tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-106532372024-02-18T18:56:14.574-08:00tangled spritesOutdoor pursuits and other things. malarkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092430796044274490noreply@blogger.comBlogger182125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10653237.post-32726757867399711292018-09-13T00:51:00.000-07:002018-09-13T00:51:08.048-07:00Night sweats marathon.I kinda quit writing here. I think two things happened. First, my reasons for running changed. It’s now less some innate drive to “accomplish” something and more some about the mental experience now. Second, it got too fancy. So let’s just jot down some notes...<div>
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I signed up for this only a few days ahead of time. I really was not trained for it at all, I’d only run one 7 mile hilly “long” run since I started a running break after twisting my ankle early in the summer. And that was last week. On a treadmill. I was just looking for something fun to motivate ramping up training for yet another 50 miler. So I was going to sign up for the 15k. But then I thought about the fact that I’d be out late anyway, the kids would be sleeping, and there would be stars. So why not stay out a few more hours given that I’m investing the time in driving to rodeo beach.</div>
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The race was great. It’s smack dab in the middle of a hundred miler, so there’s really no reason to complain about anything if you’re only running a marathon. Even if it climbs 5000 feet or so. I’ve never actually visited a hundred miler, so it’s the first time I’ve encountered some very fatigued “runners” in the early hours of the morning, Anyway, things hurt a lot, since I’ve been tearing out deep muscle knots to increase mobility and slowly rebuilding endurance to where it was a couple years ago. Running pirates cove at night with no moon was perfect. By about mile 15 I wanted to stay away from other runners to just enjoy the night out under the stars. I ran much more consistently than I expected, only hiking deliberately for efficiency as opposed to having significant fatigue or mobility things creep in. Set a strava pr on the hill I dislike the most out of everything in the headlands. Maybe even the entire Bay Area. It’s that climb from Muir beach up the coyote ridge trail, which has about 80 false summits. Ran all of the last downhill and into the finish. That doesn’t usually happen because there’s usually some muscle cramp around that time. Got some tacos and microbrew, chatted a bit, explained to a stargazong couple at the beach that yes, everyone really was running marathon up to hundred mile distance at 3am. And beat my only other hard trail marathon time. Of course, my only goal was to get some comfortably paced running time in at night under the stars. In that, I succeeded too. </div>
malarkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092430796044274490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10653237.post-58012510697336591032016-09-25T23:14:00.004-07:002016-09-25T23:14:54.927-07:00Canyons 100k<div style="line-height: normal;">
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<i>May 2016</i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: futura;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">It's been a busy winter, spring, and summer, for various reasons. I've written, but not edited, a number of entries. I'm going to attempt to finish them, since I learn a lot from revisiting them.</span></span></i></div>
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Let’s run a 100k. And let’s pick one of the hardest 100k’s around. Why? Because sometime last summer I wanted to sign up for something that I wasn’t sure I could finish. I realized that I was starting to play it safe with choosing races and wanted to push myself further. And I wanted something to motivate me to push running further, since I needed something to balance a very busy time in other parts of life. And yeah, this turned out to be hard. And fun. And with perfect weather (light rain and 50s/60s). I went in just planning to finish and enjoy the course, since I was pushing myself a lot further than anything I’ve run before.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First turnaround. Aka Swinging Bridge.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Calm before the Climb.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">About to climb up to Devil's thumb</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The weather theme for the first half of the race.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Somewhere on the way back to Foresthill (the first time)</td></tr>
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About training: I followed this approach: hard stuff, weight training, cross training, and consistent milage early. Endurance and mobility work at the end. Mobility issues are often the biggest single annoyance I run into in ultras, as opposed to fatigue. The 300 ft in 0.4 mile climb across the street from my house was quite useful. As was the incline trainer, since I had limited hours. A lot of speed hiking, including steep climbs (i.e. the Yosemite Mist Trail) with the kid on my back. Lots of hill and endurance repeats from Jan-March. There was a couple month span of ~50 mile weeks, then slightly lower milage to focus on easy endurance, getting up to an 80 mile week (including hiking).</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">American River.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More American River.</td></tr>
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What went well</div>
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* clean shirt in drop bag = best idea ever. Most people recommend shoes. I vote for a clean shirt.</div>
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* I power hiked hard hills really consistently for the entire race. I’d add more 30%+ time or stair time if i were to go back.</div>
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* Increasing more solid food, particularly after 12 hours, worked well.</div>
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What could be improved</div>
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* I mostly hiked the narrow canyon-side single track trail after dark. While I’ve run plenty of trails at night, this was outside my comfort zone. A brighter light might help.</div>
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* The left hip was the mobility bottleneck. I worked out a long standing deep knot a week before the race, which quickly caused all kinds of wonky side effects. It’s in a lot better place than it has been for a couple years, but there’s more work to do. This was also the first time I put deliberate mobility focus in before a race, and I ended up finding a lot of deep and subtle tight spots. It's the kind of thing you wouldn’t even know about if you didn’t run very long distances. The end result was that I had to take it easy on downhills again. </div>
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* Muscle fatigue really kicked in around 45 miles. Mostly hamstrings, hips, and quads. That’s consistent with how Mokelumne went.</div>
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Other things to remember:</div>
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* If there’s ever drop bag access point after mile 50-something, put a tennis ball in it. there was some muscle tightness in my foot that got really annoying.<br />
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Strava: <a href="https://www.strava.com/activities/569669792">https://www.strava.com/activities/569669792</a><br />
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malarkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092430796044274490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10653237.post-152241141644362222016-07-09T00:57:00.003-07:002016-07-09T00:57:45.820-07:00Oakland MarathonMarch, 2016.<br />
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I thought it would be fun to drive down to downtown Oakland, so that I could run back up to our neighborhood, give my kid a hug, and then run back down to get the car that I left behind. So I signed up for the Oakland marathon. Also because I was itching to run another road marathon after being heat-limited at Vineman last year.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My view at the start.</td></tr>
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Overall, it went well. Coming into West Oakland, with the sun and lack of breeze in many places, I slowed down to keep a consistent effort that would last. I ended up with a PR time of 4:12ish. For me, marathons are a fun way to mix up my running focus for a while. But what I really loved about this race was the diversity of neighborhoods it passes through, many that I've only driven through, and some that I've never even been to. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My view at the finish.</td></tr>
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Hits:<br />
* Tailwind and clif cube thingees worked really well here. They've been working well in other races, but this is the first time I've limited myself to them in a faster long race. <br />
