Enjoying the Dolomiti

From Dolomites Days 2 and 3, 2009-07-22-23

Thursday...it hasn't even been a week since we left Los Alamos and it feels like we've seen and done a fair bit. This is awesome.
This evening we're in Canazei, Italy for the next two nights. We've climbed in the Dolomites the past few days and it's been amazing. Beautiful weather and a truly mind-boggling amount of rock. It's everywhere! After spending a couple days in Zurich, Switzerland and a day in Innsbruck, Austria I was way burned out on the cities and was super stoked to get outside in the Dolomites on Tuesday. Yesterday we were skunked on the big 14 pitch route we wanted to climb (three slow moving parties ahead of us forced me to downclimb the first pitch and tuck my tail between my legs.) We then went to climb a 6 pitch easy route and found it completely choked up with groups and none of them appeared to be moving at all! So we did a shorter 3 pitch route, super easy, to a cool summit.
We got up early this morning and was the first party on that 14 pitch, 5.7, route (south arete of Tofana di Rozes) and it was awesome. And the cool thing is, the weather today was quite a bit better than yesterday so we felt avenged.
We'll be climbing around here the next couple of days before heading back to Cortina for a night and then to Rifugio Alberto for two nights to climb in the Vajolet Towers area hopefully.

Not much of a city boy

From Europe Days 3 and 4, 2009-07-21-22

I'm not a fan of cities. I can appreciate city life and function for a short bit but I was at the end of my appreciation by the time we left Innsbruck, Austria this morning. The crowds, the heavy European smoking, the noise and the traffic. It was nice to see all that in the rear view mirror this morning when we picked up our rental car in Innsbruck and drove the 2.5 hours to Cortina de Ampezza, Italy.
And now we're very happy. This quaint mountain town is still pretty big in size but it's situated high in the Dolomites and feels full of life. I can't quite put my finger on it but everything about this area feels so much more friendly and appropriate than either Zurich or Innsbruck.
We checked into our hotel, Hotel Impero, and pretty much made a beeline for the Cinque Torri area to get some climbing in. This area is at about 7,400 feet and easily accessible via a five minute ski lift ride and a 10 minute approach hike. It gave us a good opportunity to get warmed up to the limestone of the Dolomites. All the hillsides in the area are a very lush green and rock simply juts out of the hillsides making for some very dramatic mountains.
We plan to spend the next six days around here in the Dolomites with a night or two in a rifugio but most likely mainly doing day trips from hotels in Cortina and/or Canazei.

European vacation 2009, Day 2

From Zurich, Switzerland, 2009-07-19

Photos, day 2.

Boy, we were tired. And, thankfully, our room was very dark. We slept off a major chunk of the jet lag this morning sleeping in until 7:30am. Once we got moving we headed downstairs to the restaurant in the lobby where our included breakfast was served. This was no American continental breakfast either. Bacon, eggs, sausage, fresh bread, fruit, yogurt and a pile of oranges and a juicer to make your own fresh-squeezed orange juice. Awesome! No doubt I over ate a bit but we weren't planning on a lunch so I was just being cautious.
It was an overcast and windy morning so we packed our jackets and umbrellas in the backpack and hit the streets. First stop was the Schweizeriches Landemuseum near the train station. For 10 CHF each we enjoyed a bit of natural history swiss-style and then attempted to understand the all-German Swiss history exhibition which was very nicely done but impossible to understand.
From there we caught the train to Uetliberg, a decent foothill with a footpath to the summit and viewing tower at the top. This area boasts what are likely the closest trails for running and hiking and we enviously waved at a number of trail runners out there. Also, along the trail is a mini-scale map of the planets one can follow for nearly 8km along the ridgecrest to the Adliswil tram down. We hiked that trail for close to two hours as the day got better and better. It even ended up a bit warm at time.
We caught the bus/tram back to city center and went in search of good chocolate at a shop called Teuscher recommended by Brian Crone's wife. The first one we found at 4:07pm closed at 4:00pm. So we hopped on the tram down to Bellevue where another one was supposed to be. Whilst down there we figured we ought to check out the Kunsthaus modern art museum but found it cost 23 CHF each and was only open for another 30 minutes so we bailed on that. Instead, we rented a paddle boat for 18CHF for 30 minutes and paddled across Lake Zurich and back dodging the big tourist boats along the way. It was odd when I rented the boat...the guy barely spoke, took my 18CHF and driver's license and said, "OK, take the orange one for 30 minutes." That was it. No orientation, no forms to fill out, no guidelines. So we hope paddling across the lake between big tourist boats was allowed. When I returned the boat I saw other renters filling out paperwork and getting the rules spoken to them.
We did find the Teuscher in the Felix Cafe after that and scored four truffles. Tasty! After dessert we went in search of dinner. Casa Mia was another Italian place that came recommended but we found it closed. Naturally I gravitated towards beer and we popped into the Brasserie Federal which claims to have more that 100 Swiss beers. Problem was, the menu had no English on it and our question to the waitress, "Sprechen Sie Deutsch?" was met with the stern answer, "No!" and she walked away. OK, time to move on to that little Italian place we passed on our walk towards our hotel. I don't recall the name but it was a tasty and quite enjoyable.
Tomorrow we hit the rails with a 9:40am train to Innsbruck, Austria. We should get there around 1:30pm and will be staying at the Hotel Goldene Krone for one night before renting a car and driving south down into the Dolomites of Italy. While it's been fun exploring the city life a bit and gettin' cultured, I feel much more at home away from crowds and up in the mountains so I'm looking forward to getting into Italy.

