After running, and loving, the Lithia Loop Trail Marathon last year, I was excited to run it again this year. It was going to be the USATF National Trail Marathon Championships, so I knew it would bring some great competition and no doubt, some faster times. However, something really cool happened 9 days before the race that made me not run it - the Sky-Em League Championship Cross Country Meet.
See, I thought only 3 individual guys from the Sisters Outlaws were going to qualify for State. I was wrong! The boys team not only qualified, they narrowly missed victory by only 5 points. The #4-6 runners all ran big p.r.'s to seal the team's berth to State. The girls teams also finished second, thus, sending 14 Outlaws harriers to the State meet. Since state was the same day as Lithia, my choice really wasn't a choice at all - there was no way I was going to miss out on State!
The day of the State meet started off early for us Outlaws. With fresh snow on the pass, we left the school in the very uncrowded bus at 6:15 for the 2.5+ hour drive to Lane Comm. College in Eugene. Although maybe not the most fun course to run, it sure is very spectator friendly.
The girls were racing first. All seven of them (Emi, Hayley, Katie, Jordan, Tia, Fabi, and Taylor) ran strong. We really didn't think a trophy was in the cards (top-4), but thought that with a solid day, top-10 was within reach. The girls stepped up and finished a strong 8th.
Next it was time for the boys. Undefeated on the season coming into the meet, Parker put a lot of pressure on himself. The other coaches and I tried to mellow him out on the bus ride. When the gun went off, Parker, Taylor, and Seth S. went out strong, while Jeff, Easton, Seth F., and Mason went with the main pack. Parker ran very strong in the lead pack of 3 for 2 1/2 miles, leading the whole way, at which point the other 2 guys made a move on him and he couldn't respond. They had bided their time well and had the kicks to show it. Parker pushed hard to the finish and made all the Outlaws proud with his 3rd place. Of course, he has since run that race in his head at least 100 times, and will at least that many more...he definitely learned a good lesson that day.
Taylor and Seth both steadily moved up within the lead pack throughout the race, finishing 8th and 12th, respectively. Taylor is going to be a solid team leader next year. Thanks to Mason's mid-race surge, he, Jeff, Easton, and Seth F. all moved up big-time throughout the race. And as per usual, once Jeff and Easton hit the track with 300 meters to go, they flew by guys! Thanks to Easton's, Seth F's, and Mason's p.r.'s, and Jeff's big finish, the boys podiumed in a very solid 3rd place and earned a trophy.
That night, we rented a big house on the beach in Waldport, had a great seafood dinner, played a bunch of silly games, looked at all of the pictures Zander and Chris took, watched movies, played in the sand, and just generally celebrated a great cross country season by being together. A sweet way to end a fun year!
This past Saturday, just a week after State, there was a USATF cross country race in Sandy that I thought would be fun to run and get a few Outlaws to go with me. I was only able to get Taylor and Parker to go, but we had a great time!
Taylor ran the Junior Olympic portion of the meet, finishing 5th in his 5k race in 17:39. He outkicked two guys on the track, beating one by .3 seconds! I got Parker to run the Open 8 k race with me...um, or at in the same race with me. He was excited to just run a race for fun with no pressure on him, and it showed. In a small, but very strong, field of 30, Parker ran his first 8 km xc race in 27:18 for 5th place. He smoked lots of 20 & 30 year old dudes - it was sweet! I overheard more than a few guys after the race comment about Parker. As for me, I was reminded that, although I love xc, I really suck at it. Although I never got passed the entire race, and ended up passing 10 harriers, I still couldn't even pull of a sub-30, finishing in 30:02 for 14th place.
I thought about cross country running and what makes a good cross country runner a bit on the drive home. I concluded there are 3, maybe 4, general runner classifications: power, strength, speed, and endurance. I got the endurance down. And crazy as it sounds, I think I even have a little speed (relative to the other categories). Power is pretty much reserved for sprinters and that's definitely not me. But I think it's really strength that makes a good xc runner. I am not a strength runner. To be a good xc runner, you have to be able to muscle up short, steep climbs, and be able to accelerate fast around corners. I'm just not good at that kind of stuff. I enjoy getting in a good groove, then slowly increasing my effort and pace throughout a race...no big bursts for me. And thus, I think that's why I've always sucked as a harrier. But I'll always love it!
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Monday, November 2, 2009
Columbia Gorge Marathon and Pilot Butte 5k
The weekend of Oct. 24-25 was one of those really cool weekends that don't come around often, but when they do, I cherish them greatly.
On Saturday, I ran the 2nd annual Pilot Butte Giants Gallop 5k in Bend. I love running PBRs (Pilot Butte Repeats), and I love this little race. The first .7 miles are flatish, then 1 mile up gaining 500', .8 miles down losing 500', and .6 miles flatish to the finish on the track. There was a small group of us, but we had a great time. I wore my heartrate monitor, hoping I would set a new max-h.r. p.r. I wasn't disappointed.
