With Lithia Loop serving as the U.S. trail marathon championship for the third straight year, competitive runners again lined up to race the dirt roads and trails around the Ashland watershed, even if they were sometimes snow-covered. On an snowy/icy course Megan Lund-Lizotte was the first woman to cross the finish line with a time of 3:03:46. . Lund-Lizotte’s time is the race’s second-fastest ever, trailing only Susannah Beck’s 3:00:29 course record in the race’s inaugural year. Kremer, who has announced that she also will seek a berth on the 2012 U.S. Mountain Running Team, was second in 3:05:34. Bend’s Stephanie Howe was a competitive third in 3:09:27. More info here.
 
A quick interview with the Trail Marathon Champ:
 
What are your thoughts surrounding the race?
This is the first time running this race. I felt really strong for the most part and pleased I was able to execute my race strategy just as I had planned. I went out hard on the climb (first 10 miles) and was able to create a big enough gap that no one would be within striking distance the rest of the race… and that is exactly how it unfolded. Stevie Kremer (2nd women) ran 2 strides behind me for the first 5 miles and then I broke away and focused on increasing my lead for the rest of the race. Uphill running is my strength of all aspects of running so I knew if I could take a commanding lead on the ascent I would be able to win. This is my first national title so I’m pretty stoked!

Goals for this race?
My goal going into this race was to win and break the course record. I managed to win (and snag my first USA national title), however I was misinformed on the course record. The website states that it was 3:08:42 when in fact it’s actually 3:00::29. So, I thought I had broken it by almost 5 minutes, when in fact I was actually still 3 minutes away. I do think I could have been really close to breaking the real record had we not had blizzard conditions and an icy course.

How many people usually enter this particular race?
Around 150, this year was a record turnout of 192.

What were the weather conditions like?
Snowy/icy course for the majority of the ascent and pelting snow. However, the last 6 miles where dry and clear–great variety of tough conditions!

What food supplies did you use for fuel during the race?
I took about half of an Espresso Clif Shot at mile 16 and washed it down with some snow I scraped off the course (all my water spilled out of the cup I grabbed at the aid station so I had to get resourceful!).

Pre-race meal?
The night before I had smoked mozzarella & basil pasta for dinner…I don’t have a typical/superstitious meal…I just eat what sounds good! For breakfast before the race, I always have oatmeal mixed with some Justin’s Maple Almond Butter (need some fat for those longer races) and a strong cup of coffee. I actually ended up making my instant oatmeal with coffee because the hotel I was staying at forgot to set out hot water for tea (there were cups and tea bags everywhere but no water!), so I used coffee instead! Needless to say, I was super jittery after I ate, but maybe that was the extra jolt I needed to pull out the win!

Highlights from the race?
Firstly, the course was beautiful! Even though it snowed half of the race, the scenery was awesome! At about mile 18 I started feeling bad…not only was I physically tired, I was mentally stressed because I wasn’t sure how big my lead was and if the girl in 2nd was gaining on me. I just kept telling myself that I was only in control of my own race and that if I just kept running as fast as I could, that’s all I could ask of myself. I just kept telling myself how bad I wanted to win and that got me through the next two miles. Once I hit mile 22 I knew I was gonna win and promised myself no one was going to catch me. It’s always rewarding to experience something the way you had hoped it would come to fruition.

Shoe choice?
I am also (like Max) running in the Rogue Racer and wore that shoe in the race. It was the perfect option for this race because the conditions were snowy and icy the majority of the race. The shoes responded really well and I didn’t experience much slipping while running fast–good quality to have in a shoe when you’re racing on snow-covered frozen ground!

Learn more about Megan in the following interview, All in the Family (Megan Lund-Lizotte comes from a family of distance runners)

I thought that I’d been shut out of a final run up the South Sister this year, but as luck (or the weather in Central Oregon) would have it, the storms cleared up long enough to melt off the 8-12” of fresh snow that the mountains received the past couple of weeks. A friend and I had been talking the last couple weeks about various windows that might be available to do it then all of a sudden a storm comes in and knocks out any hope of getting up there. He had been working on the unofficial record up to the 10,358ft peak and had gotten his time down to 1:38 up, and 2:30 something total.

