seagull junker

what will runners see on the trail this year at States???

2009-06-10T23:56:00.000-07:00

well, the big dance is almost here. the big guns are primed and ready. it will be a fun track meet to watch.

i've been on the western states 100 course a few times and even during my limited time on the course i have seen some pretty cool things...

funny, all the cool things that i've seen have been during a race when i wasn't carrying my camera... bummer. so, you will have to take my word for it.

my only races near auburn have been States and rio.

i'm far too slow to run cool .

AR , rucky chucky runabout 50k, 12 hours of cool, auburn trail 50k, gold country 50k, are out of the question also.

but i might be able to finish the wildest run in the west some day. i think that would be fun.

what else did i see on that WS historical trail???

well it started in my 1st 100... yes, i ran states as my 1st 100 in '06, the nice cool year...

when i was climbing out of eldorado canyon in that nice cool 115 degrees, i saw two bear cubs 50ish feet off the trail below me. very cool. the bear cubs that is... but lets just say... not seeing mamma bear made that climb up to michigan bluff brisker than i can normally climb.

then when it was dark, after leaving HWY 49, i about ran into a skunk. i think this is where a skunk stalled a former winner in the past. stalled a top ten female this day too.

i had less than 6 miles to finish in my first 100 and what was this??? i even contemplated about getting sprayed if that is what it took. but, with father clem pacing me (i say that with utmost respect) we slowed a bit and just followed the white stripped critter for a bit down the trail. we were still moving forward. all i could think about was i going to have to throw sticks and rocks at the cute little creature like the former winner??? well, we kept running (i call it this after 94 miles) and low and behold the little bugger skirted off the trail. clem and i scooted past it and low and behold we were spared a pungent shower.

running my second rio i saw 4 turkeys, and two dear climbing up K2. pretty neato. (K2 below)

K2 skirts off the WS trail close to no hands...

but the real epic moment that "day" was seeing the cougar about 10 minutes before getting back to no-hands again (on the WS course again). scared the begeezzees out of me for sure. but very cool none the less.

on that day at rio i almost ran into a skunk again. ok, it wasn't on the WS course at this point, but after it stopped me i had to tell Mark Tanaka to slow down on his way to the finish on the second out and back. he did, and we were both spared a spray.

so, there it is. that is what i've seen on the WS trail, or close to the trail.

will the fast boys and girls notice anything? maybe not this year. everything will be a blur to them i'm sure. but for everybody else, the race might present itself as another great day to be alive on the trail.

i hope everybody enjoys the dance. it was no fun last year when the dance partner cancelled.

have fun everybody, enjoy the "music". enjoy the trail even if you are running at break neck speed.

ws 100 training camp

2009-05-27T16:19:00.000-07:00

i was able to go to the western states training camp memorial day weekend. the best part was we were able to get to robinson flat (mile 29.7) for the first time in 3 years. greg asked the county to plow the road up there and they were able to do that the monday prior to camp. pretty sweet. a little snow leaving RF but that was it.

the big boys and girls took advantage of this by running from robinson to the river for a little ole' 50 mile run. two speedsters even broke loose from the pack to finish ahead of the other talented runners. wow, "the show" is going to be fun to watch this year.
above/below, heading down through the old burned out section to miller's defeat after leaving robinson flat.below, miss sparta, Stacey Bunton (second at last year's Spartatholon, 246km/153 miles from athens to sparta, in 31:25, the best ever by an american women)

pucker point above which is to my left in picture.
last chance above

on your left before heading down to the swinging bridge

swinging bridge above. a good place to douse/refill bottles after the swinging bridge if you are running in the race

devils thumb above (mile 44.7)

sweat happens in the canyons

but you can always cool off before climbing. like above in eldorado canyon before climbing up to michigan bluff
this is how close last years fire got to michigan bluff below. just feet from the first house you get to as you enter michigan bluff (below)

Scott Jurek's dog (Tonto) is buried there on Ann Trason (14 time winner) and Carl Anderson's property as you leave Michigan Bluff (below)

don't take chicken hawk road after seeing this. there is no aid at the bottom. ask lc
the second day we ran cal street.

tim twietmeyer (WS President and 5 time winner) was there at peachstone helping out

if you are running sub 24 you get to see the below in the daylight. if not, all you can do is hear the river for those 3+ hours

the racers will cross here while holding onto the rope this year because of the early snow melt. no raft crossing this year. crossing to the other side below.

i relaxed at the river then stood in it up to my waist for ten minutes to cool off, nice

the stone bench dedicated to barbra schoener who was attacked and killed by a mountain lion on april 23, 1994.

but if you want to see this in the daylight on race day, you have to be running sub 18:30. will this hold out to be top ten for the men this year??? history says yes. but this is an exceptional field this year.

top ten won't have to turn their lights on until here (or later. mile 89.9). (above) i liked the potato soup, loud music, and christmas lights here in '06
yes, that bridge is over 700 ft high with the road heading into auburn. the river... it is the "Confuence" according to O.D. don't take the short cut trail or you might get it named after you... don't take it running way too cool 50k either. you might not get a finishing time...

looking down on no hands bridge that was built 1910-1912 and the rails added in 1984. if you are running top ten maybe this year the time keeper will tell you what place you are in before leaving no hands this time... arrgghhhhh. well, they are volunteers so i shouldn't complain i guess.

Robie Point. 1.3 miles to go. you don't need to give your # here, they could care less.

the guy that owns this horse trailer has completed 34 tevis cup rides!!! jim howard passed jim king here in 1983 for a 30 second win.
the white bridge... in '06 this is where i said "the work is done" .5 miles to the finish. if ann trason says it, it can't be all that bad right?

nice to read after you finish a "days" run...

have fun to all that will be joining the "big dance" in a month

seagull junker

are you ready???

2009-05-18T20:04:00.000-07:00

--- well, some of you have some big 100's coming up soon... are you fit???

what are some of the signs that let you know that you are ready to start racing after mile 62?

--- was it your time in that last 50 miler or 100k a few weeks ago? was it faster than last year? or did you just feel great the whole way after a 100+ mile week the week before and still posted a great time???

--- maybe you just knocked off a 100k and a 50k back to back weekends and ran faster than ever before??? then the next weekend you did almost 10,000 ft. of climbing at rooster rock dropping your pacer to cap off the day. you have to know you are fit here.

-- maybe you didn't do any races... you just hammered out a 144 mile week and felt great the last day doing a 52 miler.

--- or have you had the most high mileage weeks ever in training???

--- if you are not anton... you are now going through a pair of shoes a month (or more)?

--- or you are amazed at the weight you are dropping and still eating 5000 calories a day?

--- you notice that with the weight loss the last few weeks that you aren't starting any fires anymore with your thighs rubbing together while running. yes, less body glide to buy.

--- you now look at not entering anything less than a 50k because it just wouldn't be enough time on your feet at this stage of the game. that's right, you don't even want to know of the local 10k in your town, that just wouldn't cut it.

--- you check how much climbing you've done in the last week... 10,000-15,000 and your quads don't remind you of what you did on the downs. i'm sure the corvallis gang is on the upper limits here.

--- you look down and you smile because you only have four toenails at this stage of the game.

--- you look forward to loosing the last of them in a few weeks even if you paint them before the race.

--- for the men: or if you live in eugene (coburg, oregon too)... you might be fit for your 100.2 if you have your eye out for the best ladies shaver that will make your legs nice and smooth for your little dance coming up. shaving the arms too???

--- you go into the local mini mart and somebody notices you saying, "hey, you are the "jogger" i see EVERYDAY while driving home from work".

--- you reconfirm what the factory says about the battery life on your I-pod shuffle on your last long run... it only lasts 12 hours.

--- you've been going through your elastikon and tincture of benzoin and frantically make your next order for two more rolls and one bottle for race day.
--- you take your watch off to change the battery and you notice nice little tan lines where the watch sits on your wrist.

what tells you that you are fit?

have fun at your 100 coming up soon.

seagull junker

do you have a nickname???

2009-03-16T23:35:00.000-07:00

the folks in oregon have a wide range of nicknames... (ok, some live outside of oregon) i think L.B. (Lord Balls) started this thing a few years back. or maybe it was Dot that started it after L.B. passed through foresthill without thanking her for being there???

i'm not like the fast ones but i too have earned a nickname... how did this happen??? well it was at AC 100 last september.

this was the first time i had ran this race. i had heard some great things about this race from craig thornley, a.k.a. LB and from stacy, and bushwacker... (mike below, yea he's doing hardrock again this year. wearing a skirt there bushwacker???)

(i'll call stacy ms. sparta after having a stellar race at spartathalon, 152.8 miles in 31:25:59 for second place and the highest female american placing ever in greece.)

i knew going in that i wasn't fit. i hadn't trained much since june after states was cancelled. i thought waldo would help me prepare for AC but i think I was perfecting running really slow for a long time there also, running DFL for hours.

i was running with chris thornley for a few miles at AC, a.k.a. Balloon Knot. and we would get into aid stations together to see Katie and L.B.

(chris and katie above. l.b. at mac forest 50k bragging about the haggis he made at the aid station) (or was it the whisky he brought???) katie and L.B. kept asking me if i was taking my salt and if i was cramping. "hey, you can't cramp running this slow", I said. but each time katie wiped all the salt off my face at every aid station. i wonder if Laurie Thornley taught her this??? Laurie wipes everybodies face at maiden lake aid station at waldo every year saying, "you have to look good when you finish", (mile 55 at Where's Waldo 100k.)

back to AC...

i loved this race, it wasn't hot, i loved the views and the single track was awesome. i was slow and i walked all of the last 10 miles but i didn't care. i had a great time with the brown bear at 1:10am near the camp ground. we got up close and personal... well for me we did.

it was fun to hear how hal , rod , and prudence did

that day. (both winners that day and both from oregon at the time)

(photo by glenn tachiyama of tom and prudence)

. i just had a fun time running and taking pictures until katie told me to lighten the load and get rid of the camera. it is a great race.

the nickname... well, it came a few weeks later. apparently, B.K. and L.B. were discussing the name "coral reef", yes, because of the salt on my face all day. then L.B. put the name in the Sarah Palin baby name generator and low and behold... out spits "Seagull Junker". so there it is... that is how i got my name.

so, maybe if you live in oregon you will aquire a nickname??? i wonder what neil olsen's name would be after being the 100k trail champion at waldo last year finishing with two different shoes and two different socks??? anybody???

what is your nickname???

seagull junker

sawweeeeeeetttt...

2009-03-06T19:39:00.000-08:00

well got my little prize from LB yesturday. pretty cool. got the t-shirt for answering questions on the triva quiz LB put together about the Western States 100 race.

the only reason why i got a few answers right is i beat AJW and greg to the punch. but heck i'll take it.
yea, old school map. the new one is out now.but is was fun to try to answer questions on the race that i have ran only once. yes, i even try to be a student of the game even though i don't live on the course or run on it but once in a while.

the "big dance" is getting closer... it is going to be fun to watch the "show" this year. man what a barn burner it is going to be out front. the most competitive WS ever!!!

it's going to be fun to watch.

seagull junker

ok, i'm going to go back to watching roller derby now...

a thought...

2009-02-18T20:35:00.000-08:00

after watching jeff and rod run western states in '07 all i have been thinking over almost the last two years... what a race man, what a race. rod's 3 1/2 hr pr, amazing, simply amazing. and jeff pulling out a top ten, wait, single digits baby... M9... fantasticbut not only to see those guys pull off a great race i also look at rachael landon's fantastic execution.

to see the joy in her finish was just as equal to any top ten finish.

i would like to feel that same joy they did that day in june some day. amazing.

and to see LB's goal change after seeing that top ten wasn't going to happen that day to finish under 20.

and one more... and to watch TM to start to put the hammer down in volcano canyon and running some unbelievable splits all the way to auburn...

all simply amazing performances...

I will leave you with this thought from what i learned from watching these folks that day in june...

"running 100 miles doesn't build character, it reveals it"

seagull junker

arm panties???

2009-02-10T00:51:00.000-08:00

so, here it is... i have three pair of arm panties but i'm not quite sure which ones i like.

i've actually only wore one of them once, and that was at ac 100. i never rolled them down when it got a little warmer. i just ran with them until it got warmer and took them off.

the good thing is i can wear all of them. can't wear anything that represents a race that you haven't completed. that would be bad ju ju, moe joe, etc, etc...

i remember jenn shelton saying that you don't roll them down to the wrists but roll them up to the elbows. at least that is what the fast folks do she says. well, i never see fast folks in a race so how would i know???

i like the idea of arm panties, as i hate being cold. i don't train well in the winter because of the cold. i would never be prepared enough for the coon because of that. i just don't like being cold. i don't know how ajw does it... and he has to battle tons of snow during the winter.

i don't own pretty arm panties like L.B.

brother wore the more modest pair of ws panties on his win at javalina. but i'm not sure if i like them all that much either.

the arm wear from the sisters poker run might have too much of the christmas spirit to wear them year round??? i'm thankful for new goodies but i'm not sure if i can brave these after christmas. but really, thank you fat boy for putting on the event. (yes, another fast dude who was a two time age group winner at states in '90 and '91 for ages 18-29.)

what arm panties do you like? do you wear them often? maybe you can steer me towords some more trail friendly arm warmers??? or maybe i just need to run faster to generate more heat to not need these little fancy "almost nylons for the arms".

seagull junker

weather wishes for states?

2008-12-11T19:14:00.000-08:00

so i was thinking tonight... what kind of weather would i hope for at states next june??? do i want it hotter than Hades like in '06? (110 degrees in the canyons and 85 degrees when i crossed the river at 11:30pm, (in contrast, '07, it was 55 degrees at midnight) or do i want it like in '07, one of the fastest finishing times ever for the top ten??? oh, the carnage in '06... (the fewest buckles in 20 years in '06.)

(hal coming into dusty in '07,below)

do i want it a "snow" year? there was a little snow in '06 but not that much really. i can't remember, but it was something like only 5-8 miles of snow. more in '05 for sure. nothing like the "fire and ice year" in 1995. but it did slow us a bit. i noticed between 15 and 30 minutes slower for most getting into robinson flat comparing 2006 and 2007.

(sean, running fast at mckenzie river 50k, a super fast dude in all races. and is looking forward to putting the hammer down at states next june.)

for some of the fast guys, they want to run in an oven. why??? it levels the playing field for the most part. (most of team sunsweet in the dawn of '07 at states)

for us mortals... probably want it a kinder gentler day. for me, it is not about placing. for me it is about time. i will never place very high in this little swing ding. if i was a potential top ten placer i would want tons of snow and for it to be hotter than my pancake iron that saturday in june.

jeff, onto his second win at javalina in '08.
craig, tearin' it up at javalina for the second year in a row. and this is a dude that is approching 50 in a few years.
so, i guess for me, i want not much snow and don't want to run in a blast furnace running through the canyons in 194 days. that would be my best wish.

but really, i don't care. i can run in heat. i can run in snow. i will still have fun. i will still run the best i can and still run the fastest i can. i will finish. i will still try to run those last 38 in hopes my pacer has fun.
i know i can run cal street well. my biggest goal is to run from the river on in faster. i have run sub 24 splits from the river on in but not by much. my goal is to improve this section the most. i already know one section after brown's bar that i want to run better. that will make up 5 minutes at least. ( i just walked too much here after the quarry)

so for me, i don't care what the weather will be june 27th. i'm gunna run the best i can. all i know it's gunna be dang fun. oh, it is going to be fun getting updates of how brother. craig and andy are doing out front. dang they and sure do know how to put it together on race day at states. but really, all three of these dudes are pretty impressive. on paper they might not be the fastest... but that's just it... that's on "paper". look at jeff... on race day in '07 there were more than 20 faster than him "on paper". but he brought "it" on race day and low and behold, he finishes M9. it is all about performance on race day. you have to "bring it" and fricken' smash it on race day. nikki, bev, jeff, craig, ajw, hal, and glen did it last year. i hope to do the same given my ability in 194 days.

(nikki at 6:35pm at the river in '07)

look at rod. a 3.5hr pr. it just doesn't get any better. this dude knows how to bring it on race day. simply amazing. i hope to improve half as good as rod next june. (rod at dusty in '07)

look at the winners time last year... 2+ hrs faster than in '06. do you think weather makes a difference in finishing times???

lets jam down cal street next year. i hope i will. no matter what the weather brings for us.

oh, am i going to have fun.

see you in training. what kind of weather do you hope for???

seagul junker

rambling and racing???

2008-11-30T18:36:00.000-08:00

well, for me the season ended after AC. now what to do next year??? do i do a lot of races? or do i go into that little 100 in june without doing any races and just train??? i think it worked pretty well for a sorta fast dude in '07. oh, i guess he's pretty fast, heck he just went out in that little ol' race and led from start to finish and looked great doing it... (hal coming into dusty corners looking fresher than any other of the top ten at the time)
when i do races leading up to a 100, i run "with effort" but never really taper for them. they are just part of the weekly training. i have to say it is nice to not having to carry six hours of fluids like you have to in training runs. that is why i like doing races as training runs.

