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.

Cascade Crest 100

The Cascade Crest 100 mile Endurance Run. It makes Western States look like child’s play. The experience I had during this event was nothing less than spiritual. We started the race at 10 AM, with my dad and Brent Spilsbury to see me off. Our first climb was very steep, and to make it worse, 2 motorcyclists were trying to pass the whole field on these steep, tight little switchbacks. Get to the 1st aid station, and I am smoked. The 1st climb really kicked my butt, and I was ready for some down hill time. There were rocks, making running down the next hill impossible at best. The miles before Tacoma Pass was very hilly and mountainous. I got into Tacoma Pass (mile 23) and my dad was there. Took a bit of a rest, and then I headed off to Snowshoe Butte. Hit Stampede Pass at mile 33, and threw my headlamp on. I arrived there at 6:30 PM. I was feeling great, really enjoying the scenery. The Cascade Mountains are gorgeous. By mile 40, it was starting to get dark out. Miles 40 to 47, Olallie Meadows, were very, very wet and rocky and muddy. My feet weren’t happy with that. Got to mile 47, had been running with this nice Canadian, Laurie for a while, and caught up with my pacer. She was going to run from Hyak at with me, but it was cold out and she wanted to be moving. The descent into Hyak was horrible. We walked our way down this extremely rocky road for a good mile, and got to the rope sections. Charlie the RD said you didn’t need the ropes to get down the hill, and he was right. You could roll down if you wanted. Bushwhacking through the trees sucked pretty bad. Got from there down to the road, and met up with the infamous tunnel. It was very, very long. Nice and wet, with the condensation on my glasses driving me crazy. After that, we ran down this nasty asphalt road into Hyak at mile 53. I was very tired. The aid station was set up with a Christmas theme, which helped brighten my spirits. The 1st half of the course was hard. It was just before midnight when we got out of Hyak. We ran on this painful asphalt road for 2 or 3 miles, and then began the long ascent to Keechelus Ridge. This ascent marked one of the most serious lows I’ve ever had. I was so worn out, I really doubted whether or not I could finish. People were dropping like flies from Stampede Pass and Hyak, and wondered if I was in for the same fate. We got to the top of Keechelus Ridge, mile 60, and I was in better spirits. I passed a couple of people on the way up, and that helped restore my confidence. Stephanie and I took the next 8 miles very quickly, and I passed 12 people. That really set my spirits high, and the downhill was a nice change of pace. The next section was absolutely horrible. Starting at mile 68, the “Evil Forest” and “The Trail from Hell” have a reputation for being the nastiest trails of the course. The Evil Forest really isn’t a trail, just course markings and glowsticks through the brush. I got out of that section, and came to a fork in the road with no markings at all. I had to run up the road ½ a mile before I could even find any, so me, my pacer, and another runner went and followed that one. For the record, we left the Kachess Lake aid staion (mile 68) at 4:15 AM, and we didn’t get into Mineral Creek Aid station at mile 73 until 6:30 AM. That trail, was just, absolutely horrible. Words can’t describe, you just have to experience it for yourself after 68 torturous miles before hand. You arrive at Mineral Creek, and the trouble doesn’t stop. A glorious 7-mile ascent awaits you. We lost my dad, which was just horrible for my pacer, and she ended up going all the way to mile 88 with me. James Varner and Laura Houston had an 80’s Revival Party at mile 80 for us, which was just great for those of us that just had the worst hike of our lives. They sent us off, and our next obstacle was the Cardiac Needles. A series of 4 short hikes, they go straight up the hill, and took all of my energy. I popped my 1st Iboprofen of the race after those hikes. They were so very hard. I really had nothing left, after the ascent from Mineral Creek and the Needles. After that, we made our way up to Thorp Mt, mile 84. Thorp is the highest point of the course. That hike was grunt as well, but the view from the top was incredible! Glenn Tachiyama was up there taking pictures. After the horrible climbs I was put through, I was ready for the descent that followed afterwards. No I wasn’t! It was so treacherous, like trying to make it down an avalanche of rocks. I barked, because I could see the next aid station. I heard a faint “Oorah!,” from my dad who was there. He was supposed to meet us at mile 68 and 73, but had fallen asleep and wasn’t there. We were so glad to see him there, since Stephanie got 50 miles of pacing with me unlike the 15 we discussed. There was one more climb after the French Cabin aid station (mile 88), and after that, the rest of the course was downhill. I ran along Silver Creek for many miles, and passed through these gorgeous meadows, until the final descent into the Silver Creek aid station, at mile 95. That ascent was so brutal on my quads, which were shot, and the rocks and rubble broke these painful blisters open on my feet. It was excruciating. I was so happy to get into the aid station. It was just pass 2 pm, so I still had a shot at doing to course in under 29 hours, which was my goal. I high tailed it into Easton (not before making a wrong turn), and was so high and excited to be finished. I did a full on sprint the last 100 meters into the finish lines, and had a little victory dance. 28 hours, 55 minutes. I made it. I received my finisher’s print and the CCC belt buckle, which I had desired for so many months before the race. What an incredible experience. The course was absolutely brutal, and I felt like a champ for finishing it. Thanks, Charlie. My feet are destroyed. My soul is renewed.

Closing in on the big race....

Well, my 1st 100 is closing in. After many hard months of training, I find myself not even worried about the pounding to take place this weekend. I've been doing the Crossfit exercises, and have been training with the kettlebell as well. Stand by for details this weekend!

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!