Week Ending Jan 24

Mon - Off (travel day back from NM)

Tues:

am - 2.5 miles (500'). To Bench on Soderberg and back.

pm - 5 miles (700'). Falls/Spring Creek loop.

Weds:

am - 2.5 miles (500'). Bench and back.

pm - 6.5 miles (1,700'). To top of Horsetooth and back.

Thurs:

am - 2.5 miles (500'). Bench and back.

pm - 6 miles (1,500'). Horsetooth/Audra.

Fri:

am - 2.5 miles (500'). Bench and back.

pm - 6 miles (1,500'). Horsetooth/Audra.

Sat - 20 miles (800') easy w/Alex and Kemp. Roads from JJs along dam to Centennial, then Horsetooth Half route to Overland and back to JJs.

Sun - 0 miles. Some significant pain in the ball of my foot under the second toe in the latter half of this week. Ran through it, hoping it would go away, but after 20 miles Saturday it was pretty evident that this was more than bruising. Bagged a planned 13 miler with Eric B.

Total: 53.5 (8,100'). Next week may well be a goose egg. My foot feels like it will need time to heal (see Sunday) - possibly an inflamed tendon, and praying it is not a stress fracture. Either way, I'm going to give it the time it needs and not do anything silly this early in the year.

Ghost Town 38.5

The Ghost Town weekend in Hillsboro, New Mexico was definitely more getaway than it was race. Susan, the tireless race director, is a force of nature, and while we were all there to run 38.5 miles through the hills of the Gila Wilderness, the race almost felt secondary to the event itself.

Any time the pre-race dinner is preceded by a Greek dance performance illuminated by stars and candlelight, you can bet you're not at your average trail race.

After a trip on Saturday from our stop-over in Santa Fe, which included a visit to urgent care to attend to poor Alistair’s fingers that had been pinched in the car door (nothing too serious, but some major pain for the wee nipper), we were more than ready to decompress once finally at our destination.

Showing off his war wounds

So after the dancing and the feast - lashings of pasta from Susan and her band of tireless volunteers, plus an assortment of pot-luck contributions (a real family affair) - we were treated to three or four minutes of ancient Greek verse (recited from memory) by Susan’s husband Tom. As I said, an event in and of itself with a run thrown in for a little extra fun.

The race is essentially an off-road marathon sandwiched between two road 10ks - one uphill the other down. Race morning came bright and early, with approximately 100 runners assembled in the brisk 6:00 am air.

Not really in the mood at 5:30 in the morning

Paul Grimm sporting a pink Snuggie

Lighting was required for the first six miles up the hill to the dirt-road turn-off, and Andy Jones-Wilkins, myself, Pete Stevenson (a fellow Fort Collins’ite) and Rochelle Wirth settled into an easy pace through the opening few miles, getting up the six-mile climb in the social manner typical of ultra races. Andy and I opened a bit of a gap on the other two through the last couple of road miles and then once on the dirt Andy dropped back a bit, and I was left to run alone, which is essentially where I remained for the rest of the race.

I hadn’t run a step since Bandera, eight days prior, with the exception of a two-mile shakeout run the night before, so I wasn't sure how to approach the run from a racing standpoint. The no-run thing was partly crazy schedule, which included a jammed three-day work trip to New York mid week, and partly a sore overextended knee that was slow to heal.

Eight miles into the race and my legs were already feeling the way they had after the first 50k at Bandera, so I knew the run was going to be a slog, but I welcomed it as useful mental training. Being out in the lead so early, I didn’t really know if I wanted to try and push for as fast a time as possible or just do enough for the win. I ended up straddling the two options, pushing at times and taking it easy at others.

Coming into the Vista aid station (I think), a couple miles from the turn

On the way back from the turnaround, both Andy and Pete were a lot closer than I thought they would be - six to seven minutes - so I was forced to up the tempo as I knew they would be pushing each other hard. Pete was no more than 20 seconds behind Andy and he looked hungry (in a predator-type way) and I was sure that he would be coming home in front of Andy. The fourth-place runner - Rochelle Wirth - was also looking very strong, and while Jamie Donaldson was evidently running Ghost Town as a training run, it would have taken quite a run to beat Rochelle who ended up destroying the previous course record.

