Dizzy Daze 100k- swimming in the rain!

After a gorgeous sunny day here in Seattle yesterday (Sunday), I nearly forgot about the all day torrential downpour of Saturday. Nonetheless, I plowed through the rain around Green Lake on Saturday for a full day of wet loops. As far as I can remember, this was actually my first official 100k distance race, so consequently it was a PR for me I suppose.

There isn't really much to say about a 3.2 mile loop that one runs around all day long, but it was actually quite fun despite the rain. I took off from the start just hoping to push myself as hard as I could. After 10 loops (the end of the 50k race which was actually 32 miles), I realized I had won the 50k, which felt great and definitely buoyed my spirits. My time for the first 50k was 3:59, and I just kept pushing round and round for the remaining 9 loops and an out and back. My wife Kirsten came out and brought me a steaming cup of joe that warmed me up a lot and tasted great, and my training buddy Brock came out and paced me for some loops in the latter part of the race as well. All in all, a great day, and I finished the 100k in 8:49. Granted I did win the 100k, but in the spirit of full disclosure I must also say that I was the only finisher as well. The weather was just so awful that everyone else dropped out at shorter distances. It was a great push for me physically and mentally and I feel really good about my training thus far. Now I'm hungry for more (just maybe not more loops at Green Lake just yet...)!

Chuckanut 50k

With a less than optimistic forecast for the Chuckanut 50k, this Saturday actually turned out to be a beautiful weather day. Crisp, cool air, no rain, and even plenty of sunshine throughout the day! Krissy Moehl and all the incredible volunteers put on another fantastic race this year, and it was a ton of fun. Great photos from the race can be found on Glenn Tachiyama's site. I ran a 4:39 (I think, but official results aren't up yet), and for me that was smoking fast! I haven't been training for speed much at all, but I guess the intensity of my high mileage/intense hills and mountains is translating to at least a little bit more speed, so that's definitely a good thing. For me personally, the race was rather uneventful- just a really fun day in the mountains. It felt fantastic to be out there on the trails just having fun on a gorgeous day and taking in the views! I wore my TNF Chinscrapers, which were the perfect choice for plowing through the wet, muddy sections. There were some super speedy folks there, and a big congrats to all those who did the race, and a big thanks to all those who helped put it on!

I went right back into a tough high mileage training week this week, but am now tapering off a bit to give my legs a wee rest before the Dizzy Daze 100k on Saturday. Should make for a fun, loopy Saturday!

The Season Begins...

For the past 3 years, I've kick-started the ultra-running race season a bit early with the Chuckanut 50k, and this year will be no exception. Although 50k isn't an extremely competitive distance for me, I love this race, and always look forward to this early season tune-up. I've been training hard with my sights set on HardRock and I'm excited to toe a starting line again after what seems like quite a long time since I've done a race.

The weather looks to be dismal- cold, wet, and probably snow over a few miles of the course, but I know it'll be a fun day nonetheless. Lots of friends will be there, and my wife is racing too, so it will definitely be another great day in the mountains regardless of the weather. See you in the mountains!

USATF 50k National Championships

Wow, fellow teammate from The North Face Kami Semick won the national 50k championships yesterday in Long Island, NY, and Michael Wardian won the men's side! Incredible races by both, and fast folks like them definitely inspire me to go a wee bit faster up and down the mountains! Way to go Kami and Mike!

Updates and official results should be up here soon; http://www.newyorkultrarunning.org/caumsett_state_park_50k2008.htm