Workman Multisport Institute 5k- Dec 20, 2009

My two brothers just started a gym in Salt Lake and they put on their first race on Saturday December 20th. It was an unofficial event, and the course was really about 3.2 to 3.3 miles. It consisted of 2 loops around Sugarhouse Park. I have been training here and there in my vibrum 5-fingers, but I decided to try this race in them and see how I did. I completed the course in 25:06 and came in 4th out of 13 finishers, and 2nd place in the women's division. I have a shiny metal to boot. Not bad for a freeby race :) Jeff came in 22 seconds ahead of me and 3rd overall, second in the men. My speedy brother Sean took 1st place. Between 2-4 place were only about 4o seconds, we were all neck in neck the whole time, and I was ahead of Jeff a lot of the time, but he is faster down the hills and had to beat me on the last hill ( couldn't handle being chicked by his wife).
There was a drawing for a GoBe and Jeff won the drawing, so in the end the Tulley family made a hule, and the Workman clan took 3 of the 4 top spots. The girl who was ahead of me and beat me by 40 seconds (sorry can't remember her name) also did a great job and gave me a good chase! Thanks Tyler and Erik for putting on the race, lets do it again soon!

Earn Your Turkey 4 mile Run/Walk 2009

This was a fun little four mile race put on by Runner's Corner and Sojourner's Running Club. This is the first short race I have competed in since 2006. I entered it because my 7 year old daughter wanted to run a race. She entered the kids 800 meter run, and I entered the 4 mile run. I bought her a special new running suit the night before, and gave her some special running food (sports beans) to put in her pocket. She was stoked! She has been talking about running a race since spring.

The race started out very cold, but warmed up pretty fast. I had wanted to finish in under 32 minutes, but I started near the back of the start line, and trying to push through 529 people made my start slow down. I ended up finishing in 33:26, but the official time recorded was 33:37. It was not chipped, so unless I read the 3 as a 2 they or I were off by 11 seconds.

My finish place was 10 out of 65 for my age/gender group. I thought I had only seen 307 on the finish report and it has my finish as 66th out of 307, but on the email they sent out it says my place is 227 out of 569. So I am not sure was the 66th out of 307 means. Maybe that was over all women?

Helen did great for her first race she finished in 4:58, and 52 out of 71. She was 10th out of 14th in her gender/age group. She thought it was cool that we were both in 10th place. It was fun, and I ran the 800 meters with her and gave her encouragement so she would keep running and not walk. She got tired about half way and wanted to walk, but pushed through it, and she was happy at the end. I wanted her first race to be positive so that she wants to do more, and I think it was!

I am planning on doing more short races this winter and hopefully challenge my speed. I have a goal of getting a 21 minute 5 K by March.

I am planning on signing up for a 50 K Snowshoe race in January. Stay tuned..................

Odgen Valley 50- October 24th, 2009

I am finally getting around to writing this race report. I have been so busy with school and my practicum. This was my 3rd race in four weeks, and a Muay Thai fight in between. I actually did better with speed this race. I had expected to take it way easy, because I had already done so much. I had taken a blow to my left shin at the fight, and it took about 4 weeks to feel normal again. But it didn't hurt to run on it, it was just very sore, and effected my kicking more than anything.

This was my third year of OV 50. The course starts at Mountain Green, UT, and follows a road to a ski resort (Snow Basin) , goes around a reservoir, and loops back up Snow Basin and back to Mountain Green. OV was also my first ultra in 2007. The course is all pavement, but it is a lot of steep up on Snow Basin Road for 8-9 miles followed by 6-7 miles of steep down (15 miles total). Then you take a 20 mile loop around Pineview Reservoir. The loop is pretty, but flat, and it is easy to get a little bored of the flat. It is also all road, and I wasn't sure I was going to do it, because I am starting to avoid road races. But I think it is good for me to do a road race every once in a while. It is also a great race because there are less than 50 people. Striders Running in Layton sponsors the race. What I most like about it is that there is one aid station at mile 15 and 35 (the end of Snow Basin Road) and the rest of the time the folks drive around support and have trucks loaded with ultrafood, and drinks. They check on you about every 2-3 miles, and you have mobile aid! It is a great service, and I like the race just for that alone.

This year the weather was great. It was cold in the morning for the first 15 miles, but the rest of the day was not too bad except a few hours in the afternoon there was rain. I did not find the rain to bothersome, because until I got to mile 35 the temperature was fine. After I hit Snow Basin it was a little cool until I got to the top and started the downhill. Once I dropped in elevation it was great temperature again, and the rain had stopped.