The trail leading up to the summit

Ryan trudging to the summit

Here’s my gear list from today’s adventure.
Had on my Effusion Power Tights today to keep the warmth in, Rogue Racers to get me some traction to the summit, my Geist Vest over a Wicked Lite L/S and S/S, and my Butter Beanie keeping my head warm. I was also lucky to have the brand new spring 2012 2oz Ghost Whisperer Jacket in my pack for keeping the wind at bay on the summit. Just enough protection. Brought along the new Spring 2012 Race Vest for carrying some food, water and jacket. Have I mentioned how sweet that thing is. Probably could have used a balaclava too but didn’t have that. My face was freezing.

The summit

 
Shunsuke Okunomiya took 2nd place with a time of 7:50:32 at Japan’s Hasetsune Endurance Race. This race is the biggest, baddest, longest, toughest and yet most popular endurance race in Japan. Runners must tackle a technical 71.5K trail within 24 hours, and it’s here that new trail stars are born. Total number of participants were 2,157 (Men 1,920 , Women 237) and 1,724 (Men 1,532, Women 192) crossed the line this year.

Andy Henshaw placed 1st and claimed the course record for the Defiance Ultra 50k. Point Defiance might be the finest park on Puget Sound — and one of the finest urban parks in all of America — and not just because there are so many fun things to do across its almost 700 green acres. The trees are so fantastic, you can feel like you’re all alone. You can be alone and commune with nature within city limits.

The park, originally a U.S. Army reserve that was never used and was given to Tacoma in 1888, sits on a two-mile, proboscis-shape peninsula that pokes out into Puget Sound and separates The Narrows from Dalco Passage. The singular thing about it is it remains mostly forested despite being in the heart of the biggest urban corridor in the Pacific Northwest, the almost continuous stretch of development between Everett and Olympia.
The course is approximately three 16.6 kilometer loops through old growth forest. Each loop will come by the start – finish. Course is mostly single track and typically dry mid october. Train for some HILLS but the course is 95% runable. On the course you will see sweeping views of the Puget Sound, run on soft trails beneath 500 year old giant cedars and firs in one of the top 20 urban parks in the United States. Course design is primarily by Mike Lynes with technical consulting by tony phillippi, both have logged many miles through the forest.
 
Winner of the Defiance Ultra 50k, Andy Henshaw:
 

When was your weakest/strongest moment?
To be honest, my weakest moment was before the race even began. I was a little worried about how my legs were going to feel since this was my first race coming off of the World 100k. However, once I started moving I felt strong and controlled. Due to repeating this Pt. Defiance park race numerous times, I knew where to push it. I definitely felt a sense of strength in knowing exactly where I was the entire time.

What was last year’s finishing time?
Last year I took 1st with a 3:40:12 time. My goal this year was simply to beat that time while keeping my splits even.

How far behind was the 2nd placer?
This year, 2nd place finished in 4:07:57.  He was approximately 30 minutes back! Oh what a great feeling.

When is your next race?
JFK 50 is my next race, and I’m hoping to break the course record.  There will be a lot of competition to drive the times way down!

Do you usually take a few days rest after a big race or do you tend to go for slow jogs to loosen up tired muscles?
After Worlds I took off a full week with no running.  After the Point Defiance race I felt pretty fatigue and pain free, so I managed to get in a nice run. I go by feel on when to run next and how far/fast.

What Montrail shoe did you wear?
I ran the race in the Rogue Racers.  Now that I look back, I have won every race in which I’ve worn them But really they are great shoes.. super light.

What endurance food supplies did you use? GU etc?
I used CLIF gels for this race. Mostly Citrus and Raspberry, but I did take one chocolate cherry at the end to kick on the afterburners.

Read more race stories on Andy’s Blog.

 
Montrail’s Japan Athlete, Takuya Yamada established the course record which was 4hrs 14min 55sec to win the Madarao Forest Trails 50k on October 10th.

