Western States 100: The "Un"race Report

Five minutes after landing in San Jose the Wednesday before the Western States 100, I learned the race was cancelled. My first reaction was sorrow for Jamie and all the preparation he had put into the race. My second reaction was an emphatic "What?!?!?!". This was the first time this race has been cancelled in its 35 years, and it happened the year I was to participate, albeit as a pacer and not a racer. I am starting to get a complex: first, I missed out on the WS100 lottery, the Massanutten Mountain Trails 100 filled up in record time and I was an hour later in signing up, and I missed out on the Mount Washington Road Race lottery (I did get in via the Maine Track Club). And now God decided to scour the dry northern California landscape with lightning strikes resulting in approximately 800-1000 wildfires during my trip out there.

Step back a few days to Maine. The Saturday prior to heading out to CA I ran the Mount Washington Road Race. After that race the little annoying cold I had turned into something a little more serious, leaving me feeling quite nasty. The day after Mount Washington, as my cold raged, my youngest son Quinn was struck with a stomach virus and got sick in his crib. As I was cleaning his bedsheets, fear struck. Fear of catching this virus right before my flight, or even worse, of somehow transferring my cold or this stomach bug to Jamie. So in order to not freak Jamie out, I never wrote of this ordeal of told Jamie so as to not stress him out. Luckily, none of these fears ever came to pass. Back to the San Jose airport. So after recovering from the initial shock and entering the denial stage, I connected with Danny and we headed north towards Squaw Valley. Our original plans included hitting Yosemite for a couple days of hiking and camping before meeting up with Jamie. But there was smoke. Danny's parents were visiting CA and had just returned from Yosemite and their report was not positive: from Yosemite valley Half Dome was not visible. I have never been but apparently this means the smoke was quite thick. Oh well, maybe next time. (This would be the first time of many that I would utter this statement.)

After driving a couple hours we stopped off at Sonora for a short night's sleep. Sonora's an old sleepy ghost town with a lot of charm, but not enough to keep us there for long. Early Thursday morning we headed out. I say "early" with a bit of snicker because it was much earlier than I thought. When I rolled out of bed I was sure the alarm clock read 8:30 AM. While I haven't slept until 8:30 for probably 3 1/2 years, I wrote the late time off to my travel the day before and the late hour we got to bed. It wasn't until we checked out, finished breakfast and left town did I realize I had misread the clock by two hours. 6:30 AM wake up is more my style. Danny took a great scenic route up to Tahoe that took us through Calaveras County, made famous by Mark Twain's story "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County". Probably only a literature nerd and English minor like would notice this, but still cool.

After entering I-80 near Auburn (the WS 100 finish) and driving north for roughly the entire length of the WS 100 course (this interstate parallels the course), the reason for the race cancellation became painfully obvious. The visibility on the road was horrendous and the aroma was reminiscent of a campfire. Not good running air. So kudos goes to the race directors for having the courage to do what was right.

We rolled into Squaw Valley after noon and quickly found Jamie and his brother, Chris. We all decided to forgo lunch for a "quick" 4 1/2 mile run up the first hill of the race to Emigrant Pass, what I think is the highest point on the race course. Our starting elevation was just over 6200 feet and the elevation after the run up was just shy of 8800 feet. To hit the top, Jamie and I set out at a pretty decent pass which slowed to a walk after about 100 yards. The combination of the elevation and smoke zapped us. The rest of the run was done at a very controlled and even run/walk pace. The run up was great and lots of fun and I must say Danny had the best run of us all when considering his training has been pretty nil due to knee and foot problems. Once hitting the top we skirted the ridge for some hiking fun before starting back down. On the way down I couldn't pass up a dip in a water collecting basing from some drain pipes. While it felt really good, I did pick up some "mountain crabs", but it was well worth it. The descent was much quicker than the ascent and we quickly changed and hit dinner in the village. We were starving as we had skipped lunch and in dire need of adult beverages. Despite the sad news of the cancellation and the smoke that was quickly enveloping Squaw, we had a great time at dinner with excellent food and company. All's well that ends well.

Also of significance on this day I became an Uncle for the second time. My little brother Jason and his girlfriend Brandi gave the world my nephew, Hutton Matthew. The kid was 8 lbs, 12 ozs upon entering the world, so big kudos to Brandi for bearing this child. Congratulations to Jason and Brandi, and to me!