I took it way easy, but I still did a PR on this course. Previously my times were around 11:45 for both years. This year it was around 11:21. Now I am wishing I had not taken it so easy because I am pretty sure I could have done under 11 hours if I would have been trying. The best thing this year was the last 7 miles, I hit it into high gear, and did a 9-9:30 pace without stopping to the finish line. That is where I made up a lot of time for my meandering around Pineview, just because I was enjoying the day and didn't care.

I think had I done this kind of back to back racing, and then had a 100 miler within a month, I could finish it now. Next year I plan on doing more back to back long runs like this, before Bear, and I am going to finish it next year! I took three weeks off, well mostly, and now I am back into full training mode.

A deviation from running

I did my first Muay Thai fight today, check it out!

St. George Marathon and upcoming fight!

Yesterday I ran the St. George marathon. I was given a spot by TIFIE Humanitarian (http://www.tifie.org)
I would encourage you to look at the website and see the work TIFIE is doing in the United States, and in Congo.
It was a perfect day to run. I ran St. George last year, and it rained the whole time, it was cold, and miserable. Yesterday, the weather was great! Not too hot, and no rain! I saw Carl Tippets, who also ran Bear last week. He actually finished Bear, and ran a sub 4:20 race! Great job! Saw a couple of other friends running the race, and it was fun to see my friends from other races. I generally am not loving the hype and crowds of these bigger marathons, and much prefer the small community of utlrarunners, but St. George is a pretty course, and an easy marathon for running right after a difficult trail run. I was able to complete the marathon in 4:48, and that was with a 10 minute delay in having to take care of some "business" at a port-a-potty in the middle of the race. Other runners in line didn't seem to be concerned that a long sit on the pot was delaying their time, and other runners. It was a bit annoying, but I had run past two aid stations because of the lines, and really had to stop in order to be ok the rest of the race. I made up some time, but had I not had that delay, I would have been under 4:40. I think that is pretty good considering I did 45 miles of Bear last week, and I haven't done races on back to back weekends yet. I am hoping that means I am getting better, and that next summer I will actually be able to complete a 100 miler. With some more trail races, and training, I am planning on finishing Bear next summer, and going for a goal of under 30 hours. I am getting faster on the trails, and more stable on the down hills. I just need a little more experience and practice, and I will do it!

I know St. George was only a marathon distance, but I needed to have a finish after DNFing at Kat'cina Mosa and at Bear. And the fact I could do back to back races and feel fine today was a confidence booster for me. I was developing a fear that DNFing was going to keep happening. Two in a row is not a good feeling. I am feeling confident again, and plan on getting better at ultrarunning, and trail races.

I am considering doing the Ogden Valley 50 again. It is on Oct 24th. It is all road, but I am having withdrawals about winter coming, and trail races limited. But I am not sure if I will do it yet, because all my Saturdays in October I busy. I am also thinking about the Snow Shoe marathon in January. I haven't had a lot of snow running experience, but maybe it will be good for my training for next years races.


I am now focusing on my fight coming up on October 17th. It is in Orem at Throwdown etc. Please come and support the fights! The next two weeks will be totally focused on fighting, and running is taking a back seat until the fight is over. If I decide to run OV 50 the week after that, it will be a run, no stress, session wrap up for me. I wish it wasn't all pavement, but I do like the race. The people at Strider's to a great job with support on the course, and it is a nice small race!

