The American Heroes Run

The weather report for Saturday, September 9th looked perfect, with a high of 82. I had gone a bit harder than planned two days before the race while ascending Green Mountain in Lakewood due to the classic tapered feeling of pain feeling much better..
On race morning my phone was covered by a pillow and my quiet alarm didn't wake me up (I believe that's the third time that's ever happened to me!). Thankfully my internal clock gave me jolt an hour later. Still, since the idea is to start my races with stable blood sugar and low insulin levels, waking up late means a much smaller breakfast.

Breakfast a little over an hour before the start:
-one spoonful of almond butter
-a few raspberries
-the usual Awake Tea and virgin coconut oil
-Vespa about 10 minutes before start

The American Heroes Run course consists of a 1.05 mile loop around Rogers Grove Park in Longmont, CO. The event was great and there was a distance for anyone, from the 5k up to the Ultra -a fixed-time event where runners compete to cover the 1.05 mile loop as many times as possible in 9 hours and 11 minutes. I signed up for the Ultra, which had a course record of 49.xx miles which I fully intended to break.
Sabrina was also there racing the 9.11 miler, and to crew for me once she finished.  

smiling at the start line, loving the energy of the children at the front

At 8:46, the time the first tower was hit on 9-11, the race started. I came through the first loop in 7:48 which didn't overly concern me since my race plan was to run the entire first 50k at a decent pace then do enough to break the course record before kicking back until time ran out.


one of the early laps

The first 15+ miles where gone before I had time to think. At about the two hour mark I took in my first calories, one pack of plain Generation UCAN, and was really enjoying myself despite the fact that the loop was getting lonely as everyone in the shorter races finished. I continued hydrating with plain water and S!Caps and took a UCAN about every other hour, sometimes mixing a little Hammer mix into it for the protein and electrolytes. By the 4:30:00 mark I was finally starting to feel the miles (which I had heard was a bit under 50k still). Around then I started walking part of the gentle hill by where Sabrina had set up, allowing myself to eat pieces of Stinger waffles with some coconut oil on top. I couldn't figure out why I felt so bad: my energy felt fine, my legs weren't too bad, hydration had been perfect, yet my gut felt off and the heat, which was well above predicted, seemed to effect me more than usual. It wasn't until an hour after the race that I would learn why.



At some point about 6 hours in my lungs started really hurting. I know that I overuse my chest when running, but by the 7:30:00 mark I was forced to breath entirely with my diaphragm. My upper lungs felt like they'd been beaten with a meat tenderizer from the inside out, like they were bruised, and forcing them open made me wince and cough. Even with the pain present I looked at this as a good thing. Running longer is going to require me to fix my breathing and here was my chance.

the start/finish area that I ran past 51 times

Toward the end I was certain I would break the course record by 4-7 miles even if I completely relaxed and I was more than 3 loops ahead of the nearest competitor. So my real race ended around the 8:00:00 mark. And when I ran in what I figured would be my last lap, I saw that I had 20 minutes left -enough time to get two more loops in, but instead I called it a day. 53.55 miles; a new PR for distance covered in a day and a new course record.

In all, I took in more water than ever before, about 300 mg of caffeine, and averaged about 100 calories per hour. My energy was solid throughout and my head was never foggy. The limiting factors were truly my breathing and my desire to race well in the next month. Add that to the post-race realization that I was sick and there was a lot in the way of a perfect race for me.

To summarize the whole experience..
The good: nutrition, hydration, crew (Sabrina), pacing, ...setting a Course Record, winning money for shoes, blister and chaffing prevention/care
The bad: being sick, leaving with 20 minutes left on the clock -pussying out

I should be back next year as a UROC prep race...

I learned a ton and established my ketogenic diet as a solid performance enhancer.
      -thanks David Clark for the pictures

Thoughts Going Into The Spring Spree 10k and 20 Miler #1

After a distance-covered PR of 45 miles last weekend, and a few easy'ish days to recover, I should be more than ready to race hard at the 10k Saturday then turn around and have a great 20 miler on Sunday. My recovery is noticeably better than ever.

The 10k will definitely take more out of me than the 20 miler, since I'll be going for a PR. The course is easy and flat along the Platte River, so my "A goal" is to run a low 35 minute 10k -about 5:40 per mile. It should be possible if I can fully recover in time. Still, as long as I feel strong and run some 6:00, or better, miles I'll be content.
I've been having tons of fun at shorter races since I've moved my focus to ultras, so I'm really excited for this one.

From now until May 12th (50's For Yo Momma) I'm going to run three to four more 20 milers to prep for summer. On Sunday, I'm running the first 20 miler around Lakewood with some good, long climbs. If I manage to recover for Saturday's race, I'll be dead again Sunday for the 20, so the goal is just to finish strong.

The Lake Arbor 5k, a brief race report

Breakfast:
>half a BumbleBar w/peanut butter and virgin coconut oil
>Tazo Awake Tea with 5 drops of Grapefruit Seed Extract and a piece of ginger

The race started with me remembering what it felt like to go fast. We came through the first mile in 5:45. -I never race with a watch but the guy next to me told me. That seemed perfect for me, not as fast as I'm used to, but about where the pace should be considering my training for the last few weeks.
I passed around four people in the second mile but none in the third and got passed by no one after the first mile. So it was a pretty uneventful race. Apparently there was a course map at the sign-up table which would have helped some since I wasn't real sure where we'd be running and, more importantly, where the finish line was. That made for a long last mile.
18:29 and 8th place is a bit embarrassing, but I finished ahead of the people I knew I should have and right behind a guy I figured I'd finish right behind, so I'm not sure to make of it. And being sick this week left me a little less confident than I'm used to, so who knows how much faster I could have run. On top that, I've been overreaching with my training for sure (six weeks straight at 80) so anything sub-6:00 is good enough for now. Next month's five miler should be at almost the same pace with decent conditions.
For now, back to training. I'm going to inject 10-15 miles at sub-6:00 into random runs over the next month which should help me get my heart used to the harder effort and put me around 32:XX for the five miler.

