I'm a poorman's son, from across the railroad tracks...

...The only shirt I own is hangin' on my back.

Been a bit since I posted anything. Things kind of got busy as I started getting ready for school. Truth be told, I'm a terrible blogger. I guess the three people who actually read this thing will just have to deal with that fact.

There hasn't been a whole lot to report in the way of my running. I did have the amazing opportunity to volunteer as medical support at Leadville! My roommate, Matt, and I drove up on Sat am and actually started working around 7am at Twin Lakes aid. It was great to watch the front runners come through outbound and then on the return. Anton was flying! It looked like he had some good competition from Tim Parr (17:27:23), Nick Lewis (17:44:26), and Duncan Callahan (18:26:40). They were on his heels the whole way. The women were tearing it up too (as usual)! There was some serious talent on the course with Lynette Clemons (20:58:01), Jamie Donaldson (21:53:37), and Darcy Africa (21:55:22). The amount of focus in Jamie Donaldson's eyes is always so intense. She is collected but obviously out to hit the finish line first.

Now for an account of my "race". I taped blisters, must have gone through a whole roll of duct tape. I did have the priveldge of introducing quite a few of the runners to the merits of the magic gray tape. In addition to puss, puss, and more puss there was some altitude related issues, twisted ankles, dehydration (mind your fluid and electrolyte levels people!), and plenty of tired and haggard folks. One guy came in 10lbs under start weight, completely dehydrated, low glucose levels, and a pulse ox that wasn't exactly optimal. And on top of that, he may have been peeing blood earlier. He rallied though (fluids, food, hit of albuterol), and left the aid station about an hour later to finish it up!

After tending to the racers, I couldn't resist the itch to run any longer. I had brought my gear, so I laced up and found myself a runner to pace. So, from Twin Lakes to Halfmoon I paced a talented runner, Bruce LaBelle. He was so relaxed and fluid on the trail. Bruce is an accomplished runner who has some wins to his name, and some super fast times on hard f'ing courses (Western States 15:? - holy crap!). It was indeed a great experience to get to pace Bruce for my first try at pacing ever. I feel like he helped me more than I helped him. I'm pretty sure that he could have carried his own gear.

Bruce LaBelle (look up his times from the 80's - insane!)

Next: I waited around Halfmoon in the dark for an hour or so, and then ran with Randy Duncan to Fish Hatchery. At this point I was tired, having woken up at 5am to make the drive Sat am and only sleeping 3 hours before that. I guess it was a bad idea to go out and shoot pool on Fri. Oh well. Randy and I cruised to FH on the modified course (heli crash due to military night insertion exercises gone terribly wrong - Mt. Massive section re-routed). So we ran, we walked, we chatted. Made it FH in one piece and drank about 1.5 pots of coffee. Delicious. I basically lived on aid station coffee and cookies all weekend. At FH I got the update on a runner I know, David Garcia. His crew was so on top of his every need. Way to go Nicole, Eckhard, and the others who's names I've forgotten. Also got to hang out with my friend Jen for a bit (that was a welcome treat in the middle of the night). She had made it up after teaching an Acroyoga class in Lyons at Yoga Rocks.

I once again made myself known as a willing pacer and was picked up by the one man crew of Kevin Carnahan. Kevin had flown in from Georgia on Fri am and was definitely feeling the effects of altitude. I think that of all the runners I had the pleasure of spending time with, I appreciate my time with the man from Atlanta the most. We had a very long night together between FH and May Queen. After tending to Kevin's feet and "launching" out of the aid station, we began to pick up the pace on the long trek up Powerline. We actually killed the uphills, I was impressed by Kevin's determination. He was a machine. (Sidenote: This is where we heard that Anton had dropped. Apparently he just didn't have anything left, and was forced to run downhills backwards due to thrashed quads. I still haven't checked to see if he posted anything on his blog about it. I'll have to do that.) When we got some altitude and then hit brief downhills, things got, shall we say, dicey. His quads were a wreck, and I think he hadn't taken in enough. As we began the descent to May Queen, we slowed to a crawl. Kevin maintained a positive attitude even though he knew his race was over. I didn't want to say anything though. I was on the verge of tears watching him make his way towards what would be his early finish line. We were passed by a few folks who saw that we needed help, but that I couldn't leave Kevin to get support. As we came close to the road on the final 1/4 mile of jeep trail, I saw the Sherriff's truck coming up, and I gave thanks. Bombing down the final stretch, still not wanting to leave Kevin for even a few brief moments, I reflected on that long cold evening a bit. It was a surreal experience. Of course my runner was ok. I was frigid, but nothing a hot cop of coffee and a few minutes in front of the heater couldn't fix. But I saw a broken down view of man's soul that night. It was gorgeous. At May Queen I stood so close to the propane heater that I burned my leg hair off, downed 4 or 5 cups of joe, ate a bit, and found a new runner.