Going into the race, I had been thinking that a five-hour run would be a good goal, and after a bit of mental calculation from the turn, I figured that if I could get to the road and the last six miles in 4:20, I would give it a shot. I got to the road in 4:23 and was actually pretty thankful to be taking it easy through the last six miles, which I ran in 46 minutes for a 5:09 finish and a new course record.

Heading out on the last six

Alistair and Dana were waiting at the finish and I got to cross the line with Alistair in tow, which is always special.

For winning the race, I got a beautiful turquoise and coral necklace (huge chunk of turquoise), a $50 Fleet Feet voucher and a big thing of local Hatch Chiles - love it!

Andy ended up fending off Pete with a 41 minute last six miles providing - as he put it - the crusty cheese filling in a Fort Collins sandwich. Pete continues to get stronger each year he runs this thing and looks to be in great early season shape as he prepares for the Grand Slam of Ultrarunning this summer. He and I will be sharing more than a few miles on the trail this winter/spring as we build up to an exciting 2010 of racing.

The weekend was rounded off with as much fantastic homemade food as one could get down - enchiladas, corn bread, soups, cookies and on and on and on - good conversation and a few (too many) brews from home.

Tireless race director, Susan Reynolds, and I at the post-race dinner

The Ghost Town weekend is a cult classic that has to be experienced to be believed. Sign up early if you want to run in 2011; this year sold out in a day - maybe two.

On a side note, a few minutes after we got back from the 11-hour haul home, we welcomed our newly adopted Rhodesian Ridgeback mix to the fold. More on Teio in a later post.

Week edning Jan 17

Monday - Off

Tuesday - Off (NYC)

Wednesday - Off (NYC)

Thursday - Off (NYC)

Friday - Off

Saturday - 2 miles

Sunday - 38.5 miles (4,500'). Ghost Town.

Total: 40.5 miles (4,500').

My knee was suspect all week. Felt like I overextended it at Bandera. I get this frequently at races, but the pain is usually gone within a couple of days. This time, the pain lingered through the week and was still sore the day before Ghost Town, but was never really an issue during the race. Barely felt it the next day. Funny how that works.

After a crazy start to the new year, it's time to get some serious training done. I'll be looking to build back up slowly into the 70-90 mile zone over the next couple of months, with most everything at a comfortable training pace and a few races to stay sharp, before cranking again for the Western States build up beginning in April.

Bandera

The Bandera course may not have the elevation gain of a mountain race, but boy does it have a lot of rocky nastiness to more than compensate. As I sit here writing this report after a long day of travel, my feet continue to throb from the thousands of pokes, jabs and stabs they took in the hill country of Texas yesterday.

Bandera the town is about as cowboy as it gets: saloons, wild west store fronts and dudes with big hats and big boots. There was really no doubting I was in Texas when I pulled into town early on Friday afternoon.

The overnight weather forecast was for low-teen degrees, which is some kind of multi-year low for the San Antonio area.

While the low teens are cold in Colorado, something about the moisture in the Texas air made the cold that much colder than the dry cold of home. I wasn't looking forward to camping.

At the pre-race trail briefing, a friend of Brownie's - Mike - introduced himself to me, and told me to swing on by his friend's camper to stay warm before they all turned in for the night. Offer gladly accepted.

After chatting and lingering for as long as possible, without completely overstaying my welcome, I faced the inevitable and headed out into the cold to bunk down for the night. Sporting five layers, I slipped into the two sleeping bags I'd packed for the trip, and managed to fall asleep almost immediately. I woke up two hours later at midnight with cold eyeballs - yes, cold eyeballs. After about two seconds consideration I got straight out of the tent and headed for the car and idled the engine a bit to get some heat going and then managed to score five hours of solid sleep in my five layers, two sleeping bags and a fully inclined passenger seat. I woke up feeling pretty rested.

As the sun came up, the car thermometer was reading 10 degrees. Blimey, what to wear? I decided to put tights on over a pair of shorts and suited up with a hat, two Ts and a jacket. Despite knowing that the de-layering process was going to cost me time during the race , I just couldn't face numbness through the opening hour or two.