After our trip to Squaw, Danny and I were faced with the question of what next. It is a curious thing to be on vacation, and for me the first time I have been away from my family on a pleasure trip since the Riley's birth, and not know what to do. So we headed south towards Danny's home turf of San Jose with plans land in Big Sur for some camping. Mother nature had other plans. After spending a night in some anonymous place, we reached Danny's apartment early the next morning to retool our stores and plan the rest of the trip. The first thing we did was check on campgrounds in Big Sur. We were lucky to have done this because we learned that there was a voluntary evacuation of Big Sur in place due to the wildfires. Instead we headed down to Monterey and its most excellent aquarium. In the evening we headed over to surf town Santa Cruz for some dinner and to hopefully find a campsite. Unfortunately there were no campsites to be found anywhere, so after some dinner and people watching, we headed back to San Jose for a night of rest at Danny's.

Saturday morning we headed to Big Basin Redwoods State Park. The goal was once again to find a campsite, but we had no luck. The air around the Santa Cruz Mountains was relatively clear of smoke so it seemed that all of Northern California's campers had moved to this area and filled every available campsite around. Danny and I had originally set out to hike through the majestic coastal redwoods, but after driving in and seeing the beautiful forest, I started daydreaming about a run through the trees and set about talking Danny into running the trails. This wasn't difficult as he quickly agreed and we set out on the longest trail. Our run through the park took us 11.6 miles in just under 3 hours. This time included many stops for photos of the cool water falls we ran by and the unbelievable trees. There was also a bit of climbing during this run, as we climbed over 2300 feet. The best part of this trip though had to be the cookout we had at the conclusion. Danny had been kind enough to grab some beautiful steaks for us to grill at our first campsite, but as this campsite never materialized we ended up toting the steaks all around Northern California for few days before deciding they had traveled enough and we plopped down on a picnic table and cooked them right then and there. I also learned that squirrels eat more than nuts. As we were waiting for our steaks we started munching on beef jerky (a must for every backpack). A curious squirrel was milling about so I threw him a piece of jerky (sorry, I know one shouldn't feed the wildlife but I couldn't resist) and he woofed it down. So I proved that squirrels are carnivores, or I had just created the first of a new species. Watch out humans; squirrels will now be coming for more than just your bird seed!

After the day at Big Basin, the trip became a little more domesticated. We headed back to San Jose to Danny's apartment (after stopping for some gelato in Los Gatos, a neat little town) and were lucky enough to meet up with Danny's roommates. We had a great dinner with them and then hung out and chatted. The next day we attended Danny's church, and then headed over to the Santa Cruz mountains for some winery hopping, watched opera in the park in Los Gatos (a friend of Danny's was singing), and then went to see "The Happening". What a waste of money. Do not waste your time. I think M. Night Shyamalan committed career suicide with this one. Forced dialogue, many awkward moments, and completely predictable story all contribute to a terrible experience.

On Monday we went on a tour of the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose. While this is no doubt a tourist attraction and somewhat kitschy, it is still a site worth seeing. I saw a documentary on the place some years ago and when Danny asked if I wanted to see it, I was game. The house was built over a period of 38 years by Sarah Winchester, the heiress of the Winchester Rifle fortune. She lost her husband and daughter early in her life. After consulting with an occultist, she bought a house and started building on to it for the rest of her life. This was because she was told and believed that this was the only way to keep the spirits of those whose lost life to the Winchester rifle at bay. So she built, and built, and built...stairs to the ceiling, doors on the second floor that open to the outdoors, and all kinds of thing that have the number 13 associated with them (windows with 13 panes, closets with 13 hooks, chandeliers with 13 candles, etc.). Crazy chick. But she built an interesting house.

After this tour we ate some more Mexican (fish tacos again - yummy) and set off for one last run before I headed back home. So Danny picked a local county park with some trails and we did some running. The local county park that Danny chose was a gem. The Almaden Quicksilver County Park in Santa Clara County is an unbelievable place. Almost 35 miles of trails, complete with quicksilver mines and tons of wildlife, are available for runners, horses, and bikers. It is also the home of the Quicksilver Running Club of San Jose, and their two races including the Quicksilver 50 Mile, 50K and 25K races in early May and a series of shorter races in October (Danny, if I lived out there I would sign up with these guys). Also of note is that they run an aid station at Western States. Good on to them! Our run was amazing. We made our way around the trails (periodically tasting our fish tacos and beer), dropping into little canyons along the way as we skirted a ridge ascending and descending many saddles (the satellite photo of the course shows this pretty well). We spotted quite a few black-tailed deer (first for me), one of which sported a 6-point rack. Our goal was to do a nice loop which would take us by a still open quicksilver mine tunnel, but we failed to spot the turn and after about 35 minutes of running, we decided to turn back for the parking lot (on the way back it was hard to not turn off the course and cross the canyon to jump in the pools that we could see from the trail - see the detailed photo). We finished our run around 5 PM, and quickly headed home to allow me to clean up for my red eye that left a few hours later.

