Slowly but Surely

I ran the Watershed Preserve 12 Hour race this past weekend in Redmond, WA. It's a great race- really well organized, lots of great folks, and a pretty fun loop too. I've run this race 4 years in a row now I guess. Last year I won and set a new course record (79.96 miles). This year I did not.

I finished the day at 64.something miles (basically 65), and it was a tough day. I felt fantastic for 4 loops (about 20 miles) and led at what felt like a comfortable pace. I remember thinking how nice it was to be out for a long run on such a beautiful day and how good I felt and hey, I might just go for breaking my record today... Then things took a turn on the 5th loop quickly. I still kept a good pace, but just was feeling worn out. Fortunately, a friend came out to pace me (a.k.a. in this instance "keep me company") and he joined me for the next 5 or 6 hours, which made the time pass quickly, even if my legs weren't moving quickly. I had some stomach issues and ended up throwing up a lot around 3pm. It was tough to recover from that and I never really got re-energized after losing so much fluid and calories.

My main goal for the day was to get in a long training run and be on my feet for 12 hours. I accomplished that goal and feel good about my run, despite it being a less than spectacular performance. I've been getting more sleep lately, and am training more consistently, so I know things will just continue to get better, which is great. Summer in Seattle is coming round the bend, and it's going to be another great one I suspect.

Video from last year;

Singletrack Goes to Georgia

I went to Georgia last week to test run the new TNF Endurance Challenge Series race course. The race will be this October 16-17, 2010. The course is nothing short of great.

SingleTrack Goes to Georgia from Sam Thompson on Vimeo.

A visit to the brand new 50 mile course at Pine Mountain, Georgia; this is the latest addition to The North Face Endurance Challenge Series of races. The Southeastern regional will take place October 16-17, 2010. Start training, get registered, and see you out in Georgia soon.

Chuckanut Demons

I've run the Chuckanut trail network many many times, and the Chuckanut 50k has become an early season tune-up staple race for me. Of all the times I've run these trails, I can't recall a more ideal day of weather, and I only wish I could've capitalized a little better (or ideally, a LOT better as long as I'm making wishes).

I don't think it's necessary to go into great detail, nor do I particularly want to relive the experience in great detail, so I'll keep it brief. The brief summary is that I've realized extreme sleep deprivation (caused by newborn babies) translates to extreme exhaustion in general and markedly poor running performance. In addition to completely dead legs from the start, I was amazed by how quickly the negativity demons (which I normally only encounter only deep in the dark of night in the mountains during 100 milers) found me and attacked with full force. It was rough running through such mounting self doubt and negative thinking, but thankfully the weather was truly gorgeous and the views spectacular.

It was great seeing many friends out there and Krissy Moehl put on a fantastic race this year- everything went great and couldn't have been better. The speedy crowd running this year was inspiring to see, and it was amazing to see the depth of the field and the large number of really fast times run. Congrats to all who ran, many thanks to Krissy and all the fantastic volunteers who made the race happen, and thanks for the motivation for my next race... whatever and whenever that may be! Time to lick my wounds, train hard, and move on to the next one.

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2009 Running "Slasher" Awards

"The what awards," you ask? The Slasher awards. Nope, you've never heard of the running Slasher awards, because I just dreamed them up last night in a sleep-deprived-semi-awake-baby patrol-comatose state of mind. But if there's one thing the ultrarunning world needs, it's Slasher awards. I know it's a bit late in 2010 at this point to be handing out awards for 2009, but it's high time the running world saw Slasher awards.

