2009 SpeedGoat 50k

Not posting much this year since its an "off" year for me (no 100 milers, no hard training) so I can stave off the burnout and knee issues and get ready for a 2010 "on" year. I ran the Antelope Island Buffalo Run 50 miler on my b-day - I try to run at least my age every year. Also had a great race a couple weeks ago at the Logan Peak 28 mile trail run finishing strong and making some new friends.

This last weekend I started my third Speedgoat 50k hosted by Karl Meltzer at Snowbird ski resort. I had plenty of time left to finish it, but decided to drop at the mile 22 aid station (but still had to jog the 3 miles back to the finish). I started too fast and mixed with seasonal allergies (wildflowers? cottonwood? who knows) I enjoyed a rare visit from my pal asthma and had a good struggle on the first climb to the top of the hidden peak tram. I backed off the pace and had a great come-back on the way up and over Mt Baldy - one of my favorite peaks to hike and ski in the spring after Alta closes for the season.

After a screaming fast descent with my buddy Olaf into Mineral Basin, up Sinners Pass and down Mary Ellen Gulch I thought the worst was behind me. I caught quite a few people that passed me earlier and I was making up all the lost time from the first climb. I knew from last year that the climb back up to Mineral Basin would be hot and miserable so I spent some extra time in Roch Horton's awesome American Fork aid station cooling down. Unfortunately, the 90+ degree heat and the long, dusty climb up rugged jeep road conspired against me and respiratory problems were the order of the day. Normally I can find my "granny gear" and grind my way uphill at a slow, steady pace no matter how bad I'm feeling but the chest pain would build until it would force me to come to a stop and sit down. Immediately upon sitting the swarm of mosquitoes that were chasing me caught up and went to work and motivated me to stand up and move on - thanks to them I made it out eventually.

While moving at the glacial pace of about 1 mile per hour, I realized that any hope I had of finishing in a timely manner was shot and I would be lucky to make the generous cut-off time, so I decided to just accept my death march and try to enjoy the scenery along the way. Near the top of the climb back to the top of Sinners Pass, I found a great little patch of old snow in the shade with a panoramic view of the Southern portion of the Wasatch 100 course as it makes a dip close to Mt Timpanogas. I sat down in the snow, put some reggae on my ipod, pulled out some snacks and invited the hot and ragged looking runners passing me to stop there at Ryan's Oasis for a few. I'd probably still be there, but I knew that there were aid station volunteers waiting for me to get my butt in gear so they could go home, so I finished paying my sweat and blood penance, crossed Sinners Pass and topped out at the 22 mile tunnel aid station (colloquially known as the "Basshole" after Snowbird owner Dick Bass).

Somehow, I managed to make it to the aid station with 10 minutes to spare before the 3pm cutoff but I was worried about Lindsay who had yet to catch up to me so I decided to wait for her. 3-o-clock struck and she still was nowhere near, and I knew that the course sweeps would take care of her, so I decided that I would run for a mile and see if maybe my chest pain would subside so I could eek out a finish. It didn't, and I didn't, so I enjoyed a leisurely jog down single track to the finish area to drop officially and enjoy watching my friends finish. It was tough telling everyone that I had dropped and its weak to try and list off excuses for why I wasn't up to the task of finishing. I thought for sure that the Speedgoat would be in the bag for me, but the last year has been a humbling lesson in a series of dnf's. Like most of my beat-downs - I'm just trying to find the pieces of wisdom that I can keep and use next time. By the time I'm 70, I might even be good at this sport!

Moab Red Hot 50k+

Well, haven't posted in a while because I basically took the entire winter off from running to give my knees a break and do a lot of backcountry skiing and bouldering. I decided that this year will be an "easy" year where I don't focus on any 100 milers and instead just have fun at shorter distance ultras and work on improving my fitness and racing strategies. To kick my lazy butt into shape, Lindsay and I signed up for the Moab Red Hot race conveniently held on valentines day. It gave us a chance to get out of town to enjoy the lack of snow on the trails and see some great scenery around Moab and Arches National Park (we got about 5 miles of hiking in the day after the race).