Kevin Carnahan (not a LT100 photo) - I hope to see Kevin next year. He is definitely capable of finishing, and doing quite well. Just had a bad day, happens to us all.

May Queen to the FINISH. Hell yes! is all I need to say about it, but I'll elaborate a bit. Philip Wiley - BAD ASS. Philip was the last runner let out of FH before the cut-off. He came into MQ while I was saying my goodbyes to Kevin and his crewman. The thought of heading back out was even a bit daunting to me, but Phil's pure determination got me motivated. I know, I'm supposed to be motivating the runners. I learned that it is a give-take relationship between racer and pacer. I didn't really expect that. Phil was a freaking tank. The man simply would not stop moving. we managed to pass some folks and get some time back from the clock. Phil wasn't sure that he'd make the cut-off, but I knew that he could. I did the math over and over again in my head - it was possible. I figured we could get him there with about 10 mins to spare, even if we slowed the pace a bit on the final 3 miles. On that note: I don't know who this woman was, but she was the one with the dreaded scissors. She may be the RD's wife. I LOVE her. She was there for the race, she was there for the runners, I saw her throughout the entire day at various points. As Phil and I moved (at a very steady pace) she was on the trail near the boat ramp encouraging us, the tail end of the race. Let me say it again: I LOVE HER. We moved around Turquoise and hit the final downhill. I really enjoy that little scamper. Had the pleasure of racing it at HMI 50k last year. On the road back towards town is where Phil really amazed me. Not only did he not let up on the pace, but he picked it up a bit! A FREAKING TANK. We moved down (up) the final stretch and got the FINISH LINE in sight. I teared up, I'll admit it. As we came up to the carpet I let Phil have his glory and I entered the crowd of spectators. After all, I only ran 40 miles. Phil had just crushed 100, and with 5 mins to spare (I guess that my math had been a bit off)!

We watched the final minutes tick by, and the final crazies run through the tape. I found Matt, Jen, David (F%*# YES, he killed it), Nicole (crew leader extrodinaire), Eckhard, and others. Jen had whiskey waiting for me, what a girl! Matt and I found me some coffee, my clean clothes, and some more booze at Doc Holliday's. The wonderful, wonderful bartender poured me three shots of Knob Creek for the price of one shot of JD. And then he let me put it in my coffee cup and walk out the door. I was very grateful. That young man got a HUGE tip.

David Garcia

Matt Smith - Roomy

(what do you think folks, should Matt bring this rockin' stache back?)

Re: Bend

Anyone out there in the world have an opinion to share on Bend or Portland? I plan on visiting to check it out. Not in a place to move for at least a year, but definitely looking to make a move to a location with good running and runners.

Thanks James

Got to Breck again this weekend to hit some of the CT that I haven't seen. Thanks James for driving me out there to get my head right. Headed west out of Tiger Run Resort towards Copper. I was planning on going all the way to Copper and back (28 miles), but as I crested the high-point at 12,500 (above tree line again - HELL YES!) the weather started to build. Since I was shirtless and with only two bottles and some iodine, I decided to turn around and finish the day's miles east-bound towards Kenosha Pass. All in all, an awesome day with good vertical (26+).

I stripped down bare and had myself a great dance session right next to this cairn!

