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

Happy Mardi Gras!

I just looked back on some photos from 2006 when I was at Mardi Gras (the first one after Katrina and Rita hit), and it was so wonderful to see the resilient celebratory spirit of the wonderful people in New Orleans and on the Gulf Coast. It makes me really happy to see that come hurricane, come recession, come what may, New Orleanians find something to celebrate at Mardi Gras no matter what!

Fat Tuesday is kind of a cathartic day, and I think of it almost as a second chance for many people who by this time are letting their New Years resolutions slide. Fat Tuesday is a great day to let it all out, and give your resolution (or something else) another go for the coming Lent season. So go on out and enjoy the day today, eat your fill of King Cake, and get ready for some serious fitness and running it all off tomorrow (or in the next week or so if that sounds better!)!

Also, while today is a day of celebration, it's a great time to be reminded of all the needs that still exist on the Gulf Coast, even today. There are still plenty of opportunities to go down and volunteer to help build homes, etc., and the opportunity to give is as important as ever. There are many great organizations still active and doing great things on the coast, and Common Ground Relief is just one if you want somewhere to start!

Happy Mardi Gras!

Seriously Inspiring Friends!

Wow, a couple of my friends who are on The North Face team are spreading inspiration like pollen in Mississippi in spring right now! My good friend Diane Van Deren is as we speak out in the Yukon right now tackling the Yukon Arctic Ultra 430 mile race. No American woman has ever completed this race, and Diane won the 300 mile version of this race last year (special note- she won outright in that race, and only 1 other guy even reached the finish line!). Temperatures look relatively mild so far, and Diane is cruising! You can follow along with her pretty well here, and get updates on the race itself here.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the globe, another friend and North Face teammate Simone Moro just completed the first ever winter ascent of Makalu in the Himalaya. Coincidentally I just finished reading a climbing book that chronicled a tragic failed winter attempt on Makalu some years ago, so this incredible summit that Simone completed is all the more meaningful for me now. Simone is an incredible guy, full of life, and clearly an amazing climber. You can see some great photos, video, and commentary on his blog (in Italian and English!).

While I've been training pretty hard ever since I found out I got into Hardrock 100, I'm kicking it into an even higher gear now with this new jolt of inspiration. Diane and Simone are incredible! Wow! Hopefully these stories will inspire you as well- go out there and explore!

Going Nowhere Fast

That's the story of running an ultra on a treadmill in a nutshell. I got motivated this weekend to go out and run 50k just for fun when I saw that the Yours Truly 50k was going on. I didn't get motivated quite enough to actually leave the house and do it though, so I decided I'd knock out a 50k on the treadmill one morning this week. I was also inspired by Bill Gates' letter this week regarding the Gates Foundation's commitment to actually increasing its spending this year despite decreased incoming funds and the down economy. Put it all together and I decided to donate the entry fee I might have paid for a 50k race today to a great charity. It seems really important in this down economy that we all do our part to continue to support those in even more need than ourselves if and when we can.

So the 50k went well today. It was not terribly eventful. I woke early and was at the gym shortly after it opened, chose a treadmill, and set up my little mini-aid station on the floor next to it. I decided to use the time to learn more about our new President and began listening to Obama's Dreams From My Father while running. It definitely helped the hours pass and kept my mind elsewhere. The treadmill shuts off automatically every hour, so those were my built in quick aid breaks. My end time was 4:08, probably one of my fastest 50k's ever, but I'll be excited to get back on the trails for the next one!