A Towers PR Festival

3/24:
So another big turnout on the hill last Thursday, and a bonanza day for PRs. By my count a full 50 percent of the 32 starters recorded PRs, in addition to the three newcomers on the hill who established times to beat. Of course, this was the first full daylight run in months, and the mild (but not cold) temps combined with the lack of wind and ice were also factors. Still a definite sign that the Fort Collins Trail Running Crew is rounding into good shape as we approach the spring racing season.

PRs: Aaron, Alex M, Brent, Celeste, Dan J, Danny, Fred, Jenn M*, Marie, Mike L, Mike M, Nick M, Ryan, Slush, Steph, Tina.

* Of course, when Jenn Malmberg hits a new PR, it generally means a new FKT for the women on the hill: 34:59. Steph and Sarah are knocking on the door though, so the fight for bragging rights could be interesting here in the next couple of months, especially as I continue to try (in vain) to stoke their competitive fires.

Almost as exciting is the 2011 streakers list. We are now down to four perfect-attendees, so congrats on that Alex May, Celeste, Slush and Pete.

Of course, some of last week's times could be way off, as I received them on a scanned copy of a dog-eared scrap of paper scrawled with a pen that barely worked. Please email or leave a comment if you see errors in my timekeeping.

4/7:
A record turnout (I think) of 35, with 22 of those setting personal records, or running for the first time. Good stuff again.

PRs: Aaron, Slush, Fred, Dan Bla, Greg, Brent W, Brent B, John F, Felix, Kyle, Ramon, Chris K, Mary B, Brian W, Mike L, Carson, Ron, Steph, Mike Mac, Heather, Cat, Dan J.

4/21:

FKTs: Sam Malmberg (28:32), Jenn Malmberg (34:16)

PRs: Chris H, Jenn M, Jenn S, Molly, Sam M

Perfect-streakers list remains at three with Pete, Slush and Alex May all in attendance tonight. Celeste, Cat and Brian are waiting in the wings with just one missed session on the year.

A quick note on equivalencies: We have a very rough Towers to marathon estimate of 33 minutes: 3 hour marathon. Senor Slusher ran 2:53:37 (over 10 min PR) in Rhode Island today (4/16) off a 31:00 Towers time last week. Based on his 31 we were predicting a 2:49 for Scott (his A goal), but he was safely under his B goal of 2:55. So congrats Scott, clearly you are quite the hill monster, and of course a speedy marathoner too.

As a point of comparison, my 2:36 from New Orleans in February is supposed to equate to a 27:xx Towers time, so obviously a few more data points are needed to smooth the outliers, but until then I guess the data are suggesting I am more suited to the roads than the hills. We'll have a few more data points from Boston on Monday and then May 1 we'll have all the FoCo marathon data to include, by which time we should have a more accurate equivalency picture.

Blah, blah, blah. Same time, same place next week. See you there.

2011 Times & All-time PRs through 4/21/11:

..............PR.....1/13..1/27....2/9....2/24..3/10..3/24....4/7....4/21
Aaron....35:34..................................38:00...........36:03..35:34..41:00
Alex A....38:07..43:00..46:00..46:11..42:50............43:15..38:33
Alex M....36:57..42:34..38:27..41:04..41:03..39:30.36:57..38:40..37:57
Amy.......42:00.....................................................42:00
Brent W.37:49............40:44.......................40:30..39:24..37:49
Brent B..36:32...............................................................36:32..38:57
Brian K...37:12.............37:12
Brian S...40:30..42:20...40:30............42:46
Brian W...44:52..51:10..49:04..51:21..45:56..47:07...........44:52..50:15
Carson.....40:18.............................................................40:18
Cat.........42:33..45:40..44:54............gold*..42:54..43:34..42:33..43:09
Celeste...44:23..47:59..46:06..52:11..46:30..46:09..44:53............44:23
Chris C...35:53......................................................35:53
Chris H..42:15.......................46:45..43:41..44:03.......................42:15
Chris K...43:21.......................50:10..46:50.......................43:21
Cherilyn..38:19..42:ish..40:34..43:20.................................39:30
Dakota...30:30.............30:30..35:00..31:00.............33:06..32:38..32:00
Dan B.....41:21.............41:21
Dan Bla..45:22.............50:20.............47:15..47:22..45:22
Dan J.....35:58.............37:30..39:40.............37:14..36:17..35:58
Danny....44:30.......................................................44:30
Dave T...44:47.............................................44:47
Diana H..42:09..46:28...................................42:09...........43:44
Don.......44:06.............49:13
Dustin....45:00.............................................45:00
Eddie......38:33............................................38:51
Elizabeth:48:15................................................................48:15
Eric........40:30..40:30
Eric B.....29:37..............30:51
Felix.......36:09..................................40:30..38:32..37:22..36:09
Fred.......47:20..............................................gold*.48:40..47:20
Glenn.....40:35..............43:00
Greg.....49:55..................................................................49:55
Heather..52:00.............................................54:00............52:00
Jaime.....55:00.......................55:00
Jeff K.....37:43..43:00....39:08.........................................37:43..37:48
Jenn M...34:16..37:47....35:09.......................37:30..34:59..........34:16
Jenn S....51:12..................................56:51..52:12.....................51:12
Jenn B....54:30.........................................................................54:30
Jenn G...46:54..........................................................................46:54
John F....41:00.................................................................41:00
John H...49:46........................49:46
John W..36:00..................................................................36:30
Jordan....46:55.............................................46:55
Joselyne.52:40...............gold*..57:22..55:24..57:24
JZ..........38:45...........................................44:00..43:06..41:45..43:13
Kyle.......33:54..............34:42.........................................33:54..46:54
Laura.....39:37.............................................42:00
Lindsey..45:50..............................................45:50
Marie.....41:30..............44:33.............42:38............41:30..41:52 Marlene...................................................................gold*..........gold*
Mary B...41:25............44:31..51:18...47:13..44:21..42:05..41:25..46:58
Michelle D.........................................................................gold*
Mindy Cl..54:44..54:44..............57:00.............55:10..59:22
Mindy Ch.50:00.........................................................................50:00
Mike L....40:30..47:50...43:50..............46:23..42:25..41:00..40:30
Mike Le..44:00....................................44:00
Mike H..??...................................................................................??
Mike T....45:06..47:31
Mike M...41:14..............43:00........................42:59..41:50..41:14
Molly......61:02.........................gold*...64:43..62:15..75:00..........61:02
Nick C....29:26..32:01....29:26......................37:02..gold*..33:28..30:25
Nick M....34:55..38:56....35:42..................................34:55
Nick Med.......................................................gold*
Nichole..43:00...........................................................................43:00
Pablo..42:55......................................................................45:21
Pete.....32:41..39:40.....35:40..36:32..36:28..34:38..38:45..34:32..35:40
Ramon..46:11.......................................................48:31..46:11..46:33
Ron.........44:46................................................................44:46
Ross.......45:00...................................48:00..45:00
Ryan B...30:58..33:45....31:32..33:10..32:33.............30:58
Sam M...28:32..32:59.................................................................28:32
Sarah H..36:10..............36:10..37:04.......................36:12
Slush......31:00..34:54..32:56..35:34..34:43..33:48..32:52..31:00..33:56
Steph.....35:28..............41:21..40:32.......................36:47..35:28
Steve G..58:30........................................................58:30 Tina.......40:27.....................................................43:05...40:27..41:00
Tom K...48:55....................................50:00..48:55
Travis....40:59...........................................................................40:59
Woody....44:30..............44:30
...80..................20........32.......20.......23.......34......32.....35......27

Top times:
Sam Malmberg: 28:32
Nick Clark: 29:26
Eric Bergman: 29:37
Dakota Jones: 30:30
Steve Folkerts: 30:36

Women
Jenn Malmberg: 34:16
Stephanie Lynn: 35:28
Sarah Hansen: 36:10
Cherilyn Sackel: 37:07
Amy Hartley: 38:14

Week Ending March 27

Monday - Noon: 7 miles (1,500') easy. Falls - Spring Creek - Stout - Herrington - Spring Creek - Soderberg.
PM: 5 miles (1,000') easy: Falls long.