* Heart rate was really important again, especially on climbs and when I got too warm. I'd adjust it to a 165-170 based on how this race went. I let it run a little higher this time.<br />
* This race made it really easy to see family on the way, since it runs right through the farmers market we visit almost weekly.<br />
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Misses:<br />
* Everyone went out too fast in the first mile. Even the pace groups. This was the first time I've run relative to them at the start to set a pace, so I don't know if this is consistent. Next time I should just go with what the watch says at the start. It's rarely off by so much that I wouldn't be able to make it up if I paced right overall.<br />
* I probably should have drank more water in the first half to be better prepped for the second half; overheating a little when the breeze died in West Oakland was my bottleneck. <br />
* My right big toe started acting up in mile 26. It had bothered me a little after a fast run earlier in the week. I've since narrowed down the problem to a design change in the upper supports of one of the road shoe models I wear. The support thing bends stiffly and repeatedly compresses the top of the toe. Lightly and barely noticeably, but enough to really add up after a lot of miles. I also noticed that running in them a lot leading up to this race reinforced some muscle tightness/form asymmetries, which probably contributed to this coming up on one side. I'm switching to mostly Altras for a while since they always provide a good sanity check on form issues and make it easier (for me) to address them.<br />
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<a href="https://www.strava.com/activities/522352280">https://www.strava.com/activities/522352280</a><br />
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<br />malarkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092430796044274490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10653237.post-31602066146706303182016-06-29T22:44:00.001-07:002016-06-29T22:44:05.803-07:00Mokelumne River 50 Mile<div style="font-family: Futura; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;">
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April, 2016.</div>
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I found out about these trails by registering for my EBMUD trail permit a few years ago, and I was always curious about exploring them. When I later found out about this race, which seemed like a great reason to explore them, it sat on my “should run this” list for a while. The finish times are higher and the cutoffs are tighter than most 50 milers, so I waited until I was at a place where I’d be able to finish it well. </div>
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The race starts deceptively flattish in the Sierra foothills, following the Mokelumne River along the Comanche and Pardee reservoirs. It also passes through a mine for a short bit. It’s the first time a 50 miler wasn’t the key race for a “season” for me, and I pulled back the pace a lot, expecting a hot day. After the second aid station, the course changes to trails than turn the concept of flat into a distant memory. Most of the 10,000 feet of elevation gain is in the middle 19 miles, missing the 50k course. It’s also the prettiest part of the course, running along the south side of Pardee Reservoir. <br />
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My favorite moment was crossing a ridge where the snowy Sierra peaks were visible in the distance. There were also wildflowers everywhere. And stairs. And repeated steep climbs. And the field for the 50 mile course is small enough and spread out enough here that you really get to enjoy the course on your own. It was hard. It was fun. <br />
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I reached the turnaround in about 5:45, well under my expected time, but as expected, that wouldn’t last. The afternoon got hot. Having learned about that the hard way, I paced down to keep my effort under control, hiking all the uphills at this point. My GPS watch checked out for a while here, so I watched how I felt instead of my heart rate. To keep things entertaining, helicopters were brought in to collect water out of the reservoir for…something. Maybe a fire, but it was interesting to watch them work. Heading out of the hills, I passed one runner who was resting on the side of the trail. He’d drop at the next aid station. In the next stretch, I passed another runner in the same boat, but much worse off from what he was telling me. I had extra water, so I gave him some. He’d later finish. In the last stretch, I kind of lost all energy to keep moving; heat does that to me, and it’s the first time I’ve run a 50 mile race where it was this warm this late in the day. I hiked a lot of this and had two people pass me a mile from the finish, but I was done.</div>
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I finished in 12:58:40. Slower than my last 50 miler by six minutes, but the course was closer to 51 miles, so that’s good enough to call an improvement. Especially with the hot conditions. One more interesting number is the ultrasignup percentage, which was higher than the other 50 milers I’ve run. And also higher than any 50k I’ve run. From that standpoint, it’s probably the best ultra I’ve run, relative to the conditions/course.</div>
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Things that went well:</div>
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* Staying hydrated, eating sparingly, and managing the heat. I went with almond butter packets to try something more natural, and they worked well. I needed far fewer than expected, they went a long way. </div>
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* Starting out slow and staying there. I really watched uphill effort to avoid the muscle fatigue that I often run into. It never really happened, with one exception.</div>
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* Only easy running and mobility work in the three weeks leading up to the race, this probably also helped with avoiding muscle fatigue.</div>
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Things that didn’t:</div>
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* I accidentally downed a bottle of not-my-usual-electrolyte drink at a water drop, thinking it was water. My stomach felt off for the next 10 miles. It did slow me down, but not enough to stop. Note to self: even when really thirsty, taste test the drink before drinking a whole bottle. </div>
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* My left inner hamstring had a deep knot that acted up. I’d had a lot of deep muscle tightness worked out over the prior month, but I was’t aware of this one. The muscle started pulling on the back of my knee on downhills, keeping me off balance and moving slower. This one would need serious massage therapist work.</div>
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* Addressing mobility issues allowed for an improved running form throughout the race. One downside is that the shoes that have been working best for ultras over the last year and a half now create a lot of blisters. I didn't plan to change them for my next race, since it would be too soon, but I since have.<br />
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https://www.strava.com/activities/547648882<br />
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malarkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092430796044274490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10653237.post-56016890241136398602016-04-25T22:07:00.000-07:002016-04-25T22:07:02.883-07:00Crystal Springs 50k<i>January 2016.</i><br />
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This was a storm race. I like to have one good bay area winter storm race each year. But you can't really plan them, especially since I need to reserve the personal time at home a little early. This one lined up well.<br />
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Mud. Rain. Hail. Climbing over downed redwoods. More mud. More rain. More downed trees. A park crew cutting up the downed tree on the way back. In the rain. <br />
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This was a very different ultra, both physically and mentally. I got physically tired, but never had any muscle pain. All the hard training leading up to TNF50 helped here, as well as getting back into hard training during the holidays. I probably took the first climb too fast. But I had some stuff in my head to burn out.<br />
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On the mental side, I never really tuned out. I had a lot on my mind going into this, and it's the first time I haven't managed to clear it all out during an ultra.<br />
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I finished in 6:30ish, whatever it was. That's not why I ran this one. I also had a lower standing than expected for this kind of time (my fastest on a course of this difficulty), but there were a lot of distance drop-downs to avoid the far loop (and probably a fair number of no shows) given the weather. <br />
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Three things up:<br />
<br />* Incline trainer time really helped with hip climbing endurance.<br />
* Training through a race worked well here, sitting at a consistent ~40 miles a week at the time.<br />