Takuya was born in 1978. Inside Out Ski Club affiliation, national leader of the ski archery. The support of Kuraray Specialites Europe since 2003 in southern Germany Wallgau across Europe. Belongs to a local ski club Skigau Weldenfels activities taking part in cross-country ski archery as a player in Europe. In 2007 he has competed vigorously in recent years trail running, earning good results at each event.

 
This is the 5th year the race has been directed by Hiroki Ishikawa, an Overseas Adventure Racer who turned to the world of trail running and directing races.

 
Congrats to Jill Perry on winning the women’s division and coming in 7th overall at the Oil Creek 100, this past weekend in Titusville, PA. She also broke the female course record by at least 90 minutes! This race is a 100 mile loop trail race on the rugged Gerard hiking trail at Oil Creek State Park in northwest PA, site of the world’s first oil boom.

 
“This was a spur of the moment race since two weeks before I had to drop at a race at 70 miles due to food allergy issues. I have celiacs and really have to be careful. Thankfully all is working well now! Next month Pinohti 100 in Alabama.” – Jill Perry

Jill will be hosting a trail talk and clinic in Michigan. More information coming soon.

 
By Dakota Jones
The problem with winter running is that you have to make certain sacrifices. Are you willing to be frozen and miserable at first so that the majority of the run will be comfortable, or would you rather take a nice jacket at the beginning and roast? Consider snow and ice – they’re very slippery and made out of water, and thus have the potential to leave you both broken and wet in very little time. Even the days are shorter, meaning time management around running is that much more difficult. With all these problems, the prospect of winter running can seem daunting and unpleasant. But the outdoors are beautiful in winter, and they offer a perspective on the running and the natural environment that we often miss in trying to avoid the cold. If done right, running can be fun and comfortable even on the coldest days. Here are eight tips to get you outdoors when the snow starts flying.

1. Wear warm clothes, but not too warm. The unfortunate truth is that you’ll be most comfortable if you start a little cold. Yes, going outside in a light jacket when the temperature is below freezing seems appalling at best, but within fifteen minutes you’ll be warm and comfortable. Taking too much clothing at the beginning will leave you sweaty and uncomfortable, so sacrifice comfort at the beginning for performance later.
2. Shoes are also crucial to winter running success. Do away with little racing flats and embrace something larger, with bigger lugs. Lightweight shoes are often thin and transparent, meaning snow and ice can melt into your feet and make you miserable. Larger shoes are more resilient to outside conditions and grip much better on slick surfaces. For those real icy days, try YakTrax or Micro-Spikes.
3. Wear gloves. No matter how well-suited your outfit may be for winter running, you’ll be powerless without gloves. In cold weather the body sucks all of its heat into the core, and in doing so leaves the extremities without adequate circulation, meaning your hands just won’t work right. Also, cold hands hurt a lot, and then even more when they warm up (this also refers to other extremities – see rule #6). Make sure to wear adequately warm gloves that also provide a level of waterproofing so that snow or rain won’t render them useless.