I took the lead from the start, ran strong up the road, tried to just cruise down the trail with thoughts of Sunday's marathon, then while making a sharp left at the bottom, my feet slid from under me and I went down. A bit embarrassed and with bloody knees, I quickly got up and tried to shake myself out and kick to the finish. I could feel and hear Paul quickly gaining on me. On the track with 200 to go I went all out. Paul was right behind me, my h.r. monitor was beeping like crazy, and the finish couldn't come quick enough. Finally I crossed the line, barely squeaking out the W by a foot. I didn't break my c.r. from last year of 19:18, but I was happy with the win, my time of 19:33, and new heartrate p.r. of 201 (I was most excited about the 201)! Unfortunately for the marathon the next day, my quads were pretty sore, so I slowly ran a mile cool down around the track.
That evening I made the drive to The Dalles to stay with my college buddy / cross country teammate, Chad Sperry, who is the race director for the Columbia Gorge Marathon. Chad and his wife were in Hood River doing race stuff and their kids were all at grandparent's houses, so it was just Dixie the dog and me hanging out. After 15 minutes of fiddling with the remote, I figured out how to operate the t.v. and I was happy to watch Perfect Storm while stretching my sore quads. Lori got home and we chatted for a while, then Chad came in and I caught up with him for a few minutes before bed.
A good night of sleep found me excited to get up and run this cool course. As per usual Sean-style, I arrived an hour early, jogged a 3 mile warm-up, and got to the start with 10 minutes to go. There I saw my good buddy Ryan, recovering from a painful crash on the Wildwood a few weeks ago that left his ribs on the sore side. I also got to catch up with fellow Shadle Park Highlander Stan (cheerleading today), his wife Esther (running the marathon), Win, Joel, Kurt, Kelly, and a few others. Then soon enough, Chad said "go," so we went!
Joel took it out a bit harder than I wanted to go, so I enjoyed the two mile climb up to the Historic Columbia River Highway State Trail with Ryan and Win. Joel continued to pull away from us on the very scenic trail, which took us through the twin tunnels a couple miles west of Mosier. Ryan recalled how cool, and scary, it was to be time trialing on his bike through those tunnels in the Mount Hood Cycling Classic, another race that Chad directs.
Getting off of the paved bike path / old highway, we passed Stan, who generously gave me a small baggie of S-caps (I had forgotten mine and although it wasn't hot, I wanted a few just in case). After a nice downhill to Mosier, we quickly caught Joel and ran through an aid station where I was able to grab a Gu. Then with Joel right there, my competitive instincts took over and I instinctually took the lead. I knew we had a nice, long, grinder climb for the next 6 1/2 miles, so I took that opportunity to put a gap on Joel, Ryan, and Win.
At 12.5 miles, the course turns onto a gravel road and we run on that for 1.5 miles This was a nice break for the legs from the pavement before the steep, 4-mile descent back into Mosier. There was an a.s. right at the turn onto the gravel, where I called out I wanted a Gu. The volunteer not only got me the Gu, but he even opened it for me - first class service! That was just the little boost I needed to get me over the gravel to the fast downhill. On the way down to Mosier, a helicopter did more than a couple fly-overs; I'm still not sure if they were covering the race or what, but I waived.
Back in Mosier, around mile 18, I decided it was finally time to re-fill my bottle. Hm, only 20 oz. so far in 18 miles, but the weather was perfectly cool, I hydrated up on nuun before the race, and I felt great, so all was good. A steep 1.5 mile climb got me back up to the old highway and out of traffic again (although traffic really wasn't an issue at all anywhere on the course), and I knew I had a mostly downhill final 6.5 miles.
Passing the 1/2 marathoners in this stretch was great for the confidence. Obviously they were moving slower than me, but passing people, especially towards the end of a marathon, helps keep the fire burning. At mile 21, I grabbed my third, and last, Gu of the day. Then before long I was out of the park, passing mile 23, and getting rah-rah'd by Stan again. Smiling and feeling really good, I leaned into the downhill and let my legs run a couple 5:45s - life was good. After winding through Hood River, while crossing a pedestrian bridge with about a mile to go, I went down...aagghh! A guy was walking across going the other way and he didn't really know what to do. I got up quickly, shook myself out while jogging for about 30 seconds, then got back into my rhythm. I happily looped around the marina and very soon finished the inaugual Columbia Gorge Marathon in 2:45:29. Although about 1/2 mile short (about 3 min.), I was stoked to go sub-2:50 on this hilly course (2,000' of vertical), and I was excited to get the win. In 4 marathons this year, I have 3 victories (Redding and Tahoe) and one 3rd place (Hilo). A good marathoning year for me.
