Journey to a Centum

Greenwater Lake Run / Norse Peak Wilderness

2010-03-10T18:52:00.000-08:00

Nothing like a 12.5 mile Tuesday morning trail run up in the Norse Peak Wilderness near Mt. Rainier to clear ones head. Steve Stoyles and I headed up Hwy 410 to the town of Greenwater then drove 9 miles of forest service roads to the Greenwater trail head. When we arrived it was a crisp 27 degrees F with sunshine beaming down on us.

The parking lot was at the cusp of the snow line so there was a dusting of snow on the trail at the start of our run. Thanks to Steve for providing the pictures for this posting. I have not replaced the camera I broke a couple of months back and it's impacting my blog posts. We wanted to make it the entire 7 miles up to Echo Lake but decided to turn back just .3 miles away due to deep snow, slippery ice, and painful stove piping. Steve managed to entertain me with a very quick fall on a nice snow covered ice patch. Somehow even though he was the one who fell I ended up being the one bleeding from the sharp ice crust when we were stove piping.

Training is going well for WS100 with 6 Ultras run so far this year. Five of the events were 50K's and one was a 6 Hour event where Steve and I managed to run 38 miles. We have also been able to sneak away for some nice long mid-week trail runs and a PR run of the 12 Summits course that is about 32 miles with 10,500 feet of climbing.

Run Happy my Friends!

Pigtails 50K 2010

2010-01-24T20:05:00.000-08:00

Training is going well with this weekends run of the Pigtails 50K in 4:47. I was surprised to find that this is my second fastest 50K. Steve Stoyles and I ran strong on the hilly but runnable course. After three 9.6 mile loops of Lake Youngs we felt strong on the 2.2 mile out and back. Not bad for a couple of guys with a combined 106 years of life experience.

Ran a 5:31 50K at the Capitol Peak Mega Fat Ass last weekend and a 6:37 50K at the Western Washington Fat as on Tiger Mt. on Jan 2. Special thanks to Michelle my lovely wife for allowing me to run that race on her birthday.

I trashed my camera in the rain running a marathon in mid-December so I'm lacking photos to post. Lot's of options out there. Would love to pick up a Cannon S90 but trying to weigh the odds of getting the more expensive Cannon or go with a less expensive Nikon. I seem to kill a camera about every 2-3 years.

The economy may be picking up but I'm still facing a huge challenge finding new work for the company I work for. It's been a struggle to land just a couple of jobs. Things picked up last week so hopefully demand for injection molding tooling will pick up as companies launch new products. Otherwise I'll have plenty of time on my hands to train for WS100. It's a struggle for many so I'll keep the attitude that good things come to people who try.

Cheers!

Western States 100 Endurance Run 2010

2009-12-05T11:27:00.001-08:00

I am incredibly lucky to have been selected to run the 2010 Western States 100 Endurance Run! Several training runs will be posted in the next 6 months as I train up for this grand-daddy 100 mile event. Michelle will be my Crew Chief and Steve Stoyles will be my pacer. This race was my original motive to start this blog. My Journey to a Centum continues....

Plain (Pain) Loop 1 Training Run

2009-08-09T17:02:00.000-07:00

Rattler at Fox Creek

Thursday August 6th Steve Stoyles, Jenny Appel, Rob "Rattler" Hester, and I headed out to set up camp in Plain WA for a run covering the 56 mile loop 1 section of the Plain 100 course. The readers digest description of this section is two 5000 foot climbs with many sections of trail with fine powder dust that squeaks as it compresses under foot and billows up hanging to choke the runner behind you. The weather was cool in the morning and never seemed to get much over 80 degrees.

Plain 100 Mile Endurance Run has been my targeted long distance race of the year. I ran loop 2 as a night run with Steve, Rattler, & Joe about a month ago and it kicked my butt. I ran 33 miles of loop 1 for reasons I will explain latter and that kicked my butt. To combine these two arse kickers for 34 hours of arse kicking running, power hiking, stumbling, and crawling seems almost unimaginable. My only motivation is that I didn't start either of the runs with a "hundred mile attitude".

Burned section along the course

Jenny, Rob, & Steve

At a water stop at Fox Creek our plans changed when Jenny rolled her ankle while making her way down to the creek for water. She was in a lot of pain and extremely upset at the time thinking she may have just ruined her chance at running Cascade Crest 100, just blew out her ankle in the middle of the Cascade Mt. wilderness, and changed all the other participants plans in one little fall. Fortunately she was wearing an ankle brace on her foot since this was the same ankle she rolled at the Capitol Peak Fat Ass 50K in the beginning of the year. I think the brace really saved the day. Within 5 minutes of the strain Jenny was soaking her ankle in the ice cold water of Fox Creek. I went ahead and filled her 100 oz water bladder and her two water bottles for the climb up Signal Peak. After about 15 minutes of soaking we got her back up to the bridge and loaded her up with the pack and water bottles. As we started to climb it became obvious that it would not be wise to venture further into the deep wilderness and potentially cause more harm to her ankle.

Fortunately the Fox Creek crossing is only about a mile from a small National Forest Service campground called Lake Creek. I opted to stay back with Jenny and our "A" plan was for Rattler and Steve to complete the loop then drive back to rescue Jenny and I. Jenny and I both carried space blankets, lightweight jackets, long sleeve shirts, and enough food to get us through the estimated 14 hours we would need to wait. We had no cell phone service but that was not surprising in the box canyon we were in.

When Jenny and I hiked over the campground she sat at a picnic table and I set off to talk to some campers and find out if there was a Ranger or someone we could talk to to see if we could get back to our campground in Plain. I met a very nice couple that explained the Rangers for the area were in a campground about two miles North at Silver Falls Campground. I set out up the road and ran to the Guard Station at Silver Falls. That's where I met the husband and wife team Steve and Donna. I explained our plight and unfortunately due to the time of day and no phone service about the only thing they could do for us regarding communication was to call an ambulance. Since Jenny had only strained her ankle an ambulance was totally out of the question. I went back to the Lake Creek Campground and Jenny and I took an inventory of our food and supplies. While we were doing that Rangers Steve and Donna showed up to check on us. Turns out they were both ultra runners from Arizona. They were concerned that the temperatures were going to dip down into the mid forties that evening and offered to let us sleep in the back of their personal vehicle which was a Chevy Tahoe. The cabin they lived in was much too small for guests. Given the option of shivering through the night on a picnic table or having an air mattress and blankets in a shelter we took them up on the offer. Little did we know that along with sleeping quarters came a wonderful tortellini dinner and beer! We were entertained by stories of running and rangering until about 10:00 PM when we crashed.

Long story short Rattler and Steve made the climb up Signal Peak and then in an effort to get to Jenny and I sooner decided to try a shortcut on the Jimmy Creek Trail. Like most shortcuts the decision turned out to be a disaster with them missing the trail and ending up on a dead end butte that involved a bunch of climbing before back tracking to find the trail they had passed. The found the trail but it has been used so little that it was difficult to follow and had over 30 large trees fallen over it to climb over. Hindsight both Rattler and Steve felt it would have been better to just stay on the main trail. It took them 10 hours to get back to our camp at about 1:30AM. The showered then threw sleeping bags in the SUV and headed out the 80+ miles to get us. With a stop for gas and some sodas they arrived in the Lake Creek Campground area around 4:00 AM.

I set out at 4:00 AM from Silver Falls Campground to meet up with Rattler and Steve. We found each other about 4:25 AM at the bridge crossing to the campground. We went up and picked up Jenny and headed back to break camp in Plain and have breakfast in Leavenworth. It was a long night for everybody. It was an adventure within the adventure.

View from Klone Peak

Steve at Klone Peak Summit

Yours truly in a flower filled meadow

Two Little Lakes

Grouse Hen (chick was nearby)

I will be spending the next month developing my 100 mile attitude. I'm sure I will be encouraged and motivated by helping mark trail at Cascade Crest 100 mile and watching the runners come through the finish line.

Many many thanks to Steve and Donna for your help and hospitality! You too Steve and Rob!

Plain 100 Mile Loop 2 Training Run

2009-07-18T19:56:00.000-07:00

chicken dance songs
Mp3 download | Music download

Play this song as you read the blog. It goes with the German theme of Leavenworth near Plain

Sitting on a large section of rock-fall on the trail above Chikamin Tie we shut our headlamps off and gazed to the stars. As our eyes adjusted it seemed as though millions of more stars had been created. It was as if the Big Dipper had been painted in front of us. Galaxies could be seen, a meteorite streaking to earth. Those few moments gave all the reason in the world to be running 47 miles through the night in the Entiat Mountains on loop 2 of the Plain 100 course.
Giant Toad seen on Plain 100 course. This is real! Really!
Trail marked in yellow is the loop 2 course we ran
Profile for loop 2 starts at around mile 56 of this graph.

Joe Lee, Steve Stoyles, Rob “Rattler” Hester, and myself headed up to Plain on Friday afternoon for a training run on loop two of the Plain 100 course. We ate dinner in Leavenworth and made it to the Deep Creek Campground trailhead at about 6:30 PM. We changed into our running clothes, readied our gear, and set out on our adventure at 7:00 PM.

We had been warned about the large toads we might see on the course. We were not disappointed having the good fortune to see not one but two of the monsters. We did experience one wild animal attack. Seems the runners in front of me spooked a roosting sparrow out of the trees in the dark of night. The startled bird then made a beeline for my headlamp and landed on my head! This evoked a very loud “GET IT OFF ME!” as I bent forward trying to brush the bird off my head. Rattler had heard the bird fluttering behind him as it made its kamikaze approach straight at my head. He turned in time to see me whacking away at my Camelbak hose and bite valve that had flipped up onto my head when I stopped and went into my “bird defense actions”. I’m glad I can be of entertainment to my running buddies out on the trail.

Plain 100 has a 14% finisher’s rate. The course is not marked at any point along the way. You must use a map and written instructions. There is only one (1) drop bag point at Deep Creek around mile 56 where you can see your crew otherwise you must self-support. Course officials don’t want any outsiders on the course and that includes family members trying to get a photo. A racer last year was told that he would have been DQ’ed had he not DNF’ed because his dad was out trying to snap a picture of him on the course. Search and Rescue (SAR) folks are located at various points to record your progress. They will not tell you if you are going the wrong way and they will not give you directions. They will tell you how many people are in front of you and behind you. The time limit for the event is 36 hours. I’ll admit taking pause at around mile 34 of this run and asking myself how on earth I thought I could complete this loop which is really the easiest of the two loops after running loop 1. Chalk it up to the fact that my pack had about twice what I really needed in it and that this night run and the sleep deprivation was creating a realistic scenario for race day. That’s when I remembered to just stay stubborn on race day and focus on the finish.

Joe and Steve were running stronger than Rob and I so we agreed that they would run the last 7 miles to the Deep Creek start and get the car for us. With White River 50 Mile race next weekend for Rob and I we felt it would be best to stop short considering we were both fairly close to the end of our running rope anyway. It took us 14 hours to run 40 miles. Time to get our game on!

I’ve included a few pictures at major turns in the course so others and I can imprint these points in our brains for race day.

Steve Stoyles, me, & Rob "Rattler" Hester before the brutality
Joe Lee from Oregon joined us for this run.
Sign on the way out from Deep Creek on Trail 1548
You basically continue straight or stay right here from 1548 to 1534. You can see the trail between the tree with the sign and Rob.
OK so the toads are normal size but really fat perhaps due to the high number of mosquitoes.
Important stay right to Chikamin Tie. Wide spot in trail with fairly large creek (Chikamin) ahead if you pass the signs
Joe getting water at one of the many streams along the course.
Daylight photo from 2008 of the rock fall where we viewed the stars.
Night photo of the rock fall this year.
Right turn at Mad River Trail 1409.1 from 1409.2
Right turn on Alder Ridge Trail 1523
Sunrise on Alder Ridge
Morning view from Alder Ridge Summit
1523 opens to dirt road. 150 yards ORV sign at x-ing ahead
ORV sign, go down the trail
Two (2) miles of road
End of 2 mile section trail 1523 straight ahead
My torn Brooks Cascadia resulting from a poky stick on the trail
Rattler contemplating why he runs ultras.

Thanks for stopping by! Stay ON it!

Seattle Rock n Roll Marathon 2009

2009-06-29T13:11:00.000-07:00

Let me just say that this is the first Rock n Roll Marathon I've ever run. I had fun, enjoyed the course, the runners, the bands, the cheerleaders, and the great organization efforts put out by the race and it's many volunteers. We had wonderful weather with morning start temp around 50 degrees F and 75 degrees by the finish. There was a wonderful cool breeze off the water that was enjoyed by all.

As you can see by the picture above the crowd was huge(click on the photo to see the masses). The race had 25,000 signed up. Of that 25,000, 5,618 Marathon runners crossed the finish line. The balance either dropped from the marathon or ran the Half Marathon. The Half Marathon is so big I don't know why they give "Marathon" top billing. Portions of the course were shared in the first half of the marathon course with the half marathon runners and walkers. This led to a few navigational issues avoiding slower runners and walkers who had provided unrealistic finishing times upon application and were placed in the front corrals. I imagine this will always be a problem at these Rock n Roll races since they don't require any sort of qualifying time. Michelle was in corral 28 and it took her 48 minutes to reach the starting line.

This was not the largest marathon I have ever participated in since Boston at 30,000 and Marine Corps at 30,000 are both marathon only. It was the largest half marathon I've ever been at. A contingent of Puyallup runners carpooled with Cat including George, Michelle, Lorrie, and myself.
These half marathon runners added some color to the crowd!
Marathon after separating from the half marathon crowd heads north on the viaduct. Port of Seattle in the background.
Obligatory photo of one of the 24 or so bands along the course. The overall quality of the bands was GR7 with a mixture of really good to really bad.
Several Marathon Maniacs from across the country participated in this event.
I took an asphalt dive when I was running through the Battery Street Tunnel. A metal ring about 12 inches in diameter from a lost hubcap was laying on the sidewalk in the tunnel. I stepped on the edge of the ring with my left foot flipping it up in perfect synchronization with my right foot coming forward. The result was I had the ring around both ankles and I took a quick and unexpected dive. The tunnel is so dirty from car exhaust and dirt that I slid like I was going face first into second base. Managed to only get a scrape on my left elbow and knee. Good thing I have rock hard abs to slide on. First person to me asked if I was OK. Second person told me I should sue the city of Seattle. America... love it or sue them and make a bunch of money! Shortly after at mile 19 Laura Houston saved the day with a refreshing shot of beer for me.
Here's a picture of Michelle at mile 26. Mr. grouchy pants motorcycle cop in the background nearly cuffed me about 5 min. before. Seems they didn't want any runners going back out on the course. Since I very often run out to meet Michelle and run her in at races I called her and found that she was nearing mile 25. I headed up the ramp behind her only to be called back by the officer. He told me I couldn't go out to meet her. I gave him the old "oh come on" which didn't go over very well. I decided to go find another access point but based on Michelle's position I was not going to be able to go anywhere else. I went back up to the officer and asked him what Seattle law I would be breaking if I went against his wishes and ran out to meet her. He told me he would arrest me for trespassing. I replied that I didn't believe he could arrest me for trespass on a closed public roadway. He then told me that not only would he get me for trespass but also harassment should I proceed past that point. You don't know how bad I wanted to just start running up that ramp. I can see not having folks going up the ramp when the masses were coming in but let's face it the crowd had thinned. All the while Team in Training coaches were running up the ramp and running back down with their runners. Kinda like I was going to do. OK I've vented.

Results: 3:45:06 on mostly concrete. Course was moderate difficulty

Thanks to Larry for driving the gang from Puyallup to the starting line and meeting us at the finish.

Next race on the agenda is the Plain 100 Mile Endurance Run in September. I may run White River 50 Mile but my focus will be on preparing for Plain. The training runs should provide for some good pictures and blog postings.

Marathon Motivation

2009-06-24T07:07:00.000-07:00

Running in the Pacific Northwest

2009-06-17T18:36:00.000-07:00

Not a lot of racing activity for me lately so I've been out running the trails of the PNW and getting some good training in with 60-75 mile weeks. Here's some photos from last weekend and yesterday:
Rob Hester up at the Bullitt fireplace on Squak Mt. We started our 21 mile run at 5:00AM and were able to go socialize with the folks running the Lake Youngs Ultra after our run.
Abi hanging with Terry at the finish of the Lake Youngs Ultra (LYU)
Jenny Appel who finished overall winner in the Rainier to Ruston 50 mile ultra the previous week still smiling after LYU.
Karen Wiggins trying not to tighten up too much.
OK, let the kids back into the pool now girls!
Frankie the Y-Run Club mascot
Bob Stoyles finishing with an entourage of supporters: L2R Abi, Linda, Bob, Steve
Stream crossing PCT Craig Hanela. Michelle and I will be marking a section of trail for the 20th Century 100K race this coming weekend. Last night Craig, Michael, and me scouted a section to see how the water and snow levels were. Looks great!
Rope section on really steep section we ran last night. We finished the run in the dark. Pictured: Michael Cartwright
Michael Cartwright crossing washed out section of Iron Horse Trail.

OK that's it for now! Time for me to catch up on your blogs!

Run like the wind!

401K Relay Anyone?

2009-06-16T09:02:00.000-07:00

Spodi Odi Running

2009-05-18T12:48:00.000-07:00

"Cold Tubbing" with Brian Morrison, me, Jenny Appel, and Steve Stoyles at the completion of the Watershed 12 Hour in Redmond Washington.
Womens open winner Shawna Wilskey @ Watershed 12 Hr. with over 70 miles. Her first effort over 50 miles. Shawna has really made a splash on the West Coast running scene over the past year. She runs as hard as she did when she was racing sprint cars and winning event after event. Now she owns a company that builds race cars.
Mens winner Sam Thompson Watershed 12 Hr. with just under 80 miles and a new course record. Sam was the first American to run 50 Marathons in 50 States in 50 days.
Jenny Appel and Steve Stoyles finishing goal of 50 miles. They let me pace them the last 7 miles or so of their run. Jenny is training for her first 100 mile at Cascade Crest in late August.
Bob Stoyles still running strong at 80 years old. Tough guys wear cotton shirts!
Sometimes you need to choose the most difficult path to get to where you need to be.
Does this toad have a look of relief in his eyes? I'm just wondering because I took the picture shortly after it took a pee in Jonathan's hand.
Myself and Jonathan Bernard trying to speculate our whereabouts.
Linda Barton warming herself by the faux fire. This fireplace is a remnant of days past on Squak Mt.
Jamie & Linda on our first 15 mile loop on Cougar Mt. Shortly after we got to see the field of runners participating in the Cougar Mt. 5 mile trail run put on by Seattle Running. Our route which was the North Face 50 mile course followed a section of the race course.
After being stung by some new growth nettles I did some research and found that contrary to my initial opinion and curses of this being a useless plant they are a often used holistic treatment. Apparently the tea, raw leaves, and roots have well documented medicinal properties. One being lowing blood pressure which may be useful if I keep getting stung by the ones that hang into the trails. I guess nettles are better than poison oak or poison ivy.