Dress appropriately. | Photo Kevin Winzeler
4. Hats. Conventional wisdom says that we lose up to 80% of our body heat through our head, which is why you should know that conventional wisdom is oftentimes completely false. You don’t lose any more heat through your head than through anywhere else on your body, but you’re usually (hopefully?) wearing clothes in most other places. Wearing a hat keeps your ears and head warm and saves energy by preventing body heat from radiating off into the atmosphere. Try out a buff, which can serve as a hat, ear-warmer, neck-warmer, bandit-hat or any combination of these.
5. Don’t forget water! In cold temperatures people often forget to drink enough water. I can attest to this – last winter I ran thirty-three miles in five hours and drank less than one bottle. This left me dehydrated for days. While you don’t need as much water on a cold day as on a hot day, forgetting about water on a run is detrimental to success. Continue to use your top two racing principles: eat before you’re hungry and drink before you’re thirsty.
6. Dudes: pad that crotch! I cannot stress the importance of this rule. Sometimes you’ll go out for a run in the winter wearing just shorts, saying your legs can handle the cold. And you’d probably be right – your legs can handle the cold. But you might incur other casualties by wearing shorts that you may not have expected, if you know what I mean. Fortunately, most winter running tights come with this technology built in. But always make sure. Remember – it won’t hurt during the run. It’s the thaw that will have you reconsidering any future reproduction.
7. Run with other people. The fact is that sometimes running sucks. Maybe you’re tired from a long day at work or from the previous day’s workout. Maybe your screaming, sick children kept you up all night. No matter what the reason, cold weather has a way of sucking even that last remnant of running motivation out of you. So plan runs with partners. That way you’ll have someone to keep you honest in your training, as well as someone to complain to incessantly about the damn weather.
8. Run less. Everyone needs a break from running now and then. You have to maintain your psyche for running in order to continue training hard. My advice is to avoid spending all that psyche just to get out the door for mediocre runs in the winter, and save most of it for when the nice weather rolls back around. As in all things in life, your fitness needs its ups and downs – you cannot continue to gain fitness forever. Stop running, eat some cookies and most of all don’t worry about it. You’ll gain that fitness back in the spring and you’ll feel so much better than if you had used up all of your willpower grinding through the cold.
9. OutDry. If you don’t what this is yet – check it out.
10. Tip #10 comes from you. What have I missed? Leave a comment and share your wisdom.

 
These tips won’t make you enjoy running in the winter, but they will provide the tools that will allow you to do so. The enjoyment you’ll find in winter running will be from the running itself, just as you enjoy running in the summertime. By eliminating the discomfort of the cold you can focus on the act we all love so much: just moving efficiently from point A to point B. Running is still running, even in the winter.

As an athlete you go through highs and lows as your body ebbs and flows with it’s bio-rhythms. For endurance athletes this is even more evident as your performance depends almost entirely on what state your body is in. I wish I could say that I feel good all the time and that training is always great, but it isn’t. The past two weeks have been quite a lull in my racing and my training as well. I had a great period in June and July where I was feeling great in training and having great races and felt pretty invincible. The past few weeks I haven’t felt the same and as you start to lose races, confidence starts to wane. I think this period was kicked off by a couple of events. First, the 3 weeks at 140 miles, which was new and I’d never done before, then travel to Switzerland and ending up with a cold. Losing that race badly didn’t help the confidence, then travel back home and to Colorado ended up with two more colds. I was slated to do Pikes Peak Ascent on Saturday but waking up that morning with my cold back ended the idea of doubling PP and Transrockies. I needed to be well for Transrockies starting on Sunday so I bowed out of PP. That was pretty demoralizing only because it meant I was giving up and at this point in time, not invincible. I know I can do it, just not last weekend. Sunday I felt better but starting Transrockies coming off the last week didn’t give me a lot of confidence. The only thing that did was the experience I’ve gained from the last two Transrockies wins. I wasn’t willing to lose this one, and neither was my partner Ryan Bak.
I asked Ryan to be my partner after Andy Martin, my partner from last year, ended up with an injury. Ryan was a perfect replacement. I knew he wasn’t in the greatest shape, he’d been taking a few years off then went from running 20 miles a week to 95-100 miles in about 8 weeks, but I knew he was tough and knew how to hurt and run fast from my time training with him at the Oregon Track Club in 2008.
Stage 1 on Sunday did not end up as planned. We were out fast, at high altitude, in the heat. Ryan looked fine after a couple miles but as we started to climb my HR began to climb and suddenly I was gasping for breath and my HR elevated like I was doing 200m repeats, only I was on a long run through the Colorado Rockies. Uhgg.

We ended up losing a bit of time on Stage one but gained most of it back after Stage 2 up and over Hope Pass. We were still bettered by the UK Solomon team as they can scream downhill. Ryan and I almost caught them after they opened up at least a 2 min lead after the descent down Hope. Unfortunately this run would be the beginning of the end for Ryan. I had started to feel better so running down the trail I roped Ryan up to put some good time into Flagstaff, but then down went Ryan by kicking a rock and at the same time cramping his hamstring. That was the issue.