* I ran with compression shorts for the first time on a long race--this worked much better than anything else I've tried. Not for any compression benefit to anything performance related but to manage skin irritation.<br />
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Three things down:<br />
* I let my heart rate run higher than usual for a while. Probably not the best thing overall.<br />
* I could have probably drank more water, but I didn't really see a bad affect from it.<br />
* I dunno. It was a pretty great race for what I wanted out of it. I guess maybe the fact that I hadn't run a local 50k in 10 months; they're fun. And I might not again for quite a while--I've been trying to balance among athletic goals a bit more since Spring 2015, which means I'm no longer compulsively running local 50k's.<br />
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<a href="https://www.strava.com/activities/476965202">https://www.strava.com/activities/476965202</a><br />
<br />malarkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092430796044274490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10653237.post-59161275652344733192015-12-14T23:00:00.004-08:002015-12-14T23:08:31.940-08:00TNF 50 #2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunrise at the End of the Miwok Climb</td></tr>
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50 Mile Run #3. And my second running of the SF North Face Endurance Challenge 50 Mile. Overall, a harder course this year, bringing in more technical trails through Muir Woods. The first half went great. About halfway through, at the Matt Davis descent, some upper leg muscles started to get tight and pulled uncomfortably on my knees, so I spent the rest of the race managing this. And the second pass through Muir Beach I was hiking downhills instead of running them, but having much better climbs. I had a few good conversations in the second half, since I wasn't pushing for time at that point.<br />
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The weather was perfect, it had rained, but not heavily, the prior two days, leaving the trails in good condition. CM and DL were both also running. I finished in 12:52:44, losing about two hours in the second half, but still a PR by over a half hour, because every 50 miler I've run has had something new go wrong in the second half. It's kind of entertaining, since I expect it, but I never know what it will be.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Somewhere on an Uphill with Scenery</td></tr>
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* Uphill training paid off well throughout the race, even taking some hills at my fastest times in the second half when I was moving overall slower.<br />
* HR limiting worked really well, I never felt really tired, muscles tightness around my knees was the only real thing (besides some shoe issues that didn't affect my running much).<br />
* The whole race was fun, even the parts that didn't go very well. I never hit the really tired "when is this thing going to be over" moment that has previously come around miles 38-42.<br />
* No water/nutrition problems at all.<br />
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* Whatever caused knee stability to go out on downhills via hamstring and hip adductor tightness. I'm still not sure what caused it, my best guess is the backloading of a lot of hill-specific workouts into the end of the year. Maybe a longer taper was needed. Maybe I needed to start this sooner. Maybe both. Food for thought for the next 50 mile.<br />
* A couple annoying blisters in places I should have expected. For future reference: pay attention to hotspots in the first couple runs while breaking in a new kind of shoe. After they've long gone away in shorter runs, they can still crop up in an ultra.<br />
* I had a lot of swelling two days after the race. It went down after day 3. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Someone was excited, pulling last year's shirt out on her own.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://www.strava.com/activities/445087207">https://www.strava.com/activities/445087207</a><br />
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<br />malarkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092430796044274490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10653237.post-7446832173171608942015-12-14T22:51:00.000-08:002015-12-14T22:51:25.891-08:00Quarry Turkey 5k, Carrying a ToddlerI've been hiking hills while carrying MC a lot lately, in part to train for the late hills of the north face 50 mile, where everything tends to feels tired. Carrying 25 lbs of toddler on a 20% grade feels about the same as the last couple hills in a 50 miler. In doing so, we came up with an interesting idea: I'd carry her through a 5k, and PL, who only runs a few times a year, would try to beat us. <br />
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It was cold, but the turkey was out. And it was a close contest--we were beat by about a 100 foot lead. Maybe next year MC will do the kid's run.<br />
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malarkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092430796044274490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10653237.post-62236378696654749512015-10-21T23:30:00.000-07:002015-10-21T23:30:10.011-07:00Overlook Endurance Runs 50k<div style="font-family: Futura; font-size: 12px; min-height: 15px;">
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Aka Ann Trason’s race. This one was fun. Point-to-point, an area I’ve never run, and on iconic trails. It wasn’t an A race, but it was on my list to run for over a year. Foresthill to Auburn, on a fair amount of the Western States course, and with great weather. The two long downhills in the first section were a lot of fun, and a great place to test running improvements, since I haven’t run a strong ultra since March, nor have I run that long of a downhill stretch before. And it was a new California landscape to explore, one I’m sure I’ll go back to. The river crossing, near mile 19, was a comforting break from a harder effort race, with a well known volunteer seeing people off on their crossing. Legs were tired and near done on the last long climb, a mix of running and fast walking. Along the way, it was interesting seeing places I've heard about too many times.</div>
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6:15:06 finish, a 50k PR by 11 minutes, on a course with comparable elevation gain, but this time with almost no flat pavement to open up on (Chabot, with some paved trails, was the prior PR). But other than getting physically tired at the end, it feels like 50k’s have really come together this year, and it’s now a matter of improving in them with more endurance strength on hills. 68/149 overall, and an hour under ultrasignup's predictive models.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First sun after a foggy start.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Foresthill Bridge</td></tr>
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Things that went well:</div>
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* All the hard running/hiking in the Sierras in late summer/early fall is paying off well in terms of uphill running strength and uphill walking speed (faster than some people who were running). Heart rate was rather low too, likely helped a lot by runs at altitude. </div>
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* I consciously drank a lot more than I thought/felt I needed after the first couple hours, which was probably the right amount in the end. Switching electrolyte drinks and mixing in water also worked really well.</div>
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* Mixing running/walking uphill based on terrain and heart rate mostly kept pace/effort in check, especially when people around me kept running uphill, many of whom I would see slow down later in the day.</div>
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Things that didn’t:</div>
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* Muscle fatigue in the last couple miles, all uphill. A pacing side effect, but also something I opted to take the risk on, since it was the end of the course. I’m considering focusing on hill endurance for the next while, given an upcoming 50 miler and a consideration to increase distance next year. </div>
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* There’s something tight in my left quad and outer hamstring that I wasn’t aware of, which became a limiter in the last five miles. I’ve been focusing mobility/massage work on the right side for the last few months, since that hip is tighter.</div>
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* Mildly tight soleus muscles. Ok, that's an ongoing thing, so there's not much to complain about, but I can't think of anything else. </div>
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<a href="https://www.strava.com/activities/415917825">https://www.strava.com/activities/415917825</a></div>