The race has a 33k (about 20 miles) and a 50k+ option (the plus ended up meaning around 34 miles). Lindsay opted for the shorter distance because we have both been running less than a couple miles a week. I went for the whole enchilada because I love a good suffer-fest and I didn't want to miss out on all that bonus mileage.

The first 5 miles or so of the course are shared by both races and left from the Gemini Bridges trailhead just outside of town. It was fun to watch all the fast guys take off at the start. I aspire to be at that level of fitness someday... but I knew with my non-existant training I needed to settle into a nice easy jog. After the first 5 miles, us 50k+ers split off to the North for our extra 14 mile loop. I knew with only about 5k feet of elevation gain for the whole race that the hills would be pretty mellow, but our next hill was called "Metal Masher" and that did make me a little nervous. Luckily, it wasn't that bad for us runners. I would definitely be walking a bike up it -- it was obvious how it got its name. The hill topped out right on the brink of the 1000ft tall cliff that towers over the parking lot where we started. I took the opportunity to stop and enjoy the views while I peed over the edge. I hope no one was down there.

From the airy precipice, we had a long and fast double-track downhill back to the 5 mile fork to rejoin the 33k course. I picked up a lot of time there and my 20 mile split was around 3:30 - a lot faster than I thought I'd be. It didn't last. My lazy vacation from training caught up to my and my back, quads, calves and hamstrings all cramped and locked up at once. Unfortunately, the rest of the course was much more rugged and was constantly up and down on cement-like slickrock and momentum sucking sand. It gave me a lot more time to enjoy the views -- I could see for at least 50 miles or more in every direction from the snow covered La Sal mountains to the petrified sand dunes of the slickrock trail to the deep slots of Canyonlands N.P.

I tried all my tricks to calm the cramping -- salt tablets, drinking more water, force-feeding more gels (pu) but nothing worked until finally, I managed to score some vitamin I (ibuprofen) from a shady looking guy at the last aid station. He made me promise not to tell so I wont incriminate him any further. With 5 miles left, a long and gentle downhill and comfortably numb legs I was able to pick up the pace again and cruise into the finish. The last couple miles down to the Poison Spider trailhead were some of the best too. I loved running down to the edge of the Colorado river while the sheer thousand foot sides of the mesa we were just on grow above.

I definitely need to bring a camera when I run the Red Hot 50k+ next year, but I doubt it would do the race course justice -- so sign yourself up!

2008 Bear 100 Mile Endurance Run

The Bear 100 is about a decade old, but what intrigued me about this years running was the new point to point course from Logan Utah to the shore of Bear Lake in Idaho during the peak of the fall colors... and plenty of peaks to climb too. I've never been to an ultra that was not laid back and full of friendly people but the Bear is the epitome of "low key" races. It was really just a big group of friends out playing in the hills (most meeting for the first time).

The Bear 100 is very similar to the Wasatch 100 that I ran in 3 weeks ago. It has a few thousand feet less total elevation gain and it tops out under 10,000 feet but it probably makes up for it with a more rocky, rugged and remote trail. The middle of Wasatch is unfortunately marred by some paved road sections that seem to drag on forever but not so at the Bear: once you drop into Black Smith Fork canyon around mile 19 and lose sight of the Logan/Cache valley you are really in the wilderness.

The best part of the race for me was the chance to be paced and crewed by my mom, dad and wife Lindsay. They had a harder job than I did - long cold waiting in the night, many miles on CRAZY jeep/atv/mountain goat roads and one grumpy runner. I really enjoyed the experience though and it was fun to finally show my folks what ultras are like.

I ended up dropping at mile 70 but I knew it was the right choice. I was on a great pace until mile 50 and I still had plenty of time to finish but I knew I was playing russian roulette with my knees from the start. They were a big reason for dropping out of Wasatch earlier this month and in the 3 weeks between I probably ran a total of maybe 15 miles. They felt fine the week before the Bear, but on the very first downhill of the race the pain was already building. I toughed it out as long as I could but after mile 60 I couldn't run at all and knew that I was starting to do some real damage.