European vacation

Allison and I hit the skies yesterday for a three-week trip to Switzerland, Austria, Italy and France. Our first stop finds us in the Hotel Novotel in Zürich, Switzerland where I'm writing this from. It's the first visit for either of us to Zurich and so far we're really enjoying it despite the fact that neither Allison nor I speak any German--the predominant language here.
I was impressed with how easy it was to go through customs and be on our own in Zürich. We arrived this morning and purchased 24-hour public transport pass for 12 CHF each which allows us unlimited transport on the city trains, buses and trams. It took us a little bit of time to figure out which train to take from the airport to the main station. This wasn't too bad at all except for the fact that I was schlepping around our big North Face duffel bag with our climbing equipment (to be later used in the Dolomites) and it was a bit uncomfortable. A short 10 minute walk from the main station got us to our hotel where they were able to let us check in early (we arrived in Zürich at 7:15am and were at the hotel by 8:15am).

After checking in we got out for a short bit to take the tram downtown to visit a couple of the more famous churches in the area. The Fraumünster church has some amazing stained glass by Marc Chagall which I could appreciate. We then found ourselves very tired (we had been up all night on the flight) so we wandered back to the hotel to nap for a few hours. In the evening we went exploring downtown again and ate dinner at an Italian place. A quick stop at the Coop grocery store for snacks and we were back at the hotel ready for bed.

Tomorrow we plan to go visit the zoo, hike at Uetliberg and a couple of the museums before leaving for Innsbruck the following day.
The view from our hotel room at night.

2009 San Juan Solstice 50 Mile Race Report

Hanging with Mom at the start/finish just before the race.

6/20/2009
50 miles
10:56:12
13th overall of 109 finishers
Unofficial results
Official race website
My GPS stats, splits and map

8 ounces. It's amazing to me the difference 8 ounces of material can make on a day like this past Saturday during the San Juan Solstice 50 mile trail race. This was my fourth time running this fantastic race and by far the worst conditions I've experienced during the race in those years. But I digress...

For some reason going into the race this year I schemed up the goal of trying to run it under 10 hours. 9:59:59 is what I was shooting for. In retrospect, I'm not sure where I got off thinking I could pull that off considering my fastest time on the course is 10:35:44 and I've only been running an average of roughly 35 miles per week this year. But what the hell, I went out for it. But if you view the results from this year's race you'll see I barely made it in under 11 hours in 13th place overall. Yeah.

From the start at 5:00am I went out with the first group of roughly 12 runners and hung in there until nearly the turn off up into Alpine Gulch when I realized that pace was too much for me and would put me in at Williams around mile 16 well ahead of my goal time of 8:15am so I slowed up. The sky was mostly cloudy making for a warmer-than-usual morning and the river crossing in the gulch were way easier than in 2008. In fact, I could still feel my toes by the end of the crossings so I knew it was warmer and less wet than previous years. Sections that normally have a snow field in them were dry and clear...it looked like a different gulch. I reached the Alpine aid station at mile 7.5 at 6:36am which was right on my schedule. I stopped to refill my single hand bottle with water and kept on moving.

Up on the ridgeline above Alpine there was also very little snow and it was a beautiful morning. The view of Half Peak across the valley was stellar and while there were clouds in the sky, it didn't look too threatening. I got into a good groove and rolled with it making fine time down into Williams at mile 16 at 8:06am which was faster than I had planned but I was feeling good. I came into the aid station with Helen Cospolich and would follow her until the Divide when she just plain took off! It was awesome.