From the gun, a pack of six or seven of us headed out on the short jeep road to the trailhead and the first climb of the day where we were immediately greeted by the loose rock that would be the theme of the day, with some good step-ups and step-downs thrown in for good measure. I set the pace - trying to keep it honest, but comfortable - to the first aid station at mile 5.6 (47). The four of us in the lead pack at aid one all shot straight through without stopping, and soon after Chikare Omine from San Francisco eased past me and took up the pace, stepping it up a notch as the trail smoothed out in a section of the course that provided some respite from the rock hopping. Somewhere in here we lost the fourth runner in the pack, and it was just me, Chikare and Dan Vega from Colorado Springs.

We went through aid 2 (11 miles) in 1:27 as a pack, and it seemed like it would be the three of us sparring for the two Western States spots that we had all come down for. Somewhere on the way to aid three at 16.9 miles I had to stop and unload my early morning coffee, giving up 30-40 seconds on Dan and Chikare. I didn't bother trying to catch back up, realizing that there was a long, long way to go and the extra effort would be wasteful, so I just sat back and kept on the pace we had been running, getting visuals every now and then to confirm that I wasn't loosing any more ground. As I came into Cross Roads, aid 3 (16.8 miles, 2:13), Chikare was just heading out and Dan was in among the drop bags. I scoffed a couple of oranges while an aid volunteer filled my bottle and took care of putting my jacket in my drop bag. I was able to get out in front of Dan and maybe two minutes behind Chikare on the five-mile loop from, and back to, the Cross Roads aid station.

Dan caught up to me quickly and we settled into a rhythm together for a while. A mile or two down the track, we managed to miss one of the best-marked turns on the whole course and ran about a quarter mile before coming to a trail intersection. The course had been so well marked up to this point that the fact that there were no trail markings told us immediately that we'd gotten off course (one of these days I'll complete a trail race without getting off course). We turned around and headed back the way we had come, thankfully finding the turn sooner rather than later. Dan seemed pretty agitated by the mishap and upped the pace. I let him go, as we still had over 40 miles to race and I just didn't want to burn energy unnecessarily.

The mini-loop section from and back to Cross Roads had a fun couple of climbs and descents, and I was able to get visuals on Dan a few times, but nothing on Chikare. I had to keep reminding myself to stay patient and stay on pace rather than chase the WS places. Coming back into the Cross Roads aid station (21.8, 2:51), Dan and Chikare were both gone so I didn't linger, passing straight through.

In the next four miles, the course was pretty technical with just a ton of rock, steep grades and general nastiness. I figured I would probably make some time here, but continued to maintain a consistent effort, reminding myself to keep on top of the fluids and nutrition. I had a 10oz gel flask filled with First Endurance Liquid Shot taped to my water bottle, so I was able to keep on top of my calorie intake with a minimum of fuss and fumbling. I was also supplementing the Liquid Shot with oranges at the aid stations and as much coke as I could imbibe.

At Last Chance, the 26.1 mile aid (3:29), I downed a couple of colas and orange slices and learned that Dan and Chikare had come through together about four minutes up on me. I was pretty happy with this update as they weren't really gaining on me. I was even happier, when a couple of miles later, on one of the climbs between Last Chance and the turnaround, right at the top, I turned a corner and almost ran straight into Chikare. Woh! He looked a little dazed and confused. I asked him if he was alright. He said he was.

Hmm, okay, time to step it up a notch on the loose and steep descent, I figured. Chikare got in behind me for a ways, but was soon dropping off the pace. After a couple more climbs, the trail evened out a bit and I took the opportunity to sneak a glance over my shoulder. He was nowhere to be seen, so was at least 20 seconds back. I began to think he might be done for the day, because he really didn't look good when I bumped into him on top of the hill.

I made the final drop back on to the jeep track and headed to the turnaround, seeing Dan about a minute out, which meant he had two minutes on me plus the time it would take me to get out of my tights and fuel up, which ended up being a further four minutes or so (4:19 out). Coming back out for the second 50k loop, I saw Chikare in about the same spot I had seen Dan, so figured that 1, 2 & 3 would be evenly spaced at six- to seven-minute intervals as we headed into the second 50k.

Second 50k! My feet were already screaming at me and my legs weren't too happy either. I was far from enthused to be taking on another round of Texas rock torture, but truth be told I thought I could lolly-gag the second half and still take second, and that's pretty much what I did in the first 5.6 miles out to the next aid (57 minutes vs. 48 on the first loop). I was thinking that I would just grind out the second half and not worry about chasing the win as I came into the aid station.

