Old Man Still running

Easy treadmill miles.  Sharp pain in the knee on the very first running step caused limping.  Strange.  Seemed more like a kink than the usual.  Hurt the rest of the day when walking.  Just will rest it.   Probably will be gone tomorrow...kind of like phantom taper pains....but it is in the problem area of my knee.

Easy treadmill miles.  Knee felt better, mild pain like a couple weeks ago.  Less pain when running slower.  I'm hoping that the soft trails at RR100 will help.  Looks like the course will get some good rain this week, dry on Friday, and dry during the race.  We'll probalby have some muddy spots to go through, but I doubt it will be terrible.

I signed up for two more races.   Bighorn 100 in June, and Ogden Marathon in May (Zions bank had some entries for customers....I grabbed one).

So, I have a busy year planned

• Rocky Raccoon 100
• Antelope Island 100 (running the 50 course twice)
• Boston Marathon
• Ogden Marathon
• Squaw Peak 50
• Bighorn 100
• Tahoe Rim 100
• Wasatch 100 or Cascade Crest 100
• Bear 100
• Pony Express Trail 100

Easy treadmill.   Last mile did power walking at 5% approaching 12:00 pace.   I want some more practice doing fast power walking, probably will do more after work.  I'll probably be putting in longer walking stretches during the 3rd loop (mile 40-60), and I need more practice keeping my pace at least 4.5 mph.

Very minimal knee pain.  That is a relief.    I think I'll be fine.  Usually the week before a 100 I go almost dormant, but this time I'm keeping up some consistent running because it seems to keep the knee happier for some reason.

I'll be flying to Houston on Friday with Jon, Paul, and Cody.   We'll be the FRB contingent at RR100.

Very easy treadmill miles.   Goals for RR100 are:   1. break 24 hours.   Have to do that.   But if the knee is fine, breaking 22 hours is very possible.  My 2005 time was 26:53 (my first 100 finish), 2008 was 25:38 (had significant feet problems and it was hot).   So, I hope to do well

Read my race report at http://www.crockettclan.org/blog/?p=169

OK, I passed the first 100-mile recovery test this morning.  I was able to jog down the stairs without grabbing the rail.   What a victory.   Recovery going well.  Usually my taste buds are wacked out for a couple days.  No so, this time.  I suspect this difference is that I didn't get dehydrated or hot.

Still taking it easy.  Left quad still isn't pain-free going down stairs.  So still not going to risk pulling it.   Besides that, it feels like I've bounced back.   Have gotten plenty of sleep all week.

For fun I compiled all my ultra race results.  57 finishes.   Check it out.  Oh, and also notice the changing banner on my blog, lots of different pictures of races and adventure runs I've done.

I've had a good string of results for my last five 100s where there were at least 100 starters.  My finishing rates (top percentage) were:  17.1, 17.1, 17.8, 14, 12.2.   Finishing in the top 12.2%  of a 100 is the second best I have done.  The best was 2007 Leadville, with a 10.2% finish.   Both were very strong races for me.

Of course, I have places well in much smaller 100s, winning three.  I guess last year's Moab 100 was pretty good, with a 4th place finish out of 45 starters, for 8.9%.   Across the Years, 24-hour run was also good, top 10.4%.  I plan to enter that again this year, going for the 48-hour race.

Funny that for distances marathon and shorter, I almost always finish better than the top 10%.   Usually between top 5-8%.   So maybe I should turn into a sprinter.  Ha, ha.  The big difference is those 100s attract national competition and can be very competitive.   The huge short road races on average have a less competative field.

I ran Moab Red Hot 50k as a fun-run recovery run to get the legs working again after Rocky Raccoon 100 last Saturday.   This race is like an ultrarunner convention for Utah and Colorado runners because it is well attended by many of the usual ultrarunners from both states.   The Colorado contingent is always kind to me and I have some good friends from that group, so this is a fun event to see many running friends from both states.

I drove down this morning, on the road at 3:30 a.m., arriving at the Gemini Bridges before 7 a.m., plenty of time to get ready for the 8 p.m. start.   It was below 20 degrees at the start, so pretty chilly.  This year there was a ton of snow.  I think we ran on at least 15 miles of snow.  Some of it was pretty deep.