So ended my trip. While Danny and I were continuously faced with changing conditions courtesy of mother nature, we always kept our sense of humor and laughed off our relative poor luck. All in all, it didn't matter what we were doing. I have known Danny now for more than half my life. He is in the truest sense of the term my best friend. With the absence of all the epic events we had planned (WS 100, Yosemite, Big Sur), it left us with more time to simply relax and catch up. I got to join Danny at his church for a Sunday service. I greatly admire Danny's faith and his commitment to his religion and his community. I only wish I had an ounce of the faith Danny lives out every day. Much like the many excuses people garner to justify not running or not being fit, I carry with me excuses for my weak display of faith. I have so many excuses for not taking time on Sunday's to go to church (namely my long runs). This is something I have to work on, if for only to give the option of exploring faith themselves. Anyhow, I hope everyone out there has a friend as great as Danny. He has a way of handling my moods and eccentricities with grace and like an old pro (he's been doing it for half his life). I can honestly say that this extra time Danny and I got to hang out left me with very little regret for having missed the Western States race and all our other original plans. Also of note, Danny stepped his running up in a big way and was with me on every run we did, despite a foot injury and a lack of run training. Never once did he grumble, not even when I suggested we run Big Basin Redwood SP as he was getting all geared up to hike it. What a guy and what a friend.

Finally, boy did I miss my two little ones, Riley and Quinn. I really never expected to miss them as much as I did. I couldn't help but feeling like I was missing something the entire trip. I was nostalgic many times as I watched parents playing with their kids or cleaning up messes in restaurants as their food grew cold. I am a lucky guy to have a family that is super supportive of all my running. If they didn't travel with me to all my races, I might have quit racing a long time ago. Now I am one week away from my second Vermont 100, my cold is gone, I have just about cleared my lungs of the smoke residue from the trip, and I had Quinn's stomach virus. There is nothing that should get in my way now. Wish me luck.

To view other photos of my trip, check out my Picasa web album.

Cali Trip

Holy cow, or the Mount Washington Road Race

Today I ran my first Mount Washington Road Race. The best words to describe my feeling about the race: Holy Cow. That was quite a unique race. 7.6 miles and just under 4,650 feet of climbing to reach the 6,288 foot peak. The climb is 12 percent on average, 18 percent at the steepest long grade, and 30 percent at the finish! Not an easy climb.

The morning started early as I arrived at Mount Washington after a two hour drive. I chose the more scenic route for the drive up to enjoy the beautiful morning and to hopefully catch a glimpse of some moose. I did not see any but my buddy Jim saw a mother and her calves on the same road, so I guess I was just a little slow. The first part of the drive was socked in with some low lying clouds and fog but at the half way spot and as the music on my iPod turned more upbeat, the clouds opened up as if on cue. At this point I had hit the more mountainous region of our glorious state and the peaks of some of the hills were still flirting with the clouds, which was a quite spectacular site.

Almost immediately after arriving I spotted Jamie, who was our driver down the mountain, and the rest of crew, including Jim from L.L.Bean and his Topsham running buddies. After handing of our runner's passes to Jamie to allow him to drive up, Jim and I and a few others headed off to run around the trails of Great Glen Trails XC ski area since we had an hour before the race started. All told I got in a 40 minute warm up run before heading back to the start just a few minutes before the cannon roared, sending the runners chasing the peak.

At 10 AM, we started. Cruelly enough, this race starts with a downhill. This could be for humor, or more likely so the race can be run on the entire auto road by starting outside the gate but not right at the gate where a bottleneck would be guaranteed. I started a little bit back in the field and it took me roughly 20 seconds to cross the finish line and them and undetermined amount of energy weaving my way around those those who chose a slower starting speed than me. At about the quarter mile mark the only downhill and flat sections were behind us and the rest of the way pointed straight up!

