwest comes tomorrow morning to fix our phone line and install a new modem for the office so that should make working in the studio a lot better and I have a meeting in Idaho Springs in the afternoon which should be productive. Rach hits the shelter on Monday so I’ll be taking care of the critters at home while she is away as well. She has been staying down there Monday nights to give Nancy a break… which is just awesome of her.

I tuned into the Leadville 100 mountain bike race on Saturday as well and wish to congratulate Lance Armstrong on his record-breaking win. I was pulling for Dave Wiens but an in-shape Lance is a tough cookie to break. Dave took second (reversed the order from last year) and it sounded like an exciting race. I am looking forward to heading up next weekend to check out some of the run and hope to be back in there next year!

Also, if you have seen a shoe, Cort’s was stolen last night by a fox so keep your eyes open for a stinky, fox-chewed Merrill clog-type thing. Not sure if we are looking for a left or a right but if you see something, let me know.

~stubert.

Run all night? Sign me up…

Ding a ding dang my dang a long ling long ~ Ministry

Run, work, hammer, repeat. Sounds pretty sweet, actually. I have been getting out regularly and feeling okay albeit a little out of shape. That is to be expected, however, given my standards are all messed up. Running marathons last fall made me feel that anything over an 8-minute pace is slow. And running ultras has made me feel that anything under, oh… 13 miles is short. So yeah, I’m all screwed up. But you knew that already.

I have also been building a shed at our house and have actually somewhat enjoyed the process thus far. I also have learned that I should not quit my day job. I have the floor all framed up and covered and it is actually mostly straight so… go figure. I am considering it a success thus far and plan to raise the walls next week. I’ll keep you posted.

Today’s run featured some trails, hills and a lot of sunshine plus 10 minutes of tempo work during which I went out way too fast and blew up a little towards the end. I believe that after I banish doubt, I will start working on accepting being humbled. And that is okay.

I also joined up with a team doing the Wild West Relay this weekend (well, Friday and Saturday). It is a 200-mile relay run starting in Fort Collins, jamming up through Wyoming and back down to Steamboat. All in about 24-30 hours. My shifts come around 3:00 on Friday then around 3:00 Saturday morning and again around noon. This will be my first foray into the team event action. Should be fun (or at least interesting). I plan on putting my well-crafted ability to sleep anywhere to the test and will apologize in advance for any grumpiness I may exude while being rousted for my shifts. Photos of me with Cheetos on my face to come…

Aaaaand Rach has been working her ass off at the shelter and taking care of Georgia, who is a special needs bunny. Georgia is doing really well under Rach’s care and just loves giving kisses and eating piles of greens. Good stuff.

~stubert.