Salida Run Through Time Marathon

Me, Super Ultra Running legend Bill Dooper, and Ryan Burch (photo by Burch)

Hi everyone. After some much need time off from the unknown blog world I have returned. I’m fit and ready for a great season. I’ve raced twice this year. Last month I ran the Moab Red Hot 55K. http://www.grassrootsevents.net/node/2 Without too many details I ran hard but hydrated poorly and bonked with 2 miles to go. I hobbled in the last two miles being overtaken by Dakota Jones who won in 4:02, while I came in second at 4:06.

This last weekend I ran the Salida Run Through Time Marathon http://salidarec.com/ccrc/
The race had some difficulty getting the proper permits for their traditional run therefore, they had to change the course. New this year was a fantastic 5 mile single track addition.
Lynnette and I drove over in the morning with Cody and the race was soon underway. It went out relaxed compared to previous years. By mile 1 there was the front pack consisting of Nick Clark http://www.irunmountains.blogspot.com/ , Ryan Burch http://ryanwburch.blogspot.com/ , Dan Vega, and I.

Nick and I were leading the procession. We hit the incline, which is really a 7 mile long hill with 2000 feet gained. From here I started an up-tempo pace. I was able to gain about 20 seconds on Nick but no more. At the 2nd water station somewhere near 7 miles I hit an almost identical time compared to years past. I was at 51 minutes. I grabbed a quick drink and left only to see Nick was right on my heels. I pressed on a little harder trying to put a gap between Nick and I. I got to the modified and early turn around (because of the modified course) at 1:14:20. I then timed the run back to Nick. It was 40 to 45 seconds which meant I was 1:20 to 1:30 ahead. This was a small lead but I’d take. Dan and Ryan were in close pursuit. I started hammering back to the aid station (the one I went by in 51 minutes). I felt great. Then ½ a mile before the aid station I got a side cramp that slowed me down considerably. I felt like dropping out of the race.

I slowed up and regrouped mentally. I got to the aid station took more water and left. I could see Nick now again. He had caught up and was only 20-30 seconds back again. I decided not to worry and just take it easy. Over the next 3 miles the side cramp would come in go with less intensity. Finally it left. At bends in the trail and roads I’d see Nick. I was slowly gaining on him.

I hit the 20.1 aid station at 2:19. This was where the trail deviated from past years onto the new single track. I was in my element on it and figured I had a 90 second lead over Nick. It was hard to maintain a quick pace as the track meandered constantly. The single track ran down the front of “S” Mountain in Salida and the race finished. I won for the 3d year in a row with a time of 3:05:50 about 3 minutes ahead of Nick, who was closely followed by Dan and Ryan.

At the Finish (photo from Ryan Burch)

My time for the last 3 years is as follows:

2009: 3:03:42 Course Record, fast day
2010: 3:13:17 Slow muddy slick day
2011: 3:05:50 Fast day slower course though, great time

I got to break 3 hours there one of these years…

Fare Thee Well

Perhaps it has appeared, and rightly so… perhaps true, that I have given up on my blog. This seems to be the case as I’ve run 5 races and had not a single word on the blog. Excuse… check… I was busy. So to sum up my races… I ran the duo Pikes Peak races. In the Pikes Peak Ascent i was in the mid 30s (I think). The following day I was 6th in the marathon giving me first place overall for the duo. 2 weeks later I was 3d in the American Discovery Marathon on the Front Range in 2:40ish, 1 week later I was 3d at the Imogene Pass Run in 2:24, and then another 2 weeks later I was 25th in the Great Cow Harbor Race (NY) in 34 minutes.
So that being said… in a very short, hopefully concise, and most likely quite boring fashion …I am planning on stopping the blog. At least for the time being. I’m not giving up on it. I’m stopping it… huge difference.

The reason is simple: I’ll have time to write about my races and other adventures. Maybe in the future I’ll start writing on a blog again but for now I think it best to stop it altogether. That and I’ll have time to run and do other adventures.

Fare thee well, Timmy

Outdoor Retail Treadmill Challenge Salt Lake City

I drove down last week to Salt Lake City for the Oudoor Retail (OR) Treadmill Challenge. SportHill was participating in the Expo so I went down to show off their apparel. Checkout there website at http://sporthill.com/

The race is a 15 minute race run on a treadmill set at 10% grade. Whoever goes the farthest distance in the allotted time wins. The advantage to some and disadvantage to others is that there are only 2 treadmills so pairs of runners race off all day long. The runners later in the day have the advantage of knowing what pace they must go to beat the previous runners.