After getting a big congrats from Chad and Lori, I anxiously watched the foot bridge to see who would be finishing next - Ryan or Joel? Well, it turns out there was a good little battle for second, and Joel got it in 2:53, with Ryan less than a minute back. Joel lives in Bend, and if Ryan still did, it would have been a central Oregon podium sweep. But, he doesn't. So, it wasn't.
After feasting on some super-tasty veggie soup, bread, and chips, I was axious to see how Laura was going to finish. At 4:21 she crossed the finish line, I gave her a big hug, and in between a few happy tears, she said "Sean, you told me this wasn't a p.r. course." She had just p.r.ed by 26 minutes!!
This was such a great race! I loved the course, the hills, the scenery (leaves, waterfalls, river, farms), the volunteers, the aid stations, the other runners, the weather (high-40s, no wind - crazy for in the Gorge, overcast), the post-race food, the cool finisher's medal, the low-key atmosphere, the organization. Seriously, a great race.
On my drive home past all the fruit orchards south of Hood River, I stopped at an orchard that just so happen to be having a hard cider tasting that weekend from Blue Mountain Cider Company out of Milton-Freewater from eastern Oregon.. I LOVE hard cider. After tasting 6 or 7, maybe 8, I picked out my 3 favorites to buy - a sweet cider, a dry cider, and raspberry cider. Mmmm...tasty way to finish a great weekend of running!
On Saturday, I ran the 2nd annual Pilot Butte Giants Gallop 5k in Bend. I love running PBRs (Pilot Butte Repeats), and I love this little race. The first .7 miles are flatish, then 1 mile up gaining 500', .8 miles down losing 500', and .6 miles flatish to the finish on the track. There was a small group of us, but we had a great time. I wore my heartrate monitor, hoping I would set a new max-h.r. p.r. I wasn't disappointed.
I took the lead from the start, ran strong up the road, tried to just cruise down the trail with thoughts of Sunday's marathon, then while making a sharp left at the bottom, my feet slid from under me and I went down. A bit embarrassed and with bloody knees, I quickly got up and tried to shake myself out and kick to the finish. I could feel and hear Paul quickly gaining on me. On the track with 200 to go I went all out. Paul was right behind me, my h.r. monitor was beeping like crazy, and the finish couldn't come quick enough. Finally I crossed the line, barely squeaking out the W by a foot. I didn't break my c.r. from last year of 19:18, but I was happy with the win, my time of 19:33, and new heartrate p.r. of 201 (I was most excited about the 201)! Unfortunately for the marathon the next day, my quads were pretty sore, so I slowly ran a mile cool down around the track.
That evening I made the drive to The Dalles to stay with my college buddy / cross country teammate, Chad Sperry, who is the race director for the Columbia Gorge Marathon. Chad and his wife were in Hood River doing race stuff and their kids were all at grandparent's houses, so it was just Dixie the dog and me hanging out. After 15 minutes of fiddling with the remote, I figured out how to operate the t.v. and I was happy to watch Perfect Storm while stretching my sore quads. Lori got home and we chatted for a while, then Chad came in and I caught up with him for a few minutes before bed.
A good night of sleep found me excited to get up and run this cool course. As per usual Sean-style, I arrived an hour early, jogged a 3 mile warm-up, and got to the start with 10 minutes to go. There I saw my good buddy Ryan, recovering from a painful crash on the Wildwood a few weeks ago that left his ribs on the sore side. I also got to catch up with fellow Shadle Park Highlander Stan (cheerleading today), his wife Esther (running the marathon), Win, Joel, Kurt, Kelly, and a few others. Then soon enough, Chad said "go," so we went!
Joel took it out a bit harder than I wanted to go, so I enjoyed the two mile climb up to the Historic Columbia River Highway State Trail with Ryan and Win. Joel continued to pull away from us on the very scenic trail, which took us through the twin tunnels a couple miles west of Mosier. Ryan recalled how cool, and scary, it was to be time trialing on his bike through those tunnels in the Mount Hood Cycling Classic, another race that Chad directs.
Getting off of the paved bike path / old highway, we passed Stan, who generously gave me a small baggie of S-caps (I had forgotten mine and although it wasn't hot, I wanted a few just in case). After a nice downhill to Mosier, we quickly caught Joel and ran through an aid station where I was able to grab a Gu. Then with Joel right there, my competitive instincts took over and I instinctually took the lead. I knew we had a nice, long, grinder climb for the next 6 1/2 miles, so I took that opportunity to put a gap on Joel, Ryan, and Win.
At 12.5 miles, the course turns onto a gravel road and we run on that for 1.5 miles This was a nice break for the legs from the pavement before the steep, 4-mile descent back into Mosier. There was an a.s. right at the turn onto the gravel, where I called out I wanted a Gu. The volunteer not only got me the Gu, but he even opened it for me - first class service! That was just the little boost I needed to get me over the gravel to the fast downhill. On the way down to Mosier, a helicopter did more than a couple fly-overs; I'm still not sure if they were covering the race or what, but I waived.