I was all chatty with the aid volunteers, one of whom was from Yorkshire in the north of England, close to where I went to university. Just as I was about to head out, I asked how much time Dan had on me, and they told me 10 minutes. Then came the kicker, "oh, and that kid (Chikare) was two minutes behind the guy in first!" This caught me way off guard, because he certainly hadn't passed me. Had I somehow gotten off course without realizing it? No, pretty sure that didn't happen. Maybe Chikare had inadvertently missed part of the course? Whatever the case, I suddenly found a huge surge of adrenaline-fueled energy and set about chasing down the Western States spots, all the while crunching numbers in my head: "okay, 25.5 miles left, 10 minutes to make up, less than 25 seconds per mile, don't kill yourself but got to work a bit harder."

At the second aid station on the second loop, I was still by myself and anxious to see if the extra effort had earned me any time. I asked how far ahead the lead was: five minutes with second having only just left. Wow, right back in the mix.

About two miles into the next section, I caught a quick glimpse of a red shirt ahead. Dan. I was actually a little disappointed to see Dan's shirt as I really wanted us to go Colorado one-two, but it was what it was.

Dan hadn't seen me yet, and I was still only getting glimpses until a long straight gentle uphill opened up. Dan dropped to a walk and looked like he was dealing with cramps. He took a quick look back, saw me and immediately started running again, but I was still catching him. As I passed him, I told him to hang in there and not give in as there was still a long way to go and plenty of time to rally.

By the time I came into Cross Roads for the first time on the second loop (48 miles, 6:56), Dan was out of sight behind and I was told that Chikare's lead was down to three minutes. I was really beginning to smell blood now, and it looked like I would have the real estate to get the job done. I was getting pretty tired, but felt like I was working hard enough to close the gap. By the time I got back to Cross Roads (53, 7:46), his lead was down to 90 seconds, Sean Meissner informed me. Surely just a matter of time with nine to 10 miles still to go.

And so it was, on Lucky Hill, the gnarliest and steepest climb of the whole course that I finally got a sight of Chikare's blue singlet. He was working very slowly up the hill, which was all the motivation I needed. This is one of those hills that can be run, but is pointless to do so. I got my hands on my knees, hunched forward and broke out a super-hard power hike. By the top of the climb I was within five meters and Chikare still hadn't seen me, so I decided I needed to pass then and do it decisively on the steep, steep scree drop. By the bottom of the drop I had a solid lead and continued to push on the flats taking a few quick glances over my shoulder with nothing in sight behind.

By the time I hit Last Chance aid (57 miles), I was pretty confident the win was in the bag if I could just keep up a steady pace and continue to run every step of the climbs.

I came through the finish, throwing out a few high fives, in 9:16 for the win, a new course record and a date at The Big Dance in June. Mission well and truly accomplished. Chikare came through four or five minutes later, followed by Dan (who must have rallied) in 9:26. A long, tough, but satisfying day on the trails.

The folks down in the Austin/San Antonio area have a good thing going in their running community, which is just great to see. Super friendly and dedicated folk. The volunteerism at the event was off the charts, and Mr Joe Prusiatis has to be one of the best RDs in the business. A huge thanks to everyone for putting on a first-class event and being out there with enthusiasm in very trying conditions.

Week Ending Jan. 10

Mon - 6.5 miles (1,900'). No watch. Nice casual run to top of Horsetooth. Had originally planned to take Wathan down rather than summit Horsetooth, but snow was deep and crusty off the main Horsetooth trail, so I quickly changed plans and headed up to the rock and took in the views on what was a beautiful winter's day. Main trail was decently packed, so the going was pretty good.

Tues - 6 miles easy on Redstone with Amy. 46:30.

Weds - 6 miles easy (1,500') up Horsetooth to Audra turn-off with Eric B. Snowy and cold.

Thurs - 5 miles easy w/Amy on Redstone. Cold, cold, cold. Brrrr. 37:30.

Fri - 0

Sat - 62 miles (6,500') Bandera 100k

Sun - 0 miles.

Total: 85 miles (9,900).

Bandera Field

So the goal is to secure a spot at Western States in June by finishing top two at Bandera, which has been designated a qualifying race and Montrail Ultra Cup (MUC) event. Not surprisingly then, the field looks a little more competitive this year than it has in years past.