Photo taken by Ricky Gates

The race is more of a show than anything else. It is difficult to know exactly how far ahead (or behind) you are at any given moment. My goal was to put forth an honest effort and run over 2 miles. I was pitted against Tony Krupicka with favorites Max King and Ricky Gates scheduled for the last slot of time. The race is more of a mind game. Time slowly drips by like waves beating against a shoreline. The waves will wear down the shore but it seems like it takes forever. With about 5 minutes to I took off my jersey as it felt too sweltering hot inside. Results:

Tony Krupicka: 1.92 miles Ricky Gates: 2:06 miles
Me: 2:09 miles Max King: 2:14 miles

9 for 9

Grin ‘n’ Bear It

Sorry folks about my lack of posts for the last month. I’m going to try and blog a little more and put up some more interesting pictures. I’ve had a great high volume month of training with many long runs and a few short races. On July 17th I ran my 9th consecutive Grin ‘n’ Bear it race in Crested Butte. This race was also the 9th race that Lynnette has been at. I won the race making it my 9th consecutive Grin ‘n’ Bear it win, and my 9th consecutive race I’ve won when Lynnette has been present at the race. The race is just an easy 9 mile race, 4 ½ miles out and then 4 ½ back. I gained somewhere around 1700 feet I think… more or less.

The race usually does not have stiff competition but I always race myself. I ran 1:07:12 compared to last year’s 1:05:40. I was quite happy with this time. Sure it was a 90 seconds slower but it was hotter this year as well. I have the course record set in 2005. This year’s time was my 4th fastest time. Here is a breakdown of the past 9 years with notes:

2002: 1:10:??
2003: 1:12:??
2004: 105:44 Tied old CR
2005: 1:04:23 No hill work, only speed gives me new CR
2006: 1:11:29 Recovering from a burnt out season
2007: 1:07:27
2008: 1:08:32 Fit! Take 2nd at Pikes Peak in 2:19:33
2009: 1:05:40 2nd fastest time ever, Win Leadville 100 in 17:27 and Pikes in 2:12:32
2010: 1:07:12 Fit… wait and see….

Hellacious Trail Challenge

Summer… how it escapes us. Time is like a bird, like a raven, like an eagle flying majestically… It flies.

After getting back here I raced the 1st ever Hellacious Trail Challenge put on by the Boulder Running Company in Colorado Springs in the last weekend of June. The race was a 9.2 rolling and rocky race through the meandering trails in Palmer Park, Colorado Springs. There was some solid completion as Tommy Neil, Peter Maksimow, Logan Wealing, Justin Ricks, and Gerald Romero all toed the line with me. 200 meters into the race Tommy, Peter, Logan, Justin and I all went the wrong way. When I say we went the wrong way I really mean the entire field went the wrong way, but the rest of the competition was corrected by race officials. We realized our mistake and looped back. This added on ¼ of a mile onto our race. Interestingly enough, this meant that the top 5 runners were now the last 5 in the race. We came up on the tail end of the racers and 1 by 1 we had to pass them all. Finally, near mile 4 we passed Gerald Romero who was in the lead. At this point Tommy took the initiative surged ahead and got a 50 foot lead on the rest of us. I was in 4th about 30 feet behind Peter and Logan. Justin Ricks was another 20 feet behind me. Then I felt like the race started.

I felt twice as good and surged ahead and easily caught up to Peter and Logan. Another minute I was with Tommy. I know the trails in Palmer Park very well because I used to train a lot there. It was fantastic as I just glided over the rocks and the trail. I took the lead and put on a 30 foot gap over Tommy. But then with 1.5 miles to go the trail did a short u-turn and a trail arrow pointed between a road and a single track. Tommy and I took the single track. This was of course the wrong way though. I did not realize it until a minute late. Tommy and I accidentally cut off about 100 feet off of the course. We kept running and finished. I won in 59:05, Tommy was close behind in 59:29. I told race directors how we had accidently cut the course and showed them on a map. They sent someone to the tight corner of quandary and uncertainty to direct traffic. The cut had not given us an advantage and as we had already added on a ¼ of a mile at the beginning there were no concerns. I was declared the winner. Tommy was 2nd, Peter 3d, Logan 4th, Justin 5th, and Gerald was 6th.

The race was the first time I accidentally ran more and less of the course. I figure overall our version was 9.5 miles. It was great.