Pictures if I find some

Stone House Triple Cross (8.6 miler)

I did the Triple cross on a whim the weekend after The Moab Trail Marathon. I needed something fast and an 8.6 miler on trail with six water crossings and a small mountain would be perfect coming off such a technical race. And since the course was at Bear Creek Lake Park, I knew exactly what to expect after racing there for the
With no time goal, the only plan I had was to take it easy on Mt. Carbon and to gain a little ground at each water crossing. I figured anyone faster than me at a 8.6 miler would be young, fast, road runners so the technical parts should help me some.

-breakfast
>half a sesame BumbleBar with peanut butter and virgin coconut oil, and some Tazo Awake tea with ginger
-pre-race
>a small mouthful of Blueberry Pomegranate Roctane (~20 calories)

Before the race I did about a mile build up before heading over to the one porta potty to wait my turn. After a few minutes I realized it wasn't gona happen, so I did the ultra runner thing to do and dipped into the woods to take care of my business.
I changed into my old, trashed pair of Nike Mayfly's and took a deep breath. -I hadn't done any fast training in more than a month and wasn't sure how recovered I would be from Moab the weekend before. Then the race started.
In the first half mile I realized that I was pretty overdressed in my Under Armour ColdGear and ditched it on the side of the trail. At about the one mile mark there was a tree fallen over the trail which made for a little added fun to that stretch: some people hurdled it, some ran around, and on the way back the guy in front of me walked over it causing me to run square into him. The water crossings were brisk to say the least. I knew they weren't gona be warm or anything but it's still crazy to me to feel just how cold these Colorado streams get. It's like running through ice water. By mile three the top twelve or so (myself included) had spread out and by mile four, after heading up Mt. Carbon, I could neither hear anyone behind me or see anyone in front of me. I hate being in this spot: No Man's Land, where you don't feel like you chasing or being chased by anyone. My legs were on fire, but I tried to hold pace and kept telling myself "-at least one or two of the guys up there are road runners -and the longest race they run is a 10k -just hold on until the last two miles and you'll pass a few." And I did.
As I came down Mt. Carbon I saw a duo that didn't look nearly as intimidating as they had three miles ago and I tried to pick up the pace a little. After bursting through the first water crossing I came right up behind one of them. Once he noticed me there his pace dropped about 30 seconds a mile, and I couldn't have been more grateful for it -I did not wana end up in No-Man's Land again if I could help it. I pushed this guy right up to the second water crossing where I passed him and put a few meters on him. He must have be demoralized by that a bit because he dropped off quick after that. But the second guy was only about 150 meters ahead at that point, so I still had chasing to do. And my legs started feeling really good. Again, the water crossing put me right on the guys shoulder and he picked up a bit when I got there. We threw it down a bit for a few hundred meters before we got to the tree fallen over the trail where I just about took him down when he stopped to walk over it. -I guess he was just spent..?

this was taken during the Bear Chase Trail Race 50k (hence the walkers) but its the same creek crossings for both races

Either way, I passed one more guy just before the last half mile and finished in 8th place overall.
Normally, I'd like to think I'd place better at a race this short, but I felt like it went better than I could have hoped for having come off such a big race the weekend before.
It was a blast.

Xterra Marathon of Trail Races

its hard to accurately determine how i did at this one since i was one of a small group that actually finished the full marathon...
i woke up (in Littleton) to rain, lots of it. on the drive to Colorado Springs it turned to freezing rain and then to snow. by the time i was 20 miles from home i was driving in 6+ inches of snow and could barely see the highway under me. thankfully there were almost no cars out because i was swerving from one side of the road to the other and the only thing keeping me from going straight off was the rumble strips... the one hour trip took almost two hours.
the sun was out enough to see by the time i got to Cheyenne Mountain State Park, but it was raining pretty hard, 34 degrees (according to my car), and windy.
i have yet to bash any race too bad, but the organization at this one was mediocre to say the least. no one seemed to know where they were supposed to go, or even when exactly the race was going to start, and seriously: what kind of race director forgets pins... that's all I'm gona say because in the end of the day i enjoyed the race and would do it again.

the race itself went pretty horribly. i started with some fast people who were running the half marathon and felt comfortable enough until about the half-way point. the cold stopped me from drinking, which stopped me from takin in anything for most of the race.
the course lived up to the Xterra name for sure. plenty of rocky parts, some slick muddy parts, and solid climbing throughout. there were a few times where falling seemed certain and a couple of downhills where i almost ran right off the side of the trail. i felt mildly nostalgic about the fact that i had been dreaming about running on trails like this for my entire running life. the snow was coming down in big flakes and the trail was steep, slick, and rugged, and by the 15 mile mark snow had settled onto about every leaf in the park creating a perfect winter-in-the-mountains look. i was beginning to really feel it, but the realization that i had made it (and i was doing what I've been dreaming about for so long) kept me moving forward as my energy completely crashed.
being soaked and cold must have taken a lot out of me. even if the course was 28 miles like a few people have said, i still shouldn't have crashed like i did in the last quarter of the race.
i got chick'ed right at the end of the race, but she was nice enough to give me a gel and a stinger waffle which instantly gave me my legs back. i finished in 10th place overall... and looking at the results, they put me in the wrong age group: I'm not 20-24 yet... pictures if i ever get them...

this was a great race to go into Moab with. other than getting one hell of a training run in, this race made me realize that if I'm going to run as fast as I'd like to I'm going to have to take in way more calories. -it made me realize how little I've learned.