I decided to not race this run, but just have fun, meet some runners, and not push it hard.   After greeting many people at the start, we were off.  I positioned my self mid-pack and just took it easy.   For the first two miles I tried to keep up with fellow ultra team member from Salt Lake, Eve Davies, who was running with her dog.  I kept her in view, but after two miles it felt like I was on loop 5 of Rocky Racoon.  The left quad was sore and the knee was starting to hurt.  I had thoughts of bailing out, but kept on going.

The snow was an amazing challenge.  At times it was fairly deep, requiring some fast footwork and high stepping to get in a nice rythmn.   On the flats you had to just lean forward and keep your momentum going to push through the snow.  At the top of the rim it was about two feet deep.  I wondered how the front-runners made it through the section.   Usually there is a fast downhill from the rim, but it wasn't fast today, pretty slow.  I had to be careful not to twist my bad ankle.  

After two hours, I felt much better, more like Loop 3 of Rocky.   I was able to push ahead of Eve and didn't see her again until the finish.   At times I would test the legs out and run pretty fast, passing many runners, but I didn't want to get the heart rate up for very long so backed off.

What was really interesting to me is that I struggled the most on the flats.  It would use the same muscles that weren't fully recovered from the flat 100 last Saturday.  I really enjoyed the hills up and down much better and could push the uphills pretty hard, always catching mid-pack runners around me.  

At the half-way point, I caught up with Cory Johnson of Ogden, and we had a fun time running and talking for a couple miles.   He then went ahead.  My knee was having challenges on the hard slickrock.  It eventually calmed down.

I continued to really enjoy the afternoon.   The snow was blinding in the sun, and I think I put my sunglasses on too late and sunburned the eyes a little bit.  They are pretty tired tonight.   Well, I kept on pushing ahead and got to meet other runners.

I did blunder at one point.  I was following footprints instead of flags and started down a wash with many footprints.  Obviously many runners had gone down this way, but soon I noticed footprints also headed back up and no flags, so I headed back and then saw that I missed a turn.   That was an extra half mile.

As I neared the finish, very kind cheers when out, "Davy Crockett's coming!"   Wow, that was nice.   I finished in 6:45.   Not bad.  The course seemed to be about 15-20 minutes slower this year, we'll see in the results.  I heard a rumor that they might have cut out a mile or two this year, but I didn't notice it.

In the other two years I ran the race, I felt wasted at the finish, but this year I felt super.  I wasn't walking funny and felt fine on the drive home.   It was a fun day.  Now and then it really is fun to not "race" a race and just enjoy the run and do some sight-seeing.  On the shuttle back, I was able to finally meet Chris Boyak for Colorado and also met FRBer Bryce.

To get a feel for this race, view the video I took during the race last year.  Keep in mind that this year there was snow everywhere.

See a video of the deepest section of snow.

Fairly easy treadmill miles.  Heavy legs for the first mile, then felt better.  No muscle soreness, just some of the usual knee pain.  It will get better every day if I stick with it.

Recovery.  I know my recovery approach from RR100 seems like nuts.  Perhaps it is, but what I've learned is that I actually recover faster if I get out and work again as soon as possible.   It seems to speed recovery.   The 50K chased away all my quad and calf soreness.

Training plans.  Next three races are flat and fast (Antelope Island 100, Boston, Ogden).  So my training will be a little different this year during Feb-May.   I'll do far less hill work, and try to get the speed up.    I'll use Squaw Peak as hill training going into the mountain 100s. 

What will my focus race be?  Hard to tell.  It is pretty hard to get my excited about a marathon, so I doubt Boston or Ogden will be much of a focus.   Bighorn is usually an adventure instead of a race.   Perhaps Tahoe Rim 100 is my next focus race.  I'd love to defend my "national championship" for 50 and older.

Treadmill.   I see that last year I was still doing treadmill in February.  I'm looking forward to having the foothills melt off and see the mud go away.   My legs felt very good this morning, not heavy like yesterday.   I  maintained about 8:00 miles with about 4.5 incline average.  Very little knee pain, hardly noticed it.   Looks like I'm back to training.   I'll probably go run the Striders 10K on Saturday for a tempo run.   That is a good tough 10k.  The legs should be loose by then.

Treadmill.  Legs feel recovered.