50th running of the Mt. Washington road race

Things could not get bigger for this race. It was the 50th running of the race. It was the only qualifier for the World Mountain Championships. The elite athletes were coming out of the wood words to run this. Going in I was confident I was in shape and ready for a solid race. The race climbs 4650 feet over 7.6 miles up to the top of Mt Washington on the mostly paved road at an average 15% grade... actually 11.58%.

I flew out Thursday morning and stayed with Marc and Jane Chauvin in North Conway, only 20 minutes drive from the base of Mt. Washington. Marc is an accomplished mountain climber and guide who has been all over the world. He is blessed man with his beautiful wife Jane. They were amazing hosts who made me feel welcome and at home.

On Friday, I ran up Black Cap to the summit at 2400 feet or so, thanks to Marc’s suggestion. Granted it was only 1.3 miles up but the view was tremendous and offered a panorama of the White Mountains. It was an easy laidback day. Then Saturday...

It was warm out 75 or so at the start of the race. This was expected. I went out with the leaders. Everyone looked decent. The air was silent yet pounded with the consist roar of heavy breathing, mimicking the pounding hearts. A few flies joined the race. I planned on maintaining pace yet it seemed that everyone else sped up. In reality, I was slowing down, and maintaining. I felt good just unable to go with the first pack, or the second pack for that matter. I plugged away hitting mostly 9 minute mile pace.

In the last 2 miles I finally felt good and felt like the race was starting. I passed a few runners and was able to finish in 1:09:44 in 25th place. This was an average of 9:11 per mile. The winners averaged 8 minute miles.

Stuff to think about… I’m fit but need a lot more training and base under me. This is a good place to be. I’ve got 2 months until Pikes Peak. 2 months to prepare to run well.

2010 Sage Burner 50K

The Sage Burner 50k run… 5000 feet of climbing, 31.6 miles, 250 runners (in both the 25 and 50k) a beautiful course surrounded by snow capped peaks. Prior to the race I had planned on running leisurely with Duncan for the first half and then making the second half the real race. As race day approached I scraped this plan. I wanted to race. It was a warm day by 7:30… starting time. It was much warmer than last year’s perfect weather and overcast skies. I casually meandered to the front of the racing pack expecting to set a pace and have Duncan close the gap. Yet the eventual winner in the 25k would not have this… he took the lead and started hammering. I thought he was running the 50k so I set in 10 seconds behind him and maintained. All I was thinking was that he was going way too fast for the 50k. At the 25-50k split he went one way while I went the other. I was a little surprised. Lynnette was helping out with the race and was at the split, so I exclaimed to my beautiful wife my surprise that in reality I need not race the other guy. For the next mile (down Water Treatment) I laughed at myself for thinking that I had to race other guy… of course he was running the 25k. I figured I had built up a 2 maybe 3 minute lead so I just relaxed and ran.

I got out to Skull Pass (half way mark) in 2 hours even. It was now 9:30 in the morning and the sun felt blazing. I learned I now had close to an 8 minute lead over Duncan who was in 2nd and 3d was at least 2 miles back. I felt good, was maintaining solid eating and drinking habits and figured all I need to do was to maintain. I headed up Nine-0, the highest point of the race. The trail is not steep but I felt sluggish and slow. I told myself I just had to maintain and plug away.

Sometimes in the middle of a race when no and no competition is around you just have to ignore the lies of pain, suffering, and hurt. They are not there. You may be told you are suffering but it is nothing but a lie to swallow. The best answer is usually to speed up and remember:

“Come Suffering, come Pain
Let me teach you the Truth
You are uncouth
I’ll make you tame
You are a lie
and you will die”

I remembered… and kept running. The sun blazed down. I kept drinking but I felt worse and worse. Finally at mile 26 or so (bottom of Josie’s) I threw up about 40 oz of liquid. I felt much better. Drained…yes, tired… sure, but ready to keep running. The temperature was now about 75 degrees.
I kept running expecting Duncan to come up on me but he did not. I crossed the finish line in 4:23:06. Almost 9 minutes later Duncan was second in 4:32:05. Race results are here: http://www.live-timing.com/report.php?r=20013&rp=391398 and here http://www.western.edu/student-life/fitness-center/sage-burner

Recovery has been good. I was dehydrated after the race but I’ve quickly recovered. I feel fantastic and have had several awesome post race runs. 3 weeks until Mt Washington.