Bear 100 Race Report

This was my first attempt at 100 miles. Unfortunately all of the life changes I have had with graduating from UVU, starting grad school at the U, plus a 24 hour birth this week have made it very difficult to get a lot of training runs in. I made it 45 miles of this course, and it was really a beautiful run. I am really pretty bummed that I didn't even get half way. It seemed like quiting was the thing to do at mile 45, and it wasn't a light decision, but I woke up yesterday thinking, after 8 hours of sleep: "OK, I can finish the course now." I am really pretty bummed about having two DNFs in a row, but I also think I am slowly figuring out how to do these mountain runs, and how to get faster and conserve more energy. For one, I REALLY have to have some time to heat train. Two summers ago when I started doing these races I did a lot of runs in the Summer heat with 90+ degree temperatures. This summer it has been pretty crazy. I was first trying to finish the last two classes I had to graduate, then I finally got into grad school, and the rest of the summer was spent getting life in enough order to go to school.
If there is anything I hate, it is not accomplishing what I started, and these two courses now have a personal fight to pick with me. I will finish both of them next year! I believe the heat was what killed me in both Kat'cina Mosa and the Bear. The difference in the Bear and why I lasted until mile 45 is because I figured out the hydration balance this time. I have had a problem with over-hydrating in the past, and I ran out of water and got very dehydrated at Kat'cina Mosa. Plus, I had not been feeling well the few weeks before KM, and had a really hard time with my electrolyte balance.
This time I had a bigger hydration pack, and I was able to maintain a pretty good balance. The hydration wasn't the issue, but the heat killed me, and although I did better once it cooled off, I had a hard time fully recovering. I am not sure what that is about. In the past I have not had a problem with the heat as much as I have this year. This year I seem to overheat very easily and get sick as a result.
My next problem is this course destroyed my feet worse than they have ever been destroyed before. The Write double layer socks are the first part. I have compression socks that I wear more often, and I have decided I will stick to those from now on. I also will not put Blister Shield, or Body Glide on my feet anymore. Every time I have done that I have ended up with more blisters. My shoes I wore for the first part of the race were really to broken down to race in, I was going to switch to my trail shoes at mile 51 to have the better shoes in the second half of the race. I would have figured out how to get around my feet, however, if the heat had not wiped me out. All that said, I enjoyed the 45 miles I ran and here is my report from the first half.
Thursday afternoon I left straight from supervision at the CJC to head up to Smithfield. My supervision this week had gone way over so I was rushing to get up there in time. I dropped my bags at Leland Barker's farm, and as I got there I saw my puny bags put against these duffel bags. I started wondering if I had brought enough stuff. But I did, I am just a light packer. After dropping of my bags I went to the pre-race briefing where I saw the Geoff Roes, who just smashed the course record at Wasatch two weeks ago, was also checking in.
After the meeting I went to the IHOP in Logan and did some studying before heading to the start line to park my van and sleep. I slept pretty well in the van, and woke up at 5am feeling ready to go.
At 6 am we were off, I overheard an observer state "Look at all that crazy in one place!" We headed up to Little Baldy Pass, and quietly made our way up the single track trail. I marched in the line for about two-three miles, and then stepped aside to get to the back of the line where I didn't feel crowded, and I could get my new poles ready to use. I figured we had all day, the first part of the race on an uphill takes a while to thin out, and so I just took the first four easy. I have decided my strategy right now is to be conservative on the uphill climbs, and then make up time on the down hills. With my new poles, I am a lot more stable on the downhill trails, and I move about twice as fast. Even though I have been doing Ultras for two years, I really have just started doing technical trail runs this year. I am still trying to figure out how to be confident on rock trails without killing myself. The poles helped with that, and I only fell one time, which is probably a record for me.
After getting to the first aid at Logan Peak in a slow but steady time, around 9:30, I picked up the speed and made it to Leathem Hollow aid station in good time. It was a very pretty stretch, and the fall colors were vibrant! I did the next section to Cowley Canyon pretty conservatively. I probably could have picked it up a little bit, but I still made it within 30 minutes of the goal split time I had been aiming for. I had hoped to get there around 2:30, I got there at 3. The problem is, by this time the heat was really starting to get to me and I was feeling pretty dizzy and weak. I sat down for about 23 minutes in the shade, and tried to take care of some small blisters that were forming. It was this point that Mark Colman and I started leapfrogging a bit. I got there a few minutes before him, but we left around the same time. The next 3 miles were hell. It was on a dirt road, in the heat, and uphill. My lower back started cramping up on this hill, making it hard to go very fast, but I still made decent time. After reaching the trail to Right Fork, I started to feel a little better, but I was feeling weak, and it took me an hour to get to the aid station because I had to stop a couple of times and regain some energy. I had really good luck with the first part of the race drinking a can of Ensure at every aid station. I have decided that is the best thing for me in a race. When I can't stand to look at anything else I can drink it, and it has about the right balance of carbs and protein to give me the right kind of energy. I had not put a drop bad at Right Fork, and I should have. I felt weak leaving Right Fork, and didn't want to go on at that aid station. It took me forever to get to Mudflat summit, but I eventually gained a bit more strength, and started feeling a little better, I ran most of the way down the 4.4 mile stretch to Temple Fork, and got there in the dark around 8:45 pm. I had expected to get there no latter then 7pm. Mark got there at 8:30, and finished the race in about 34:17, so there is a chance I could have recovered and made it. But I was pretty week, and still having some dizzy and lightheaded. I was pretty drained, and my feet were wreaked. I sat there for 20 minutes trying to decide what to do, and finally decided it wasn't going to work this time.
Jeff and I went back to the van and tried to sleep because it was so late, and I was to tired to drive. He had driven up in his car, so I had to drive back on my own. I woke up a couple of hours later in more pain then I have ever been in after a race. I tried to get up and was dizzy, and nauseated, and the pressure from the huge blisters on my feet was unbearable. I had done well at hydrating until the last stretch from Right Fork to Temple Fork, and then I think I let it slide. It wasn't a problem until later, because I would have been fine but I also didn't rehydrate after I was done running, and had only had a half a can of Ensure and a few crackers at the end of my race. I think I experienced a combination of dehydration and low blood sugar in the middle of the night. I was in so much confusion and pain I think Jeff was ready to take me to the hospital because I asked him to put some thread through the blisters to relieve the pressure and bandage my feet. I stepped out of the car and couldn't handle being upright at all feeling like I was going to pass out. I sat there and sipped Gatorade and water and eventually started to feel my head clear, my legs stopped cramping, and I could tolerate my feet. It was a strange experience, but short lived. We decided to leave my van there, and drive to East Canyon to my parents house to sleep. Don't know why we didn't think of that in the first place. After sleeping until noon, we got up, and decided to go to the end of the race.
I have had a little more soreness on this race then normal, but it is starting to go away, and I think I will be in good shape for the St. George Marathon this upcoming weekend, provided I can get my feet normal enough to run. Since I only did 45 miles this weekend, I am hoping to do a PR at St. George. I was given this spot by TIFIE to run St. George. In general, I am starting to lose interest in running marathons because most of them are on pavement, and the crowds are much larger. The challenge of the trail courses is a lot more exciting to me. Having to pay attention to every little rock on the trail makes the run more fun. But every once in a while, a normal marathon is probably a good speed test. I can go a lot faster on the road without having to climb mountains, and go down rocky trails, or climb around fallen trees. Of all the road marathons in Utah, St. George is one of the more scenic, even being on pavement. So watch for my report next week. This will be a test on how fast I actually recover from an ultra, running a marathon back to back weekends. I know there are guys that do it all the time, but I am relatively new to distance running, so this is the next step up. I feel like my recovery time from 50 milers has gotten pretty short after two years.
St. George is the last race I have planned for this year. I am also fighting in 3 weeks at the Smoker Bouts at Throwdown.
'

