Powder Day

I went skiing for the first time in almost three years yesterday. A daunting prospect, for a variety of reasons. Not having skied for several years is bad enough, but it was only the third time I'd tele skied period. And there's the small fact of one shoulder surgery and a broken ankle between those first two times skiing and this time, and I was a little nervous.

Turned out ok though. Granted, I'm still not very good at Tele skiing, but I'm getting better, and it didn't go as badly as it could have.

The main story of the day, however, was the trip to and from A-Basin. It was snowing the entire day. On the way up, traffic was about as expected: moving slowly as we got closer to the pass and the Eisenhower tunnels. But near the top, people were sliding all over the place. In our little Subaru (more than capable in most conditions) a tap of the accelerator had the back swinging out. That's hard to do with an AWD car with snow tires.

But we got to the hill no problem. After 3 or so hours of skiing and standing in lift lines (most people stuck to the bottom, with good reason. It was about 10-15 degrees at the top with a 20-40 mph wind to make things yet more interesting.) we decided to head back to Boulder.

Good luck.

Past Keystone, it was bumper to bumper traffic all the way up I-70 to the tunnels. We left the mountain at 2:30, or a little before. It was after 7:00 by the time we got through the tunnels. And once we did, we got to deal with whiteout conditions. If we were wondering why traffic was moving so slowly, we quickly figured it out.

All in all, we spent 10 hours driving, and about 3 on the mountain. Not a great ratio, but it was still fun, and I'm looking forward to Aspen next weekend.

Thanksgiving Break so far

True to expectations, this has been a surprisingly busy Thanksgiving Break. There have been several nights so far this break when my roommate and I have glanced up from our respective schoolwork at 10:30PM, looked at each other, and said "Wait, aren't we supposed to be on break??"

That said, I haven't actually gotten all that much done. I've been doing a lot of reading for my research, which has helped things make a good deal more sense, but I haven't yet been able to code up a specific algorithm for my research. I'm getting to the point where I'm coming close to despair on this point, but I'm not there yet.

Certainly, though, I have not simply been holed up doing work this break. I have been out and about doing some epic runs as well. Between Tuesday and Thursday, I propelled my body a total of 53 miles. Which leads me to believe I might be able to take a day off today (and in fact I will).

So, Tuesday, after a morning coffee with my sister while discussing our research (we work for the same professor on some of our stuff now, which has proved to be nice, rather than competitive). I went out for a longer run than I've done in probably a year. I took off from my house, through Sanitas, past Red Rocks park, down through Eben G Fine, up Viewpoint, down Flagstaff, up Bluebell-Baird, and off onto Mesa Trail. 2:45 and a bit over 18 miles later, I got back to my house. The run itself went surprisingly well, and I even managed to pull a little sprint there at the end.

Wednesday dawned bright and beautiful. By 1PM it was over 60, sunny, and calm. So true to form, I took out my road bike and took off on the highways. I rode up to Jamestown and back (28 miles or so). Not too bad a ride all told. There's a 7-mile hill up to Jamestown itself, but on the whole it's a pretty shallow grade, so I didn't have to push all that hard. And, also a tradition, when I got back, I laced up my running shoes to go for a quick "shakedown" run.

And yesterday, prior to a Thanksgiving feast, I took off up through Sanitas again for a quick 4 miler in the morning. Nothing too hard, but I could feel that my legs were getting a bit worn down, which leaves me taking today off, probably taking an ice bath, and holed up in my favorite coffee shop for some studying, some reading, and a little bit of blogging.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgving, filled with the three F's (family, friends, and food), and are duly taking a day off from worry today.

And as I said yesterday, this year I'm thankful (as ever) for my family and friends, and my open prospects for the future, in running and everything else.

Summit For Life, part 2

In two weeks, on December 6th, around 6PM, I will be lacing up my running shoes, strapping on crampons, turning on my headlamp, gripping my ski poles, and racing 3267' and 2.5 miles up Aspen Mountain in the snow. At night.

Why am I doing this? Well, besides just sounding like a unique, fun, challenging race, it raises money for education on organ and tissue donation. This cause gets far less publicity than cancer or MS or any of the other myriad health issues that face millions of people every day, but requires no research to solve. It requires choices made by individuals to become a donor. So the most effective "treatment" is education.

I know many of my friends have as little money as I do, but I would appreciate any help you are willing and able to give. By registering for the race, I pledged to raise at least $60, but I'd really love to beat that.

If you want to know more about it, or are willing to give a bit, follow the link below for info. Click "Sponsor a Runner" if you're interested in donating.

Thank you!

www.summitforlife.org

Seems to be working

Most of yesterday, I did not think I'd be able to get a run in. With a problem set due today (Thursday) and several meetings that day, I figured I wouldn't have time. Fortunately, I decided that, even though I didn't have much time, I'd make time for a short run.

So, as sometimes happens, I chose to get as much of a workout in during that time as possible, so I did a relatively short tempo run. I burned through my "classic" 3-mile loop near my house in 19 minutes, and at the end I wasn't even breathing hard and hadn't felt like I'd worked all that hard.

