Great Week!

Whew, this week really was great! It started off on Monday with still no voice and hacking up a lung every 30 seconds. I had taken Sunday off from running to recover after Hagg, so I wanted to get out for a little run on Monday. I wanted this to be a solid week of training so I could take it easy this coming week with Way Too Cool on the 8th. However, after whispering to Rod (he was hoping it was sweet-nothings, but really it was because I couldn't talk), he convinced me I should take another day off. So I did and I had a great nappy.

Tuesday I was in Bend for some vehicle repairs, so I decided to pound some pavement there. I started off slowly grinding up Pilot Butte and finding the road to be completely clear of snow and ice! Although Tuesday is my normal butte-repeats day, I was feeling pretty pathetic so I decided to forego the repeats. So instead, I ran over to Awbrey Butte and slogged my way up that baby, feeling better with each step (but still hacking up a lung or two). On the way down, I pushed the pace so I could join-up with the FootZone noon run. I got there with 12 miles for the day, and that run added another 6, for a solid 18 for the day. That's really all I wanted - decent mileage without pushing it.

On Wednesday, Sascha and I went on a 14 miler to check-out trail conditions for most of the 30k loop of the Rumble. After her typical sandbagging on the pavement, once we hit the dirt, Sascha kicked butt! She set the pace and I definitely ran the last 9 miles faster than the plan. But we were having a blast. I usually like to push the last 2 miles of this loop and Sascha knows that. She accelerated perfectly and we tempoed the last 2 at sub-6 pace. Yeah, she can still bring it! For her efforts, she was rewarded with a tasty pig's ear. Mmmm, pig's ear...

Thursday was track day. Sascha usually joins me on my warm-up and cool-down, then she lays down in the infield and watches, but I could tell she needed a day off after yesterday's run. It was a gorgeous day, so I decided to do a combo track/tempo workout. I ran a modified Yasso workout of 6 x 800, averaging 2:49 - 3 sec. per 800 slower than in NC, but not too worried with the crud still in me. I jogged easy for a couple miles, then tempoed about 6 hilly miles. I was tired and happy when I got home. Thursday was a great day!

Friday I ran an out-and-back 16 miler on the McKenzie Highway. Gradual uphill for 8, then gradual down for 8. I cruised the out portion in 59, then just let the legs open up a bit on the way back in 51. 16 miles, 1:50, at a very comfortable 6:53 pace. Again, I was happy. It was just the kind of Boston training run I needed.

Later that day I met up with Rod, Rob, and our Superfeet rep. for some Superfeet training. This guy was definitely knowledgable about all sorts of biomechanical things. It was actually a really imformative little session. And he hooked us all up with some new Superfeet! As we finished up, new Fleet Feet decals were being put on the new store's doors and windows. Very, very nice! Since I had the night off, I even enjoyed a nice movie at the cool little Sisters Movie House.

My friend Darin Swanson was spending the weekend at Black Butte Ranch with his family and he wanted to get in a long run on Saturday (he is also Boston-bound). This was March 1, and I was slighty bummed to have gotten a little snow overnight, and thus, colder temps. February was such awesome weather everywhere I was that I only wore tights once, and now, on March 1, I was wearing tights. Poor me. Anyway, Darin and I met bright and early (for me) at my house and set off with Sascha for a tour of most of the 2nd 60k loop of the Rumble, again checking snow conditions. After a couple miles, we came across some animal prints in the fresh snow. Three sets of animal prints. One large and 2 smaller. Most likely of the feline variety. Although I've seen their prints before in this area, I've never actually seen a cat. I think Sascha scares them away. That Sascha, she's a good dog. So the rest of the run turned out pretty good, running through the little bit of new snow with the occasional sun break, showing-off the Rumble course to Darin, and getting good Boston tips from the vet. After Darin recovered from his little bonk (those Clif Bloks sure helped), I think he enjoyed the little 15 mile tour of my training grounds. He even talked about Trisha (his wife) running the 60k at the Rumble, while he and the kids might help out at an aid station! Sascha also ran well and was definitely done for the day.

