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.

Sasquatch and Mt. Hood

Friday morning at 7 a.m. Matt Burton, Jason Durand and I headed out on the road for Mt. Hood Oregon. Saturday I was to be competing in the Pacific Crest Trail Mt. Hood 50 mile. I was very stoked for the race, since it had filled up very quickly last January. Oregon is a terribly boring drive along I-84, 5 hours on that highway seemed way too long. We set up camp and drove out to Portland, and checked out the Widmer Brothers Brewery. Oh the building smells of sweet, sweet wort! That was a lot of fun. Got back to camp, awake at 4:30 to the hoots and hollers of the early starters getting up. Pre-race night is never easy to sleep through, as the nerves and anticipation for an exciting day build up. We were camped at the Clackamas Lake Campground, just a short 1/2 mile walk from the race site. Olga and Monika got us started with this ridiculous kiss, which threw me off for the start. Later I found out they were sisters. I was so happy to be out on the PCT! Timothy Lake was covered by clouds, hiding it's immense size. I ran very conservatively the 1st half of the race. Got up to Timberline Lodge at mile 25, took a short break, and threw on the IPod. Blazing down the mountain jammin' to Dragon Force, I made it to the next aid station in 40 minutes (6:20 miles!). I was in serious race mode. The next 5 1/2 miles though were a long climb, and I hit my major low of the race. Got in at mile 36 and my mind was fried. I told Matt "I need the ssshhhhhhh" (referring to the coppertone spray), spraying an invisible aerosol can on my arm. He figured it out. So I was running along the trail and out of a bush jumps Erin Keller! Cool girl, I guess she was having some bouts with GI distress. We ran together for a few miles, then I peeled off. I was running very quickly. I don't think I stopped and walked the last half marathon. Ran past the little Crater Lake, which is perfectly clear and very cold! Cool sight. Timothy Lake is a very beautiful sight in the daylight, and even better because you are on the home stretch. I was minding my own business at about mile 45 when Sasquatch jumped out of the woods and started running with me. He complained about not being able to find running shoes that fit. There was a guy that did the entire race in Vibram FiveFingers, and beat me by over an hour! Well, I was so ready to be finished with the race that I left Sasquatch in the dust, and all over a sudden, found myself on the road to the Ranger Station where I had started at the crack of dawn. After 9 hours and 37 minutes, I called it an excellent day of trail competition, and can't wait to do this race again. A big thanks to Olga and Monika for putting this event on, and happy trails to everyone who was out there!