Tuesday - AM: 10 miles intervals. City Park group: 3x800 w/20 sec rest, 2 mile, mile on/off (lampposts), mile: (2:50, 2,46, 2:39), 11:16 (5:45, 5:31), 5:35, 5:13. Wasn't sure how I wanted to run these, so went with the flow and picked things up as the workout progressed. Ran with Chris M, which helped keep things honest, and started feeling decent by the second mile of the two-mile interval. Despite a general feeling of lethargy, I had a nice background hum of strength and a feeling that I had extra gears if needed, even on the last 5:13 mile. Always hard to get those 800s cranking first thing in the morning.

Weds - AM: 5 miles (1,000') easy: Falls long.
Noon: 8.5 miles (1,800') easy. Falls - Spring Creek - Stout - Loggers - Herrington - Towers - Herrington - Spring Creek - Soderberg - home long

Thurs - AM: 10 miles (1,400') tempo. 1:14:12. Out easy in 41:25, back in 32:47 (7:55, 6:42, 6:36, 5:49, 5:44). Kyle, Scott, Sarah and Tim in attendance this week. Felt like we took a step backwards with regards to temps, which were well below freezing, but at least there was very little wind. Wanted to keep things somewhat under control for this one, given the Antelope Island 50k in two days, but went a little faster than anticipated after giving Scott 30 seconds at the turnaround, as I answered nature's call, and then having Scott blaze the trail the whole way back (for a 90 second back-half PR). I finally caught him coming down onto the last dam, and then settled in for the last mile and half. Aside from the 5:45 start and the asphalt surface, this has become one of my favorite workouts of the week. Good company, challenging route and it feels like it's over before I'm properly awake.
Noon - 5 miles (1,000') easy: Falls long

Friday - 5 miles easy on the bike paths from Rick and Rae Jean's house in Kaysville.

Saturday - 32.5 miles (4,000'). 3:47. Antelope Island 50k.

Sunday - 8.5 miles easy on neighborhood streets in Vegas. Felt okay after the first couple of creaky miles, but the pavement and dreary surroundings made this an exercise in near pointlessness. Couldn't take any more, so quit at just over an hour.

Total: 96.5 (11,700')

In Vegas until Friday, so will look to get into the desert a bit and explore some of the canyons in and around the Red Rock/Blue Diamond area. Hoping to find some time to get up Mt Charleston, but seems unlikely considering I brought work with me.

Anyway, hopefully I can keep a lid on the volume this week and then again next week as I get ready for American River. The thought of running a fast marathon and then jumping on the trails for another 24 miles of rolling has me nervous enough that I should be able to keep things under control. Just heard that Lake Sonoma has been cancelled, which means that there could well be a few guys switching to AR, making an already stout field that much more interesting. Guess we'll find out in due course on that one.

Antelope Island 50k

Photo: Greg Norrander

Having run Salida 10 minutes quicker than in 2010 two weeks ago, I was hopeful that I could put up another course PR this weekend in a 50k, this time on the fantastically scenic outcropping of mountains lifting out of The Great Salt Lake, forming what is known as Antelope Island - a place where the buffalo roam and the antelope graze. Even better than the fauna are the dawn views of the stunning Wasatch off to the west of the island - alone worth the price of admission. But there was also some racing to be done.

With Salida still in my legs and the American River 50 upcoming, I was a little unsure about racing this one too hard. I knew that the winner from the Bear 100, Mike Foote, would be on the start line but beyond that there weren't too many other names that I recognized from the start list. I was hopeful therefore that I might be able to cruise this one and still come away with a win.

From the gun, I was on the deck being trampled after a somewhat inglorious drop of my EFS Liquid Shot flask and subsequent stumble to the ground after trying to scoop my fuel from the ground in stride. In my rugby days, I think I would have pulled it off, as scooping a rugby ball while on the move is a skill that is frequently practised, but it's been a while. In the process of falling, I dropped my water bottle under me and landed my ribs hard on it in exactly the same spot as I bruised them last year whilst coming down off of Pikes Peak. Another set of bruised left ribs as I sit here writing this. Sweet. Wheeze. After the stampeding, I was able to get to my feet, shake off the fall, and get on with the 32-mile task at hand.

Last year, Scott Dickey set an uncomfortably hard pace up the opening 600-foot climb; this year, thankfully, the pace was very casual which allowed for some good banter and a gentle warm up. Christian Johnson, who paced me in expert fashion through the final 25 miles of the Wasatch 100 last year, was up in the lead pack of five or six guys as we climbed through the first couple of miles. He made a few introductions, singling out Seth Wold as a 'fast marathoner,' while Jake Krong introduced himself as a newcomer to the SLC area, just as we were starting to ratchet up the tempo toward a more race-like effort. Mike Foote and another whose name I didn't catch were also in the pack.

After a quick wrong turn - approved by Christian who mapped the course, ahmm - we cut cross country back onto the jeep track that wound around a ledge before starting the descent down on the connector section between the two loops that together make up the 25k lap that done twice makes up the 50k course. On the steepest section of the lap, a short but sharp 300-400 foot climb up to the Elephant Head aid station, I could feel that my climbing legs were not with me. Six miles in, and this little grunter felt way harder than it should have.

Seth (making things look way too easy), me (realizing that I was in for a long day), Jake, and Christian in third and fourth. Photo: Greg Norrander.

By this point Seth, Jake and I had created some separation on Christian and Mike, and it looked like it would be the three of us racing for the podium places. Seth and I had mainly been taking turns with the lead and all three of us seemed on board and comfortable with the pace. I led us through the switchbacks at the far end of the Elephant Head loop, and I could tell that Seth and Jake were still running well within themselves. While I wasn't laboring up this climb, which is very generously graded (long switchbacks), I continued to feel like the climbing was more work than it should have been.

Connecting back up to the first loop, I let Jake and Seth gap me a bit as the grade steepened. I was able to catch up quickly as things flattened out, but by this point 11-12 miles in, I was beginning to feel like I was in for a grind of a second lap. Finishing up the rolling last few miles of the first lap on the return side of the first loop back to the turnaround at the start/finish, Jake assumed the lead and upped the tempo a touch - maybe feeling Seth and I out a bit. This work actually felt good and I was enjoying the increased blood flow that accompanied the faster pace, which gave me some encouragement that my legs might finally be ready and up to the task of racing the second lap.

We hit the turnaround, after the long downhill cruiser into the finish area, in 1:49 which I think was a minute faster than last year. On the climb back up for round two, I knew immediately that I was in trouble. Jake and Seth kept the effort level right where it had been for the last few miles, and despite the feeling that my legs had opened up a touch through the rollers of the last couple of miles, I just couldn't get them firing on any kind of sustained climb. I hung on for the first half of the climb, but soon made the executive decision that I just wasn't going to be able to hold this pace without an inglorious implosion long before the finish. And so I let them go.

By the top of the climb, Jake and Seth had 45-60 seconds on me. I figured I might be able to pick them back up on the flatter/downhill stuff, but it wasn't to be. After holding out hope for a few miles, it became increasingly clear - on this course with wide open, sweeping views - that they were gone.

Knowing by Elephant Head at mile 21-22 that the racing was essentially done, I dropped down into training mode and started thinking about American River and the fact that I will need to be careful with the mileage and effort over the next couple of weeks if I want to be at all competitive there. Flat legs again and there is no way I'll be competing.

Coming back around toward the finish with three or four miles to go, after passing probably 100 people in the 25k race ("on your left," "coming up behind you," "on your right, "right behind you guys," "nice work"....), I caught sight of Seth five minutes or so ahead, which was closer than I thought he would be at this stage. However, with the proliferation of 25k runners between he and I, it was unclear if Jake was ahead or behind him. In the vain hope that I might be able to pick up second, I increased the tempo for the final 20-25 minutes, but it wasn't to be.