Wasatch 100 pacer abuse

This is Geoff's pacer who stumbled in 1 hour after Geoff

Wasatch 100 updates

I am manning the aid station at the finish. Geoff Roes just broke the previous course record by 1:05! Incredible 18:30:55. Karl Meltzer expected in the next 15 minutes

Meltzer in at 19:12, 23 minutes ahead of the previous course record!

Ka'cina Mosa 100k Report- My First DNF :(

This was a challenging race 100k Mountain run. This year only 33 runners started. It also ended up being my first DNF. Kind of a scary DNF. I started out at 2am feeling great, I got up to Camel Pass at 6am, and then started the climb up to Lightening Ridge, the toughest climb of the course. On the way up I noticed I wasn't handling the climb as well as I normally handle climbs. Even though it wasn't hot yet and I was taking Scaps and hydrating I started feeling very dizzy and nauseated near the top. I have run some fairly tough races, and climbs, and none of them have taken it out of me like that. It was bad enough that I had made the decision to drop at Big Springs (mile 23). However, by the time I got to the bottom, drank some ensure, got some potatoes with salt, etc, I was feeling OK (about 5 minutes). So I decided to go on to Windy pass. At this point I had made the first cutoff by an hour, and was pretty sure I could get up to Windy Pass(mile 29) by 12:30, and then run down to Little Valley and make the 40 mile cut off by 3--3:30 and hour to and hour and a half ahead of the cut of. From that point the rest of the course is not as challenging.