I'm not disappointed because I did accomplish most of the goals I set for myself. I made a conscious effort to have fun and enjoy spending time with my pacers and fellow runners. I met some new friends, saw scenery that very few people ever see and I was even beating all of my time goals up till mile 45. I'm also usually plagued by nausea during most races but I managed to hold it together until it got dark. If the second half of the race had gone as well as the first I would have even placed in the top third of runners! I learned plenty too, like I need a lot more practice running through the night.

A few of the highlights:

The Good

* The amazing fall colors! All of the leaves were turning. The aspens were a brilliant glowing golden yellow and the forest looked like it was on fire. I'm a total sissy but my favorite were the arches of pink and red maples?. It looked like the trail was covered in rose petals.

* Free range cattle greet you with a surprised MOO in the strangest places. Lindsay and I had fun making our own animal noises while she was pacing me at night. Sorry if the elephant calls scared anyone - they are deadly creatures!

* The aid stations were hard to leave! Even though I was surrounded by my crew the moment I walked into an aid station, at least one volunteer would find me and offer to help. I was the most impressed at the Logan River aid station where I ended up hanging out for a couple hours. As soon as you come within sight, everyone is clapping and cheering and ringing cowbells. There was a dutch over cook (I really missed out on that being too nauseous to enjoy it). They sat me around a fire and when that wasn't enough I was huddled into a propane-heated trailer with a plush bed and blankets to warm up. As soon as the runners passed through most of the volunteers would take a nap right in their seat so they had enough energy for the next runner coming through. It was pretty impressive and I clearly need to earn more volunteer karma next year.

* BEST. CREW. EVER. I love you guys, you are awesome!

The Bad

* Free range cattle means dodging birthday cake sized cow patties every few feet. I'm glad my sense of smell and taste left quick because I must have smelled wonderful. Joey describes my normal, non-poop covered running scent as "rotting flesh" to give you an idea.

* The aid stations were spaced pretty far apart compared to any other race I've done. Most of them were 8 to 10 miles apart and it can be frustrating to keep anticipating them for hours on end. I think this is really more of a lack of experience on my part though. I'm sure that with a few more under my belt I'll learn to stop anticipating and just stay in the moment.

* Maybe it was just my exhausted state, but it seemed like Leland Barker the race director saved the steepest, nastiest, most technical and hardest to navigate trail for after dark. I don't hold anything against him and I love a good challenge, but ouch! The worst came around mile 67 or so. The race directions warn about a sharp 120 turn that is hard to miss and they aren't kidding. My dad was pacing me at that point and after two wet, muddy creek crossings we found a runner going the opposite direction toward us. We were at a 4 way intersection and he said that he had been lost for the last half hour trying every direction but couldn't find any course markings. After looking at the directions that my ma had cut into notecard size and waterproofed - we realized that we were not supposed to cross the two creeks and had the pleasure of crossing those again. We eventually found the turn and realized it would be tough to see even in the daylight.

The Ugly

* The sea slug! I'll get Lindsay to put some pictures of it up for your entertainment, but I guess somewhere before mile 36 I grew a bright red blood blister that covered one of my toes. I knew something was wrong once it went numb. It really freaked some people out at the aid station, and a very, very nice woman (whose name I missed) grabbed a blister kit and started triage. 15 minutes later and I was ready to run again but 4 days later it still looks pretty gnarly. P.S. if you see this nightowl, I owe you a blister kit.

* My grapefruit-size knees! I've seen a couple doctors (really like the sports doc I just visited). I'm on plenty of pain killers and I've had my knees drained and injected with cortisone. It looks like I may not be running again for a little while... but my doc is going to work with me to get things straightened out so I can have as many years of 100 mile attempts as possible.