I can't wait for next year..
but not sure if i want to take a different approach next year???

what races will i do next year???

well, the "big dance" of course. it will be nice to toe the line with brother that day. nice to hear reports from the back of how he is doing.

but, do i run waldo again?

or is leadville in the picture? (it is the same day as waldo) i love waldo and i just don't know how long it will be here (10 years???) (there have been 7 years of races, i've ran 5) (mike burke is the only one to run them all. chris thornley and i have ran the second most, at 5). afterall, craig and curt put in tons of work and don't know if they can do more than ten years of being RD's. just look at how many trees they clear each year... over 250 as of late each year. and that is a lot of work for anybody and these guys still find the time to train for their own races...
(those are some pretty fancy arm panties craig)

then a september 100 is always nice. it has seemed to work for me in the past after doing a june 100.

some day i would like to do CCC but that is only a week after waldo. and i am no mike burke or sean montgomery who did them back to back in '06, ouchie mamma.

then there is javalina... (will be on halloween next year) bili has run well there... yea, two times, two wins, not bad i think... (way to go brother!!!)

(jeff, on his way to a second win at javalina. not as fancy arm panties as craig)

do i want to pretend to run fast there???

reflecting back on a funny moment i had at AC... i was at chilao aid station, mile 52.8, and a nice aid station lady noticed i didn't have a pacer... she asked if i wanted one? i kindly said that i didn't want one as i was too slow to torcher someone for the next 15 hours. she then proceeded to call for "bob" to pace me. i said i was fine and i really didn't want to bother anybody. she continued to call for "bob"... thank goodness "bob" had left the aid station. i could just enjoy the rest of the night and not put anybody else through this pain. afterall, i walked every step of the last ten miles. who would want to pace anybody doing that???

so, i look forward to next year. i look forward to watching friends accomplish their goals. and i look forward to taking more pictures of friends at races.

and now, the minnesota vikings won and the oregon ducks won on the same weekend. i think this is only the second time all year. i do miss watching those "purple people eaters" like in years past. anyway, way to go viks!!! now let's just get them out of the dome. play in the elements like football was ment to be played.

so, now it is time to focus on the "big dance". i've known the spits i've wanted to hit for the last 2 1/2 years. i won't be fast but i still have goals. i want to run cal street a little better but i really want to run better from the river on in... i already know where i can make up almost 10 minutes from brown's bar to hwy 49. (i didn't run much of this last time) also want to run better after leaving robinson flat. i just didn't run to millers defeat as well as i should have.

then my next goal is for my pacer to have fun. i want to be "running" when i pick her up. i want her to enjoy the race. she dropped at the river in '07 and said she wants to see the last 22. i said i hope she doesn't see a whole lot with me that day in june... (i want it to be in the dark at that point in the race!!!) i just don't want to do the "death march" the last 38. i want to run a bit those last 38.

(i don't know the course as well as craig, AJW, or brother, but i do try to be a student of the game. i will be doing the memorial day training run again this year...

(ajw at michigan bluff in '07, getting ready to put the hammer down...)
brother crossing the river at mile 78. nobody cheering for him as nikki was just in front of him. i was cheering for him though...

so now, i will just show up to some fat ass runs in january. fun way to see friends the first part of the year.

i am now ready to enjoy great friends and great trails getting ready for the "big dance".

i will leave you with this...

fitness cannot be borrowed, bestowed, or even bought. like honor it must be earned.

see you on the trail...

2008-11-24T21:21:00.001-08:00

how to finish a 100 when not completely fit

2008-09-17T18:36:00.000-07:00

well since june i haven't been running much and it shows. what i would like to share with you today is what i learned from this.

if you ever want to run slow in a 100 i will try to give you some tips so you don't faulter in barely finishing a 100 under the cutoffs. believe me, this takes practice. i did my little runner-up training run at waldo 100k by running DFL for almost 3 hours. it was here at Angeles Crest 100 where i wanted to perfect this mastery of running pathetically slow for 100 miles and still complete the race.

here are a few tips that helped me accomplish this goal...

1. come into the race 15 pounds over weight...
-- i came into the race weighing 155 pounds. a full 15 or so pounds heavier than any other 100 that i have done. here you go, you get the picture. (states '06, 142lbs, rio '06, 141lbs, kettle, '07, 141 lbs, rio '07 142lbs.)

2. come into the race still with flirting with stroking out...
--yes, you see, 159 over 98. and that is on meds!!! oh, this is fun f$%king with the nurses taking your blood pressure. they love this shit.

3. come into the race as a seeded runner...
-- yes, i was seeded to run under 24. oh, if the rd only knew how pathetic my training had been and how the pilsbury dough boy showed up wearing #101 he would have thought twice about that seeding order.

4. come into the race plannng on sitting at aid stations...
i have never sat at any 100 before this one. but you guessed it. this lard ass had to sit for a few at aid stations in this one. i did and i accomplished my goal. that said, i think i actually bent some legs on a chair at idlehour... wow, what a lard ass...

5. come into the race to waist a lot of time... take a lot of pictures...

6. come into the race gazing at the morning sunrise... do this often...

7. come into the race gazing at more morning sceneries...

8. come into the race at noticing how you can't catch your breath at the elevation you are running at... i did, many times...
9. come into the race thinking you might not halusinate... wrong, i did, i thought that white rock was a mountain goat... what a dork...

10. come into the race thinking you can climb like a goat... i did... needless to say i was wrong about a million times... (click on picture to magnifiy... you see what i see, right?)

11. enjoy the views way longer than you should during a race... i did... but really they were awesome views...
12. gander at folks that pass you... i got really good at this... the training is paying off...
AC is a great race. if you ever want to run a 100 slow. i hope i was able to help you down this slow road. i have only offered a few tips, but i hope some of them help you achive your goals of also running really slow in a 100...

states

2008-06-23T07:54:00.000-07:00

see you all at the "big dance" #336. watch for M9 to put together a great show. go bro, step on the peddle on the right after foresthill...

game on...................................................................

(not my pacer below)

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

team oregon

2008-05-30T09:00:00.001-07:00

with the help of olga we were able to put together "team oregon" shirts this year. kevin wasn't doing it this year so i figured since it is so hard to get into states that i wanted something to remember it by. olga had connections with sporthill (and i didn't want a cotton shirt) so we went through with it. we had to wait to see who all won themselves in so we had to wait until miwok was done. the price came to $15.50 with the "team" pricing. hope everybody likes them...

ws training camp

2008-05-28T08:25:00.000-07:00

went to the ws training camp. good way to see the course again. tried to take note of different sections. was running with mark lantz and tim tweitmeyer the first day. mark said he had never seen the trail so mucky. gettin down to the swinging bridge was an adventure to say the least. the second and third day the trail was wonderful. the sun even tried to come out a few times.

tim, "don't go that way"

deadwood cemetary

twiet, the swinging bridge
devils thumb, i finally see it

"the pipe", or "kuput spring" the halfway point of the race, mile 50. but we all know that most likely foresthill, mile 62 is the real halfway point in the race. did somebody break the pipe? i filled my bottle for cold water here in '06. very nice. sorry for the blurry picture.

mark lantz, the bottom of eldorado canyon

walley hesseltine in middle getting into michigan bluff

climbing up to bath road, hagg lake mud transported?

i would like to be here before lighting the torches on race day

runner on cal street

you hear the river and see the river but for us mortals you are still 3 hrs from near side when this first happens

rock bench built for barbra schoener after being attacked by a mtn. lion, below

it was fun seeing some of the speed racers out there too. mark ran with skaden the last two days. i got to run with rena schumman, and walley hesseltine, ultra legends. what a weekend.

one month away. two more weeks of solid effort in training need to be done. looking forward to the hard work.

good luck to those doing kettle, mohican, and bighorn. have fun speedracers.

important race for me too...

2008-05-20T15:44:00.000-07:00

ok,
i know that states is not the hardest race. yes, it can be like a circus getting into some of the bigger aid stations. but i do love this race. i look forward to doing this little thing as much as the big guns. ok, i'm a rookie. i've only had the pleasure of running this race once.

it was my first 100. yes, you can argue that nobody with a 100 shouldn't be aloud in but i trained as hard as anybody that first time. i had 10 100+ mile weeks along with doing rooster rock hill repeats a few times just like LB has.

even though i have only ran the race once i can still visualize much of the course. i've read LB's course description a dozen times, no less. i will be going to the training camp again. i would love to hang out with brother and the gang at their training camp but i am just too slow to do that.

do i think about the race a lot???

starts off with my coffee mug. i have used this western states mug every day since my pacer bought it for me two years ago.

i proudly show my WS license plate rim after my pacer bought it for me.

i wear a WS polo shirt to work at least once a week.

during the winter many days i will either have a WS sweat shirt on or a fleece that i was given.

i was given a gift this year of a WS running hat. i wear it in many of my races now.

i have a sticker on my truck that says "100.2" the length of the trail.

i know the splits i want to hit the last 38. i have known them for almost two years now.

and yes my old # is still on the fridge like i mentioned before.

for this race it is almost like a measuring stick. why? because almost all have ran it. yes, there were snow years. and some hot years. the course was short for a few years. but it is here you can see how you stack up.

will i place high, heck no. i'll be lucky to place in the top 25%. will i get to the river in the daylight. nahhhhh.

but i intend to have fun, run my best. and i will again try to gap my pacer once or twice for a bit of fun.

this is still a race to me even though my finishing time will not be impressive.

this is a race. i will not be getting a michigan bluff burger on my way to valcano canyon.

and for the dubious honor of being the "fastest bronze buckler" in '06. i hope that getting silver this time will put that to rest. dang it!!!

#'s

2008-05-14T16:29:00.000-07:00

# 336

lots of seeded runners for the little get together in june. notice one former top ten is not. no biggee. he knows how to run the race no matter what # he pins on at 4:30am.

a few asked for specific #'s. and i am sure some were just given by greg like 71yr old Karsten Solheim and 70yr old Ralph Hirt.

mine was #366 two years ago. and by the way that same worn out # is still pasted to the fridge.

and yes, i have used my mug that my pacer got me after finishing every day since that race.

it's gunna be fun.

meeeee wallkkkkk... afterthought...

2008-05-09T10:43:00.000-07:00

well, i will post a bit about last weekends race...

for me the middle part of the race was a sloggfest. walking, shuffling, walking, more shuffling, and more walking. how long did this go on??? 4-5 hrs. gad i was a pathetic mess.

i tryed to run with friends. but nooooooo, tom can't run up that hill. yes, i call that a hill. oh, it is not as steep as your driveway??? i don't care, it resembles an uphill.............. yea, that is what i was thinking.

as friends moved on down the trail ahead of me i was worried about getting to the finish before dark at one point. i think that was the only motivator to keep going because i didn't have a light.

i just wanted to get accross than darn finish line and hear how chickenhawk did. he was in third when i saw him after he made the turn around. i knew it would be a battle for him as jon olsen just looked too fresh three minutes back at that point.

french kiss yelled at me for taking her picture. she said this was a race and i should be running. just behind her the colonal didn't look super fresh but i think he had a pretty good day. i think he even got a pr. cool, now he just has to put that same kind of race together for the big dance.

well for me i ended up hooking up with a friend that is always way out front of me. he was struggling too. we hung out for two aid stations.... 3+ hours!!!!!! gad it was slow. he finally sat and let me go.

well, i finally realized i was going to finish after 12+ hrs of slogging. the only good thing is i took 90 pictures and some came out.

the bad part of the race is i didn't see the ice cream at Pan Toll. oh, that pissed me off when i found out about that. and to kick a guy when he is really down, they had pizza at hwy 1 and i didn't know about that either!!!

well, the best part was seeing brian gains finish his first 100k. very cool. he paced me at kettle last year.

funny when he asked me how fast i would be running at mile 80 in the race when he picked me up last june... "8-9 minute miles tom???" a no brian... that would be about 12-14 minute miles. i still chuckle about that question.

to be honest i had a split chart made out months ago for the little get together the third weekend in june. now i'm thinking about the only good i have for it is throwing it in the river as i'm running cal street IN THE DARK. oh, i wanted to run most of that in the light but i am not so sure that will happen now. yea, LB, AJW, brother, the colonal all don't have to worry about that. they will be on the far side by about 6:30 pm. but i'm just not like those speed racers.

so for now i am just hoping doing a 50 the weekend before and knocking off another 100 mile week had something to do with my so called mee waaaalkkkkk race. argghhhh

so i will be seeing some of you at the mac this weekend. i'll be sweeping and i will be walking a lot of that too. but only because i know of a runner that will be taking over nine hours on that course. i think i will do some repeats behind him to get a little running in for the day.

have a good weekend speedracers

miwok 100k, 5/3/2008

2008-05-05T12:59:00.000-07:00

pictures from miwok here

results here

i got a sunburn in san fransisco!!!

Capital Peak 50 miler

2008-04-27T13:03:00.000-07:00

my first long run since last september was last saturday. well, longer than 34 miles anyway. this was the third time Capital Peak 50 miler has been ran. none of them on the same course of previous years. we had a little bit of snow up on the ridge trail and from capital peak all the way to wedikind aid station, about 4.5 miles. then some snow for about 1.5-2 miles climbing out of wedikind and running the ridge trail out and back for 18 of the last 24 miles.

this snow on the ridge trail climbing out of wedikind aid station. (mile 26)

the weather was awesome. not often, only the second time in 6 times that i have been on this course, either running the 55k or 50 miler, that we have had good weather.

more snow on ridge trail. got a little deeper in places but not too many times did you have to post hole.

winner brian morrison heading back to wedikind (mile 43 coming back). finishing 7:37. my guess is the CR of 7:31, would have dropped today if no snow.

pond

darla brader and chris askew not is a hurry in this 50. getting ready for kettle 100.

bushwacker taking an extra 20 minute scenic route before getting back on track. getting ready for bighorn and HARDROCK!

michael mcarthy getting ready for bighorn

yes, i am BEHIND all the above folks!!!

.laughing moments:

1. looking at race belt that i didn't refill after peterson ridge rumble, 3 S-caps. nice. like that is going to do for 50 miles

2. forgot camera in first drop bag. what, am i supposed to draw pictures for my blog? scary.

.3. picking up second race belt in last drop bag only to find 4 S-caps. wonderful, sweaty boy. this is going to be interesting trying to figure out how to not to have muscle cramps for 24 miles.

4. wait, i remembered my camera in this bag. good. "mr. aid station person, can you throw away these drawings for me?" "thanks"

5. leaving same aid station... nice, forgot the beans that were in there. oh, goody, 2 gels for two hours of running. i do need to go on a diet anyway.

well, not a bad day. not as fast as i had hoped. i'm a little worried about my fitness level but at this point i will keep plugging away. the run went better than peterson ridge 55k twi weekends ago. did have a low patch for 15 miles. nothing wrong. i was just tired. but i just concentrated on eating and drinking. WHEN I HAD SOMETHING TO EAT THAT IS!!! ARGGGHHHH!

the last 15 miles were better. got a little redemption i guess. i knew the last 6.5 miles was a sweeeetttt finish. almost Waldo sweet. i knew my splits from years past: 60,54,55 minutes. (in ether a 50k finish or 50 miler) today 54 minutes. and that is missing the newly built bridge and me opting to run over the bridge that was OUT!!! "DUMB RUNNER" and this wan't even a 100. #6, last laughing moment.

on the fifth aniversary of Scott McQuenny's passing i crossed the finish line running backwards. just as scott ran the portland marathon backwards on a bet his daughter did not have cancer. i believe she is in college and doing very well now.

finished in 9:08, 10th. a good training run for sure. not too much climbing, 6660 ft of gain for the day.

now onto miwok next weekend, ouch.

i think the eugene gang will be over at michigan bluff next week too. hammering out some freakish splits with AJW one or two days. doing monster miles, 160+ i'm sure. two of the runs will probably be 50 miles or so. don't know who is all going but i know brother is planning on going along with a few regulars. but they also get a few more friends to show up on a day or two to add to the fun. it will be interesting to hear how it went when they get back.

i'd like to try their ice cream sandwich run some day. start at cal 2 run to the swinging bridge then run back to cal 2. take a break at foresthill for an ice cream sandwich and a soda. then try to run to cal 2 under 1:15 without puking. now i know i can't run that in 1:15. but maybe at my own break neck speed i do it without hurling. maybe someday.

capital peak up top in middle

gorge run

2008-04-20T18:38:00.000-07:00

i was fortunate to be invited to run in the columbia river gorge with olga and gail on sunday. they both have done tons of miles in the gorge. i have only done a handful, mostly one the washington side.

today they brought me to the multnomah falls on the oregon side. i had never been there. the day was good. we ended up doing 20 miles with 5725 ft of gain. i of course can't hike as well as olga and gail but they were kind enough to wait for me so i didn't miss a turn. it was a good day.

lower falls

looking over to washington side

washington side

these are stong women

showing off their good side?

gail and me

some pictures from peterson ridge rumble 60k

2008-04-15T10:21:00.000-07:00

rod getting ready for miwok

karen gnass, oh, she's slammin'

jon gnass, yea, he's slammin' too

sean wants to run "sub bien" this year at states

stacy bunton always smilin'. she'll be doing spartathalon soon

sander nelson, 2nd at san diego last year. mike burke getting ready for hardrock

it was a beautiful day in central oregon for a great race.