I made up to Windy Pass just fine, and felt OK, however, it was very hot and I ran out of water just before the aid station. I should have hydrated really well at the aid station, and then filled my water bottles, but at that point it was hot, and I was getting over heated, and I did not notice I was not thinking very clearly. I left the aid station with 30 ounces of water, and had forgotten to fill up my extra bottle I was carrying. I climbed the rest of the ridge at Windy Pass, and started to feel sick, half way down the pass I started getting a little delirious, but thought I would be fine once I got to the lower ridge. The last runner passed me and asked if I was OK. She noticed that I was down to 8 oz of water, and offered me some, but I didn't want to take hers and risk her not having enough. I should have realized I was going to be in trouble at that point, and had her get Jeff, who was at the Little Valley Aid station below, and send him up with water. However, she thought there was one person behind me, so I thought I was OK, and that if I wasn't I could ask the runner behind me to notify the aid station. There was no runner behind her! At that point I had 7 mile to go, at 8 ounces of water, in 90 degree heat, and I think I was already pretty dehydrated. Got down another mile or so with very little water, and started feeling very dizzy. I tried to take plan electrolyte drops with the few ounces of water I had, but then realized they Prolyte drops probably would not help much without actual water. I also realized that I could not eat because all I had left was gel, and it would dehydrated me more without water to take it with. At this point I also realized there was no runner behind me, and I was in trouble. I was dizzy, lightheaded, and very thing was turning blurry. I decided the best thing to do was to keep walking at an easy pace, another mile or two down, I felt like I was going to break down, and was having a hard time keeping my head, it took all my concentration to not let myself give in to wanting to sit down, or stop. Every time I stopped I would nearly pass out. In my delirium, I was not afraid of dying, but of passing out, and someone having to look for me and Lifeflighting me out of there, I thought that would be really embarrassing. But I was also afraid to just stop because I had over 3 hours until the cut off when I first started feeling like I was in trouble, and knew if I stopped it would be at least 3 hours until someone would come looking for me. I thought if I could at least get to the aid station, even if I needed IV fluids, at least I could be driven to the ER, and not have to draw a scene. It is really funny the things you worry about when you are not thinking straight. After a while I begin to notice that my mouth was completely dry, as well as my lips, then I started checking my pulse I could feel it on my wrist, but going at a speed of 2 miles per hour downhill it was about 130 bpm. My resting pulse is about 50, and it gets to 130-140 if I am exercising strenuously. So at that point I knew that I had to keep my head as clear as I could, and that every decision was probably life or death. Some how I finally managed to get far enough down the trail, and found a spring 1.25 miles from the aid station. I am not sure I would have made it the last mile without passing out if I had not found the spring. I was very dehydrated,and overheated. So I sat down next to the spring, and poured water all over me to cool me down, and then started to slowly rehydrate. Eventually I felt OK enough to keep going. At that point, I was still in time enough, that had a ran down the hill, I would have even made the cut off, but I had decided earlier on the trek down, that I needed to drop when I got to the aid station. I was too dehydrated to go another 24 miles. I got down about a quarter of a mile, and Jeff had finally realized I was probably in trouble when the lady who passed me told me how much water I had had 7 miles ago, and the guy just ahead of me had stopped at the spring for 30 minutes and waited for me and I never came. It turned out, he probably left about 30 seconds before I got there. He had already decided to drop himself. So Jeff walked down with me the last mile, and all I could do was sit in a chair and watch the aid people break down the station. The other guy who DNF'd was a paramedic, and offered to give me an IV if I needed one, but after sitting for 30 minutes, I thought I would probably be OK. I am still not fully re-hydrated, and can feel it. But I am ok

The moral of the story is, always have enough water! I am going to get a bigger hydration pack for the Bear 100.

The good news is, I finished the most difficult part of the course, and I learned that I have pretty good survival instincts. I think that is from the years of midwifery, and learning not lose my head in a real crisis. I thought I would have a hard time the first time I DNF'd, but I did not. I was so happy to come down the mountain alive, that I felt like that was a greater accomplishment than finishing.

I want to do this course again, but I will carry a lot more water. It can get really hot in August!

Timp Sumit 7/26/09

I did a training run on Timp. Great run! I ran into some Mountain Goats near the summit. I got some awesom closeup picture of them. The only downside was wiping out the last half mile on the way down, and badly bruising my knees. They were really stiff for a couple of days, but now they are fine. Running Kat'china Mosa in the morning.

Grad School!!

I just got accepted to grad school!! I will be attending the University of Utah's MSW program in the fall.... Yay, more school!!! haha

Running Bare Foot

I am trying to make the switch to barefoot running. I bought the Five Finger Vibrums KSO
from a friend who gave me a pair to try. I worn them around school all winter, and finally have started running in them the last couple of months. Really only a few times, but getting longer on the distance each time. I wasn't getting past 2 miles because I would start getting blisters every time. So today on the advice of some experienced ultrarunners I purchased the Injinji
running sock! The perfect solution for the vibrum! And guess what, no blisters! The only problem now is that because my feet weren't rubbing, I took off fast, and ran 1 mile of trail, and then 1.2 miles down pavement. OUCH! my toes cramped up on the bottom of my right foot. Running in the VFFs on pavement forces you to pay very close attention to your form and stride! Running uphill on trails is easy, and running flat on trails is not much more difficult, but running on pavement is a lot harder on your foot, and requires you to tread lightly, and especially land mid sole. Vibrums will teach you where you stride is off. I found out tonight mine is off still on downhills. Because I have been working so much on not landing on my heels, I do ok on ups and flats, but I overcompensate on downhills, and land too far forward on my soles. I think I need to sit back more into my stride on the downhills. At any rate, I have found something new to try, and running barefoot is like learning a brand new sport.