* The Logan EconoLodge. I've stayed in plenty of cheap and dirty motels before, and I'll spare you the details, but stay at your own peril!!!



Anyway, thanks to everyone who checked in on me or watched online during the race. I was thinking about all the people who support me while I was running and it gave me a lot of strength. I feel extremely fortunate to even be able to show up at the starting lines of these events and I couldn't do it on my own - so thanks for reading!

Wasatch 2008 DNF

Well, despite the lack of updates - I've been training like crazy this season for this years Wasatch 100. As you can see by my pacing chart, I had big goals.



I knew I trained hard enough to break 30 hours, and I even put down sub-24 hour splits as a long shot. Rather than detail 24 hours of misery, I'll just give you the highlights:

What Went Wrong

• Bad luck. It's been tough watching some of the other big busts in the ultra world this season - like Karl Meltzer forfeiting his speed record attempt due to injuries. I just didn't think it would happen to me this year because my training has gone so flawlessly.


• My stomach turned on me. It may have been a bug or it may have been something I ate, but once my stomach started going sour it just kept getting worse and none of the tricks I knew worked: chewing ginger, drinking soda, eating solid food, taking electrolyte pills and even not eating for a while to see if things would settle. By the last 10 miles into Brighton, I was puking and dry-heaving every time I tried to run, eat or drink.


• My legs died. Normally, this is something I can recover completely from. Unfortunately, the way to recover is to get some calories down - especially protein - and that just wasn't happening. One by one, every muscle started seizing and cramping until I was shuffling at a ridiculous pace. Dead legs alone is never a reason to quit, but it diminishes any fun factor really fast.


• My knees blew out. My left knee cap has a tendency to go slightly out of its normal track and start gouging away at the sensitive stuff underneath (the doc said it was patella femoral syndrome.) I found that I can avoid flare ups if I stretch and strengthen my inner quad muscles. Bad stomach => low calorie intake => leg muscle cramping => knee misalignment => a pretty bad day.

What Went Right

• I had the best crew in the race! I was lucky enough to recruit the same crew from last year, and their experience really paid off. Joey kept me moving and laughing 36 miles longer than I could have gone on my own. Rich stayed up most of the night waiting to get me in the last 25 and I know that if I'd have let him try, I would have finished. My wife Lindsay was AWESOME! She was never phased by how awful I smelled or how loud I whined. She set a timer as soon as I walked into an aid station, sat me down while she and Joey took care of everything I needed while force-feeding me food and encouragement, then kicked me out right on the buzzer. She even made flashing signs for my little pit stop area that got a lot of compliments.


• I didn't let the starting line excitement get to me and I started slow and easy until I was warmed up. I was able to keep my heart rate down and carry on conversations all the way into Francis Peak aid at mile 18.


• I love my New Balance 790s and ran the first 39 in them, but I made a good choice by switching to my beefier Brooks Cascadias for the rocky downhill sections after Big Mountain. In the NB790s, I have to be really careful about my foot placements to avoid bruising which is hard when I'm really mentally and physically fatigued - so the heavier shoes let me move faster.


• My aid station turn-arounds were awesome up until Lambs Canyon when things really fell apart. I met my goal of keeping crew stops to around 15 minutes and non-crew stops around a minute. I literally refilled my water, stuffed my pockets with food a got out of there.


• Even though my stomach objected, I kept trying to eat and drink up till the end. Usually when I'm tired and nauseous I'll stop taking in fuel even though I know I need to because its just easier to keep mindlessly marching on.

Had my stomach cooperated, I have no doubt that I could have met all my goals. I'm disappointed, but I don't regret dropping because if I could rewind time I know I'd still make the same call. I think I confirmed it as I puked up everything I tried to eat the day after. So... I can't call this race a success but it's not a total failure either. I'm confident that next time I will break 30 hours at Wasatch... maybe I'll even chase the crimson cheetah...