more pictures here

around and around we go

2008-03-17T20:20:00.000-07:00

speedracers here it is...
this past weekend i did my first timed run at Pacific Rim One Day Run. this race is hard to even know about if you don't live in oregon or washington. heck i didn't hear about it until i joined the nw listserv. then at best you get one notice from the rd fred willet. low and behold it is one of the longest ultra events around oregon. maybe autumn leaves 50 miler has been around longer. i don't know how long that has been but, mckenzie river 50 miler / 50k has been around 2o years so those two races have been around close to or more than 25 years. it also used to be one of the largest timed races said by a local ultra runner.

i called fred the tuesday before the run to see if i could get in. i didn't care if i got a t-shirt, i didn't care if anybody even recorded my laps. i didn't care if i had my miles recorded in the results, which are hard to find also. i just wanted to run.

the plan was to run 50 or so miles. run easy, but just run. i didn't know if i would enjoy this one mile loop frenzie. my brother has done it. he logged 116 miles (?) in '05, running 3 minutes and walking 1 minute from the get go. he did it to build confidence to be able to complete 100 miles and run for 24 hrs. you see he was getting ready to run states that year for his first 100. mmm, let me see at states, he finished 19th in 20:08, yea i think he did o.k.

there were many of us new to ultra's that were there and then others that have been doing this race for over a dozen years. it was fun to see Rob, and Steve. Michelle and Jenny were doing their first 50 mile run, very cool. Steve completed his first 24hr event by knocking off 105 miles. T.C. did 101. Tim England (former winner of Plain 100) took honors with 121 miles. Lisa Bliss, last years winner of badwater, was there getting ready for umstead.

the plan was to run easy. walk the hills. run the flats and downs. so loop after loop i ran the flats, hammered the technical downhills, and did a solid hike up the monster climbs. i practiced eating on the climbs. i drank 20ozs an hour. i ate about 300 calories an hour. it went well. my quads got worked on the downs. my hiking still has some work but that was good practice.

so all went well. got a few hours of running and a few miles in for the day. a total of 247 ft of gain was had. boy that was a monster day. i hope that was good training for the rumble in a few weeks.

here are some pictures taken by bob, "the beast", lynes here

i will consider this next year. it was fun. i never thought i would do this kind of thing but it went pretty darn well. now i am ready for some single track.

fast times at cool

2008-03-13T12:57:00.000-07:00

well the pacific northwest did pretty well at cool this year. dan olmstead doing what is probably his second ultra had a good day taking third. erik skaggs ran another fast 50k coming in second. then todd braje came in a first. man he was off my radar. i knew he was fast but i just didn't see his name. i've seen some pretty fast marathon times from him and he won McDonald Forest 50k last year.

the womens field was equally impressive... Susannah Beck taking honors. Bev came in second. and Joelle Vaught came flying in at third.

rumor is not all the top three men are going to be doing states. one may sit out. we will have to see about that.

lewis will just have to bring it at american river 50 april 5th. but that field is stacked too.

me, just training. on a last minute thing i decided to do Pacific Rim One Day Run. i'm not going to do the whole 24hrs. just run 50 or so miles. why not the whole thing? worried about recovery. oh, i know many use this to build confidence for doing a 100 or staying up 24 hours. they all did fine when they showed up to the big dance in june. but for me, at least this year, i'll just use it as a long training run. just take it easy, practice the eating drinking thing.

kinda glad i'm doing pac rim now. kinda nice to join others for a day. sure will make time go by faster i'm sure. plus, i didn't have anything going for this month. breaks up the usual weekend training i figure. it should be fun. too bad we are going to get rained on, bummer.

way too cool guesses

2008-03-07T13:52:00.000-08:00

well speedracers, Way Too Cool 50k is Saturday. Boy, the field is deep for both men and women.

i don't know all the names but here is my guess in order of finish

men:

matt carpenter--he might have some company for a while but he should prevail

erik skaggs-- i think he rocks at this distance

galen burrell-- fast. don't know much about this speedy devil

dan olmstead-- ok, he's running with the big boys now. a little inexperienced but maybe

craig has helped him since winning McKenzie last year. TAKE YOUR S-CAPS DAN!!!

lewis taylor-- won it last year. he better bring his "A" game saturday if he wants top three.

bring "it" chickenhawk

lewis.

AJW, Skaden, Hal, they all could be near the front but i don't think any of them are gearing up for this particular race. yes, rich hanna should be up there someplace, just don't know where. Scott Wolfe will run fast but my guess he is in the same boat as AJW, skaden, and Hal. and there are about 10 other fast dudes that will jump at the chance if somebody faulters. it will be fun to watch.

ajw

hal

also, i hope bili has a better race than last year. i think the last little bit of the race kinda fell apart if i remember right. there is a certain female that "chicked" him last year for the first time. my guess is he doesn't want that to happen again.

sean will be there, but boston is the priority. go get 2:40 colonal.

jeff browning will bring his best.

craig will see old friends

now the ladies

newer to ultra's, Susannah Beck is my pick hands down. she has run something like a 1:15 half and a 2:35-36 marathon. yikes. and a win at moab 50k isn't too bad. not sure why she didn't do the mcKenzie invitational last year but did run what looks like to be a easy 4:33 in saturday's race (injury?). just don't think anybody else has this kind of leg speed. wicked leg speed that is...

nikki--what, something like only two losses in 8 years, nuff said

nikki

bev-- she'll give it a go no matter what. way to go french kiss

craig, bev, and alan

annette bednosky-- could finish in front of bev if she has a good day and bev faulters

meghan--running really well at multiple distances but she has the trials coming up. this is not a focus right now. have fun G.M.

there are others both men and women that i am forgeting. since i am a mid packer at best, i just don't know all these folks. sorry if i missed someone.

but i will be calling bili after my saturday slog.

on a side note, Waldo has 49 entrants after just thursday, less than a week since the mail in application came on line. already i see a few fast folks for the USTAF OPEN AND MASTERS 100K TRAIL CHAMPIONSHIP already registered. almost half full, cool. at least i can toe the line with the fast boys in august.

i'm a big girl, a perfect size 12

2008-02-24T18:01:00.000-08:00

i'm a perfect size 12, yes i'm a "BIG GIRL"

i get to the race and the first thing is to see who has their game face on...

sean brought it last year with his cutzie little floral skirt made by kathy harshburger. i knew bushwacker would, but i can't compete with those long lushious shaved legs. (nah, he doesn't shave them but maybe he will have to next year to get top honors)

i walk up to the pavilion and i see dan has raised the race to a knew level... his little red, white and blue number was elegant but that red polk-dot bow on his visor was the topper. then i see one of the lizards with a hot little number, a pleated plaid school girls skirt and knee highs. man i had to "bring it" if i wanted to stand up to these guys.

game on boys...

right before the start i unveiled the works... a size 12 floral number. a dress that is not a lame little girly skirt.

so there it is, i think my little get up went over pretty well. funny, all the people with taste, women that is, said it was pretty hidious. hey, i had a little bow on the back, isn't that cute?

so, i think i raised the bar for next year. maybe bushwacker will shave his legs??? sean, your gunna have to come up with something new... maybe you and rod could have matching outfits??? rod???

mike "bushwacker" burke and

liz kellog

oh, there was a race too...

so, going into the race it was just about completing two laps around the lake and finishing upright.

i didn't want to do the out and back 3 mile section in 24 minutes like in past. i finished it in 28 minutes and that was good. but it seemed way to hard to even do that. i was wondering what the day would be like after that.

so now it was just run at a comfortable pace and just finsh after the out and back. i just concentrated on running easy and keeping the pace even.

the course was fast, 34 finished under 5hrs, last year only 14. new course record by neil olsen. me, i ran the exact same time i have for the past two years. i should have been 14 minutes faster given the smooth carpet ride for a trail this day.

the legs were tired even within the first five miles. but then i reminded myself that this was just a good training run. nothing more, nothing less.

i had fun. it was nice to not have too much mud. should i have run faster? yes. but on the second loop it was just all about controlling the damage. just run with even pace and check this one off.

it was fun to see rod, sean, mike burke, olga, darla and chris tear up the tarmac saturday. it is going to be fun watching them this year. run well at boston sean, i will be watching you every 2.5 miles on the web there. oh, i will be rooting for meghan the day before in the trials. and all of them have some hundreds in the future. of course burke has a little one coming up, HARDROCK!

olga

darla brader and chris askew

oh, i missed seeing john and amy coffey. i had met them just a few weeks back. john was running his first ultra in 9 years!!! he holds the record for running around Mt. Hood in 6:24, that's 41 miles with over 10,000 feet of gain!!! and has ran states three times. once placing M4 in 17:48 in 1982!!! what has john been doing, just some little ironmans, that's all. amy is no slouch either, running fast at American River 50 and finished in style at a Old Pueblo 50, and a couple of Mt. Hood PCT 50's, and States in '05. and many more great races under her belt.

so for now i will just keep running. i will continue to run slowly. but i will continue to run.

no more wearing dresses though. my fat little stubby legs just can't pull it off.

see many of you at the rumble in april.

tanner creek aid station volunteer, kyly mcmurray and bob "the beast" lynes

getting a little better...

2008-02-17T16:32:00.000-08:00

well, this was my first 100 mile week of the year. things are getting a little better with each run. i guess i'm getting used to the blood pressure meds. i'm still running slowly but i'm ok with that. but now i am able to sort of keep up with others now. i still suck on climbs. but i will work on that.

afterall, i better if i want to get ready for the big dance later on...

look forward to better weather and continued better running.

hagg lake 50k next weekend. going to enjoy sloshing around in the mud there. nice to see everybody after winter.

my own little fat ass 50k

2008-02-03T17:14:00.000-08:00

so saturday i did my own little fat ass 50k on wildwood...

i started out the day fairly early getting up at 5:45 and making some tea and eating some breakfast. i knew this would be a "solo" day as my training budy was running a trail marathon this day.

on the 40 minute drive to the trailhead, it started to snow. very cool. we don't get snow here much ever. i was glad i brought extra clothes as i hate being cold when running. i tend to overdress, as i hate being cold. that is why training in the winter is a difficult thing for me.

i just heard Tom Petty, singing a song with the words, "running down a dream" on the Superbowl halftime show. that pretty much says it. i have the carrot out in front of me and i don't mind putting in the work, cold or not...

i started of the day to mentally do 26 miles. but as the snow continued, hey why not do a 50k? afterall, i had no where to be and i had enough water and food to do it.

so, there it was, me running through 3 inches of the new stuff, no other tracks on the trail but mine. solitude, quiet, oh, this was fun.

i was running slow but that pretty much says how most of my runs are. but i was enjoying this day. i wasn't cold. i was moving forward. it was quiet but blissful actually.

the farther i got north on the trail, the more snow there was. very cool.

but i would see a half a dozen others later in the day. four of them in shorts!!! ok, they were running shorter i figure, they were carrying no water and running very fast. the other two were running slower and i would see them 2-3 hours later going the opposite way on the trail. really a quiet day for me on this trail.

i knew i was running slowly, as there were sections of 2-3 miles that all i did was run, duck for low branches, run another 75 feet, do it all again. i also witnessed multiple branches coming down right in front of me from being too weak to hold the weight of the snow and ice, come crashing down. i was happy not to be underneath these. i won't call them "widow makers" as i know what those are living near a logging community many of my life.

the day ended less than desirable. the temps went up, the snow started to melt, and all i was running through was puddles of snow melt. my feet were frozen!!! reminded me of capital peak runs!!! i was even contimplating on getting gortex shoes following this run.

i was happy to finish. i immedietly got into some dry clothes and ate my protein. sipped on a cold cup of tea on the way home.

the hot shower was wonderful. a nice cup of hot tea and tuna steak and broccoli was the reward. this was a good run to just enjoy something with the snow we don't get around here very often.

it's time

2008-01-29T20:43:00.000-08:00

ajw said it best, "it is build up time."

oh he nailed it.

it is time to take a business type approach now. no missing workouts. no skimping on miles run. it is time to put in the homework. afterall, he should know best, he is in education and a former teacher.

i have started my doubles. the long runs on the weekends are starting to come together. maybe my body has adapted to the blood pressure medication. i am still crossing my fingers on this...

oh this is starting to get fun now that the long runs resemble some of my long runs in the past two years. i am just so thankful that i can have relentless forward motion for 5+ hours. something i would have never dreamed of when i ran a few marathons in years past.

i am just going to roll the dice and hope the luck continues.

i hope all your training is going well.

on a side note, i am intreaged by running events like Sustina and Arrowhead. Maybe Arrowhead a little more as i was born in Minnesota. plus, i have been lucky enough to run slow for a long time in 100's. Arrowhead in February for 135 miles, mmmm, that is interesting. i'm going to have to ponder that for a bit. oh, get educated on doing that kind of event also.

it is time to build. i am ready to do that.

have fun, see you on the trail

ok, it's time to start training

2008-01-14T19:41:00.000-08:00

well the holiday's have passed, i've gained some weight since last june at kettle. this happens every year. i fall off on training when winter approaches. i eat an extra slice of pizza or two, skip a run or two and low and behold i've gained 10 pounds in six months. oh well, the pizza did tast good you know.

so the numbers don't lie... 150 cushy pounds, 22% body fat. like in years past i hope to drop ten pounds and about drop to 14% body fat. those would be nice numbers to toe the line in june. now the work begins.

so, i have limited amount of weeks until race day. but really i have to take in account training weeks and tapering weeks. probably do a 2-3 week taper i figure.

oh, i'll do a few races before that. not many though. races are fun to see old friends and of course meet new ones on the trail. i plan on running slow at the races because i won't be tapering for any of them and i plan on running straight through them.

i look forward to races because they are new places to visit and just to enjoy a different trail.

now for my goals... you make goals right? I do. yea, i am not a fast runner. but i have specific goals for 2-3 races a year. i don't "race" any more than that. so for this year i have two races that i have specific goals for... a 100 and Waldo. the bummer part of Waldo is I really want to run a lot faster but my ultimate goal finishing time is pretty darn fast for my ability. but what the heck, going to give it a shot. i'm going to specifically train for waldo after the 100. it is going to be fun. dang, what a race. not only the 100k masters trail championship but also the 100k OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP FOR THE NEXT TWO YEARS!!! love watching the fast folks from the back.

so, the work is about ready to beging in a week or so. i look forward to it. afterall, my guess is you have to put the homework in for a 100. from what i understand is you can't fake your way through those monstors.

looking to have fun. see you on the trails...

looking back

2008-01-10T19:48:00.000-08:00

well, i mulled through a few of the numbers that happened last year and here it is...

days ran: 277

days running twice in one day: 75

peanut butter and jelly sandwiches
before second run of the day: 70

servings of tuna or salmon: 280

miles driven to trail heads: 7711 miles

pairs of shoes gone through: 7

number of toenails lost: 12

cases of Crank Gel bought: 1.5 (144 Gels)

containers of GU2o bought: 4

times fell during a race: 4

$ of batteries spent: $40

$ of batteries spent for altimeter watch: $2

times worn a heart rate monitor: 0 (i'm still breathing, don't need a beeping thing to know that)

# of meatloaf sandwiches eaten on a training run: 4

# of cans of beans eaten during races: 5 (i have craig to thank for this)

# of times gotten sick during races: 8

inches of elastikon used to tap feet for races: 96"

epic races: 1 ( and i didn't even run...watching brother get top ten at States, hands down!!!)

miles ran: 2900 (ok, slacker compared to the year before)

impressed points by other runners here in the NW: can't count that high...

Brother finishing M9 at States!!!

Hal, winning States!!!

Dan Olmstead staying 2 minutes out front of Hal all day at McKenzie River 50k and winning his first ultra.

craig finishing 15th at states but still got "chicked" at Javalina (he had a great year in my book)

Rod's 3.5hr pr at States and 5th place finish at the North Face 50 mile challenge.

Meghan finishing F5, winning Where's Waldo 100k outright, and qualifying for the Olympic Trials Marathon at age 46. (she'll be joining Joan Benoit, at age 50, on a glorious day in Boston this year.)

Lewis Taylor winnig Cool and after taking
chicken hawk road at states, still got Silver.

Sean finishing 8th at JFK in 6:31. (what will he do at Boston???)

Ronda slamming!!! and having some very fast times in those 100's!!! James Kerby 2nd at Vermont.

Whit Rambach, 10th., Jeff Browning, 15th, and James Varner,25th, (but in top ten for much of the race), at Hardrock.

Kami's 9th place finish at the 100k World Championship and 8th at States. And all the Corvallis gang finishing sub 24 at States.