Well that is a consolidated version of my weekend. I got in 34 miles on Saturday with some good vertical at Cougar & Squak Mts. Had fun running the first 26.5 miles with Linda, Jonathan, and Jamie. We had visions of running 50 miles but I think everyone is still recovering from recent long runs. We decided to bail and go to Watershed and see all our buddies. Linda, Jonathan, and I all had a blast running as pacers for the last few miles of the Watershed. Jonathan paced with Sam Thompson the eventual winner. I ran a fast 5 mile loop at Pt. Defiance in Tacoma on Sunday to wrap the weekend up.

Live!

Tacoma City Marathon 2009

2009-05-03T16:18:00.000-07:00

Dan, me, Donna (BQ), Natalie

I ran my 77th Marathon or greater distance event today at the Tacoma City Marathon. Late last week the 4:15 pacer told the race director that he was injured and couldn't run. Long story short I volunteered.

Rain had been forecast with a 40% chance of precipitation but a few people must have done "the special dance" because we had SUNSHINE!

One of the perks of being a pacer for TCM is that you get a limo ride from the sponsor hotel to the starting line. As you leave the two limos they announce your name and give your stats. That was a fun way to start the day.

I had a weird thing happen between mile 8 and 10. I was trying to take an S-Cap for some much needed electrolytes. I was taking the capsule and trying to dry swallow it before the next aid station where I could wash it down with some water. When I tried to swallow it I started to choke just a little and coughed. Everything seemed fine and we continued to run. We had entered the heavily forested area of Pt. Defiance Park when I started getting a small burning sensation in my eyes and nasal passages. It seemed I was having some sort of allergic reaction to pollen or something. Well apparently when I coughed while trying to swallow my S-Cap it launched the cap up into my nasal cavity. Just so you all know it takes about 2 miles before the capsule melts and released the salt into your sinuses. All I've got to say is "don't try this at home"! Suddenly my eyes and nose started watering like crazy and I had an overwhelming taste of salt dripping into the back of my throat. That's about the time I figured out what must have happened. Don't know if you have ever done a saline rinse of your sinuses but this was at about 100 times stronger and I was hurt'n. A couple of voluminous snot rockets latter and the problem cleared for the most part.

Do I know how to have fun during a marathon or what?

Anyway... I consistently hit the numbers for time at the mile markers for my pace group and was able to get the one person trying to qualify for Boston in with a few seconds to spare. I will admit getting caught up in the exitement of the finish with the two guys that were hanging with me which caused me to finish two min. ahead of the 4:15 pace time. But it's better to come in a little early than late while pacing.

Capitol Peak 50 Mile, Olympia WA

2009-04-27T13:14:00.000-07:00

Steve Stoyles working his way to the summit of Capitol Peak

Owen Connell at the summit of Capitol Peak

Steve Stoyles, John Pearch RD, Me! Post race bliss. (Photo by Herb)

You will need to look at page two of the results for Capitol Peak 50M to find my finishing time. If you are in a big hurry I'll save you the effort and post 11:17:03.

The adventure began Friday afternoon when Steve Stoyles and Jenny Appel picked me up to carpool to the Fall Creek campground near the starting line. Our first challenge was extremely heavy traffic on Hwy 512 and I-5 as we slowly worked our way to the packet pickup at South Sound Running in Olympia. We had started out on what is typically a 45 min drive that turned into 90 min. All pressure was off as we pulled into South Sound Running before the 6:00PM deadline. We were helped by Kris Ryding who coincidentally was the 3rd place female for the 50 mile this weekend.

With our race packets firmly in hand our next priority was food. Kris suggested an Italian restaurant just a couple of blocks from the store. We discovered Pellegrino's Italian on Cleveland Ave. in Tumwater, WA. Spaghetti was the food of choice for all of us. The server brought out huge bowls of spaghetti and meat sauce for us to devour. I think I may have managed to eat more than Jenny or Steve but we all ended up with a take out box full of leftovers.

Next we headed up to the campground to meet Dave and Lesa Overfield who had set up their travel trailer and offered us a place to stay. We arrived around 8:00PM and Dave and Lesa had camp setup and a fire going. With alarms set for the early start at 4:00AM we hit the hay early at 8:30 for a great night of sleep.

Morning seemed to come quickly so Steve, Jenny, and I all hurried to get ready and head over to the starting line that was about 1/4 mile away. We dressed, ate breakfast, and I even had a cup of fresh brewed coffee!

About 12 runners had chosen the early start option. Steve and I took an early lead but took a sensible pace up hills doing some power hiking in spots. We lost our lead when we crossed a bridge and noticed orange markers on a trail to our right. While it went against our gut feel and knowledge of the course we decided that we should take the trail. About 1/4 mile up a hill we came to a logging road with no markers on it. At that point we pretty much knew that this was the wrong trail but just in case Steve went left and I went right about another 1/8 mile to see if we could find a marker. We didn't so we headed back down the trail where we found Rick Jerabek following the same markers. As we looked at maps and directions Janet Casal came up the trail. Steve and I decided that the markers were not correct and decided to go on. We ran another 1/2 mile before we found a confidence marker but it confirmed we had made the right decision. Apparently the markers messed up the leaders of the 50K as well as others. In hindsight we wish we would have taken them down but if we were wrong we didn't want the entire race to go off course. Apparently the markers were left over from some other event.

It wasn't long and some of the speedy front runners for the 55K and 50 Mile ended up blowing past us. Among these was James Varner who high-fived Steve and I on his way past. James was originally signed up for the 55K but SUPERSIZED his race and decided to run the 50 Mile course instead earning 4th place overall in that event. You can tell when James is running well by the size of smile on his face. The course is his old stomping grounds and he tore it up!

We finished the first loop (mile 19) without any other wrong turns and fueled up for the climb up to Capitol Peak. Maybe I ate too much, or the wrong food but I started to struggle on the climb. At this point Steve was definitely the stronger runner but he kept me in sight. At the Capitol Jct. AS the 50mile runners had a choice to bail and do 55K or continue on the 50 Mile course. I didn't mention it to Steve but I gave some consideration to taking the 55K option. The AS fueling gave me enough motivation to continue on in an all or nothing pursuit of my 5th 50 mile finish. It was snowing lightly with a steady cold wind at the summit of Capitol Peak where Glenn Tachiyama was taking photographs. He must have heated underwear to be able to keep from freezing to death in that kind of exposure.

My bonk/struggle lasted for nearly 17 miles before I started feeling better. When Steve and I made the turnaround at Mile 37.5 I seemed to have been able to recover and not feel like I was going to hurl. We started the climb back to Wedekind using a 100 stride run with 50 stride power hike. We ran into Jenny as she worked her way to the turnaround on the out and back from Wedekind. She was ahead of the cutoffs and looked strong. Jenny is training for CCC and this was a milestone race for her. This worked really well for both Steve and I and we made good time up to Wedekind AS where Laura was volunteering. She was very encouraging and was able to sound convincing when she said that we only had six short miles to go. I need to correct her just a little because a couple of those miles seemed very long!

I started feeling really good in the last few miles of the run. We cruised in to the finish and enjoyed some great fellowship with the other runners and volunteers as we waited for Jenny to cross the line. We kept warm by the wood fired burning barrels and drank a beer. When Jenny finished we all hopped into the car and headed for dinner. We were joined by Karen Wiggins at Denny's where we had French Toast Slams at 7:30 PM.

NEXT WEEKEND: Tacoma City Marathon!

Thanks for reading!

Capitol Peak 50 Mile April 25, 2009

2009-04-21T09:05:00.000-07:00

I've only run four 50 mile events. Two were relatively flat and mostly pavement with a PB of 8:11:00. The other two had mud, rock, and monster climbs to contend with on single track trials and short distances on gravel logging roads. My longest suffer fest, I mean race time, was 10:50:46 on the White River Course.

This coming weekend I will be going for number five! The last time I ran Capitol Peak was in 2007. I came in about 2:45:00 behind the men's winner Jim Kerby who set a new course record 7:31:50. I think Jim must have somehow missed the little section that was appropriately named HELL. Hell's Canyon to be exact. Jim had long since passed me as I worked my way up the climb from Hell on what can be best described as a rocky stream bed posing as a trail. That's about the time Van Phan the woman's leader came prancing up the raging torrent and passed me on her way to a woman's course record of 8:58:53. It really didn't seem fair that she was running while all I could muster up was a stagger.

I think I'll just blame my slow time on the fact that I took the early start and had to run on dark trails for about an hour and a half before the sun came up.

My goal this year: Finish

The course has been rerouted due to storm damage. Good news if like me you're not a big fan of Hell's Canyon because it's been taken off the route!

John Pearch is the race director for this race. As with any large successful event it is the RD's job to recruit and delegate volunteers after setting a plan in place. I admire John for his knowledge of the Capitol Forest and his ability to find a reasonable course that is challenging but not ridiculous. He's one guy that really cares about providing runners with an excellent event. Aid stations will be stocked with the essentials and most importantly enthusiastic and experienced volunteers. Capitol Peak also offers a 25K and 55K event for runners. The Search and Rescue group from the Olympia area is always there bright and early to help and setup the check point stations in case a runner is injured and needs to be extracted.

Camping the night before near the start is becoming more and more popular. A group of us from Puyallup plan on staying the night. One of our runners will be hauling a trailer to the campground that sleeps 8. I'm gong to bring my tent and use it if it's not raining because I think I'll get more sleep with less interruption and snoring. I'll also bring earplugs in case it rains so Stoyles won't keep me awake with his snoring. Maybe I should bring a spare sock to stuff in his mouth. ;-)

I can't wait to finish this race and sit at the camp fire to socialize with the other runners and volunteers!

Life is good! Enjoy!

Easter Daffodil Run Y-Run Club

2009-04-12T12:48:00.001-07:00

The Y-Run Club went for an Easter morning run in the Puyallup valley to run with the daffodils. I've included some photos from this mornings run.

Double click on the photos for a larger view.

Foothills trail along the Puyallup River

The non-rain wimps out for a great morning run.

My delicate flower - We look like daffodils in our Maniac vests.

Bill & Lynn

Rain drenched

Posthole Drudge Run / Curse of the Rattler

2009-04-11T18:40:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody!

Don't miss the videos at the end of this posting!

What initially started as a Tiger Mt. 12 Summits run today turned into one of the hardest 15 mile runs I've done for a while.

Our day started with a meeting at Steve Stoyles house at 5:45 AM. Jenny Appel, Steve and I headed down to Sumner and picked Rob "Rattler" Hester up and we were off to the Mountain.

We ran into some other runners that were about to head out from the Highpoint Way Trailhead on a different route than we had planned. We hit snow on the .4 mile climb from T3 as we started to climb T2. We ended up meeting up with the four runners we had met at the parking lot up on Tiger 1. A chilling wind pummeled us as we came closed in on T1 Summit so all eight of us took brief shelter in the hikers hut before continuing on. We snapped some pictures and then the other group took off ahead of us. Jenny was a bit tentative on the snow covered bootleg trail due to her wonky ankle that was in a brace and has been sore since she rolled it at the Fat Ass 50K earlier this year on Capitol Peak.

We rambled our way all the way up East Tiger Trail where we hit some very deep snow after crossing Preston RR Grade Trail. The snow was 2-3 feet deep in places and with the rain it had a crust of ice on top that would support you about every three steps before breaking through. Jenny and I seemed to bear the worst with several little hacks and gashes in our legs from the ice.

We worked our way up to the top of East Tiger Mt. and decided to bail on the idea of making all 12 summits since we had already burned up over two and a half hours. Steve thought that the sunshine we had earlier in the week would have burned off the snow in the road further down West Tiger so we trekked of in that direction as you normally would for a 12 Summit run. Our plan at this point was to run to Paw Print and go to TMT to West Tiger RR Grade then back to Section Line and back to the car. The snow on the road was bad until we made it down to the second gate. From that point there was a dirt path in the middle of the road down to the three big green transformers. The road up to Paw Print had been plowed so from that point on the run became somewhat normal again. We were slowed quite a bit by downed branches and tree tops that appear to have littered the forest after some sort of heavy freezing ice build up. Several of the tree tops were stuck in the ground like spears and laying all about. We put in a good bit of time clearing trail.

I think this is the third time I've gone up to Tiger to run 12 Summits with Rattler only to end up changing the plan due to illness, injury, or conditions. Next time I head up there I guess I'll need to keep my plans from him so I'll have a chance to make all 12 summits. We didn't have any problems doing 24 summits together but that may have been a once in a lifetime event.

We stopped at Starbucks on our way home for some nice hot coffee and headed to our respective homes for a nice hot shower and well deserved rest. We didn't complete our original goal but we had fair weather and great company. What more could one ask for?

Menagerie of Stuff

2009-04-05T16:35:00.000-07:00

I've included some photos I took at the start, a couple on the course, and some at the finish, at this weekends Yakima River Canyon Marathon. Marathon Maniacs who finished the event got the really cool reunion medal pictured first.

I managed a 3:46:46 time with a pair of legs that just hadn't recovered from my Chuckanut Mt. 50K and Pac Rim 50K that occurred all on the same day two weeks prior.

I sustained an unusual injury at Yakima that I will explain after the video I posted of the cougar tracks I saw on my solo 12 Summits attempt on Tiger Mt. The weather on this training run was in fact full on snow for the entire run that built up and covered my tracks before I returned. The cool part was that it was about 8 inches of powder which made it dry and provided a great deal of cushion and protection from the roots and rocks lurking below.

Bob & Steve Stoyles
Maniac #1
Michelle, Abi, and Jessica
Insane Jane, Jeanette, Ray
Monica, Linda, Cat
Patch & Mel
Abi proudly posing with her Maniac Medal

COUGAR TRACKS!

Injury Report - After the Yakima Marathon I was driving around with my Marathon Maniac flag flying from our car that I had won as a door prize at the reunion. As Steve, Michelle, and I drove away from the showers I opened my electric drivers side window to say goodbye to one of the volunteers. The flag didn't come down with the window and stayed wedged in the top frame of the door. As I bumped the window closed the little plastic holder on the flag needed to be pushed out a bit to align with the window. Well I pushed it out with my finger and bumped the up switch only to have the window go into auto full close. That would have been OK if my finger hadn't been poking out of the car. CRUNCH! Well of course the first thing one does when they close the window on their finger is pull it away. That didn't work too well as I managed to tear a chunk of hide off the side of my middle finger. Once Steve and Michelle composed themselves Steve offered up a nice band aid for my wound. At least my legs didn't hurt anymore but I don't recommend this as a method of pain management. Ice bath or advil would be best in these situations.

Breaking the Silence

2009-04-02T22:30:00.000-07:00

I've been on a break from posting here on my blog but it's time to get back to it. I've had some really great runs that I've missed posting about and met a fellow blogger that also is a runner.

I'll soon post a video of some cougar tracks I came upon on one of my solo adventures in the Mountains and talk about what it was like to run two 50K's in one day with a drive in between that was 6 hours long. I'll even try to write a finish to my 13 marathons in 12 weeks adventure.

Michelle and I will be driving to Yakima in Eastern Washington to run the Yakima River Canyon Marathon this weekend. It is a scenic and serene point to point course. The RD has managed to have the highway that runs along the river closed to traffic with the exception of locals and an occasional fisherman. Yakima Marathon is home to the year end reunions for 50 State Club, 100 Marathon Club, and the Marathon Maniacs. Some participants are members of all three groups. Statistically this marathon probably has the highest average of marathons run per person than any other in the world. I've run 75 marathon or greater distance runs and I feel like a rookie rubbing shoulders with this group.

I've missed this outlet and the joy of reading postings about your adventures. I'll admit the evil facebook had me for a while but I'm established with it now and can get back to a more important and meaningful method of expressing myself and learning from your experiences.

Pigtails 50K 2009 & Yours Truly 50K 2009

2009-01-26T13:06:00.000-08:00

Here's some video of day one of last weekends back to back 50K's. I managed a 4:57:58 this first day. Still working for 13 marathon or greater distances in 12 weeks! 11 down 2 to go.

Capitol Peak Mega Fat Ass 50K 2009

2009-01-19T17:37:00.000-08:00

Another weekend, another 50K. Would you expect anything less since I started this tear of events back in late November? I've realized that this was my ninth marathon or greater distance run since November 27th. With only four more runs before February 28th I can bump my Marathon Maniac status up from six stars to seven stars.

Seven Puyallup Y-Run Club members met at 5:50 AM to carpool to the Capitol Peak MEGA Fat Ass 25K & 50K event. Steve Stoyles drove "Sully" with passengers Cat, Abi, and Linda. Jenny jumped in with Michelle and I. We may have been able to squeeze all seven into Sully but with all the running gear and change of clothing it seemed best to bring both cars.

We arrived around 7:10 with an 8:00 AM start. The Race Director John Pearch had organized a very nice aid station with canopies and burn barrels for warmth and shelter. The weather was great with clear skies but due to fog the blue yonder and sunshine did not make an appearance until about 3 hours later.

I have not run a race together with Steve Stoyles for what seems like an eternity so we decided to run it together. With our nano brains engaged we went out with Michelle Maislen, Allison Moore, and Van Phan. Steve and I knew we were being stupid when Van backed off at the four mile mark and we all agreed that we were moving too fast. Just before I had smack talked Michelle not realizing that she somehow felt pressure to keep the pace brisk. I later found out that she only planned to run one loop. For the record Allison ran her next loop just as fast as her first and Van crushed Steve and I by around 20 minutes or more.

Steve and I had a good first loop but both felt like we had heavy legs by the time we made the first loop. Steve signed in got some water and headed back out walking and organizing his pack while I headed in for some food at the aid station. That's when I heard a voice calling my name and saw Jenny sitting in a chair with a big splint on her ankle. She had rolled it about two miles out on a rock and hobbled her way back to the start. She had a tennis ball sized bump coming from her ankle and went to see a doctor today. Jenny was warm and comfortable and told me she was making the Search and Rescue/EMT's feel needed so I started my second loop.

It took me just over a mile to catch back up to Steve. We found ourselves power walking many of the hills we had run up on the first loop. Steve had screws in his shoes from his snow running and thought it would help with the muddy sections. The screws started acting as a torture device when we ran on sections of trail that were similar to dry gravel riverbeds. The screw heads would hit rocks and project the energy up to his foot. The pointy ends were not poking him but they were causing pain. The trail was in great shape with only about five blowdowns to deal with. You could limbo under a couple of them, go around a couple and climb over the other.