The race director, Joe Prusaitis, appears to be fully on top of things down in Hill Country Texas and offers a website jammed full of easily accessible and relevant information on the race, the area and all the happenings surrounding the weekend. In addition to the 100k race, there will be 50k and 25k races being held in the Hill Country State Natural Area on Saturday. 50k runners are eligible for MUC points but no WS spots.

Joe has been staying on top of the entrant list with regular updates, so I figured I'd offer a quick pre-race primer on the guys I think will be in the hunt in the 100km event.

While the field doesn't appear to be particularly deep, there are definitely some talented guys who are going to make a serious race of the top five or six spots, and I'm pretty sure that Matt Harrington's 2004 course record (9:25) will go down. If I were a bookie, there would be two guys I'd pick as favorites based on their form at big races across the years.

Probably the most proven guy is Zach Miller who has finished second at the JFK 50 twice, finishing in the low six-hour range. In addition, he ran sixth at Western States last year in an impressive 17:34 and second at the USATF 100k Trail Championship (and WS100 qualifier) in Oregon, coming in 29 minutes behind Erik Skaggs. There'll be no WS-qualification pressure on Zach, so I assume he's heading down to Texas to rack some points for the Ultra Cup.

Chikara Omine has been tearing up the Northern California trail running scene for a few years now, winning numerous events - typically against weaker fields - and finishing well in bigger events. He was third at the American River 50 mile last year (ahead of Tim Parr and a few seconds behind Dave Mackey), and ran an impressive eighth at the North Face Endurance Run a couple of months ago in San Francisco, finishing five minutes ahead of Mackey in 7:22, but 50 minutes off Steidl's blistering course record pace. He was among the favorites going into Western States last year, but I believe he ended up dropping.

I would probably insert myself as the next guy down the list, followed by Colorado Springs resident Dan Vega, who ran second at Leadville the year Matt Carpenter destroyed the course record.

Jamie Cleveland is a former Canadian National Ironman champ and has previously won Ironman Florida. He won the Bandera 50k last year, but seems somewhat unproven over longer distances - a definite wild card.

Glenn Mackie is back defending his title, but I think he'll have to improve on his winning time of 9:53 from last year if he's gonna get the job done this weekend.

I've definitely got my work cut out for a top two, but the nature of the course should slow things down a bit. The short, yet sharp ups and downs, combined with the technical nature of the track will make it more of a strength runner's course than a speedster's, which should play in my favor, and while I don't much enjoy running loose rocky trail, I tend to do well on it.

Sixty-two miles is a long way to run, and typically in these longer races there tend to be some blow-ups among the faster runners, so while I'm not going in as a favorite for the top two spots, it is well within the realms of possibility. I'm fit, confident and ready to race.

Looking for a Dog that Likes to Run

Dana and I are looking to add a dog to our family here in the foothills. Neither of us grew up with dogs so we're taking our time on the research to make sure we find a dog that will fit into our lifestyles without being too much of a burden as we learn to live with him or her.

Somewhat selfishly, I am primarily interested in breeds that will tolerate daily runs from 8 to 20+ miles. I guess I get a bit lonely on longer runs, and as I'm planning a lot of those this year I figured some dependable company on the trail would be nice. Ideally, I want a dog that is not genetically predisposed to sniffing around and can focus on forward progress. I've run with a number of dogs in the past that have tugged around and become endlessly sidetracked with scents, birds and other animals, which is pretty frustrating when trying to achieve steady forward progress.

Aside from running considerations, the dog needs to have a friendly attitude towards young children, while a smaller breed would be a preference.

After a number of conversations and some research on the interwebs, we have developed something of a shortlist of breeds that include:

Husky (Alaskans are reportedly more focused and easier trained than Siberians):

German Short (and Wire) Haired Pointer:

Border Collie - or other herding breeds (Australian Shepherd/Cattle):

Springer Spaniel:

Rhodesian Ridgeback (see a great post on RRs by Rick M here):

We plan to get the dog from a rescue or shelter, so ultimately it will likely depend on what we feel is a good fit as we meet dogs, but it's always good to be as informed as possible before making a decision like this.

So I figured I'd throw this one out there in hopes of some feedback from runners with dogs. Any and all advice is welcome.

