The cliché that “life happens” is certainly true. So is Steinbeck’s famous line “the best laid plans of mice and men, gang aft agley”. So it is with running the Moab 100 this year. The scheduling of the Moab 100 fell on the same weekend as ski-racing event for which I had the responsibility for providing the timing, and unfortunately the person I was planning on being able to do that timing for me ended up not being able to. So, no dice!
HOWEVER, out of crisis rises opportunity (aren’t I just the king of cliché?)! I have decided to start my own 100 mile event in April! Currently, April is devoid of any 100 Milers anywhere near Utah, so starting at 0700, in Grantsville, UT, I’ll start running along the Hastings Cutoff trail and Donner-Reed road across the Bonneville Salt Flats to Donner Spring, UT. I figure if those stalwart folks working their way to the riches of California could brave that stretch, I can do it too! Hopefully, so will some of my Ultra-running buddies!
This inaugural event will be a benefit for both the Crossroads chapter of the Oregon-California Trails Association and the MORE Project charity, and each year we’ll dedicate the race proceeds to these non-profit organizations. This terrain should prove uniquely challenging, despite the course being predominantly flat, it is relentless!
I’m hoping that this will become a regular for many in the Ultra running community, and will provide a great benefit to the OCTA and MORE organizations. Stay tuned!
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Monday, March 7, 2011
I'm Wearing Clown Shoes!
Just about a year ago, a new shoe entered the trail running world... the Hoka One One Mafate. This shoe went the opposite direction of the current trend towards "minimalist" shoes.
Minimalist shoes promote the concept of running a "barefoot" technique, which most ultra-runners use by default as it's really the only technique that can be sustained for 20+ hours. However, the Mafate flies in the face of minimalist shoes.
In fact, they are so cushioned, that running downhill is pretty much a party on legs! At the end of the Bear 100 last year, the steep descent into the Bear Lake valley was nothing but punishment, but with these, I'm pretty sure I would have been in a LOT less pain. Obviously, those looking at them on my feet would have experienced some pain, but that's their problem ;)
So, this year, I'll be wearing my clown shoes on the Moab 100! It'll be super easy to pick me out in the photos and videos I'll post from the race, just look for the lime-green clown shoes and that'll be me! As always, donate to The MORE Project Expedition if you can at the link on my blog, and most importantly, stay tuned!
Minimalist shoes promote the concept of running a "barefoot" technique, which most ultra-runners use by default as it's really the only technique that can be sustained for 20+ hours. However, the Mafate flies in the face of minimalist shoes.
In fact, they are so cushioned, that running downhill is pretty much a party on legs! At the end of the Bear 100 last year, the steep descent into the Bear Lake valley was nothing but punishment, but with these, I'm pretty sure I would have been in a LOT less pain. Obviously, those looking at them on my feet would have experienced some pain, but that's their problem ;)
So, this year, I'll be wearing my clown shoes on the Moab 100! It'll be super easy to pick me out in the photos and videos I'll post from the race, just look for the lime-green clown shoes and that'll be me! As always, donate to The MORE Project Expedition if you can at the link on my blog, and most importantly, stay tuned!
Monday, February 28, 2011
Moab 100 fast approaches!
In just 26 days, I'll embark on the first of 18 5.37 mile loops on the Monitor and Merrimac trail 16 miles north of Moab in an attempt to do my first sub-30 hour 100 mile run, and at the same time once again assist my daughter Paislee in raising funds for a service expedition to Brazil.
The realities of "normal" life always make me question the training I've been able to do leading up to an event like this... was it enough, was it the right kind, etc. However, it ends up being the training I did regardless, and therefore it's what I enter the event with and I always hope it was "enough".
For this event, I'm hoping my new "clown shoes" (www.hokaoneone.com) will give me just a little advantage when running across the off-angle, hard-as-concrete sandstone mountain that makes up the trail. This stuff is brutal on the legs, and over the period of 100 miles, having a little extra cushion can't be a bad thing!
An ultra-runner friend of mine commented "welcome do the dark side!" when he found out I bought my first pair of Hoka's, so I have to assume good things!
So, in the coming three weeks I'm tyring to get in a few good long runs 20-30 miles, a bunch of short runs (6-10 miles), and get limbered up for some serious abuse! Stay tuned to the blog during the event, as I'll be posting from the trail wherever possible, and Paislee will be posting from the base-station. Happy Running!
The realities of "normal" life always make me question the training I've been able to do leading up to an event like this... was it enough, was it the right kind, etc. However, it ends up being the training I did regardless, and therefore it's what I enter the event with and I always hope it was "enough".