It was a great course with nice climbs and minimal mud. I managed to keep my left foot dry the entire race with two stream crossings.

We finished in 5:37:10. We met up with Michelle, Abi, and Cat who all ran the 25K and waited with just a short while until Linda completed her 50K. This is a very enjoyable run that I would encourage you to participate in.

I ran into Karen W and Trevor G before the race. Karen's husband George ran the 25K and Karen and Trevor ran the 50K.

Next weekend: Back to Back 50K's! Pigtails 50K at Lake Youngs, and Yours Truly 50K on the Cedar River Trail. OH BOY!

Mystery Butt - Guess Who! Capitol Peak Mega Fat Ass participants not eligible.

Bridle Trails 50K Results

2009-01-11T14:15:00.000-08:00

(photo courtesy of Allison Moore)

Correction: Uli Steidl was the winner! I apparently listened to the wrong source. Congratulations Uli!

For the first time I was able to participate in the annual Bridle Trails 50K which as usual was a mudfest. This race is put on by Seattle Running Company and attracts some very speedy characters.

This race is unusual in that the start time is 3:10 PM. The race is held at Bridle Trails State Park. The trails are a combination of single track and wide gravel paths. The race includes a 5 mile, 10 mile, 50K, 50K pair, and 50K relay which are run on a 5 mile loop. Between the snow melt and rain we have been having in the PNW conditions were ideal for mud and deep puddles. The course did not disappoint. The mud has a strange thixotropic consistency which is probably caused by the through mixing of horse poop by the bombardment of running shoes.

Our carpool got together at 1:00 PM and five of us headed north to the Kirkland area. We stopped on the way for some much needed Starbucks and continued north only to miss our exit. After some brief stress we called one of our lifelines (Michelle) and she verified the exit number for us and we pointed ourselves in the proper direction to allow "Insane Jane", to do a day of race entry and Steve, Jenny, Rob, and I to check in and get our numbers. Thanks to Steve for driving.

Participation was high this year with over 500 runners toeing the line. The majority of runners were doing the shorter 1 loop and 2 loop distances. The 5 mile race started first at 3:00 PM. All others started at 3:10. Nothing like having 500 people churning up the trail so we could get the full enjoyment of all that it offered. Did I mention that it started raining fairly hard just before the start and continued to do so for the entire evening?

Somehow I had it in my mind that the 10 mile race started before the 50K so I was lallygagging around the starting line when I suddenly realized that 50K runners were standing on the starting line. I jumped in at the front of the pack and we were off.

In my everlasting spirit of being a stupid runner I found myself running with Arthur Martineau, Alison Hanks, and Devon Crosby-Helms. Arthur ended up sixth overall in the 50K. Devon has qualified for the 100K World Championships to be held in Europe this summer. Arthur left us on the first major hill and I hung near Alison and Devon for the next three laps. To be honest it was apparent that Devon was really just out for a training run. I'm guessing when she's really got the jets going that she doesn't chatter away with friends. When I asked them why I was still with them after three laps Devon boosted my confidence by telling me "they sucked". They left me in the dirt on lap four. I must really suck.

I ran my first four laps at what I would consider race pace falling only once but in a good area that did not involve deep mud or water. The water and mud took it's toll on my tired legs from my other recent running escapades so the final two laps involved some race pace, some shuffle and slog through the mud, and some er um... power walking.

I was passed by running legend Uli Steidl during my 5th lap. He was on his way to a rare defeat and only 5 miles ahead of me when he finished. Results have not yet been posted and I've heard the drop rate for the "Winter Trail Running Festival" is higher than for the Hardrock 100.

Rob, Steve, and Jenny had decided to run the 50K together. The plan was going well until Jenny slipped in the mud an tweaked her knee that was surgically repaired in the last couple of years. They were in their third lap when she hurt it. Jenny decided to let Rob and Steve go on and take another lap at a more cautious pace. Rob and Steve finished in around 6:30:00. After four laps (20 miles) Jenny dropped. She will be back next week with her knee brace. "Insane Jane" has never bragged of speed but she does have determination. She was in dead last 43 minutes behind the next runner when she started her last lap. She came in before the 11:30PM cutoff finishing strong and very very happy.

I should mention that while Jane was running her last lap the four of us in the carpool took off to get gas in the car and grab something to eat. We ended up at McDonald's where we watched "Rattler" consume two Big Mac's, a super sized fries (he left some of those) and an apple pie. We called and made our appointments with our cardiologists and should probably plan on bypass surgery as the crap we ate embeds itself in our arteries.

Finish time for me: 5:26:20 or so.

Next weekend: Capitol Peak Fat Ass 50K

Three-legged Quadzilla

2009-01-07T17:41:00.000-08:00

OK so time and weather worked against me in my quest to run four marathon or greater distance runs consecutively in four days. I had a lot of fun along the way and ended up with 94 miles in four days.
Summit T-1 Day 4

Last Chance Marathon 4:26:20 Day 1

We really lucked out and got great weather during the run. The night before the marathon, Michelle, Jenny, Margaret, and I carpooled to Bellingham and slept over at Michelle’s parents home. I woke up at 3:00 AM to the sound of pounding rain and wind. Fortunately by morning the storm had blown over.

We arrived at Fairhaven Park in time to find parking and sign in without too much stress. This year the race was able to use the indoor kitchen and dining facility which made the short wait before and the wait after for others to finish much more comfortable than previous years outside. RD Mary “Cartwheel” Latta started the race in her traditional manner with a cartwheel. The race is a double out and back that goes from Fairhaven to about Chuckanut State Park. The Interurban trail is mostly gravel and only had a few sections with slippery compact ice and snow.

I went back and forth with Linda Barton all day long. She is putting the final few training runs in before the HURT 100 mile in Hawaii. It was fun to get to know her a little better that day.

With three other long races in my future I had decided that I was going to soak my legs in a stream near the finish line. I tried to convince Jess Mullen and Linda Barton to join me but once they got in their warm car those thoughts disappeared. Jenny on the other hand was facing a double with the second run being a 50K the next day. She joined me at the stream. We waded out and got in with the appropriate amount of screaming. We decided to spend 10 minutes in the water. We attracted a few other runners who stepped in and then quickly stepped out informing us that we were lunatics. As I sat in the middle of the stream a fish started to bump around me. He finally ended up behind me in the eddy line I was creating. It would occasionally bump me and hung with me for about 5 minutes. When our time was up I couldn't get up. Jenny was able to pull herself up with a branch on the side of the stream and then make it over to me and give me a hand. We walked back up to the dining hall in severe pain. It felt like someone had beaten my feet and shins with a hammer. We shivered for about 10 minutes and then it seemed like the blood in our legs started to flow again. I’m thinking about 5 minutes in snow runoff water would probably take care of your legs. At any rate my legs felt great the next morning.

First Call to Run 50K 5:25:11 Day 2

The second day of fun began with trying to get the three women staying in Margaret’s Green Lake apartment through the single bathroom. It really wasn't that difficult and we managed to get Michelle and Margaret to the early start. Jenny and I then raced over to a local gas station for much needed coffee and filled up the gas tank on our Element. We then headed back over to secure parking before alternative parking was required. The course was supposed to be a double out and back from a single start and finish line but with two separate out and back courses. Due to compact snow and ice on the trail heading west the course was changed to include only one out and back course that was repeated twice. Two of these races in two days can be trying but we managed. Y-Run Club members Michelle and Margaret & Jessica (first marathon as a full fledged Marathon Maniac!) ran the marathon distance. Jenny and I were running the 50K along with Rob, Linda, Steve and Cat. Rick ran the half marathon.

We saw some Eagles roosting in a large tree next to the Sammamish Creek we were following. Steve, Linda B. and I ran nearly the first ¾ of the course together then I parted ways with them and kicked it up a notch. I think I just wanted to get the running over with. The last mile of the course that we had to deal with four times was covered with compact snow and ice which made finishing hard kind of difficult. Race Director Adrian Call MD had a big spread of pancakes and hot chocolate and many other assorted foods available for racers at the finish. This was the inaugural running of this race and I think it’s going to stick! Thanks Adrian!

Dumb Ass 20-Mile Day 3

Long story short I only managed to run three laps of my five-lap goal. We started at 6:00 AM on Tiger Mt. but the snow and ice just slowed us down too much. Rattler ended up only doing two laps due to obligations at home. Jess, Michelle M, and Allison M. all managed to get four laps in. The climbs were slick, it was very cold at the summit of T3, and the trail was frozen and chunky on the first mile of the descent.

Fake Ass Fat Ass 17-Mile Day 4

We had 17 people meet us at 8:00 AM to attempt a 17-mile loop on the “Seattle’s Favorite Loop” course on Tiger Mt. Three of the runners were only with us for about an hour before they headed back. They were not prepared for a real long run and were not carrying the proper gear and food for a longer excursion given the snowy conditions. Arthur led the conga line. Everyone agreed to stay together and to have a buddy system. I had an extra 8 lbs of “just in case” gear with me for myself and to care for others in case of an injury. The lower sections of the trail allowed for some running but as we hit deeper snow on the climb we slowed and crunched through it. The forest was beautiful and I took as many pictures as time would allow without slowing down the group.

Steve, Linda B., and I ran together for the most part. A Seattle visitor from South Africa joined us. It turned out he was an avid trail runner. He discovered the WWFA on-line and had not heard that it was canceled so he tagged along with our rag tag group. He had a thick Dutch accent but I think his name was Colin. Steve gave him his email so we could exchange pictures. Colin’s hand is in the picture of the bird.

Sorry for such a long and boring blog. Enjoy the pictures and I’ll see you at the races!

Goal: Quadzilla! Four in Four Days

2008-12-26T16:21:00.000-08:00

The stars have aligned and it is now possible for me to run an "unofficial" Quadzilla next week! The attempt will feature two marathons and two 50K's in the short span of four days.

First in the series will be Mary's Last Chance Marathon on Dec. 31. This out and back course is located in Bellingham WA and has become a family tradition for Michelle and I. The next day we will run a new marathon in Bothell WA called the First Call. The third run will be a "late start" effort to run the cancelled Dumb Ass 50K. This should be fun considering it involves about 12,500 feet of climbing and the Mt. has been covered in snow. I'm hoping that I'll have warmed up enough after the Dumb Ass run to participate in the Western WA Tiger Mt. Fat Ass 50K the following day. Did I mention that I'm going to a party after the Dumb Ass run? I'll probably need to limit my intake of Pipeline Porter.

I hope to see many of you at these races. The Dumb Ass is a self supported fun run and open to all. We plan on starting around 6:00 AM. By around I mean exactly at 6:00 AM. I'm guessing you will be able to catch up to me without too much effort if you arrive later. Rob "Rattler" Hester, and Jess Mullen are planning to run Dumb Ass on Friday.

10 Hour 2008 PR!

2008-12-21T12:08:00.000-08:00

Do I look happy or what?

Bob Dolphin working on 500 marathons

Michelle and Jessica at the finish

Finish Line and Soup Kitchen

Jenny you need to touch up those gray hairs!

Photographic trickery to make Steve look like he's moving fast.

Rich Walter - photography, race support.

That's right folks, 10 hours! Was it a 100K, 50K, Marathon, what..... Well I suppose the Pigtails Marathon I ran yesterday lead up to my 2008 PR but it was not where I set my new 2008 record. Last night I got 10 hours of sleep! Woo Hoo! I don't have sleeping problems and usually I just lay down close my eyes and BOOM, I'm catching Z's. I don't think I've gotten over 7.5 hours of sleep over a given night all year but last night beat that PR by 2.5 hours!

I need to take the Facebook age test again because I think I must be in my teenage years again!

OK, so much for the silly nights sleep. Yesterday I ran Pigtails Marathon in Renton WA. I had not planed on running this race but the Dumb Ass 50K scheduled for today was cancelled due to the potential for high winds. Pigtails is an out and back that goes along the Cedar River Trail which I believe is an old RR right of way. Van Phan is the RD and offers both 50K and Marathon distance. Race entry consists of two cans of soup from each runner that is donated to a local food bank. Actually some of the soup is also cooked up for the runners at the finish.

Van is a superheroine distance runner who beats me on a regular basis. She rallied a group of local runners to volunteer at the aid stations and actually check on us along the way. Shawn McTaggart, tc, Jess Mullen, and King Arthur were on the job. All of these folks deserve a standing O for their willingness to brave the 21 degree F temperatures for nearly 8 hours.

I've run this trail before in freezing conditions and found the bridges that cross roads to be very slippery. I don't own Yak Traks so I installed 3/8" sheet metal screws in the bottom lugs of both Michelle's and my shoes. The snow was about two inches deep on the first 6 miles and then got up to about four inches as we ran east. It was similar to running in sand and I'm glad that I put the screws in my shoes because otherwise I think I would have slipped around a bit more as I pushed off.

I ran the first 16 miles with a group of Puyallup runners, Linda, Rob (Rattler), Jenny, and Steve. I wore my pack with a hydration bladder and had issues with my bite valve and hose freezing. I discovered that taking a sip about every 5 min. would keep it flowing. Last night Michelle told me she overheard tc suggesting to someone that they blow air into the bite valve to get the water out of the hose and valve to prevent freezing. I need to try that next time. The hydration bladder beats holding water bottles that tend to freeze up and suck all the heat from your hands. I picked up my pace at mile 16 and finished with a 4:45:53. Yep, that's slow for me but we had a lot of fun talking and I stopped an took a lot of pictures along the way. Speaking of pictures, Linda's husband Rich was on his Mt. bike taking pictures as well plus providing and support folks needed. I'll share some of his too once he downloads them. Rich has a great eye for photography and the lighting conditions and weather should have provided for some great shots with the equipment he has. He's a better biker than me because history proves that I would have ended up with the front tire instantly slipping out from under me and ending up hip first on the pavement.

Many of the runners with long hair or beards iced up from the moisture as they exhaled. It was a beautiful morning with some sun breaks in the first half before the snow clouds started rolling in for a continuation of SNOWBOMINATION 2008. For those of you who have not been in the Seattle area during a snow period you must understand that the world comes to a halt and our local news teams go into a paranoid reaction that I can only imagine is some sort of practice run in case a nuclear device goes off near town.

Michelle ran the Pigtails marathon with Jessica Williams of our Y-Run Club. Jessica is a runner that started running with our club when we offered a couch to 5K program two years ago. She actually was the only participant that stuck with it and ran the Y Run for Kids 5K race in Tacoma after the C25K training. Yesterday Jessica qualified as a Marathon Maniac having completed her 4th marathon with the last three being within three months of each other. Welcome to the Insane Asylum Jessica! You are an inspiration to all of us.

Our youngest Son Riley made it home from Pullman yesterday. We look forward to spending time with him over the holidays. Web our oldest son will not be home for Christmas but we plan on visiting him in January to celebrate his 22nd birthday.

Happy Holidays! See those of you running Last Chance, First Call, and Tiger Mt. 50K

Ghost of Birch Bay Marathon 2008

2008-12-16T07:31:00.000-08:00

I sneaked in another marathon over the weekend up in Birch Bay Washington. This was a homecoming marathon for me that brought back a flood of memories as I ran. The course goes from Birch Bay State Park around the Bay to the North and then loops around Birch Point. I grew up out on Birch Point and had to ride my bike everywhere. When I was a kid it seemed like it was a hundred miles to Birch Bay from my house when in fact it was only about four. Of course I would make the ride without water, without proper fueling, and not eat for several hours while I was away.

I ran by several spots that brought back memories of days past. Some of these were where I met Michelle in 1974, the corner my cousin was killed in a car accident coming to join me for some Mt. climbing, where I hit a deer with my car, the road leading up to the gravel pit where we had keggers, the spot a friend was thrown out of a car at 90 MPH and lived to tell about it, my old bus stop, a cabin where an old girl friend was arrested, the road where my friend and I got his 1957 Chrysler up to 150 MPH, my old duck hunting pond. The list goes on...

Marathon time was 4:00:08

Living with a vegetarian has it's health benefits however I have drawn the line at tofurkey. The veggies around the soy blob was OK but give me turkey any day over this stuff!

Cheers!

Blister prevention for running

2008-12-12T16:57:00.000-08:00

A large shadow cast over our front entry indicated the presence of a large box that had been delivered to our doorstep. I wrestled the box into our kitchen and opened it to find about a zillion pairs of drymax socks for our evaluation. It seems Michelle's ability to grow blisters practically by mind control caught the attention of the marketing folks at drymax. They contacted her and she was able to get some samples for me as well. I had two large tasks ahead of me. First to build a separate piece of furniture to contain the multitude of socks that were submitted for testing that would separate the socks by specified use such as golf, work boot, men's dress, tennis, walking, trail running, cold weather running, hot weather running, and many other sport variations. Second to give these babies a test and find out if I liked them or not.

As an engineer I can appreciate the primary design and technology that is used in all the categories of socks listed above. The dual layer drymax inner layer and moisture attracting outer layer helps keep your feet dry. The toes are sewn such that they are sort of duck-bill like in nature that helps prevent putting a squeeze on your toes thus eliminating the possibility of blister causing friction between your toes. The dual layer is probably the most important feature because it keeps your feet as dry as possible which for me anyway is the leading cause of blisters besides unending very steep ball-bearing like downhills in ultra racing. The layers may also help with this by reducing friction and adding some cushioning.

My history of blisters is fortunately a short story. Typically I don't get blisters during road marathons but did get the mother of all blisters on the ball of my foot last year during the 125KM Canadian Death Race. That blister was caused by moisture from the bogs we ran through and some long steep downhill sections. I've been wearing SmartWool socks with good results regarding blister prevention but very poor wear properties.

PUT TO THE TEST

On my recent triple I wore the standard 1/4 crew low running socks. The first marathon was a 27 mile trail run. I wore my Brooks Cascadias. I had prepped my toenails well before the race but had neglected to stone down my calluses before this first run. Generally this creates a hot spot for me and creates a blister under the callus. I suppose the drymax socks did their trick because while I did feel a bit of a hot spot during the run no blister as expected formed.

I ran the next two marathons in the same pair of Brooks Adrenalines. I tested the waters by not stoning down my calluses. At the finish of the Seattle Marathon my feet were in great shape and blister free. Not only that the socks showed no signs of holes or wear as is typical with the SmartWool socks I have been wearing.

So if you are looking for a solution for blisters you might try drymax socks as a possible cure to your problems. They even have a Teflon fiber version that provides a very slick and non-abrasive protection for your feet. I've started wearing the hiking socks and work socks during the day and find them to be very comfortable as well. I'd say drymax has a winner here.

Seattle Marathon 2008 Triple!