I kept a pretty good pace until near the end of the second mile when reality hit: this is a steep hill and is only getting steeper. This thought really hit me hard because I have never had to deal with anything like this. Typically in any race, be it a 5K or a 100-miler, every hill ends and you are rewarded with a nice downhill or at least a flat section. This is not the case on Mount Washington. One of Jim's veteran Mount Washington buddies told me before the race, while shaking his head, that mile 2 was a bear. Boy was he right. So after running for 1.85 miles I adopted my run-walk strategy.

After the run-walk strategy I never seemed to go to deeply anaerobic and felt pretty in much in control. Many other runners had also taken this strategy, and even those that didn't were not moving too terribly much faster than my power walk. At the half way mark I had clocked a time of 39:51, well on my way of achieving a sub 1:30. Shortly after the halfway mark, we passed the 4,000 feet marker and were now running above tree line. This is where the race got really cool, because the views were fantastic. It was unbelievable to look down at the start line and realize how high I had climbed. It was also at this point that I started likening this course to a Tour de France stage in the Alps. I felt like I had watched this race many times in July during the Tour. It was also at this point that I felt the alpine chill and noticed the thick clouds at the summit. I was heading for the place that had witnessed the all-time surface wind speed world record of 231 mph in 1934. So the weather in this place is never certain.

The last couple miles were punctuated by bouts of running and walking, worrying about my tired legs, and exhilaration at the views and what I was doing. The last mile found me completely enshrouded in clouds and getting chilly. As I neared the finish line, the thickened crowds motivated me to pick up the pace, despite my tired legs and the 30 percent grade "wall" at the end. I finished in 1:26:19, 123rd out of 646 males (Mount Washington results ). Considering I did not do any hill training in preparation for this race and also the fact that this race was the US Mountain Running Championship and boasted the largest elite field in the race's history, I feel pretty good with a Top 20 percentile finish. And I achieved my goal of a sub 1:30. Looking at the winner's time of just over an hour with a pace just under 8:00 minutes a mile is astounding. Unbelievable.

All in all, this was a great day. I have never been to the top of Mount Washington and I was not disappointed. Thanks a ton to my buddy Jamie for spending like $600 in gas to drive up to the top of the mountain and then cost himself another $1,000 for the future brake work he'll have to do to his car to repair the damage done driving down!!! Also a big thanks to my father-in-law Phil for coming out and volunteering on my behalf (I was granted a race slot through the Maine Track Club and in return I had to provide a volunteer). You guys are great and made this day happen. Will I be back next year? I don't know. I guess I'll probably throw my hat in the bucket again and see what happens. I might even train if I get in again!

Single parenting, training with Riley, and The Hill

Kelly is off working down in sunny Florida so my training has been less than stellar this week. Instead I have been training with Riley. She's got the L.L.Bean 4th of July 1 Miler coming up so she's been getting ready. Seriously. On Monday she went out and ran a mile with Kelly. Yes, at 3 1/2 years old she had enough focus and stamina to run a mile. Even more remarkable, she took time to stretch and do jumping jacks when she got home. Boy was I the proud Dad. Now don't get the wrong impression; we are not forcing her to do this. She has been asking to go for a run so we finally obliged, thinking it was some passing fancy and she would stop after a few feet. Nope.

So she took Tuesday as a rest day and was back at it yesterday. I threw Quinn in the jogger and Riley ran about a mile next to the jogger. She would have kept going but I made her stop once we got to the end of our neighborhood and hit the more traveled road. I then set off, with both kids in the jogger, to the playground at the local school. All told, Riley got in another mile and I got in just under 12 yesterday, combining a lunch run with the 5.5 I ran with the jogger. What a great workout pushing 70 pounds.

So far this week has been pretty quiet on the running front. Until today, I have got some pretty solid runs in. Monday I felt real sluggish after the tough weekend, but by Tuesday things seemed to be working again. Today I took off due to a busy day at work and because of some allergy/head cold thing that popped up this morning. Hopefully it is nothing and will be gone before I attempt my ascent of Mount Washington on Saturday morning. As the saying goes, "there is only one hill." To get to the top I will have to run 7.6 miles and climb nearly 5,000 feet. So by my estimation I will be anaerobic for about an hour and a half. See you on the other side.