Day 3 was quite incredible with Ryan surging off the front after the first climb. He pushed the pace the rest of the day with me hanging on for dear life. It was awesome. We put 5min on Flagstaff and felt great doing it. What was truly amazing this year was the times we were running were significantly faster than other years. Stage 2 we were 11 min faster than last year, Stage 1 was 2min faster, and Stage 3 was 20 min faster. After such a great day I was in pretty good spirits. Memphis Joe’s Margaritas on the back of a Budget Truck was a truly great way to finish off a great Stage 3.

But then we started Stage 4. Ryan’s hamstring had cramped near the end of Stage 3 but we made it the last couple miles and he had it worked after the race but starting Stage 4 it was still pretty sore and was threatening to seize up again. We did the best we could at getting up the long 2500ft climb but it took a lot out of both of us. It wasn’t until the downhill that we were really slowed. With Ryan’s hamstring giving him issues he couldn’t lift his leg, causing him to clip rocks on the way down. After two Superman falls that were quite impressive cus I saw both he was pretty banged up. We did our best to get to the finish line but not before Flagstaff took away our lead and put a minute 30 into us. He didn’t feel it but after finishing Ryan noticed a large blood stain on his Leaders jersey. Turns out one of his falls put a nice gash in his hip and was going to need stitches. But it also turned out that one of the falls broke one of his big toes and the stitches were the least of our worries. The fish tacos at Mango’s were a small consolation to what ended up a disastrous stage 4.

Stage 5 and 6 were painful, mostly for Ryan. I felt pretty bad that I couldn’t do anything to ease his pain but even carrying him over my shoulder (which I couldn’t have done anyway) still would have been painful for him. I tried to put myself through as much pain as I could by towing him up hills when possible, but there was nothing I could have done to match the pain he was in with a broken toe and 45 miles to go. There was no getting around what ended up Ryan’s most painful runs ever. He was a trooper though and it was one of the toughest, most inspiring runs I’ve ever seen. I was impressed after stage 5 that he wanted to continue and finish the race. I was impressed after he pushed through stage 6 to a second place stage finish and we stayed in second overall. With all that happened this year I felt like our run and place was great and we did all we could to get to where we finished.

It was another awesome adventure in the Rockies, spending 6 days with runners from all over the country and getting to know new friends. It was great to see a huge Bend, OR contingent that showed we are one of the strongest trail running towns in the country with podium finishes in 3 categories and a 4th place in the TR3 race. Go Bend.

Now it’s on to the World Mountain Running Championships in Albania next week. I was slated to do the USATF 20k Nat Championships but Transrockies took more out of me than expected so I decided to get a good week of training in and look forward to Mtn. Running. I just hate admitting when I can’t handle as much as I think I should be able to. It’s the athlete’s mentality and it gets me in trouble sometimes.

Transrockies Course Map

Another long and awesome week of running in paradise (anywhere to run in the woods automatically becomes paradise by the way). Legs are tired, back is sore, eyelids are heavy. Sitting in SLC on my last leg of the journey home. Sorry, this is another long one. I’ve got to stop having such great weeks. They’re too much fun to keep to myself.

Last Tuesday I took off down to Reno/Tahoe for a few days of photoshoots with the esteemed Kevin Winzeler and Tim, the Mountain Hardwear Creative Director. I went down with the impression that with an upcoming race we’d head out for a few hours, take a few breaks and have some free time. Man was that vision shattered on the first day of shooting. It’s kinda fun to tell some friends, “yeah, I’m heading down to Tahoe for a photoshoot.” Just to impress them a bit. I gotta tell you though, it’s no picnic. Don’t get me wrong, it’s fun, but it’s also hard. Wed we were on the side of a hillside in direct sun running back and forth for the camera. I must have done it 100 times.  All in all, an hour hike up to the shoot location, 12hrs of shooting, and an hour hike down and we were embraced by darkness and fatigue. It was a great day but I was wasted. I had a small appetite after subsisting on trail mix all day so I downed a full plate of salad with the works, a full rack of ribs, two sides, and a huckleberry mudslide. Mmmm.