Then Mike "Bushwacker" Burke just doesn't slow done with now entering retirement. Matt Hart winning Mt. Hood PCT 50, 2nd at H.U.R.T. 100k, and 2nd at Grand Teton 100, behind AJW.

dr. dave, david terry finishing 18th for his 10th wasatch!!!

and of course scott jurek. The list goes on... i know i missed other outstanding performances. but the NW had a pretty good year. it was fun to watch all the fast folks.

happy points earned for a wonderful year: a bakers dozen. (wait, i can't eat dognuts) it was a fun year!

i'm looking forward to this year just as much if not more.

what are some of your numbers?

looking forward

2007-12-27T20:35:00.000-08:00

have you mapped out your next years racing plans? i sorta have. the races are just penciled in mind you. some will close fast and i have to remember to be on the ball and sign up as soon as the application comes on line. look at Cool, closed in 11 minutes 19 seconds for 400+ runners. (slow this year as it closed in 7 minutes 33 seconds last year)

not running much. since i have a june 100 that i want to do, my plan is to not ramp up too quickly. yea, i know some can bang out 80-100 mile weeks all year long but not me. right now i am just enjoying the mental break because once the ball gets going things will get very busy.

now it is time to have fun runs this next month. first the purge and splurge. started by kyly, ellie, and alan 14 years ago. planning on running 20-30.11 miles of the wildwood trail in forest park on december 31st.

then in janurary there are four fat ass 50k's-34 mile runs on each weekend here in oregon. not sure if te MLK run will happen. hope it does then we will have the FATSO award this year. the one with the slowest cumulative time of all four runs.

i won't be able to do the run in badass run in bend with sean meissner and jeff browning. but i sould be able to do a the others, i hope. (sean in white, Jeff in yellow)

dang, i would be in the running for the fatso award. you see i was dfl at the madass run in madras two years ago. and i have a streak of two years in a row as dfl at the MLK run!!!

dang my only way of winning a race... by coming in DFL!!! oh, maybe i should have ran the Poker run. nahhhh, i have the worst luck in the world, my poker hand would probably be a pair at best like in the past.

(the fast guys were kind enough to wait for me on the first turnaround at last years MLK)(they would have froze to death if they waited at the second turnaround waiting for me)(brother in orange, Craig in red vest, kelly woodke in green coat, Sean in blue, all will be at States)(brother jeff, single digit, M9!)

the one thing i like about these runs is being with friends. ok, i'm only with them for a short bit as i seem to be stuck in first gear all day long. but it is fun none the less.

looking forward to a new year. ready to ramp up and train and hurt like i have never before. just really looking forward to running one maybe two 100's next year. it is going to be fun. looking forward to doing the june 100 first. it is going to be a blast.

as for the 100 in june........

yes, i have already been working through the splits i want to hit and visualizing sections on the course. everything now is focused just for that race.

i may do other races but they are only building blocks for the june race.

nice to have a plan unlike last year i made decisions to do races way late and i was always a little under trained for races. not planning on taking this approach this year. look forward to the new year. oh and yes i am like many others, i need to drop a few pounds.

being on this heartstrong program at work that shouldn't be a problem. they only allow 10% fat in the daily intake of food. i have to admit after a month i get tired of eating cardbaord.

since event the heartstrong program couldn't control my blood pressure, i am now in blood pressure medication. a super low dose of an ACE inhibitor, just glad i'm not taking a beta blocker. that would suck.

stay tuned speedracers, i'll chime in once in a while now. i'm going to actually start running again.

happy new year, tom

i could be on the wizard of oz!

2007-11-27T21:30:00.000-08:00

yes, i have a heart. see, i have proof.

get this, i am part of a high risk group for potential heart disease at the hospital that work for, go figure.

maybe i should exercise more???

yup i am in the top 30 of all 500 or so employees. how about them apples???

let me set a little background information for you...

you see there was some program that was done a few years ago that some doctor (i forget all the names) that took an agressive non-invasive approach to reduce the risk factors for patients that could possible be approaching a potential heart attack.

these patients did things like changing their diet, set up an exercise program, did yoga, and became educated in reducing stress managment. the result of the study was fantastic. a huge percentage of the patients reduced their risk without surgical intervention.

so, our hospital is doing the same thing except we were also put through the CT scanner to do a Cardiac Scoring to actually look at the major arteries on the heart. oh, we got blood work also obviously. oh, there is no cost to me. we are the test group. if i had to pay for this 12 week program it would run close to $10,000.

why am i one of the lucky few??? well my blood pressure for one, borderline high. i have watched it creep up as i have gotten older. second my overall chlorestoral... through the fricken' roof. 319 (high is considered anything above 200). but what 4 cardiologists and my primary don't understand is my HDL. (the good chlorestoral) is 215 mm/dl. normal range is 40-89 mm/dl. my LDL is within normal limits, 87 mm/dl (range 60-129 mm/dl). oh, the triglycerides was 83 mm/dl (range 35-150 mm/dl)

the doctor that is heading the program called me a freak. literally, a freak. he wouldn't say that normally, i just work for the hospital that is all.

the risk ratio has a range of 4.0-6.7, mine 1.5, low risk.

so i went to the first session tonight. got a huge three ring binder with stuff like diet change ideas. arrrrrgghhhhhh, what??? NO CAFFINE!!! YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME. other stuff like no eggs, butter, red meat, you got it, all the good stuff (sorry Michelle, i know you already do this). and for you ladies, NO CHOCOLATE. sorry had to throw that out there. let me see, i bought a chocolate bar about a month ago, still sitting in the cupboard. it will just have to sit there a bit longer.

we get to exercise too. you would be proud of me, i learned how to walk on the treadmill today.

so anyway, the 1st picture is of my heart and one of the major arteries, the LAD. (left anterior decending) and the really small pictrues are of axial images in one millimeter increments above and below the little blue tick mark. (you would have to mag the image to see the blue tick mark). of course there are other pictures of the RCA, Ramus, PDA, Circ, AM, D1, etc.

the below pictures are of the left ventricle. one in the relaxed state and one after contraction. the difference between the two is the Ejection Fraction. normal range is 55%. mine was 73%.

oh, i had a stress test also. i had one done about two months ago also at a major hospital near me. both times i went longer than anybody previously to reach 95% of maximum heart rate.

oh, the best score of all was my cardiac calcium score was Zero. that's right yellow brick road travelers, no calcium buildup in the arteries that feed the heart.

if you click on the above pictures, look in the bottom right to see what artery is being looked at.

so there it is boys and girls of kansas. non-caffinated tom signing out.

16.1

2007-11-15T17:09:00.001-08:00

you got it, that is what somebody figured out on the Listserv of the chances of getting in states. i knew it would be low, figured around 20%. but no, 16.1% is what they figured out. yikes. oh well, it is fun to go watch. have a good weekend running.

oh, AJW said it best about the men's competition, check it out here . now i have to look at the womens race...

blog slacker...

2007-11-06T12:49:00.000-08:00

borrowed the title from another blog.

that's me, a real slacker.

have written a couple of posts but never posted them. but i did stay at a holiday inn express last weekend. no, didn't do that either. i did volunteer at a race though. really i did. don't have proof, you're just going to have to believe me on that one.

helped out a bit at autumn leaves 50k/50mile/10k. really though this race is pretty easy to help at. it is only 15 minutes from where i live so i have no excuse to either run or help out here.

it is easy for the volunteers here. i would say a large portion of the runners don't even use the aid stations. i always park my truck a by the pioneer house a few hundred meters from the start and use my tailgate as an aid station. in the past i have filled 10 bottles and just grab a new one on each lap. but this year i had a few duties instead of running.

the best part is i got to pace a friend the last 10 miles of his 50 mile run. then i helped clean up.

brad putnam below

got to take a few pictures too.

it was just a good day. no rain this year too!

washington gang chugging along

i think it was a good day for all.

25 days to see if you get your name drawn????????

rio del lago 100, race report

2007-09-25T10:56:00.000-07:00

Hope not to bore you, this is LOOOOONNNNNGGGG.

(pre race, Norm Klein in blue)

Well, picked rio for a couple of reasons. I was eyeing three 100's during the month of September. I was only going to choose one to do. Picked this, finacially, it was only $140 to fly to sacramento for this one. Originally it was $350 to fly to san diego. This was perfect timing after Waldo.

(pre race toes... Night Life color with little flower stickers)

I ran this race last year so I knew what to expect from the race. Gu2o for part of the schwag but Gatraide out one the course, what's up with that??? 15 gu's in the same bag but none on the course??? Now this makes complete sence. And of course half the entrants from the double marathon and 100 miler not starting off with tourches slowing up everybody for the first 40 minutes in the dark.

(Helen Klein and Dr. Lind) (Helen holds 75 world age group records)

So, the day looked pretty epic in terms of weather, highs around 70, lows 55 and maybe a sprinkle or two. Starting at 6am was good. Yes, I had my torch on my noggin. We start off and of course everybody that didn't have a light would stop at every rock, ditch, etc. All I wanted to do was just run, not stopping every 25 feet. I would work my way around anybody without a light finally ending up in the front third of the pack.

I start off carrying very little for the first 10 miles. As I have to drop my torch off there and at the same time I would pick up my race belt and use it for the next 20 miles. I am running with effort here but not too hard I thought. But at mile 17 I start CRAMPING!!! Oh, this is wayyyyyy to early for this to happen. I follow with two S-caps and continue this on cue taking at least one every 45 minutes the rest of the race.

Running along I see Julie Fingar ahead, and Scott Dunlap (running the 53 mile race), is just behind me. I now know that I shouldn't be here. I shouldn't be running in this company. I back off a bit and think I need to run within my ability. So, it is time to cruise. I have a long way to go.

I leave No-Hands for the climb up K-2. Cool, I see 4 wild turkeys. (we don't have them where I live)

(coming into cool fire station)

I get into the Cool Fire Station at 5:22 hours of running. What am I doing??? I am one hour ahead of my 22 hour goal. Leave Cool to do the Omstead loop leaving one bottle, and my race belt as I will pick them up later. I grab my bottle of beans and head out following a guy that wants to run 18 today for his first 100!!! I have no intentions of running his splits.

I eat a few gulps of beans, run, walk. Continue this until the beans are gone. Good, 600 calories, 1000mg of sodium and some good staying power I figure. Finsh the Cool loop in 1:15. This is the last time I look at my watch. Grab my race belt, hand held and head out. Oh, leave with Mr. 18 but I have no intention of staying with him.

Here is the cool part of the race. I am 1-2 miles out from No-Hands. I hear a noice down the hill from the trail. It is a COUGAR!!! He hears me and now leaps and bounds away from me down towars the river. Not two minutes later I hear a noise above me. I keep going. I run another 50 yards and look back, two yearling dears. Was the cougar on their scent??? I hope it wasn't mine!!!

(looking back to No-Hands aid station)

All I could think was this was going to be a good day.

I catch up to Mr. 18 five miles down the trail. He runs everything!!! I do my normal run flats and downs, and hike the hills. He gaps me while I hike, I close it while running. Finally, I let him go for the last time.

Fast forward to mile 63. An aid station person tells me I'm in 6th. I really didn't want to know this. I tell him I have a long way to go. I think to myself, I am just going to enjoy this one and just try to finish upright.

Get back to the school and know that I will spend a little extra time taking care of myself. I switch belts, grab another bottle of beans and jam every pocket with my Crank gel. Oh, pick up my pacer here, i.e. I-pod!!! I talk to Mark Lantz (100k U.S. masters trail Champion) for a bit while doing this. We talk about how Jeff did this year and how great a race Waldo was. He was pacing Rena Schumman this day.

My next goal was to get the beans down as I know I don't have enough gel to finish without it. I take small gulps, run, let it get down. Continue this until the 12 ounces is gone. After this, I figure it is time to start racing.

Not one mile out of the aid station I find some more poor trail markings. I run up the road, back to the chalk markings and make the decision to follow the chalk. I run down five minutes and a man with his kids say I am on the Junior High course. Arrrrgghhh, not again. I turn around and head back. I find a ribbon on the road later on but it was no where near the intersection. Vandalism again this year??? Yes, but not here actually. Later down the trail.

(yup, you guessed it, more trail)

I get to mile 73 and now turn on my lights. Very nice. Last year I had to turn them on at mile 63. And this year the race was a week later, cool.

I can't remember where I see Jon Olsen on the way back but I know he is on course record pace. Sure enough, 15:31, 59 minutes ahead of last years course record, WOW!

(Mark Tanaka in green, Joh Olsen in white)

I come up on Mark Tanaka and he about runs into the skunk I had stopped for. The skunk takes aim but decided it wasn't worth it and leaves the trail. Mark and I echange greetings and he looks great.

(trail)

I am in 5th now??? How is that??? Julie Fingar is still ahead of me but where is Mr. 18??? Well, he got lost again. (Total of 2hrs off trail for the day)

I pick up one of Julie's pacers at mile 77. He wanted to run more. So, he takes me to the turn around and back.

When I get to the turn around I ask if they had milk shakes this year??? Bummer, no.

Well, at the turn around I noticed that I have gained at least 15 minutes on Julie. All I think about is it would be nice not to get chicked. To finish ahead of Julie, Rena, and Van would be pretty cool and they are well known in the ultra community. I knew I couldn't catch the 3rd male because he was gaining on Mark and staying even with Jon.

I catch up with Julie in the next seven miles, making up the 15 minute gap. My pacer says he has to let me go. He says he isn't in enough shape to finish with me the last 10 miles. I get my next pacer, I-pod. And the pressure is on...

I know Julie is stuggling but when I saw Rena she looked strong. Mr. 18 was just behind her and I knew he would be finishing strong. Game on.

I run through the next aid station. I have enough fluids.

I just run everything possible. I am not in pain so I figure just keep running. There is no reason why not too. I have been working my ass off for the last 25+ miles.

I get to the last two aid stations and they both say I look better than anybody else. That is encouraging. I thank them for being here.

Last aid station, 3.1 miles left. I really don't want to be caught now. I run the mile trail and then pop out onto the dike road. I run for a bit and then it's lights out. Look back and nobody. Run for a bit more, still nobody. Turn the corner and look back the 3/4-1 mile, nobody. Very good. After making the corner, lights back on, and only a mile or so to go.

Make the turn off the dike road to the school with only a 1/4 of a mile to go. This is good.

Come into the finsh, say "runner" as I know the last runner was here long ago.

Look at the clock with 50 feet to go, hey sub 20, how is that???

19:58:48, it couldn't have been better. A 2.5 hour PR!!! This is sweet.

After getting weighed I go for the shower right away. Now the pain has officially set in. I haven't hurt like this since my first Waldo. I lay on a wrestling mat with my legs on a box. I can't bear it. Finally, I go to the meds. Ibuprofen and Tylenol. The Tylenol kicks in 20 minutes later. That was the trick. Couldn't sleep until 11am for an hour. Awards at noon.

By the numbers...

Run: 100.28 miles (officially that is)

Crank gels eaten: 30

gu gels: 6

S-caps: 34

cans of beans: 2

bottles of gatoraide: didn't want to think of it, hate the stuff

chaffing spots: 4, still bleeding from two spots

blisters: yea, got some, big deal

toe nails lost: 4

times hurled: 1, the best ever during a 100

falls: 1, can live with that

beers after run: 1/2, just enough to help with nap

placing: 4th, sawwwweeeett

PR: 2 hours 35 minutes

chicked: not today baby cakes

happy points: about a cazillion

That is all. Sorry for so long. But this is kinda a journal for me too. Something to look back on for planning for future races.

mckenzie river 50k

2007-09-13T09:11:00.001-07:00

last weekend there was a whole bunch of races... Superior, Wasatch, Mckenzie, i think that 100 in Canada (Halburton 100), Plain 100 and of course a bunch others.

well, i chose mckenzie long ago. i think it was april 1st that i signed up. the first day of registration. and like many races now it fills. this one fills on the first day.

i ran it last year for the first time. this year was the 20th year of it's running. Phil Vaughn has been RD the whole time!!! incredible!!! there used to be a 50 miler and a marathon but now just the 50k. bummer, i wish i had known about ultra's long ago. i would have really loved doing the 50 miler.

this years race, one word, STRUGGLE. that's it, plain and simple.

started off my usual slow pace. but everything just seemed like so much work. frustrating. i was getting passed in the first 10 miles by a million people. and i was not passing anybody!!! arghhhh. working way too hard for how slow i was going.

skipped the first two aid stations as planned. fluids in the third and fifth aid station. oh fell, and got passed by five people and NEVER caught up to them. arggghhhhh.

finally, at the halfway it just said, "screw it". "i'm just going to run". put in the i-pod, saw jeff at an aid station, told him the story. he was nice, "it's all downhill to the finish except for the uphill sections." yea, thanks jeff. see you sunday at the invitational.

well, the second half went pretty well. i enjoyed the river and the running wasn't all that bad. did i pass anybody you ask, hell no. i was a slug. but the good thing i could at least count on one hand the people that passed me. didn't have to get out the abacus like in the first half of the race.

finished 4:55, 11 minutes slower than last year. oh, well. the protein drink tasted pretty good at the end.

now i get to have fun sunday watching the fast dudes run at the invitational. i took a bunch of pictures. it was fun. first time ultra runner dan olmsted from eugene held off the likes of hal koerner and lewis taylor all day. winning in 3:44, two minutes off course record.

dan olmsted

hal (winner of western states 100)

lewis (winner of way to cool 50k)

meghan arbogast got the course record for women in 3:58. very cool. what a year she is having. she won waldo outright!!!

now for rio. hope not to be too much of a slug on this one next week.

4 month old alice taylor

Where's Waldo 100k

2007-09-05T16:37:00.001-07:00

here is penny and i coming off the summit of maiden peak heading down the leap of faith trail

running with the big boys... well, starting with them at least...