I ended up coming in a touch under 3:48, which was a few seconds quicker than last year (in comparable conditions), but way off Jake's new course record of 3:38, which given the 4,000 feet of climb, 4000-5000' of altitude, and long course (32-32.5 miles) is pretty impressive (at least to me). Seth - a 2:22 road marathoner - also finished way under my time from last year (3:43).

Clearly, I need to be a little careful as I get ready for American River, which is something of a goal race. I didn't feel great at Salida, but came away satisfied with my run. Yesterday on Antelope Island it was a grind pretty much the whole morning, which tells me that it's time to take things a little easier for the next couple of weeks - a mini taper in the middle of my build for Western States. Hopefully that way I can run well at AR50, while also recharging the batteries a bit before the last six or seven weeks of work before Squaw.

Elsewhere on the island, Coloradoans Dan Vega and Dylan Bowman held up their ends of the bargain with impressive wins in the 100- and 50-mile races. Dan beat Mr.100 himself (Meltzer) in the inaugural 100, while Dylan reset Burch's 6:30 course record from last year with a zippy 6:15. Both these guys look to have found good early season form - and both will be running at Leadville in August. Put them both in your picks for the top five. Defening Leadville champ Duncan Callahan also had a good run in the 50, finishing in 6:30 or so.

Week Ending March 20

Monday - Noon: 8.5 miles (800') easy. Blue Sky TH to Arthur's TH and back. Nice and mellow. Felt pretty good for the most part. Still a little lethargic, but really no soreness from Salida.
PM: 5 miles (1,100') easy. Falls loop long.

Tuesday - AM: 9 miles intervals. Met with Jane's group for her City Park/Cemetery workout: mile, 3x fartlek mile, mile. Wasn't expecting great things so just cruised for the most part, but definitely wanted to make sure I got some leg turnover going this week: 5:43, 5:49, 5:55, 5:52, 5:20. Rest between each was 2 - 5 minutes.

Apparently I missed the Ides of March toga memo. Jane Welzel (third from left, back row) organizes year round Tuesday workouts. Longer intervals at City Park/Cemetery through the winter, then Tuesday Night Track (TNT) from May. This is always a fun group (that hits 30-40 in the summer) with a good spread of paces. Jane, a five time OT Marathon qualifier, is a wealth of running knowledge and has a ton of workouts up her sleeve. She probably has 10 different mile routes (all within .03) in City Park alone.

PM: 7 miles (1,500') easy. Falls - Spring Creek - Stout - Herrington - Spring Creek - Soderberg. Bumped into Aaron just before the falls and ran the loop with him.

Weds - Noon: 8.5 miles (800') easy. Bluesky TH to Arthurs TH and back.

Thurs- AM: 10.5 miles (1,400') tempo. 1:13:32. Good group this week for the "Oh my God it's early" hill tempo run on Centennial. In attendance were Sarah, Slush, Tim, Matthew and Alex (a record number since I've been doing these runs). Out easy in 41:39, back in 31:50 chasing down Matthew and Tim who went a little harder going out (7:30, 6:19, 6:33, 5:49, 5:39).
PM: 7.5 miles easy with the trail running group. Come join us: Thursday at 6:00 pm alternating week to week between an easy 6-7 mile loop around Pineridge (followed by pot luck beers and tucker), and the Towers time trial from the Soderberg TH at Horsetooth. Next week we're on The Hill.

Thursday Social Regulars. All pics: Scott Slusher.

Dogs Welcome. Mary, Gus, Joselyne.

Fresh off a Towers PR last week, Cat rocks a descent.

Mainly a flat circuit around Pineridge, however there are a couple of mini hills.

The FCTR shirts were a good choice for St Paddy's Day. Mary, Celeste, Cat, Slush, Chris.

Always front and center. Sarah, Celeste, Nobby, Alex.

Fri - 10.5 miles (2,000') easy. From Soderberg to Arthurs TH and Arthurs summit, back via Howard.

Sat - 35 miles (6,400') long. 5:40. I don't think I would have chosen to run 35 miles with a butt load of climbing today, but as this was the first annual 'March Mileage Madness' run (or 'Triple Dick' as Marie prefers) I certainly didn't want to miss out on the excitement. A total of 31 runners took on one of the three course options (10, 23, 35 mile), with just a small contingent opting for the Big Boys outing. Driving down to the start at Alex's place, I passed the 7am start group who were making their way around the southeast side of the reservoir (which we were circumnavigating as part of the route). I ended up starting solo at 7:55, approximately 45 minutes behind the rest of the 34-mile starters.

As is typical for me on runs like this, I was very much in one-gear mode and content just to plug along, enjoy the morning and get around in one piece. I ended up catching up to the lead group of Pete, Drew and Sam on top of Arthurs and then cruised on at my morning's pace for the remaining 15 miles. This was a fun route in that it was a complete circumnavigation of the reservoir (with some contrived silliness added on in Horsetooth/Lory). Coming back around the east side of the reservoir heading south to the finish, it was certainly satisfying to check out the three-summit route that I had earlier knocked off on foot. Started getting a little tired coming down to Maxwell, but that was mainly because the end was nigh and I was ready for a beer. Fun times BBQing, drinking and hanging out after at Alex's place. We're a lucky bunch to have such a great community of runners and such an awesome trail network here in The Fort. More here.

Pete's take on the Horsetooth Circumnavigation: 35 miles and 6,400 feet of climbing.

Sun: 10 miles (1,300') easy. Bluesky TH to Arthurs, with small loop up and around Mill Creek Link. Saw everyone and their brother out this morning, including Marie and Karen, Bryan, Rob, and Mike and Shannon.

Total: 111.5 miles (15,300')

So another one in the books and another step closer to the summer racing season. Got both my faster turnover sessions in again this week, although went pretty easy on Tuesday considering the marathon three days prior, but all the same I feel like I am training a little wiser than last year by switching things up a bit and not just churning out endless days in the hills. Hopefully the slightly tweaked training philosophy will yield results come June.

Went close to six hours on Saturday, which is just about where I want to be for American River (with an additional 15 miles covered of course) and that felt relatively comfortable. I wasn't exactly jumping out of bed on Sunday, but the 10 recovery miles I did do felt fine. I would have liked to have run for an extra hour, but income taxes were calling my name and I've decided to take things a little easier leading up to the Antelope Island 50k next weekend so I can hopefully run hard there.

Lots of Pikes-related chatter starting to brew over at GZ's place with general registration opening this week. Kind of bummed to be missing out this year, but that's alright. I'll be back next year to hopefully take a crack at beating MC if he can go yet one more year as King of the Hill. However, I think the Spaniard (Jordi), Daryn or A.N.Other with a good run could finally have his number this year.

Week Ending March 13

Mon - AM: 11.5 miles (2,500') easy. 38e - Bluesky - Towers - Secret Trail - Westridge - Rock - Audra - Southridge - home long way. Cold and dank out. Procrastinated on getting out the door, but convinced myself eventually. Cold until I started up Towers, then all was well with the world.

PM- 5 miles (1,100') easy. Falls loop, long way home.

Tues - AM: 8 miles intervals. Workout with Jane's group: mile Indian file, lamp post mile (fartlek), 2(2x800) on 20 sec rest, mile. With Salida upcoming and a tired pair of pins, I largely cruised the workout, picking it up in places: 6:05, 5:40, 2:52, 2:46, 2:58, 2:42, 5:27.
Noon: 7 miles (1,600') easy. Falls - Spring Creek - Stout - Herrington - Spring Creek - Soderberg - home long. The park was stunning today. A two-day fog was in the process of lifting, leaving behind a wonderland of frozen frost-covered vegetation glimmering in glimpses of golden rays.