Back in Mosier, around mile 18, I decided it was finally time to re-fill my bottle. Hm, only 20 oz. so far in 18 miles, but the weather was perfectly cool, I hydrated up on nuun before the race, and I felt great, so all was good. A steep 1.5 mile climb got me back up to the old highway and out of traffic again (although traffic really wasn't an issue at all anywhere on the course), and I knew I had a mostly downhill final 6.5 miles.
Passing the 1/2 marathoners in this stretch was great for the confidence. Obviously they were moving slower than me, but passing people, especially towards the end of a marathon, helps keep the fire burning. At mile 21, I grabbed my third, and last, Gu of the day. Then before long I was out of the park, passing mile 23, and getting rah-rah'd by Stan again. Smiling and feeling really good, I leaned into the downhill and let my legs run a couple 5:45s - life was good. After winding through Hood River, while crossing a pedestrian bridge with about a mile to go, I went down...aagghh! A guy was walking across going the other way and he didn't really know what to do. I got up quickly, shook myself out while jogging for about 30 seconds, then got back into my rhythm. I happily looped around the marina and very soon finished the inaugual Columbia Gorge Marathon in 2:45:29. Although about 1/2 mile short (about 3 min.), I was stoked to go sub-2:50 on this hilly course (2,000' of vertical), and I was excited to get the win. In 4 marathons this year, I have 3 victories (Redding and Tahoe) and one 3rd place (Hilo). A good marathoning year for me.
After getting a big congrats from Chad and Lori, I anxiously watched the foot bridge to see who would be finishing next - Ryan or Joel? Well, it turns out there was a good little battle for second, and Joel got it in 2:53, with Ryan less than a minute back. Joel lives in Bend, and if Ryan still did, it would have been a central Oregon podium sweep. But, he doesn't. So, it wasn't.
After feasting on some super-tasty veggie soup, bread, and chips, I was axious to see how Laura was going to finish. At 4:21 she crossed the finish line, I gave her a big hug, and in between a few happy tears, she said "Sean, you told me this wasn't a p.r. course." She had just p.r.ed by 26 minutes!!
This was such a great race! I loved the course, the hills, the scenery (leaves, waterfalls, river, farms), the volunteers, the aid stations, the other runners, the weather (high-40s, no wind - crazy for in the Gorge, overcast), the post-race food, the cool finisher's medal, the low-key atmosphere, the organization. Seriously, a great race.
On my drive home past all the fruit orchards south of Hood River, I stopped at an orchard that just so happen to be having a hard cider tasting that weekend from Blue Mountain Cider Company out of Milton-Freewater from eastern Oregon.. I LOVE hard cider. After tasting 6 or 7, maybe 8, I picked out my 3 favorites to buy - a sweet cider, a dry cider, and raspberry cider. Mmmm...tasty way to finish a great weekend of running!
Friday, October 23, 2009
Marathon Elitists...
...note I didn't title this "Marathon Elites". Big difference.
Read the following article and see if you agree with me:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/23/sports/23marathon.html?_r=1
Read the following article and see if you agree with me:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/23/sports/23marathon.html?_r=1
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Columbia Gorge Marathon
There's a sweet new marathon happening in the Columbia Gorge near Hood River, OR, this Sunday, October 25th called, well, the Columbia Gorge Marathon. Don't confuse this with the old Gorge Marathon from a few years back. This is a totally and completely new and different event.
A good buddy of mine from the cross country team at University of Idaho, Chad Sperry, is the race director for the marathon. He has a lot of event planning experience under his belt. As the owner of Breakaway Promotions, he is the race director for these really cool cycling races: Cascade Cycling Classic in Bend, Mt. Hood Cycling Classic, and Tour of Utah. This year, Breakaway even hosted the Road Cycling National Championships. He is a top-notch organizer/planner/promoter, and he has a good thing slated for this weekend. A very good thing.
Chad was kind enough to bike the course with me last week (it was my second time riding in less than a week!). It is a beautiful, scenic, rural, quiet, and hilly course. With almost 2,000' vertical in this lollipop loop - on the closed-to-traffic Old Columbia Highway and a loop through the rural countryside around Mosier - it's definitely not a p.r. course, but I promise it's a great one!
If you're not quite feeling up to the full marathon, there is also a 1/2 marathon, which is an out-and-back on the Old Columbia Highway. Also, there is a 2-person 1/2 marathon relay, where each team member runs 6.55 miles. Both the full and 1/2 courses also go through the famous Mosier Twin Tunnels.
In making sure this is a quality event, aid stations are located every 2-3 miles and will have water, Gu2O, and Gu. Very few small marathons actually stock their aid stations with Gu, so I'm impressed by that. Also, the aid stations will be staffed by high school cross country and track runners, so there's sure to be lots of cheerleading for runners.