Not only did the trail offer up some quality up, up, up!, but the wild flowers were gorgeous. I even came across some stunning Columbine at 12,500 nestled between the granite. I love this state! Kind of amazing that I'm seriously considering moving to Bend. Any advice?

So, the week of running: pretty damn good. Not sure of the mileage yet, but it's around 65-70. Considering I only ran 5 days this week, that ain't bad. Good climbing every day, and solid downhill. I've definitely noticed that my downhill has improved. Maybe because I'm focusing on form and fluidity. Maybe it's a product of my lay-off from training. Whatever the cause, I'll take it!

Now to redefine my spare time. I only got 2 hrs of sleep before the 26 gnarly miles in Breck, and then went to a show last night that had me out until 2:30am. It was a fun time though. The Motet played at Cervante's and covered MJ all night! I was pooped, and my dancing was really just head bobbing and swaying. Still worth it. All of this high-time living showed on today's tiny little 6.5 at Matthew-Winters with my friend Evan. Although we broke my all time record there, I was one hurtin' unit. Thanks for playing rabbit, Evan.

I'll leave you with one last shot of a friendly marmot that I named Corzo.

Above Tree Line

Good week, good miles. Knocked out a 81+ mile week. The longest run was today (22), and it went well. Decided to get above the trees for a minute by running the Kenosha Pass section of the CT. I made it to the top of Georgia Pass, plus a little hill scramble to get to 12,000 ft, when the lightning and thunder rolled in. That made my decision to turn around at 11 miles, instead of 15, much easier. I shouldn't be doing 30 mile runs yet anyways. I am a bit suprised at how my legs feel. They're kind of sore and sluggish, but seem to be handling training well. My ankle is also feeling ok. A bit tight, but nothing a little body work/stretching can't fix (yes Jen, I'm giving in). I don't believe that I've mentioned this in any previous posts, but I RARELY stretch. It's absolutely amazing that I performed as well as I did last year considering my terrible range of motion. All I can figure, is that my high activity level kept me relatively loose. That approach probably isn't going to work forever though. I'll need to incorporate some flexibility training into my schedule this year. Also toying with the idea of plyometrics to make rock-hopping easier. Might be time for guidance from an objective source. A coach...ugh.

Days Go By... Love this commercial

Absolutely obsessed with this commercial. Kind of strange seeing as I don't have any t.v. reception/service.




My favorite jungle track:




Great classic house track (just for you, Jen):




Running related stuff: on track to hit 60+ miles this week. Not bad all things considered. Got in some time on the Mesa Trail this morning after waking up at 3:45 am to cart my mom to the airport. It was a gorgeous morning, and my legs felt good! The climbing is getting easier, however, yesterday at Matthew-Winters was brutal (dehydrated, tired, etc). And it was damn hot. Enough with the bitching, I'm going to take a disco nap. Don't worry if you're unfamiliar with the term, I didn't know what a disco nap was until a few weeks ago.

Ahhh. Running for the joy of it.

Starting running again after quite the layoff, and the experience is both wonderful and frustrating. After gaining the level of fitness that I did last year, and now having to start from scratch, I am struggling a bit to just appreciate time on the trail/road. However, it is great to have learned from my mistakes last time around. I am talking about my jump in to ultrarunning. I wouldn't trade the miles from last year for anything, I definitely learned a lot about myself and my capabilities. The plan for this year is to build a solid base, and then hit the big miles throughout the winter and next spring/summer. I'm going to focus on getting one 100 under my belt, and maybe a few shorter races.

In addition to a focused and safe running schedule I will be climbing. Hell yes! After an amazing 4th of July weekend where I was introduced to climbing (thanks to Jen, David, Nicole, and others who's names I don't remember), I'm hooked. Going to join Denver's new bouldering club, and get out to some crags as much as I can. Time to fly!

This is not me, soon enough.

Hooray!

Too much, too soon - caution to the wind!

I am an all or nothing kind of guy, and it has probably created some serious problems in my life. In fact, I know it has. This characteristic has pushed me to sign up for my first race after my injury, Collegiate Peaks 50 mile. I know that with the right training I can run the race, the problem is that since the gun goes off at the beginning of May I may not be able to get the training mileage in. Oh well, here we go again!