I LIKE RUNNING IN CIRCLES

Well, Friday night I flew down to San Francisco via very fast hollow tube with sticks on the sides. Linda McFadden picked me up from the airport, and we stayed at the Holiday Inn close by. Wake up call at 5:30 A.M., and we drove all over San Francisco looking for ice. You would think all gas stations would have ice right? Well they do in Idaho. We went to 3 different places and had the toughest time finding ice! Don't worry, Idaho has a ton of the stuff everywhere. Got to the race site at about 7:30, to our surprise, the RD was getting into it with one of the participants, who he disqualified. Got to meet Norm Haines, that was cool. He is a way dirty old man! Well, the race got started at 9:00 on the dot, and the heat didn't take long to kick in either. It got above 80 during the day, making for lots of Endurolytes. I racked up miles, and if it wasn't for the fact that I was a sweaty pig, the race was going well. I discovered what it means to be road trained at this race. No hills or trail to work the legs are very hard!! My energy waned. I started off running 4 laps and walking 1, but after a while it went to running 3 and walking 1. I was really happy when the sun set, and started to cool off. There was a nice breeze, and I started to recover from the heat. I did well for a few hours, and up until about 11:30 PM I felt great. Then the "Hundred Mile Hangover" kicked in at about 62 miles, and I wasn't doing so hot anymore. I started dozing off on the run, and my feet started hurting extremely bad. I took some Ibuprofin, but it didn't help at all. Calling it a night at 64 miles, I crawled into Linda's car and decided to get some shut-eye. Linda hopped in the front seat for about an hour and tried to get her heart to calm down. She was back out on the race course after that, but I stayed inside. It got so cold outside, probably down into the 30s. Sea fog rolled in, and I couldn't keep my core temperature up. It was very cold. I woke up again at about 7:15, and it wasn't so cold outside anymore, so I decided to start running again. Linda had 3 miles to go before she hit 100, and I decided to go and pace her. After I started running, I came back to life. Didn't feel too shabby after a long period of rest. She hit 100, and I kept going. Running faster and faster, shouting encouragement to all the other runners. I did my last mile in 8:21, my best lap of the whole race. Some of them came in under the wire to hit 100, it was really awesome to see people bust a gut in the last hour. I sure did, and am also glad that I took a break. Should be able to recover now easily for 48 hours of fun at Ultracentric. I post pics here shortly from this race.

Race Calendar 2009

As we come to a close of the 2008 season, the focus shifts to a new year and new hopes of redemption. I can remember back to all the horrible mistakes I made in my planning and preparation for this year's race calendar, and how I will adjust to what is coming up next spring. I do not plan to do anywhere as many races next year as I did this year, as I have already participated in 11 ultras and 4 full marathons. This is averaged out to a race every 3 weeks, hopefully convicing Chirs Kostman that I am seasoned enough for his July Blisterthon;) Next year I will participate in:
Leon's Fat Ass 50K, January
WSU 100K, April
Lincoln Marathon, May
Watershed Preserve, May
Sawtooth Solo (200K), June
July is up in the air, considering I get into Badwater. We will see.
Plain 100+, September
Le Grizz 50, October

The Sawtooth Relay is normally set up as a relay race from Stanley to Ketchum, Idaho. Last year I completed the event as a 100K. This June, I am planning the do the event as a grueling 124 mile event from start to race finish and back to start. If you are interested in helping me crew for this event, let me know! This will be a difficult undertaking and I will need as much help as I can get.

Well, I have two races left this year. I am on my way to San Francisco next week for the San Fran 24 Hour, and to Texas for Ultracentric (48 Hour) in November. Hopefully, this can seal my entry into Badwater when I apply for the event in January. I will not be doing any serious training between now and the beginning of December, but be looking for me out on the trails at that time!

BorahBorah

Well, it was a good week. Took off earlier and went up into Lowman for a couple of days for some high altitude training. Ran about 20 miles there. Drove back into Boise, then Mountain Home, then up Hwy 20-Hwy 93 to the Lost River Mountains. Those things are incredible. Woke up Thursday morning, it was 19*F outside when I woke up! Started the climb up Borah at 7:30 AM. Got there at 10:15, much to my dismay, my hands were frozen stiff, and couldn't even pull my camera out for some sweeet shots. I have some that I will post shortly. 0*F at the top, and 50-60 MPH winds that tried to rip me from the mountain. No luck. Ran back down the mountain in an hour, and made for a hasty retreat back to Boise. It snowed here yesterday, so I can only imagine what those mountains are like that I was on only a short few days ago.

City of Trees Marathon

Well, the day started off pretty well. Got up, had breakfast, drove down to Park Center Park where the race began. Gun goes off, and the first 4 miles are a steady uphill. Was on a steady 8:15 pace to that point, then we ran downhill for a few miles, bumped the pace up to 8. Boise is very beautiful, and a great town to host a marathon in. I was doing great for my time, all the way to the half marathon mark. Hit that in just under 1:46. I figured if I could keep it up, I would be sure to break 3:30! Unfortunately, I had not planned according to the 'race conditions.' The race had nothing but water at the aid stations. Not being able to fuel up, like at every other long race I've done, my energy started to wane. Hit 20 miles at 2:54:00, and slowed considerable from there. The 20 mile mark was the only place on the course that had GU. I gave it all I had, but ended up at 3:43 for a finishing time. 9 minutes off of my PR, and will learn to depend on myself more.