I'm really excited to run in this inaugural event. Come out and join me.
A good buddy of mine from the cross country team at University of Idaho, Chad Sperry, is the race director for the marathon. He has a lot of event planning experience under his belt. As the owner of Breakaway Promotions, he is the race director for these really cool cycling races: Cascade Cycling Classic in Bend, Mt. Hood Cycling Classic, and Tour of Utah. This year, Breakaway even hosted the Road Cycling National Championships. He is a top-notch organizer/planner/promoter, and he has a good thing slated for this weekend. A very good thing.
Chad was kind enough to bike the course with me last week (it was my second time riding in less than a week!). It is a beautiful, scenic, rural, quiet, and hilly course. With almost 2,000' vertical in this lollipop loop - on the closed-to-traffic Old Columbia Highway and a loop through the rural countryside around Mosier - it's definitely not a p.r. course, but I promise it's a great one!
If you're not quite feeling up to the full marathon, there is also a 1/2 marathon, which is an out-and-back on the Old Columbia Highway. Also, there is a 2-person 1/2 marathon relay, where each team member runs 6.55 miles. Both the full and 1/2 courses also go through the famous Mosier Twin Tunnels.
In making sure this is a quality event, aid stations are located every 2-3 miles and will have water, Gu2O, and Gu. Very few small marathons actually stock their aid stations with Gu, so I'm impressed by that. Also, the aid stations will be staffed by high school cross country and track runners, so there's sure to be lots of cheerleading for runners.
I'm really excited to run in this inaugural event. Come out and join me.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Tahoe!...part 1
September turned out to be a month of spending a week in each of my two favorite running spots. I played in the Tetons the first week of September, and then enjoyed another week of fun in Tahoe the last week of the month! My Tahoe trip was just supposed to be a weekend trip to run the Lake Tahoe Marathon, but it turned into one of the best running weeks of my life!
This being my 9th year of running an event at the Lake Tahoe Marathon, I have come to really enjoy my yearly vacation there in late September. It's always so beautiful - and this year, even more so! The temps were in the mid-80s from Thursday - Monday; perfect for laying on the beach and jetskiing in Incline Village with Thomas and family, but perhaps a bit warm for the marathon.
After 5 years of running the Tahoe Triple and 3 years of running the Tahoe 72 (make that 2, since last year was a dnf), I decided to run the signature event this year, just the regular marathon. I had wanted to run it for quite a few years, but those other races kept getting in my way. So this was my year for the single and I really wanted a sub-2:50, hopefully close to 2:45 if things went well.
Things went hot. After a 2 minute detour at 1.5 miles into the race, I found myself in the lead. I ran with Tripler Lynyrd Skynrod for a couple miles, then opened up a bit of a gap until mile 9. That's when Lynyrd's surge had brought him back up to me, but he was breathing hard. I just cruised along with him through mile 11, then in the 12th mile, there's a good uphill. I knew it and that's where I planned to put a little hurt on Lynyrd. By the top of the hill, only my friend Prudence was with me. She had volunteered to come out on her bike and ride with me from 10 until the end. Thomas was waiting for us at the top of the hill in his car and told me that no one was in sight.
As I cruised along the next few flat miles, getting ready for the crux of the course from miles 15-20, I noticed that my time was a bit slower than I hoped. I hit mile 15 and began the long 2-mile climb up past DL Bliss State Park. It's definitely a heckuva climb. At the top still in the lead, but now way off my sub-2:50 goal, I decided to stop worrying about my time and just go for the W. I was pretty tired so it took me a few minutes to get into a rythm for the 2-mile descent down to Vikingsholm parking area. My quads were hurting, so I wasn't able to fly, but got to the bottom and looked forward to the final climb up to Inspiration Point. With some welcome encouragement from Prudence and Thomas, and an increasingly bloating stomach, I crested the hill and found out I had a 4 1/2 minute lead with 10k to go. Unless some catastrophe happened, I now knew I was going to win. Whether that was good or not, I don't know.
The first mile down is steep and this didn't sit well for my aforementioned bloated stomach. Precisely at the 21 mile mark, a lot of vomit exited my mouth. I don't think I really felt better, but my tummy was a bit smaller. A minuted later I came to an aid station of high school girls who were all screaming my name! Bryon had run back from the finish, waited there for me, and got the girls to make-believe they were my fans. That was cool.
With Bryon joining the entourage, I felt a bit like a celebrity with body guards all around me. I tried to enjoy my the company of my 3 friends, but my tummy just wasn't right. A few more pukes later and we were on the bike path for the final 3 rolling miles. Those 3 miles seemed to take forever, but eventually we ran through Camp Richardson and into the home stretch to Pope Beach.