My plan to "shave" off 36 minutes from my best time on this course was, besides running a bit faster, to really minimize time at the aid stations. I did this by not ever changing shoes, socks or any other clothing as well as having bottles pre-filled and a firm plan for switching bottles and fueling quickly. My Mom and Matt were invaluable as my experienced crew and did a fantastic job of getting me in and out of the aid stations super fast. So I can only blame me for not running fast enough in between the stations. :-)

The run from Williams to Carson seemed to go quickly and without any issues and I got into Carson at mile roughly mile 22 at 9:26am. I filled my two hand bottles, ate some Clif shot blocks and looked up at the divide and the sky. It looked quite nice and for a moment I contemplated leaving my 8oz GoLite Virga jacket in the drop bag but thankfully thought better of it and tied it around my waist before heading up. I did my best to keep Helen in sight on the climb up to the divide and managed to do that until just below Coney Peak (~13,300') when she motored on ahead.

As I neared the summit of Coney Peak I looked south to see some very dark, menacing clouds engulfing Rio Grande Pyramid and knew we'd soon be in the weather too. Sure enough a couple minutes after I "ran" over the summit of Coney Peak the snow started to fall. At first I figured it would be a short-lived snow squall but after about 15 minutes it looked like it was here to stay so I donned my jacket. The wet flakes were huge and prolific and it was pretty surreal for a bit. I thought back to earlier in the morning when I was running in a sleeveless shirt and sweating and how that seemed like a different day compared to the current weather. Then the wind began to blow a bit harder, the snow flakes got bigger and it got cold. (See the videos on Joseph Lea's blogpost about his experience this year.) I wished I had brought along gloves but got clever and stuck one of my hand bottles in my jacket pocket so I could suck a hand into the sleeves of the jacket. On my right hand (the windward hand) I wrapped my hand in my cotton handkerchief that I normally use to wipe sweat off my brow and jammed my hand into the hand bottle sling effectively making a cotton mitten. This worked great for the long jaunt to the Divide aid station at mile 31 at noon straight up. At this point I was still on my schedule for a sub-10 run but was feeling the fast miles I had run earlier and the cold weather wasn't helping. I was burning more calories just trying to stay warm in the adverse conditions.

I filled a bottle of HEED at the Divide aid station, ate a vanilla Hammer gel and then got moving again. Standing around for too long would only leave me colder. As I left the aid station I was pretty sure I saw my friend and frequent training partner David Coblentz striding up the hill into the aid station. For the first time I ran the whole section from the Divide to Slugullion without seeing another person. This is not to say I was way ahead of others but rather the clouds and snow were so thick that at times visibility was maybe 50 yards. It was pretty surreal and I wondered how people who hadn't been on this course would manage through this section...it's pretty obvious following a well-established two-track but I know if I didn't know the course well I'd be second-guessing myself wondering if I was supposed to turn off or something. Also, I was hoping folks behind me were prepared for the weather. It was pretty nasty.

Then, to make things more difficult, the super wet dirt road turned to a gloppy mud that began sticking to my shoes making them feel a few pounds heavier not to mention slick! I got in the habit of kicking the bottom of my shoe on big rocks as I passed them to knock the mud globs off. I repeated that procedure all way down into Slumgullion at mile 40 at 1:40pm. I had hoped to arrive at Slumgullion at 1:20pm for my sub-10 goal. Being wet, cold, 20 minutes "late" and a bit beat up at this point I knew sub-10 was out of the question now. My fingers were a bit numb so I asked my Mom for my gloves out of my bag and struggled to get them on. By this point it was raining rather than snowing at this elevation but I figured dry gloves on my hands for at least a little while would make me feel warmer. I spent approximately three minutes at the aid station which I believe was the longest of all my aid station stops during the race.

I left amongst spirit-lifting clapping and hollering and felt very grateful for everyone being there encouraging us runners in our endeavor. The climb up Vickers has always, always kicked my ass and this year was no exception. I don't know what it is...it's relatively low in elevation and in aspen groves so you'd think it would be easy but no! I struggled my way up thinking, "OK, next year I'll feel good at this point." Yeah right! About half way up the climb I heard a familiar voice from behind. David Wilcox was charging up the hill smiling and encouraging me to get a move on. He passed me and I tried to hang with him for a bit but knew it was not to be. We kept on moving up and into the trees to the flat section when the rain finally started to abate. I lost sight of David but kept running as much as I could across the top of Vickers through the three meadows. I've learned to count the meadows before the final aid station. Just before the Vickers aid station came into view the 10 hour mark slipped by. Yep, not this year. I reached the Vickers aid station at 3:06pm and didn't stop at all but thanked the volunteers there for letting us run through their property and for being there to support us.

