Saturday, July 7, 2007

Twelve Step Program


Twelve Summits

1) Elevation
2) Heat
3) Long Down Hill
4) Hydration
5) Nutrition
6) Energy Conservation
7) Distance
8) Long Grunts
9) Course Navigation
10) Falls
11) Running Buddies
12) Hostile Vegetation (stinging nettles, black berry vines, devil’s club)

This mornings run started with a 4:30AM alarm clock followed by rushed final preparation, breakfast, and then picking Steve and his Dad Bob up at 5:30AM. Our purpose was to meet up with Rob, Luis, and tc for a 34 mile Twelve Summits training run on Tiger Mt. On our way up to Tiger we stopped and did a water/food drop at the halfway point of our run off of Hobart Rd.

We got to the trail head precisely at 6:30 and Rob, Luis, and tc were all ready to start running. It took me a few min. to put my gators and running shoes on, fill my hydration bladder and my hand carries. My first forgotten item that I discovered was that I forgot the fabric handles for my water bottles at home. tc gave me a ration about just carrying the bottles w/o the handles and since I really did not have any other choice so that’s what I did. Turned out not to be a problem at all. Steve did loan me one spare he had at the halfway point and it made things a bit easier.

Bob chose to do some local hiking while we did our run. He ended up running to Preston which was about a 6 mile round trip. He picked up some really good delli sandwiches for Steve and I when we came in from the run. Rob and Luis are both running the Seafair Marathon tomorrow so they elected to go out 5 miles with us and turn around. That got them Six Summits and probably some sore legs for the first few miles of the marathon.

The weather was beautiful and the run went well for tc, Steve and I. All of us had one good fall and roll during the run. I was the first to crash in a flat easy section where I had let my guard down and was just sort of running on auto pilot. The rock that tripped me reached out and Tanya Harding’ed my ass. I crashed with a somewhat controlled roll on the ground leaving water bottles, sunglasses, and my hat strewn along the trail. When Steve caught up to me I was just picking myself up off the ground and started to gather my gear. tc came up to the scene and was surprised to hear that I had crashed because he didn’t see me fall. Steve used the words so often used by my old HS Football coach “walk it off”. I decided to run it off instead and continued my forward motion.

Steve was the next one to take a tumble. tc was about six feet behind Steve as we ran a narrow single track with a high bank to the left and about an 8 foot drop to the right. tc saw Steve’s foot hit a large rock and knew that Steve was not going to be able to recover. Fortunately Steve fell to the left and augured his shoulder into rich deep topsoil then rolled to his feet. He left a nice divot in the dirt, that he refused to replace, and we moved on.

tc had the most spectacular “NASCAR” like crash of the day. We were running down the trail from Tiger 3 on the “highway”. The trail was fairly steep at the time with a surface of sharp chunky rocks the size of walnuts. I was behind tc when I saw his left foot slip out to the side and down he went. He rolled about two and a half times like a log rolling downhill on top of those special little walnut sized rocks. Other than a small elbow scrape and a bunch of dirt all over him he came out of the crash unscathed. I’m sure that since I mentioned NASCAR you expected him to somehow burst into flames when he crashed but that hardly ever happens to Ultra runners.

Steve ran strong considering this was his first long run in a while. That’s my fault for not making it to him at WS for him to fulfill his pacing duties. He’s going to get another chance to pace me at Cascade Crest.

tc ran very strong and even charged up some of the hills Steve and I were hiking up. Very impressive running considering he finished WS 100 just two weeks ago. Steve and I really appreciated tc hosting this run. It took us 8:04 to complete the 34 mile run with 10,500 feet of climbing along the way. This was a mojo run and I've got it!

I think I’m actually experienced enough to run 12 Summits on my own now. Between my two runs with the Sherpa tc and my one run with Chris and Monty Fagan I’ve finally learned the course.

19 comments:

Jenny, Maniac #401 said...

You've been waiting a while to use that Tanya Harding line, huh! You used it well. I hope it wasn't too hot for your run. Sounds like you gents had a great time. Can't wait to be hope and run again!
Jenny

shawn said...

