Thursday, May 27, 2010

One Week to Kettle Moraine 100

One week to Kettle Moraine 100. I am a lot more relaxed then I was for Rocky Raccoon. Training gives one confidence, and right now I have an abundance of both confidence and training. I'm not going to win, I might not even break the top 20, but that's not my goal. I just want to finish one of these things. And then I when I run Rocky Raccoon next year I can run for a fast time. But that's getting ahead of myself. Training has been going well considering I didn't know I was going to be training for another 100 mile race, but the stuff I was running anyway happened to be a perfect lead in to this race. I did a solid 50 mile race, and also a 65 mile run where it got somewhat warm 3 weeks before the scheduled 100. As long as I run smart and within myself I got it.

I haven't talked to that many people that have done this race. Given that it's almost 2000 miles away, and there are numerous 100 mile races between here and there, it's not surprising. From what I've read and heard this is a pretty tough course - deceptively hard. There are no huge mountainous climbs which is good, but there are numerous short climbs. Lots of blogs call them PUDS (pointless ups and downs) which after a while will suck your energy and strength. Another factor that could be tough is the heat, it has been hot there, and there are parts of the course where there is no shade, so the summershine could be brutal once the temperatures reach 80. Patience will be key to this race. I have to make sure I don't wear myself out in the heat. Keep tabs on my nutrition. And then still hope for a little bit of luck.

It's going to be a quick trip. I'm taking a red eye flight out of Seattle on the Thursday before the race, get in Friday morning. I have a hotel in Whitewater for Friday and Saturday, and then I'll have to catch a late Sunday evening flight back to Seattle. I don't think I'll be going to work on Monday. It will be fun I'm sure. There is a slight chance one of my friends from Minnesota will be able to show up and pace me for the last 20+ miles which would be awesome. I'm really looking forward to this, and getting that monkey off my back.

Monday, May 24, 2010

UltraChick Pic o Week - # 4

Miss Grunt - Capitol Forest 50

This girl is a bitch. A little rough around the edges - not exactly a smooth demeanor. The only good thing I have to say about her is I didn't have to put up with her too long.

(I would love to descend her on a full suspension mountain bike though!)

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

12 hours of Redmond

Nice wide smooth trails. It felt like running on the roads for
12 hours. The shade was welcome as it was the 1st warm day
of the year.


When I first signed up for this race, my goal was to run 70 miles. But having decided to run the Kettle Moraine 100 just 3 weeks after I scaled back the goal a little bit. I wanted to run the whole day comfortably, and if I felt like I was pushing myself too far I wanted to be able to scale back and take it easy. I wasn't really paying much attention to how I was doing in the race until maybe 8 hours in, and I think at that point I was in 7th or 8th place in my age group. It was fun to watch the race transpire, but I was able to stick to the plan and not get sucked into it.

I started nice and easy. And had to listen to a couple girls talk about work for the first lap. That kind of sucked. But eventually we got separated enough that I didn't have to listen to work stuff. I settled into a nice easy pace for another lap or 2. I eventually ran with Gary Vale from Beaverton for a while. We talked about how running fast marathons has almost nothing to do with potential in ultras - he was a 2:51 marathoner though - still sounds impressive to me. Although my goals have switched to someday breaking 3 hours in the marathon to breaking 4 hours in a 50K - which on the right course isn't that hard. We talked about running, blah blah blah, what else do you talk about while running? Well, unless you're Glen and I that the more miles we run together the more our conversations regress into adolescent banter. But I didn't know Gary that well so certainly didn't want to go there. He's a cool dude and is running the Pine to Palm 100 or whateverthehellitscalled in September. I hope I run into him then.

Glen came out and pace for the last 41 miles or so. That was pretty cool of him. My cheap ass camelback sprung a leak and I had to carry bottle for the last 8 hours - lame. It got pretty hot also. I was consuming about 40 ounces per hour and still had to chug a bunch of water after the 5th or 6th lap to make up for some drinking deficiencies. The salt tablets were going down pretty well also, which is not always the case. Anyhoo - back to Gen. He hept singing, "Im a maniac, maniac" from the movie Flashdance. That's what I get for teasing him about the marathon maniacs. And when he first got there he was running a little bit too fast for me - maybe some payback. I am always scared of my 4 and 5th hours into a run, as it's usually when I feel best and it becomes too easy to increase the pace - only to get bit in the ass by this later. I stayed behind him hoping that once he got up there in mileage he would not pull me quite so hard. After 8 or 9 hours of running I was still feeling good, and we were still running faster laps than we thought we should. But it all worked out really well in the end. Glen and I of course regressed into our own little idiotic conversations of kids, wives, running and burp and fart and guy jokes. Good times. Glen even got to flex a couple times for the cameras of the race. I kept forgetting what lap I was on and luckily Glen could still count for me, which was helpful. The only negative spot I had in the race was after eating a chocolate Power Bar - I don't like those things on the best of days. But I knew I had to eat something, so I was forced to consume it. After dry heaving a little bit, and drinking Heave (Heed) to wash it down my stomach eventually settled. Heed is disgusting. They have that at Kettle Moraine so hopefully they will have Nuun also. At least I can carry Nuun easy enough. I love that stuff. Eventually I finished my 11th lap, and they scorers said something to the effect that I have 90 minutes to run the last one. I was still feeling OK, so I was confident enough to do it. Onward we ran, my appetite was gone though.

Monday, May 17, 2010

UltraChick Pic o Week - # 3

I have no idea who this is, or where this is. But what a beautiful little spot on earth she found. Who wouldn't want to run here?

Friday, May 14, 2010

Thrive diet

Am I really getting sucked into this? I don't know. But anything that helps combat the fatness and apathy of America I'm all for - I'm not real convinced than anyone will read this book unless they are already pursuing athletic endeavors. I can't see me every going completely vegan, but I know there is a lot of room for improvement in my diet. My snacks today consisted of cucumber, pineapple, banana, red bell pepper, and granola. Yea, the granola is most likely not under the "Thrive" plan. But neither was the ice cream sandwich I ate yesterday.

I ran a whole 12 miles this week. Woohoo. Tomorrow @ Redmond should be 65+ though, so I should end up with over 80 this week after Sunday. I'm only 3 weeks from KM100 - so I don't want to kill myself (before it's time to kill myself).

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Ketttle Moraine 100


I signed up and it's only 3 1/2 weeks away. What the hell am I thinking. My training is in a fairly good spot right now though. I've read that this course is tougher than the statistics say, but 12,000 feet of elevation gain is nothing to sneeze at. I recently ran a 50 miler w/ 6000 feet in 8:34, and I could still move at the end, but I was definitely tired. Now I just have to double it to get the proverbial monkey off my back.

Monday, May 10, 2010

UltraChick Pic o Week - # 2

Not sure who this is, but look at those trails! That looks so awesome! I guess this is from somewhere near Mt. Hood - someone emailed me this photo. Why would anyone ever choose to run roads if this option is available?

Monday, May 3, 2010

UltraChickPic o Week - # 1

Picture stolen from the web.

Ultrarunner chick # 1.

Fast as hell. Loves Mountain Dew. And will run the legs of just about any man alive. Has the fastest 100 mile run by a woman. Need anyone say more?