This is the first tempo run of any sort I've done in some time, so I had no idea what to expect. While it wasn't quite as shocking as the 9:58 two-mile I pulled out of nowhere in the spring, I was pretty happy with it over all.

I also ran into (almost literally) one of my friends from my old running group on my cooldown. Turns out she broke up with her boyfriend (my old coach) a few months ago. I'm not sure what's with the rash of breakups recently , but it seems to be a pattern among the runners I know (really, just the runners, it's uncanny). Must be something in the air we breathe out here.

After the run, I came back up to school, and worked solidly until about 1AM to finish my problem set. I haven't been able to make myself do anything like that since I got back to school last year, and I don't plan on making it a habit. I think mostly I was able to do so last night because I knew that Thanksgiving break starts this afternoon!

I don't plan to go anywhere for break, but I have some epic runs in the works, so look out for related posts sometime soon.

The Weekend

My friend Shanna from Aspen came down to Boulder for this last weekend, an infrequent occurrence for the most part. I think the last time she was down this year was for the Bolder Boulder at the end of May (which, despite being out here for three years at this point, I still have never been healthy for). In any case, we went for a run along Mesa Saturday morning/afternoon.

Saturday morning dawned bright. And cold. When I got up at 8AM it was around 20. Fortunately, by the time we met up around 11:00, it had warmed considerably, and ended at just about the perfect running temperature. Naturally, we ended up a little bit overdressed, but not terribly so.

The run itself was phenomenal. It's just fun to run with somebody as (supposedly) crazy as I am. We were alternately bounding and flying downhill, and pushing a bit uphill, passing other people and all the time keeping up a constant stream of conversation. This particular run just felt a lot freer than some I've done lately. It felt almost effortless, though given how my legs felt the next couple days, that obviously was not the case.

Being a sunny Saturday, naturally the trails were crowded. This led to a few interesting encounters with dogs that did not seem to realize that getting in the way of a runner on the trail was just not a good idea. One particularly small dog forced me to do a bit of acrobatics as it decided that right where my foot was going to come down was a good place to run to. Shanna had an encounter where the dog did not seem to realize that, if you put yourself in the way of a runners foot, you're going to get hit. But the dogs, and the runners, were none the worse for wear for the incidents, thankfully.

We ended up adding on the Flatiron loop to the end of the run. When Shanna said "Can we take my favorite way down?" I knew precisely what was coming. And, sure enough, after bombing down two more trails, startling a few more people, we ended up back at the trailhead, and within minutes were calmly sitting on a fence chatting again...

Once again, I brought my camera on the run only to completely forget to take any pictures. I was really not interested in stopping on this run.

More to come on the weekend topics later.

Road (Runner/Biker) Rage

I tend to skim the New York Times, at least the Fitness and Nutrition section, pretty much every day, because the often cover running issues. Today is no exception.

This is something I'm guilty of fairly often. I rarely drive, most often choosing to bike where I need to go. And, as is fairly obvious, I run a lot. While I rarely run much on the roads, and almost never on busy roads, I run into this problem a lot. Simply put, a driver doesn't see me, or does not react well to seeing me. Usually nothing happens: I slow down or stop, or swerve out of the way, the driver apologizes somehow and I wave it off. It happens.

But there are times when it just gets too much. 99.9% of the time the driver is on their cell phone, and thus not paying enough attention to the road around them (this is my primary issue with drivers). I'm sorry to say it, but 90% of those times, it's a woman, often with a child in the back seat (why are you on your cell phone if your kid's in the car, parents?). I have no patience in that case. You try to wave it off and I will get pissed off. I have not yet actually followed up with an actual physical altercation, and I don't anticipate it happening, but it's sometimes very tempting to do so.

But here's the reality: I run, and ride, defensively. Let's face it, in any altercation between a car and a runner or biker, the car will win. But that does not excuse drivers from responsibility. If you're driving, make it your only priority. Your conversation on the phone does not matter as much as my life.

That said, I'm blessed. I live in Boulder, where people are overall quite aware that there are runners and bikers everywhere, and generally quite respectful of the fact. Granted there are a few exceptions (I had one acquaintance who used to talk about attempting to run bikers off the road), but generally people are nice, and they try to be aware and alert. When they aren't, they feel bad and apologize however they can. It's those exceptions, however, that sour the deal.

And that's just one more reason I love trail running . . .

Just one more point to runners (and bikers): DO NOT WEAR HEADPHONES! I don't care what you say, it masks sounds, makes you less aware of your surroundings, and makes running or biking far more dangerous. And in that case, I see no reason that it's not your fault if something happens that you could have avoided if you were more alert. There are tiny speakers out there now for just about every music player around. Use those.

Running Dreams

When I'm running as much as I am right now, I tend to dream about it often. Usually, these are not good dreams. Most often, I'm in some sort of race, and my legs feel like I'm trying to run through molasses. As it turns out, running through molasses is not easy, and I find that everybody starts to pass me, and I can't do anything about it. Suffice to say, those dreams are not pleasant.