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malarkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092430796044274490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10653237.post-65785208777078650712015-10-15T22:04:00.000-07:002015-10-15T22:04:30.803-07:00Granite Chief and PCT Trails from Squaw to Tinker's Knob and Anderson Peak<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Finishing the South Shore Open Water Swim, I had the remainder of the day to explore more in the Tahoe area mountains, and I went out to complete the rest of the Squaw-to-Donner route. Up the Granite Chief trail, then north on the PCT to Anderson Peak, where I had stopped when I covered the northern half. It was very windy from Tinker Knob to Anderson Peak; I decided to jog/hike this easier-terrain stretch because there were some crazy gusts coming from the west, and well, there was also this very long drop just a few feet to the right. Not the time to get caught off guard and go down. I finished 18.5 miles, feeling much better than after my last few long mountain runs. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Climbing the Granite Chief trail</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Squaw Valley</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grant Chief trail looking east.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKXxgE1tPU4Q8fbkDQZz03Cn6MqFKg90Qnl0PpTwwXSygxShabzquCQvMdhybK25vhrdhSE8ANgtGXP5K-DKNAs7PQpNLfTRSxduRIImja3HXEr21W394hr3D-nBBP3-wbp9ap/s1600/IMG_4004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKXxgE1tPU4Q8fbkDQZz03Cn6MqFKg90Qnl0PpTwwXSygxShabzquCQvMdhybK25vhrdhSE8ANgtGXP5K-DKNAs7PQpNLfTRSxduRIImja3HXEr21W394hr3D-nBBP3-wbp9ap/s640/IMG_4004.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">PCT, looking west.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking north toward the destination peaks, Mt Anderson, Tinker Knob, and Peak 8761.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking south from Tinker Knob</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peak 8761</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Peak 8761. Again. It's just a cool spot.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBzxECfwszMI7R7QAi7d6mTAsOyxsbXJ7Q_pqs_nlAymDbR8wVhyphenhyphenEH2jAvwhF3Tkl7qwCZeWL1P9o6NOQnVDtd6ISjS_KjLqvkqNnJIMEBDOXhj9V-T78Vw-wR1O7Uh_hFFtmt/s1600/IMG_4009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBzxECfwszMI7R7QAi7d6mTAsOyxsbXJ7Q_pqs_nlAymDbR8wVhyphenhyphenEH2jAvwhF3Tkl7qwCZeWL1P9o6NOQnVDtd6ISjS_KjLqvkqNnJIMEBDOXhj9V-T78Vw-wR1O7Uh_hFFtmt/s640/IMG_4009.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tinker Knob.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi43y1XAfGUea5BGuLF_yz7wGM3KiXqmUMxHi4Q2Io27iLf0oU1KE1_4DOYCOJVrD3a5sY4SVzR_f8vD4Z9EODQPTPUXWp8Wgj0_7N_sJ5Dh-J09asAg-MD5HbqXqFMCsxDvhot/s1600/IMG_4010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi43y1XAfGUea5BGuLF_yz7wGM3KiXqmUMxHi4Q2Io27iLf0oU1KE1_4DOYCOJVrD3a5sY4SVzR_f8vD4Z9EODQPTPUXWp8Wgj0_7N_sJ5Dh-J09asAg-MD5HbqXqFMCsxDvhot/s640/IMG_4010.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Anderson Peak from Tinker Knob. Castle Peak in the distance. It was crazy gusty up here.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWp9xMfAYxQwT99ftAsVrTNAFi4ZwBqsX6RwNGcg1QLNsT4GcrEfUWMq1VcPlDcyynWuk6QUiv6rZ4dbNpXQfUoWIlXF6qYUzJE28G6suFUnacd6yg7P66pMC87aexb22Vv2D3/s1600/IMG_4012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWp9xMfAYxQwT99ftAsVrTNAFi4ZwBqsX6RwNGcg1QLNsT4GcrEfUWMq1VcPlDcyynWuk6QUiv6rZ4dbNpXQfUoWIlXF6qYUzJE28G6suFUnacd6yg7P66pMC87aexb22Vv2D3/s640/IMG_4012.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Start of the American "River"</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking east on the Painted Rock trail.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1EzPzan34qYORneapEemQptKx1L0VyZemvQKArsceoMHvqKCDcvMadQCqXN1SbSIguGhxwzqUK1QpJwL1gRfFhPPby_aS-D-tETrYXC-V0oXmYR1MfcLVEb71MoQ9ntM3Y4Mz/s1600/IMG_4015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1EzPzan34qYORneapEemQptKx1L0VyZemvQKArsceoMHvqKCDcvMadQCqXN1SbSIguGhxwzqUK1QpJwL1gRfFhPPby_aS-D-tETrYXC-V0oXmYR1MfcLVEb71MoQ9ntM3Y4Mz/s640/IMG_4015.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br />malarkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092430796044274490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10653237.post-23002225739632486902015-10-14T23:59:00.000-07:002015-10-14T23:59:13.231-07:00Tahoe South Shore 2.4 Mile Swim<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDSsPWivSoWNh_-_G2dLUFvRw92zxS50T9Og6sKCtm6N7oi7jl8aVIjnGwxeJ5zzPbWYI7L1TN7Fzown_qpAI0uwxZ_MY0zuSxnKP1OYYQ43AAgUDVXsBm1xDgBhStNZyM9x2h/s1600/IMG_3998.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDSsPWivSoWNh_-_G2dLUFvRw92zxS50T9Og6sKCtm6N7oi7jl8aVIjnGwxeJ5zzPbWYI7L1TN7Fzown_qpAI0uwxZ_MY0zuSxnKP1OYYQ43AAgUDVXsBm1xDgBhStNZyM9x2h/s640/IMG_3998.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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So the Half Ironman swim wasn't anywhere near as challenging as I expected, although I doubt many others who did it would agree. I just trained really well for it and the conditions were easier than most open water swims I've done. Three days later I swam a 4500 in the pool, the longest swim I've done since last year, to see how things felt, and then I went looking for a 2.4 mile open water swim to end the season. And I found one--right back in Tahoe. </div>
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As part of the Lake Tahoe Marathon weekend (which has a crazy variety of events that one could do), the South Shore Open Water Swim had a variety of distances, including the 2.4 mile as the longest. It was low key enough to be fun and without pressure, but hard enough to bring out a group of fairly strong swimmers (who had, on average, well over ironman participant paces). </div>
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We started at around 8:30, swimming out from shore, and then turning north for a long leg into Nevada. The lake was calm, clear, and the bottom was in sight. It still strikes me how different Tahoe is, compared to swimming in the bay, where we can see just about nothing. Watching the bottom as I swam north, it just disappeared, turning into a deep bright blue split with sunrise caustics. I didn't notice it at first and was quite startled to see the depth just open up.</div>
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Turning back, we came back over shallower water, and the wind picked up, making the last five minutes or so quite choppy. Later swimmers took on a lot more chop. I finished in 1:21:06, near the faster end of what I expected. The fastest swimmer was just over an hour, and I was 10/17 in this distance. Mild calf cramping was the only thing off, but that's not surprising, since I wasn't really training for this distance. </div>
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Things that went well:</div>
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<ul>
<li>I kept a consistent effort, and nothing got very tired.</li>
<li>Concentrating on form on the way back was useful, it's easy to get tired and sloppy with this here.</li>
<li>No cold shock. The warm up and ongoing acclimation really help with this.</li>
</ul>
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Things to improve:</div>
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<li>I could have pushed harder, I'd need more experience to understand pacing at this distance.</li>
<li>Losing sight of the bottom caught me off guard psychologically, but it was awesome.</li>
<li>Sighting coming back was sloppy. Sunrise.</li>
</ul>
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Interesting observations:</div>
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<li>The lake goes from shallow to deep quite dramatically. And it's very deep. Check out some of the bathymetry images online.</li>
<li>The water, even though it's not at all warm, was a lot warmer than the beach sand at the start.</li>
<li>There's all kinds of scattered random junk on the bottom of the lake. Humans.</li>
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Also of note, this was the first timed open water timed swim I've done. I went in just to cover the distance, but adding the competitive element, especially outside of a triathlon, certainly changed how I went about the swim.</div>
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malarkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092430796044274490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10653237.post-77783693295682592972015-10-13T22:14:00.000-07:002015-10-13T22:14:29.456-07:00Shirley Lake Climb to the Top of Squaw<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
After registering for the Lake Tahoe half ironman, I took off up a side trail in Squaw to climb to the top. It's kind of hard to find and to follow, and not really at all runnable, but the Shirely Lake trail has some great views of the valley. At times it's a trail, other times, it's just crossing a steep giant slab of granite, and at other times it takes some scrambling up through rocks. It does kind of dead-end into a fire road that leads to the top of Squaw, where there's trails headed all over the place. </div>
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Many of the peaks up here have volcanic caps that have had more erosion around the sides, including Squaw peak itself. It's an interesting transition region from the volcanic peaks headed north toward Donner pass and the highly granite region just to the south. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Taking the tram down--I was planing to race in a couple days.</td></tr>