Up at 5:30 on Thursday we started out with some nice foggy shots in a great marshy area. Shooting with Amy and Ellie gave me a bit of a reprieve so I was able to stay out of the sun and try to recover a bit today. Still managed to get a workout in too. It was a bit more relaxing as there was no hike to get to shoot sites and with multiple locations we moved around and sat around a bit more. At day’s end Kevin and I took a quick dip in the lake. Ah, so refreshing. It felt great after being dirty and sweaty all day.

I know we got some great shots and video for some promo stuff. I think you’ll be seeing some at OR if you happen to make it. You might be wondering where it was we were shooting but I purposely left out a few details so you can use your imagination until you see the real thing.  We were shooting the new gear and run apparel for Spring 12 and you’ll see some of it in the video attached to the blog. It’s some great stuff. New light tech shirts, shorts, running packs and a vest. And sweet trucker’s hats.

Thursday evening ended with a great party at the Mtn. Hardwear compound with all the big names in the ultra world coming out. Kinda made me want to run it but for now just being around the energy of WS is enough for me. Someday though, someday.

Friday morning I took off headed for New Hampshire. I was certainly going to miss Jesse’s cooking and Tim’s full service carry-on espresso in the morning. I don’t really even drink coffee but with an espresso machine he traveled with I couldn’t refuse.

On the ground in NH, I met up with Mario and our host family. Saturday we went over the course and got a short run in. The travel day off did me well and I felt pretty good. After the long photo shoot I wasn’t sure how I was going to be recovered but all seemed well.  Part of what makes the Mtn Running Championships special is the emphasis put on homestays. I know it’s more work for the race organizers but I really appreciate being hooked up with someone locally. It’s more fun to be engrained in the local culture and the White Mountain Milers running community is awesome and supportive. The past two years I’ve had the good fortune of staying with Christie and Richie Girrourd and I’m fortunate because they’re great cooks (and great people too).

The course was awesome. Pretty similar to the Teva Games 10k course with technical downhills, short recovery flats on the uphill, and mud. We did 3 loops on the 4k course. I gotta say, I love going downhill fast. I knew the race was going to be a tough one with Joe Gray and the other strong climbers in it but I also was pretty confident that if I could stay at least close on the uphill that I would be able to catch them on the downhill.

As luck (or training) would have it, I was able to stay right with those guys on the climb up. I led the climb to the very top where Joe passed me for about three steps then it was all down from there. At the bottom I had a solid 10 sec lead on him but I figured he would catch me again on the way up. He got close by the last pitch but didn’t quite get there and by the bottom of the second loop he wasn’t even visible going by the finish line. That gave me some good confidence that I just needed to stay relaxed and get to the top in one piece.  I crossed the finish with a huge smile as the downhill was so much fun to run. As I came down to the finish I heard several “ah crap” comments uttered under participants breaths as I just barely lapped them. One gentleman stated that in the rematch next year he wasn’t going to let me lap him. We’ll see about that.