2007-08-28T08:56:00.001-07:00

Where's Waldo 100k

really, it is 100k this year.

my 4th waldo. looks like i'll be wearing #28 next year and moving up to the 45-49 age bracket.

this year it is also the USTAF masters national trail championship. pretty cool.

oh, i won't be in the mix by any means but i do like this race. this is my fourth time running here.

i had some goals that i wanted to meet. but my training has been mighty slack after kettle 100. but i was going to give it a shot.

i had written down my splits that i wanted to hit. and planned on not stopping at the first aid station. afterall, since the course was shorted from 66.36 miles to 62.5, the first aid station was only 7.4 miles out. not 10.4 like in years past.

starting at 5am we head up the ski slope more or less. actually off to the right is where we go in picture below.

start off on double track. really the only double track we will be on all day. that way i can let people pass without obstructing them.

i try to look ahead and see how much the leaders are running this but can't really tell even with the headlamps on for this first 35 minutes of climbing.

i knew that i would get to the first aid station in under 1:30 but i would just cruise through it just giving my bib # as i pass. no need to get fluids in this short of time. glad i planned this, there was no less than 10 people there, yikes.

you see i really try to be efficient in races. stopping at aid stations for 30 seconds, never changing shoes or socks, no sitting. just relentless forward motion in everything i do. i'm too slow to take breaks you see.

on the way up to mt. fuji aid station the plan was to run through and just drop one bottle off for a refill and then pick it up on the way back not getting anything else. i see jeff (brother) as he will be there and at the summit maiden peak to run the last runner in after probably 10pm that same day! he askes me if i need anything and i just hand him one bottle and ask for a fill of GU2O. and i will see him in less than 30 minutes, i hope.

upon summiting fuji craig is there, cheering everybody on. he offered me a hug but i was so sweaty he just shakes my hand. thanks craig. well, he was right. on the way up fuji i was asked if i was going for the wet waldo award because i was soaking wet. "no" i would reply, we haven't got to any lakes yet. "it is just a lot of work for me to climb."

run through fuji aid station again just grabbing my bottle and telling jeff i will see him later. arrrghhhh, one minute slower than last year on the fuji up and fuji down 2.5 mile section.

i know this next section will take about an hour running into the Mt. Ray aid station. Sure enough, 56 minutes. good, two minutes ahead of last year.

now Mt. Ray to the Twins is my very worst section. At Mt. Ray you are at the lowest point on the course. so, naturally it is nothing but climbing to the twins. one almost can't even call this a climb because it is so gradual. do i walk any of it? yes. should i? no.

dave stevenson is leading leif rustvold and i for a bit. we come to one of the few intersections on this course. i notice there are no signs here. only one ribbon on the trail. very unusual for this race!!! this course is impecably marked i think. what is up? we make the turn and come to bobby lake in about five minutes. WRONG!!! we shouldn't be here. arrrggghhh, we turn around and head back. now the ribbons are on the correct trail! man somebody is playing a dirty trick on us.

sure enough, i catch up with chris thornley... wayyyyy tooo early on the course. sure enough, he, Kyly McMurray, and Karen Gnass got lost for an hour! i catch up with Kyly and she says i win "the bet". Naaaa Kyly, i can't win on this given what happened.

as i look at my watch at he twins, 9 minutes slower than last year. dang, i didn't know i was this out of shape??? wait, i just got lost for 10, o.k., i am fine with that.

i know the next split into charlton will be less than an hour. only get one bottle filled at the twins to save time.

sure enough, 51 minutes. one minute off my goal split but 3 minutes faster than last year.

i grab my drop bag and exchange both bottles for full ones, switch race belts and grab my beans in a makeshift throw away bottle. i'm out of there.

i start eating the beans a quarter mile down the trail on a small climb. i want to run to rd #4290 in less than an hour. i catch up to tim barnes, whom i had met earlier at kettle 100. we run together into 4290. he actually is pushing me a bit here. this split is 59 minutes. good, 4 minutes better than last year. was it the beans??? i'm not tellin'. no, really it was tim kickin' my butt.

now onto the twins aid station again. i knew this was going to be a long haul. it always is. i top off even if we are not summiting the twins this year.

mark humphreys and his pacer, brad putnam catch up to me. i think am still running ok as mark was just behind me coming into charlton and now it is 7 miles later. mark and brad pull me along. i fall behind on the climbs but catch up on the downs. they finally drop me getting into the twins five minutes ahead of me. this is as new split, we didn't climb the twins. all i knew is it better be less than 2 hours, it was, 1:44.

now it's off to the maiden peak aid station. i ran this in 1:06 last year, this year :59. I'll take it.

I look at my watch as i leave the aid station and i think, "o.k., i have 50 miles under my belt and it is time to go to work." this 2300ft climb in three miles isn't all that bad. it is just you have 50 miles of racing on your legs. oh, and the farther you get along, the dang thing gets steeper finally topping off at a 20% grade. well, this summit took me 1:17 last year. all i know is i wanted to do a little better. craig and jeff lolly gaged up here last year in 1:07. so, i plan on running anything that is flat. yes, even little 10 foot sections. it seemed to help. i do this 4 minutes faster than last year. still slow mind you. but i'll take it 1:13 to summit. tim barnes did this in :57, wowzzer.

steve smucker "stent" is there. we talk a bit. it is good to see him as i know this is about done. penny mcdermott passes me on the way to the summit. her husband mark is having a rough day but i know he will finish. i summit and get a hug from jeff. i look at my watch and it is 3:06. i think "crap" now i have to run hard to try to get under 13. dang, i just want to rest. really though, i don't know if i can get 13 as this last 10 miles took 2 hours last year.

i jam down the leap of faith passing penny, knowing she will catch me later.

barb ringstat washes my face at the last aid station. i leave after just one bottle is full. it's time to go. two years ago i ran this last 7.5 miles in 1:44. last year in 1:24. what will it be today???

i catch up to darla brader at the last rosery lake. oh, penny is just behind me again. she askes earlier on the climb up maiden if i'm doing the wet waldo. heck no penny, you don't want to see me try to swim. she's doing it except for found lake.

darla asks me to pull her in to get under 13. all i can think of is how much am i going to slow her down? we start running, it was helping. she was right there. we chatted a bit. but the chatter would be few and far between as we got closer to the finish. you see, this was work for me. talking was not a option now. penny passes us at a really good clip. i appologize to darla as i can't run that fast.

i mention to darla that it is going to be really close because i would have to run the exact last split i did the year before and i'm feeling it a bit today.

i keep running the numbers through the grey matter. gads, i can't think now. all i know is we can't let up. we run everything. at least we are giving it a good try.

we reach the last of the trail. We can see the finish line. Last year it took me five minutes to get there. I look at my watch and I think we can do it. I just try to pick out the best running surface and try to keep going. Darla is to my side now. But then her dog comes down the road and about jumps on her. I stop and wait. Good we both cross together. We thank each other for pushing each other.

wait, i don't know our time??? 12:56:51 sawwwweeeeettttt. that last split was only 3 minutes faster, but it got it done.

next year it will be my fifth Waldo. Already looking forward to it. Will Jeff run it? It will be his fifth along with Ed Willson and Chris Thornley. Only Mike Burke as done them all. What a stud.

craig and curt had an awesome plaque made commemorating the 100k Masters Championship.

Already running splits and times through my head for next year. I think I might train for this next year. What a novel idea.

more youTube stuff that smucker did (i'm in the one after burke, right behind penny)here

USTAF RESULTS HERE

RACE RESULTS HERE

my little science project...

2007-08-28T08:15:00.000-07:00

Mmmmmm...

well it has been fun reading about everybodies races and such. i have been out running a bit. not as much lately. it shows in racing. crashed and burned at mt. hood pct 50 mile race. oh, still got a 2 minute PR. but it was quite ugly.

did a little experiment... see if i can run as hard as possible and hold on to the finish. well, for me it doesn't work. got to the lodge, (half way) 40 minutes faster than ever before. ran through every other aid station. that was fine. but obviously went out way too fast for my ability. started cramping at about 30 miles. how fun it is to run 20 miles cramping all the way.

i remember craig saying when he feels a cramp coming on he pops two S-caps. that usually works for me but not this day. went out way too "hot". no amount of salt could have stopped the cramping on this day. just tried to run way faster than my ability.

you see, one should do negative splits on this course. you do all the climbing in the first half (and there isn't much climbing mind you) this is a fast course. only a little over 5000 ft of gain!!! i didn't even come close to negative splits. last year i ran the second half 41 minutes faster than the first!!! that shows you how pathetic i was during the race this year.

will i run it next year??? dunno, maybe white river 50. maybe train for it too???

note to self... there is a reason why one should pace one's self in a race... one wants to finish in the upright postition!!!

4th

2007-07-06T13:14:00.000-07:00

pictures from states

2007-06-29T11:23:00.000-07:00

http://www.pbase.com/mtnrunr/jeffws1002007

m9 is very nice. single digit is very nice

see link for pictures from states. will post more from small camera later

Running a 100 in a Sauna

2007-06-04T18:03:00.000-07:00

Yes, I'm half Finn. I love Sauna's but that doesn't mean I like running in one. No, I don't even do surface heat training in one for hot races. But last Saturday at Kettle it was just that to this Pacific Northwest resident. Oh, on a side note, nobody in the Northwest pronounces "Sauna" correctly, at least for this Finn.

I arrived in Whitewater, Wisconsin Thursday to have a rest day on Friday. It was not hot, only 82 degrees and the humidity was mild at 68%. I could deal with this. Drove around to find the start, checked out part of the trail but mostly just remained horizontal as I had the previous week.

This is run in the Kettle Moraine Forest and on much of the 1079 miles Ice Age Trail in Wisconsin.

I had looked forward to meeting Wynn Davis. He's blistering fast and previous winner of Trail Mix 50k. He was going to get after it in the 100k that same day. We were staying at the same hotel and we talked for over an hour. I look forward to watching him at Superior!

I was nervous going into the race. One, only my third 100. Two, I made a huge scheduling error in doing Silver State 50 mile only two weeks before. No, I didn't "race" it, but come on, it is still 50 miles and did have 10,000 feet of gain. What did I do???

(pre-race nails. the eugene gang does this at states but I didn't get into it. I can do this for my "100" right?)

I only "race" 2 to 3 races a year. This was on the radar to get after. I had come here for specific goals. I had made them public.

1. Run Hard
2. Start "racing" at mile 70
3. Finish in 22
4. Get Top 10

I had looked at previous races, entrants, etc. These were going to be lofty goals from my research.

Race morning... 60 degrees

100% humidity

It's a fricken Sauna! At least to me living out west.

First 62 mile out and back was way to "hot". Finished the first 50k in 5:15. More than an hour faster than my splits. It was here I decided I had to run my own race.

I decided at that point that I was going to hike anything that resembled a hill. I was already cramping. Start pounding the S-caps. Eat and drink on cue. I was passed by what seemed to be more than 20 people at that point coming back to Nordic. I cared, but I was sticking to my plan. (but some of the 20 were relay runners and 100k runners) I'm not racing until mile 70.

Make turnaround at Nordic and exchange race belts and grab my second bottle of beans. Walk and eat. Run, drink, eat more beans. I get to Tamarack at mile 67 and I see my pacer for the last 19 Brian Gains . I was lucky to have him offer to pace on the Kettle message board. He has a couple of pictures and a short video on his blog. Thanks Brain.

At mile 67 Brian says I am in 10th. I had taken note, I thought I was also. That's o.k., not racing yet. But I knew why I had picked mile 70 to start to get after it, it was a down. Not less than a half mile out of the Bluff aid station (mile 69.5) I had come up on a #9. The down came and I just accepted the "free speed". I had hammered it pretty good, I looked back when I got almost through the switch backs and he was 4 or 5 switch backs behind.

Then from mile 70-81 it was time to jam. I knew I would be picking up Brian in a bit. Just wanted to really push through this section and gap prev. #9 by 15 minutes. I enjoy the fireflys through this section as we don't have them out west. Got to Rice Lake turnarund and Brian wasn't there. I knew I was early and way ahead of goal time. I just hoped he was here somewhere and could catch up. I ask the volunteer if you see him "to catch up with my sorry ass down the trail".

Brian does just that within 5 minutes. I fill him in on how it's going. I tell him I'm trying to gap the last dude by 15 minutes. Not a minute later here he comes. Crap, only a 12 minute gap at best.

Brian takes over the driving. He doesn't let me do any extended walking periods. "We're running in 15 steps Tom", "We should be running this", are some of what I think he was saying. I try to follow suit.

By mile 75 I realize Brian is fricken killing my. Relentless, not letting up. I am just hoping my legs can hold it together. It will be tough to catch the two closest in front of me. I knew they were many minutes ahead of me on the turnaround.

Brian doesn't faulter. Keeps me eating and drinking. Running and more running.

We get to the Bluff aid station at mile 92.5. I hurl my last 6 of 12 times here. I come into the aid station grabbing two more gu's and head out. I make pit stop. Then it is time to run.

Brian keeps me on que. I'm not talking anymore. But I follow suit. Brian let's me know of the headlamps ahead. He keeps my moving.

Finally we come up on previous sub 21 here. Brian tells me to take him on a small climb. Brain, that is a fricken mountain I think. I obey. We take him. Still running I ask him to turn off the lamp and look back. 75-100 yards he says. Crap, I still have to run.

We come up on sub 24 at Leadville. This time I can do it. A slight down. I continue, ask him to "check the lamps", he turns his off and does. Still 75-100 yards. I can't run "stealth" here. I'm not picking my feet up enough. So, I just half to try to remain to get after it.

Brian clocks me at a 12 minute mile. Don't laugh, that is good for me in a 100. Brian keeps me on task. I was glad he didn't say anything at the last mile marker. I didn't need any incentive at that point. I ask him one more time to check for lamps. None, we're good.

I say my # as I cross so there is no question who this wreck is crossing the line.

The next thing I want to do is sit down. I have wanted this for 15 miles.

Brian and I had ran well the last 7.5 miles. We had gapped the last two by 12 and 15 minutes.

6th overall, mmmmm starting to like that #. Afterall, that is what I was at Rio.

Finishing time, a surprising 20:13.

Sorry folks, no carring a camera during this race. I had business to attend to. This race confirmed that I will not be running in a Sauna any time soon.

PCTR 50k, Forest Park 4/27/2007

2007-05-29T13:22:00.000-07:00

here is a link to pictures of the PCTR 50k last weekend. (Bottom of page.)

There are some of the 20k, 30k also. No pictures of 10k runners. I did not have a bib #s list so many has no names on them

Picture of Cemetary on Skyline drive. We should all be thankful for all that we have here in this country.

Sarah looking great embarking on back to back 50k's in two weeks!!!

Pete helping out at Saltzman Aid station

Olga's last training run before bighorn?

Sean Meissner, one last training run before Bighorn 50.

John Timm doing his first Ultra, with son. He hasn't ran anything longer than a half I believe. He looked great in his first 50k!!!

http://www.pbase.com/mtnrunr/pctr_50k

ps I am having a terrible time posting pictures. I will try again later. But for now you can look at the zillion pictures with the link.

by the way. the new lens was put through the test. really low light all day and it performed like a trooper. no flash used. image stabalizaion used and not used. already looking to drop another $1000 on my next smaller lens. isn't spending money fun?

Proud Parent!!!!

2007-05-25T13:34:00.000-07:00

I am a proud parent of a new lens today. I love taking pictures of places I've been and adventures that I endure. This will be my "workhorse" for sure.

No, I won't be taking it down the trail on runs. I will have to leave that to the little portable Kodak.

I had to throw down some serious bank for this one. But I have wanted it for a long time and it will fill a greatly needed void that I had. O.K., actually I am really only getting started but this lens will help greatly.

The thing that this lens brings to the table is the quality. Very fast apature with superior quality optics compared to it's brothers and sisters that have been part of the clan. It will give the ablility to take pictures in much lower light settings without having to use a flash. The apature is a 2.8 throughout the focusing range while my others were f4-5.6. Believe me this is huge.

So, welcome to the family Mr. 2.8. I will be putting you to work right away... Taking pictures of the PCTR 50k on Wildwood this Sunday in Portland.

Don't worry, I will take good care of you. Here.... Here is a UV filter to protect your optics. There, no scartches for you. Don't worry. I will keep you warm and dry. No rainy days for you.

Silver State 50 mile

2007-05-20T09:43:00.000-07:00

Pictures below. (all pictures here)

Took 75 pictures on the course of Silver State 50 mile run near Reno, Nevada.

The goal for the day was to run comfortably and don't push the "effort" button at all during the day. Run when it is flat or downhill and hike EVERY uphill section.

10,000 feet of gain. Beautiful day. 83 degrees for a high. Race run on 40 miles of jeep roads, and less than 10 of double track through the ponderosa pine forests. Only three miles of single track, yup that's it, just three. Two major climbs. 25oo foot climb right at the start, 4800-7300 feet. Make another 1000 foot climb at mile 26. Then hit the coveted single track into Boomtown at mile 27. From mile 30 at Boomtown climb from 4700 feet to 8700 feet. 4000 foot climb on road and four "grunts" in 7 miles. Yes, I hiked all of these seven miles!!!