2008-11-30T17:52:00.000-08:00

Tonight's ice bath was probably the toughest knowing that it was just to keep the pain down and that I didn't need to run again tomorrow morning.

Well I managed to finish the three back to back marathons. My first trail marathon (27+ miles) the Wishbone took 5:05 to complete. Yesterday at the Seattle Ghost I managed to break four hours with a 3:58:42 marathon. Today I was guessing the "A" plan for Seattle was survival with about a 4:30 marathon. I blew the "A" plan out of the water with a 3:40:52.

The best part of the Seattle Marathon is that there are many sections where you get to veiw the leaders and the folks running behind you. With so many PNW Marathon Maniacs I was having fun waiving at all my freinds and being supportive. The weather was perfect for running at about 54 degrees and 94% humidity. Due to fog the visability was low at approximatly 400 yards but sometimes it's nice not to look up and see that you need to run way over to some point in the distance.

I will add some pictures given the chance to by tomorrow.

Thank you for reading and run fast & happy.

One down two to go!

2008-11-28T16:55:00.000-08:00

I think the general consensus from the runners at Wishbone was that the first two 7 mile laps were fun and the last two laps were anywhere from had to push it, to brutal.

We carpooled with Rattler which turned into an adventure because I forgot the directions to the start of the race. I was able to get in touch with Lesa O. who had the directions with her and she was able to get us close enough for us to find another runner we knew driving with directions so we followed her to the start.

I kept a decent pace for the first three laps which while respectable for the distance was probably too fast for someone planing on running three back to back marathons. I lapped Michelle on my fourth lap about 1/3 of the way around and ran with her for the rest of my last lap. Michelle was a trooper and even with some blisters she continued on for the last 7 miles on her own.

I think the toughest part of the day was knowing that when we got home I had to take an ice bath. That mission has been accomplished with 23 minutes in the tub.

Time to pack for two more marathons. Oh and if you think we're crazy I met two people who flew to Atlanta Georgia and ran the Atlanta Marathon on Thanksgiving who ran Wishbone and intend to do the "Quadzilla" by running four in four days.

Peace Out

THREE

2008-11-26T08:06:00.001-08:00

It wasn't my idea, I think once again I blame Rattler and Lesa for the zany idea of running three marathons in three days. Michelle decided first and heck, since I was going to be there anyway.....

Wishbone will be the first run in Gig Harbor this coming Friday. This 27+ mile trail run has a figure eight 7 mile course with enough climbing to require a post race ice bath. Marathon two will be the "Ghost of Seattle" which runs along the old Seattle Marathon course on Lake Washington. Third but not last, the Seattle Marathon which was my first ever marathon in 1998. I've only run it twice before but don't expect to PR this time.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving Holiday! Oh and to the folks in Canada and elsewhere have a great weekend!

Run like your hairs on fire!

Mission Peak Trail Run

2008-11-07T12:29:00.000-08:00

Hey! Look that's me at the summit of Mission Peak near Fremont CA. I got the opportunity to make this run when a customer pushed out a meeting to the next day which extended a business trip. I ran from the Ohlone College trail head and I'm guessing it was around a 6 mile run based on the time it took me to summit and get back to the car.

I saw a few hikers and three deer on a hillside. The climb is runnable however in my current condition I ended up power hiking up at least one mile of the climb on this out and back run.

I was on the lookout for other trail running animals that frequent this trail but Catra was not spotted during my run. I did run into Hartmut Fokken who works at Ohlone College in the IT department. He was hiking at lunch as is not able to run any long trail distances at the present time due to a hip injury. Coincidentally two years ago when I visited the trail head over at Stanford Blvd. I ran into Hartmut as he came in from a run. He's got a thick European accent and really enjoys trail running. His picture is at the bottom of these photos.

Looks like some soggy running for us folks in the Pacific NW this weekend. Hope everyone has a great weekend of running and whatever!

Marine Corps Marathon 2008 / DC Vacation

2008-11-02T17:06:00.000-08:00

Our weeklong trip to Washington DC made me feel like a tiny speck within humanity. It started with the marathon with a combined participation of nearly 30,000 runners in both the marathon and 10K offered that day. Steve and I ran in a crowd for the first 21 miles and only then did it thin out so we had some running room and could anticipate when slower runners were ahead without running into them or having to veer off quickly to avoid collision. Michelle had a great run and describes her marathon here.

Mad Monkey #1 (Steve) and Mad Monkey #2 (me) maintained our “A” plan well with a desired goal of 3:40 to 3:50. Had we not added three tenths of a mile to the course by not cutting every corner we would have come in right on A plan but due to the added distance we ended up with 3:41: and change.

Washington DC has a lot to offer in the form of history and starting with the Portrait Museum and going full circle to all the Smithsonian offerings, the Library of Congress, Aerospace Museum, Native American Museum, Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, FDR Memorial, Korean War Memorial, WWI Memorial, WWII Memorial, and the list goes on. All this resulted in achieving the feeling of running a marathon a day for a full week.

One poem that was on the wall of the Holocaust Memorial just as you exit stands out in my memory. Pastor Martin Niemöller wrote it.

When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
after all I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
after all I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
after all I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.

I’ll leave you with some pictures I took during the trip.

Motivational Marathon Poster

2008-10-16T12:10:00.000-07:00

Photo courtesy of Scott taken at the 2008 Spokane Marathon

Leavenworth Marathon 2008

2008-10-05T16:24:00.000-07:00

Leavenworth Marathon

Still smiling at mile 17
Photos by Rich Walters

Linda with strong finish

Steve and Robin Stoyles (Robin qualified as a Marathon Maniac)

Michelle's Finish

Steve, Robin and Abi

Leavenworth Marathon Bullet Report

* Fall colors were beautiful
* Never try to keep up with Van
* Brain cramped, tried to keep up with Van
* Mile 21 - Legs very tight
* Mile 24 - Leg cramps, walk run to the finish
* Placed 20th out of 100
* Placed 2nd in age group with a 3:44
* Road marathon = pain.... ouch
* Oktoberfest in Leavenworth = lots of drinking

Van taking swings at Steve, still had some fight left in her!

This kid was watching closely at the finish line

Abi having fun at the beer garden.

Mad Monkey Runners number 1 and number 2

Oktoberfest runners!

Nice running singlets!

Steve munches on a bratwurst at the beer garden

Norse Peak Wilderness Run 2008

2008-09-28T10:53:00.000-07:00

Fog hung low in Puyallup as Steve and I ventured out at 6:30 AM to run the 17 mile Norse Peak Wilderness loop. I expected rain and made sure that I had warm running clothes expecting wet conditions.

We arrived at the Corral Pass trailhead to clearing weather. With hunting season in effect for elk we donned our yellow vests and jackets and headed out on the trail. The first 3 miles of the trail are open to hunting and then the trail descends into the Wilderness section which is off limits to hunting.

We could not have asked for better weather and this truly was a wilderness adventure. The loop starts out at around 5700 ft. elevation and drops to 3000 ft. about at the half way point. It's a much more gradual climb if you run in a clockwise direction.

The run took us 4:50:00 to complete including many unscheduled photos. It was an awesome day!

View from Mutton Mt.

Koble Knob

Wilderness Section

Turn at Koble Knob

Start of Wilderness Section

Fall Colors, Alpine veg.

Fall colors

View to the North at Treeline

Lost Lake

Trail to Quinn Lake

Rocky Outcrop

Steve's Trail Runner Pose

Greenwater River

Greenwater River

Feeder Stream

Steve

Steve at Echo Lake

Echo Lake

Echo Lake Trail

Mt. Rainier

Baker Lake 50K Trail Run 2008

2008-09-21T14:31:00.000-07:00

I ran the Baker Lake 50K Trail Run with Michelle as a celebration of our 29th wedding anniversary. We had a great time running the course and enjoying the company of the many ultra runners who participated in this run.

The course has a number of old growth cedars and firs. This is a must-do ultra!

Enjoy the photos and slide show.

tc & Shawn (RD) giving pre-race instructions

Jon with Mad Monkey checking in runners

Just go this way! Shawn, tc, Arthur

Mad Monkey abducted by kids

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Plain Report

2008-09-14T19:02:00.000-07:00

Plain ~~100~~ 45 Mile Endurance Run

Rattler and I got to experience first hand why only 14% of those who start the Plain 100 actually finish. We both ended up with DNF's at mile 45 after 17 hours on the course. That said we really had a very enjoyable day of running. We didn't quit due to injury, sickness, getting lost, or lack of will to go on. We stopped because we knew that we were not having the kind of day that it takes to complete such a difficult and challenging course.

Gilles, Michael, and Daniel at bfast
Tony & Steve
Shawn
King Arthur
Michael
Joe
Heading up to Maverick Saddle

Lost Lake
Lost Lake
Ben
Rattler
Trail Scat

Dan, Ben, & Daniel at summit of Klone Peak
Gilles (Bob)

Rattler
Trail Scat in hyper -drive
Entiat River 2000 foot elevation
Entiat River downstream
Tommy Creek waterfall
Climb to Signal Peak

Moonrise at Signal Peak
Sunset

We arrived late Friday evening to the Thousand Trails Lodge in Plain which serves as the meeting place, kitchen, Search & Rescue (SAR) base, and start/finish line. Our carpool gang consisted of Rattler, Michelle, Steve, and myself.

The Plain course is off the charts tough. Just to make it a bit more of a challenge they don't provide trail markings and you need to self support. There is only one "aid station" at mile 55 where runners can get aid from a crew or restock from a drop bag. SAR stations were located along the course however the volunteers would not provide aid or directions to participants. Runners could only receive aid from other runners SAR would provide your position in the race. This years race had approximately 25-27 participants.

The race started on Saturday at 5:00AM. The following photos were taken as we worked our way up to Maverick Saddle, Klone Peak, and Signal Peak. Rattler and I had planned to run the entire course together. My first setback on the run happened between Lost Lake and the start of trail 1426. I had a stuff sack swinging from the back of my backpack with my gortex running coat in it. We ate some food at Lost Lake and when I put everything back into my pack and zipped it up I put both zipper pulls on the top of the pack. With Rattler in the lead we ran toward trail 1426. Along that 2.6 mile section the weight of my jacket swinging back and forth pulled open the zipper. It started to feel like the stuff sack was swinging around a lot more than normal so I reached back and discovered that it had come unzipped. Rattler zipped it up for me but we failed to check for anything missing until we made trail 1426. That's when I discovered that my map and my headlamps had fallen out of my pack. Our only hope was that another runner would pick them up.

As we made the top of Klone Peak which involves a 1 mile total out and back we hoped that we would run into runners on our way back down that had found my stuff. Sadly we were far enough ahead that even after eating some food at the summit and chatting with some other runners that were at the summit before us we did not see anyone when me made it back down to the trail. At that point I became Rattlers "trail bitch" because he had directions and a map plus an extra headlamp he was willing to let me use.

From Klone we ran 11 miles from 6820 feet elevation to 2000 feet elevation at the Entiat River. We loaded up on water at this point because the course was dry for 14 miles as you climbed 7 miles and 5000 feet up to Signal Peak. A majority of the climb was condensed into the first four to five miles. Rattler and I both loaded up on 150 Fluid OZ of water then started the climb. In hindsight that was about 40 OZ too much water.

Rattler was fighting some stomach issues so the climb didn't start to well for him. At that point I was climbing strong and feeling good. With Rattler lagging behind me I tried to moderate my pace and keep him in sight. I watched my Garmin 205 and when we reached 4500 feet in elevation I waited and broke the news to Rattler. I must have hit him at a low point because he offered to just have me go on ahead and leave him. I knew that I could make it up to Signal much quicker but decided to stick with our plan and run as "amibros". Turns out this was a really good decision as I started to lose my legs very near the summit of Signal Peak.

As we watched the sun set and a beautiful full moon rise we started to discuss our situation. We both agreed that if we didn't feel any better than we did at that time that we should drop at Deep Creek where Michelle and Steve were waiting for us as our crew. After working through a couple of more unexpected yet significant climbs we started the decent toward Maverick Saddle in darkness. The trail was very chunky and rough and because we were both limited to just one light each rather than a head lamp and waist lamp we were unable to run.

We worked our way along the Billy Creek trail and about 1.75 miles down the trail we saw some headlamps ahead of us. The lights flashed at us a couple of times then stopped. After a while we heard some voices and saw what looked like a vehicle. Turned out we had come to the Tyee Ridge SAR checkpoint. The Tyee Ridge checkpoint was 7 miles away from Maverick Saddle. We decided to drop. Turns out the checkpoint was 100 miles drive back to the finish if you took the roads. Ratter and I decided to make the two hour drive instead of suffer for another 7 miles over 2 hours and then waiting for a ride. Surprisingly Arthur one of the SAR volunteers handed me my map and headlamps that had fallen out of my pack. Another runner Melissa had picked them up on the trail and left them with one of the earlier SAR checkpoints. Thanks Melissa! Rattler and I were not the only runners that dropped at Tyee. Since we were the last two runners on the course we did have the advantage of not having to wait for any more runners before the SAR folks headed back to the start/finish line. King Arthur, and Joe Lee, and another runner whom I didn't know had been waiting for up to four hours. The SAR vehicle was packed with all the gear they required to do their job so it was going to be tough to shoehorn four runners and three SAR volunteers into the vehicle. The Chevrolet Tahoe was so overloaded that the suspension was making creaking sounds when we turned corners to the left on the windy gravel roads. SAR Arthur and his wife made arrangements to meet another SAR vehicle to lighten the load. We meet the other SAR vehicle and I jumped out and rode with them. I think these vehicles had more computers and radio gear than the first mission to the moon. Turns out it was a 100 mile drive to get back to the Lodge from Tyee where we dropped. It was worth the two hour drive.

Meanwhile Michelle and Steve had quite a day of there own. They saw us off at the start at 5:00 AM and then jumped in the car and drove to Cle Elum so Steve could run the Cle Elum 50K. Michelle acted as crew for Steve. The drive took about 1.5 hours one way. Steve ran the race in about 6.5 hours and then they headed back to Plain where they set up for crew duty at Deep Creek Campground. They had a propane lantern and two cook stoves. They ended up cooking grilled cheese sandwiches for many of the runners and some support folks. Karen W. was the official aid station volunteer at Deep Creek. She directed runners to their drop bags and worked on runners blistered feet. Rattler and I expected to make it to Deep Creek around 11:00 PM. We had the SAR folks at Tyee radio that we had dropped so Michelle and Steve wouldn't end up waiting around for us.

The Tyee group of dropped runners arrived at the Lodge around 11:45 PM. We grabbed a little bit of food and Michelle and Steve arrived with Shawn and Tony in our car. We chatted for a short while and then headed to the cottage we had rented for showers and a good nights sleep. Michelle cooked Rattler and I our own grilled cheese sandwiches when we went over to the cottage. They were the best!

I will post the results when available. I think a new course record was broken.

Ranger Creek Run

2008-09-07T17:43:00.000-07:00

Rattler, Steve, Jane, Lesa, and I went for a 15 mile training run up to the Ranger Creek Shelter from Buck Creek. This is a section of the White River 50 course. I picked Steve up at 5:40AM and headed to Rattlers house and found him waiting for us on his front steps at 6:00AM. A quick stop at Starbucks and we were on our way. Lesa and Jane took a separate car so they could head straight home for another event later in the day.

Nothing like heading out on a running adventure with a bunch of pillow faced, not so cheery, running addicts. We had a great run with wonderful views, perfect weather, and got to freeze our muscles in the White River afterwards in glacier water so cold that it felt like your toes were being smashed with a hammer! It was so cold that your legs wouldn't go numb. It almost made Rattler cry.

I have included some photos of our running adventure. Rattler, Steve, and I spent a lot of the time during the run discussing our plans for the Plain 100 next weekend. Steve and Michelle will help at the one and only crew station at mile 55. I brought an assortment of foods to try with mashed potatoes being the most popular among us all. I'm really looking forward to the Plain challenge and feel that Rattler and I have a very good chance to finish.

Cascade Crest 100 2008 Photos

2008-08-27T20:13:00.000-07:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

I've posted some more of the photos I took at Cascade Crest 100 last weekend. If you see a shot of yourself that you want me to send you leave a comment with your email and I will send it. The photos are high resolution so you should be able to have them made into a nice big print if you so desire.

Cascade Crest 100 2008 Pacer

2008-08-25T13:26:00.000-07:00

Amy Brown on Trail from Hell

Sonja & Michelle Crew

Rob Hester Trail from Hell

I had the pleasure of pacing Rob Hester for 53 miles of the Cascade Crest 100 Endurance Trail Run this weekend. I don't want to steal a single drop of Rob's thunder so you will need to wait for his race report to hear the details.

I included three teaser photos of the race and sent all my photos to Rob so he can select the ones that go well with his report.

The photo of Amy Brown to me captures one of the difficult sections of the "Trail from Hell". Rob and I caught up to Amy on this section. She is from North Carolina and was a finisher.

The photo of Sonja and Michelle was taken at Silver Creek Aid Station, the last station before the finish. Michelle as crew chief and Sonja as assistant they did an incredible job of supporting not only Rob and I but many other unsupported racers.

The last photo is a shot of Rob working his way along the "Trail from Hell".

Here are the race results: Cascade Crest 100 2008 Race Results

Congratulations to all the runners and thank you to all the volunteers at this race.

Vacation Movies

2008-08-22T21:20:00.001-07:00

Soo many big events on tap for blog land runners! Can't wait to have a look at all the reports in the next couple of weeks.

Here's a couple of videos I took when Michelle and I hiked up to the Plain of 6 Glaciers out of Lake Louise. The creek is near the tea house and the moraine is the Victoria Glacier view point.

Tea House

Plain 100 Loop 2

2008-08-18T21:08:00.000-07:00

Can you really get too much climbing in with your runs? Rob, Mike from Canada, and I ran Loop 2 of the Plain 100 course last weekend. Yes another 34 miles of brutality. My climbing gear seems a bit worse for wear from the Canadian Death Race still. But I made it!

Can you say dust? Poofy powder that seeps into your shoes. I learned you need to pour it out every now and then even if you have gaiters.

Read Rob's blog for details. Here's some pictures.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

North Face Canadian Death Race Report 2008

2008-08-13T06:13:00.000-07:00

View from Grande Mt. before the steep power line trail.

Looking toward Grande Cache from Grande Mt.

Mayor of Grande Cache on left serving pasta.

Leslie, Michelle, and Terry at the Finish

Sarah, me, and Michelle pre-race

These shirts were used for the Kids race. How cool would it be to have a shirt that said Hell on it when you were a kid?

Terry's the guy with the hair. I'm the other guy.

Terry heading down the Cache Mt. power line trail. GOT QUADS?