Impressive run. From the description of your fall, if I didn't know any better I would have thought you were skiing when you did a "yard sale" all over the trail. I'm glad that no one got hurt on those falls and that no one burst into flames - I hate it when that happens. Will your next big run be White River?

Spokane Al said...

I need to learn to fall like you. I tend to just splay forward and hit the ground with all the force I can muster. You method seems much better and a bit less painless.

Olga said...

That's a really awesome time! I've never been to 12 summits trail but judging by elevation gain and miles it's something that would have taken me at least 9. And I would be surely walking uphills with you:) just please don't fall, I don't like it after yesterday.

Unknown said...

Definitely a good confidence builder. Lots of miles during the week with a few more long runs and you'll be ready to go for CCC. If you really want to prepare though how about a 12 summits with no food and water until the turn around? That would be high on the suffer factor scale.

Sarah said...

You know us NASCAR...err.. ultra fans...we just want to see the crash and burn! ; ) : ) But glad there wasn't any burn this time, although it sounds like you were smokin'! Nice run! : )

Wes said...

34 miles is crazy :-) Tonya Harding is hilarious!! Nice run!!!

Phil said...

Great run! What is the world record for rolls following a fall? I'd have broken something after the first rotation. Inspirational.

Bruce said...

LOts of thrills & spills there. Sounds likes a great time was had!

Thomas said...

It's the thought of all those falls and bruises that stops me from complaining about the lack of trails around here.

Anonymous said...

Wow - who knew Tonya Harding would make a comeback? ;) Sounds like quite the run. If you do it alone, please take your cell or something in case T.H. does more damage to you next time. (I just finished reading Between a Rock and a Hard Place - that really makes you think about being out alone!)

Looking forward to meeting you guys this weekend! I'm going to have to pass on wearing a sombrero. I think I'll recognize you guys from your pictures. I'll be in a silver Grand Caravan. We are "Hoof-Hearted." I'll be wearing blue - I know, it's not very helpful, but I don't have a sombrero. ;)

Tony C said...

I agree with Rob ... you need something tougher. How about a double crossing? Yeah that's right, 24 summits. You wanted to do a night run ... here's your opportunity. Just get a few guys to do 6 each to keep you company and on course.

OK, it's settled then. Let me know how it works out ;-)

p.s. - I was just kidding but just made myself excited thinking about doing it myself ... hmmmm!

p.s.s - make it 3 times. The Tiger Mt 100! Now that's just sick.

*tc

Journey to a Centum said...

I'm liking the sound of a Tiger Mt. 100K+ with the night run option! That would be 21,000 feet of elevation gain! Hmmmm that sounds familiar. Start the first 34 miles at say 12:00 Midnight on a Friday/Sat and meet up with another pacer at 8:30AM for the second half. I think I'd need to eat some to keep my energy levels up for those last few peaks and to keep the sufferage to a minimum.

Does this sound like fun or what? *tc you are brilliant!!!... and crazy!

- Nothing good or great can be done in the absense of enthusiasm.

shawn said...

Hey, I'm new here, but heard you all were planning some sort of 100k++ on Tiger Mtn? Please add me to your distribution list for updates on your run.

Sincerely,
Shawnonymous :)

(You said you wanted to get in some miles Eric - c'mon, don't back down from this!)

Randy - Maniac #788 said...

Sounds like a great run....that is alot of climbing for 34 miles it seems...I'm sure there were sore muscles later.

King Arthur said...

24 Summits! I'm down for that.

Anonymous said...

OK, I see how this is going to be. . . you're trying to start something, aren't you? Trash-talking already! :)

We will have our team name on our van windows. You should be able to pick out the van - when it blows past you. ;)

Tony C said...

What the heck have I started?

Anonymous said...

I like how your blog entry about this run was focused upon each runner's falling events and gradiose descriptions of each of them.

Nice job, though, on gettin' 'er dun'!

Meghan
www.running-blogs.com/meghan