Weds - AM: 5 miles (1,100) easy. Falls long. Wow, tired legs.
Noon: 9 miles (1,000'). Blue Sky with Aaron to 'Golden Eagle Gate' and back at an up-tempo effort. Tired again.

Thurs - AM: 10 miles (1,400') hills w/Slushtenstein. To HTH 5 mile and back on Centennial. Out in 39:55, back in 35:40 (7:38, 7:10, 7:27, 6:57, 6:27). Ran with Scott the whole way.
PM: 10 miles (2,100') Towers. 37:02. Warmed up with three to Sawmill, then ran steady to catch up with Cat who I ran with from Carey Springs to help her push out a PR. Beautiful evening out. Last stretch of Towers was still icy.

Fri: 5.5 miles easy in Salida. Felt sore, tired and generally lackadaisical.

Sat: 26.5 miles (3,500'). 3:08. Salida Marathon.

Sun: 15 miles (3,700'). 2:35. Southridge - Audra - Horsetooth summit - Westridge - Mill Creek - Loggers - Sawmill - Valley - Towers - Stout - Spring Creek - Falls - home long. Woke up early and got out the door before I had time to think about bailing on the run. The legs felt slow but generally pretty good. I was up on top of Horsetooth before I was even really awake - almost dreamlike. Working up the hill I had been sitting in a cloud of fog, but on top of the rock the early morning sun was burning strong, a couple hundred feet above the rolling mist. The rock was a little sketchy, encrusted with ice, so I had to be super careful getting up, but up on top the views of the socked-in valleys and canyons below were sensational. I couldn't help but release a primal yelp. The rest of the run was a bit of a slog, but then that's the purpose of getting out on a run like this the day after a hard long effort. Got to get out there and work through some leg fatigue so it hopefully feels a little easier on race day at, say, mile 80. Home for a serving of Ultragen followed by a huge serving of bacon, eggs, toast, avocados and coffee, and a round of superheros with Alistair. Great way to round out the week.

Total: 112.5 miles (18,000')

So another strong week. Trained straight through Salida, which meant I toed the line with a pretty tired pair of pins. I'm at a stage of the building process right now (week three) where the legs are tired and generally lethargic for a majority of my runs. This is pretty standard, especially with the big vert I have been putting in of late, but if history is any guide that fog will soon lift and I should be holding this volume quite easily after a another week or two.

Already this week, I can feel some of that strength in my legs that I was feeling in May and June of last year. The recovery from Salida was an excellent example of this. I don't think I totally maxed my effort there, but I was certainly going hard enough that recovery was a concern. For my run on Sunday, however, lethargy was really the only factor in play as there was very little soreness. To me, this ease of recovery suggests that my legs are adapting well to the load and should be rock solid for the bomber Western States descents come June. If I can stay healthy, I'm starting to feel good about my chances there.

Moving right along. We had a record turnout of 34 runners for the Towers TT on Thursday, which was great to see. Times have been updated. Hopefully we'll build on these numbers through the spring and maybe get a few 50-runner turnouts come peak season. Pete and I have been tossing around the idea of an official Towers up and down 10k race for spring of next year: your slowest and fastest 5k in the same race. Seems like it could be a fun event.

Speaking of Fort Collins Trail Runner events, Alex May has a little something brewing for this Saturday. Giddy from the success and fun of our winter shindig, Alex will be hosting the March Mileage Madness Horsetooth Circumnavigation. Starting from his house near Pineridge, there will be three 'official' routes (9, 23 and 34 miles). For those training for spring marathons, the 23 mile route can be adapted to yield a run that is mainly asphalt by replacing the Foothills section with Centennial roads. However, the official 23 & 34 mile routes will avoid asphalt at all possible opportunity for a total of only 6 or 7 miles of pavement. The 34-mile route will head up into the Horsetooth/Lory hills on the west side of the reservoir for the ultra-inclined among us, whereas the 23-mile route will stick to the traditional valley trails.

Teammates Scott Jaime, Tim Olson, Josh Brimhall and Darcy Africa are off to Washington state this weekend to run the Chuckanutt 50k, and I have to say the field is loaded with talent (especially on the men's side). To date, this is far and away the race of the year and it should be interesting to see how it plays out. Tim is coming off a strong 4th place run at Way Too Cool this last weekend, which is certainly not optimal for Chuckanutt, but I still expect him, Scott and Josh to run well. I count 10-15 guys who should have a shot at the podium. Not sure how many of them will be beaten by Ellie Greenwood, but I'd bet that at least a few will.

And finally, I've always wanted to go to Kyrgyzstan, and now that they've named a peak after Vladimir Putin, I'm even more excited at the prospect. A summit of Mt. Vlad is now firmly on the bucket list.

14,582' Mount Putin in the Tien Shan Mountains.

Salida Marathon 2011

Some races you just keep on going back to, and the Salida 'Run Through Time' Marathon is one of those for me. This weekend was my third consecutive year running Salida and, I am happy to report, my third consecutive PR.

So this year, with fantastic weather in the forecast, I brought the family with me. This meant a nice hotel room - as opposed to the back of the truck - a fun afternoon at the Salida hot springs pool and a night of earache torment for poor Alistair. Needless to say, it was not my best pre-race night of sleep, but as a parent (and an ultrarunner) you gotta roll with the punches. And anyway, as I have come to learn, a poor night's sleep before a race is by no means a valid excuse for a bad race. I'm pretty sure, in fact, that my better race performances have come on the back of hours of tossing and turning and endless clock checks than they have after 8 hours of undisturbed shut eye. So anyway, I rolled into packet pick-up and the pre-race briefing in the morning pretty un-enthused about the task ahead, but happy to see and catch up with many familiar faces.

Salida has become one of those great local races that brings in the hardcore trail crowd, in addition to a pretty strong field. This year was no exception. I knew beforehand that Timmy Parr was going to be running and looking for the three-peat, on advice from Burch who would be running his sixth (of six renditions). Brendan Trimboli had also advised that he was in, and then at the pre-race meeting I was surprised to see Geoff Roes lurking in the shadows, but less surprised to see Dan Vega who is a regular fixture at Salida. Marco Peinada and Brooks Williams were both there looking for redemption from last year, and JT was also in attendance to log his sixth start, in company with a large CRUD contingent. Unfortunately Nick Pedatella didn't make it out, as he was nursing a bum ankle, but the field still looked strong, so I knew I'd have my work cut out if I wanted to get on the podium.

From the off, a small pack formed, but unlike years prior there were no half marathon rabbits to chase through the early going, so it was me, Timmy and Ryan up front with a few others close behind as we made our way out to the Ute Trail county road that would take us up to the 10.5 mile, 9,100' turnaround an hour and a quarter later.

Once you get on the Ute Trail climb, two miles in, it is approximately six miles and 1,800 feet to the Turret Road turn on a gravely dirt road that follows a wash up into the hills above the Arkansas River valley. This is one of my all-time favorite race climbs as the grade is at that perfect in-between point where you can run fast and get a good pant going without feeling like you're digging yourself an early grave for the rest of the race, which, while mainly downhill, should absolutely not be underestimated.

As we settled into the climb, Timmy and I built some separation on the rest of the field, but before long I decided to ease off the gas letting Timmy go as I found an effort level that seemed wise and appropriate. As we pushed on up, I heard footfalls a few meters back, and at one of the many twists in the road I shot a look back to see that it was Dan Vega sitting as he had last year close behind me. At this point - a few miles into the race - there was nobody else in sight. Timmy was 20-30 seconds up on me here, which is essentially where he would stay until the end of the climb, while Dan was equidistant behind in a position that he too would maintain through to the turn.