The sun had just come back out and it looked like it was shaping up to be a fine afternoon. I stopped to take off my jacket and gloves and tied them around my waist. The descent down from Vickers is always tough on my quads and this time was no different. Also, I had to make a pit stop in the trees to take care of some trow-dropping business. Refreshed a little bit, I got back on trail and tried to run as fast as I could. It was now looking like that sub-11 would be a challenge and I was sweating it. These arbitrary goals are tough sometimes. I finished the descent and was back in town running the final mile or so into the finish when I looked back to see Coblentz only a couple hundred yards away! Nice, David, nice! The competitive adrenaline kicked in and I stepped up my pace. Plus, I knew it was going to be tight for sub-11 anyway. We crossed the bridge and made the final left turn towards the finish. I was still sprinting as best I could and got psyched to hear the cheering and cow bells ahead. The positive vibes were nearly overwhelming as I entered the park and across the finish line just a bit more than a minute faster than my time last year.

2009 Jemez Mountain Trail Runs 50 Mile Race Report

5/16/2009
50 miles
10:11:19
5th overall of 104 finishers
Official results
Official race website
My GPS stats, splits and map

Going into this year's JMTR 50 mile race, I had two goals--feel good on the descent of Pajarito Mountain and finish under 10 hours. The first goal was a result of my terrible downhill performance last year on Pajarito Mountain when I went into the race under trained on account of a five week trip to India in March/April of 2008. In the 2008 race I had felt pretty good until I crested the Aspen run and started down the slightly snowy, slick and steep descent and realized I had nothing left in my quads and that it would be a long 14 miles to the finish. I wanted to prove to myself I could do better. My secondary goal of finishing under 10 hours was certainly possible if I had a good race and things went well.

When we started the race from the Posse shack at 5am I started out front alongside Ryan Burch as we trotted down the short bit of pavement and turned onto the dirt road. I had met Ryan last year, and maybe even earlier, and knew he was a nice, strong guy and I expected him to win. He and I chatted for a while during the first few minutes along the dirt road and then we cranked down into Bayo Canyon and Ryan was gone! I was thinking he might be going out too fast but as it would turn out, he was way strong and ran a super race out front solo the entire time. Very inspiring.

For the first few miles through the first aid station I ran with Glenn Mackie and we also chatted a bit. He was coming from Dallas, TX for this race and I was super impressed with his running considering the altitude. But I think it didn't take too long for the altitude to start affecting him and he slowed behind me a bit after the first aid station. I then ran along with Greg Feucht as we ascended to Guaje Ridge and enjoyed a nice sunrise under the cloud deck above. The day was turning out perfect for running with an overcast sky and a cool temperature. It was definitely a bit humid for Los Alamos and I found myself sweating a great deal more than I normally would at 6:00am in the morning. I reached the Guaje Ridge aid station at mile 7.1 at 6:15am, quickly filled my one hand bottle and dropped down the North Mitchell trail into Guaje Canyon. I really enjoy steep, technical descents and I felt I was making good time on the other runners behind me on this section.

Down in the canyon the running up canyon was really pleasant and certainly scenic with the stream flowing and a little bit of sunshine poking through the clouds. I ran into the Caballo Base aid station at mile 10 at 6:50am and saw a number of familiar faces working the aid station. I'd later learn there was a bear hanging out near the aid station watching the runners. The out and back run up and down Caballo Mountain was, as always, steep and hard. I ran only near the the start of the climb and near the top and reached the Caballo summit at mile 12 at 7:30am...40 minutes for that climb isn't too bad. The view of Los Alamos and the Rio Grande valley was stellar this morning. I ran down fast but a bit conservatively as I wanted to save some legs for the Pajarito Mountain descent that was 23 miles away. A few downed trees along the trail kept me attentive and in check from going too hard. I was running in second place at this point and feeling good. I refilled my hand bottle at Caballo Base again at mile 14 at 7:47am and headed up Guaje Canyon on one of the two portions of the course that I often consider to be hot. As I neared the top of the canyon and started heading out on the cruising trail towards the Pipeline aid station the third place runner at the time, Dakota Jones, came up behind me and we chatted as we ran into the Pipeline aid station at mile 16 at 8:25am. As I neared the aid station I let out a little whoop to let my family members running the aid station--Mom, Matt and Dylan--know I was coming in.

Their aid station is notoriously awesome! The homemade shelter my Mom and Matt made for last year's race was again erected and well-stocked. I wanted to spend more time admiring the well-appointed aid station but I had a long way to go still. I grabbed my second water bottle filled with HEED powder and filled up both hand bottles. I also grabbed my electrolyte capsules and a few gels for the long section through the Valles Caldera, over Cerro Grande and down Cañon de Valle to the Pajarito Canyon aid station. The initial descent from the Pipeline aid station is a steep, loose and sketchy slide down the pipeline "road". I started down with Dakota behind me but it sounded like it was coming down faster than I was so I stepped aside and sure enough, he flew right by me. As we ran down into and through the caldera I was sure to take in the view as it is a phenomnal, wide open place to run. Dakota gained a bit on me through this section and I ran into the awesome Valles Caldera aid station at mile 20 at 9:03am. It was a quick stop for me to fill up my two bottles and get going again.