Moraine Lake near Lake Louise

Lake Louise Lodge and Lake from Big Beehive.

Four major climbs followed by more climbing pretty much sums up this course. As I stated in my previous mini-post the one-word description of the race is “Brutal”.

I am very thankful that I trained hard spending many hours on the 12 Summits course. Runners with less training ended up in the 53% DNF category. There is no such thing as being “mentally prepared” if you are not also “physically prepared” to participate in this festival of agony.

Michelle and I rolled into Grand Cache Alberta on Thursday afternoon before the race. We checked into our Misty Mt. Hotel and were pleasantly surprised to find a new facility with very nice mini-suites.

We met up with Marathon Maniac Terry Sentinella from Anacortes WA. on Friday. Terry had driven up by himself. After talking he decided to run with me and take advantage of Michelle as a crew chief for support. Terry sorted out his gear for the aid stations and set up his Hamel drop bag. We walked over to the expo and picked up our race packets. We agreed to meet Terry who was staying at another hotel at 6:45 AM and went our separate ways.

The cell phone rang and it was Sara Elaine from Calgary! This was our first opportunity to meet a fellow long-time blogger in person. Her brother Aaron was with her. Sara came bearing all kinds of nice little gifts from Canada. A couple of fanny packs with the Canadian flag on them and a couple of little six-pack sized coolers with the same, and three "Beaver Buzz" energy drinks. The best part was that one of the six-pack coolers contained six Molson Canadian Beers. These beers helped provide incentive for me to finish knowing that they were waiting for a nice celebratory toast after the long haul. Sara and Aaron are great and we really enjoyed our time with them.

The pasta dinner held at the hockey rink recreation center was better than most but still nothing to get too excited about. The Mayor of Grande Cache was dishing up the pasta. We met up briefly with Leslie from Banff who had just run the leg five section of the course and grabbed a quick shower before the pasta dinner. She was there to support two racers from her area and got the opportunity to run for a team on the same leg she had just run during daylight hours.

I provided myself with some other incentive to finish by purchasing a “Death Race Letterman's jacket”. Since I have a “Don’t wear it, if you didn’t do it” policy I used the jacket as a motivator. It helped to think back on the drawer full of Western States gear I have that has never been worn due to my DNF in 2007.

Since the race is broken down into five sections for the relay participants my report will be broken into five sections as well. I’ll note that as we started running I was feeling mediocre.

Section 1) 19km 1:52:39 – OK, 11 miles and one of the easy sections of the course. Don’t fool yourself into thinking you don’t have to do some climbing. Terry and I chugged along at a good pace for me but painfully slow for Terry. Terry and I saw Leslie who provided many cheers and encouragement as we started our first climb. She showed up again near the first Aid Station chanting “Go Eric, Go Eric, Go Eric, Go Eric” The cheer coupled with her little dance gives her my Ultra Runner Cheerleader of the Year award. The weather during this section was cool with the occasional misty rain. If I have one complaint about the race it would be the Aid Stations. They were set up to work well for relay runners who had just finished their run and needed some food. Everything was in a wrapper, energy bars, sport beans, trail mix, small bags of potato chips. I suppose I’m spoiled but I’m used to having my water bottles filled by volunteers and having open food like pb&j sandwiches, boiled potatoes, and other calorie filled treats that are easy to access. I couldn't open the packages but a volunteer was able to open some for me as I filled my hand- helds with water. OK, nuff of a rant, I’ll email the race director and suggest they change that.

Section 2) 27km 4:29:47 – This section gives the runner the opportunity to climb Flood Mt. and Grande Mt. Toss in some heavy rain and mud that was slicker than snot on a brass doorknob and you have the makings for some real fun! Did I mention that the mud also stuck to your shoes to create “Frankenstein Feet” as you slogged up the mountainsides? Then like a cruel joke you come to what they call the “Slugfest”. Sara’s brother Aaron was a course marshal at the precipice of this abomination of a trail. Aaron took my number, shook my hand, told me I was looking good, and mentioned that it was very steep ahead. I followed Terry down the Slugfest and the first steep section that Aaron pointed to I slipped and fell on my backside. I slid to the bottom like a base runner going into second with my right arm fully extended above my head. I came close to injuring my shoulder but when I stood up and dusted myself off I only felt a bit strained and was ready to go. Aaron later shared that a runner fell in the same place and popped his shoulder out of its socket. By the time Aaron made it to him it had gone back into place. Aaron gave a bit of massage to assist the runner and the guy went on. Slugfest continued to offer up similar steep sections, which challenged your balance and tested your quad strength. I managed to stay off my butt the rest of the race. That said I managed to elude many opportunities to crash as we descended the power line trail. If you can imagine a very steep section of trail that’s on one of your training runs or a course you are familiar with. It’s the kind of steep that you are willing to go down because it’s only for a few yards. When you hit rubble on the trail it’s like ball bearings under your feet. The problem is that this power line trail goes on for a couple of miles. Again, I am so thankful for my training so that my quads could endure this torture without being sore the next day. My Brooks Cascadias really did a great job of providing traction on these steep downhill sections.

Leg 3) 19km 2:15:00 - The end of section 2 takes you back into Grande Cache. Michelle met us here and offered up some real food. Lots of opportunity for running in this section however as you get into the lower valley sections you run through a great number of bogs or muskeg. These wet muddy areas managed to get our feet quite wet and I could feel a hot spot forming on my right foot. When Terry and I made it to Aid Station 3 on the end of this leg Michelle met us with hot cup of soup. Leslie shared some mashed potatoes that she had for her race supplies. They really hit the spot. She had been drenched waiting for us but the weather was breaking and it looked good for the next challenging section. Terry and I both changed our socks and shoes and headed out on leg 4.

Leg 4) 38km 6:43:16 – The first section of the “Hamel Assault” runs along Hwy 40 for about 2-3km before heading straight up for about 4000 feet of elevation gain. Terry decided to head out on his own as we ran along the Hwy. He was ready to start racing. The Mt. assaults you, not the other way around. Mt. Hamel is about 7000 feet in elevation at the summit. With my sea level training and Mt. training only going up to 3500 feet I was feeling the elevation. I kept my climbing pace steady but as I cleared tree line I ended up taking about four rest stops to recover before continuing. It was on the final third of the climb above tree line that a grouse decided to run with me for a while up the trail. I started talking to the grouse and it would reply with a few little clucking sounds. It seemed ironic that the bird with its skinny little legs going a million miles an hour was actually pulling away from me. I picked up my pace after smack talking the bird and managed to come close enough to force it off the trail and head off away from me. This was a dry run with lots of climbing so I not only had my two hand carry water bottled but also my Nathan hydration bladder was full. When I made the summit you run up to a permanent shelter that volunteers manned to serve as course marshals and official timers. You could drop your pack to do the out and back along the Mt.’s ridge to pick up a flag and return it to the shelter.

When I got to the end of the out and back and picked up my flag I looked over the East end of the ridge and saw about 8-10 Mt. Goats or Sheep down below on another ridge. We were probably too high for them to come any closer. I ran back to the shelter and then started my way to Ambler.

With about 8-10km to go I had too much water with me but I guess that’s better than running dry. I ended up pouring half of both hand carries out to lighten my load for the descent to Ambler Aid Station. I made it into Ambler without too many problems. The first section down from the summit is very chunky and strewn with rock but I managed to cruise down without any mishap. At Ambler we timed in and then had to run the Ambler loop, which was a 5km distance. The first 2km were downhill on a fairly nice gravel road. At the trail entrance you timed in with your timing key and headed 3km up a winding trail into the woods. When I came out back at the Ambler Aid Station I grabbed my drop bag and changed into a dry long sleeve shirt and pulled on my gloves, hat, and Brooks LSD (lightweight shelter device). I decided to leave my hand helds and just use my hydration bladder for the Beaver Pond Road section which was about 8 km. About half way down this road I had to turn my headlamp and waist lamps on due to darkness. I had some relay runners near me as I went down the road so at least I wasn’t totally alone and had someone to talk to on occasion.

The Beaver Pond Road takes you out to the Hwy and you run in the ditch for a few km before making it to the Aid Station. I guess people had walked out from the Aid Station along the hwy but every now and then you would hear an unseen voice call out “Go Death Racer” from near by. It was a little freaky.

I finally rolled into the aid station to learn that Terry was about an hour ahead of me. Michelle fixed up some cup of soup for me and I ate a peanut butter and honey sandwich. I was anxious to get the last section out of the way.

Section 5) 22km 4:11:04. I was looking forward to this section for two reasons. Number one was that the finish line was at the end of this section. Number two was that we got to take a jet boat ride across the river at Hell’s Gate. I didn’t expect the climbing that this section provided. We started climbing on single-track trail right from the aid station. When the climbing finally ended the trial was fairly runable but with brush hanging over the trail it was sometimes difficult to see where your foot was going to land. I ended up running with a few relay runners in the first section to Hell’s Gate Road. They all had bear bells on so it sounded like Christmas in August as we jingled down the trial. I made it into the Hell’s Gate Road Aid Station in good time and surprised Michelle who had driven down to meet me. She fixed me a nice warm cup of tea and I took in a few calories and headed down to the river for my boat ride. I handed the course marshal my coin that we had to carry to gain admission for a boat ride. We also timed in when we arrived. I was surprised that they just had us jump in the boat and sit down. I think in the US they would have strapped on USCG approved floatation devices and helmets before allowing us to board. It was a quick ride up river to the other side where we timed back in. The time it takes to cross the river is subtracted from your overall time. We then started the final 1000 foot climb up to Grande Cache. The first section was a quad trail road that seemed very steep. It was a long grunt up to some trail that you could run on. The trails on this section were marked with very bright reflective dots. With about 6km to go I missed a very well marked turn that goes toward the Dead Dog Viewpoint. Instead I continued down the trial I had been running which started to go down hill. I ended up going along the Grande Cache Prison fence line and eventually coming to a sign that indicated a trail called Sulfur Creek Trail that headed to the right. I was perplexed that the reflective markers were not to be seen but I continued down the trail until I came to a very muddy section. The only tracks in the mud were those of wildlife. Not a single running shoe print to be found. Oh Shit! I was off course! I was pissed, tired, and looking for a bear to tear limb from limb. I shouted a few choice words into the night as I started to back-track to find where I had missed my turn. Nothing like being lost at 1:00 AM in the dark of night to add some turnover to your legs. I was churning up the hill at about a 7:30 pace giving out a yell occasionally to warn the wildlife not to mess with me and hopefully hear a reply from another runner. I ended up coming up to a very well marked trail that I had apparently blown by earlier. I believe my little adventure added about 4-5km to my run and probably cost me 3rd place in my age group. Oh bother… I probably couldn’t have handled the fame and fortune anyway.

So after getting lost and finding the correct trial I continued to climb out to a wide gravel road that leads up to the finish. I think it was only 3km to the finish but the climb seemed to go on forever. I managed to run 50 paces and walk 50 paces for a great deal of the way but it sure felt great to come up to the paved roads of Grande Cache and head toward the finish. As a last bit of torture they have you run by the finish line and do a small out and back to the finish.

Michelle, Sarah, Aaron, Leslie, and Terry were all at the finish to greet me. We had hugs and congratulations and then Michelle and I headed over to the hotel so I could shower up. I was really feeling it and really felt knackered. I started to shiver and feel bad once I sat down in the hotel but Michelle offered up a V8 tomato drink and it almost instantly got me out of my crash. I must have been low on calories, which isn’t much of a surprise because I didn’t eat well during the last 10km of the run.

Are you tough enough? It’s a killer! Come on… you know you want to!

Thanks for reading, special thanks again to Michelle, Sarah, Aaron, Leslie, and Terry. And thanks to the people of Grande Cache for letting a couple thousand runners invade their town for the long Canadian weekend!

BTW - That Molson Canadian Beer tasted pretty damn good after the finish!

Eric

Death Race Results

2008-08-04T20:27:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post to say I survived the Death Race with a time of 19:31:46. In one word "Brutal". Managed to place 4th in my age group and 23rd overall in the solo division. I got lost in the dark on the last section of the course adding 4-5K extra credit to the course.

Ran with Terry Sentinella from Anacortes for the first three legs and then he took off and placed 11th overall and 3rd in his age group with a 17:04:11.

Michelle was the best "Crew Chief" on the course and served a dual roll helping both Terry and myself.

Had the pleasure of meeting Sarah and her brother Aaron from Calgary. Sarah ran leg 5 in the relay, see her blog for details.

I had additional support from the "Trail Angel" Leslie who kept popping up along various sections of the course. She also came up with some killer mashed potato fuel for me at the fourth and last major aid station. She smoked the 5th leg on a relay team.

I will post pictures and provide a detailed race report when we return home from vacation. Thanks for reading!

THE HAY IS IN THE BARN!

2008-07-25T18:07:00.000-07:00

Mt. Hamel above creates the nearly 4000 ft climb indicated just over half way on the course.
A few nice taper runs to keep the legs limber and the race is on! Can't wait to go on vacation and enjoy the beauty that Western Canada has to offer. I have the best crew chief in the world Michelle who will provide motivation and assistance. WooHoo! We both get to meet Sarah too! She may even ride along with Michelle if she gets the chance.

I'm not going to win this race but I'll finish! I'm guessing 20 hours to run the 125KM (77.6 miles)
Read carefully:

Due to the frequency of human-bear encounters, the Alberta wildlife branch is warning bikers, hunters, and fishermen and any person that use the out of doors in a recreational or work related function to take extra precautions while out in the field.

We advise the outdoorsmen to wear little noisy bells on clothing as to give an advanced warning to any bears that might be close by so that you do not take them by surprise.

We advise anyone in the out-of-doors to carry Pepper Spray with him in case of an encounter with a bear.

Outdoorsmen should also be on the look-out for any fresh bear activity and be able to tell the difference between black bear feces and grizzly bear feces. Black bear feces is small and contains lot of berries and squirrel fur. Grizzly bear feces has little bells in it and smells like pepper.

http://view.break.com/542467 - Watch more free videos

Did you see the big bear poop while fighting? What's up with that? I thought they did that in the woods.

This should balance out the violence of the previous video

Ocean Shores 18.5 mile run

2008-07-20T16:49:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning I drove to Ocean Shores to meet Michelle's "Crazy Notion to Reach the Ocean" 6 person Ultra relay team. Rob, Jenny, Rick, Steve, and Margaret started the race but Jenny needed to drop after running three of her legs to catch a plane out of state. Jamal joined the team in Elma WA but the runners on the original team always had a runner out on all of the legs so the results would be official. Rob ended up running 44 miles. Jamal ran 40 as a training run. It was great for the team to have Jamal join them so the could run with the woman runners at night. They were participating in the Rainier to Pacific relay which is a 168 mile relay typically run by 12 person teams. They were in fact the only 6 person ultra team our of all the teams participating.

I met up with the team as they were running leg #34 of 36. Michelle was running and looking strong. She was running her leg 34 and half of Rick's leg 35 because his back that he tweaked the week before was killing him. Margaret exchanged with Michelle and pushed on toward the finish line. Rick and I headed to the finish line in Ocean Shores to make sure they didn't dismantle the finish line before the team made it in. We told the race director that the team finish would be approximately 45-60 min. We also notified the Taco Fest Feast that the team was coming so they didn't put the food away.

We went out to the beach from the finish line at the Shilo Inn to wait for Margaret. The final leg has the runner run 4 miles on the beach. There were a number of cars and motor scooters on the beach. I ran down the beach to meet Margaret and found her about 1/2 mile down. She ended up taking a detour to the Best Western Hotel up the beach from the finish which resulted in about an extra 1/2 mile of running. The team ran in from the beach to the finish together finishing in last place overall and first place for the 6 person relay category. They ate some tacos and then we headed to Rob's parents beach house for some showers and R&R. We also had Abi join us who runs with the Y-Run Club. She ran on Mel Preedy's 12 person team.

After some showers and some naps we headed to the store and purchased the makings for some pasta and pesto with salad, chicken, and some breads. That combined with some wine and a couple of six packs of beer and we had the makings of a great evening of fun with friends.

I wanted to run 20 miles this morning. The ultra relay runners wanted to get in about 8 miles. I started running at 6:30AM and met the group back at the house at 8:00AM. I had 9 miles in at that time. Rob, Steve, and I headed back out to the beach. Rob decided to run barefoot. We watched him "man up" as he crossed the crushed gravel on the trail to the sandy ocean beach. We headed south towards a jetty. Just before the jetty Steve and I decided to pull our running shoes off and run bare footed too. It felt good on our feet and allowed us to run along the surf and not worry about getting our shoes soaked with salt water. When we made it to the jetty a Golden Eagle flew up and landed on one of the massive boulders that made up the jetty. It just sat there about 30 feet from us. I've only seen a couple of golden eagles in my life. It took off and started flying low toward the end of the jetty. This caused quite a stir with hundreds of pelicans, seagulls, and water foul all being spooked up by the eagle and taking flight.

We ran back north on the beach. The beach was littered with dead crabs having been captured by seagulls as the tide went out. We terrorized a few flocks of seagulls by scaring them up from clusters they had formed. We watched sandpipers scurry across the sand and surf casters catch sea perch. We reached a point where Rob and Steve turned around because they would reach the 6 miles they wanted to run by the time they got back. I continued on up the beach.

Things were feeling great but I started wishing I hadn't taken my shoes off and left them back at the trail entrance. I had two reasons: 1) My big toes started feeling like they were getting blisters, 2) The tops of my feet have not seen sunshine for about a year and I had no sunscreen on. Given these two concerns I decided to cut my run short and turn back. I hoofed it back fairly fast to minimize my time in the sun. When I made it to the trial head I waded out in the ocean and chilled my legs for a few minutes before heading up to the house. I ended up with 18.5 miles and blisters on the bottom of both big toes. Not the brightest thing to do to oneself before a big race but I have two weeks to heal up.

I hope that everyone had a great weekend! I look forward to reading all your posts.

Cheers

Bing

Corral Pass Training Run

2008-07-14T08:37:00.000-07:00

This weekend I ran 12 miles on Saturday. The first 4.5 miles were some early miles with Steve and then at 7:30 I ran with a group of runners from our Y-Run Club into the Puyallup Valley and back up a couple of monster hills. Mile 11 was run at a 7:05 pace as I tried to keep up with one of our speedsters Jamal.

On Sunday I picked up Rob and Lesa and we headed up to Buck Creek in the Crystal Mt. Area to run the Corral Pass section of the White River 50-mile course. This was Lesa’s first time on the course and a week after rolling her ankle on the Sun Top section last week. She purchased an ankle brace from a local medical supply store that gave her great support and it was never a problem. Rob had decided to join us on Saturday. Being off from teaching and being able to run and do a lot more other physical activities is starting to show in his running. He had his pack loaded with about 20lbs of water and other gear.

