Category: Ultra running

Spectating is hard…

Sometimes you eat the bar, and sometimes, well, he eats you. ~ The Stranger

Headed up to the LT100 on Saturday to do some spectating intervals. Needless to say, that was a bit more difficult than I thought it would be and I ended up dropping out after Tony came back through Twin Lakes (mile 60). I feel pretty good about the effort, however. It was quite warm, I was on the dirt bike and I managed to get a little run in there somewhere. I have to give a special shout out to my Patagonia Nano Puff Pullover for keeping me from freezing on my way to the race. Funny how cold it is at 6:00 in the morning on a motorcycle.

I was really pulling for Anton to win the thing in record style and thought he was still looking solid in Twin Lakes. He ended up dropping out at Fish Hatchery (about mile 75) due to severe cramping and intestinal issues. Read all about it here. Tim Parr took the reigns and finished up strongly with an overall time of 17:27:23. Way to go, Tim! Lynette Clemons took the women’s title in 20:58:01 and I even ran with her briefly as she left Twin Lakes and I was trying to get some real training in.

So I jammed back to the Front Range and Rach and I went to see Ponyo, Hayao Miyazaki’s latest film. As usual, he delivers the goods and it was fun to see in a theater full of munchkins.

Sunday, I went out for what is supposed to be my long, slow run but I turned it into a medium, fast run. Go figure. I was feeling super awesome so just thought I’d see how much I could turn on the heat. Ended up spinning 9.6 miles in 1:26. Good stuff.

Waiting for a break in the weather now to get in a short run with some speedwork then I’ll try to get the shed roof dried in. Should be a productive afternoon.

~stubert.

And the trend continues…

What am I supposed to do? Just sit on my ass and watch TV? That ain’t my style, man. ~ Homer Simpson

Missed my run on Tuesday due to extended work wackiness but did make it out on Wednesday for a great run in the woods with some tempo thrown in for good measure. 7.3 in 1:10 on technical trails with 15 minutes of tempo really satisfied.

Thursday I did a short recovery run and today I worked and hammered some nails. The shed is really taking shape and I expect to have the roof on in the next few days. Good stuff.

I am heading up to Pbville tomorrow to spectate and get in a little run somewhere on the course if possible. Hoping to see Tony Krupicka crush the course record. Sounds like he is flying right now.

I’ll try to post from the race.

~stubert.

Wild West Relay race report…

Bright and early is a half-truth. ~ me

Getting back on the racing train was great. I had been missing the camaraderie of running with others and the Wild West Relay was just the ticket.

I managed to climb in the sack Thursday night around 9 so actually got in a decent number of cuts before the alarm started blaring at 2:30. It was early but not very bright when I rolled out to meet the rest of the team in Denver for a short van ride up to Ft. Collins. The race started at the Budweiser plant (can’t think of a better place from which to run away) and we met the remainder of the team at the start line. I was batting clean-up in van #2 so I would have to wait a LONG time before hitting the road for my first leg.

Teams consisted of 12 people who took turn running individual sections of the 197-mile course from Ft. Collins to Steamboat. Legs ranged in distance from about 2.5 miles to almost 8 and we competed in the Masters category which meant that we each had to run our respective sections in order. We started at 6:40am and since van 2 wouldn’t have to start our first leg for several hours, we grabbed some food then made our way to the first van exchange point – a school somewhere in the middle of nowhere, Northern Colorado.

We hung out, got organized, chatted with other teams and waited quite awhile for the first runners to arrive. By the time Tom, our team runner, arrived, it was quite toasty. Sammie took our van’s first shift and ran well despite the conditions. By the time I was up for my 2.5 mile jaunt, it was scorching out. I just put the hammer down so that I could get this bake-fest over as quickly as possible and finished in 19 minutes or so.

Then the waiting started once again as van #1 took over the running duties.

We drove back roads to the second van exchange and did our best to get some sleep during our break. We hung out in a campground for several hours until our teammates rolled in around 11:30pm when once again, we were on duty.

We took turns sleeping and running and my second leg started around 4:45am Saturday morning. I love night running and felt awesome during my 5.5-mile section of highway running. Competitors were spread out along the route before me and were just small dots of blinking red lights in the distance. I ran smoothly and managed to pass 6 other runners and finished in Walden with an average pace of 7:50-minute miles. Not too shabby.

The cycle repeated itself and we ended up in a field near the foot of Rabbit Ears pass. I immediately plopped down in my bivy sack and crashed out for a couple of hours until it got too warm to sleep any more. Some time thereafter the other van showed up, followed closely by their last runner and we were off again for our final sections. Up and over Rabbit Ears then I took over the final leg through the town of Steamboat and on to the finish line. 5-miles in 40 minutes (with a couple of delays where I got slightly off course and stuck at a traffic light). Not too shabby. Overall time: 32:25, average pace: right around 10-minute miles. Good times.