From the aid station the course leaves the nice dirt road and starts out along a cattle trail over a small stock pond dam and then cut cross country to the saddle south of Cerro Grande. As I ran along the cattle trail towards the cross country section I noticed Dakota had missed the cross country intersection and was continuing south along the cattle trail. I whistled and yelled his name but I don't think he heard me. When I got to the intersection I realized the problem...nearly all of the pin flags we'd stuck in the ground had been knocked down and/or chewed up by the elk. I really hoped Ryan hadn't missed this section but I knew he had run this course last year and hopefully remembered where to go. Since I had marked this section of the course two weeks earlier I knew where to go and ran along stopping to pick up and stick the flags that were spaced about every 70 feet or so back into the ground as I knew there'd be 100+ other runners behind us and this wasn't an obvious section of course. Along this section I met Jason Wolfe and then Dakota looked back to see us going across the big meadow and came back to meet up with us for the climb up through the talus, up to the saddle and to the summit of Cerro Grande.

On the Cerro Grande summit I stopped briefly to dump some small rocks out of my shoes and Jamil Coury cruised by me there. I was now in fifth place and looking forward to one of the most runnable, nice section of the course--the descent down the great single track of Cañon de Valle. It was a great descent and I was looking forward to seeing my Dad and Allison at the next aid station. I didn't see anyone else on this section and ran into the Pajarito Canyon aid station at mile 28 at 10:46am. I had been hoping to arrive there at 10:30am but was still feeling good and hoping I was running a smart race and saving some juice for later. At the aid station I grabbed a new gel flask and refilled my two hand bottles--one with HEED and one with water--and left the aid station having spent only about a minute there.



I always dread the climb up Pajarito Canyon despit the lush beauty of the canyon because it is a notoriously hot section of the course. However, this year the clouds kept things relatively cool and reasonable. I still decided to take off my shirt and run without it to the Townsight aid station and enjoyed the slight breeze cooling me off as we entered the Geist's Gap section of the course. Geist's Gap is a section of trail that was a the brainchild of Bill Geist who really wanted to avoid running the pavement of Camp May road during the race and convinced us to improve an old, faint two track through the forest paralleling Camp May Road. The effort was worth and I always enjoy this section of the course. I followed Jason Wolfe into the Townsight aid station at mile 32 at 11:43am feeling good and ready for the last big climb of the course up Pajarito Mountain. I had hoped to get into the Ski Lodge aid station at mile 36 at noon and realized there was no way that was going to happen. But I was feeling strong and still in fifth place so I wasn't too bothered by this realization.

Jason and I left the aid station together and talked briefly as we headed up the mountain. He was making ground on me but I did my best to keep him in sight for some added motivation and that worked well. We held a good pace going up the mountain and over along the crest to the summit and then dropped down the run called Oops! As I descended the run I looked back to see Harry Harcrow and another runner not far behind me. I then looked forward and noticed I could no longer see Jason Wolfe when I should have been able to see him. There was an intersection that left the main trail we had been running along and I assumed he'd missed this intersection so I whistled and shouted his name hoping he'd hear me and come back on track. The wind was blowing now, though, and I didn't get a response. I figured he'd run into runners going the other way and realize the mistake soon though. And now for the moment I had been waiting for...my goal number one.

I crested the Aspen run and looked straight down familiar territory. I recalled last year having nothing left for this descent and was super stoked to feel so good as I started down fast and strong. I think I even gained a bit of distance on the runners behind me on this descent this year. I ran into the Ski Lodge aid station in fourth place at mile 36 at 12:44pm to a surprise crowd of my Dad, Allison, Pattie and Roger. Very cool! I loaded up my two hand bottles and grabbed a couple extra gels and beat feet out of there pretty damn quick.


Photo by Jim Stein

The run out Cañada Bonita to the Pipeline aid station was good and I kept a good pace saying hello to incoming 50k runners and passing a number of outbound 50k runners too. As I entered the Pipeline aid station at mile 39 at 1:18pm I again shouted a "yahoo" before my family there could see me so they knew I was coming. At the aid station I utilized the water sprayer that I purchased specifically for the race this year. Dylan refilled my bottles and I was on my way again ready for the final 11 miles to the finish. Oh, but first Dave suggested I stop for a photo with the inflatable durable thick vinyl "love ewe" sheep and I couldn't refuse.

Just when you think the climbing is done, there's one more long climb on the dirt road leaving the Pipeline aid station! I tried to run as much of this as I could which wasn't much and I quickly resorted to power hiking. Near the top of the climb I glanced back and saw Harry Harcrow not far behind and this motivated me to run more. Thanks Harry! In short order I reached the turn onto the upper Guaje Ridge trail and enjoyed the nice single track running down the ridge trail to the Guaje/Mitchell aid station at mile 42 just before 2:00pm. Sandy was there to welcome Harry and I we got there and graciously filled up my hand bottle. At this point I realized I wasn't likely to finish under 10 hours because we had about seven miles to go and only an hour to run it to finish under 10 hours. Nonetheless, it was worth a try and Harry was definitely motivated for it. It was out of my sight in no time.