One thing that strikes me as odd is that for the two months leading up to RR100, I only averaged 35 miles per week of training, yet I PRed.   I guess once you have an established mileage base, you don't have to train like crazy during the couple months before a race to still do well.   Would I have done better with more training?   One can only wonder.

p.m.

More treadmill.  Ran a 21:14 5K, starting at 8:00 pace, ending with 6:00 pace.

Jun made me feel like such a slacker for sleeping in and not running, so after work I went and punished myself by running ten treadmill miles.  Not quite ready to run on pavement with the knee.  Would rather have the trails dry up first.

Concentrating on weight loss.  Finally got that holiday fat off.  Trying to get my sustained weight below 170 for the first time in over 25 years.   That should help take the pressure off the knee.

Treadmill.   The "hand talker" was there today.   This lady walks on the treadmill and yaks very loudly to her mom the entire time.  What is facinating is to see her hand gentures while on  the treadmill, they are amazing.  I almost think she is going to slap me on the machine next to her.   She will slap her hands together while talking and make sweeping gentures that are amazing.   I'm impressed how she can do it.

Hit the treadmill at 5 a.m. for a two-hour session.  No one else was came in, had the room to myself.   Cranked out 13 miles or so.

After that, I changed into my warmer running clothes and joined a group of FRB runners on the Jordan River Parkway in Lehi.  Smooth put this run together.  It was great fun meeting all these enthusastic runners. 

I started out running with Maynard, who has run Squaw Peak 50 several times. There was a very cool wind in our face so after awhile I pushed the pace faster to get warmer.   I could look behind on the corners and see Kelli and Teena about a quarter mile behind.   I wasn't sure where they were going to turn back, so headed back about a 1/2 mile too soon.  I was anxious to head back in order to warm up with the wind at my back.   I figured out that I turned around too soon, because I couldn't see Kelli a nd Teena behind anymore, so after reaching Thankgiving Point, I reversed course until I met them.

Kelli and Teena came at me, turning 7:30 miles.  Wow....I fell in with them and hung on for a mile or so, but my knee started to ache bad, so I just had to slow down.   After a ten-mile out and back we went back to the cars, ate, and rested and waited for the others. Ten miles done.  Soon Smooth, Maynard, LuzyLew, Kathie, Kimmy showed up.    Kelli, Tenna, and I were anxious to stay warm, so we started running south toward Willow Park and Saratoga Springs.  Teena took off, she has some good speed. I was starting to feel the miles so I hung with Kelli talking about crazy running until we reached Willow Park and then I went chasing after Tenna who was at least a half mile ahead.

On the way back, I reversed course again when I met up with Smooth, LuzyLew, Kelli and ran near them for the rest of the run.   After we got back to the car, I was plesantly surprised to see that the girls brought a nice recovery feast.  Rad joined us. I had fun being one of the girls for awhile drinking hot chocolate and eating oranges.   The FRB ladies are great runners and really encourage each other well.  Several of them are also going to run Boston. I was honored to run with them.

p.m.

5 more slow miles with the dog.....cold...brrrr

Treadmill.   I'm ready to do early morning runs outside, but the weather is now even colder this week before sunrise.  Great.  Once the wind dies down, I'll probably just go out anyway.

p.m. 6 more treadmill miles.

A nice ultrarunning video to get you excited for the snow to melt. 

Treadmill.   15 degrees outside.   Whats up with that?

Tough treadmill.   Five of the miles at 10% incline, 8:00 pace, holding on to the front.   Was only going to do one mile that way, but kept pushing myself more and more.  The heart and lungs got a good workout.

Treadmill, sluggish today. Ready for the rain and snow to quit falling.

p.m.  more treadmill while watching curling.

Slept in.  Had a 100-mile dream.  Was on pace for a 24-hour finish, but for some reason I stopped and took a 7-hour nap, finishing in 31 hours.

p.m.

After reading Paul's blog and his speedy workouts, I felt like such a wus.  So I went to do a speed workout.  Ran miles on the treadmill.   6:40, 6:15, 6:31, and 5:53.   Not bad.  Felt good when it was over.  Got the old bones moving pretty fast.  But if I'm going to continue this speedy madness, I'll need to get a hernia fixed, otherwise it will literally rip my guts out. 