2009 Spending/Miles

Well the results are in and the final mileage total and running costs for 2009 came in at 3,451 (~487,000 feet of elevation gain) and $2,922.5 respectively, which per mile equates to a cost of roughly 85 cents. I'm going to call that a bargain considering the enjoyment I get from the sport.

Just so we're clear - and I'm sure the fact that I've gone to the bother of keeping track of my run-related costs makes it abundantly clear - I attempt to minimize costs and reduce waste as much as possible, so I'm sure these results are not typical of your average, yet mildly obsessed runner.

A couple of things that helped reduce my costs this year:

• I was fortunate to develop a relationship with the fine folks at Wilderness Running mid way through the season, which helped significantly in reducing my shoe costs.
• Of the 23 races I ran, I received 5 comps from Simon at RunColo, while also gaining a competitive entry into Pikes and winning entry to Jelm Mtn by winning Pilot Hill, meaning that I only had to pay for 15 races (Twin Mtn Trudge was, and remains for 2010, free to all).
• Unless I am traveling to far-flung races with my family, accommodation costs are cut from the equation as I will either camp or sleep in the back of the truck. I could certainly drive a more fuel efficient car, or endeavor to carpool more, so there is money wasted there (not to mention the environmental cost).
• I don't eat gels or any other type of race-fuel product in training, thereby reducing those costs significantly.
• I tend to avoid too much travel, but do enjoy getting out of the state to run every now and then.
• Finally, I am decidedly disinterested in spending money on running gear, gadgets and clothing. The treadmill purchase was my wife's decision (for her use), although I included it as a cost as I have used it a bit. But beyond that gear costs were limited to $100 worth of watch and sunglasses. All my running clothing is either from races, bummed from my wife, found (gloves especially), won or being stretched to the outer limits of raggidiness.

While the whole bookkeeping exercise has now been drawn to a close, I expect my costs to be similar or less for 2010.

Where'd It All Go?

Race Registrations: $851
Car Miles (gas only): $630
Gear: $398 (Treadmill, sunglasses, watch)
Air miles: $275
Accommodation: $262
Shoes: $216
Travel Food & Beverages (beer and coffee): $260
Misc: $75
Parks Pass: $65
Medical: $60
Run Fuel: $50
Race Winnings: ($200)

And for the record:

December Spending

Dec 4 - Christmas Classic registration - $15
Dec 12 - To race - $5
Dec 17 - To Running Club Social - $5
Dec 18 - Flight to San Antonio for Bandera - $185
Dec 22 - Harrietsham entry - $8

December Totals

Spending ................ $218
Mileage .................... 331 (20,400')
Spending per mile .. $0.66

2009 Totals

Dollars:

Jan ......... $456
Feb ......... $284
March ...... $30
April ........ $318
May ......... $498
June ........ $366
July ......... $106
August .... $178
Sept ........ $50
Oct .......... $407.50
Nov ......... $11
Dec ......... $218
To date .... $2,922.50

Miles:

Jan ................ 265 (33,000 feet)
Feb ................ 259.5 (40,350 feet)
March ........... 302 (32,050 feet)
April ............. 247.5 (31,300 feet)
May ............... 513 (67,000 feet)
June .............. 268 (46,150 feet)
July ............... 228 (50,650 feet)
August ........... 282 (56,700 feet)
September ..... 309 (39,000 feet)
October .......... 191 (12,500 feet)
November ..... 255.5 (56,700')
December....... 331 (20,400')

Total ............... 3,451 (486,600 feet)
Monthly Ave .. 288 (40,550 feet)

Spending per Mile: $0.85

Week Ending Jan 3

Mon - Off

Tues - 10.5 miles easy, no watch - Blean Woods.

Weds - 5 miles easy, no watch - Blean Woods.

Thurs - 6.5 miles easy, no watch - Blean Woods.

Fri - 13 miles in the slop around Bewl Reservoir with my brother.

Sat - Back to Colorado. Three movies on the plane: September Issue, Funny People, 500 Summers. Funny People was crap, the other two were decent.

Sun - 1.5 miles setting up T&H course (33 runners). 5.5 miles up Horsetooth (1,300').

Total: 42 miles (2,000').

Nice easy week. Probably easier than I would usually do two weeks before a goal race, but with just a two-week taper and lots going on last week, it felt about right. Legs have been feeling decent, if not great, so should be good to go with another week of rest.