Karl finishes

The man of the hour finally finished at 04:20 EST this morning. 54 Days, 21 Hours, 12 minutes. What a stud. Unfortunately for me, I am in the military and was not able to grow my beard for the extent of the run. Congrats Karl, you are a champ in my book.

New feet

My left arch is in a funk. Bought some new insoles today so I can run 60 miles a weeks again, unlike the pitiful 10 I've been doing. I'll keep you posted.

Plain <100

Well, I successfully fell out for the 1st time ever. It started with the 3:30 AM wake up call. Me and dad had driven up early on Friday to make it to the pre-race briefing at Thousand Trails at 3 PM. The next morning was very hectic. A huge breakfast, and I misplaced my GPS until about 30 seconds before the race started. Got out onto the steps, and I heard somebody say "go," and we were off. Into the darkness. The 6 mile climb to Maverick Saddle was long, but not too tough. We were running along the Mad river, filled up our bottles there. After that was the climb up the Hi-Yu Trail. That was a tough little climb. Wonderful view though, as the sun had just come up, and the valley below where we had started at was very picturesque. Ran along the Hi-Yu trail for a while, until we hit the Lonely Lake. It was glass. Ran to Ann Lake, about 10 miles in, and had breakfast. Continued up to Klone Peak, 20 miles in, and had another meal. I got cured of my appetite for Clif Bars during this section. Those things really started to taste as gross as they look. Boy oh boy though, my dad's breakfast burritos got better and better. I looked forward to the next 10 mile stop to eat one. After I hit Klone Peak, I started to feel like crap. Since I started ultrarunning, my stomach has gotten worse and worse at processing those gels. I had a few in the 1st few hours, and decided when I wanted to throw up that I would eat any more. Switching over to solid food, my stomach felt a lot better, and my mood popped up again. after Klone peak it is a very long and steady downhill. After the peak you hit "the haunted forest." It is all burnt, very quiet, and very mysterious in my mind. I ran into my dad and this hiker at this point. He came to say hello, and nothing more! Thankfully, he had no aid, because I would have been very tempted to take some at this point. it was a few more miles down this hill from that point, and I found a stream. Filled up with some ice cold water there, and was back on my way. A couple more miles down the trail, I hit the 2nd SAR checkpoint. They had a hammock, and I wanted to lay down in it. I decided not to. Kept going down, down, down, until I hit my 2nd favorite section of the course, where the trail becomes asphalt/foot and I become a blister on it. Ouch! Found myself at the culdesac trailhead, and Chris and Tom the RDs were there. Spun around to the left, and ran down the trail to South Tommy Trail. Me and Dan Probst and one of his friends stopped at Fox Creek to water up. This is the last water for 14 miles. It is also the start of my favorite section of the course. This is a 4800' climb in 6 miles. I had to stop more than 10 times on this climb to get my heart rate down. This was the toughest climb of my life. Got to the top of Signal peak, and ran down Tyee Ridge at this point. Actually, I lie. I was so wiped out from the climb I couldn't do much more than a slow walk. Slowly, I recovered. I was so lonely out there, and so miserable. I had hit the lowest emotional point I have ever had since I started ultrarunning. I felt the big kill coming closer. There is a long uphill section of the Tyee Ridge trail, then it is a rolling downhill. On the uphill section, out of nowhere, I hear "Run Ben, Run!!" Dan Probst had caught up again. His buddy that he had been running with had faded on the climb to Signal Peak, which I could understand. We ran together for a while, and the company was good. I still felt bad though. We got on the downhil to the next SAR, and I took off. 8:30 miles, and I was flying. That felt pretty good, although my knees were not doing so hot. Ran into Joe Lee at this section, the gentleman I got my GPS coordinates from. He dropped here. I kept running really fast, because the sun was setting, and I wanted to make as much time as I could before it got dark. I got mixed up on the trail, because it was a bushwhack trail more than anything else, and the bricks used to reinforce the windy section that the motorcyles used were strewn all over the place. I tripped over one, and got my 1st battle wounds of the race. The descent into Cougar Creek was horrible. It was down this really steep hill with more rubble than the Flintstones would ever deal with in a lifetime! Me and Dan got to Cougar Creeek and filled up, the 1st water in 14 miles. It was nice and cool down there, but it was very dark outside, so I knew it would be getting cold down by the water here. I was completely beat, and felt CCC 100 kicking me in the butt. I knew I didn't have much energy left. got onto the Mad River trail, and it was 5 more miles to the next SAR checkpoint. I was planning to stop there. I lost Dan for a while, and then he caught up. We got on the road to Maverick Saddle, and got to the SAR checkpoint there at about 11 PM. He went on ahead, I didn't. This is where the big bloody DNF caught me at. Being an idiot, I had decided to try an incredibly difficult endurance run 3 weeks after my 1st 100, thinking my body would be healed up by this point. I was wrong! This is the 1st time my legs weren't strong enough to keep moving. I will be back again to conquer this course, so we will see how it goes at that time. Thanks Chris and Tom, that was quite the challenge.