I also bought the Invo-8 Roclite 305s trail shoe today. I am in heaven already! I have used the Cascadia's for the last year, and they have been a great shoe, but the Roclites are so much lighter and feel like I have nothing on my foot. I am going to alternate more between these two shoes before I decided what to replace my second shoe with. The Mizuno Wave and Brooks have been my shoes of choice for the last year, but now I am trying to go more for the minimum shoe, and so I am changing shoe strategy.

Squaw Peak 50 Mile Ultra 6/6/09

I signed up for this race as my first real technical course. I have run 4 other 50 milers, but compared to this race, those ones now seem like a cakewalk. Since I did the Buffalo run in just under 11 hours this year, I though for sure I should be able to do Squaw in less than 14 hours..... not. Now that I know the terrain, I had better start training on for Kat'cina Mosa and Bear, or I am going to get my rear deflated. The course took me just over 16 hours, but I had fun anyway, and I will be lots faster next year, cause I am going to start training on more technical trails starting Monday AM!
The race started with a pre-race briefing on Saturday night. I walked into the Hampton in, and they asked me if I wanted to sign up for the early start at 4am. Those who were expecting to take more then 15 hours could start an hour earlier. I was going to finish in fewer than 14, so I didn't. We got our cool race bags, and garb and shared a spaghetti diner while John briefed us on the course.
The next day I woke up at 3:45 and Jeff and I headed to Vivian Park at 4:15. While I was dropping off my drop bags, Jeff was helping get stuff ready to take up to aid station 8 where he would be spending the day helping until I ran in, and then he would come with me and pace me the last 17 miles of the course.
At 4:55 all the runners lined up at the Provo Parkway Trail head and waiting for the final call to start, which we did, at 5am sharp. The first two miles of the course are paved, and knowing I had a 5-mile climb after that, I decided to gain some time on those fist two miles. The next 2 or so miles were mostly power walking with some jogs across the flats to hope campground. Then there was a small downhill sprint across some trails, which I slide on, and became the one and only time I fell on my face the whole race. That was pretty good for me. But the short sprint soon became some steep uphill again, and stayed mostly uphill until the top of Squaw Peak road. I decided to do this race with no Garmin, no watch, no IPod, etc. I just wanted to see what it was like to run a race and have no idea what mile you were at, no distraction, and for the most part not know what time it was until you got to an aid station. That actually was a lot of fun, but I was worried when I got to aid station 4 and the first 14.6 miles had taken me 4 hours! That is how steep the first climb was. At that point I decided this course was such a new and different type of racing then I was used to that I was not going to try and murder myself to get under 14 hours. Instead I was going to make it to aid station 8 by 2:30, the final cutoff and then try to not worry about time as much as figuring out the nuances of mountain trail racing, and what I need to work on to get better. There was no final cutoff for the race, just that you had to get to mile 33 by 2:30 that afternoon.
The next 10 miles I made up some time on the downhill run on Squaw Peak road into Hobble creek canyon, and then on the few miles of paved road. At that point, I was really just enjoying the scenery, and the run, and not even really thinking about it. When I got to aid station 6 I was surprised that I was at mile 26 already, and had 3 hours to get to aid station 8. Then I was a bit more relieved. 7 miles? On a normal race I could do that in an hour! Not on this race. The mostly uphill climb after that took me 2 hours and 30 minutes. But I got there by 2:00 and Jeff and I were out of there by 2:10. The next 5.5 miles I took pretty easy because I know the hill that lie ahead. The 1.5mile climb to Windy Pass. One and a half miles may seem like nothing in comparison to 50, but to runners who have completed the course before, it is the most dreaded part of the course, and could take you 1-2 hours to climb it because of the 1500 ft climb. Taking the 5.5 miles easy was a good idea, and I caught up to a bunch of people by the time I started the climb, however, I power-walked the first half of the hill too fast. I have a hard time walking the hills slowly, because it feels easier to walk them fast. This hill took it out of me, and I started getting dizzy and nauseated ½ way up. The problem is, once you are on that hill you have to finish the climb because it is the only way off the mountain. It is longer to go back to aid 8, and if you get to aid station 9 at the top of the hill, the rest of the course is downhill.
I managed to get up to the pass by about 5:45…. 3:30 hours to get to the top of windy pass from aid station 8!! Ouch! At the top was Jim Skaggs, and his chocolate chip cookies, and there was much rejoicing. After that climb there was about 6.5 miles down the mountain to aid station 10. That downhill stretch is a little slow because there are so many loose rocks. That additionally slowed me down. I decided I am going to do a lot of training runs on that type of terrain because that is what slows me down too much. We finally got down to aid 10 and left for the final 3.5 miles on pavement to Vivian Park. The last stretch took me about 40 minutes because I was having problems breathing. The last uphill climb had left me with fluid in my lungs, and I was breathing like an asthmatic! I finally strolled into the park sometime around 9pm. I was to tired, I didn’t actually see what time I came in, and forgot about it until after I left the park. But judging from the fact that we left around 9:30, I think I came in between 9 pm and 9:10pm, which means the whole course took me 16 or so hours to complete.
All in all it was a really fun race, my legs actually don’t hurt that much, so I guess I can handle that terrain. When I got done the body parts that were bugging me the most were my neck, and my lungs. Not my legs! The usual night after of fitful sleep did not happen this time because I was up for so long, and working for so long, that I had no problem falling asleep. I am not even sure if I needed the precautionary Motrin that I took.
Already I can’t wait for the next race, and now I have the challenge of getting faster on trails before August, and especially before Bear in September. Looking at the elevation profile, I am expecting Bear to be twice as hard as Squaw, course-wise, and really more because it is twice the distance. Last night I was wondering why I like to put myself through these. I always saw that at the end of an ultra, but it only last an hour or two, and even then I am thinking about how to improve the next race.

