Taper Time

Last long run before Orcas yesterday. Guy and I covered some 38K in 4.75 hours. Including breaks, we were on our feet 5.5 hours. Good solid day. Ran into Linda, Dave, Scott and Peter on our way up to McCullough Peak. Parted company there. We went on to Alien, Shave & A Haircut, to Dimple Hill, Dan's, Horse. Ran into Gaby going down Dan's trail. Then back into the maze. Got lost. The GPS and map helped us sort things out. Up Lovely Rita, New Missing Link, then back down Extendo. A good time.

LR #3

Great long run yesterday with Guy. We started up Extendo to the top of McCullough Peak. Down Shave & A Haircut, to Dimple Hill, down Dan's, up Horse, then back the way we came, pretty much. Total distance was 34 km. The GPS said 9,200' feet of climb, but it over estimates climb by at least a factor of 2, so we'll call it 4,600'. On our feet for 4:15 hours. Not feeling too badly today.

LR # 2

Awesome long run yesterday in the Mac Forest. Big crew for this one. Gaby, Linda and I started early ... 7:00 ... doing the Nettleton loop .... still dark enough for headlamps. We got back to the Saddle at 8:00 to find about 10 folks waiting for us and ready to rock. Up Nettleton to Powerderhouse to Peavy and thereabouts. Then back to the Saddle. Gaby and Meghan set a hardy pace that I had trouble matching. I ran another piece with Ken ... up to Dimple Hill and back. 38K total in 3:40. I was completely drained ... definitely a good one. Maybe I'll be ready for the 50K at Orcas after all.

First Long Run of 2009

Decent long run yesterday up Bald Hill and the ridge. Big crew for this one, including Guy, Gaby, Dave, Linda, Meghan, Sue and a couple of gals I don't think I've met before ... Nancy and Sarah (?). My stomach was causing me some grief. Still I managed 32K ... did a last rep solo after everyone parted company. It was a real mud-fest, especially on the east trail off the hill. Not sure I'll be ready for the full 50K at Orcas Island ... might just do the 25K.

Today M, Beth and I drove up as far as we could up Mary's Peak. The road was treacherous & I had visions of slipping off and rolling on down to where no-one would ever find us. That didn't happen. We did a good hike ... but the snow never got deep enough for snow shoeing. The girls had a blast. Looking forward to a trip to Hoodoo.

Mary's Peak

A good crew ran Mary's Peak yesterday. Gaby, Linda, Will, Mike, John, Ken and Clem. Gaby and Linda and I started early and ran the lower piece of the Northridge trail ... haven't done that part before ... about 8K I figure. Nice and easy. Then we met with the others for the climb. It was a gorgeous day. A good steady pace up the Northridge, across the Tie, then to the top, a loop around the top piece (don't know what its called), then to the summit. Gaby took off near the top. I tried to keep up ... not a good idea ... burned out the quads trying. Beautiful views. Then an easy pace back down the Northridge. Some HUGE trees blown down across the trail ... like 5 or 6' in diameter. I think we were on our feet a good four, five hours. About 19 miles. Had a good snooze when I got home. Let the training begin...

Beaver Classic and Mac 15K

Two races this past weekend:

Saturday was the Beaver Classic. This is a college level cross country meet. It took place at Avery Park; an 8K ... 4 laps of a 2K course, 3 laps for the ladies. Guys and gals ran separately. It was fun to watch the ladies ... Penny ran and did great, finishing 2nd. Dave Bateham was running this too ... there were just a handful of us older dudes. Gaby, Guy and Todd were there to cheer us on, which was much appreciated. I was way out of my league here ... the only goal was not to get lapped ... I made a wager with Gaby, who was holding my keys, that she could have my car if I got lapped. No pressure. I went out as fast as I could but most of the kids left me in the dust in short order. The course was flat ... just one small rise. All on grass. I was working hard. My lungs still not 100% from a cold I was just getting over. As I finished the third lap I heard Guy holler "You're safe!", meaning that I hadn't been lapped and now couldn't be, which felt good. Really struggled with the forth lap. Managed to reel in a couple of lads at the finish. I finished in 30:12, 127 out of 149 :) Dave finished well too, also not getting lapped. It's a good thing it wasn't a 10K, otherwise we'd both have been lapped for sure. The best time was 24+, which means the front runner almost caught us before we finished our third lap. Todd posted some pics. Results are here.

The Mac 15K was Sunday. Good crowd for this. Guy, Dave, Todd, Gaby were all racing. Dave Zahler and Mike Rosling were there, but Will Swint wasn't ... thought he would be. Had a chance to talk to Linda about her getting into WS. Penny wasn't racing but seemed to appear all over the race course once things started ... don't know how she did that. I struggled for all of this one. Legs were heavy from the get go. Guy, Dave, Gaby and I ran together for a piece, then gradually parted company. The uphills were tough. Penny paced me for about a click ... I really appreciated that, needing all the help I could get. I had hoped to run all the hills, but had to walk a bit here and there. With a couple of clicks to go Todd fired past me on a downhill like a bullet, then Gaby passed too. I kept them in my sights all the way to the end, but didn't have the juice to reel them in. We finished in about 1:09+, Dave shortly after. Unfortunately, Guy suffered a foot injury and had to pull out ... bummer. My time was my worst ever for this race ... the price paid for racing Saturday ... but I had a blast.

XTERRA Trail Running National Championships

A full day yesterday. Guy and I went to Bend to run in the XTERRA Trail Running National Championships. This is a half marathon on trail along the Deschuttes river. We left Corvallis at about 4:30am. Got to the race start, in the Old Mill District, at about 7:30 or so, plenty of time for the 9:00 start. Dave Bateham was there ... nice to see him again. Lots of high-end runners here for this one, including some I recognized from the Mountain Nationals on Mount Hood last week ... always nice to watch the big guns do their stuff. The start and finish of the course were on paved and gravel road and wide trail. A lot of single track, sandy trail too. Nothing too technical. Not a lot of elevation ... I think about 1,000' in total. I wasn't too fond of the course. Bend offers up much nicer trails, but as one gal put it, they were looking for production values. I went out pretty hard. It wasn't long before I felt fatigue in my quads ... not enough rest since Mount Hood. But I managed pretty well. After the half way point I managed to hold position pretty well ... I was passed by a few, but managed to reel in a few. I had to really focus for the last few clicks, keeping my mind on my breathing, rather than on my tired, aching legs. I finished in 1:29:43, 43rd overall, 5th in age ... not bad, given the level of competition. Guy and Dave both finished strong too. Afterward, we went to Smith rock (cool place) to drop off Dave for some climbing. Guy and I headed to Sisters for lunch at Bronco Billy's. That night, Todd hosted a nice get together for the ultra runners ... M & I didn't stay long. I was toast. Slept well that night. No more racing for a couple of weeks, at least.