So by mile eight and the Turret Road left, it was Timmy, me and Dan running 1,2 & 3 across a two-minute span. The views of the mighty Collegiate Peaks at the high point of the race, a couple miles down the road, were as stunning as always on this beautiful bluebird morning and it was all smiles as I passed Timmy on his way back from the turnaround (which had been moved a couple miles in from Turret to accommodate a new stretch of singletrack at the end of the race). As previously described, Dan was a minute or so back on me, while Ryan was a further couple of minutes back on Dan, followed by a procession of runners from there.

By the mile-14 (ish) turn on to the jeep track return off the Ute Trail, it looked like I had closed on Timmy a bit and maybe extended my gap on Dan. Seeing that I was within striking distance of Tim, I began to think that I might have a rare shot at taking him down, and continued to feel that way as I kept him in sight through the next couple of miles of rolling double track. However, after a while, the glimpses of Timmy dried up, while Dan looked like he might be making up ground, which led to the obvious conclusion that I was slowing. I knew here that I needed to get some calories in, having consumed just one gel early in the climb, but I just couldn't be bothered with it. The sun was strong on this morning and the thought of gel was just not a good one, so I decided here that I'd see what I could do on fat reserves and water alone.

As we made our way on to the new six-mile section of singletrack at mile 20, I hadn't caught sight of Timmy in quite some time and I had pretty much given up on catching him - and didn't really care anyway - while Dan was essentially on my shoulder. The trail was stellar and I immediately got a boost from that and felt way more comfortable than I had on the hideously loose and rocky jeep track descent that we had previously been negotiating. However, the trail was exceptionally twisty and very narrow, which slowed the pace considerably. In addition, there were a couple of real grunters early in this section that reduced the pace to close to a hike. I had been suffering for a bit by the time we hit the steepest of the climbs and I told Dan, who was now just a few strides behind me, to jump by whenever he was ready, but pretty much as soon as I said that he began to fade and through the remainder of the twisty turny descent I rebuilt the gap on Dan to a minute or two. This thankfully meant that I wouldn't have to engage in a late-race battle for second, and I was able to cruise to the finish in 3:08:55 and a 10-minute course PR.

All pics pilfered from Burch's website.

Dan finished up 60-90 seconds behind me in third, suggesting that he has found some good early season form, while Ryan was a few minutes behind Dan in fourth. Sean O'Day had a good run for fifth and Brendan 'Solar Weasel' Trimboli was solid in sixth. I was also super stoked for occasional training partner and friend Aaron Marks who ran 4:00:00, having set an 'A' goal of breaking 4 hours. After hanging around waiting for JT to finish, I got bored and headed back to the hotel for a shower. By the time I got back he still wasn't finished, which means I beat the handicap by more than an hour in our two-race wager despite his strong showing in New Orleans. Something about stopping for a beer break at mile 20.

To cap off a great weekend, it was off to Ryan's aunt's place for a fabulous Irish feast of corned beef, cabbage, boiled veg, fabulous home-baked breads and thoroughly enjoyable company.

Always a fun time in Salida.

Splits:

First Aid: 51:44
Turret Road Turn: 59:08
10.5 Turn: 1:15:45
Jeep Track Turn: 1:37:12
Finish: 3:08:55

Updated Towers Times

I'm just 2 for 4 on Towers sessions this year, but life on the Big Hill has - apparently - been going on without me. Updated times and statistics below. Omissions, mistakes, etc? Let me know.

Thursday will be your last chance until next winter (this one is over as far as I am concerned) to take on the night version of the hill. Currently, the conditions underfoot are most excellent; however, there appears to be a winter storm in the forecast for tonight so the conditions could quite conceivably be terrible by Thursday. Either way, we run.

2011 Times & All-time PRs through 2/24/11:

..............PR.....1/13..1/27....2/9....2/24..3/10..3/24
Aaron....36:03..................................38:00............36:03
Alex A....38:07..43:00..46:00..46:11..42:50............43:15
Alex M....36:57..42:34..38:27..41:04..41:03..39:30..36:57
Amy.......42:00.....................................................42:00
Brent......39:24............40:44.......................40:30..39:24
Brian K...37:12.............37:12
Brian S...40:30..42:20...40:30............42:46
Brian W...44:55..51:10..49:04..51:21..45:56..47:07
Cat.........42:54..45:40..44:54.............gold*..42:54..43:34
Celeste...44:53..47:59..46:06..52:11..46:30..46:09..44:53
Chris C...35:53......................................................35:53
Chris H...43:41.......................46:45..43:41..44:03
Chris K...46:50.......................50:10..46:50
Cherilyn..38:19..42:ish..40:34..43:20
Dakota...30:30.............30:30..35:00..31:00.............33:06
Dan B.....41:21.............41:21
Dan Bla..47:15.............50:20.............47:15..47:22
Dan J.....36:17.............37:30..39:40.............37:14..36:17
Danny....44:30.......................................................44:30
Dave T...44:47.............................................44:47
Diana H..42:09..46:28...................................42:09
Don.......44:06.............49:13
Dustin....45:00.............................................45:00
Eddie......38:33............................................38:51
Eric........40:30..40:30
Eric B.....29:37..............30:51
Felix.......36:28..................................40:30..38:32..37:22
Fred.......48:40..............................................gold*.48:40
Glenn.....40:35..............43:00
Heather..54:00.............................................54:00
Jaime.....55:00.......................55:00
Jeff K.....39:08..43:00....39:08
Jenn M...34:59..37:47....35:09.......................37:30..34:59
Jenn S....52:12..................................56:51..52:12
John H...49:46........................49:46
Jordan....46:55.............................................46:55
Joselyne.52:40...............gold*..57:22..55:24..57:24
JZ..........38:45.............................................44:00..43:06 Kyle.......34:42..............34:42
Laura.....39:37.............................................42:00
Lindsey..45:50..............................................45:50
Marie.....41:30..............44:33.............42:38.............41:30 Marlene...................................................................gold*
Mary B...42:03..............44:31..51:18...47:13..44:21..42:05
Mindy.....54:44..54:44..............57:00.............55:10..59:22
Mike L....41:00..47:50...43:50..............46:23..42:25..41:00
Mike Le..44:00....................................44:00
Mike T....45:06..47:31
Mike M...41:50..............43:00........................42:59..41:50
Molly......62:15.........................gold*...64:43..62:15..75:00
Nick C....29:26..32:01....29:26........................37:02..gold*
Nick M....34:55..38:56....35:42..................................34:55
Nick Med.......................................................gold*
Pete......32:41..39:40.....35:40..36:32..36:28..34:38..38:45
Ramon..47:32.........................................................48:31
Ross.......45:00...................................48:00..45:00
Ryan B...30:58..33:45....31:32..33:10..32:33.............30:58
Sam M...28:50..32:59
Sarah H..36:10..............36:10..37:04.......................36:12
Slush......32:52..34:54....32:56..35:34..34:43..33:48..32:52
Steph.....36:47..............41:21..40:32.......................36:47
Steve G..58:30........................................................58:30 Tina.......40:27.............................................43:05...40:27
Tom K...48:55....................................50:00..48:55
Woody....44:30..............44:30
...65..................20........32.......20.......23.......34......32

Top times:
Sam Malmberg: 28:50
Nick Clark: 29:26
Eric Bergman: 29:37
Dakota Jones: 30:30
Steve Folkerts: 30:36

Women
Jenn Malmberg: 34:59
Sarah Hansen: 36:10
Steph: 36:47
Cherilyn Sackel: 37:07
Amy Hartley: 38:14

Week Ending March 6

Mon - AM: 9 miles (1,900') easy. Falls - Spring Creek - Stout - Loggers - Carey Springs - Towers - Herrington - Spring Creek - Soderberg - home long. Felt like we were well above freezing this morning. Really looking forward to spring.
PM: 9.5 miles (2,100'). Falls - Spring Creek - Stout - Herrington - Spring Creek - Wathan - Rock - Audra - Southridge - home long. Twilight was just as nice as dawn. It was a real joy to be outside moving through nature today.
---------------------------------------------------
January: 440.5 miles (45,850')
February: 304.5 miles (39,200')

Total: 745 miles (85,050')
Avg: 372.5 miles (42,525')
---------------------------------------------------
Tues - AM: 7 miles intervals. Met Jane's group for a cemetery workout: mile; 2(3x800) w/20 seconds between reps, 4 mins between sets; mile. After 1.5 mile warm up, workout went: 5:19; 2:37, 2:41, 2:47; 2:39, 2:43, 2:47; 5:13. Tough workout for 7 in the morning. Couldn't hang on to the 800s with the short rest, which was disappointing, but the miles were encouraging. Beautiful out again.
Noon: 9 miles (2,300') easy. Horsetooth/Audra long. Tired legs, went super easy.