These final seven miles can also be brutally warm on the open, treeless lower ridge but heavy clouds and a threat of showers, along with some decent wind, kept things very nice all the way down to the final aid station, Rendija, at mile 48 at 2:48pm. As usual, this aid station run by Maura and Nena had a theme and definitely a party feel to it. This year it was Christmas in May at the aid station! I was pumped up to hear the aid station personnel shouting my name as I came into the aid station and only stopped long enough to gulp down a cup of water. The adrenaline of being so near the finish motivated me to run out of the aid station and start up the hill. As I got near the first switchback I slowed to start power hiking with Nena, Maura and the rest of the crew shouted up to me, "No walking!" Damn! So I picked it back up and ran to the next switchback and slowed again only to hear "No walking!" being shouted again. I was shamed into running again and couldn't wait to get out of sight of the aid station so I could walk! But really the extra motivation got me running the entire hill up to the contouring singletrack back towards the tunnel. Thanks to all you wonderful aid station volunteers! Although I knew I wouldn't make it under ten hours I ran continually through Bayo canyon up to the cutoff up to the final stretch out of the canyon. This final stretch of single track is cut deeply in the tuff and I did end up walking this last climb out of the canyon but of course had to start running again before I turned the corner where everyone would see me heading to the finish. I heard cowbells, clapping and shouting and picked up the pace to the finish line at 10:11:19.



It felt great to be done but was especially encouraging that I ran the course 30 minutes faster than I had last year and felt quite good the entire time. As usual my Dad did a fantastic job crewing for me, my Mom, Matt and Dylan did a fantastic job manning the Pipeline aid station and the run was a great success all around. I'm already looking forward to next year where I'll hopefully actually finish under 10 hours!

Buffalo Run 50k 2009 Race Report

3/28/2009
50 kilometers (32.63 miles actual)
4:40:50
4th overall of 151 entrants
Official 50k results
My SportTracks GPS data report and map
My Picasa Photo Album
Official race website

View Larger Map

As I sat in the Salt Lake City airport the morning after the run, it was blowing and snowing with a temperature of 36 degrees outside and I couldn't believe what a gorgeous day we had yesterday for the Buffalo run on Antelope Island. The nasty Sunday weather also made me really appreciate the fact that the run was yesterday versus today. It would be miserable out on that course a day later. We lucked out and had an awesome day for a great run on a very scenic island.

Bill, Minesh and I had flown up to Salt Lake City on Friday before the race and got checked in for the race at Striders Running store in Layton. A snow storm had just passed through the area the day before leaving the Wasatch mountains a bright white and deposited some snow on the higher peak on Antelope Island. We heard that despite the new snow up high, the course for the run was in great condition with only a few muddy spots. Bill would be running the 50 mile course while Minesh and I planned to run the 50k course. For a bit I had considered the 50 mile course but because I had recently run in the Old Pueblo 50 mile race and I had heard the 50k course was more enjoyable, I stuck with the 50k.

We awoke at 4:15am on Saturday morning in our hotel in Layton for a quick breakfast and then nearly 30 minute drive out to the island. As we entered the Antelope Island State Park and drove over the causeway we immediately got the feeling the race was very well organized by the number of “parking nazis” (as RD Jim Skaggs referred to them) using lights to direct us to the parking near the start. We found the parking and rambled the hundred or so yards to the start area to find some tents setup and a couple of campfires raging to keep us scantily-clad runners warm while we waited. Jim Skaggs was easy to spot wearing his unique buffalo hat. He gave us a pre-race briefing of the course to the 50 milers and showed the runners where to line up. At 6:00am the 50 milers took off running amongst the usual whooping and hollering. It was dark and pretty chilly with the temperature in the mid-30s and a light wind blowing but the sky was clearing promising a nice day.

From Antelope Island Buffalo Run 50k and 50 mile race 2009, 2009-03-29

The Beist takes off for the 50 miler.


Minesh and I loitered around the campfires and chatted with some friends that we've made during meetings at other races. Karl Meltzer and Scott Mason (WasatchSpeedGoat) would be manning the Lower Frary aid station in the 50 mile race and were loading up drop bags.

The time came for Minesh and I to get ready for the 8:00am 50k start. I chose to ditch my beanie, gloves and running pants so I'd start with just my visor, sunglasses, long sleeve shirt over my sleeveless shirt, shorts, hand bottle and my Saucony Xodus trail shoes. This would be my first long run in the Xodus shoe which has turned out to be a nice little shoe.