I was going to do an early morning run, but when I saw the weather report called for ideal day-time weather for running, I decided to delay and do a long afternoon run.   After a two-hour stake presidency meeting, I got the OK from my wife to go on a very long run.  I invited her to drive way out, meet me for a lunch, but that idea didn't thrill here. My crazy run ended up being 35 miles.  I ran from home all the way out to Fairfield, to Cedar Fort, to Cedar Pass, through the Ranches, and then back home.  I took my sweet time, wanting some good time on my feet and to work my knee.  My running time was 6:32.

It was great to be running outside again.   By staying in the lowlands, I didn't have too much problem with mud, but when I went over the ridge between Saratoga Springs and Eagle Mountain, I hit some rather deep snow.   I ran on the snow for about three miles, kind of slow going, but lots of fun. I saw plenty of foot prints of wildlife, dear, coyotes, and what looked like a big cat.  I also saw some foot prints of another runner from earlier in the day.  I rarely see prints or other runners in my private training area.  It was good to know someone else is venturing out several miles from their home.  It looked like the runner came from Eagle Mountain.   That made me think about how many ultrarunners there are in Saratoga Springs.  Out of a city of about 16,000 people, I can only count 6-7 runners who have run at least a 50k in the past few years.   I'm the only one who has run a 100-miler.  That is really a low ratio and shows what a nitch sport this still is.

I spilled out in the Cedar Valley.  The sun peeked out and it became warmer.  The sleeves rolled up.   I reached mile 7.9 at 1:35 in Eagle Mountain city center.   I hooked up with the Pony Express Trail road and really enjoyed the nice soft straight dirt road.   I could see Fairfield off in the distance.  After running another 20 minutes, Fairfield looked just as far away.  It was an amazing illusion.   It seemed to never come closer.

Finally I did arrive at Fairfield.  I ran over to Camp Floyd, filled up my water bottle and took a very long bathroom break.  Got to love the clean heated bathroom there.   That was the 15.2 mile mark, and I had 2:55 running time.

On the way again, I now ran along the busy highway 73 toward Cedar Fort.  It had a nice shoulder and I could jump to the side of it on some dirt that was nice.   The litter along the way was very depressing to see.   All the cigarette butts and beer cans were disgusting.  Why do people have to throw stuff out of their car.  I just can't understand it.   I counted a beer can rate of 30 per mile on that side of the road.  Clearly the beer of choice for these litterers is Bud Light.

I reached my first aid station, a convenient store at Cedar Fort at the 19.9 mile mark after running 3:47.   I bought some goodies and Gatoraid.   While I was sitting and eating, some bikers rode up.  They looked very tired.   I listened but didn't strike up a conversation.  I thought it would sound stupid if I told them I was on mile 20.  They were complaining that they still had 10 miles to go on their ride.  I just smiled to myself.

On my way again, the bikers went by after I had run another mile.  I was listening to the BYU-New Mexico basketball game, and I was bummed out that they lost.   Running along the highway was getting old.  I spent plenty of time on the dirt side-shoulder to stay far away from the cars and trucks going 70+ mph.   I reached the 26.2 mile mark (Cedar Pass) after 4:49 running time.   At mile 28, 5:12, I reached the Ranches Parkway and stopped at my second aid station, a Maverik store.   I bought a nice big hot cup of hot chocolate and went outside to a picnic table and drank the entire cup.

As I ran along the Ranches Parkway (now away from the highway), I was passed by a woman pushing a baby cart.  She also had a big dog on a leash.   She was going fast, at least 7:30 miles.   It was impressive to watch.   There was no way I could keep up with her at the speed.   I made the turn to head toward Saratoga Springs.   There were sections of the Pony Express Parkway that had a no shoulder, so it was a bother dodging cars, but finally I reached Saratoga Springs.  I tried to push the speed for the final three miles.  The light was getting dim, but I was able to reach home right before dusk.

It was a great afternoon.  My legs held up great.   It was so good to be outdoors again and away from the treadmill.  My training area still needs a few weeks for the snow and mud to go away, but I can see that spring is coming.  That is four Saturdays in a row with at least 35 miles!

I noticed that I'm down to 170 pounds.  Haven't been that low for a couple years and I didn't stay there long.  That spare tire is almost gone.

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