Wildlife Report: In the first couple of miles I flushed a little vole out of the bushes along the trail and herded it around so Rob and Lesa could see it. It was only about 1 inch long and didn’t require any bear spray to control.
We got an early 8:00AM start to the training run that was scheduled for 9:00AM. With Lesa’s ankle being a concern we wanted to start early and go slow. It was a beautiful day with about 58-degree weather at the start and around 80-85 at the finish. The clear blue sky yielded incredible views of Mt. Rainier as we climbed the Palisades Trail and came out to the overlooks along the ridge.

When we made it to the Ranger Creek Shelter Uli S. and Brian M. caught up to us. They were marking the trail and flying up the course. We were taking the time to eat some solid food and head up to Corral Pass. A couple of other runners passed us before we headed up. As it turns out the snow patches that I encountered last weekend were not that difficult to get over. While quite of bit of the snow had melted I think I could have easily made it up to the Pass had I pressed on. It appears that I’m a snow wimp.

The climb up to Corral Pass went well for Rob and I but Lesa was having problems with an upset stomach. This continued to plague her for the rest of the run. Scott M. attributed it to too many electrolytes and eating solid food before a climb when your heartrate is elevated. Scott gave her some electrolytes that are in-between the strength of E-Caps and S-Caps. They must be L-Caps!

When we reached Corral Pass Seattle Running Company had water, NUUN, watermelon, and PB&J set up at an attended water station. As we ate and filled our water bottles several runners came in. Scott told me that they had over 35 runners on the course. I ran down to Ranger Creek at my own pace. I spent some time chatting with Heidi who is a reporter for the local Business Journal. It made the time go quickly and we were soon at the Shelter. I had another sandwich and chatted with three Mt. Bikers who had climbed up to the shelter. I helped direct a few runners to the proper trail and then Rob came in. Rob was looking good despite his heavy pack and two hand-helds. We talked for a few minutes and Arthur came in. Arthur, tc, and Shawn had all run the entire 50 mile course on Saturday. I think tc and Shawn skipped the Corral Pass climb but judging from the look in Arthur’s eyes they made the proper choice. Rob said he would wait for Lesa to make it in to the Shelter so I headed down the 5-mile decline to Buck Creek. This section is shaded soft single track with long switchbacks and traverses.

I made it into Buck Creek in 6:43. It was a nice "time on my feet" run and I felt strong the entire way. Rob finished strong and Lesa felt like crap but was glad to have seen the course.
I soaked in the river twice for 10 minutes each time. My legs feel awesome today. We stopped at the Naches Tavern in Greenwater on our way home for a burger and fries. They were incredibly busy and it took quite a while for the food to be served. It was good though and nothing tastes better than a cold Black Butte Porter after a 25 mile run.

Run like hell!

Corral Pass Attempt Stopped by Snow

2008-07-05T15:34:00.000-07:00

I got an early 6:30 AM start from the trail head at Buck Creek off Hwy 410 near Crystal Mountain Ski Resort. It's been a year since I have run the trail so I brought along a photocopy of the Trail Running Guide to Western Washington for the Camp Sheppard-Forrest Shelter Loop. I'm really glad I brought those instructions because while I made a couple of wrong turns I was able to quickly recover without wandering too far from the desired trail.

This course climbs over 3000 feet in elevation combined with the Corral Pass out and back from the shelter. Climb is the word of the day! Good thing all my Mt. training has my Mt. goat climbing honed so I don't get too tired on these steady drudges up the hills.

Check out the staircase in the slide show below. Up up and away!

Had to deal with a number of blow downs across the trail. Ended up not being able to make it all the way to Corral Pass due to heavy snow on the trail at the upper sections. I probably could have made it but being solo I didn't want to risk a slip or post-hole and hurt myself. I did some exploring on the trails on the upper section above the shelter and got a few extra miles in.

The final section of trail from the shelter down is about 5 miles of down hill switchback and traverse. It's a great section to strengthen up your quads.

I felt great at the finish of the run and even considered starting the climb for the second half of the race. Instead I headed down to the river for a brief soak of the legs and headed to the small town of Greenwater for a burger and fries.

I hope all of you had a great weekend! Tomorrow I'll be riding my Mt. Bike and supporting Michelle at the Rattlesnake Lake Marathon.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Tiger "Dantes Inferno" Run

2008-07-01T19:30:00.000-07:00

Make a Smilebox free ecard

I’m not complaining about the heat but as I was running long this weekend I thought, “who’s cooking bacon way out here in the woods”, then realized it was just me being cooked.

Being a melanin deficient Icelander I have learned to cover every exposed inch of my skin with sunscreen. Now if I could just swallow about a gallon of ice cubes before a run to keep my core temperature down I’d have it made.

I suppose choosing to do a 34-mile run on one of the hottest weekends we've had could make some folks question my sanity. I’ll defend my mental state by saying that it hardly ever gets past 90 here on the Western side of the state. It was 93 degrees when I made it back to my car.

The day started with me meeting Lesa a local runner training for one of the more difficult 50 milers in the country, White River. Lesa followed me to a trailhead at the turnaround for the 12 summits run on Tiger Mt. and we dropped supplies and her car. We headed up to the trailhead at the start and met tc, Shawn, and Jess.

Lesa and I started out in the lead, which lasted about 1/3 of the way up the first steep climb when tc and Shawn passed us. We could see Jess behind us so we kept climbing. Tc and Shawn soon were out of sight and Jess was nowhere to be seen behind us. When we made it to the first summit tc and Shawn were waiting for us. Shawn being a very giving person was busy sharing her blood with the local mosquitoes

We waited for Jess but she was nowhere to be seen. Tc decided to head back down to see how she was doing. He ended up having to venture down the trail much further than he had anticipated finding Jess feeling like crap. She made it to the top of the first summit but wisely called it a day and headed back the three miles to her car.

The four of us headed out from Tiger 3 to Tiger 2. Shawn and tc were again way out ahead of Lesa and I and ended up waiting for us again at the top of Tiger 2. At that point tc and Shawn decided to go on ahead and not stick together. This was Lesa’s first attempt at 12 summits and we were running and climbing at a moderate pace to save energy.

Having the nickname Trail Scat I need to report that we saw numerous bear droppings on the gravel road that leads up the south side of East Tiger Mt. I am providing photographic verification that bears do poop in the woods.

Although we started a 6:00AM it started to get warm in a hurry. I think the average temperature during the first half was probably 75 plus. That’s much warmer than we were used to so we started feeling it, especially on the climbs. Lesa was strong but tired by the time we made the half way point in 5 hours. She decided to stop at 6 summits and drive home.

I fueled, watered up, and headed out for the second half. I may have made a wrong turn somewhere along the line because I seemed to have hit the “Dante’s Inferno” trail on all the big climbs. Long story short I managed to complete the second half in another 5 hours for a total of 10 hours of running for the day. I’ll admit to being very woozy when I stopped running.

I changed my clothes and headed directly to the nearest Starbucks for a Venti black iced tea. In fact I ordered two of them thinking I’d drink them both on my drive home.

All in all it was a great training run that gave me some great heat exposure. Next week it will probably snow.

Tiger with a twist

2008-06-21T20:41:00.000-07:00

UPDATED: Added Tacoma Narrows Slide Show at bottom of post.

Let's see.... my 24 summit adventure ended at peak 7 at around 1:30 AM. I met Michael Cartwright at 7:00 PM at the trail head at Highpoint Way. We had a surprise last minute participant Rob "Rattler" Hester who also met us at 7:00 PM.

We had beautiful weather with the temperature at the start being 73 degrees. It stayed light until 11:00 PM when we made the 4th Summit at East Tiger. As we headed back down East it was as if someone had flipped a switch. We had put our headlamps on at the summit of East. Rob and Micheal both had some auxiliary hand held flashlights that could knock small animals from trees with their sun like brightness.

Things were going quite well but Rob started to feel a bit queasy from the climbing demands the course offers. He wasn't complaining but he was being more quiet that normal.

I managed to ram my two smallest toes into a rock on the trail. I fouled the air with f-bombs as I walked the jammed toes pain off. Micheal assured me that I did not damage the rock in any way when I kicked it and that it would be fine. A short while later the trail became much less technical and I tripped over a log that was across the trail for trail erosion and landed in a heap on a very smooth soft trail. I bounced up and was running without any major aches or pains.

When we made the half way point (17 miles) I pulled the cooler I had stashed at the trial head out and we all drank and refueled. Michael had run dry of water before making the turn and lamented that he should have taken on water earlier. Rob was starting to experience some nausea and was not feeling to good.

We stashed the cooler and headed out for the second round of summits. We approached the long 5 mile climb back to South Tiger with a very reasonable pace that mostly involved power hiking with short runs in the traverses.

When we made it to the out and back trail head for South Tiger Rob was really feeling bad. We sat at the trail head and tried to rest for a while to see if Rob would start feeling any better. After about 15 minutes we headed up the trial to tag the survey marker at the top of South Tiger. Upon reaching the summit we sat down again and Rob was not feeling any better. We had a choice, we could continue for another tough 12 miles or turn back to the Tiger Mt. Road Trail Head and have someone meet us there.

I really wanted to attempt this 24 summit event this weekend but it seemed like a pretty selfish decision to choose to go on with Rob feeling so bad. Having a college student living at home has it's perks. I know my son Riley does not go to bed until around 3AM. I have him a call from the top of South Tiger and asked him to come rescue us at the Tiger Mt. Road Trail head. He was on his way and so were we down to the road.

We met Riley just as we emerged from the trail onto the road. Our timing was excellent. Riley shuttled us back to our cars at High Point Way trail head. Rob, Riley, and Michael headed home. It was a good decision to pull Rob off the Mt. and Micheal was thinking that he was in for some trying times as well so it was probably best in the long haul.

Thanks to Michael and Rob for taking on the night run with me. I appreciate your help and really enjoyed the run with you guys.

I remembered a couple of our Y-Run Club members were meeting at 4AM to climb Mt. Si. I gave them a call at 3AM and asked if I could join them for their run. We determined a meeting place and with about 30 minutes to kill I took a nap in my car. I woke up just in time to see Lesa and Jane pull into the parking lot.

We got to the trail head and got started on the run by 4AM. Mt. Si is an 8 mile run with 4 miles uphill and 4 miles down. The overall elevation climb is about 3600 feet. I think Lesa could have run half the distance up the Mt. but Jane and I were working hard at power hiking. It took us two hours to summit but the view was worth it. We all spread out on the way down the Mt. I was hanging with Lesa for about the first 2.5 miles and then I got hit with a bonk. I found a place to sit and took a shot of Hammer Gel and ate a PB & Honey sandwich. It didn't take long for the food to take effect and I was once again running down the Mt. The trail is chunky with lots of embedded rocks and roots.

We encountered many hikers and runners climbing as we descended. I was within ear shot of the trail head when I saw three hikers below me heading up the trail. I looked up to see which side of the trial they were on and I rammed my already sore toe into another rock. This time I crashed hard on some large and small rocks that simulated a cheese grater. I smacked my left knee, elbow, and shoulder as I rolled down the trail. I was hurting pretty bad and laying there trying to do an assessment of my injuries. The three hikers came up to me concerned having seen me crash and helped me up. Aside from the lacerations on my knee, elbow, forearm, and shoulder I did something to my ribs. The rib thing concerns me the most. If feels kind of like I was hit with an arrow with a sore entry point in front and a sore exit wound to the rear. I seem to be able to take deep breaths without any real discomfort so maybe I just strained some muscles. Time will tell if klutz boy will need to curtail my running to allow things to heal up.

Tomorrow I'm planning on running across the Tacoma Narrows Bridge with our Y Run Club. I've not run the new bridge span. It's a very large suspension bridge and I'm looking forward to the opportunity.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Cheers!

24 Summits - ON AGAIN!

2008-06-20T09:00:00.000-07:00

A local runner Michael Cartwright has volunteered to run the 12 summit night section on Tiger Mt. with me so my second annual 24 summit epic run adventure is on again this weekend! This run is 68 miles with 20,500 feet of climbing. The weather looks like it may cooperate so it should be a great training run. I may end up running all or part of the daytime 12 summits tomorrow solo but the night section was the part I didn't want to run on my own. Last year the second 12 summit run was slow with a lot of death marches on the steep inclines. Makes you appreciate the traverses!

Have a great weekend of running!

Trail Scat

Mellow Weekend - Tagged

2008-06-15T20:44:00.000-07:00

I enjoyed a mellow weekend of running without going out and doing some insane trail run or distance event. Michelle and I ran 5.2 miles around Lake Padden in Bellingham Washington on Saturday and I joined Rob "Rattler" Hester for an easy 15 this morning in and around Orting Washington.

Earlier this week I was tagged by Bad Ben. I'm not much for rules when it comes to tags so I'll answer the questions but I'll spare you from a tag.

1- How would you describe your running 10 years ago?

Routinely running 3 miles in the morning 5 days a week. All my runs were on the road and alone. I was running 5K's and 10K's and actually placed in the top three overall once when all the fast guys slept in one day.

2-What is your best and worst run/race experience?

My best experience was crossing the finish line of Cascade Crest 100 miler. My worst was my DNF at Western States 100 at the top of Devils Thumb.

3- Why do you run?

Chicks dig it.

4- What is the best or worst piece of advice you've been given about running?

The best: Recovery is over rated. The worst: 1978 - Orthopedic surgeon suggested that I should never run on the knee he rebuilt for me after a wrestling injury in college. I held off 13 years then started running again sans my left ACL.

5- Tell us something surprising about yourself that not many people would know.

My steely nerves have allowed me to compress a 30 second free fall while skydiving into about 8 seconds. I suppose I have the ability to count really really fast! It goes like... 1-2-3-skip a few-60. Doing so gives you a lot more time under a canopy. I quit that silly sport after 10 jumps. Couldn't control my survival instinct to pull the chute.

NOTE: My 34 Summits attempt has fizzled so I'll just be running another 12 summits next weekend.

Cheers!

Weekend Warrior Runner - R2R & NODM

2008-06-09T15:10:00.000-07:00

Photo: Autostock

The phone rang @ 5:00 AM Saturday morning. Our Y-Run Club relay team needed a runner because one of the guys had been called to investigate a crime scene. I had volunteered to be the reserve runner for the team because it looked like their team captain George wasn't going to be able to run due to some flu like symptoms. I'd gotten an email from George on Friday night telling me he was good to go so I thought I was off the hook. I ended up running leg three of the relay at a blistering pace and then the primary runner was able to show up to finish his other two legs. It was fun to participate and I got in a 5K which about the same distance I had planned to run that morning with our run club.

Michelle's 6 person team for the Rainier to Ruston 50mile Relay started the first of 12 legs at 8:00AM. Check Michelle's blog for full details and pictures.

When the relay ended and the awards were presented Margaret Barrett, Michelle, and I loaded up our car and headed to dinner. After dinner we drove to Port Angeles for the North Olympic Discovery Marathon (NODM). We met up with Abi in Port Angeles and dropped Margaret off. They were sharing a hotel room in town. Michelle and I had made our reservations eons ago and headed to our Super 8 hotel. Not the best choice of hotels but we hit the hay and tried to get as much sleep as possible before catching the shuttle bus to the start of this point to point marathon.

We picked up Abi & Margaret in the morning and caught the 7:00 AM bus. This put us at the start at about 7:40. NODM uses a nice community center to stage the runners before the event. It's large, warm, and has plenty of bathrooms and porta pottys. It's a nice time to meet some of the runners and relax before the race.

My game plan was to maintain a moderate pace for the first 20 miles and then hammer in the last 6.2. On some advice from a former participant I was told I should probably hold off on the big push until around mile 22.

The course is best described as flat with some moderate rolling sections and about four steep climbs out of some gullys. The bigger dips and valleys were between mile 18 and 22.

All went to plan and I felt really good at mile 20. I picked it up a bit but was holding back some for the next two miles. When I'm racing one of the things I like to do is pick a person in front of me to catch up with. Once I catch them I tuck in behind them for about a quarter mile to recover and then move on the the next victim. I had a young very fit looking runner pass me toward the end of mile 21. We had been playing cat and mouse the second half of the race. When he passed he looked strong and I decided to hitch on and try to keep up. Apparently he wasn't in a very cordial mood when it came to someone drafting him because he gave me a bunch of attitude and told me to get away from him. His approach shocked me and didn't sit well considering I was in full race mode and feeling just a little competitive at the time. I'm sure I had a touch of tude in my voice when I responded that I was just drafting him. Long story short, I don't think we will be drinking beers together anytime soon. Takes two to tango.... if I'd just let what I perceived as a pissy comment go I probably wouldn't be writing this right now.

The last miles were long but I pushed hard and was able to trigger the gun timer at 3:30:05. My Garmin time was 10 seconds faster than that. That's a PR for the year and I feel great today.

The runner that I had the run-in (pun intended) with walked by me a few minutes after the race. Perhaps our little incident did him some good because he got a PR with this being his second marathon. I'm glad he did well. He looked capable of running a much faster race so I'll probably see him at races in the future. Hopefully it will be before the race when we both aren't full of testosterone.

Now I have two weeks before my scheduled 36 Summits attempt. I've been giving it some long consideration and I know I will go for at least 24 Summits. I'm concerned that the 102 miles and 31,500 feet of climbing for the 36 Summit run might just be considered over training just 6 weeks out from the Canadian Death Race. Hester will probably tell me that bones heal in 6 weeks but I'd like to keep active before the race.

PEACE OUT

Mad Monkey 12 Summit Mt. Run

2008-06-01T17:39:00.000-07:00

A week ago Steve Stoyles and I ended up running the Sound to Narrows 12K (S2N12K) course together. Many other Y-Run Club members were also running the course with aspirations of doing well at the annual gut-check event that's coming up the second week of June. The course winds down through Pt. Defiance Park which is also the location of the Tacoma Zoo. As Steve and I ran toward the zoo we heard the monkey's hooting and hollering. When we got closer I started yelling back at them. Steve joined in and before we knew it we had all the monkey's calling back to us.

Fast forward to Thursday evening last week at our post-run coffee. Michelle was throwing around names for a marathon distance training run she is trying to put together. Steve suggested a name with the word Monkey in it but it was met with opposition. While we couldn't convince anyone to use the word monkey in the runs name it captured Steve's and my imaginations.

I picked up Steve at 5:30AM on Saturday to head out for our 12 Summits run on Tiger Mountain. It was soon apparent through our conversations and our loud monkey calls in the car that our theme for the day would be "Mad Monkey Runners".