Work your way down to 8000 feet from mile 37 to 42. Mile 42 start some technical downs. Not quite Zane Grey technical but you do need to watch it as you hammer the 3200 foot decend on jeep roads. Let the 4x4, atv's pass, they out weigh you.

No cougars or bears seen this year. Definately not a "snow" year. Jasper Halekus won in 7:49. 2nd Paul Sweeney 8:32. Womens winner Karalee Morris, 9:05. Tina Ure 2nd, 9:17. The legandary Kathy D'Onofrio finished third in 9:40. Scott Dunlap had a very comfortable run and finished 5th in 9:05. Hal Koerner was in the lead when he took a wrong turn and only got credit for a 50k. I do not know the times for the 50k.

This was the 20th year running of Silver State. This will be the last year on this course because the railroad system will not allow the race to cross the tracks getting into Boomtown. So, the course will be moved or altered completely. Possibly moving south near old mining towns or just staying on the south side of Boomtown and winding through those hills.

Don't know when the results will be posted as this is a pretty low key event. Many I ran with during the day are using this as a last tune up before States or Bighorn.

I made a scheduling error when signing up for this earlier in the year. I thought it was three weeks out from Kettle but it is only two. Well, everything was paid for so I went ahead and did it. It might be a mistake for doing so. But if not it is good training for Waldo. Now for some serious tapering and a massage Tuesday.

Olga finished 6th female in 11:16 and had a great run all day. Felt great all day and just enjoyed it. I finished in 10:30. 12th I believe. Tired heavy legs most of the day. Let me think, I live at 180 feet, ran at 7000 most of the day. Maybe a little oxygen to the muscles might help a bit. Would they allow me to carry oxygen? Probably not.

didn't come here for this

Scott Dunlap and Olga at Pre race meeting

On the way up at the start

Start off with a 2500 ft climb in 4 miles

Yea, I have to go up there
(click and mag on picture on this one. that is how far behind i am at the start)

Sage Brush and Aspens at 6000ft

What we ran on for 40 miles

making a turn

oops, not that way

dude in red turned around. Is going to do a 40 mile 50k after making a wrong turn. do the 50 man!

Dawn Inferna-Bean on a small 1000 ft climb at mile 25

the ONLY section of single track. a 3 mile down

FREE SPEED BABY.

That mountain accross the way is where we are headed (Dawn and John Nicolls heading down)

heading up on the 4000 foot climb in 7 miles

still heading up

clumbsy camera work

a little farther

hearty flowers at 7000ft

one of the few patches of snow on this "grunt" at 7500 feet

nice at 8700 feet

you can dip here if you want from snow run-off. at 8600 feet

double track

seeing double

olga finishing

finishers scribble

quicksilver finish

2007-05-18T05:53:00.001-07:00

Graham Cooper and Jeff reflect on the day.

picture by Scott Dunlap

good news

2007-05-12T19:30:00.000-07:00

good news speed racers... Red Wings are up 1-0 in the Western Conference Finals over the Anaheim Ducks. Go Red Wings!!!

But the real good news is Jeff just got second at Quicksilver 50 miler. He had gone in with no real expectations afterall, he just came off his monster running camp at Michigan Bluff last week.

His only real goal was to run hard the last 50k hard.

He knew the top mens splits from last year so he could gauge how he was doing. He eyed the splits that were around 7:23 Mark Lantz,(3rd the year before). And didn't really want to be ahead of his splits So, if he did 7:30-7:40 he would be happy. (No splits for runners around 7:30-7:40 last year.)

He started off and noticed he was breathing too hard the first two miles so he backed off and watched a group of 10 or so gap him. That was fine. Moving along through the race he slowly moved up feeling good and just enjoyed the running.

Then moving up and into the first split, Last years splits: Mark had come in right at 2hrs. Graham Cooper (winner of States last year)1:51, Jon Olsen 1:51 (winner of Rio last year). And Jeff came in at 1:54. He was two minutes behind a group of three and nine minutes behind Graham leading this years race. He knew he had ran too "hot" but he was feeling good. And it was here that he knew he was going to finish sub 7:30.

Onto the next split he had passed the group of three and was still feeling good. All he could think about was where is the single track. Not much on the race he said. Lots of double track and footing was not an issue.

Then at mile 32 he was only two minutes behind Graham. He thought what is happening here??? Hey Jeff, your training has been epic!!! That is what is happening.

Well, he actually thought it would be fun to win a race. So, he had caught Graham a little later at about mile 36. They chatted. And Graham comfirmed that he was meeting him, Craig, Bev, Alan, and others for the 52 mile Peace run on the States course again this Memeorial Day weekend.

Graham let him go on the long down. There was one last big climb left and Jeff knew he would be seeing him again. Sure enough, Jeff started to hike and here comes Graham. Graham said, "thanks for waiting for me". Off he went. Jeff knew he wouldn't see him again as he could start to feel it from last week.

So, Graham set a course record, 6:39. Jeff finished in 6:46 for second. Mark Tanaka (2nd at Rio last year) finished 3rd in 7:17. Mark is running Kettle also.

Jeff had to laugh late in the race. Since nobody knew who this guy running minutes behind Graham all day was. He was known as the 2:20 marathoner guy running his first ultra. Let me see, new to ultra's and you are wearing a Sunsweet ultra team shirt and also sponsored by Sporthill??? Well, don't worry, Jeff only did one sub 3 marathon and it was no where near 2:20. This was not his first ultra by a long way. He got pegged because there was a 2:20 marathoner in the race but he wasn't carrying any water or food in the race. I don't know how he finished.

So, after being up for 27 hours straight, eating three bean burritos and drinking a milkshake the night before he was pretty happy. But really more surprised than anything.

Now all Jeff is doing is driving 10 hours up I-5 back home to a warm bed. Oh, our conversation was cut short as the sign "barbeque" was on the hi-way sign. And next to that, McDonalds. Brisket sandwich and a milkshake I think was on his mind right now. Sounds like good road trip food if you ask me.

Game on!!!

2007-05-07T22:40:00.000-07:00

Game on speed racers...

Jeff (brother) called me tonight and he and Laura (wife) just got back from a great 11 days down at Michigan Bluff on the States course. Jeff, Andy Jones-Wilkins (M6 at States), Scott Wolf, (2nd at American River), Lewis Taylor (1st at Cool, 3rd at AR-80% effort), and Craig Thornley (prev. top ten x2 at States), and others racked up some pretty hefty miles at the usual training camp every year. I believe Beverly Anderson-Abbs (F2) and Alan Abbs showed up also.

Jeff, Craig, and Scott were there all 11 days. Lewis had to bail just short of their second 50+ mile run as he and his wife had beautiful healthy Cinco De' "Alice" . Congratulations Lewis and Rebecca!!! AJW flew in from Idaho for part of the training camp.

The boys racked up 222 miles in 11 days!!! I am wondering if Jeff made his tray of brownies each day after the runs???

Jeff is feeling good. They got a little heat trained with a few days in the 90's and both 50+milers were warm. They were all stoked about this. They were hammered those days but they were happy to have a little sun while they were down there.

Brother is excited about States. The mens field is deeeeeeep. He knows that. All he is going to do is do his best. With Greg Crowther (wins this year just unbelievable, so many to list!!!) Lewis, Scott, Craig, AJW, Rod Bien(4th at Miwok, fastest Oregonian ever), James Kerby, David Terry, (and all the other top ten from last year) running really well, being in the mix might not happen but all he knows is he has prepared himself the best he can. He is going to have fun.

I am more excited about this day than any of my races. So far I am crew #2... Flying solo, yikes. I'm on my own to get to the #2 aid stations. Have to figure out how to get to the different aid stations in time.

I will be glad when I just have to pace him from the river to Auburn. That will be the easy part.

But for now it was exciting to hear how he is doing.

He congratulated me on my 45 minute PR at Capital Peak. That was very nice. But I am more excited about his race at States, hands down.

It is going to be fun June 23rd. I am sure you will hear more from me about this.

The best part... As a the only pacer it is my job to paint his toenails before the race. Why, it is what "team Eugene" does. See, then with your sandles, flip flops, etc, you stand in all your glory when you go and pick up the buckle. Last year "Cosmic Plum" was the color. What will L.B. bring to the condo this year??? Of course, you have to have your toenails at the end of the race to show off the pretty toes first. I lost five on race day, three more later. Thank goodness I was sporting a speck of the color of the day on my big toenail. Have to be part of the team you know.

Happy training. And for those that live in the PNW, we finally have sun for a few days. Yea!

Capital Peak 50 miler

2007-05-01T10:39:00.000-07:00

O.K. speed racers here it goes, I actually had a pretty good race this last weekend up near Olympia Washington.

The plan was to run Capital Peak 50 miler with effort as I won't be able do that in a few weeks at Silver State 50. That one is just too close to Kettle. I made a mistake on counting the days before Kettle when I registered for Silver State.

(picture looking east on the climb up to Capital Peak)

Anyway, back to Capital Peak... I woke at 2:30am for the drive north. Coffee was ready to go as so was my breakfast for the drive. I ate and drove in the wee hours and at 3:30am I was thinking a nap would feel good right about then. But my cruise control doesn't steer also. My truck isn't that fancy.

Got to the start in plenty of time. I was lucky I had been here before as I forgot my directions. Low and behold I should have read the web site more carefully. They moved the start about .2 of a mile. I am eating my beans and wondering where are the early starters??? Then I hear a bull horn through the woods and realize that something has changed. I ask a fellow runner where the start is and he pointed the way. Whew, glad I got here a little early.

The start at 6am was uneventful. Said "hi" to a few friends but noticed a lot of new faces. The 55k and 50 mile runners started together. At the start we ALL took a wrong turn. Funny, as we all had to turn around on the road and go back to the trailhead.

This was my third 50 here. But I did not remember the first loop all that well. The first part of the race my legs were heavy like two weeks ago at Peterson Ridge Rumble 60k.

Like I had a heavy metal running through my legs or something. Let me see.... I have on Vasque Mercury shoes, is there mercury in the inserts permiating my blood vessels in my feet??? I didn't want this to happen again! That is the reason why I took a day off before the race and only logged 31 miles this week before the race.

So, I figured if this was going to be a slow day but I would do one thing right and that is eat and drink properly. So, that is what I did. Be self sufficiant also. The plan was only use three aid stations. I had two drop bags with bottles and race belts full. That way I would spend minimal time changing things out.

I am being passed by many on the first climb. Many are just the speedy front runners coming back after the off start and many are the 55k runners coming up front again. At about 12 miles my legs actually felt a little normal but I am still going to concentrate on eating and drinking at this point.

(this part of the trail was under water last year)

(that is where I am headed to the top-Capital Peak)

I met up with Stan Holman, 5th last year at CCC 100. (Stan in Orange) Stan was running with Ed Brown from Seattle, his first over 25k. How great is that? A super Ultra guy showing the ropes to a new runner all day long in the 55k, awesome I tell ya.

Stan and I talk for the next 10 miles or so. It was great. We finish the first of three loops (sort of a clover leaf course without the forth leaf) I look at my watch and we did that 14.3 mile loop in 2:44. I try to think what my split was last year and I can't. Dumb runner here. So, I just stop looking at my watch until much later in the race. I am just going to run as much as I can and try not to make the hiking sections endless.

(Stan and Ed climbing the back side of Capital Peak. Might have to click and mag to see them better.)

Stan, Ed, and I climb up the back side of Capital Peak on the second loop together. No snow this year. Don't see a rabbit like last year either. The sun was trying to come out a bit. I snap a few pictures and then bid Ed and Stan farewell as it is time for me to start running with effort. I tell Ed it is a sweet finish. Run everything. I tell him becuause the bumps in the trail are small and it is downhill after the short climbs. Dang, trail knowledge is huge.

The best part of the day was actually at about mile 20 I figure. There was a blow over that went accross the trail. The only problem is I didn't know if I could get over it. My little short stubby legs were going to be challanged on this one. I give it a try to jump up on top of it. Well, my two inch vertical wasn't going to do it. I fell back off the log onto the trail. Oh I was laughing. RD John, "o.k., we have count of everybody except tom. Has anybody seen him". Oh yea everybody has. Runner, "I last saw him taking running starts at a log accross the trail and he just kept slamming into it without getting over". "Try there at mile 20". Well, I finally did get over. But I was busting up for miles after that.

I am running alone now for the next 9 miles. I turn on my i-pod and try to keep pace. I notice that I don't see cougar tracks going accross the trail heading into Wedikind campground like I did last year. I am fine with that.

I use the next aid station. I needed some fluids for this next section, my favorite.....Not. The Hell's Creek Bottom trail is appropriately named. Last year it was like, scratch that, it WAS a ankle deep river of snow run-off!!! Always fun running on legs that are like posts. Well, that is good because they are already frozen you can't feel it when you twist your ankle. Plus, you are pre-icing the buggers.

I am not sure how long Hell's Bottom Creek trail is but my guess about 2-2.5 miles long. Slow running through here even if it isn't a creek. Just large rocks the whole way and I think some have little signs written on them. "Ankle breakers", "rocks donated by Orthopods of Olympia", are some of the written scriptures on them.

I manage to stumble my way through this year getting ready for the 2000 foot climb to follow.

I am trying to calculate my finishing time now. I know this loop is slowest of the three. So I was hoping for a finish between 9:30 and 10:00. I am guessing but I think I am going to finish around 9:40. I know I haven't been running as well as last year but I just didn't want to finish too much over 10 if I could help it. But truthfully, I can't remember exactly how long it will take me to do this loop.

(Eric almost done with the first half of his epic weekend)

It was on this loop that I see Eric. He is running well. I watch him ahead of me before we meet up. He was having great leg turnover and moving at a good clip. I would be watching him along with other ultra friends the next day at the Eugene Marathon. We run together for a bit helping each other along.

I continue to try to figure out when I am going to finish. I just can't seem to figure it out. Finally make the end of the climb and on the way down I see the sign to Wedikind again. "1 mile to Wedikind". I know better, there isn't one mile marker sign on this course that is right. It takes me 4 minutes to get to the last aid station.

That's right speed racers, I just did a 4 minute mile. O.K., O.K., I don't even buy that. I figure it was less than a half mile that I just traveled.

I get into the aid station and I finally know where I am and what it will take to get to finish. I look at my watch and to my surprise I was going to go sub 9. (see.... I am a truely dumb runner!!! Don't let me do your taxes)

I get to the aid station and see Co-Rd James Varner and "no thank you" to fluids and just pass by the table saying, "55 minutes baby". "It's time to drop it!" I know my best split from the past and that was it. I think Meghan Hicks and I ran a 58 last January. It is time to step on the pedal to the right.

So, for this 6.5 miles I just had to jam. I pretended Meghan was nipping at my heels like she was a few months ago. I turn up the i-pod and listen to the likes of some Techno, DJ Tiesto, BT, Way Out West, and Junkie XL. I calculate my time again and wonder if I can truely do this section running 8:30's again. Wait! I could come in under 8:45 if I don't faulter. Oh, that only gives me three minutes to spare. Hey, we have to go farther to the finish. That isn't fair I thought. But then I think, this is a trail run, don't worry about a measly three minutes. So, I figure it will take me three minutes longer to the new finish. Yikes that puts me at 8:45. Hold on here...... John started the race at 6:01am. That gives me one minute back! Oh, this is going to be close. Come on legs don't fail me now. I can't afford heavy metals running through the vessels now. Maybe I should have worn my Vasque Amp's???

I pretend I'm in a race. Hey speed racers, I do have a wild imagination. I run the numbers through my head again. Yup, it's going to be close. I just keep the techno pumping and just going to have to save the Barry Manilow for later.

I knew I had 200 calories at the start of this section and after drinking along the way that would equal 300. That was plenty to get me to the finish. But with 30 minutes of running left I went ahead and slammed another gu. Yes, I know that it takes 20 minutes for the body to start using this fuel but I just wanted every chance possible to get there.

I get to the old finish and look at my watch, 55 minutes exactly! Now John better not have moved that finish line any farther I thought. I turn the corner and just keep looking ahead for an opening through the woods. It is taking forever. Then a small incline. Wait, I can't run up hills to save my life. Come on finish. There it is, an opening in the trees. Ahhh, I'm almost there.

I finally cross the finish. I look at my watch and it says 8:44. But what was the official time??? I ask, 8:42:58. Very nice. 11th place. And 8th in my age group. That rocks. Just have to laugh at that age group placing.

This was a 45 minute PR for me. Very nice. And 3:45 faster than two years ago. (but that course was 56 miles not 50)

Van Phan always finishes ahead of me but for some reason not this day. She does have asthma days, maybe that was the problem again. That is a bummer that she has asthma. She was the womens winner and James Kerby won for the second week in a row after winning Mt. Si 50 the week before.

So, I accomplished my two goals for the year.

1. I didn't have to scroll to find my name on the finishers list.

2. And I DIDN'T GET CHICKED!!!

Saaaaweeeeet baby cakes. I can retire now.

I think I have just have this week of 100+ and then start bringing down the mileage for some fine tuning. I am sooo looking forward to feeling a little bounce in the step again. It will be nice to not run on tired legs all the time.