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<br />malarkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092430796044274490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10653237.post-23050683309302458352015-10-02T22:44:00.001-07:002015-10-02T23:10:33.374-07:00Ironman 70.3 Lake Tahoe<br />
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This was, psychologically, my biggest race for the year. Ironman Lake Tahoe has a bit of notoriety, having had a near freezing first year with their highest Ironman DNF rate to date, and a cancelation due to smoke last year. The first was held just as I did my first triathlon (Malibu 2013), and the concept of Tahoe scared me. After finishing my first 70.3 at Hawaii, and the announcement of a 70.3 at Tahoe last year, I knew I’d be in for this year. </div>
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Overnight, a bear raided T1, picking out race snacks from transition bags. Yes, really.</div>
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We bussed in together, both 70.3 and full distance athletes. The full started two hours earlier, giving us plenty of time to spectate the full swim, which is something to watch. After watching the lead swimmers at Vineman, it really struck me how quiet and the front of the swim pack is, and this race was the same. </div>
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It was in the high 50s when we started, with cold water close to shore that quickly warmed up as we headed out. After hearing most people talking about how cold it would be, I was surprised by how cold it wasn’t; SF bay certainly does a good job at cold acclimation. I did start with a slightly faster breathing pace to account for the altitude, but after warming up for the first 5 or so minutes, I fell into my normal swim pace and it didn’t have much more effect. The water was clear blue, and gorgeous, as we could see the large rocks of the sierra on the bottom, along with the intermittent almost-glowing green abandoned swim cap. Finishing the swim, T1 had a tent, and unlike my last half, I took the time to change into a cycling jersey to avoid the excess sun. </div>
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The bike was fun, fast, and hard. Well, the hard part, better known as Brockway Summit, was not the fast part, and it’s probably the hardest hill I’ve ridden up. Not because of the elevation gain, but because of the sustained grade, which felt harder than climbing Diablo. The rest of the ride, which went from King’s Beach, up 89, through Truckee, and down 267, before looping back to Squaw, was also gorgeous, and a lot of fun. I definitely trained well for this, coming in on a consistent effort with nothing hurting.</div>
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I started the run under-hydrated in warm weather, and never quite made up for it, but I ran the first half faster than expected, suffering the altitude more than anything else. The hydration issue would have affected me on a longer run, but this was only 13 miles. Realizing I was way under a PR time, I slowed my pace through the second loop of the run to take everything in and enjoy the course, finishing in 6:59:36. </div>
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A great race, sorry to see it’s going to be discontinued, but that was expected given how it’s gone. I questioned whether this year would happen up until a few days before the race, given the wildfire situation in California. It’s a gorgeous and hard enough course, that if it had lasted another year, I would have gone back for my first full.</div>
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Things done well</div>
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* The bike went really well, about 25 minutes faster than last year, on a harder course. </div>
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* The swim went well too, about 7 minutes faster. </div>
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* No muscle strain/fatigue on the bike/run transition; I was more limited by altitude. </div>
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* Changing shirts and avoiding tri tops makes longer races much more enjoyable. </div>
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Things learned</div>
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* I didn’t hydrate enough on the bike. Possibly because of the elevation, possibly because of staying dry due to speed. I’ll have to watch this more deliberately if I do a full distance race.</div>
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* Running at elevation was the hardest part, even though running’s been the bulk of my altitude training this year. </div>
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* Brockway summit is hard.</div>
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Some cool drone footage:</div>
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKcrunuI_0I&feature=share">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKcrunuI_0I&feature=share</a></div>
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Strava</div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Futura;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><a href="https://www.strava.com/activities/396744458">Swim</a></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Futura;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><a href="https://www.strava.com/activities/396744516">Bike</a></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Futura;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><a href="https://www.strava.com/activities/396744478">Run</a></span></span></li>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Swim </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bike, twice across the bottom. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Run, 2x.</td></tr>
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malarkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092430796044274490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10653237.post-41551076733979825222015-09-02T00:11:00.000-07:002015-09-02T00:11:33.098-07:00Donner Pass to Anderson Peak<div style="font-family: Futura; font-size: 12px;">
I went out for a day trip run/hike a section of the PCT heading south from I-80, eventually making it to Anderson Peak. The trail swaps between flatter sections and technical rock-strewn sections in this stretch, giving great views of Donner Lake, Tahoe National Forest, Donner and Castle Peaks, and passing by Mt Judah, Mt Lincoln, and alongside Anderson Peak, about where I turned back. There’s great packed talus sections near here, just before a ridge that heads out to Tinker Knob. I rolled my left ankle around mile 12, just after turning back, and speed hiked the rest of the way in, happy to have trekking poles with me to keep weight off of that foot. I covered less distance than intended, since I was feeling more tired than expected around mile 10 and really wanted to make up enough time to stop for lobster rolls in Truckee. Priorities.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Castle Peak at Sunrise.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Donner Lake</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Donner Pass</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tahoe National Forest</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Approaching Anderson Peak</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Talus-Trail on Anderson Peak. Not always stable.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking South toward Tinker Knob and Granite chief Wilderness</td></tr>
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<a href="https://www.strava.com/activities/381461642">https://www.strava.com/activities/381461642</a></div>
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malarkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092430796044274490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10653237.post-86714026233273061982015-08-19T00:28:00.000-07:002015-08-19T00:55:36.170-07:00Lyell Canyon, Donahue Pass, Ansel Adams WildernessAfter TRT, I wanted to switch gears and run/explore more in places that races don't go. I also wanted to race less to get rid of the time pressure, but still cover ultra distances. Because of good timing with a work trip, I was able to put together a long mountain run pretty quickly. I went with this route because it's well traveled and has a flat start/finish in case something didn't go well. I was trying a number of new things on this run, many for the first time (trekking poles, dealing with a water filter, carrying significantly more weight, testing an emergency beacon, and going 2000 feet higher in altitude than I have previously on a run, past 11,000 feet).<br />
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I beat myself up, in a great way. I kept a hard effort until the return to the valley floor, but my legs were dead by then. I speed hiked it back in, by conscious choice rather than out of necessity, since I wanted to be able to walk the next day. </div>
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Lyell Canyon is fairly flat, but at over 8000 feet. There were many backpackers waking up as I jogged up the valley. </div>