Looks like there will be at least three runners in the field at Bandera who would probably expect to beat me, but I'm going in confident and ready to run for the win. More on the competition later in the week.

Racing Year in Review

In only my sixth full year of running (for the sake of running), 2009 has easily been my biggest, most successful and most satisfying. Prior to this year, I had only once experienced the satisfaction of being the first to cross the finish line of a race (Heart Center of the Rockies 10k, '08). This year alone I won a total of seven races, easily beating any and all expectations I had going into the year, so I think it would be fair to label 2009 as something of a break-out year for myself (at the tender age of 34/35). A full break down of my finishing positions in the 23 races (416 miles) I ran go as follows:

1st: 7
2nd: 5
3rd: 2
4th: 4
Other: 5

Much of my competitive success this year has come from running in smaller fields against local runners, but even admitting that, I'll give myself some credit for being consistent across a broad range of distances, while also maintaining a consistently decent level of fitness throughout the year - meaning that when fields were weak I could capitalize.

I am well aware of where I stand in the grand scheme of things on the running hierarchy (especially on roads, where there is no hiding from the black and white of finishing times), but being able to race at the head of a field, no matter its size or talent, has added a new level of fun to the process for me.

Some runners compete almost exclusively against the clock, and that is fine, but truth be told I much prefer the heat of battle than I do the satisfaction of a new PR. With that in mind, I look forward to continuing a few rivalries that have developed this year and last, while also stirring up a few more. In addition, I am anxious to run a few races again in 2010 that I felt went sub-optimally for me in '09, the most notable of which is the race on Manitou's Big Hill - this time up and down.

With regards to times, I set a bunch of new personal records this year, some by hefty margins - suggesting that I am still on the steep section of the improvement curve (for now) - although I suspect the curve will begin to level off in 2010, but I do hope that I have a couple more years of continued improvement before age begins the slowing process regardless of the effort I put into training. Here are the personal records I achieved this year:

5k: 17:19 (split for the 10k at Harrietsham in December. I consider this to be at least 40 seconds soft).

4 mile: 22:00 (Thanksgiving Day Run).

10k: 34:48 (Harrietsham 10k in December. A reasonably solid PR, although it was run on the back end of back-to-back 100-mile weeks).

Marathon: 2:43:35 (Dublin).

50 mile: 7:03 (Collegiate Peaks).

** I didn't win a single one of the races I PR'd at.

My half marathon PR was set three of four years ago in the 1:23 range, so that is a target for 2010, as is my 5k PR which I hope to bring down to 16:30 or lower in the first half of 2010. I would also like to find a fast 50 miler to run (maybe AR50) to set a PR there. Other than that, my races were largely at altitude and on mountainous singletrack courses, where the only real measure is previous course-and-distance times. Those races that I did run for a second time this year were all considerably faster than previous efforts.

At times this year, I have felt a bit short changed at getting into the sport so far advanced into my prime competitive years, but then I think back to the fun I had playing rugby and other team sports as a kid, and I realize that I probably wouldn't change a thing - other than the hatred I had for running as a training tool, and a few years in my middle 20s where I achieved little to speak of with regards to health and fitness. I also try to remind myslef as frequently as possible to quit whining and understand how fortunate I am to even have the freedom, health and desire to get out and do what I do on a daily basis.

I plan to train hard in 2010 to continue to make the most of the time I do have left to run to my body's full potential. As such I have set some pretty lofty goals for 2010, which I won't go into here, but suffice to say that Bandera is one of a few stepping stones towards the goals I have set.

Thanks to all who have offered advice, encouragement (here or elsewhere), company on the trail, inspiration and laughs over the course of the year. Running is a solo endeavor, but I find it to be a whole lot more fun when shared with good friends - old and new alike.

See you on the trail ....

Harrietsham 10k

So I capped my last week of training before the taper for Bandera with 100+ miles and two shorter-distance races. The legs were a bit sore from the effort at Saltwood yesterday and the week prior, but they also felt a little lighter during the race than they did yesterday, so I felt like I'd be able to give a PR a reasonably honest shot. I ran the race in 36:29 last year after posting a 17:20 out and 19:09 back (ouch), and have run 35:30 (short course ~6.1 miles) since. Based on recent races, I figured that a sub-35 would be a reasonable goal.