I was excited to win the 2009 Lake Tahoe Marathon. At 2:58:02, definitely not my finest marathoning hour, but I was happy. I became the first person to win the Tahoe Triple, Tahoe 72, and Lake Tahoe Marathon. I thought that was pretty cool. And to make it an ultrarunner and past Triple Champion sweep, my friend Gretchen Brugman won the girl's race!
Thanks to Les for organizing a fun-filled weekend of events. And a huge thanks to Prudence, Thomas, and Bryon for helping me along my route. I appreciate each of you very much.
This being my 9th year of running an event at the Lake Tahoe Marathon, I have come to really enjoy my yearly vacation there in late September. It's always so beautiful - and this year, even more so! The temps were in the mid-80s from Thursday - Monday; perfect for laying on the beach and jetskiing in Incline Village with Thomas and family, but perhaps a bit warm for the marathon.
After 5 years of running the Tahoe Triple and 3 years of running the Tahoe 72 (make that 2, since last year was a dnf), I decided to run the signature event this year, just the regular marathon. I had wanted to run it for quite a few years, but those other races kept getting in my way. So this was my year for the single and I really wanted a sub-2:50, hopefully close to 2:45 if things went well.
Things went hot. After a 2 minute detour at 1.5 miles into the race, I found myself in the lead. I ran with Tripler Lynyrd Skynrod for a couple miles, then opened up a bit of a gap until mile 9. That's when Lynyrd's surge had brought him back up to me, but he was breathing hard. I just cruised along with him through mile 11, then in the 12th mile, there's a good uphill. I knew it and that's where I planned to put a little hurt on Lynyrd. By the top of the hill, only my friend Prudence was with me. She had volunteered to come out on her bike and ride with me from 10 until the end. Thomas was waiting for us at the top of the hill in his car and told me that no one was in sight.
As I cruised along the next few flat miles, getting ready for the crux of the course from miles 15-20, I noticed that my time was a bit slower than I hoped. I hit mile 15 and began the long 2-mile climb up past DL Bliss State Park. It's definitely a heckuva climb. At the top still in the lead, but now way off my sub-2:50 goal, I decided to stop worrying about my time and just go for the W. I was pretty tired so it took me a few minutes to get into a rythm for the 2-mile descent down to Vikingsholm parking area. My quads were hurting, so I wasn't able to fly, but got to the bottom and looked forward to the final climb up to Inspiration Point. With some welcome encouragement from Prudence and Thomas, and an increasingly bloating stomach, I crested the hill and found out I had a 4 1/2 minute lead with 10k to go. Unless some catastrophe happened, I now knew I was going to win. Whether that was good or not, I don't know.
The first mile down is steep and this didn't sit well for my aforementioned bloated stomach. Precisely at the 21 mile mark, a lot of vomit exited my mouth. I don't think I really felt better, but my tummy was a bit smaller. A minuted later I came to an aid station of high school girls who were all screaming my name! Bryon had run back from the finish, waited there for me, and got the girls to make-believe they were my fans. That was cool.
With Bryon joining the entourage, I felt a bit like a celebrity with body guards all around me. I tried to enjoy my the company of my 3 friends, but my tummy just wasn't right. A few more pukes later and we were on the bike path for the final 3 rolling miles. Those 3 miles seemed to take forever, but eventually we ran through Camp Richardson and into the home stretch to Pope Beach.
I was excited to win the 2009 Lake Tahoe Marathon. At 2:58:02, definitely not my finest marathoning hour, but I was happy. I became the first person to win the Tahoe Triple, Tahoe 72, and Lake Tahoe Marathon. I thought that was pretty cool. And to make it an ultrarunner and past Triple Champion sweep, my friend Gretchen Brugman won the girl's race!
Thanks to Les for organizing a fun-filled weekend of events. And a huge thanks to Prudence, Thomas, and Bryon for helping me along my route. I appreciate each of you very much.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Kilian's Quest
If you haven't been following this, you're missing out. I'm on the pacer team...and it's incredible!
http://www.salomonrunning.com/sp/kilian-quest-videos.aspx?ep=07
http://www.salomonrunning.com/sp/kilian-quest-videos.aspx?ep=07
Friday, September 25, 2009
Tetons, Dufur, Seattle, and Tahoe...busy September!
I had started a post a couple weeks ago about my sweet week of running and playing in the Tetons early this month. Well, ever since I learned of Dave's passing, I haven't been too motivated to finish that post. So I'll just summarize it:
I suffered through the Grand Teton 50 miler, was supposed to crew Ashley her last 25 of the 100 but was too pooped after my race so I found another pacer and then was able to crew for Ashley, Ellen, Ty, and others in the 100. Plus I got to enjoy some really good bacon from Jason at the aid station at the top of the paved road! I had a great time hanging out with some of my very best friends. Sunday night's bonfire with Ashley, Bryon, Ellen, Jamie, David, Morrison, and Lane was a perfect way to end the weekend. Thanks.