Bear 100

I just did it! I wasn't planning on doing a 100m this year, but I just got inspired to sign up for the Bear 100. So I am going to attempt it this year. I am wondering about my sanity a bit, but I am a thrill seeker, and this seems like a thrill!

Also, I have been in some negotiations with one of the grad schools I applied to. I am on the top of the alternate list now. Pray that I get into the program in the fall!!!

Upcoming besides Squaw

Kat'cina Mosa 100k

Bear 100M

Squaw Peak 50 Training Run on May 30,2009

Squaw Peak 50 Training Run at the Top of Bozung Hill
Next week I will be running my 5th 50 miler. Squaw Peak is officially rated as the 3rd most difficult course in the U.S for 50 milers. I am calling it good training for the 100 miler I plan on signing up for in the next 12-24 months.

Yesterday was Jeff's birthday, and we spent it running from mile 33 to mile 46.5 with John Bozung and his wife, and a few other crazies who will be there next week . The snow level was pretty low this year. A few difficult spots coming down from Windy Ridge, but from what I had heard, it can be a lot worse. I am excited! This will be an adventure next week, not to mention a beautiful course! Stay tuned for an official race report and more pictures.

Ogden Marathon May 17, 2009

Yesterday I ran my favorite marathon course, Ogden! This marathon starts up near Huntsville Utah, and runs around Pineview reservoir. After coming around the reservoir the course takes a turn down Ogden Canyon, into a parkway, and the last half mile ends in downtown Ogden. The course runs a little long by my GPS 26.63 miles. My total time was 4:34. This was a great race. My boxing training has helped my run. I did not push my pace at all because I am doing Squaw Peak in 3 weeks, but my time was still good for how easy it felt. The weather was perfect. The morning started out a little cold until the sun came up, but within 2-3 miles of the start of the race it was warming up a lot.

My only problem today is a cramp in my left arch that won't go away. I tried a sample of the KT athletic tape that I got in my race packet. It may be helping a little bit. I am working it out, but I am taking tomorrow off from boxing because I think it will aggravate it. Instead I might run 2-3 miles and then go to a boring yoga class ( to hitting and kicking , but my body probably needs the stretch).

I did have a hard time getting going this morning. I had only gotten 2.5 hours of sleep the night of the race because I was catching up with some friends, and stayed too late. So I was tired by last night, but I am feeling really good now.

Look for a post on the Squaw Peak 50. I am running SP on June 7th.

Antelope Island 50 Mile March 28 2009

This is the second year I have run the Antelope Island 50 Mile Buffalo Run. Of all of the days of the week, this was the best day for the race. It had snowed all week before, and it snowed for the next week after.

However, the day of the race was perfect. The trails were mostly dry, the sun was out, and after 10 am I was in short sleeves.

I arrived at Striders Running store in Layton around 6pm to pick up my race packet. Because I was the first to register for the race this year, my bib # was #1! There are some benefits to being OCD :) After picking up my bib it was off to East Canyon to try and get some sleep. I was with Jeff and the kids, and we went to my parents house for the night. My mom took the kids so they could go to a family party, and Easter egg hunt the next day. I managed to get all my drop bags labeled and sorted, and got to bed by 9:30pm. Then I tried to get some pre-race sleep before getting up at 3:30am.