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At the head of the valley, there's a fairly abrupt change to rather technical trail that transitions from rock and dirt into rock steps and rock pieces and more strewn-about pieces of rock, over the next 1000 feet of climbing. There's a great valley here with a small mountain lake/pond that's fed by the Lyell glacier. </div>
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Then it's more climbing up Donahue pass, in which you encounter more rock stairs, even more rock pieces, and rubble and stuff that all kind of defines the trail. I didn't actually run much up here, given the terrain and altitude. </div>
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At the pass, at 11,000 feet, there's an abrupt change of views as you enter Ansel Adams wilderness. </div>
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Dropping through more rock for a few miles, things change into the more rock-and-pool-with-mountain-backdrop environment we associate with photography from the area. </div>
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I turned around at the Marie Lakes trail, and had a few fun conversations during breaks on the way back, as I was the only runner out for the day that I'm aware of, and I was now passing many backpackers for the second time. Some of whom were out for a week to cover the distance I did in a day.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVzbUFm0C2znxGARfZMWUjPq6MlQuI0GF1hBajX-93kGQraKD05nSykuv6p3dPI_ByAoljgiRfHKQ8VzEgwnZbEwy03Y5V8G0RtGNyoyEd_u_GFiEyTnX3XY8LdT4rWN71NN4d/s1600/IMG_3544.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVzbUFm0C2znxGARfZMWUjPq6MlQuI0GF1hBajX-93kGQraKD05nSykuv6p3dPI_ByAoljgiRfHKQ8VzEgwnZbEwy03Y5V8G0RtGNyoyEd_u_GFiEyTnX3XY8LdT4rWN71NN4d/s640/IMG_3544.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A rather unintimidated marmot at Donahue pass.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mt Lyell again, and the valley below it, later in the day on the return.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://www.strava.com/activities/369244822">Strava</a></div>
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malarkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092430796044274490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10653237.post-80152835618190143162015-08-18T23:46:00.002-07:002015-08-19T00:57:15.711-07:00Vineman 140.6 RelayJuly 2015, edited later.<br />
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That was hot. And hilly. Not the big climbs I train for, but a never-ended slow grind of smaller hills that wear you down again and again and again.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLt2yQIYwNzv_Bs_WVeoy1kfQTnKe5qMlhkDSwT1FUcnwiBXd9dp0FT-F4goFDCcklKBfCe1_OxtQsOsaA5Aod2kyNgpzrN-3wQqn7gAjD7JddCj2VAg8pLTpQOBkFnmJqmSk6/s1600/IMG_3479.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLt2yQIYwNzv_Bs_WVeoy1kfQTnKe5qMlhkDSwT1FUcnwiBXd9dp0FT-F4goFDCcklKBfCe1_OxtQsOsaA5Aod2kyNgpzrN-3wQqn7gAjD7JddCj2VAg8pLTpQOBkFnmJqmSk6/s640/IMG_3479.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Repeat offender for the cutest finisher award.</td></tr>
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I ran the marathon portion of the Vineman 140.6 triathlon as part of a relay team, and it was hot. I went out at my target pace, about 8:30 mpm, which would normally be sustainable. I quickly realized it wasn’t, and near mile four, I decided that it would no longer a race for time, but a challenge to make a consistent effort with a strong finish.</div>
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The course is a triple out-and-back on a grid of rural roads emanating from Windsor high school. The start was surprisingly fun, because while you can predict a swimmer’s time to within 10 minutes, a cyclists time can be off by an hour or more, either way. So I warmed up to be ready to go an hour before his earliest expected time, and then hurried up and waited. In the hot sun in the middle of the afternoon. </div>
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I had woken up early to watch the swim and the swim-to-bike transition. This race is so damn long that I then went about my day, having lunch, playing with the kid, etc, etc, until it was time to get out the door a second time. </div>
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Back to mile 4. I flipped my GPS watch to the heart rate display and decided to ignore everything else and focus on maintaining a HR zone, since it’s one thing that doesn’t lie about how hard you’re working. It’s very easy for me to go too fast in heat and to quickly overheat/get sick/get tired/crash and burn/wait/hope/recover/etc/etc. Like the middle portion of Lake Sonoma this spring. I found myself running about 75% of the time and speed walking about 25% of the time to keep things under control, and I went with an ice bandana on the neck, which worked amazingly well at keeping me cool.</div>
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While the race was hot, it had this weird mix of dry rural farm road and pretty wine country vistas in the distance. Most everyone was slogging. Granted, I hadn’t biked over 100 miles, unlike a lot of the field. At mile 22, SS passed by on the way out as I was headed in, wrapping up his full 140.6.</div>
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At mile 22 I let my target HR creep up one beat per mile and let it go completely in the last half mile, speeding up whenever I passed some landmark that I was deciding on the fly. RR and RN joined in as I came in to the finish, and we ended up second in our relay division at 12:50 overall. I ran 4:53ish, which I did’t even bother to check until two days later, since I was quite happy with how I executed this race and how well the finish went. Even being a 140.6, I was surprised at how few sub-4-hour finishers there were.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsZwbge8BB7Sh-KlJxxzqvNgo1as8IZYC7kZc1LUIONjbm5Dq8QcoWln3LxKYmrKi2jkDBUEBhJsWDDJ0kOwkxixToTvm0ppsaOCT-m8xJqHEVpEhMZfCU7NOswiql47c8W-IL/s1600/IMG_3484.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsZwbge8BB7Sh-KlJxxzqvNgo1as8IZYC7kZc1LUIONjbm5Dq8QcoWln3LxKYmrKi2jkDBUEBhJsWDDJ0kOwkxixToTvm0ppsaOCT-m8xJqHEVpEhMZfCU7NOswiql47c8W-IL/s640/IMG_3484.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The front of a 2.4 mile swim is eerily quiet.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgTnqlf_jqZS_1kLA9cj69pyjLIRWLAqAt65LEu4ebY4ylj3vlXUgMEkYWnjJwzCPAi86FwkDgcHfaLFToT_Ct0cLzp9As3lOofudRokILaosHn9rlEIzjLx9RNNzIjF1UYTDl/s1600/IMG_3492.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgTnqlf_jqZS_1kLA9cj69pyjLIRWLAqAt65LEu4ebY4ylj3vlXUgMEkYWnjJwzCPAi86FwkDgcHfaLFToT_Ct0cLzp9As3lOofudRokILaosHn9rlEIzjLx9RNNzIjF1UYTDl/s640/IMG_3492.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Things done well:</div>
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<ul>
<li>Ice bandana</li>
<li>Using a target heart rate to maintain pace</li>
<li>Strict management of pace increases toward the end let me finish strong, and feeling rather well over the next few days, considering I ran an ultra and a marathon in a week. </li>
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Things to improve:</div>
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<ul>
<li>Walk into hot races with an ice/HR management plan right from the beginning. I had to learn this stuff as I went, but fortunately, I found a comfortable place pretty quickly.</li>
<li>Heat training?</li>
<li>Put a jacket in the finish line bag, even it's in the 80s during the race.</li>
</ul>
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<a href="https://www.strava.com/activities/354136320">Strava</a></div>
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malarkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092430796044274490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10653237.post-39984346019004702832015-08-18T23:34:00.002-07:002015-08-19T00:58:32.635-07:00Tahoe Rim Trail 55k<i>July 2015, written a month later.</i><br />
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My race reports are too long. I'm not getting motivated enough or finding the time to edit them. Let's make this easier.<br />
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The TRT 55k/50m/100m is one of the bigger ultras within driving distance, and it caught my attention for simply being, in part, on the Tahoe Rim Trail, which is an important place for me. I wanted to run a race at altitude this year, and after a lot of lottery luck, I was in for this. I wanted to run the 50 mile course, but stuck with the 55k in case altitude didn't pan out well.<br />