The Mad Monkey Runners got their start at about 6:45AM after dropping our supplies at the turn. Steve had only run 12 Summits once before last year and was looking forward to this run. We paced ourselves early by falling into power hike or "Monkey Motion" mode on some of the early hills that are runnable in the beginning miles. As we climbed the Nook and Section Line trails that seem to go straight up Steve busted into total Mad Monkey mode. Our run pretty much went like this for the next 33 miles or so. Check out my yellow bug eyes!

The pictures below prove that we morphed into Mad Monkey Runners with 10 times the strength of a human. The bottom picture is an attempt to show the grade on Section Line trail. It really does not look so bad in the picture.

We ran into Scott Jurek on the trail at the South trailhead of the Preston Railroad grade and chatted for a couple of minutes. We also ran into Brian Morrison near Zeig's Zag on the TMT. Both of these running icons had a couple of runners with them doing limited mileage training runs. Jurek was bummed that the sun wasn't shining so he could work on his tan.

The Mad Monkey's would yell jump around and make monkey hoots and screams as we made each summit. On our way back from the turn we made it up the monster climb on Middle Tiger and let out our monkey calls. As we headed down the other side we met a couple hiking up. They had heard our mad monkey calls and actually told us it sounded like a bunch of monkeys! They both had big smiles on their faces and seemed to understand to our monkey madness summit celebration.

The Mad Monkey's fueled well, hydrated well, and took our S-Caps on an hourly basis. We didn't monkey around when it came to the important stuff. This coupled with our early diligence with our "Monkey Motion" forward progress allowed us to finish strong on the last three miles of the "Highway" trail down from T3. Oh and bears must be afraid of monkeys because we didn't see any.

I followed my own advice and took a 20min ice bath when I got home. My legs feel great today! This was a back to back 12 summit week for me and back to back 50K distance for Steve as well. Our time for the 34 miles with 10,500 feet of climbing was 8:32. Not far off last weeks effort.

Enjoy your runs and don't be a bad monkey!

Bear Meat 12 Summits

2008-05-30T13:08:00.000-07:00

12 Summits at Tiger Mt. was so much fun last weekend that I plan to run it again this weekend. At least this time I'll be in the company of Steve Stoyles the human GPS. Hopefully I won't find myself on some new trail and adding extra credit miles to an already taxing run.

I hope we get an opportunity to see a bear on the course however I'm sure the chances are low with all the jabbering that Steve and I do during our runs. Rob Hester has advised me to consider using some of his "visualized" wildlife self defense moves on any bears we may encounter. I guess pretty much any move is allowable. I think my first move if attacked would be to litter the trail with anything I happen to be carrying including clothing if it helps slow the progress and buys time. If I'm caught my next move would be to play dead followed by the please just let this be over with move, and hopefully with a final "I hope I don't bleed to death before help arrives move. Maybe I can get Steve to mule my bear spray for me however bear spray+steve+eric=trouble. Why did you spray me you SOB! I didn't know it was pointing toward you! Oh so you were trying to spray yourself you D#*#S**t! No I was just.....

My recovery from last week has gone slow and my quads are still barking at me. Tear em up and build em up is my motto when it comes to training for hills. I will seek out a large body of cold water or an ice bath after the run to hopefully prevent the pain I experienced this week. It's not like I had to use the handicap bars in the restroom but I thought about it a couple of times.

The picture at the beginning of this post is from an old Canadian archive of a trained wrestling bear. According to PETA it's against the law in 20 US states to wrestle bears. I guess I'll need to look up the local laws pertaining to our state to see if Steve and I can even engage with a bear. We could try the "NO! That's against the law!" move on the bear to see how it reacts.

I'll report back on our adventure on Sunday.

Happy running!

Tiger Mt. 12 Summits Solo Run

2008-05-25T18:47:00.000-07:00

slideshow - Powered by Smilebox" src="http://www.smilebox.com/globalImages/blogInstructions/blogLogoSmileboxSmall.gif" width=386>
Make a Smilebox slideshow

With the Canadian Death Race looming in my future it's time to start a training routine that will prepare me for success. Fortunately we have the perfect training grounds about 40 miles from our home at Tiger Mt. in the Issaquah Alps.

I posted for a running partner on our Y-Run Club web site but couldn't get any takers for a 34 mile unsupported trail run with 10,500 feet of climbing. I got comments like " you just have a fun solo there".

On my way to the starting point I dropped a cooler at the half way point of the run at the trailhead off of Tiger Mt. Road with water, food, and a clean shirt. I got to the High Point Trailhead to start the run at 6:30 AM.

Section Line trail hasn't gotten any less steep. Somehow I was hoping that erosion may have somehow worn away the steep slope but it was not to be. I made a wrong turn as I went down "descended (in Canada)" Middle Tiger and ended up on the TMT heading back around to T1. It took me about half a mile to realize that things were not as they should be before I turned around and headed back. I'd blame the wrong turn on my running partner but I guess that only works when you have one.

12 Summits Profile

I ran into Brian Morrison and a running buddy of his as I was starting my climb up South Tiger. Brian warned me of a mama b-bear and cub that they had seen near the turn at the stump that takes you to the summit off the South Tiger Traverse. He said mama bear was real stubborn and was holding her ground instead of moving along. I thanked him for the warning and found myself shouting out "Hey Bear!" every now and then to keep the element of surprise down. Other than a few squirrels and a mouse all I saw of the bear was a couple of ill defined tracks on the trail.

I made it down to the half way point and pulled out my cooler for some food. I had expected rain but instead it was sunny and kind of muggy. I stocked up on water and ditched my gloves, hat, extra shirt in my cooler and headed back.

On my way back to South Tiger I ran into Laura Houston and a group of runners she was with. They were running to the half way point and car-pooling back. I continued my journey and struggled some on the huge climbs back up Middle Tiger and T1. My only fall came when I was tippy toeing through a muddy section and stepped on a stick to keep from sinking in too deep. Well my foot landed on the stick and then shot out the wrong direction. I felt an immediate pull in my right calf as I fell but caught myself before doing a face plant in the mud. I stood up and my calf was in a fist-like cramp. I was about 6 miles from the finish and was hoping it wasn't a serious injury. Fortunately it turned out to just be a bad cramp and within a few minutes I was running pain free. With the heat I was out of water after climbing Middle Tiger and filled my water bottles from a stream. Having learned the hard way not to drink stream water I used my Steripen on my two handhelds and enjoyed the cold water treat. This was a life saver for the climb up T1.

When I made it to the top of T3 it was like someone had driven a tour bus to the top and kicked everyone off. I have not seen so many people on the summit before. There must have been 45 people just taking in the view and sunbathing. Running down the "highway" I encountered many red faced hikers making the 3 mile climb to T3. It made the last few miles go fast as I made it to the parking lot and finished my run. It was a good "time on my feet" run that took 8 hours.

I headed up to North Bend and met up with Michelle who had run 19.5 miles in the NB2V run held by Shawn Lawson. Michelle had car-pooled up with Steve Stoyles, Bob Stoyles, and Sydnee Stoyles. Steve ran 32 miles, and Bob ran 11 miles. Sydnee ran 19.5 with Michelle.

Under the "Total Bummer" category. When we went to pick up my cooler we arrived just in time to help two other cars move a dead tree that had fallen right at the Tiger Mt. Road trailhead. The bad news is some unlucky hiker or runner had their fairly new Toyota Landcruiser parked right where it landed. It crushed the roof at the front window pillars and crushed it to the dash board. The impact blew out the windshield and both front door side windows. We left before the owner came out but it wouldn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what happened.

This morning 8 Y-Run Club members headed out to Kent WA and ran a 5 mile jaunt on the Soos Creek trail. We of course stopped at the nearest Starbucks for some java jive after the run.

THE END

Tacoma City Marathon 2008

2008-05-10T22:09:00.000-07:00

Elevation Profile Tacoma City Marathon

Sometimes even an experienced long distance runner is reminded of the three cardinal rules of marathon. They are of course 1)Pace, 2) Pace, 3) Pace. Two weeks ago at Big Sur I let those three rules slip from my grasp and was reminded at about mile 22 that you must respect the distance. My reward came of course in the form of leg cramps and some short painful death marches.

With that experience clearly etched into my mind I chose to hang with the 3:40 pacers at Tacoma City Marathon today. My typical MO is generally to go out too fast. I have proven that this technique does not work on a consistent basis but have resisted to learn from my mistakes. In 53 marathon or greater distances I have only run negative splits twice. Once in Seattle which with hills late in the course is somewhat of an oddity and once today. What both days had in common was that I started the races out at a reasonable pace just below my goal time.

The pacers for the 3:40 crowd were Marathon Maniac #1 and Marathon Maniac #2, Steve Yee and Chris Warren respectively. I hung with them for the first 20 miles and then picked up the pace. Instead of my death march from two weeks ago I actually had some wheels and finished strong with a 3:34:17 and a Boston Qualifier.

I've got a busy weekend and a couple of crazy work days coming up but will post some pictures (I didn't get many) when I can get back on my home computer.

Cheers!
Eric

Big Sur Marathon Race Report 2008

2008-04-30T18:37:00.000-07:00

Make a slideshow - it's easy!

Our weekend in Monterey California for the Big Sur Marathon was special on so many levels I don't know where to start!

First I was able to finagle a deal with the Hertz Rental Car place and get a Nissan 350Z sports car for the trip. I had fun with it and Michelle will get over being mad at me sometime.
Michelle and I hit the expo on Saturday and picked up our bibs and purchased our finisher shirts. We then went south and drove the course. I think that's when I first upset Michelle as I drove the 350Z car along the twisty roads along the coast. It sure seemed like a long drive to Big Sur where the race started. We spent the rest of the day relaxing and touring Cannery Row.

We met for dinner with Donald, Dori, Dave - Dori's husband, Darrell, and Tyler - Darrell's son. After being seated Donald responding to a challenge I put up to him on his recent Nuun posting broke out a tube of Nuun tablets and passed them out to Darrell, Tyler, and myself. The challenge asked if Donald was tough enough to let a Nuun tablet dissolve on his tongue. Well apparently he is. Darrell, Tyler, and yes me are also in the ranks of dumb ass runners who have let a Nuun tablet dissolve on their tongue. We should start a club. Dave, Michelle and Dori were witness to and also intelligent enough to decline the challenge. I'm not so sure we had the right tablets to compliment the pasta but our meal was great! Perhaps it was the company. Dori, Michelle, and I were running the marathon. Tyler and Donald were running in the marathon relay. Darrell is on the last bit of recovery from a stress fracture of his tibia, and Dave was the only sane person who has not allowed running to permeate his soul.

We had a good nights sleep and bounced out of bed at 3:00AM to get ready and go catch the 4:15 bus to the Big Sur starting line. To prove that this was a special weekend we were loaded on a Short Bus to the start. Little did I know how appropriate this was based on my race performance. It was a clear morning without any fog. Donald being the local and resident guide told me that the weather does not get any better for this race as it was that day. Having to sit for two hours waiting for the start was not something I was looking forward to but surprisingly it was warm enough that we all sat outside with comfort. Ahhhh California! It was a bit of a panic at the start because it seemed like they didn't start lining everyone up on time. People continued to pour from the waiting area onto the course start as the 6:15 hour quickly approached. Buzzards circled overhead. We didn't miss the official start time by very much if at all. The start was preceded by the National Anthem sung by a local entertainer who while a bit cabaret showed his ability to go from the low ranges to the high ranges. He made the song his own. His second song, no wait he didn't sing a second song... I'm so confused!

The course was beautiful. There were sections with wind but I tucked behind some of the taller runners and drafted through these sections. The drummers at the start of the Hurricane Point two mile climb where awesome and inspiring. The views were stupendous, and I was stupid. Looking back I ran several 7:10 - 7:15 pace miles. I ran a 7:30 the first mile up Hurricane Point and a 7:20 the second mile. I continued to goe fast on the downhills (declines for those in Canada). As we headed to the bridge I looked ahead and saw a runner with a pack on. This guys muscle definition in his legs was incredible. As I caught up to him I realized it was Dean Karnaze the author of Ultramarathon Man. I ran with Dean for a couple of miles. He had run from the finish line to the start the same morning of the race and was now running back to the finish for a round trip with 26.2 extra credit miles for his training. He is getting ready to run the Gobi Desert race series. He asked me what I had coming up and I said the Death Race. I was feeling OK during this time so I left Dean in my wake and continued toward the finish line. Unfortunately I soon started to feel "adult onset marathon cramping" in my legs. I met up with Donald at some point before the strawberry aid station where they served chilled fresh strawberries. Yum Yum! Donald pushed me when I didn't have much left. He's fast, in shape and totally ready for Miwok! We were probably going way too fast but I'm certain in the end it really didn't have much effect on my overall outcome. In fact it probably helped keep me from starting my slowdown sooner. I started going through a very difficult time fighting cramps in my inner thighs from the road camber and calf cramps. I had to start a run walk routine that lasted much longer than I would have liked. Donald went back to find another friend that was behind us to run him in as it seemed I was destined to do a death march. While I was running and walking I started eating Gu and downed to more S-Caps. It didn't take very long and I was able to do a fairly quick shuffle instead of the run walk. I managed to finish within my "A" plan time with three min. to spare at 3:47. BTW, DK passed me in the last couple of miles.

The finishing medals are unique and appear to be cast from some sort of thermosetting urethane with a leather neck strap. The finishing area was well stocked with food when I came in but apparently got depleted before Michelle was able to finish. There was a beer garden at the finish but I chose not to partake. At the five hour mark I started back up the course to meet with Michelle. As I walked up the course I cheered the runners on and promised them that there were no more hills! I had a lot of fun and enjoyed encouraging the runners and congratulating them on a job well done. I was surprised to meet up with Michelle just a mile and a half from the finish. She really crushed the course when you consider she ran one of her better times on this tough hilly course. We ran in together until we got into the controlled finish area and I went around to meet her at the finish line food area.

We met a few new Marathon Maniacs from Canada and other parts of the US at the race but there was not a major presence. The MM jersey's are a great way to meet new people with similar interests.

Michelle and I caught a bus back to Monterey and were lucky enough to have it drop us off at our hotel rather than walking the half mile from the pickup and drop off point downtown. We got cleaned up and went on a mission to find a good burger and fries. We found a place on Cannery Row and had an early dinner. We met up with Dori and Dave at the local Peet's Coffee later in the evening and enjoyed a cup and some conversation.

I left Michelle on her own in Monterey on Monday and made some sales calls to some prospective customers I had researched on the Internet. It was a fairly productive day and I was able to avoid any major traffic issues and get back to Michelle around 6:00 PM. Tuesday was dedicated to travel which started with a really great breakfast in downtown Monterey.

It's good to be home but we sure had a great time at this Marathon. I would encourage you to consider this race if you have not had the chance to run it before. It's not a PR course but it truly is one of the most beautiful courses I've ever run.

Thanks for reading!

Rumble on!

OMEN or just Weird

2008-04-24T12:31:00.000-07:00

I don't think this rates up there with finding an image of the Virgin Mary in a toasted cheese sandwich but check this out:

The foam residue from a cup of hot chocolate I had yesterday dried in the image of a runner with mountains in the background! Is this a good thing? Should I continue to run? I don't know if I should wash the cup or go on a national tour? Will I need crowd control in my neighborhood? Will I too be able to go on FOX and wish the final five contestants on American Idol good luck and thank AI for all their work raising money for the sick, the poor, and Simon? Help me! Help me answer all these questions!

Cold Moscow Mt. Run

2008-04-22T18:00:00.000-07:00

Scott

Sadie

Me

I've been tagged by a couple of folks for the six word memoir which I will include at the end of this post. Don't worry, I'm not going to tag anyone else because the whole thing seems to have run it's course.

A couple of the Barnes boys, namely me and my son Riley headed out last weekend to Pullman Washington. Riley is transferring to Washington State University next year and he was attending the transfer student orientation. He toured campus and was able to register for his classes for the first semester. Michelle spent a quiet weekend at home.

I chose not to attend the parent program so I had some time on my hands. I contacted fellow Marathon Maniac #760 Scott "Glass Knees" McMurtrey who lives in Pullman and works at WSU and asked if he would mind having a running partner on his Sunday run. On Saturday while Riley and I were traveling to Pullman Scott was up scouting out the trails on Moscow Mt. in Idaho.

Riley and I went to breakfast at a restaurant named English Breakfast. Whoa! Big food, fresh OJ, expensive. We went away with our bellies full. Riley got checked in and I ran him up to the campus. I met Scott and his dog Sadie in town and we headed out to Moscow Mt. Sadie was a bit shy at first but before long she was shoving her head under my arm for some petting.

As we entered the town of Moscow Idaho Scott pointed out the larger peaks of the ridge of hills known as Moscow Mt. Due to heavy snowpack our run was limited to a 5.5 mile loop on the lower section. We started out at about 3000 feet and climbed to 3600 feet. It snowed lightly on us as we climbed up the road and then single track trail. Sadie was zooming all over the place. Scott mentioned that he had seen moose while on this run. We kept our eyes peeled but didn't see any during this run. The trails were nice with very few rocks or roots and a thick carpet of pine needles. Ponderosa Pine are all about as you meander up the switchbacks and valleys along the trail. Sadie for the most part stayed ahead of us and continually swept back and forth. Scott wants to put a Garmin on her collar and see just how many miles she runs during this loop. My guess is that she would be up to at least 7 miles, perhaps 10. We had to traverse quite a few icy snow patches but the run was very enjoyable.

We had a nice easy run which was what I was looking for since I've started my taper for Big Sur. It was probably all the effort I could have mustered up anyway after the big breakfast I had eaten that morning. When we got back to the car we decided to head into Moscow for some hot chocolate and coffee to warm up a bit. It snowed as we drove the two miles into town and ended up at a coffee shop called One World Coffee. It was a cool shop with doors hanging from the ceiling and walls with a cluster that I can only describe as a stationary mobile. I've not seen the movie Monsters Inc. but Scott tells me that the doors remind him of the portals that the Monsters used. After coffee we headed back to Pullman and went our separate ways.

When Riley and I were going out to breakfast on Saturday we noticed a group of runners participating in a race. Turns out it was the WSU 100K Relay and Solo event. I had Michelle check out the website on line from our house and headed up to the WSU Fieldhouse where the finish line was set up. Turns out Marathon Maniac Robert Towne was participating in the run. I ran with Robert for a few miles at Chuckanut Mt. 50K this year. He is training for his first 100 miler at Western States. This was his first 100K. He not only smoked it but he also got first place. His official time was 9:49:45. I chatted with a bunch of the relay runners and spoke with Nancy Chaney the Mayor of Moscow who happened to be at the finish to support the runners and race organizers. I had fun killing time here as Riley finished up his tours and seminars.
Robert Towne

For those of you who have not discovered Craig's blog check out this runners prayer.