The Scuffle: A Bradbury Race Report

In the east we don't have too many cool, epic mountains to race on. What we do have is plenty of rain and mud. Yesterday's Bradbury Scuffle 6-Mile Trail Race had both. The morning started cool with a slight drizzle, adding to the moisture on the ground from the previous night's rain. Bradbury was somewhat quiet and sleepy when we arrived after 8 AM for the 9 AM start, but by 8:30 the place was hopping.

At the start line were many buddies and faces I have seen around. Total registrants for the race were around 70. No doubt had the morning dawned bright and shiny we could have expected more to toe the line. Not bad for a first time race. Racing with me would be my wife, Kelly, lining up for her first trail race. And I would be remiss if I didn't give a shout out to my great in-laws, Phil and Boo Boo (honorary in-law), for coming out in the rain to help with the kids. Real troopers they are!

Ian did the introductions and shortly after nine the cowbell went off. Out of the gate we went fast, with me falling somewhere in the back part of the top 10. Despite shouting for the front runners to "wait for me", they kept going leaving me to actually work for my position. During the first mile I caught a number of people, including my old buddy Steve F., who I trained with quite a bit leading up to last year's Vermont 100. It was great seeing Steve back out doing some races after recovering from a running injury last year. I am sure he'll be back to full strength in no time. Joining us in that first mile was a runner who I later found out was only 15 years old. Pretty remarkable.

To this point in the race we were running on snowmobile trail, leaving plenty of room for two abreast. As I saw the single track approaching, I picked up my pace to ensure I was in front when we entered the woods. Once on the single track, my primitive "Natty Bumpo" instinct kicked in and I was off. After running solo for about a mile I caught the only other runner I would pass and saw no one else the next four miles, with the exception of faint glimpses of runners behind me as the trail snaked its way through the woods. There were a few slippery spots and plenty of deep mud and puddle as the rain increased its frequency to just short of a downpour. Still I laid out all I had and at the end was rewarded with a 3rd place finish in a time of 42:40. In front of me was talented runner Blaine Moore (check out Blaine's photos) by 1:40 and strong runner Patrick Cote (apparently of NENSA) 1:20. Good, clean fun was had by all with no injuries or mis-navigation (sic?) to speak of. Kelly finished well also, and as always, with a smile barely looking like she had run. She was happy with her time and even came in speaking of chasing some guy down during the race. Go get 'em Kelly.

My average pace was 7:04 for the race. Not too bad for having run 24.5 miles the day before in preparation of my pacing duties at the Western States 100 and my July attempt at the Vermont 100. As for splits, I was a little over the map but that is to be expected on a course with as varying terrain as the Scuffle. First mile was 6:42 (snowmobile trail), with the next few at an average of 7:20, followed by 6:41 and 6:38 for the last two miles (also on snowmobile trail with some slight undulations). I am feeling good for the Mount Washington Hill Climb on Saturday. I can't wait to see what that does to my legs. And then I am off to CA to help Jamie achieve ultra running glory!

Finally, my thoughts and prayers go out to Trail Monster Chris Douglass who died a couple weeks back in a car accident. He obviously meant a lot to Ian, Jamie, Emma, and many, many others. Ian's moving dedication at the beginning of the race really served to motivate me during the run to make sure I hit every mud puddle in honor of Chris, who I didn't know but whose presence I felt in every drop of rain. Godspeed Chris.

Fell running, ticks, and the turtle

Yesterday I was introduced to "fell" running. This is apparently when you just run over hill and dale over no distinguishable trail, but where you make the trail. I experienced this with Ian and Chuck, when we met Saturday morning at Bradbury Mountain State Park. The run started normally enough at 6 AM and started out on the nice tame trails of Bradbury. Soon, under Ian's compass heading, making our way through the woods and over fields towards Pineland. The trail we took is part of the trail system whose intent it is to link Bradbury with Pineland farms. After one very minor detour, we made our way over a field and saw the NOAA station at Pineland. Because there was a pretty impassable river in front of us, we turned off to start our fell run. This took place primarily along the power lines, but not before we made our way through a swampy field with waist high grass. This trespass deposited a number of scratches on our legs as well as an unbelievable number of ticks. By my last count, Ian ended the day with somewhere near 19 ticks, I took home 14, and Chuck somehow escaped with only a couple. One of the highlights of the power lines, excluding the tick count, was the red tailed hawk that
decided to treat us to an audible delight. I've never heard a hawk "speak" before, except on nature shows. This live display was much better.