So what exactly is a Slasher award? I'm awarding Slasher awards to the top men's and women's runners of 2009 that I feel have exemplified the Slasher mindset. That is to say, they have excelled not only in the trail-running world but also found success in the oft-forgotten road running genre (i.e., trailrunner SLASH roadrunner). As a trail running bum (dare I say dirtbag?!?) myself, I feel it's very easy to live in a bubble and to ignore and shun our leaner, better-groomed, more meticulous, pavement pounding brethren. Likewise, road runners in general probably couldn't care less about what the bearded, smelly, muddy contingent is doing galivanting around in the mountains. Ah, but once in a blue moon (which incidentally happened this past December for anyone counting), there comes along a runner who truly bridges the gap. This rare runner is able to fly through negative splits while sucking down gels in a marathon with ease, and in the very same year can slosh around in the mountains slamming cheeseburgers with the best of them. This runner carries a proverbial white flag of peace as a constant beacon of running unity to all the world. So, in an effort to bridge the gap, spread the love, and further the path toward a running utopia, the Slasher awards have arrived. In the famous words of Mr. King, "Why can't we all just get along?" Thanks, Slashers, for being so awesome!

So without further ado, I'd like to announce the first ever Slasher award winners. While I'm certain I've overlooked some noteworthy runners, I've gathered the information at hand and am now happy to announce the 2009 Slasher Award Winners. I haven't made a ranked list. Rather, I'm just naming an outright winner and one honorable mention spot.

• On the women's side, Kami Semick is undoubtedly the Slasher of the Year. Her incredible world class performances in 2009 both on road and off were absolutely unrivaled. With world championship victories on the road at both the IAU 50km World Championships in Gibraltar and the IAU 100km World Championships in Belgium, she showed the incredible footspeed and turnover of a true road runner. Meanwhile, she excelled on technical mountain trails throughout the year, clinching wins at uber-competitive Miwok 100km, American River 50 Mile, and the White River 50 Mile this year (not to mention a smoking fast 2:47 at Twin Cities Marathon...). Kami is a Slasher with a capital 'S,' and she pounds the traivement like no one else.

• The honorable mention spot goes to Devon Crosby-Helms, who has also had an incredible Slasher year. From a stellar course record win at the fabled JFK 50 to a smoking 2:53 at Boston, Devon kept her jets blazing regardless of the surface this year. She also had a killer 4th place finish at the IAU 100km World Championships in Belgium.

• On the men's side, the 2009 Slasher of the Year Award goes to Michael Wardian. The sheer volume and scary speed of his marathon running in 2009 are mind boggling, and he threw in a handful of impressive finishes on the trail this year too. With at least 10 road marathons in 2009, he posted a year's best 2:21 at Vermont City Marathon, and finished 3rd in the world at the IAU World 50K championships in Gibraltar and 6th at the IAU World Cup 100K championships in Belgium and won the Caumsett 50k in a scary 2:56. Meanwhile on the trail, he finished very strongly in the top 3 at the White River 50 mile and in the top 5 at the North Face Endurance Challenge 50 Mile Championship. Add to all that a crazy fast 2:34 marathon run at the Route 66 Marathon... while pushing his son in a stroller!

• The men's honorable mention spot was a really tough call and I'm fudging a bit to include historical data pre-2009 (seeing as how this is the first year of the award and all...). I assure you this won't happen again in future years. That said, the honorable mention spot goes to Uli Steidl, who has had a pretty spectacular track record as a Slasher. This year he ran a blistering course record race at the North Face Endurance Challenge 50 Mile Championship. Though I couldn't find any road results for 2009, I wouldn't be surprised if he slipped in a few fast performances under the radar. That said, Uli ran to victory 8 years straight at the Seattle Marathon and boasts a marathon PR of 2:13. (*edited added note: Uli did indeed slip in an amazing '09 road performance... a blazing 2:19:42 at the Dusseldorf Marathon!)
  

Congratulations to Kami and Michael (and Devon and Uli) on being the first ever Slashers of the Year! Keep up the great work, keep inspiring so many, keep spreading the love, and above all keep on slashing away!

All in a Winter's Day

All in a Winter's Day from Sam Thompson on Vimeo.

If this ain't global warming, I don't know what is. I'm loving the sun, but it's just not normal!

Baby Adventures

Tomorrow I'm starting the journey of parenthood with my wife Kirsten and I figured I'd start a blog from the dad's perspective. If you're only interested in running and other outdoor stuff like that, not to worry- that stuff will still be on this SeeSamRun blog. But if you want to read about some adventures with twin girls, you can follow that journey here;

SeeSamParent blog