Eugene Marathon 4/29/2007

2007-04-30T15:00:00.000-07:00

I backed off a bit last week, only 81 miles. I think this is good as I have had 7 weeks of 100+ miles a week. It was nice running on fresher legs this last weekend. They didn't feel like a heavy metal was running through my blood stream like at Peterson Ridge Rumble two weeks earlier.

My coach hasn't been happy with me. I should have had 2-3 high mileage weeks followed by a recovery week. I will do better in the future. Afterall, my coach knows way more than I do about this thing.

Last week I took off two days. The first days off I have had in 85 days. What did I do with those days? Well, I was a lazy bum on Friday but did pack for Capital Peak 50 miler on Saturday.

Then on Sunday I went and watched a ton of Ultra friends have great races at the Eugene Marathon. Here is a link to some pictures. Pictures here

Willamette (Will-am-it) River with runners on the bike path. Click on picture if you want to magnify.

Oh, the Willamtte River is the only Northernly flowing river in the US I believe.

The course... Much of it on Pre's Trail.

saaaawwweeet another PR

2007-04-24T21:25:00.000-07:00

Well I had a good year last year. PR's in 13 of 14 Ultra's. The only one I didn't have a PR in was at S.O.B. (Siskiyou Out and Back) 50k, three weeks after States. And I was only one minute off my PR there even though I took almost 70 pictures during that race. So, all in all I had a good year last year.

Remember that I will never finish towards the top at any race. So all I do is try to enjoy the race and do the best that I can each time. I will continue to try to improve each year even though I approach 50 years old in a few years.

I am getting slower as time passes but that doesn't mean that I don't enjoy running on the trail. I may appreciate it that much more now.

I was never a "runner" in High School or College. I ran a bit to try to stay in shape. Three or four times a week, a few miles at a time. But what I enjoyed was wrestling. Yes, you are part of a team but really you are on your own out on the mat. There is no one to pass to, no one to block for you, no one to catch the fly ball for you, you are on your own. So, wrestling is a lot like running. No one can bail you out. No one can run for you. You have to put in the time and training. You just can't fake it in an Ultra.

So, today I had another PR... I washed 16 pairs of trail socks. One of the best PR's that I have set. O.K., I don't think I can top Waldo but this is pretty close.

I just love running on the trail.

I just love having a PR.

I will be running Capital Peak 50 miler this weekend. I dought that I will have a PR but I will enjoy this race none the less. I will take pictures again. I just don't think I can top the PR I had today in washing 16 pairs of trail socks. How great is that?

What is your favorite PR?

random thoughts

2007-04-20T20:35:00.000-07:00

Well, I am headed into another weekend. Yes, a weekend of long runs. At first kinda dread them because I know how much work they are. But as the morning unfolds on the trail I wonder what I was thinking??? This is great.

I love the solitude of running on the trail with the headlamp on. I just love it. I have my i-pod on and just love running at a slow pace and just being thankful that I can do this kind of thing. I am in bliss for these couple of hours in the dark by myself.

I run by myself for the first half of the day because I run so darn slow. I wouldn't want to drag anybody out on the trail with me for that reason because it is at snails pace I tell ya. About the only thing I keep track of is total time on the feet and the miles I run. I don't stop my watch for anything, bathroom breaks, talking to friends, petting a really cute dog, nothing. It is all part of the run that day.

The sun comes up and the trail becomes populated. I might or might not have the music playing now because I want to be curtious to others that want by and I want to be able to hear them to move aside.

So, you see I tend to start early on the weekends. Up by 4:30am. Gad, I don't even do this on a work day. I can barely get up at 6am on those days! But I get up that early because I have to drive to a trail no matter where I want to go. I just don't live near any trail right now.

The second half of the day I often meet up with friends as they are doing their weekend run. I love this part also. They are training for their runs and I love hearing how things are going for them.

What I love is if they are doing a long run also. This is when it doesn't get any better. They run at a little slower pace. I can keep up with them for the most part. And we take breaks. Short ones but a break none the less. What I like about the breaks is I like to share food. A Payday bar, breakfast bar of sorts, or even the coveted meatloaf sandwich. Yes, I just pulled out of the oven a meatloaf as I write. Yes, I will be sharing it Saturday and Sunday on the trail. Peanut butter and Jelly sandwiches are great to share even in their squished state that they get on the trail but a meatloaf sandwich is of gormet' proportions 20 miles into a run.

I was having one of the best runs ever two years ago. Bob "the beast" Lynes took four others around Mt. Hood. None of us had ever done that 41 mile trail. I had thought about it doing it solo but that would not really be all that safe. I was happy Bob was our tour guide that day. It was the best.

About half way I figure it was time to eat a bit. Some had Dorito's, some had Frito's, some had PP&J to share. I had a quarter of PP&J, and yes it was squashed, but it tasted devine. What was the best traded food that day??? A quarter of a meatloaf sandwich. Oh my, that was like heaven.

So, tomorrow I will be sharing a meatloaf sandwich with friends 18 miles into a 35 mile run. I just love sharing with others on the trail. Plus, I get to stop for a bit and take a break. I like that. As I am the same speed as everybody if we stop for a bit.

Have a great weekend. I am going to enjoy this 6+ hour run on Saturday even though I am going to get rained on again. I am just looking forward to sharing time on the trail with friends. And of course sharing a meatloaf sandwich.

have fun this weekend.

What a morning...

2007-04-16T07:40:00.000-07:00

The Sisters here. We got great views of these Central Oregon Mountains all day.

7am in the morning of Peterson Ridge Rumble. It couldn't get any better. Today was a 38.5 mile run in a beautiful place.

South Sister here.

RD, Sean Meissner....... this is what you follow guys and gals....

Sean, did you try to hide them at some intersections??? Just kidding. Yup, over 2/3rds of the field got anywhere from a 1/4 mile off course to 2 miles. No big deal. I didn't care.

the early starters.

It was great to see friends at the race. I ran my first ultra with Theresa, Sean, and my brother three years ago.

Beverly Anderson-Abbs, brother, Ed Willson before the race.

Alan Abbs and Craig Thornley

Van and Olga basking in the sun after.

others want to play too.

brother in Sunsweet shirt. Caroline, always smiling, Klug taking a sip before the start.

we are lost so why not take pictures

Well, Rod Bien just tore up the corse Sunday. Rod in yellow and Kelly Woodke in orange shorts.

Rod finished in 4:42, 28 minutes ahead of AJW!!! Man he is going to be in the mix also at States.

Bev and Kami yo-yoed a bit during the race until Bev had little low point after the 2nd to last aid station. Kami got after it. She made the comment to Jeff, "Well, somebody had to put the hammer down." She was right.

Jeff was happy with his race. He wanted to start of conservative and just run hard the second half. He was in 16th place at that point and just started picking them off. He finished in 6th.

Pretty much nothing went right for me. I couldn't get my camera to work halfway during the race... I was slow to-boot. I won't bore you with the laundry list of what went wrong. About the only thing that went right was I finished upright. That's pretty much it.

With all the problems I was trying to solve the thing that I was thankful for it was such a beautiful day. Great run and great friends to say "hi" to AS THEY PASSED ME BY. I JUST GOT TO TALK TO MORE OF THEM THAT WAY! But all in all I did have fun.

About the only thing that went right during the run is I hit my target 87% of the time when spitting...... Yea, I even missed the ground doing that. That pretty much tells you how my run went. Arghhhhh.....

But truely, this is why I like to run here.

yea!!!!!!!!

2007-04-14T20:24:00.000-07:00

Just got a call from my brother after doing the Pear Blossum 10 mile run in Medford Oregon today. It has been around for many years in southern Oregon. He ran a 58 and change. He was happy. He does feel pretty hammered after poundin the pavement for an hour. He did finish ahead of Craig and Ticer both previous top ten runners at States.

The amazing news was that Lewis Taylor was third at American River 50 miler and Scott Wolfe was 2nd. Now Scott is in Western States. Both Lewis and Scott went into the race with no expectations. Just to run hard and enjoy it. They both train with my brother.

Oh, the mens race at States just keeps getting deeper. Scott, earned a spot after finishing in the top three at American River.

States will be fun to watch.

Now Ticer, my brother and Craig will be doing Peterson Ridge Rumble 35 milerish tomorrow.

Just more fun I figure.

have a good weekend.

print your blog???

2007-04-10T12:44:00.000-07:00

to all you boston bound folks have fun. remember it is a pr course. 442 ft of net loss for the course. and heartbreak hill is only a gain of 80 feet. go ahead and throw it down!! have fun.

to put it in perspective.... that's boston's profile down on the left.

found a site that will print your blog if you like. they will print it in book-like form. i won't be doing this but you might in the future.

site here

i haven't read through all the particulars. i will leave that up to all you speedracers.

Sorry another question???????

2007-04-04T14:59:00.000-07:00

O.K. speed racers, I run on a fairly popular trail now and then on the weekends. I see people with all sorts of hydrations systems, OR LACK THERE OFF many times. But I have a question about those fuel belts with all those little six/seven ounce (?) bottles that go all around the waist.

I see mostly marathoners wear them but occationally I see them in a Ultra.

Why are they so appealing?

Oh some have a nice little pocket for your lip gloss which is handy, if I do have to say so myself. And with the water bottles, the weight would be distributed evenly around the waist which is a good idea. But there are SOOOO MANY OF THEM!!! It would annoy the crap out of me refilling them in a race. Why, I would down one every 15 minutes. There you go, filling at least four at every aid station. Dang, I could get carpel tunnel just taking the lids on and off. But I can see a good point with them. I would get plenty of REST at each aid station because it would take me an enternity to open, fill, and close again. Oh, not to mention to get all 42 back in their holsters.

O.K., maybe I should have taken my medication today. Because I am now thinking how long it takes me to fill my two handhelds and get out of the aid station in races. And I have the lids OFF before entering them. Yes, where is that pill bottle?

Somebody fill me in on why so many peole wear the million bottle fuel belts... I want to learn... Too bad I didn't invent them as much as I see them.

question... Goals for this year???

2007-04-03T09:15:00.000-07:00

Well, I know the racing season has already started and we all have goals... Yea, the usual running goals, have fun, stay healthy, run fast (for you speedracers that is)...

What I am asking is do you have any peculiar goals that you like to strive for in the upcoming year??? Keeping your shoes tied for the whole race, not to loose your cookies in more than one race, not to get bit by a dog, not to do a header more than two times in a race, keeping your skirt up the whole race...

What are some of your different or peculiar goals for this year???

Here are two of mine...

1. Not get "chicked" in one race, that is all, just one. Maybe this won't happen but I can always dream right?

2. Don't have to scroll. Huh? you say. Here it is, to not have to scroll for my name when I open the results page of any given race. Or to go to the second page in the results in Ultrarunner Magazine.

So, there it is. A couple of goals that stay with me all year. And actually I don't really have that much control of the results. Because you see that it really all depends on who toes the line in any given race to see where I land in the finishing place. But it nice to be suprised when either of these two things happen.

I would like to hear what kind of goals you have for yourself this coming year.

On a running note, I am "OFFICIALLY" tired now. Last month was pretty big and this one will be the same.

Have fun. tom

early birthday present for me!!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-03-20T18:12:00.000-07:00

I just got an early birthday present... Nine months early mind you. This is the best present imaginable right now. I will tell you in a bit.........

I saw my family this last weekend. John (Jeff's twin) had us over for a barbeque. Good tri tip, wonderful salad and some awesome baked beans. Do I get Stephanie's recipe for beans for my next fueling in a 100? Hmmmm, maybe....

Jeff to left on his way to winning Javalina 100 two years ago

Jeff on left, John (his none identical twin in green)

We had a great time visiting. My mom was here from Illinois and that was the reason for the visit.

The kids played on the trampoline 90% of the time. Wow, what a great baby sitter.

Yea, that is "jumpin' jack jeff" hanging out with the kids.

Jeff is doing great. Really fit right now hammering out 100+ mile weeks and hanging out with some pretty awesome runners on Wednesdays doing crazy speed work, yup 5 minute miles x6 just last week.........

Scott Wolfe, a sub 2:30 marathoner, Craig, aka Lord Balls, Thornley, a previous top ten x2 at States, Tom Adkins, just plan ole' fast, Lewis Taylor sporting a new nickname, King, aka King Cool (no more LC, lower case even if you write for the local rag in Eugene). Winner of Way Too Cool!!!! You fricken rock Lewis.
Lewis just after driving down to Lake Tahoe before pacing Dean Karnazes at States last year. No he hasn't had any beers. I just suck at taking pictures.

Anyway, Lewis is in States now because of winning Cool. He will be in the "mix" for sure. It will be fun to watch him in the next few years. He has only been running ultra's for two years and he just fricken smokes every trail he touches.

So there it is, States is only three months away. I will be going down to take a ton of pictures with my new 35mm Digital Canon camera.

I will be routing on Team Sunsweet like no other. Lewis being the newest to receive the dried fruits. Along with runners from the Northwest.

What this whole post was about is my early birthday present....

Jeff was originally going to go without a pacer at States. He asked me at the MLK run (50k fat ass in Eugene) in January if a pacer helps. I said that I thought it is most crucial the last 20 miles of a 100. I just think it is a big help at that jucture in a 100. I ran Rio solo and I think I walked sections maybe 20 steps too long. I was running well but I think I just should have kept the hiking sections shorter.

But this weekend he asked me to pace him from the river to the finish. I was in fricken' tears after he asked me. I have been waiting for this for two years. I just got the best birthday present ever.

You have to understand how proud I am about my brother and I am not talking just about running. Jeff used to drink too much. So much so that when we worked at the mill together that we would stop for beer for him every night on the way home. He drank all my wine I got for my brine for smoking the deer that I got and it was wrank by anybodies standards. He smoked and drank so much that he couldn't make rent several times.

But then one day he decided to go into treatment. 30 days later and he was changed. Hasn't drank a drop sence. Oh, he still smoked for two years but that was it. He then married his High School sweet heart. Then he entered college after the mill closed and he graduated at the TOP of his class with a bachelors degree in teaching. He got a national award in St. Louis for it. He's the smart one in the family.

Met him one day on Pre's trail in Eugene, Oregon for a five mile run. He had to stop after two miles. Still smoking here. But the good thing is he wasn't drinking any more. We ran a 10k in Salem together along with our Dad and had a great time. That was it. He was hooked.

Jeff ran marathons, finally going sub 3 after missing it three times by less than a minute. Then Craig got him hooked on trails. I followed suit. No, I will never do a sub 3. I just loved running the McKenzie River Trail with him. I was hooked. Plus, I am too slow to run marathons any more.

Yup, some falls you see along the McKenzie River Trail.

So, I am glad I picked Kettle 100 to run three weeks before States. Actually I did this on purpose. If not pacing brother I would be happy to pace anybody that asked. I just wanted to be recovered by States. That is why no Bighorn 100 one week before States. I'll leave that one to Jeff Browning, and Olga.

Really, I am on cloud nine right now being able to pace Jeff. I am going to seperate the brother thing and get after him.

I am going to hammer him to get that top ten finish. It will be tough even if everything goes right. And now Lewis gets in and that is another wrench thrown in the picture because he will be in the "mix". That is o.k., we will be rooting for King Cool.

But I figure Bili has to finish in 18:30. Yikes! A little slower course after opening up the section into Millers Defeat, and tons of talent are in this year. I don't care. I'm going to kick his ass all the way to the finish. He may yell at me, cuss at me, I don't care. I am going to ficken hammer him. We are going to drop headlamps all the way to the finish. And they are going to know it. I am not going to let anybody pass us. We are going to get top ten!

I just got the most awesome birthday present even though it is early. Stay tuned for more of my bragging about my brother, I am just so proud of him.

Happy running. I had a great 33 mile run last sunday. Looking forward to about the same this weekend. Whew, another 100 mile week. Only nine more to go.
tom

my clock in my truck is right again........

2007-03-15T10:43:00.000-07:00

yup, it's been an hour off for six months. o.k., i graduated from high school, got even better grades in college and even got a bachelors degree. had to learn a little math and physics along the way and consider myself to have the ability to fix things now and then. but every year i can't seem to push in on the small button on my clock to change the time. i guess i just like daylight savings time too much, so there it stays.

training is going well. ramped it up a couple of weeks ago. right at 100 miles a week. i don't write about my training day to day for one reason.... it is pretty darn boring!!!!!!!!! run six miles at lunch, run 6-8 miles right after eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich after work. monday through friday. Long run on Saturday, 6 hours, 30 miles or so, at least if it is not a race, longer of course if it is more than a 50k. run Sunday 2-4 hours. i do this every week, race or not. i don't take days off, run every day. i don't taper for any races except two a year. the ones i want to "race". o.k., it is "racing" to me anyway speedracers. So you will never see me say i did cross fit, yoga, lift weights, ride bike, swim, do intervals, etc. etc. i just am boring when it comes to training. Yes, all those other things are good and I should do something like that but I just don't. About the only thing that changes is having a hill repeat day or two. Those are big for me as they have 10,000 feet of gain or more, ughhhh. Just thinking about it makes me tired. So, there it is. I actually have a boring training program. But I am o.k. with that.

i have good runs and ones i slog through. actually i run sooooooo slooooooow all the time. see scott dunlaps great explaination on training slow and VO2 max and all that other scientific stuff that i don't understand. anyway it is o.k. to train slow, that's my story and i'm sticking to it.

the good thing now is i eat six times a day. yum. i am starting to loose a pound here and there. i still drink coffee and beer. i do stay away from fried food now, bummer. no Michigan Bluff burgers this year even.

i don't really do speed work. it scares me. i tore my vastus medialis last year getting ready for states and i don't want that to happen again. plus, me doing speed work is like telling a snail to hurry and cross the road. it just doesn't happen.

just grade 1 tear thank goodness. not like kami's, stacy's, or kyly's. (grade 2-3 for them, yuk)

so for now speedracers i will continue to practice my 14 minutes a mile. that's all i need i tell ya. i'm going to perfect that speed if it kills me. i'll take sub 24 any day.

the good news is my clock in the truck will be right now for the next six months or so.