We changed course a bit after about an hour and a half of this fell running and hit the roads for a quicker return to the park to meet up with Emma. While typically a road run that follows an awesome trail run is boring at best, this road run turned out to be pretty cool. As we passed over a bridge we spotted a huge snapping turtle on the side of the road. The shell on this thing measured approximately 16 inches tip to tail and 10 inches side to side. Because of her (we know this to be true) dangerous proximity to the road, we decided to move her a little closer to the water. First we decided to see how long her neck would reach to see if we would be in danger of losing a limb. Chuck grabbed a stick and placed it somewhat close to her face and we confirmed it was a snapping turtle, and one that did not want to be moved. Still we carefully tried to pick up her back end to push away from the road but quickly realized she had laid (or maybe was still laying) eggs in a hole she had dug (the reason we knew the sex). There were a probably 10+ eggs in this hole. So we left her as she was and moved on.

When we picked up Emma at 8 AM, we had run just under two hours and covered about 12 hours. At this point we hit the Bradbury Scuffle course and stayed there for the next two and a half hours. Two loops while at the same time laying down course markers for today's race. We also saw a little more wildlife: a couple garter snakes (I think) and a very cool looking frog that was camouflaged perfectly on the leaf fall. It looked like a tree frog, with some pretty cool markings.

All in all, this was a great run. Ian, Emma, and Chuck were great running partners and the wildlife was top notch. I also gained a ton of confidence from this run. I feel like I finally am getting ready for my 10o miler. Last year I remember there was a definite point in my training where I felt like I turned a corner and was ready to tackle the 100 mile distance. Yesterday I got that feeling. The run took about 4:30 hours and covered a total of 24.5 miles. Ian went out for one last lap but I had to get home to help Kelly. While I did bail out on the last 6 mile loop, when I got home I stepped behind my lawnmower and also cut down some trees in my yard. So if time on feet is critical to 100 mile training, yesterday I hit a home run!

Saturday run stats: 24.5 miles, 4:28 hours, 10:58 pace (includes stopping to mark today's race course), 1,500 feet of elevation gain/loss (using SportTracks elevation correction)

I will post my Bradbury Scuffle 6-mile Trail Race report tomorrow. I did well finishing 3rd overall with a 7:04 pace. As always, Ian of Trail Monster running did an excellent job organizing the race. He even ordered up perfect weather for the race: rainy and muddy as hell!

Kelly, Team in Training, Western States, and Krupicka

I'm really starting to get used to not needing a car to get to work. The weather this week has been fantastic, which has made it hard not to want to get to work in any other way than a car. I have got in some pretty good bike rides to and from work and a couple really good runs to work. These runs take just under 1:50 and measure just shy of 14.5 miles. To get in almost two hours of running in before work ever starts really sets the rest of the day up well. It is a good feeling knowing that you got a good workout in before life takes over and places demands on you that provide many excuses as to not to run. After last weeks high mileage (just shy of 80), at least for this full time working dad, this week is a little lighter. I am planning on a nice 4-5 hour run at Bradbury Mountain State Park this Saturday, followed by the Bradbury Scuffle 6 Mile Trail Run on Sunday. Kelly and I are both running and I am looking forward to seeing how she likes her introduction to trail running.

Speaking of Kelly, she as taken on the task of training with and raising money for Team in Training. Her end goal, besides the ultimate goal of fighting cancer, is to run for the second time the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco. I am especially looking forward to this as I can in a very little way return all the help she has given me by being her training crew and by going out with her to San Fran as a spectator. I am really looking forward to watching others endure a long distance race. It's gonna be fun. Please check out her fundraising page and give if you can. Here is the link: Kelly's Team in Training website. Thank you Kelly.

This week I have spent some time watching the Western States 100 documentaries Jamie lent me. I have watched these with conflicting emotions: on the one hand disappointed that I won't be running and on the other hand excited that I can participate as a pacer (and happy I won't have to climb the Devil's Thumb in 100 degree weather). It is funny that I am more nervous about pacing Jamie at WS 100 than I am about running my own 100 in Vermont in July. This is because if I mess up in Vermont it is only myself that I let down; if I screw up in the Sierra Nevada it is my buddy I am letting down. It is scary being a pacer. I have a newfound respect for all pacers, and especially the crew who selflessly care for their runner. Thank you crew.

I am excited for Jamie and am sure he is going to break 24 and bring home a big, nasty silver belt buckle!