Thanks to Kathy, Paul, Sue, Lauri, Merlin, Tom, Lynn, Joel, Dave, Sammie and Frank for including me on the team, to Kevin and Drew for volunteering and giving me a ride back to my car on Saturday and to Rach for putting up with all my crap all the time and baking awesome treats for me and the team. Hopefully more fun times to come.

~stubert.

Tiger and Tony are safe…

I’m back, baby. ~ Bender

Running is fun. I know that 96.2% of the population would beg to differ with that statement but when you couple the simplicity of the sport (really, what is more natural for a human?) with the interaction with nature and add the pure rush of it all – running really kicks ass. There, I said it and I feel better for having said it.

People ask me from time to time, “Don’t you get bored?” The answer, for me, is “absolutely not.” Sure, I have some runs that are better than others but I have learned that there really is no such thing as a bad run. I always learn something new and experience the thrill of being outside, enjoying the world around me. When one really gets in the zone, the miles just tic off. Truly a feeling to experience at least once in your life.

So lately, I have throttled down my mileage and so far, this has been a positive move. Sure, I’d like to be able to run longer and look wistfully to the high mountains that surround my home – wishing I could be running among the wildflowers in the thin air of Colorado’s highest peaks. Driving through Leadville on my journey to Gunnison earlier this week, I definitely felt the pang of sadness that this year will not mark my return to that great event. But that is what next year is for. My focus now is to get healthy. So far, so good.

Since getting stabbed two weeks ago, I have kept the mileage low – upping the tempo a bit – and have increased my mileage to runs of 4+ miles. Today, I’ll spin 4.5 and then continue to slowly build back to my “normal” distances. Taking things very slowly right now in order to ensure that I can run pain-free for years to come. Short term sacrifices for long-term gains. Sometimes a tough pill to swallow but definitely the plan I’ll follow.

It’s all about the big picture. And I can see it.

~stubert.

[ed.] – Also, I still suck at golf.

[ed. ed.] – Two items of clarification:

1) I didn’t get stabbed in the prison-yard, Irish pub sense of the word, but by a qualified physician… in the Prison Yard Irish Pub. (If that doesn’t exist, you can’t have it. I thought of it first.)

2) That last sentence of the final paragraph rhymes! That wasn’t even on purpose but you can have that one free of charge. My next post will be entirely written in iambic pentameter.

Long term gains…

Aaargh! My groin! ~ George C. Scott

Tuesday adventures at BCH… or Boulder Surgery Center… whatever.
Honestly, it wasn’t as bad as I expected but less pain than, “Whoa that is a weird way for my body to feel,” sorta gig. I jammed down to Boulder for my pre-op at 10:00. Checked in at the front desk. Paid my deductible to the Front Desk Lady who sounded as if she was from Ireland, Scotland maybe, and sat down very briefly to read Wally Lamb’s latest, The Hour I First Believed. So far quite good. Mr. Lamb is a very talented writer and not shy to take on tough subjects.
Then the super-friendly nurse parade began with a whole series of very nice staff who took all my vitals and asked me a bunch of questions and made sure I was all comfy and whatnot. My doc, Sonja Stilp, came out to say “hi’ and walk me through the procedure and let me know I was up next. Then they took me to the xray room and it was game on.
I am certain people exist who don’t get a little nervous at the docs and I definitely am not among that select group. Never really have been – which makes it amusing that I once wanted to do the whole doctor thing. Perhaps that was a career well-avoided. Anyway, I plopped down on a table and I got hooked up to things again (EKG, HRM, BP), got some instructions and talked with the staff about the procedure and how all the stuff worked. Very friendly group of people who seemed to be as interested in my procedure as I. That is a good feeling to have when someone is going to work a needle down into your pubic symphasis.

Now one would think having a hot PA yanking down your pants would be kinda sexy but well… it wasn’t. Not with the threat of stabbings looming in the not too distant future. They got me all situated, instructed me to use my words instead of pointing or attempting to assist and fired up the x-ray machine. Dr. Stilp gave me a shot or two of numbing stuff which truly was the most “painful” part of the whole endeavor. The rest was just more of a “that isn’t right” sort of sensation as she guided what looked like a pretty big needle (on the x-ray, at least) into my bod. At one point she told me I would “feel some pressure” and man, that was not pleasant. Just a really odd feeling that made me inhale deeply. Then another when she injected the medicine.

Then they cleaned me up, took me to recovery and I spent the rest of the day with an ice-pack in my lap. Really not too big of a deal. The awesome treatment I received from the staff made it a lot better.

They really keep things rolling there and had another patient in and out within 10 minutes of my leaving the post-op area. Kinda cool to see efficiency at work.

So I can start running again on Saturday but have to sit on my ass until then. I may do a little work around the house but won’t be getting out for structured exercise until the weekend. Maybe another movie is in my future.

So that is what it is like to get osteitis pubis treated. Now you know and if G.I. Joe is to be believed, that is half the battle. (Though I have always thought that line was malarkey.)

~stubert.