After a nice, fat breakfast at the Ski Inn (mmm, eggs over-easy, hashbrowns, sourdough toast, and, of course, bacon!), I went back home to veg out on the couch with the stove blazing and watch the classic Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. Well, I remembered the first couple minutes, then woke up 2 hours later, all nice and cozy. Wow, I felt good! Two naps in the same week...does it get much better than that?

So through Saturday, I was at 77 miles for the week with one day off. One day to go, so I thought a nice, round 90 for the week sounded very reasonable. Yesterday's snow was gone, and today was beautiful. I wanted to run a short tempo run today. First Sascha and I did a 6.5 mile warm-up, I dropped her off back home, and decided to run a 4 miler at a cut-down tempo effort; out-and-back, the first 2 miles gradual uphill, the last 2 downhill. The first 2 miles at 6:20 and 6:10 made me think that uphill was more than I had given it credit for. The 3rd mile at 5:47 confirmed this, and the 4 at 5:40 solidified it. Not bad negative splits and I was happy with the effort. And after my cool-down, I was done with my 90 mile week. Even better, my legs felt good, my chest and lungs felt good (after almost 3 weeks, I think the crud is pretty much out), and I was just happy with life.

Oh, on a little side-note of personal records...when Bien and I ran Pilot Butte repeats a couple weeks ago (my favorite workout), I decided to run hard on the last downhill. It loses 480' in a mile with a sharp 160 degree left hand turn thrown in there. Anyway, so I wanted to run around 5:30. Bien was too scared to join in the fun. I went out hard and was immediately in oxygen debt. Hitting the 1/2 in 2:27 and with the big turn still to come, I thought I could be pretty close to 5-flat. I slowed for the turn, accelerated coming out of it, weaved through a few hikers, and sprinted hard to the finish. 4:51. All-time personal record, baby. I had only broken 5 twice before, both were 4:59 and each was only a 1600 - 9 meters short of a mile. So sure, this was a screaming downhill, but I'll take it.

For a really cool race report of the Susitna 100 miler, check out my friend Shawn's blog. She's a stud!

JFK

The JFK 50 mile has fascinated me for quite a few years. It is the largest ultra in the U.S. with over 1,000 runners, it is a very competitive race, and it has a variety of surfaces to run on: technical Appalachian Trail; flat and fast dirt C&O Canal towpath; hilly paved roads. I finally decided to run it this year. Goals: 6:20-6:30 and top-10.

Although I was flying solo going out to MD, I met up with a great friend who I hadn't seen in years, Lucia, who was nice enough to let me stay at her house and to crew for me. After a short and crappy night of sleep, I got up at 4 a.m. (1 .am. OR time) for the 90 min. drive to Boonsboro, MD, for the start. Despite 1200 runners, being so far from home meant I didn't know too many other runners. So I ate a bit, chatted with Lucia, and did a little warm-up.

After the masses marched from the gym to downtown for the start, we were off promptly at 7 a.m. The weather was in the high-20s and clear - perfect for shorts, long sleeve, beanie, and gloves (wind-brief would have been nice, too, but I kinda forgot it!). I briefly introduced myself to teammate Greg Loomis. He told me to be prepared for a fast start. I was prepared, and knew better than to give in to peer pressure. Many flew by me the first downhill 1/2 mile. Then the road angled up for the next 2 miles to the AT. I easily went by some guys who were clearly breathing way too hard. I entered the AT and knew these next 13 miles were going to be the toughest part of the course for me. Within 5 minutes, I went down HARD. Some guy behind me picked me right up and I was on my way again, a bit slower. A few minutes later, c.r. holder and ultra-legend Eric Clifton flew by me. On his way around, he told me that this was the section he used to set himself up for his sub-6 runs there - stud!

I made it to the first big a.s. at 9 miles in 1:10ish. I have no idea where I was in the field, but felt good. A swap-on-the-fly bottle exhange with Lucia and I was on my way for 6.5 more miles of AT splendor. The next 6 miles were pretty darn technical. I was trying to imagine I was Bronco, dancing across the rocks, but I still sucked. I was passing a lot of early starters in this stretch, who all graciously gave me plenty of room to pass and usually a "rah-rah," too. Although technical, the AT is pretty wide, so passing (or getting passed!) really wasn't an issue while on it. Loomis caught up to me with a couple of AT miles to go, as did Eric again (I must have passed him at the a.s.). The 2 of them, Leo Lutz, and I made a little train on the way to the 15.5 mile a.s. As I was fantasizing about being done with these stupid rocks, BAM, I went down hard again, only 1/2 mile before the a.s. Leo picked me right up and I was gingerly on my way - bloody knees and fingers and all.