For this event, I'm hoping my new "clown shoes" (www.hokaoneone.com) will give me just a little advantage when running across the off-angle, hard-as-concrete sandstone mountain that makes up the trail. This stuff is brutal on the legs, and over the period of 100 miles, having a little extra cushion can't be a bad thing!
An ultra-runner friend of mine commented "welcome do the dark side!" when he found out I bought my first pair of Hoka's, so I have to assume good things!
So, in the coming three weeks I'm tyring to get in a few good long runs 20-30 miles, a bunch of short runs (6-10 miles), and get limbered up for some serious abuse! Stay tuned to the blog during the event, as I'll be posting from the trail wherever possible, and Paislee will be posting from the base-station. Happy Running!
Saturday, February 5, 2011
The Wasatch 100 Draw: NOT!
I attended the "draw" for the Wasatch 100 Mile Run today, held at the Homestead Resort in Midway, UT. This is the location where the race ends, a serene and pleasant location that belies the torment and pain the most runners experience in the 20-30 hours previous to thier arrival.
The Race Director told us that there were 500+ applicants, and after taking into account the "guaranteed runners", and the "Grand Slammers", the percentage of success in the draw was going to be around 65%.
The process was pretty sterile, with occasional outbursts of cheering when one of the attendees was selected. The Race Director would draw out a name, and his assistants would confirm that name was properly registered and paid in, and then they'd check off the name and record it as an official entry.
All the way up to today, I had assumed that I was going to draw out, but as the names kept being read, and my name became increasingly absent, I realized there was a strong chance that I was going to go home empty-handed. Several of us in attendance eneded up leaving with the knowledge we were not going to run the Wasatch 100 this year, and to say were weren't disappointed would be a lie, but there are many races to run, and many years of running ahead of me, so I'm not too torn up. ;)
September will be a repeat of the Bear 100, and October will be my first Pony Express 100, so I'll still get three 100's this year. Gotta love the process!
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Happy New (running) Year!
The 2011 running season is fast approaching! I looked at my race schedule, and I only have seven weeks till the Red Hot 50K… and my “holiday break” consisted of eating, hosting family parties, eating, attending family and work parties, eating, a couple ski days, eating, and then just generally eating. I didn’t run for 10 days, so I’m paying for that now! Enough said about that!
I hit it on Monday, and have laid out my training schedule to get me back to reality by the Red Hot, and then four weeks later I’m doing the Moab 100 Mile Endurance Run, so I have to treat the Red Hot 50k as just a long training day (i.e. no resting afterwards).
This year I’m using the Moab 100 to raise funds for my daughter Paislee to be able to return to Brazil as a volunteer for the MORE Project. A donation “per mile” completed up to the 100 is the idea, but obviously she’ll be grateful for anything at all. She went last year and became very attached to the children she helped in the “Favelas” there, and seeing the drug wars and poverty surrounding them she has decided she can make a significant difference by going there again. If you are inclined to help, you can click the link at the top of my blog page and donate to her account with the MORE Project.
Lastly, I have “put in” for the Wasatch Front 100 Mile Endurance Run, and if I draw out for it, that will obviously change my September schedule. I REALLY want to run the Wasatch this year, as it’s part of the “Grand Slam” of endurance runs (the Vermont 100, the Leadville 100, the Wasatch 100, and the Western States 100), and I’m contemplating taking a whack at the Grand Slam in 2012. More on that insanity later.
As always, I’ll attempt to blog from the actual races where connectivity allows, and will post race reports after each event. Happy New Year!
I hit it on Monday, and have laid out my training schedule to get me back to reality by the Red Hot, and then four weeks later I’m doing the Moab 100 Mile Endurance Run, so I have to treat the Red Hot 50k as just a long training day (i.e. no resting afterwards).
This year I’m using the Moab 100 to raise funds for my daughter Paislee to be able to return to Brazil as a volunteer for the MORE Project. A donation “per mile” completed up to the 100 is the idea, but obviously she’ll be grateful for anything at all. She went last year and became very attached to the children she helped in the “Favelas” there, and seeing the drug wars and poverty surrounding them she has decided she can make a significant difference by going there again. If you are inclined to help, you can click the link at the top of my blog page and donate to her account with the MORE Project.
Lastly, I have “put in” for the Wasatch Front 100 Mile Endurance Run, and if I draw out for it, that will obviously change my September schedule. I REALLY want to run the Wasatch this year, as it’s part of the “Grand Slam” of endurance runs (the Vermont 100, the Leadville 100, the Wasatch 100, and the Western States 100), and I’m contemplating taking a whack at the Grand Slam in 2012. More on that insanity later.
As always, I’ll attempt to blog from the actual races where connectivity allows, and will post race reports after each event. Happy New Year!
Sunday, September 26, 2010
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