At 4:00am Jeff and I headed out to Antelope Island. When we arrived at 5:30, I wasn't sure about the temp. But after warming up by the can fire, I was ready. The pre-race instructions were confusing as usual..... go this way, turn that way, and then go that way some more..... and we were off at 6 am. I had wanted to make a goal to get under 11 hours this year, but the semester has been crazy and my training runs have been lacking, so I didn't know how hard I was going to push it.

I was surprised how much easier the first 6 miles were for me this year. All the core training has been good for my uphills. I have been boxing for about 6 months now, and that has helped my running a lot. When we got to the Elephant head trail, I decided to be backward and do the second loop first this year, and the first loop second. It was a fun switch up, and actually made the trails less crowded for me, since most people did it in the correct order :)

After finishing my loops (about 13.5miles) I decided I really didn't feel like listening to music. My head is so over stimulated with school. I had not listened to it up until that point, so I dropped my Ipod in my bag, and ran the whole day in silence. It was nice.

At mile 20 I got to the White Head trail station, and took off both of my long sleeve shirts. I applied sunscreen, but I should have has someone else get my back, cause I missed a large section, and ended up with a pretty bad sunburn.

I was glad to only have the 2 mile offshoot that we had last year 1 time! That is where all the mud was. The rest of the trail to Lower Frary was very nice. I got a little mentally defeated at mile 23 this time. I didn't feel physically bad, but I felt a sudden desire to go back to bed. But I kept going after realizing I could walk the rest of the way and still make it under the 12:30 time limit. I did not walk the whole way, it was just a mental game that kept me into the race. I never drop out of a race once I start, even if I don't feel like running it. At lower Frary I made a shoe change. That was nice. I made it from Lower Frary (mile 27) to the ranch (mile 32.5) and there Jeff met me. He had been volunteering at that aid station all day. From there he paced me to the finish.

We made it back to Lower Frary, and I was happy to be within a 1/2 marathon distance to the end! I picked up the pace quite a bit from there, and I got to mile 45 at almost exactly 10 hours. Jeff thought I would get under 11 hours at that point, but I wasn't sure how fast I would do the last 5 miles, because they took me more than 1 hour last year. But this year, I felt stronger at the end, and was doing fine. As we went around the point, I passed a girl. She was actually what speed me up even more. I wasn't really competing, but when I wanted to pass her the first time, she was blocking the trail and not letting me pass. This irritated me, because it is common courtesy to let someone pass who is faster than you. I passed, and with in a minute she speed up and passed me. I could tell she was determined to stay ahead of me, but also that she was burning out. I let her stay ahead of me for about a mile, but when she slowed down again, I had to pass her, and being sick of the game, I sprinted the last two miles.

I think I did the last two in about 19 minutes, which gave me enough of an edge to finish the race in 10:59:05, under the 11 hour mark! And a qualifying time for Wasatch 100. I qualified last year on the Grand Slam, and 3 50's in 12 month rule, but not under the 11 hour rule :) I don't think I will do Wasatch this year, but it was nice to hit that milestone.

I did not make it into the grad program I was hoping to get into for fall, so I will have a lot of time to train this year, and work on my time. I am planning on going to Africa for about 6 weeks in January/February to climb Kili, and do research in Congo. This fall is going to be a big change because I will not be in school full time, and it has been my life for the last two years. I am going back to take one course, and do research. I will spend the rest of the time running, and writing my book. Because of school, I have cut down my practice, and while I may take a few clients now in the fall, it will probably not be a lot, and so it will be different.

But it won't be totally not busy. In fact it may be more busy, just less structured. I am going to apply to 6 grad programs 3 Social Work and 3 Psychology programs. I am hoping to get into the Social work programs, because I really just want to get an MSW and then eventually pursue a Doctorate in Anthropology. Because one of the programs I am applying to for the MSW requires the GRE, I decided I might as well just apply for the Psych programs and see what happens. The psych programs are a lot more competitive, so I have a better chance with any of the 3 MSW programs for 2010 anyway. I am grieving not getting in this fall, but it has opened up a lot of doors for me to do other work that I want to do, and the African experience will be a one of a kind experience.

My next race is Squaw Peak in 61 days. That will be the most challenging course yet.

Welcome to my Running Blog

I am a runner. I run Ultras, and marathons. I decided to start a new blog for my running adventures.