The course at Harrietsham is all pavement and pretty challenging for a road race, with rolling hills on much of the route. The out has a net drop, while the return has a net climb, with the nastiest hill left for the last kilometer.

Jim, me and my bro lacing up pre-race.

Although there were only 350 runners in the field, the tone was way more racing focused than the festivities from yesterday. My brother had looked at the start list and informed me that a few of the guys from Tonbridge Athletics Club were likely to run sub-32, so I knew I'd be in the chase group, but hoped that I'd have a couple of guys to race with.

Got out for a short warm up with my brother then headed to the start by the church. Gun went off and I managed to keep from bolting, settling in behind a pack of 10-12 guys through the very early going. The pace felt good. By the first kilometer (they mark kilometers in 10k races in the UK, not miles as they annoyingly do in the US), I was 10-20 meters behind the lead pack of nine guys with two guys close at hand in front of me, so 12th after a first split of 3:09 (31:30 pace)! I was pretty confident there would be some carnage in front of me with that many guys at that pace, so I settled in, got comfortable and waited.

In the lead pack through the early stuff.

The next two splits came in at a more reasonable 3:23 & 3:35, which was approximately where I wanted to be, although I eased off a bit on the mental concentration through the third kilometer. I got a wake-up call from an Ashford AC runner who passed me somewhere here, and so set about re-establishing the 3:20s I wanted. The next two kilomenters were largely flat and came in at 3:28 & 3:42. I eased past the Ashford runner early and set about picking up the other two guys who had been running 10-15 meters ahead of me. I caught them both by the 5k split which posted at 17:19.

At the 5k last year (17:25), I tanked badly, and seeing the split this year I thought any hopes of going under 35 were unlikely given the course heads mostly up on the way back up. The sixth kilometer, however, had some very fast sections of drop where I was able to pick up a good head of steam, posting a 3:09 before settling in for the climb back out. With a figurative second wind kicking in and a nice literal tail wind blowing at my back, I felt strong and thought I might have a chance at picking off the eighth-placed guy who was a good 20 meters ahead of me. Kms 8 & 9 came in at 3:28 & 3:21, and just as I passed the 9k marker, I caught my final target for the race, slipping into eighth. The total split up to 9k was 30:48, so I figured I had a very good shot at going sub-35, despite the one nasty hill left to climb.

Knowing this was the last race of the year, and the last one before Bandera, I wanted to finish on a mentally and physically strong note, so I pushed the whole way in and crossed the line in 34:48 for a PR of over a minute. I'll take it. The most encouraging aspect of the race for me was my strong second half which I ran just nine seconds slower than the first half, despite the extra climbing and fatigue.

My brother, who said pre-race that he'd be happy to go under 40 minutes finished in 39:59.6!

Finishing strong.

Matt ducks under 40 mins by the skin of his teeth.

Time to rest up for two weeks to get ready for 62 miles of rolling, rocky gnarliness in Hill County Texas. After a strong week, I feel ready to give it my best shot.

Week Ending Dec. 27

Monday

AM - 10.5 miles easy to Blean Woods (black loop) and back. 1:20.

PM - 6.5 miles easy. 53. Four university laps.

Tuesday

27.5 miles. 4:00'ish. Stour Valley, Saxon Shore Way, Crab and Winkle.

Wednesday

AM - 6.5 miles easy at Blean Woods. 60 mins. Red loop and green loop. Trails were sheeted with ice. Not much fun.

PM - 5 miles easy. 39 mins. Three university loops.

Thursday

AM - 17 miles easy. 2:23. Blean Woods Full Monty. All five way-marked trails: black, red, green, brown, white. Legs were pretty tired towards the end of this one.

PM - 6.5 miles easy. No watch. Four university laps.

Friday

AM - 10.5 miles easy to Blean Woods (black loop) and back. 1:22.

Saturday

Noon - 5 miles. 2 mile warm-up, then BDR race.

Sunday

AM - 8 miles, w/ 10k race (34:48).

Total: 103 miles (maybe 3,000' climbing).

Solid week with a very encouraging 10k on Sunday to cap it all off. Nothing better than feeling strong late into a tough race when you've already been worknig hard through the early going. Two much lighter weeks upcoming to rest the legs before the trip out to Texas.