Last night (or rather, this morning) was significantly different. I was running a 5k against a bunch of my college and high school teammates, and just felt good. We started out at a decent pace, one I'd never been able to keep before, and kept it about there for the first two miles as people began to drop off the back. At the beginning of mile three, I decided the pace was too slow, as there was still a group of 6 or 8 people in the lead group, and I took off. I put in a sprint for about 400 meters, and by the time I eased off (not by much) there was only one other person who still was with me.

After all that, I ended up losing by half a stride at the finish line. But still, it was a good dream. I distinctly remember running a 14:55, which is far better than I've done lately.


On a side note, it's November 10th today. I always like to mark this day, because 33 years ago today, the SS Edmund Fitzgerald sank with all hands on Lake Superior. As a northern Minnesota boy myself, I had a small obsession with this particular sinking as a kid. It was, and is, the largest boat ever to go down on the Great Lakes, and still a bit of a mystery. It's also the inspiration for the song "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" by Gordon Lightfoot, and the Symphony "Ten November."

So here's to the Fitz, reminding us of the cruel nature of the Witch of November on Gitchee Gummi.

Summit For Life

Well, my next (big) race is now under a month away. This one is a little different from my typical races. The Summit for Life, formerly the Storm the Stars, is a rather unique race, period. It takes place in December, in Aspen, CO, at 5 and 6PM (so yes, in the dark), and takes you 2.5 miles and 3500 feet up Aspen mountain. Which means, of course, that it's entirely on snow. Skis, snowshoes, and running shoes are all permitted (essentially, any non-motorized conveyance you can think of to propel yourself up the mountain is allowed). This year, they are introducing a competitive wave, for those who anticipate finishing in under two hours. The winner seems to finish in around 55 minutes.

Yes, that's for 2.5 miles. And for those of you who follow running in Colorado, Bernie Boettcher won it in around 54 minutes last year. Something tells me if he's running, I won't win.

In any case, I recently realized that this is the perfect race for me to be doing right now. My sights are set on a few races next summer (length TBD, mostly half-marathon type distances, I think), with a few possibilities beforehand in the spring. Naturally, for a race up a ski hill, I've been doing some serious strength training. Friday was 4 repeats up a section of the Royal Arch Trail here, coming in at about 8 minutes each, which gave me some serious strength training, and a tiny bit of endurance.

This is money in the bank for any runner, and especially for somebody who classifies himself as a trail runner. The first step in any training regime, save a base mileage program, is strength training, usually through hill repeats. This conditions your body to learn to accept the punishment you'll be laying down later in your training, and gives you a better base from which to work.

So here's to long hill workouts. If you don't feel a tiny bit sick to your stomach afterwards, you're just not doing it correctly.

Stretching

Anybody who's read this blog much (I don't know how many of those there are) knows that I love the New York Times health section. They've delivered once again with a rather interesting article on stretching before your workout.

I don't stretch before my workouts very often, unless there's a specific muscle that's been bothering me, or just feels too tight. I always warm up before getting into the core portion of my workout, but I usually save stretching for after the workout is done.

The article suggests that dynamic stretching might be helpful before a workout. From my own sprinting days (yes, I used to run the 100m, 200m, 400m, and do the long jump) I have my routine that I go through (butt kicks, striders, etc . . .) which sometimes gets me some strange looks on the starting line. If nothing else, the routine both calms me and psychs me up mentally. It may sound contradictory, but it's all about getting into the proper race zone.

So while stretching beforehand is not something I usually do, I highly recommend a set pre-race routine. Do it before your hard workouts too, and you might just find you get more out of them.

Election Day!

I know it's not specifically on the subject of this blog, but get out and vote today if you're a US Citizen.

Blacks got the right to vote in 1870. Women in 1920. Native Americans in 1924. There are no excuses. Exercise your right.

I'm a shameless runner and I approve this message.

My Feet Hurt

Go figure. They got a bit beat up over the past few days.

After my rather longer-than-usual run on Friday, as might be expected, I had a few blisters. Mostly, that was because of the snow I kept having to force my way through. By the time I reached Devils Thumb Pass, my feet were wet, and there was far more snow on the divide trail and going down King Lake Trail than there was on the way up. And, as most runners soon find, wet feet lead to blisters.

Saturday, I decided to take it a bit easy on my legs and feet, and went for a ride up Four Mile Canyon instead. It felt good to be on the bike again, something I haven't done since school started again this fall. The sad fact of the matter is that it takes a while longer, on average, to get a decent bike ride in than it does to run.

But once I got off the bike, my legs felt a little off, and I could tell if I didn't get at least a bit of running in, they'd feel worse the next morning. So after an hour or so, I went for another, very short, run.

Sunday, I opted to run up in Chautauqua again. Probably didn't help my feet any, but my legs needed a good shakedown run.

You can tell it was a good weekend when you have trouble moving on Monday morning.