USA Mountain Running Team

After a good dinner at a local North Conway establishment and a good night of sleep I was ready to tackle a big run in the White Mountains. I set off Monday morning at 8:25 for a run from Pinkham Notch at the base of Mt. Washington, the East’s highest peak, up Tuckerman Ravine Trail to the summit. I’d been on the Tuckerman trail before and knew what to expect. I made it to the summit in 1:13. A pretty reasonable time. Since I had plenty of time to make it back to the car, get home and too the airport by 4pm I thought I would try a different way down. A way that I’d wanted to try for since last year. This decision almost turned out to be one that I would regret. The Great Gulf Trail going down the right side of Mt. Washington is BRUTAL. That’s all I can say. It’s nasty. The first mile or so is a huge rock fall face that you have to slowly pick your way down to the bottom of. Progress was very slow and I was thinking that once I got to the bottom of the gorge that it would flatten out and be a runnable trail. Well, I was in for a surprise. It was not runnable, not only that but it was full of huge boulders, wet slick boulders, roots, stream crossings, mud that was calf deep. I picked my way through trying to stay on my feet and continue to make forward as quickly as possible. I started to get a bit nervous that I wasn’t going to make it to the airport on time. It was taking so long to get anywhere. Finally, it started to ease up a bit and I was able to run a bit with some considerable effort from my entire body.  I made it back to the car at 3hr 17min. It took me 2hr and 5min to go down what I came up in 1:13. I was spent. Tired to the core, every muscle in my body. It took my entire body to keep going and to keep me upright on that trail. It was amazing. One of the best adventure runs I’ve had in a long time. These types of runs are what make running so amazing to me. I was able to cross through terrain in 3hrs that would take most people days to complete. The things I get to see through running that I normally wouldn’t are what make me really and truly enjoy what I do. I don’t think I’d recommend this run to anyone in their right mind, but if you’re up for an adventure then go for it. It was quite the experience.  Testing out the new Mtn Hardwear gear made it even better. The running vest moved with my body like it wasn’t even there. I was packing about 20-30oz of water in a bladder, a jacket, phone, and some food and it never became annoying or a burden. I was wearing the new Mtn Hardwear Way2Cool Tee and it performed beautifully. A bit sticky as I was sweating but kept me cool and dried quickly. The Montrail Rogue Flys never missed a beat and were great all day. Good traction on dry rock, not so good on wet but I doubt thing anything would be, and no noticeable wear on the upper even with some burly rock abrasions. And my trusty Mtn Hardwear Trucker hat was awesome as usual.

I made it back to town just a bit late, packed up, said my goodbyes to our hosts, and me and Mario were on our way to the airport. Another successful week in the bag.

It was tough but rewarding last two weekends of racing. Bear with me, this is going to be a long post. I wouldn’t normally recommend five races in such a short time span but it all came together sort of unexpectedly and there was no backing out. And really, it’s circumstances like this that can have a big impact on what you thought was possible and increases your confidence in your fitness assuming it’s a positive experience.

So last weekend I arrived in Denver on Friday night for the Teva Mountain Games, picked out a rental car that I could sleep in, an HHR, and made my way to Vail, via a stop at Chipotle on the way. I got in about 9pm and drove around a bit to see if there was somewhere to park the car and sleep. If you’ve been to Vail, you’ll know they frown on parking on the street anywhere in town so there were not a lot of options. I settled on the parking garage. That was a poor choice.  It may have been free parking but it definitely came at a price. Like no sleep. I could hear someone sneeze at the far end of the garage, it was hot, light, and smelly. I figured it would be somewhere I could park and not be harassed.  Man, I didn’t get harassed by any authorities, but I was constantly woken up by cars starting, people coming back from parties, etc. I can’t recommend a parking garage as a place to sleep. Lesson learned.

At 8am the next morning the gun went off for the Vail Pass Half Marathon. A 13.1, no make that 13.7, (apparently the half marathon is a bit longer in Colorado) gradual climb up to Vail Pass at 10,600ft. But, lucky for me, snow was still blocking the road up so at 10 miles they turned us around and we headed back downhill to the finish. Lucky for me because that downhill course change is all that put me into second. I wasn’t catching Matt Levassiur on the climb. It was brutal being at 9000ft and trying to go uphill. I might as well have been going up a wall. All the way up, I’m thinking to myself “why am I doing Pikes Peak later this summer?” Anyway, so it turned out well after 3.5 mi of downhill. I spent the rest of the day hanging out in Vail at restaurants, milling about at the Games, and catching up with the mountain runners in town.

Sunday morning I learned the secret to success is gorging yourself on over half a large pizza, a shot of good whiskey, and a quiet comfortable floor to sleep on. It’s good to know guys like Rickey Gates who can hook you up with a floor and a shot of whiskey the night before a race. The 10k Spring Runoff was awesome. One of the best (read: most treacherous) courses I’ve been on. Off-trail racing through mud, snow, grass, roots. The climb up included power hiking a ski slope, snow, and a long winding dirt road that was still brutal at that altitude. Once at the top though it was all down hill. Mario Macias just caught me at the top but two steps on the 300m snow field and he was on his face and Jeremy Freed was about 200m in front of me.  I was able to catch him within half a mile as I was in free fall mode down the ski slopes. They were wet, muddy, and slick.  I gained about 100-200m on him and hung on for the win. I found out that downhills are really nice and apparently a pretty strong suit of mine. Also, don’t sleep in parking garages.