Weds - AM: 11 miles (2,500') easy. 38e - Bluesky - Towers - Secret Trail - Westridge - Rock - Audra - Southridge - home long way. Nothing like a Towers ascent first thing in the morning. Felt Good.
Noon: 7 miles (1,500') easy. Falls - Spring Creek - Stout - Herrington - Spring Creek - Soderberg - home long.

Thurs - AM: 10 miles (1,400') tempo. Out and back to 5 mile mark on HTH course from Maxwell with Scott and Sarah. Out easy in 41:08, then back in 32:06: 7:55 (up north dam hill), 6:15, 6:32, 5:50, 5:32. Legs felt tight, so didn't push as hard as planned but definitely felt like I got a good tempo effort in.
PM: 6.5 miles easy with FCTR group.

Fri - Noon: 9 miles (2,300') easy. Horsetooth/Audra long.
PM: 5 miles (1,100') easy. Falls long.

Sat - AM: 31.5 miles (7,600') long. 5:37. Chubby Cheeks course with Ryan. Nice overcast morning for this, my longest run of 2011. I had originally emailed Ryan to see if he wanted to get in on an AR50 type run with 12 miles at tempo on the roads followed by 20 miles of trail. His response was less than enthusiastic, so we opted for The Chubster, which I actually hadn't run in its entirety. We ran the whole thing at a steadily comfortable pace, just plugging away in the same gear the whole way around. Lower sections of Mill Creek had some pretty sketchy luge runs, as did north-facing Timber and the frozen abyss that is Well Gulch, but I stayed upright the whole run despite having to dance a bit in places to do so. Most everything else was clear. Run time was close to 5:20, but we stopped on both summits and at the Visitors Center for extended periods. Felt strong the whole way round, which was nice, especially as this was my first run over 4 hours in quite some time. Looking forward to letting rip on the course at the end of the year.

Burch, Clark on Horsetooth summit.

Sunday - AM: 7.5 miles setting up Tortoise and Hare 12k course.

Total: 122 miles (22,700').

This was an enjoyable week of reconnecting with my local trails and just getting out and running a bunch of vertical. I also got out for a couple of quality turnover sessions Tuesday and Thursday, and was reasonably encouraged with the way those went. For anyone interested in getting in on these excellent workouts, Jane's group meets Tuesday morning at 7:15 in City Park by the golf course parking area, while the Thursday morning hill tempo group meets at Maxwell at 5:45 (yeah, I know).

More of the same next week, with maybe a light day Friday in preparation for the Salida Marathon, one of my favorite local events on the calendar. I am hearing that the event is close to being sold out, so register now if you're procrastinating on that one.

I filled in a few of the blanks for May this week by signing up for the Jemez 50, where I'll be looking to defend my crown, and also Collegiate Peaks 25 where I'll mainly be looking to get a quality long run done.

Towers time trial this Thursday from Soderberg at 6:00 as usual. From what I hear, things got a little epic with a mid-run blizzard last time out, but having run up Towers three times this week, I can report that conditions are currently 90% clear which means the track should be in close-to-PR shape come Thursday, the last headlight session of the year. I'm a bit behind on updating times from the last two sessions, but should have that covered later tonight.

Week Ending Feb 27

Mon - 24 miles (2,700') easy. 3:09. This was a repeat of a run I did with Burch a few weeks back. From my house, the route goes roads to the Devils Backbone trailhead in Loveland (12 miles) via Masonville/Hwy 34 and then straight back north on the Bluesky trail: high route to the keyhole, then lefts through the Loveland-side loops, Indian Summer and then the long way home once back in my neighborhood. Nearly all the climbing on this route comes in the return 12 miles. Hit the trailhead in 1:20 flat (6:40s) at what felt like a reasonably relaxed pace, then switched to jog mode, coming back in 1:49.

Building on Sunday's 19 mile run, a still sore foot/ankle, and presumably some residual fatigue from New Orleans, my legs felt pretty beat towards the end. I took that as an opportunity to put in a late-race effort by upping the tempo through the last two miles of trail before the climb back up to my house. Redstone: 15:45; Hwy34: 62; Backbone: 1:20; 38e: 2:52.

Tues - AM: 8 miles intervals. Met up with Jane's early AM group to get a bit of turnover back into the routine. Wasn't expecting great things given 19 & 24 mile runs the previous two days, but did manage to elevate the heart rate which I guess was the only real goal. Workout went: fartlek mile, fartlek cross country hill mile, mile steady road, 1,200, 1,000. Ran with Chris M for these, which meant I was working a little harder than originally planned. 3 mile warm up with Scott, Sarah and Celeste, then:

1.05 mile fartlek - 6:21 (6:03 pace)
1.18 mile CC hill fartlek - 7:13 (6:06)
mile - 5:34 (5:34)
.75 mile - 3:54 (5:13)
.62 mile - 3:17 (5:17)

PM: 9 miles (2,300') easy. Haven't run this one since before Western States last year when it was pretty much my daily lunchtime route. Figured I'd launch back into the short-mileage vert racker and see how things felt. Physically I was pretty tired, but really this was a mental exercise to see if I've got the desire to go out and do what I did last year in getting ready for States. Jury still out on that one. Anyway: Soderberg to bench - Horsetooth down to Falls, then Spring Creek - Soderberg - Rock trail - Audra Culver - back up to Horsetooth via Southridge - Rock to Soderberg - long way home (aka: Horsetooth/Audra long).

Weds - AM: 11 miles (2,500') easy. 38e - Bluesky - Towers - Secret Trail - Westridge - Rock - Audra - Southridge - home long way. Legs felt reasonably spry which was a surprise.
PM: 5 miles (1,050) easy. Falls, long way home.

Thurs - AM: 10 miles (1,400') hills. On Centennial to 5 mile marker on HTH course. Out easy in 39:44, back @ conversational-steady w/Tim in 34:47.

Noon: 5 miles (1,050'). Falls, long way home.

PM: 4.5 miles in Louisville on Coal Creek Trail with PI teamates Josh and Tim.

Fri - AM: 5.5 miles (800') easy. In Boulder with PI product line managers, photographer, and others for a slippery run on the lower Boulder mountain trails from N-CAR.
PM: 6.5 miles easy on Coal Creek Trail with Ian, Scott, Josh and Tim.

Sat - AM: 11 miles easy. With PI team for run and photo shoot at Boulder Reservoir.

Sun - AM: 11.5 miles (2,800') easy. Falls - Spring Creek - Stout - Loggers - Mill Creek - Towers - Secret Trail - Westridge - Rock - Soderberg - home long way.

Total: 111 miles (14,600')

The WS build is officially on. Front loaded the week in anticipation of a lower mileage weekend with meetings, eating and boozing at the Pearl Izumi team summit. Managed to squeeze in a few more runs than anticipated Friday and Saturday, but really nothing but mileage padding. Anyway, happy to come in at over 100 miles on the week, although was hoping for a little more vertical.