And finally tonight I watched the documentary Indulgence featuring Anton Krupicka with Kelly and Riley (who we are slowly and surely grooming into a little runner). During this film Riley told us she wanted to run but needed Orange, Pink, and Green running shorts. Where this stuff comes from I have no idea. Anyhow, the flick was enjoyable. Krupicka is purely a runner and makes no bones about it. He doesn't apologize for sleeping in late, running most of the day, and when he isn't running just being lazy. Good for him. Here is a guy who simply runs because he loves doing it. And he does it more than most. Covering 200 miles and spending 30 hours a week on trails running is something that not many of us can do. He can do this because he has stripped away (or never taken on) all the stuff that holds many of us back. He's also young and taking advantage of what he loves. My hats off to him and I really hope he does well at Western States 100 this year. I will say I disagree with his stance on Dean Karnazes. Like many others in the Ultra scene, Krupicka labels Dean as a product of mass media and marketing. I still think that running nonstop over 300 miles, for a good cause, is pretty incredible. Do I think taking on a moniker like Ultramarathon man is a little over the top and driven by marketing decisions? Yes. But Dean has and continues to inspire many to run and just get out the door, which Krupicka takes great pride in doing himself, so I think we should simply "run our own race" and let Dean run his. It's all about the karma!

Good miles and night eyes

This past week I logged some pretty good miles for a guy with two kids under 4 and who has a full time job. I logged what I believe was just under eighty miles for the week. I really took advantage of the alternative commuting deal this week by driving my bike into work a couple times, biking home after work, and then running into work the next day. This gets me 15 miles of running on the day before work even starts. Pretty good deal.

The week until Friday was standard fare. Friday was special. I ran into work, doing the 15 miles at a pretty good pace for my 100-mile race legs (clocking somewhere in the 7:20 range) on some pretty hilly roads. I then worked all day, came home and ate, played with my kids, and went back out running. At 8 PM I met a sizable group at Pineland for a "run to midnight". The group consisted of a lot of the usual suspects with a number of surprise attendees. Check out Ian Parlin's Trail Monster blog for a picture. Set to run the night was Ian and Emma, Jamie (this was his last hurrah before the Western States 100 in three weeks), Eric, Jim and Shawna (sic?), Phil, Allen, and Blaine. The temps were in the low 50s and to my estimate a little cold and clammy. There was a good bit of fog as the warm front was rolling in (leaving us with temps in the 90s today).

The run started nice and easy, but I was feeling pretty energetic so I ran off the front of the group awhile to settle my self and reflect on the day at work. I finally saw the group through the woods and cut through to join the others for the rest of the evening. I ran a bit with Jamie and discussed a number of things, including WS 100 logistics where I will act as his pacer. Around mile 8 we returned to our cars for a refill and some food before we began our repeats of the Campus Loop. I decided to head over to Gloucester Hill with Phil and Allen to get some different terrain on my legs before doing the loops with the group. Phil set the pace pretty quick which I didn't mind but I knew would leave me hurting pretty good later on. Once we returned to our "aid station", Phil hit the road and I rejoined Jamie and the rest of the guys. At this point a few of the others called it quits but decided to hang out a couple hours and head over with the group to Denny's. Unlike the rest, Denny's was not in the cards for me. I had to get my beauty sleep before the kids forced my day to start in the morning.

It was at this point, near the 12.5 mile spot, that I joined the group going for midnight. All told I ran four laps around the Campus Loop. I had a great time, as always, shooting the breeze with Jamie. His excitement for Western States is obvious, as it should be. He is definitely ready for his run to glory. I am extremely lucky to be able to partake in it. I only hope that given his excellent fitness that I can keep up with him! Roughly ten minutes before midnight, Jamie and I called it quits. The big disappoint of the night was that none of us saw any night eyes, or animals caught in our headlamp lights. Other than the fantastical turkey that decided to fall out of its tree near us at the start of the run, there was no other nightlife about, at least that we could see. The irony was that as I was leaving I passed a skunk. Good thing he didn't decide to join us on the trail! At the end of the day, I got in 36 miles of running. A good day.

This morning I ended a good week with a great run with my buddy Jim from L.L.Bean. We knocked out 12 miles at 6 AM, beating most of the heat. By the time we finished, the deer flies were still asleep. As of yet, I have not seen the first one but after temps in the 90s today, I don't suspect my luck will continue for much longer.