As I finally exited the AT and left my demons behind, I did another on-the-fly bottle swap with Lucia. I hit the C&O, mile 15.5, at 2:12. Although many people told me the towpath marathon was the worst part of JFK, I ignored them. My goal was to take it easy and make it through the AT relatively unscathed, which I did. Then I wanted to go to work on the C&O. I did that, too. From the moment I stepped on that path, I only passed people for the rest of the race; well, at least for the next 19 miles, then I was solo the last 16. I felt great. I passed a lot of people. The more people I passed, the better I felt. My plan was working. I saw Lucia again at 27.1. I think I was there at 3:39. Still no idea what place I was in, but just by seeing how excited Lucia was, I could tell I had moved up a lot in the last 12 miles.

Although feeling great, I was a little nervous to push it too hard, too soon and blow (ala-McKenzie Invite). A little before mile 30, I saw a cut-up sleeveless shirt and funky tights coming back to me quick. Obviously it was Ian, and obviously Ian was having a rough day. I slowed for about a minute to chat with him. He said he was just having a bad day. He didn't need anything, and my attempt to get him to run with me for a bit went unanswered, so onward I went. A couple miles later, on long straight stretches, I occasionally saw glimpses of the Seattle Running Co. logo. Crowther. He, too, came back fast. I caught up to him at 34, and could tell he wasn't in the fun zone. I asked if he needed anything. He just wanted to be done - he said he was going to drop at the next a.s. I asked if he was injured. He said no. In not-so-many words, I basically told him to suck-it-up and finish. Much to Greg's credit (and a little to his wife's for not being at that next a.s.), he did. He even thanked me at the finish. It's pretty easy to finish a race when everything is going well; not so much when everything sucks. Greg gets an atta-boy for sucking it up.

I saw Lucia again at 38.5. I have no idea what my time was, but someone told me I was in 8th place and I was still cruising along and feeling great. A short 3.3 miles later, I was off the C&O at mile 41.8 in 5:27. That meant I ran the towpath marathon in 3:15 - not great, but solid, and I felt good the whole time.

Only 63 minutes to go for a 6:30; I knew that was going to be hard. I charged onto the pavement and was rudely interrupted by a wall! Hal warned me about this, but I kinda forgot. After all the flat on the towpath, it was hard to get the legs to change to climbing gears. I got up, then just got in a (too) comfortable 8 min/mile groove for the remaining hilly road miles. Occasionally, I would see a white shirt way up the road. I uncharacteristically didn't really have any desire to play catch. At the last a.s. at 46, Lucia gave me a bottle with the magic potion of Coke and water. Mmmm, so good. A volunteer told me I was only 3 min. from 7th. But still with no desire to push any harder, I was content to just cruise on in.

I happily crossed the finish line in Williamsport in 6:34:08 for 8th place. A 15 min. p.r. and top-10 in the largest ultra in the country. I was happy. Probably most noteworthy was I didn't puke! I was surprised to learn that the white shirt 3 min. up the road from me was defending champ Pete Breckinridge - also having a tough day. Michael Wardian smoked to the win in 5:50 for the 2nd fastest-ever JFK time! Joining Wardian on the podium were Zachariah Miller and Matthew Lavine, all 3 of whom exercised their right to run WS08. For the ladies, Anne Lundblad won for her 2nd time in as many tries in 6:42; Annette Bednosky and Francesca Conte joined her on the podium.

It was a true pleasure, and almost surreal, to be be recognized with the other top-10 guys and receive my cool trophy in front of the very appreciative crowd. And to top off the race, the Montrail team of Eric Grossman, me, Bryon Powell, and Greg Loomis won the men's team competition!

A huge thank you goes out to Lucia for being uber-crew extraordinaire in her first time crewing. Hopefully she will be at many more of my races to come. Also, it was cool to meet my teammates Bryon, Greg, and Eric. Atta-boys all around for running fast and winning the team title!