So the summit was a huge success and as usual the folks at Pearl were fantastic hosts. A lot of great things in the works with regards to product and racing. First and foremost, the Peak II is now in full production and will be available from retailers in the very near future. I've run in most all of the prototypes leading up to this release and I have to tip my hat to Mike Thompson, the PI run shoe dude, for really listening to the feedback from the ultrarunning team in developing and modifying this shoe. While it is called the Peak II, it is essentially a complete overhaul of the original Peak with the only real similarity being the focus on keeping the shoe light. Unlike some of the other lightweight trail runners currently on the market, the Peak is built to last. I put over 600 miles on one of the protos and can honestly say that if I hadn't given the shoes back to Mike for inspection, I would have put them through many more miles before donating. But durability is just one part of the picture. The shoe rocks on many fronts, but more on that when they're on the market.

Tim Olson rocking the Peak II. Photo, Eric Wynn.

An earlier iteration. The upper material has changed, but styling is essentially the same.

In addition to Pearl Izumi fun and games, we had a great presentation from Robert Kunz, researcher/developer-in-chief at First Endurance, whose products I am again excited to be using in 2011.

Highgear also sent Dale Fleckenstein down to present on the excellent range of products those guys have in the offing. Like Pearl, Highgear has listened, and I am super excited for the launch of the new Axio HR, which will combine the features of two existing watches (Axio Max and Alterra) to produce a really great mountain running watch that will also include a heart rate monitor and associated data. The launch on that is this summer, but perhaps more exciting (for GPS junkies) is the 2012 scheduled launch date for the Highgear GPS watch, which will combine the mileage tracking capabilities of GPS with all the great vert tracking capabilities of the Highgear altimeter technology. Exciting stuff.

Axio Max Steel - the heavier 'street' version.

Eric Wynn was there all weekend snapping some great pics, which I am looking forward to seeing more of as they become available. The guy is quite the talent.

And finally, check out these short video interviews with teammates Scott and Darcy on running extreme distances while maintaining balance as parents, spouses and career professionals. Both these guys are class acts and great ambassadors for the sport.

Anyone else smelling spring?

Fortnight Ending Feb 20

Week Ending Feb 13

Mon - 4.5 miles (900') easy. Falls loop.

Tues - 4.5 miles (900') easy. Falls loop.

Weds - Off

Thurs -5.5 miles easy. 4 x 800 @ 6:00 on the mill. Should have stayed well away. What was I thinking? Felt like I really tightened up my hamstrings on this run.

Fri - 4.5 miles easy on the bike paths.

Sat - 4 miles easy in New Orleans with Mock.

Sun - 27 miles. New Orleans Marathon. 2:36.

Total: 50 miles (1,800')

Essentially a rest week with a hard weekend effort.

Week Ending Feb 20

Mon - 4.5 miles (900') super easy. Legs were predictably sore after the marathon, but not too bad. Hiked some of the icier sections of trail, but was able to jog reasonably comfortably.

Tues - 6 miles (900') easy. Valley trails. Pretty big slop factor on the valley trails, which slowed things down nicely. Calves still pretty sore.

Weds - 12 miles (2,800') easy. Horsetooth - Falls - Spring Creek - Stout - Loggers - Mill Creek - Towers - Secret Trail - Westridge - Horsetooth Summit - Audra - Southridge - home. Out with the Montrail crew (Dakota, Ryan and Geoff) for an easy cruise. Legs getting there slowly, but certainly still sore in the calf department. Thankfully, both Ryan and Dakota were getting ready for Red Hot this weekend (Dakota won, Ryan 3rd), so everyone was on board the easy train with me.

Ryan, Geoff, Dakota and Me on Horsetooth Summit.

Thurs - Noon: 8.5 miles (2,000') easy. Falls - Spring Creek - Stout - Loggers - Carey - Towers - Herrington - Spring creek - Soderberg. Nice out again, although still a few stretches of ice. Opened it up in places, but largely mellow. Calves still a little sore, especially on the downs.
PM: 7.5 miles easy with the trail running group. Turned my ankle quite painfully in the dark on the moderately technical singletrack on the west side of Pineridge. I really should invest in some new headlight batteries.

Friday - AM: 6 miles (700') easy. Milner Mtn w/long way home. Foot was pretty painful from yesterday. Almost bailed on the run - hope this is nothing too serious.
PM: 2 miles. From Discount Tire on Mason Trail. Turned around after a mile as my foot was hurting way too much. Praying this is not a stress fracture.

Saturday - AM: 10 miles (1,400') easy. To 5 mile on HTH course with Fort Collins Running Club. Probably would have bagged this run had I not been leading it. As it was, I cut a planned 10-15 at AR50 pace from the start of the run. Foot felt better than yesterday which is an excellent sign, but definitely not out of the woods yet.
PM: 2.5 miles (800') with Alistair to Gem Lake in Estes. Foot hurting again.

Sun - 19 miles (4,000') easy. 38e/Shoreline to Sodeberg, then Valley - Arthurs - Overlook - Well Gulch - Timber - Arthurs tag - Arthurs down - Mill Creek - Loggers - Stout - Spring Creek - Falls - home the long way. Foot was still painful at times during this run, but was sufficiently less painful that I'm pretty sure it is no more than a strained tendon (knock on wood). Should be pain free in a couple of days. Anyway, trails were a mix of dry dirt, mud, ice, snow and crunchy frost. Tough conditions with some serious luge runs in a couple of the gulleys and on Mill Creek, but great to be out working some hills on a longer run again.

Total: 77 miles (14,200')

New Orleans was a focus race and I feel like I came up a bit short, which is always disappointing, but as I've already said, it was still a significant PR so I'm happy enough with the result. Was talking to John Lonsdale, owner of Foot of the Rockies, earlier in the week and told him that at least now I feel like I have the ability to run a 2:29 if I can ever find the motivation to prepare for a road marathon again. Toying with the idea of taking another stab late season, but seems a tad unlikely given the mammoth summer I have on tap.

I had planned on getting right back into the training this week after a couple easy days Monday and Tuesday, but my weekend plans were scuppered by a turned ankle from Thursday night. Thankfully, what I had originally feared was a stress fracture appears to be no more than a strain, so I've pretty much given myself the green light. Up early tomorrow morning to take advantage of the Presidents Day holiday with a 30+ mile run, which will build on 19 from today. Going to call that the official kick off for Western States, Hardrock, UTMB training.

Good to see Fort Collins put up four of the top 10 in the men's race in Moab yesterday (Dakota (1), Ryan (3), Sam M (7), Pete S (8)), with Scott S bringing home the master's win too.

New Orleans Marathon

This was my sixth go at building for a marathon, so I've become pretty familiar with the event and the required training, but there are always new things to learn. Probably my biggest takeaway from this go around is that it takes a steadfast commitment to running fast in training, a somewhat unpleasant proposition for the mountain jogger in me, and one that I think I was a little too half-hearted about. While I still feel like I had a decent build up, especially on the mileage front, if I were to do it again, I would definitely include a greater number of sustained efforts at marathon pace and fewer mile repeat type workouts.

But this is not always easy. From my house, I have limited access to flat, paved terrain, which makes it easy to ditch certain workouts in favor of mountain jogging sessions. That is just the reality of where I live - great training grounds for mountain courses, but terrible for road races. Anyway, on balance, I think I did about as much as was realistically possible, so really shouldn't complain about what ended up being a slightly disappointing run. After all, a 7 minute PR is a very positive sign. On to the report.

The Finish. All photos: Justin Mock

Firstly, I wish I could have spent a little more time in New Orleans, but with work and family obligations being what they are, this was very much a whistle-stop tour. I got in late Friday and then spent the balance of Saturday hanging out in the French Quarter with Top American and Nela. The French Quarter would have been a lot of fun had there been a quarter the number of people milling around, and if I wasn't running a marathon the next day. As it was, we walked around a bit taking in the scene and the architecture before sitting down to a disappointing jumbalaya etouffe at what looked like a nice restaurant (I'm disappointed 7 times out of 10 when I eat out, so tend to avoid it if possible). Justin and Nela opted for a bus tour in the afternoon, so I headed to a quieter part of town for coffee, sun and a little soak of New Orleans life.