OK, here's my 6 word memoir:
"Believe the incredible, Do the improbable"

I'll leave you with this: Well behaved woman and men rarely become famous.

Peterson Ridge Rumble

2008-04-14T17:20:00.000-07:00

Enjoy the following slide show:

Make a postcard - it's easy!

I will be adding a new feature to my blog this week to describe our experience at the Peterson Ridge Rumble in Sisters Oregon.

LOST & FOUND

Lost - Legs, in the vicinity of mile 18 of Peterson Ridge Rumble. If found please return to Trail Scat.

Found - 80 degree weather in and about Sisters Oregon with an ample portion of heat training.

Lost - Traction on the icy "luge" section on our way to the "grunt".

Found - Ice cold Black Butte Porter beer at the finish thanks to Wendy's husband!

Lost - S-Caps somewhere between my car and the start of the race!

Found - Generous runners Olga, Herb, & Karen who kept Mr. Crampy at bay by sharing S-Caps with me.

Lost - Missed a marker and started heading the wrong direction until someone behind me gave a yell. Karen W. and a couple other runners took a much longer tour of the same error.

Found - Controlled burns in Sisters area that made for a smoky hotel stay.

Lost - About 5K distance on the alternative course due to deep snow.

Found - A great barbecued cheeseburger at the finish line cooked by a master volunteer!

Lost - It, as in crashed, at a transition from trail to a cross road about mile 4. It's just not a trail run unless you get to do a dirt dive and bleed a little.

Found - A very relaxing weekend with Michelle and a bunch of great ultra runners!

I enjoyed running with Herb Reeves of Olympia whom I ran with for at least the first half of the Rumble. Thanks to Sean Meissner and all the great volunteers who made this run such an enjoyable experience.

Rumble On Runners!
Trail Scat

Yakima Marathon Recap

2008-04-11T07:50:00.000-07:00

Michelle & Sydnee

I have not been very quick to the trigger with this post. It's not that Yakima wasn't an enjoyable marathon but I've been traveling on business and busy with things like taxes and covenant amendments.

Yakima Marathon is a very friendly race. It's 400 + runners are comprised of many 100 marathon club members as well as 50 State members. There is a pre-race dinner, post race dinner, and post race breakfast.

The Yakima course is a point to point from Ellensberg to Selah Washington. It is a closed course running along the Yakima River Canyon. The scenery is beautiful with the river to your right as you run through the canyon carved by the river. There are many columnar basalt outcroppings that are huge crystals formed from magma that has oozed from fissures in the earths crust eons ago. I think Bob Dolphin and Mel Preedy watched the crystal form.

The morning started with a meeting at 5:50AM in Selah to catch busses to the starting line. The hotel at the starting line has a nice hospitality building that the participants hang out in until the start at 8:00AM. It was a cold morning at about 28 degrees but sunny. It eventually warmed up to near 50 towards the end of the day. Heck I even got some sunburn on my face from the great weather.

The race results are here. Steve Stoyles and I ran the entire race together. We had fun chit chatting with many runners along the way. Steves daughter Sydnee and Jessica were running their first marathons. Michelle ran with Sydnee for the entire distance. Jessica started running with our Y-Run Club last year as the only participant in our Couch to 5K program. She ran her first 5K last April and now she's completed a marathon!

Abi, Marco, Lisa, and Michelle S. also participated in the marathon. Abi had family in the area so she had a nice contingent of fans to cheer her on. Marco got to run his first marathon in Washington. He hung with Steve and I until about mile 13 and then backed off to the finish. Michelle S. ran with little training but the knowledge that she had crossed the line before. She looked a bit sore after the run. Ray & Jane were also in the mix with Jane's sister running her first marathon.

Abi

Off to run trails this weekend in Sisters Oregon. The Petterson Ridge Rumble was a last second decision but it's a run I've wanted to do for a few years.

Run Happy! Thanks for reading!Michelle S.

Jessica left Maple Valley Runners below Jane & Sis left Lisa and Annie Rt.

Big Dreams

2008-03-23T18:50:00.000-07:00

The following post was inspired by your comments from my last post regarding the huge cinnamon roll.

I have a friend and running buddy who is challenged by all things big. Before I met him another runner we have come to know quite well ran into my friend at a garage sale. This other runner happened to be wearing a marathon shirt. My friend mentioned that he was training to run the Portland Marathon. The other runner (tc) asked him about his training and experience with running. My friend told tc that he had never run any sort of organized race other than some high school running. I think tc probably told him to respect the distance and wished my friend good luck. My friend trained, then ran his first organized race, the Portland Marathon.

After running a few marathons my friend then set his sights on ultra running with 50K’s, 50 milers, and eventually the 100 mile Cascade Crest Classic. At the time I was running marathon and was considering dropping back down to ½ marathons because I enjoyed the speed and competition. I was of the opinion that anyone crazy enough to run a 50K or greater distance was indeed crazy. A 100 miler hinged on absolutely insane.

Rob “Rattler” Hester has not only gone big with running but I recognize a trend in other parts of his life as well. As an example he has four children. He is working on finishing up his Masters of Education while working in his first year teaching in special education.

His quirky affinity toward all that is large is also evident in his diet. I have two examples that I would like to share with you.

First I’d like to show you the “Mound Burger” that Rob discovered as we were running the Rainier to Pacific Relay last summer. This burger was practically as big as a dinner plate. Rob consumed the first ¾ of the burger without too much difficulty but the final section was obviously a challenge for him to chew and swallow. He actually managed to eat the entire burger and ran a couple of good legs in the relay powered by the Mound Burger.

Last week we went as a group to Stuffy’s Restaurant in Kelso WA after the finish of Pacific Rim 24 HR. It was as if the eatery knew about Rob’s affinity toward all things big. Right in the entry way of the restaurant there stood a glass display with a mirror backing that contained the largest cinnamon rolls I have ever seen in my life. As Rob entered he locked on to the sugary confections and it was as if the display was pulling him toward it. I’m sure he had his mind made up; he was going to eat one of those mongo cinnamon rolls if it killed him.

The Pacific Rim 24 hour had not gone as planned for Rob. His “A” plan was to run at least 100 miles. In the end, his energy level was low and he ended up running 41 miles. When the waitress brought the cinnamon roll to Rob the entire table of 10 runners stared in awe at the size and spectacle of the beast. Rob dug in with determination. Each runner was faced with our own challenge as we received our breakfasts because it seems Stuffy’s is known for their massive portions. As we all worked on finishing our meals Rob began to slow down. In the end he only really managed to finish about 1/8 the of the roll before he offered up some samples to the rest of us. It seemed that Rob had been enlightened twice that weekend on when to quit while he was ahead. He got the waitresses attention and asked to have it wrapped so he could take it home to share with his family.

I don’t know if this is a turning point in Rob’s running career or simply an off weekend. I do know that I appreciate Rob’s enthusiasm, stories, motivation, and insight. He’s the one I can blame for introducing me to trail running and shown me that what seems impossible can be achieved. He has motivated both Michelle and I to achieve what we never felt was possible with our running. We have had a lot of help from a bunch of people but Rob’s accomplishments have driven us to our own dreams come true.

I know that Rob will see big potential from his students, his family, runners, and his community. I hope and pray that his vision to “go big, or stay home” will translate to others achieving more in life than they ever thought possible. Thanks Rob!

50 Cubed

2008-03-16T18:55:00.000-07:00

It was a 50's weekend! I ran my 50th Marathon or greater distance race at Chuckanut , It was a 50K, and Michelle ran her first 50 miler at Pacific Rim 24 hour!

Shawn Lawson finishing Chuckanut 50K. How did I get that picture?results

Jenny and Michelle finishing their first 50 miler at Pacific Rim 24HR

Steve Stoyles finishing Pacific Rim with 105 miles, His first 100 miler.

Lisa Bliss 2007 womans winner of Badwater running at Pacific Rim 24 HR.

Rob "Rattler" Hester talking to his cardiologist before attempting to eat the worlds largest cinnamon roll.

Chuckanut 50K had good weather this year with just light rain at the start and a few spittles along the way. The temperature was perfect at around 45 degrees F. I arrived at the start at 7:00 AM after walking just a short 1/4 mile from my fathers home where I spent the night. The race seemed to have a lot of late arrivals with a long line of people still trying to pickup race bibs and chips just 10 min. before the start. The race seemed to start on time and I tried to work my way up to the front third of the pack. The first 6 miles of the run are on a fairly wide gravel trail with just a short section going to single track along a small creek. Eric Gierke a Marathon Maniac took the first fall of the day in this section making a mud dive and scraping up his knee. Annie Thiessen was witness to his crash and was trying to tend to Eric. Since I knew Annie was a potential front runner I encouraged her to move on and that I'd make sure Eric was OK. She took off and ended up placing 3rd. Eric was fine once he got moving again. It always sucks the joy out of a run when you crash, especially when it's in the early miles. The first aid station is located at mile 6 and then you head out to the first real climbing. The middle section of the run which is about 18 miles is on or around Chuckanut Mt. and has one epic climb they call chinscraper. The trails were muddy but I was glad that I was up in the top third of the pack because they were going to get much worse as more runners stirred it up. I stayed steady in the climbing and went to a 50-50 pace walk/run in the tough parts to keep my momentum going. This worked well for me. When I hit the last aid station with 6 miles to go I was feeling good after a long down hill run. As soon as I hit the slight up hill grade of the flat trail I felt a bit heavy legged. I managed to run about 2 miles and then I started my 50-50 routine again. I finally got my legs back with just two miles to go and ran it in. With a time of 5:34:40 I shaved 10 min. from my time last year. I saw Bushwacker, Olga, & Gail from Oregon at the finish.

After the race I showered at my dad's place and then jumped in the car for the drive down to Longview WA where Michelle, Steve, Rob, Jenny, Cat, and Jamal were running the Pacific Rim 24HR. The five hour drive when surprisingly well and I didn't need to stop for any rest along the way. Jess Mullen, and Leslie Miller who both ran Chuckanut 50K also came down to the race and were attempting to run another 50K distance. Crazy women! The course is a one (1) mile loop around a lake. The path is mostly crushed rock with a few short sections of concrete sidewalk.

When I arrived in Longview Rob and Jamal had finished. Rob had not had a very good day and Jamal banged out 46 miles really fast and paid the price with some total body pain. I ran them out to get a burger and picked up some coffee for Michelle and Jenny. When we got back I changed and ran the last four miles with Michelle and Jenny. I got to chase a muskrat that was up feeding on the grass near the lake. I came fairly close to it but when it realized I was coming after it, it showed amazing speed and agility as it headed back into the lake. After Michelle's and Jenny's 50 mile celebration I ran one lap with Steve Stoyles who was at mile 73. Then Michelle and I went to a motel for a good nights rest.

Michelle and I went back to the race in the morning and managed to witness Steve finish with 105 miles. We all headed out to breakfast at Stuffy's. This restaurant serves massive portions. We were joined by tc who had run around 107 miles, and Wendy & Jessica who drove down to run some of the final miles with Michelle and Jenny.

We finished the weekend by going out on a 3 hour cruise on a friends 90 foot boat. It was a great weekend! It's the one on the left.

Number 49

2008-03-02T15:45:00.000-08:00

Back in 1998 I was reading an article on the Boston Marathon in Runners World and it sounded like a really cool experience. A few pages later I found an advertisement for the Seattle Marathon. I'd never really run over 6 miles before so I came up with a plan and started training. I won't bore you with the details but suffice it to say that I met Mr. Crampy about mile 24 and while very happy to cross the finish line I swore that this would be my first and last Marathon.

Fast forward to yesterday when I finished my 49th marathon or greater distance run. Again I was happy to finish but more happy for Rob "Rattler" Hester for finishing his 13th Marathon or greater in 12 weeks. He's now a Seven (7) Star Marathon Maniac.

Rob and I carpooled to Des Moines Creek Park which is located on the south end of SeaTac Airport. We arrived with about 30min. to spare before the 9:00AM start. Rob checked in and I submitted my DOR entry. Many of the usual suspects attended the event with Laura, Linda, Abi, Monte, Alison, James, Van, Steve Yee, Devon, and Marilou to name a few. The race provided participants with a 10K, 3HR run, and a 6HR run. Greg Crowther a former US 100K Team member ran in the 3 hour division and managed to get in 26.2 miles on trails. Speaking of trails the main loop was four (4) miles of twisty turny up and downs with about 300 feet of elevation gain per loop (see photo above).

Rob and I both had the goal of finishing a marathon distance. My original plan was to stick with him for the duration if I could keep up. After last weeks Pb (lead) leg run I was hoping for a better day. We started after the RD Eric Bone tried to out shout the airplanes as the flew directly overhead from SeaTac Airport takeoff. The trail was marked well with flags in the ground indicating turns and confidence markers in trees verifying your course. Rob and I ended up running in a group with Devon, Alison, and James. James and Alison put on the Orcas Island Fat Ass. I think Rob and I were surprised to be running with these speedy ultra runners but we had a great time talking to James and the first lap seemed to go quickly. In fact the first lap was finished in 31 minutes. As you recall, Rob and I are officially in the Dumb Ass Hall of Fame, so cranking out a fast first lap didn't seem like a bad idea at the time. On our second lap James decided to kick it up a couple of notches and was not to be seen again until he lapped Rob and I on our 5th lap. We stayed with Alison and Devon for the first three laps and then the wear and tear of 12 previous long distance events started to slow Rob's pace. We still ran a reasonable fourth lap and ended up catching up to Abi at the aid station who had just finished her third lap. Abi started out before us and for a while we kept her in sight for about the first mile. We caught sight of her again just before the end of the lap but she claimed the lap a victory over Rob and I. During our fifth lap Rob discussed switching over to the short loops to change things up a bit. I decided to run another long loop and then finish with two short loops. My legs felt great so I bumped up my speed and really enjoyed some of the tight banked turns that the Mt. Bike riders had built up. I managed to pass a few runners on this last long loop and then started on the short loops. The short loops went fast. As I entered onto a section of shared trail on my second short loop I ran into Rob. At first I was thinking that we could run in and finish together then I realized that the short loop turned off and he still had about a mile to go. At least by finishing early I was able to get Rob's picture as he finished his goal of 13 in 12 weeks.

We ended up just down the road from the race in the "Bull Pen Pub" for a couple of celebratory beers. Abi joined us for a brewski after she finished her marathon distance for a total of 3 lifetime marathons. She's on her way to becoming a maniac.

Here's some pictures:

Make a slideshow - it's easy!

Next up - Taper runs for Chuckanut 50K

Incredible Ultra Reports

2008-02-27T05:44:00.000-08:00

Hey blogger buddies!

Please check out Shawn Lawson's race report on the Susitna 100 in Alaska. She can "Chick" me anytime she wants. Wow!

You should also check out this Vietnam Ultra Report from Michelle Maislen. Whew!

PB Legs

2008-02-24T14:57:00.001-08:00

As I recall from my chemistry classes PB is the symbol for the element Lead. I think my shoes were lined with about three pounds of lead each during this run. My "A" plan was to run a 50K. I had to settle for my "B" plan which was to run 26.2 miles. With my dead lead legs that would have to do.

It's not like I didn't understand the concept of a six hour run. It's just that it took me 4:03:51 to run a marathon and I'd had enough. I averaged a 9:00 min./mile pace with a couple of 7:30 miles in the mix due to long transition times at the start/finish aid station.

Cat, Michelle, Rob, Steve, and I all carpooled in Cat's Expedition. The course was run on the Centennial Trail near Snohomish WA. It was an out and back on a paved trail. We enjoyed pastures and wetlands along the course as we made our way up and down the trail. Rob and Steve went out fast and were running with the front runners. I started out with the very back of the pack and slowly started rolling up to speed. This allowed for some good banter between the Rob and Steve team and me when we passed each other on the out and backs. The best was when we heard what sounded like someone target shooting up in the woods above the trail. As Rob ran toward me he looked up and yelled "I think they are shooting at us." I quipped back that I was pretty small but that he would make a good target. It was my best "zinger" of the day.

Rob and Steve were able to finish out a 50K. Cat, Michelle, and I all completed the marathon. We stopped at the Clearview Plaza Starbucks off Hwy 9 on our way home. I left coffee just a bit early and purchased a 24oz Bud Beer to share as a ceremonial post run celebration. We drank from some cups I took from the race aid station in an outdoor gazebo that was set up for smokers near the Starbucks. It had really nice glider-rocker Adirondack chairs and benches that were made from recycled plastic. This made it difficult to load up the Expedition and head home. Sorry no pictures - my camera batteries were dead when I tried to fire it up. My fault for not putting the battery in the charger.

Rob was scheduled to run a 50K today in his quest for 13 marathon or above races in 12 weeks. He and I talked the crazy talk of going out at midnight to start the run. After getting home my eyes felt so gritty (post lasik) I decided that I shouldn't get too crazy and called Rob to let him know he was on his own. As far as I know he ran the Yours Truly 50K on the Cedar River Trail this morning.

I'm thinking about another 6 hour trail run that is offered near Seattle next weekend. Looks like a nice loop course and will be good training.

Until next time, run happy, and be happy.

Eric

Seeing things differently

2008-02-22T17:01:00.001-08:00

Running long distance events with contact lenses or glasses can create problems. Contacts can dry out, or get blinked out on the trail. Glasses work OK but if it's raining, and it rains a lot in Washington, your vision is obscured by water on the lenses.

When I ran CCC 100 I wore my contacts for about 32 hours before I took them out. Tuesday of this week I eliminated that problem by having Lasik Surgery. I'm still healing and at the end of the day I feel like I've been wearing my contacts for 32 hours. My vision is 20-20 and my eyes are getting less and less sensitive as they heal.

After putting anesthetic drops in your eyes the doctor put tape strips above and below my eyes to prevent any eyelashes or eyebrows from sneaking in the mix. Then they slap some metal eyelid forecepts on the eye they are working on to hold your eye open. I didn't expect them to stick a big old suction cup on my eye. Apparently this holds your eye very still. It also caused my vision to go entirely black. Normal said the doctor as he swung me under the flap laser. The flap laser creates zillions of little bubbles under the tissue of your eye that can be peeled away. Once the flap bubbles have been made (7 seconds) you are moved under the lasik laser for the big burn. By burn I mean I could smell the tissue being removed as it shaped my cornea to focus light properly. They don't tell you that! Only took 20 seconds per eye and then the doctor flips the flap back over and smooths in out. Couple of drops of antibacterial solution and you have 20-20 vision. Only problem is it's like you are standing in a London fog. The fog cleared by morning.

I went running yesterday at night on a paved trail and didn't have any problems. I'll be running a 6 hour run this weekend with a minimum goal of 26.2 and a 50K or more hope.

Have a great weekend!