The Teva Games were great. I’d highly recommend it as a place just to hang out for the weekend as there is a lot going on, great ice cream to be had, and a great crowd of multisporters to hang with. Did I mention that over the course of two and a half days I had 4 Chipotle burritos. Good burritos and cheapest food in Vail. I had a scoop of ice cream that cost me 7 bucks.

Monday after I was definitely tired. I took it easy for two days, did a track workout on Wed to get ready for the upcoming weekend of more back to back races then rested Thurs/Fri.

June 11^th and 12^th was another great weekend of racing. My coach had been bugging me to get in a 10km on the track as preparation for the Marathon trials coming up in January but I couldn’t find one this time of year anywhere. Well, finally I found one that didn’t have a ton of competition but it would work. And it was in Portland, only a 3hr drive. Well, then Sat morning I get a text that says most of the guys had transferred out of the 10km to the more stacked 5km but there was still one 29:00 guy in it so I decided to take my chance of having at least one guy to run with. 1 hour before the 10km I check in and find out that guy had transferred out as well. That was the last straw. I didn’t want to run 10km on the track anyway, let alone all by myself. So 20min before the 5km now, I decide I might as well get in a good solid effort 5km rather than time trial a 10km. By the way, 20min isn’t enough time to warm up…at all. I toed the line with a 10min jog, 2 x 30m strides, and a ton of adrenaline. Actually had a decent race. Definitely went out too fast and slowed a bit but still felt pretty strong on the last mile and almost reeled in the front pack for a PR…but not quite. Still happy with 2 sec off my PR at 13:56 with no significant track work.

At that point I couldn’t go back to Bend with having only run 5km when I already told everyone I was running 10. So, obviously, I jumped in the 10km. My plan was to pace whoever was leading through 5k but I got to 5k and me and Chris Boyle were all alone and he needed some help to the finish and I felt pretty good so I got in a good marathon prep workout with a fast 5km followed by a threshold pace 10km. Felt bad that I couldn’t get Chris a PR.

Pretty decent weekend so far. Unfortunately it wasn’t over yet. My buddy Matt and I still had to drive home to Bend, try to get some sleep and get ready for the USATF Half Marathon trail champs at 8am Sunday. Not sure what I was thinking when I told coach I’d found a 10km to do but also knew in the back of my mind I’d have to run 13 mi pretty hard the next day.

Warming up was a feat in itself Sunday morning. The plan became, “go out with whoever was leading, hang on, and make a break if I saw and opening.” Well, it worked out that my buddy Mario was going to push the pace early on and break me if he could. Ha, he knows better than that. (don’t worry, we like to trash talk each other) About 9 miles I was able to make a break on a downhill and had to push hard to the finish to hold him off by 17 sec. It was a good race and I’m certainly paying for it this week. I’m wiped and the legs are feeling beat but in a good way.

Definitely a great way to spend two weekends though. Now it’s back to getting in the miles, working on the aerobic capacity, hills, and get ready for tough summer workouts and races.  And it seems as though I’m following my teammate Megan Lund-Lizotte around as she finished a strong 3^rd against a tough field at the Half Marathon Champs this weekend, but really, she’s just following me. Really. See you at the Mtn Running Champs in two weeks Megan. Now I’m beat, so I’m going to take a nap.

Up until this weekend, I’d avoided running a 10km on the track and so far, I’ve still avoided running a fast one on the track. Guess that means I still have some unfinished business…and a disgruntled coach.

Looking forward to the Mountain Running Champs in two weeks and watching my Montrail teammates rip it up at Western States. Good luck to everybody racing the next couple weeks.