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Altitude affected me, but I was fine. What hit me unexpectedly was a muscle cramp on the steep descent of the red house loop that never really let up, and I ended up speed hiking the last 14ish miles to avoid having it turn to anything worse, as it was pretty bad. But it was the TRT, so there was no way I was going to quit, I just stopped running for time and enjoyed the rest of the course.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXHlc_f92C6Xr3Md_XCpL2yUgw5wj3xJsBF3uQso6wN7AOMMrF28SLzQ8_eQoa7XulT5rwZYZ6BuVp9ELzS2HhaAGCp-Fko82hQDKxtuHv_beSYLN30LuxnaNrGGXsGebsOwhY/s1600/IMG_3387.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXHlc_f92C6Xr3Md_XCpL2yUgw5wj3xJsBF3uQso6wN7AOMMrF28SLzQ8_eQoa7XulT5rwZYZ6BuVp9ELzS2HhaAGCp-Fko82hQDKxtuHv_beSYLN30LuxnaNrGGXsGebsOwhY/s640/IMG_3387.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My version of the laid-out-gear photo. A pile of everything. And sorry, that number has been changed.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7qBICTVLTkG4huBoqdvfWoeqTsoeSduCjjvLM6zFu3B5UBVHgpJE1EEXBi5hI-d1rZNUtMU9h5Xc13H8vw2SST3xmCATp0zY_gsbSKDtNL85DYeHML-UoQvOrixyy5vv4t374/s1600/IMG_3388.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7qBICTVLTkG4huBoqdvfWoeqTsoeSduCjjvLM6zFu3B5UBVHgpJE1EEXBi5hI-d1rZNUtMU9h5Xc13H8vw2SST3xmCATp0zY_gsbSKDtNL85DYeHML-UoQvOrixyy5vv4t374/s640/IMG_3388.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And another pile of stuff to carry to the car.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0G9NsKdkwyLBcCQLrnCw_NvDEGk_djXalad1hm3wg5VKQwwnOIVagkOWfVXyjug3chccu42rc2-ESEsgXUft6LnfYih-r6F_WAtImRrB8buxNQGkuWqM68z2l1zNmp8LPggh9/s1600/IMG_3389.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0G9NsKdkwyLBcCQLrnCw_NvDEGk_djXalad1hm3wg5VKQwwnOIVagkOWfVXyjug3chccu42rc2-ESEsgXUft6LnfYih-r6F_WAtImRrB8buxNQGkuWqM68z2l1zNmp8LPggh9/s640/IMG_3389.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Spooner Lake, the start, before dawn.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDfWFlZhXqnmcBG5GtEGQ49wbXkqV1BqOYnTYmB-8fFEY8cILorCmdfkuXfjKBpaZfCBnyEhSiN0wPA4wF9sfP8hfYrztLY6dG8_WqOlkYEVvS2IJF7OUxFHhm_95s_VVLHwkb/s1600/IMG_3390.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDfWFlZhXqnmcBG5GtEGQ49wbXkqV1BqOYnTYmB-8fFEY8cILorCmdfkuXfjKBpaZfCBnyEhSiN0wPA4wF9sfP8hfYrztLY6dG8_WqOlkYEVvS2IJF7OUxFHhm_95s_VVLHwkb/s640/IMG_3390.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Start/Finish</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiYrornuq2hdBuXn-TJFgs_ZXlMyYklAq5vpebSGTUMRNN1MuPYKkgIqsSNOiUwYbGOgCQHnfmUeN-YMb4D_TtNmVL3GsmblO98fm5CJpbR_NxMI6rLce12Mfhl9AbfeeXF3ui/s1600/IMG_3391.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiYrornuq2hdBuXn-TJFgs_ZXlMyYklAq5vpebSGTUMRNN1MuPYKkgIqsSNOiUwYbGOgCQHnfmUeN-YMb4D_TtNmVL3GsmblO98fm5CJpbR_NxMI6rLce12Mfhl9AbfeeXF3ui/s640/IMG_3391.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiclIu4KH9pbUs5vrNuMBFxUpf0T5lFwsQ0OXHiMTSX_cF8jWlqoxgdbzzFz23pucTp4uqMN8N_98CP7Ugs3IrVEgfPHHm8_f4rEqOTUFZQFWdkbATZiiAEZua2hwuqGpHjZb8P/s1600/IMG_3395.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiclIu4KH9pbUs5vrNuMBFxUpf0T5lFwsQ0OXHiMTSX_cF8jWlqoxgdbzzFz23pucTp4uqMN8N_98CP7Ugs3IrVEgfPHHm8_f4rEqOTUFZQFWdkbATZiiAEZua2hwuqGpHjZb8P/s640/IMG_3395.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The post-Hobart climb. Lake Marlett above Lake Tahoe.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJbwlrpAppdgqvaDREKFqsqRq94TUQ68pzn2pJDbSWPVCVRysobhC_ftSOIgrroU2iGnzXbRx4Gh76-GtK30gbFzaH9YrtXS2DbbOvNoF8pGn08BuYzy_c6-Xm4aCbCHnq404H/s1600/IMG_3396.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJbwlrpAppdgqvaDREKFqsqRq94TUQ68pzn2pJDbSWPVCVRysobhC_ftSOIgrroU2iGnzXbRx4Gh76-GtK30gbFzaH9YrtXS2DbbOvNoF8pGn08BuYzy_c6-Xm4aCbCHnq404H/s640/IMG_3396.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz9GTXZr9yg3XtYXih4zkO-rbP8v6UWumcuKOeGqJH6ibYmg4_gCXDmuuoh9xPUsj7rKxFaYjBRZ2kocxxrH9Hb2pJvqMRvhHsIyAdauS2_8nfW2pKmGDn0CdlFYMPvsFZM7Gc/s1600/IMG_3397.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz9GTXZr9yg3XtYXih4zkO-rbP8v6UWumcuKOeGqJH6ibYmg4_gCXDmuuoh9xPUsj7rKxFaYjBRZ2kocxxrH9Hb2pJvqMRvhHsIyAdauS2_8nfW2pKmGDn0CdlFYMPvsFZM7Gc/s640/IMG_3397.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More of Lake Marlett</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Above 8000 ft.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Somewhere before Tunnel Creek, where I stopped taking photos. Not that this was a smart decision, Snow Peak was gorgeous.</td></tr>
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I finished in some absurd about of time, over 9 hours, but I was still nowhere near the back of the pack. <br />
Things done well<br />
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<ul>
<li>Managing speed at altitude using heart rate worked well. Until I didn't need to try to limit it. It especially worked well when it got really warm coming out of Red House.</li>
<li>Deciding to power hike the way in after the muscle cramp. I lost a lot of time, but it made for a much more enjoyable day.</li>
<li>Limiting myself to a shorter distance than I really wanted to run to better handle everything that would be new for the first time running ultra-distance in the Sierras.</li>
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Things to improve<br />
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<ul>
<li>Take a longer no-run break after a race to really work out mobility issues. I blame Escape from Alcatraz for causing the muscle tightness that led to the cramp.</li>
<li>Take more photos on Snow Peak. Even if you don't want to.</li>
<li>Pack a cold coffee drink in the car for the drive home, even if it's well past my normal coffee cutoff time. </li>
<li>Sign up for 16 more miles next time.</li>
</ul>
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Observations<br />
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<ul>
<li>Bob Shebest, the 50 mile winner, passed through Hobart on the way back while I was taking a long break to manage the annoying muscle cramp. He was pushing hard, having multiple sponges of water dumped on his head in quick succession.</li>
<li>Yes, this is the most gorgeous course I've been on. Sorry Marin.</li>
<li>Best aid stations and finish volunteers I've seen. Cold smoothies at mile 24ish are awesome.</li>
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<a href="https://www.strava.com/activities/349085333">Strava</a></div>
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malarkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092430796044274490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10653237.post-71715095107374458272015-08-18T22:53:00.000-07:002015-08-19T00:59:50.086-07:00Sonora PassJuly, 2015, written later.<br />
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This isn't a race, it's not even a run, but I've been itching to start exploring the Sierras. When I start looking for gaps in my Strava heatmap to find new places to run/explore, it's time to change things up. </div>
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Having decided to take the very long way home from a 4th of July trip to Tahoe, we stopped at Sonora pass to have lunch and hike a short out-and-back on the PCT. The weather was perfect, although it would snow here only a few days later. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">About where we stopped on the first climb, at 10,000 feet, and carrying a toddler.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A second climb on the south side</td></tr>
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<a href="https://www.strava.com/activities/340141697">Strava</a><br />
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malarkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092430796044274490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10653237.post-84807809717589050412015-08-18T22:27:00.002-07:002015-08-19T01:04:17.303-07:00Escape From Alcatraz<i>June, 2015, edited much later</i><br />
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This was easily the most fun triathlon I’ve done. And probably the most fun race I’ve done. That wasn’t planned. The plan was a hard race. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGN9UCmP4ru9U2ZH9C2MAXPenLK4edUhDzQRpwxt-rNsINrgy0ZpMuU0A3C5j8OJ6IyhwWS_W5Gh_MD6w59IqPfOYN9l1Ecq0dxxaE213sCVZINpbbB5JsUKG_cY0b0RqenNzv/s1600/11406780_10103447683526652_3207858730783208625_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGN9UCmP4ru9U2ZH9C2MAXPenLK4edUhDzQRpwxt-rNsINrgy0ZpMuU0A3C5j8OJ6IyhwWS_W5Gh_MD6w59IqPfOYN9l1Ecq0dxxaE213sCVZINpbbB5JsUKG_cY0b0RqenNzv/s640/11406780_10103447683526652_3207858730783208625_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A transition photo because I don't carry a camera during triathlons.</td></tr>
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Waking well before dawn (the hardest part of any race for me) and finding parking (the second hardest part of races in cities), setting up my bike and triathlon gear in transition was fast and easy. I feel like I’ve done this a few times now, this being my 6th triathlon. It’s also been my longest racing break since I started in early 2012, at two months, and I had a really good stretch of training. I was surprised to get in, given the race’s popularity and lottery process. </div>
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The bus ride and ferry ride were long and sleepy. I question things when getting ready for an endurance race takes longer than the race itself. The boat to swim transition itself was surreal. One moment you’re warm, sleepy, and forcing yourself through the motions to get ready to swim, double dnd triple checking everything because you haven’t slept enough, and a few moments later you’ve jumped off the boat, you’re in the cold water, and you're moving at full speed.</div>