After the Grand Teton Races, I got to play for a few more days in the Tetons. Bryon and I ran up Signal Mountain, then my brother and his friend joined us and we all enjoyed Signal Mountain Lodge nachos and blackberry margaritas while watching the beautiful sunset across Jackson Lake and over the Tetons. That is one of my all-time favorite ways to end a day in the Tetons! The next day Bryon joined me for most of the way on an adventure run up the Middle and South Tetons...spectacular Teton day! And finally on my last day, I planned on my all-time favorite 25 mile loop - up Static Peak, across the Death Shelf, and down Death Canyon. But when I got up to Static Peak, I was uncharacteristically satisfied with just hanging out on the summit to enjoy the warmth and beauty of my surroundings. After a 30 minute hang out, I ran back out the way I came, and I was very happy.
A great weekend in the big town of Dufur, OR, for the wedding of my good friends Jon and Alicia followed shortly after the Tetons. The festivities took place at the coolest little historic hotel, The Balch Hotel, right in the middle of downtown Dufur. I really enjoyed haning out with lots of great college friends - Jon, Ryan, Scott, Troy, and professors Nick and Ed.
The next weekend was a fun one in Seattle. The highlight was going to a Seattle Sounders soccer game that my friend Ellen generously donated tickets for. I think I vaguely remember watching the old school Sounders play a game in Spokane in the late 70s or early 80s. That night we went to one of the coolest restaurants I've ever gone to, Yanni's Greek Restaurant. If you've never been to an authentic Greek restaurant, put it on your to-do list. The menu was a bit overwhelming, but our waiter helped us pick out some great food to share that went well with our wine. Sometime during dinner the belly dancing began. It was so cool! The woman did her cool dancing, then went around and gave each group a silly hat to wear, then got most of the customers up to teach us a few belly dancing moves. My belly did good! It was just a great, entertaining evening at the Greek place. Again, highly recommended! The next day I played tourist for a while at Pike's Place Market and along the Pier, then Ellen took the dogs and me for a run through Discovery Park. It's a beautiful little park that's super busy on nice weekends. Sascha ended a bit gimped up after her 4.5 miles, so she's on a bit of no running for a while. Then the most exciting part of the weekend was when I got to break up a dog fight between Beno (Ellen's dog) and Sascha. I'll just say that Ellen is a great nurse and even convinced me to go to the ER. Although the bite (on my hand) was deep enough for stitches, the doctor said they don't like to stitch dog bites because of possilbe infections. Like most ER stories, we were there quite a while into the wee hours of the night.
The next morning is when I heard of Dave's passing. It caught me waaaay off guard. It was a really hard one for me to take and I have definitely been sad about the whole situation this past week. While running up Black Crater on Wednesday, I thought a lot about Dave...mainly just how great of a guy he was. And I'm sad I'll never get to share a run, or conversation, or meal with him again. He was a great one.
Still thinking about Dave, driving home from Black Crater down McKenzie Pass, I came upon a cyclist crashed in the road. I was the second on scene, probably 2 minutes after it happened. It happened to be Dave Clark from Bend, Summit High School cross country coach and math teacher, and all around great athlete. He was messed up pretty bad and didn't have a clue as to what happened. The guys in the other vehicle saw a deer broad-side Dave...craziest thing they had ever scene! After trying to keep Dave as comfortable as possible, medics finally showed up and he was whisked away first in an ambulance to the Sisters airport, then via Life Flight helicopter to the hospital in Bend. He ended up with a shattered clavicle, broken ribs, a punctured lung, lots of painful road rash, and one heck of a story to tell his cross country team.
Now I sit at a library at Zephyr Cove at Lake Tahoe. This is my 9th year in a row being here for one of the Lake Tahoe Marathon events. 2001-05 I ran the Tahoe Triple, 2006-07 I ran the Tahoe 72, and last year I dnf'd at mile 45 of the 72. This year I decided to run just the one-day regular marathon. Yeah, after so many years of the Triple and 72, it kinda feels like the j.v. race to me, but I'm really excited to see what kind of time I can throw down on this tough course. My fastest for it on day 3 of the Triple was 3:11. Last year I ran 2:55 at the Crater Lake Marathon, which is a much tougher course than Tahoe. So I'm hoping to thrown down sub-2:50, hopefully closer to 2:45. Yeah, it will be tough, as that's not much slower than my p.r. marathon (2:39) on a much easier course at sea level. But as a friend just told me yesterday, "...you should run your heart out for Dave Terry." So that, Dave, is what I plan to do on Sunday.