WAAAAAY COOOOOL....

2007-03-10T17:02:00.000-08:00

LEWIS TAYLOR WINS WAY TOO COOL 50K!!!

Cool is one of the most competative 50k's in the country and darn hard to get into! Lewis won in 3:41. Registration closed in 7 minutes 33 seconds this year.

I have ran with Lewis a few times, when he so graciously said he didn't mind running at a snails pace. We have gone to a few races together last year. One of the nicest guys I know.

He finished in front of some pretty fast company, Graham Cooper, winner of Wester States 100 in 18:17, and Jonathan Olsen winner of Rio Del Lago 100 at 16:30. And I am sure I am missing other top notch ultra folks.

Lewis, a.k.a., L.C. (lower case) is new to ultra's with really only two years under his belt. He writes for the Eugene Registar Guard news paper but when he writes e-mails they are always in lower case, little puctuation and has been known for run-on sentences.

With the win he has a spot open for States if he wants it. He is a two time loser so he would have got in next year but now it just looks like he will have to train his but off for the next 104 days.

Lewis will soon be part of the Sunsweet Ultra Running Team . He just hasn't received his prunes as of yet.

Lewis first learned about ultra's when he interviewed four crazy guys in Eugene that were getting ready for States, Bili, L.B., O.D., H.N. (brother, Craig, Ed, Ticer.) They convinced L.C. to join them on trail runs and do Wednesday speed work at Hayward Field. He was bitten.

I think Brother and Craig finished outside of top ten. Meghan was second!!! Way to go G.M. I wonder if that means French Kiss won?

Meghan, showing her team spirit last year at States. Bev in yellow.

You can read about how they got their nicknames on the Sunsweet Ultra site .

As for me, I SLOGGED through a 30 mile trail run with only 3500 feet of gain. Oh, it was UGLY!!! Glad I was alone, nobody could possible have stayed at that slow a pace. But this is my first week of high milage, high milage for me that is. So, I was kinda thinking this might happen with a 50k just last Saturday.

Will post more when the results of Cool are posted.

Now just one more slog tomorrow.

Race update:

remembered that i had Lewis' cell...

l.c., eugene, or ........ 1st, 3:41

rod bein, bend, or........ 7th, 3:57

craig, eugene, or ........ 25th, 4:14 and he got CHICKED!!!

brother jeff, or ........ 38th, 4:26, rough day, CHICKED!!!

tom adkins, eugene...64th, 4:39, sorry dude, CHICKED!!

FRENCH KISS WON!!!

beverly anderson-abbs..... 1st, 4:07. WHAT A STUD!

meghan, aka gay man....... 4TH, 4:18!!! SWEEEEEET

Stephanie Gehrsitz, NY...... 6:25. WOOO HOOO, YEA!!! WAY TO GO STEPHANIE!!!

all i know is bili had a rough day. after all he is not tapering and still doing 100+ mile weeks now. bummer. well not every race can be epic. brother is focusing on just one thing... States. i am sure he will be ready.

arrrggghhhh... A coach for me??????

2007-03-07T09:00:00.000-08:00

Well, I went and did it............ Hired a coach. What am I thinking????? Apparently I did this late at night while my brain was in a fog.

My coach is super knowledgeable and loves sharing knowledge of training and racing. Coach has won a few races and has held age group records on a race or two. Super strong in 100's with many under the belt.

The thing that coach radiates is the love for the sport. Not so much about the time one finishes but the fact that you are on trails and can take in some great scenery while out in mother nature. Coach is what trail running is all about... Great sport, cares about other runners, and thanks volunteers, and cares about the trail.

As of now Coach is making drink more water, making sure I do my long runs, and making sure I have recovery days. There is water in coffee right??? Coach makes me have a recovery drink with the three chain amino acids after long or hard runs. Also makes sure I eat close to my weight in grams of protein a day also. Even before I hired coach I was banned from fried foods... Dang when will I get to eat catfish again!!!

Coach is a great motivator also. C has been known to pick up a stick and prod me to get up a hill faster. Throwing stuff at me isn't out of the question either.

Some people have coaches that are "on-line" coaches. That is fine. I just think it is important that a coach can watch you run once in a while, I have that. Coach makes me have good form on climbing, hammering the downs, etc. I just think it is important for an expert to watch your gate and make sure you have good form. I need help on the climbs maintaining good form and not waisting energy. I think this will be the biggest help.

Coach is able to see my running log on a daily basis if needed. I keep one on-line just for that reason. Keep a log book also. Have to in case the running log site goes away. Plus, I like flipping through the book better anyway. Sometimes I am fearful to open my on-line log. I wonder what intense training program that coach might have for me??? Oh well this will be a good thing, right???

Coach makes me be efficient in races. No sitting, changing shoes or socks in 100's. Maintain constant forward motion. Limit aid station stops to three in 50k. Eat and carry my beans down the trail AFTER drinking my Pedisure, remember to pee on the run, have water bottles open before getting into an aid stations, switching race belts instead of refilling them, all this helps me get down the trail. I am too slow to have scheduled stops in a race.

So for now I am the only client!!! Coach is picky with clients. I better not screw up or I will be dropped kicked in a hurry!

"gulp", sorry another sip of water.

Waldo... again... Sorry...

2007-03-05T09:35:00.000-08:00

Whew!!!

I'm not missing this Ultra! Yes, speed racers, there are 18 already signed up for Waldo . And that happened on only the first day that the applications were made available!

H.N. is in, former Oregon Series Champ, Kelly Woodke is in. Word is Tom Neilson will be there.

Man this is going to be a fun race to watch from the back of the pack. You see, they have HAMM radios for this race and I can get updates all day on friends that are smokin' the course. I was two years ago when brother was having a battle with AJW all day! Only to get passed the last three miles! Andy Jones-Wilkins asked my brother to "run with him" all the way to the finish. How great is that?!!! You have to love this sport!!!

Where's Waldo 100k, What flavor this year?

2007-03-01T07:37:00.000-08:00

o.k. speed racers...

The application for Waldo just came up this morning like Craig a.k.a. Lord Balls,(L.B.) said. I printed out mine and will be mailing it after work. Rememeber it is the 100k Trail Masters championship this year. It will fill like last year. Sorry, no relay this year. You just have to run the whole thing and have that much more fun.

(1st Rosery Lake to left)

My only dilema is do I sign up with the USATF? If I do I can't have a pacer from Charlton on the way in. But really, I don't need one. I just like having one to really push me. But really I won't be in the mix to win $$$ anyway. Just have to think about this a bit..........

Oh, this is going to be fun!!! Jeff (brother) will be at the twins volunteering and that will be fun. As you pass through this aid station twice four hours or so apart. I just love jamming into this aid station the second time through. Still lots of work needs to be done after this but this is a great aid station. Yes, Maiden Peak is still in front of you.

(jeff to left on his way to a win at Javalina 100 two years ago, being doused by L.B.)

But this is a swwwweeeeeeetttttt run. Smokin' single track baby! Yes, 99% pillowy soft single track! It doesn't get any better!!!

The Volunteers are awesome. Super knowledgeble just like at Miwok. When you are running/hiking up to the Maiden Peak aid station with 50 miles under your belt, they are running out to you on the trail grabbing your bottles and asking what you need. By the time you get to the aid station your bottles are filled and all food requests are layed out on the table ready for you to feast. How great is that??? And I am a mid pack runner!!! They do this for everybody! Yes, I was a back of the pack runner in the past and they still did this!!! What a fricken awesome race this is!!!!!!!!

Plus, Barbra Ringstat is at the last aid station to wipe your face off with a baby wipe telling you that you have to look good when you finish. How great is that!!!!!!! (but I have never let her do it, have to show off all the salt encrusted on my face to show all the hard work that went into the race.)

Now I have the carrot out in front of me. My training has been so so this year. But I logged almost 300 miles in February. Four runs between 4 and 6 hours on each of the four weekends. Ran EVERY day in the month. Yes, I had over 400 miles in the month last year but I had a bunch of carrots dangling in front of me then. Not this year. But it is time to get going and with Waldo that will not be a problem any more.

(Waldo training run two years ago with Dan Harshburger and Kyly to right.)

This year L.B. has the course just over 62 miles. It was 66.36 miles in the past. So now we go straight up the ski slope and onto skyline ski path before joining up with PCT. Interesting. I wonder if we will be running or hiking this???

The course will be about 30 minutes to one hour faster. I predict about 40 minutes faster. Or about 1.5hrs slower than Miwok now. (2 hours with the old course)

I actually kinda want the old course. We won't be climbing the Twins this year. What a great view!!! But on race day I won't miss it. I always run dry between road 4290 aid station and Twins 2. An 8 mile long stretch that is exposed for much of it. Now that section will be about six miles.

Alan sent out invitations to the fast folks, I wonder what big guns will show up? AJW likes this race, maybe again? Ticer, a.k.a. "Hot Newman" will be there. He normally points the way coming off Maiden Peak so we can jam down the Leap of Faith on our way to the finish. Bev and Alan will probably be there. Bev (F2) will push Meghan (F8) I am sure. Oh it will be fun to watch them at States!

So, speed demons, get your application in soon. This race ROCKS!!! And if you are speedy you could win some serious "bank".

(Rachel Landon and Kyly above on the course two years ago) (Yes, Rachel has done H.U.R.T!!!)

It is my favorite race of the year. I figure it is about the third hardest 100k. (H.U.R.T. and Hellgate being harder) What a great accomplishment to finish this monster. A huge drop rate, almost 50%. The second half has more climbing and it is warm by the time you leave Charlton.

I am now ready to train.

(Me finishing in just over 14 hours last year, Whew! Is all I thought!)

I wonder what flavor of hat will be offered this year to FINISHERS? Vanilla, Orange, blueberry, or tomato? Or a new flavor??? We will just have to finish.

(Jeff and his twin brother, John in Red after last years 2:17PR)

PS, I signed up with the USTAF . Not really sure why, oh well. Sent my entry in today just after my lunchtime run. Oh, it's gonna be a blast!!!! (you couldn't tell that this is my favorite race of the year, huh?)

Come on speed racers, join the fun!

hagg lake 50k

2007-02-25T20:52:00.000-08:00

Hagg Lake was business as usuall I figure. Lots of mud and a few hours of time on my feet.

Plus, this day Meissner through down the gauntlet for all the men to wear skirts. How fun is that. Grown men with hairy legs wearing skirts. The only question is should I shave mine? Heck, I shave my head, why not my legs. Cuts down on wind resistance I figure. That is why I am so speedy.......... NOT!!!!!!!

I never run fast here but I am o.k. with that. I actually don't like this race. Oh, the organization is great and the volunteers are fantastic. It is just the course. Not much to see and pretty boring actually.

But I run this because it is a great way to be on my feet for 5+ hours and it is close to where I live so I don't have to spend hours driving or spend money on a hotel, car, and a flight.

It had been raining most of the week so I knew that the course would be a mess. But really it always is this time of the year. I just pick out my four wheel drive shoes and I am ready.

So, I start off running with Mark and Brad. The key word is "start". Mark is much faster than me as he is a sub 3 marathoner. Brad is just tougher than nails.

We do the out and back on the gravel road because a bridge that was washed out five years ago has never been replaced and the trail is a little shorter now as we have to jump out onto the road for a detour.

The bridge that has been out for the past few years.

I had gone out too "hot" just like always. I stay with Mark and Brad and we get back to the Start/Finish in 24 minutes, just like last year. I should be doing this in 30 minutes actually.

We plug along the next four miles when Mark and Brad gap me. That was fine with me. I have two laps to do with this mud fest. I catch up to them as they are grazing at the first aid station.

The plan was not to use the aid stations in this race. I cruise by thanking Gail for helping out. Mark and Brad both say it isn't fair that I don't stop. I reply by saying I'm to slow to stop at aid stations.

The middle section is probably the worst for mud. At least it is in the open field sections. Like running with slabs of butter on your soles actually. The biggest worry for me was not getting injured actually. I can run anything that is super technical and love it but this was ridiculas.

Well, I actually stop at the last aid station to say "hi" to Kyly, Liz, and Kamm. I grab a gu and leave right away. No thank you, no need to fill my bottles. I will make it the next four miles.

Unknown runners running through a "good" section.

Kamm and Liz staying warm.

I get into the Start/Finish and grab two full bottles and a new race belt as planned. I know that I will probably run out of fluids on the next lap but I figure I can run lean the last 2-3 miles without refilling anything out on the course.

Linda Samet catches me one mile out of the Start/Finish. She asks me if everything is o.k. I ask her the same. She says that she can't get her S-caps out. I offer her mine. She says she might take me up on it the next aid station.

Linda to right.

She gaps me by about 3/4 of a mile getting into the aid station. Since I don't stop I catch up with her just out of the aid station. We run the next five miles together. She pushes the pace. She wants sub 5. I tell her I never run under 5 here. After slogging our way through the second field she notes that sub 5 won't be happening today. I agree. It was a slog-fest on the North side.

As we are running I splash my way through puddles. One puddle I sink in above my knee! Yup, I scream "that is cold" it splashed up my skirt!!!!!!! Yes, I was one of the five that had on a skirt. I wasn't as cute as Sean or Ken and I don't have pretty legs like Bushwacker but I was having fun.

I also had mechanical issues with it. It started falling off me on the second loop. Too heavy from all the sweat and water from the rain. Made some adjustments and at least I wasn't going to moon anybody today. Not a prett sight. Linda thanked me for that.

Ken, advertising for "Dirty Girl", Xy, even had his gators match. (in pink)

(Bushwacker) sporting skorts. Nice legs Mike. Showing off to Kyly, Kamm, and Liz at the last aid station.

Kris (Red) and Anna (grey coat)don't have skirts on but still find to show off their bumm to Kyly. ( I met Anna and Kyly running at 3am at Waldo 100k three years ago when Anna's headlamp went out. Kyly and I lit the way up to Fuji for Anna that day. What great friends we are now).

Oh, back to the race... I grab one gu at the last aid station again. Not really stopping to chat. Linda refills. I look at my bottles and I was right, I will run lean for a bit. Actually sooner than predicted. I had almost four miles to go when I drained the last bottle. Man I even thought about dipping somewhere but that wouldn't be wise here. Remember, I am the "dumb" runner!

The goal now was just to run as much as possible to the finish and not get passed by too many people. I wasn't running fast by any means but I just wanted to give it good effort. (me coming into the last aid station. With my skirt "ON".)

I catch a few people. I asked one lady if I could pass on the left but she didn't hear me. I ask again, nothing. TURN THAT fu$%@&# I-POD DOWN!!! Please, if you wear one, please don't have it cranked up so loud that you can't hear. This is got to be a huge pet peave for me. I don't care if you wear one but try to be a little curtious.

I cross the finish and I completely forget to look at my time. I go back to find out, 5:13. 23rd, 1st in my age group. (but really that is a missnomer. I was actually 3rd in Masters. They just broke it up every five years) Sorry Bushwacker, you're too old. That is the time I finished last year but a much lower place.

I haven't been running near as much as last year. Last year I had three 100 mile weeks in before this race. This year only three weeks of 70+. I have to admit I wanted sub 5. But I also have to be realistic. I just haven't been training enough. The good thing is for the last four weeks I have logged 4-6 hour long runs. Last week was a good 30 mile run. I have run every day this month and I had a good 10 mile run on Sunday after the race.

I am sore. Almost like a full body work out it was. Slipping and slidding for almost all of the five hours will do that.

Chatted with Sarah after finishing. Sarah and Sharon seemed to have fun. Believe me, you will like the other races in the Oregon Trail Series much more! Had my usual 35mg of protein and beer. Had to get out of my skirt, too wet and cold now.

Talked to Olga after she finished. I was thinking about her as I knew this stuff couldn't be good for her hip. She survived. Nice shoes Olga. Tape to cut down on wind resistance also? (Olga and her secret weapons below. Is that Montrail approved Olga?

Who won the best skirt award? Sean, he is the cuttiest. Second from left. Yea, that is me, on the far right. Yes, I do have my number 83 on upside down. What a gube. Hey, when I look down it is right to me.

Well, another good training run. I have to get busy here real quick if I want to be ready for Kettle 100!

Ultra studs to right! Bushwacker, Kyly, and Allen Boyce. Nice and warm now.

yikes!!! men in skorts...

2007-02-23T12:41:00.000-08:00

i hope the men at Hagg Lake 50k remember to have something on underneith when they are sporting their new skorts for the race!!!