states

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

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

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...

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

# 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...

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

pictures from miwok here

results here

i got a sunburn in san fransisco!!!

Capital Peak 50 miler

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

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