After a pasta dinner out by the airport where I was staying, it was to bed for the 4:45 alarm call to meet Justin for the 5:30 ride into town. Sitting in the car, I was feeling pretty blasé about the work ahead and generally just a little disinterested. Justin and I weaseled our way into the elite/VIP area at the start after heckling Jurek who was in the pen taking pictures with fans. The heaters were a real treat as it was just a touch nippy in the pre-dawn of morning. Kim Smith was there looking skinny and sharp as were a bunch of Hansen Brooks runners. Not only would Kim go on to beat Justin by four minutes in the half, she would also set a U.S.-soil half marathon record (1:07:36). Impressive.

Shortly before the gun Brian Peterson, a fellow trail runner, introduced himself saying that he was looking to go 2:29. Having still not made up my mind on pacing, I figured I’d use Brian as a gauge as he was planning on pacing off his Garmin. If I could hang, I would at least have someone to work with after the five-mile marathon/half marathon split, beyond which I was fully expecting to run solo.

Easing into the run, things felt remarkably smooth, as they should on tapered legs in the early stages of a marathon, so it was all small talk, fun and games. This is always the pleasurable part of the marathon – people are chatty, the work feels easy and your goal is yet to be shattered by the inevitable effects of lactic-acid build up and glycogen depletion. The first mile was perhaps the easiest 5:49 I have ever run, and it pretty much felt like we were jogging. Through these early miles I was in a good pack, hanging two or three deep just drafting and chatting. Up to the half marathon turn off, the miles went: 5:46, 5:47, 5:46, 5:44. The numbers suggested the pace was maybe just a touch hot, but aside from a nagging right glute and right Achilles (which are nearly always nagging) the effort felt just about right.

All the while, I had been keeping an eye on Brian, who had maybe ten meters on me by mile five, as he was the only one I knew was in the marathon, and I also knew from his continued Garmin vigilance that he was still right there as the 2:29 marker. When the half/full split came, everyone in my immediate vicinity, with the exception of Brian made the turn, leaving me stranded in an island of solitude. Mile 6 hit at 6:14, so evidently I had fallen off the pace without anyone to work with, but I am also assuming that the marker was a touch long. Nonetheless, I upped the effort to make sure the next mile was safely in the 5-minute zone.

Miles 7 through 11 were run 100% solo. The long straight street that we were running on allowed me to keep track of Brian who was steadily building his gap on me. I gave thought to bridging to get on the 2:29 train but just wasn't feeling spry enough, so made the decision to keep the 5:50 pacing goal and see who came back to me. While my breathing was still super easy, my legs just weren’t feeling that peppy, a little crampy even. I popped a couple of E-caps somewhere in here to bump up the electrolytes and I also managed to get a gel down. Miles 7-11 went: 5:41, 5:50, 5:51, 5:48. Clearly, there would be no 2:30 on the day, but 2:33 was still very much alive.

Somewhere around mile 10 the marathon course rejoined the half (mile 5 in the half). I had been a bit worried about this section on the long haul up to City Park as I really didn’t want to be weaving around half marathoners for eight miles. Thankfully, we were on a divided two-lane thoroughfare for the full eight miles the two courses shared, so I got two lanes to myself (literally), while the half marathoners were bumper to bumper on their side of the road.

Mile 12 popped at 5:54 and mile 13 at 5:56. The 5:5x numbers back to back at equal effort output to previous 5:4x miles was a worrying sign to me that the slide was on, so going through the half in 1:16:48 (one second off a PR), I was beginning to feel like 2:33 would be a major result, with a 2:35 being a decent save. And then I split a 5:31 14th mile. I immediately wrote that one off as a short mile marker and got my nose back down to the grindstone.

Entering City Park

The miles up to the park, where I was expecting to see Justin and Nela and maybe run with Justin a bit, were unremarkable other than for the fact that I was desperately trying to hold on to my pace and failing: 6:08, 6:07, 5:58, 5:56. Shortly thereafter I was in the park and Justin jumped in to pace me for a stretch. He told me that he’d been double chicked, despite running an impressive 1:11:10. I was happy for him, but as I was beginning to feel increasingly sorry for myself, I was only able to mutter half-hearted words of congratulations on his PR. Justin pulled me through my last 5:xx mile, the 19th, which hit at 5:56. Soon thereafter he dropped off the pace (clearly it was too hot for him!) and left me to the misery of my own company.

Without my pacer I dropped straight back into the 6s, with a 6:04 20th mile on the way up to the shores of Lake Pontchartrain. Along the shore there was an annoying distance-adding out and back that involved two 180 degree cone turns, which at this stage of the game were about as welcome as Hosni Mubarak in Cairo. Mile 21, which included one of the U turns and a complete stop over confusion as to whether or not I was still on course (I was), popped at 6:08. Ughh. Mile 22 was no better (6:08), but at least I was headed back toward the finish.

I can’t remember exactly where I saw Brownie in here on this out and back section, but it was probably at about mile 22.5 (20 something for him). After some quick math based on where he was and time elapsed, he – quite unbelievably – appeared to be well on pace for his targeted 2:54. I think I grunted at him and then got my head back down for the dull, painful grind of the last few miles. Somehow I was maintaining my new low-6-minute pace. While it wasn’t my desired reality, at least there wasn’t a complete meltdown underway.

Token kick for the finish

Mile 23 was a 6:07 with 2:16:17 on the clock. I needed an act of god for 2:30, a miracle for 2:33 and some good old fashioned guts for 2:35. I apparently had none of the above, and capitulated over the last three miles with a 6:13, 6:10, 6:15 finish. I put in a token effort at running the last .2 in 63 seconds for the 2:35, but came up way short finishing in 2:36:11 and tenth overall.

Marathons hurt.

Brian fell off the pace a little through the closing miles, but still ran an impressive 2:31:13

Having set myself a 2:29-2:35 goal spread, I could say that I’m disappointed with the result, but as long as I’m setting PRs then I really shouldn’t be complaining. My marathon times are still moving at a large-chunk trajectory, so I am confident that next time out I’ll be able to put up a coveted 2:2x time and feel that I can give the event a satisfied turn of the back. As a point of reference, in my six stabs at the marathon my times have gone: 3:28, 3:16, 3:06, 2:54, 2:43, 2:36, so I have to believe that there is still room for improvement.

A huge congrats to Brownie for his impressive 2:53 run and PR, and of course to Justin for a really impressive collection of 1s (1:11:11) in the half. I ended up beating Brownie by 17 minutes and change, which means that I have to beat him by 38 minutes in Salida in order to win our bet. It’s a taller order than I would have liked, but still within the realms of possibility.

A word on the course. As Justin pointed out to me post-race, the marathon course for Competitor events tend to be an afterthought to the half marathons. The half course in New Orleans is lightning fast with very few turns and probably no more than 10 or 20 feet of elevation change. The marathon course is also very fast and very flat, but there are a lot of turns which slow things down a touch. I think this race will attract a stronger field in the coming years as it gains a reputation for being fast, but for guys in the 2:20 - 2:40 range the current lack of depth makes for more of a time trial than a race.

Results.

Splits:

1. 5:49
2. 5:46
3. 5:47
4. 5:46
5. 5:44
6. 6:14
7. 5:41
8. 5:50
9. 5:51
10. 5:48
11. 5:54
12. 5:56
13. 5:56
14. 5:31
15. 6:08
16. 6:07
17. 5:58
18. 5:56
19. 5:56
20. 6:04
21. 6:08
22. 6:08
23. 6:07
24. 6:13
25. 6:10
26. 6:15
0.2 1:14

Avg: 5:57.8

1st half: 1:16:48
2nd half: 1:19:23

1st 5: 28:52
2nd 5: 29:24
3rd 5: 29:25
4th 5: 30:01
5th 5: 30:46