From Antelope Island Buffalo Run 50k and 50 mile race 2009, 2009-03-29

As all of us 50k runners lined up, no one was anxious to step up to the start line. Since I planned to run the course hard I decided to step up to the line and then a few others finally did so too. When we all took off running at 8:00am, I was the leading the pack for the first few miles which made me uncomfortable for two reasons: First, I'd never been on the course and hadn't studied the map very well and second, I'm not used to running in that position so it felt odd. I was wondering if my pace was too slow or too fast. One look behind me confirmed that I didn't appear to be going too fast...plenty of folks were with me.
The course starts uphill on a long switchback up the east side of major ridge on the north end of the island. As we rambled up the hill I began talking the the runner next to me, Jesse, from Bozeman. He had spent a summer in Los Alamos working at LANL in the Theoretical Division. Pretty cool to meet another runner here that was familiar with Los Alamos. His friend Don and other friend, Nikki Kimball, were right behind us up the hill. Once we crested the ridge and turned to the right along the ridge we encountered the only herd of Buffalo I'd see all day and ran past them with them standing about 50 feet away. Pretty awesome and huge beasts but no match for us bunch of mountain goats. Baaahhh! We next hit a nice, fast descent into a saddle between the two high points we'd be running around all day. At this point I was running in the group of the front four and saw Bill coming uphill with a couple other 50 milers on their return of the loop. Bill was looking strong and we high-fived as we passed by each other. From the saddle it was another steeper descent before some flat running and then up the steepest climb on the course to the first aid station, Elephant Head. Up the steep hill the three other runners in our group started power walking but I had to pee and took the opportunity to keep running up the entire hill to gain some ground so I could pee without falling too far behind. I went out ahead of the others and no doubt they were thinking, “He's gonna burn out running the steep hill.” But when they reached the top of the hill and saw me peeing on the side of the dirt road at least one of them said, “Good idea, I need to do that too.” I got back on track and passed through the aid station without stopping. I still had plenty of gel in my flask and my single hand bottle was half full. We' be back at the AS in five miles so I was set.

We busted off right onto some fast downhill trail/old road and the four of us were flying down with a pace of about 6:00/mile for the next mile. At the bottom of the fast section we turned left and started up a gradual hill that eventually led to some very runnable switchbacks up and back towards the aid station. The scenery back here was phenomenal with a view of the open water over to some snow covered mountains on the lake's west side. Here the group started to break up a bit and three runners moved up about a minute ahead of me and a fifth runner. At the top of the switchbacks another runner in tan came up on me and the other runner and passed us just before the Elephant Head AS at mile 10.5. At the AS I went looking for my drop bag and it took a few minutes to locate it. I grabbed an extra three gels, refilled my water bottle and headed out. A few hundred yards out of the aid station I realized I had meant to grab my electrolyte tablets but had neglected to do that. But they did have S-caps at the aid station tables so I knew I could get some at the AS at the start/finish area before starting our second lap.

On the return to the start/finish area we ran on a new trail that stayed pretty low on the ridge's west side. This trail was really fun and fast and we made good time back towards the front of the ridge looking down on the start/finish area. I believe I was in sixth place as we descended down to the start/finish area. About a half mile out from the start/finish AS I noticed the front runners all heading out on the dirt road along what I knew was the 50 mile course. I thought this was odd as I didn't recall the course description stating anything about that. When I reached the aid station as just over two hours, I filled up my water bottle again and grabbed a few s-caps while swallowing a couple for good measure too—I had been sweating pretty decently in the last hour. As I got ready to leave the aid station, two of the front runners came back up the dirt road from the 50 mile course area asking, “hey, where do the 50k runners go?” A woman at the aid station said, “out that way along the dirt road and then eventually back here.” It sure didn't sound right but the three of us went for it anyway and starting running along the dirt road out away from the loop we had just ran. As we ran I looked over to see Tim Long, whom I'd met a couple of months ago at the Ghost Town race in southern NM. I said hello as we passed by. But as we neared the parking area I really started thinking this was wrong. I didn't recall the course description staying anything about an out-and-back and my GPS watch was now reading 16.3 miles which was already more than half the distance of a 50k...if we were going to run that loop one more time that would be more than 50k. So I hollered at the other two and told them I didn't think this was right. We saw an official-looking truck of some kind with two guys in it and stopped to ask them if they knew where the 50k course went. They didn't know but another guy standing nearby told us he didn't think it went out where we were headed. That was enough confirmation for me and all three of us turned around. There was a runner in brown ahead of us who I was pretty sure was a 50k racer also so I whistled at him but he was wearing headphones and didn't hear my whistle. We got back to the aid station and a different woman was now telling us the 50k runners didn't go the way we were going and pointed us back onto the loop we had just run. It would have been nice to get that information before we headed out the wrong way rather than being directed to go the way we went but the bonus distance was good for my training and we lost only about 8 minutes total. It was just a small heat-of-the-moment misunderstanding on all our parts--no worries!