I suffered through the Grand Teton 50 miler, was supposed to crew Ashley her last 25 of the 100 but was too pooped after my race so I found another pacer and then was able to crew for Ashley, Ellen, Ty, and others in the 100. Plus I got to enjoy some really good bacon from Jason at the aid station at the top of the paved road! I had a great time hanging out with some of my very best friends. Sunday night's bonfire with Ashley, Bryon, Ellen, Jamie, David, Morrison, and Lane was a perfect way to end the weekend. Thanks.
After the Grand Teton Races, I got to play for a few more days in the Tetons. Bryon and I ran up Signal Mountain, then my brother and his friend joined us and we all enjoyed Signal Mountain Lodge nachos and blackberry margaritas while watching the beautiful sunset across Jackson Lake and over the Tetons. That is one of my all-time favorite ways to end a day in the Tetons! The next day Bryon joined me for most of the way on an adventure run up the Middle and South Tetons...spectacular Teton day! And finally on my last day, I planned on my all-time favorite 25 mile loop - up Static Peak, across the Death Shelf, and down Death Canyon. But when I got up to Static Peak, I was uncharacteristically satisfied with just hanging out on the summit to enjoy the warmth and beauty of my surroundings. After a 30 minute hang out, I ran back out the way I came, and I was very happy.
A great weekend in the big town of Dufur, OR, for the wedding of my good friends Jon and Alicia followed shortly after the Tetons. The festivities took place at the coolest little historic hotel, The Balch Hotel, right in the middle of downtown Dufur. I really enjoyed haning out with lots of great college friends - Jon, Ryan, Scott, Troy, and professors Nick and Ed.
The next weekend was a fun one in Seattle. The highlight was going to a Seattle Sounders soccer game that my friend Ellen generously donated tickets for. I think I vaguely remember watching the old school Sounders play a game in Spokane in the late 70s or early 80s. That night we went to one of the coolest restaurants I've ever gone to, Yanni's Greek Restaurant. If you've never been to an authentic Greek restaurant, put it on your to-do list. The menu was a bit overwhelming, but our waiter helped us pick out some great food to share that went well with our wine. Sometime during dinner the belly dancing began. It was so cool! The woman did her cool dancing, then went around and gave each group a silly hat to wear, then got most of the customers up to teach us a few belly dancing moves. My belly did good! It was just a great, entertaining evening at the Greek place. Again, highly recommended! The next day I played tourist for a while at Pike's Place Market and along the Pier, then Ellen took the dogs and me for a run through Discovery Park. It's a beautiful little park that's super busy on nice weekends. Sascha ended a bit gimped up after her 4.5 miles, so she's on a bit of no running for a while. Then the most exciting part of the weekend was when I got to break up a dog fight between Beno (Ellen's dog) and Sascha. I'll just say that Ellen is a great nurse and even convinced me to go to the ER. Although the bite (on my hand) was deep enough for stitches, the doctor said they don't like to stitch dog bites because of possilbe infections. Like most ER stories, we were there quite a while into the wee hours of the night.
The next morning is when I heard of Dave's passing. It caught me waaaay off guard. It was a really hard one for me to take and I have definitely been sad about the whole situation this past week. While running up Black Crater on Wednesday, I thought a lot about Dave...mainly just how great of a guy he was. And I'm sad I'll never get to share a run, or conversation, or meal with him again. He was a great one.
Still thinking about Dave, driving home from Black Crater down McKenzie Pass, I came upon a cyclist crashed in the road. I was the second on scene, probably 2 minutes after it happened. It happened to be Dave Clark from Bend, Summit High School cross country coach and math teacher, and all around great athlete. He was messed up pretty bad and didn't have a clue as to what happened. The guys in the other vehicle saw a deer broad-side Dave...craziest thing they had ever scene! After trying to keep Dave as comfortable as possible, medics finally showed up and he was whisked away first in an ambulance to the Sisters airport, then via Life Flight helicopter to the hospital in Bend. He ended up with a shattered clavicle, broken ribs, a punctured lung, lots of painful road rash, and one heck of a story to tell his cross country team.
Now I sit at a library at Zephyr Cove at Lake Tahoe. This is my 9th year in a row being here for one of the Lake Tahoe Marathon events. 2001-05 I ran the Tahoe Triple, 2006-07 I ran the Tahoe 72, and last year I dnf'd at mile 45 of the 72. This year I decided to run just the one-day regular marathon. Yeah, after so many years of the Triple and 72, it kinda feels like the j.v. race to me, but I'm really excited to see what kind of time I can throw down on this tough course. My fastest for it on day 3 of the Triple was 3:11. Last year I ran 2:55 at the Crater Lake Marathon, which is a much tougher course than Tahoe. So I'm hoping to thrown down sub-2:50, hopefully closer to 2:45. Yeah, it will be tough, as that's not much slower than my p.r. marathon (2:39) on a much easier course at sea level. But as a friend just told me yesterday, "...you should run your heart out for Dave Terry." So that, Dave, is what I plan to do on Sunday.
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