2007 Rock Ledge Rumble 50k

I think the Rock Ledge Rumble 50k is now a tradition for me, this being my third finish in a row. I've never set what I felt to be a good time there and the last miles always turn into a death march, but the rumble is by far my favorite race. This year I was lucky enough to share it with Lindsay and her brother Jimmy too. This report is not really about me anyway - my big race of the year is over and this was just a chance to have fun with friends and to see Lindsay conquer her first ultramarathon - which she did gracefully and coincidentally in the same time that I ran the rumble in 2 years ago (also my first ultra). Lindsay definitely looked much better at the finish line than I did after my first time!



I'm really proud of her for toughing it out to the end. I didn't run the race with her because I wanted her to be able to finish without me egging her on (and whining about all my stomach pains). It was a hot and humid day and we were all suffering in our own ways, but when I passed her on the out and backs she always looked fresh. I think had her legs not cramped up she would have easily beat me!

The hero of the day, fresh off a blazing fast half marathon the weekend before, was Wasatch pacer and one of my best friends Joey Guajardo! Joey won the race with no competition in sight in a new course record of 4:16.



I really thought I was running fast during the first 8 miles until I saw Joey on the return leg of the first out-and-back: he was flying and already 3 miles ahead of me! By the time I finished, Joey had been hanging out at the finish line waiting for me for almost 3 hours. He didn't even look like he'd been running! Joey is a great friend and a huge inspiration to me, plus it's pretty cool to know an elite runner that is going to be famous some day.

Jimmy also did awesome at his first trail race. He finished the 15k in a speedy 2 hours on a tough course. It's great to watch friends get hooked on this sport. I think Jimmy is going to be some tough competition if he chooses to push his miles up to the ultra distances - he's already too fast for me on training runs.



Tom Crull - race director and one great guy - did an incredible job putting the race together. It was a lot of fun seeing all my friends from NTTR working at the aid stations. I felt a little guilty getting such great personal attention. I'm still walking funny today, but I'm already looking forward to next years rumble.



Images by Brad Garrison

Memories of Wasatch

Just some extra photos Lindsay took that I didn't use in my race report. My knee is still aching 3 weeks later, but I've been dissecting my race and planning how I can do it better next year. Yay pain amnesia! This is one sadistic sport...

Rounding the corner into Big Mountain at mile 39

Telling the crew I might be a little late on Alexander Ridge

Mmmm Water... the scenic Mountain Dell reservoir

Joey can't wait to climb Bear Bottom Pass, I can think of things I'd rather do than run another 47 miles

Joey inspects the drugs at Lambs Canyon (don't worry, its just Tums and Advil)

Civilization! Me limping into Brighton at mile 75

It's hard to leave the party at Brighton: they have cots in the back

Victory Noodles!

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Tour De Fleurs 20k

Last weekend I ran the 20k at the Tour De Fleurs at the Dallas Arboretum. I'm still recovering from my 100 miler two weeks ago but I decided to run it anyway to support Lindsay as she trains for her first 50k (and to stop moping around my apartment). I still have a bad case of runners knee and an oddly numb big toe but otherwise I was ready get out and run.

Joey graciously offered to carpool us out to Whiterock Lake and it was fun to see what we all remembered most from Wasatch. Parking is always a mess there, but the race organizers did a great job with this race. In fact, my only complaint was that there were too many aid stations - one each mile I think - and I felt a bit spoiled.

The race went fairly smooth. I was in pain due to my knee the whole time, but it wasn't bad enough to stop me. I'm normally not a fan of the flat and boring Whiterock Lake trail, but it was a great day for running - low 80s and sunny - and I had good company. Lindsay did awesome and she still had the energy to leave me in the dust the last mile. She will definitely be ready to join the ultrarunning ranks this November at the Rockledge Rumble 50k. Joey always amazes me. He finished sixth in his age group in about 1:24 (?). He is training to break 3 hours at the Whiterock marathon this fall and it looks like he is right on target.

I would definitely run this race again. Its always fun to run middle distance runs: they are short enough to attract a big group of people but still long enough that I don't feel guilty laying on the couch for the rest of the afternoon.