From Antelope Island Buffalo Run 50k and 50 mile race 2009, 2009-03-29

Buffalo!

Back on the course and starting the second loop I ran as much as I could up the initial hill but got passed by another 50k runner. At this point I had lost all track of where I was in relation to other runners because I expected a few had passed by when the three of us were off track for a bit. So now with this other runner passing me and three others I could see up ahead, I was hoping I was still in the top 10 at least. I reached the top of the ridge and started running along the top and could see one runner ahead of me. At the saddle he stopped to pee and I passed him there. It was an uneventful cruise to the Elephant Head aid station again save for yielding to all the other 50k and 25k runners coming up towards me. At the Elephant Head for the third time I found it congested with many of the other runners and had to wiggle my way to the water container to fill up my water bottle at the aid table. I still had a good amount of gels so it was a quick stop and back onto the fast downhill section again. Earlier I had ran this section at about 6:00/mile pace but now, at mile 20 I ran it a bit slower but was still pleased to maintain a sub-seven minute pace. I was coming up on another runner in front of me and as I passed him he asked my name and said, “Didn't we meet at the Moab Alpine to Slickrock 50 miler last fall?” Indeed we had. We reintroduced ourselves...his name is Shane and he had run an awesome MAS 50 miler last fall just a couple weeks after running the Wasatch 100. I opened up my pace using my long legs to my advantage and cruised to the bottom of the descent. I knew I was likely to slow down on the climb up again so I wanted to move as fast as I could on the descents.

Going up the runnable switchbacks again I ran a good bit of them slowing to a walk only a few times and mostly so I could change up my pace and take some of the strain out of my groin area that was starting to feel the effects of running as hard as I had been. As I topped out and ran back along the contours towards the Elephant Head AS again, I noticed another runner coming up fast and strong. He passed me right before the AS. At the AS for th last time, I filled up my hand bottle with water again and grabbed one more gel and an extra S-cap for the final five miles to the finish. I left the AS before the other runner but not long after I left he came cruising by and I told him how strong he was looking. I was impressed. I shuffled down the steep descent as fast as I could go at this point and then held a decent pace along the contouring trail to the final decent climb back up towards the saddle. Here I noticed that strong runner had completely stopped and was cramping. I pulled the S-cap out of my pocket and gave it to him as I passed him because I know how much it sucks to cramp late in a race. He was thankful and slammed it down. At the saddle another runner, Greg Norrander, had been making good time on me came up and passed by me as I slowed to pee one last time.

We were now on the homestretch towards the finish line with only a few miles to go. The cramping runner had made a good recovery and came up behind me and introduced himself. His name was Sandy and he again thanked me for the S-cap as he passed me. I told him, “No worries, now go finish under 4:30!” We were at 4:20ish at that point so I think we both knew that wouldn't happen but it was motivating to think about that. A few minutes later Sandy cramped again and I passed by him once more. As we turned the corner and could see down to the finish, I slowed for a moment and Sandy passed by me one last time. I did notice Greg in front of us was slowing just a bit on the descent so I hoped to catch up to him before the finish. At that moment Sandy yelled to me with some encouraging words so I picked up my pace to keep up with him. As we descended we continued to pick up the pace eventually passing Greg about a mile from the finish. We hit the flats just before the final short hill that then led to the short downhill finish. Sandy finished about 30 seconds ahead of me and I came in at 4:40:50 feeling like I ran as hard as I could. It took me a few minutes to decompress before I could shuffle the 100 yards to the car to get my recovery whole chocolate milk, extra clothes and a chair. I ended up driving the car back to right near the finish because I figured Bill and Minesh would appreciate not having to make that walk.

I sat around the finish area drinking chocolate milk, water and beer, in that order, (I had a few hours to hang out) while ringing the cowbells for finishers and eating chips. I also indulged in a bowl or two of the potluck buffalo stew which was quite tasty. I had never eaten buffalo before. It was a beautiful afternoon to hang out on the grass waiting for fellow Los Alamos runners Bill, Nena and Minesh to finish.

From Antelope Island Buffalo Run 50k and 50 mile race 2009, 2009-03-29

Beist finishing strong for a 50 mile PR.

From Antelope Island Buffalo Run 50k and 50 mile race 2009, 2009-03-29

Nena finishes up her 50k run in 7:30ish I believe.

From Antelope Island Buffalo Run 50k and 50 mile race 2009, 2009-03-29

Minesh coming into the finish.