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The jump itself is funny. Everyone i know who hasn’t done the race, but is contemplating it, fears this moment the most. I did too, to some extent, but I also know that I’ll walk right through those moments without giving myself time to think about it, to get through it. And the truth is that the jump has a lot less in height than the videos they publicize online. The front-of-the-pack racers jump off the higher bow. The mortals jump off more amidship, closer to the water. And the mental game of jumping, getting out of the way, sighting to set your course, and starting your swim takes up enough mental bandwidth that you don’t even notice the cold. At least that’s my story. Honestly, I remember the moment right before the jump and the moment right after the jump, and the fact that I hesitated for about half a second to make sure I wasn't jumping on anyone, but I don’t recall jumping itself. Must have been fine. </div>
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The swim was fun. I’ve swum from alcatraz to aquatic park before, and found it easier than expected, in comparison to swims across the golden gate. This swim was similar. Foggy, calm, and feeling warmer than in training swims. The pack spreads out wide too, so you have much more space to yourself than a typical triathlon on a closed course. But being a race, you push yourself harder than in an easier paced open water swim. It was just plain fun, and I swam really well. The two weeks of 650 yard repeats at the end of my training really worked. </div>
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I came into shore at the perfect spot, right before the arch to the half mile warmup run to T1. Note to self for future reference—the tidal current is strongest closest to shore. This is documented on the intertubes, but I hadn’t found it out until researching more after the race. Anyway, the half mile run was like jogging in molasses; on his course the swim affects my run much more so than the bike. I’m glad I did a few bay swim/run bricks to learn this ahead of time and know what to expect. </div>
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I don’t remember T1. Not a thing about it.</div>
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The bike was fun and fast. And hard too, one short climb was just painful. But it was short…it’s more hilly than I expected, which made for a fun ride. I kept speed down a little on some descents, since I’m not the fastest downhill rider due to my limited biking experience, but otherwise I pushed hard the whole time.</div>
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T2 happened. I’m sure it did.</div>
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In the run, I still felt the effect of the cold swim, coupled with the hard ride, and I was no where near my top speed, but I expected that. The bike-to-run switch is a weak point for me; I’m likely riding too hard to be able to optimize running, but the bike being my weakest sport, it’s probably wearing me down the most. That said, it’s been improving the fastest this year. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGiO3-le3rvG37ki644wka3wNAg5urfcFASfER18_yl8f7PiWobulwNdxIZ6pOHyo7oCw1iVMIOonPlNH5OsFEh05hapMBulJaFVCxRNeJD9v72PvAO8z5kADsZSIjV0ATKe1C/s1600/11412460_10103447683481742_8073721640054678677_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGiO3-le3rvG37ki644wka3wNAg5urfcFASfER18_yl8f7PiWobulwNdxIZ6pOHyo7oCw1iVMIOonPlNH5OsFEh05hapMBulJaFVCxRNeJD9v72PvAO8z5kADsZSIjV0ATKe1C/s640/11412460_10103447683481742_8073721640054678677_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The finish</td></tr>
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I finished in 3:33 or so, somewhere in the middle, time-wise, with the swim being my strongest sport. I think this has been my best executed race in a couple years, maybe altogether, despite the weak points. I didn’t feel sore or tired the entire time and pushed hard for the entire course. </div>
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Things done right:</div>
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<ul>
<li>650 yard swim repeats, thrice a week, for a few weeks before tapering.</li>
<li>5 mile bike repeats, thrice a week, for a few weeks before tapering. I now have my bike pace up to a point that I raced consistently in the crowd around me throughout the race, except for the sand ladder, where I consistently passed people.</li>
<li>Hill training and deadlifts. The sand ladder climb, of all things, was my strongest split relative to the crowd.</li>
</ul>
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Things to improve</div>
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<ul>
<li>Wear lots of sunscreen in the horribly long and badly organized registration line.</li>
<li>I have a problem with my psoas muscles getting tight, and it hit me on this run, probably because everything else was dead tired at this point, and I pushed hard through everything that was tired. It would take weeks of mobility work to fix this after the race. That’s probably something that needs regular attention.</li>
<li>Bike strength is much better now, and technical riding on downhills is now my main limiting factor. </li>
</ul>
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Things of note:</div>
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<ul>
<li>This triathlon has an older, and very experienced, demographic. It might be the price and the bucket list nature of it for most racers, but I think I read that the average age was mid 40s. </li>
<li>There are a couple short and very steep sections on the bike course. Squats with weights are your friend in training. </li>
<li>Legs were dead after the swim--from the cold. I’m not sure how best to address this. Maybe a short sprint after a cold bay swim instead of a longer run? Maybe kicking more aggressively to keep legs warm?</li>
<li>I did few run/bike bricks this time, to focus on bigger weaknesses. That might be worth focusing on more next time </li>
</ul>
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Results</div>
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<ul>
<li>Swim 43:36</li>
<li>T1 10:52</li>
<li>Bike 1:17:29</li>
<li>T2 3:21</li>
<li>Sand Ladder 3:59</li>
<li>Run 1:18:10</li>
<li>Total 3:33:27</li>
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Data</div>
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<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.strava.com/activities/320653890">Swim</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.strava.com/activities/320653945">Bike</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.strava.com/activities/320653921">Run</a> </li>
</ul>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLE2b9SrR4PQoTduEXxkce0J6BLJXaO2MAWuebtdPJJL-o2RMPuHH5xuCF-ekf6VQTj2A98J-UIwmiILIFZE2vFDl4016_Lrpdon1Ee4Lk2vNUZmz6fUdpd7GWhbyX7PtAN05O/s1600/1908131_10103447683556592_4470910864293200254_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLE2b9SrR4PQoTduEXxkce0J6BLJXaO2MAWuebtdPJJL-o2RMPuHH5xuCF-ekf6VQTj2A98J-UIwmiILIFZE2vFDl4016_Lrpdon1Ee4Lk2vNUZmz6fUdpd7GWhbyX7PtAN05O/s640/1908131_10103447683556592_4470910864293200254_n.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cutest finisher of the day.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWd54bjvRDpQyNpQPl4orwZwTe1m3yy6Jddoss6BJ56Ac2tKQWJfWmb6onGGUrLWSmAkBuxT6qCkzEQ5WC5_A49tuV7sgMMIr0HGcfEjbFnMNPj8uK7etUyRThFQIwTuC778i5/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-08-19+at+1.00.45+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWd54bjvRDpQyNpQPl4orwZwTe1m3yy6Jddoss6BJ56Ac2tKQWJfWmb6onGGUrLWSmAkBuxT6qCkzEQ5WC5_A49tuV7sgMMIr0HGcfEjbFnMNPj8uK7etUyRThFQIwTuC778i5/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-08-19+at+1.00.45+AM.png" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNrmaxYkI2juKXdGGPMrOnu8VaxkiCL6TUSQspcEfMFF-642ETzZdRLtcibZBByTDcKnyCD6Q9fuDPv8EhKmEMKLKfRYBvdoYB5cqGSJLfu1sMB_SHH4fCXldfNoXkoE4qEyN1/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-08-19+at+1.01.22+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="389" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNrmaxYkI2juKXdGGPMrOnu8VaxkiCL6TUSQspcEfMFF-642ETzZdRLtcibZBByTDcKnyCD6Q9fuDPv8EhKmEMKLKfRYBvdoYB5cqGSJLfu1sMB_SHH4fCXldfNoXkoE4qEyN1/s640/Screen+Shot+2015-08-19+at+1.01.22+AM.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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malarkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092430796044274490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10653237.post-33085704955553924482015-06-01T23:26:00.000-07:002016-09-25T23:21:26.524-07:00Race/Event History<div>
I can no longer remember it all. Here's the list:<br />
<br />
2016, Including Plans<br />
<ul>
<li>Crystal Springs 50k</li>
<li>Oakland Marathon</li>
<li>Mokelumne 50 Mile</li>
<li>Canyons 100k</li>
<li>Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne 50 mile fastpack</li>
<li>Donner Lake Triathlon Half</li>
<li>Kearsarge Pass and PCT toward Forrester Pass mountain run</li>
<li><strike>San Francisco Triathlon at Alcatraz</strike> </li>
<li>Mt Whitney </li>
<li>Yosemite Canyons 75 mile fastpack</li>
<li>North Face Endurance Challenge SF 50 Mile</li>
</ul>
2015<br />
<ul>
<li>Coastal Steep Ravine 10k</li>
<li>Brazen Coyote Hills 5k</li>
<li>Coastal Golden Gate 30k</li>
<li>ITR Chabot 50k</li>
<li>ITR Marin Ultra Challenge 50k</li>
<li>Lake Sonoma 50 mile</li>
<li>Escape From Alcatraz Triathlon</li>
<li>Tahoe Rim Trail 55k</li>
<li>Lyell Canyon, Donahue Pass, Ansel Adams Wilderness--Solo 50ish k</li>
<li>Ironman Tahoe 70.3</li>
<li>Big Blue Adventure South Shore 2.4 Mile Swim, Lake Tahoe</li>
<li>Overlook Endurance Runs 50k</li>
<li>Brazen Quarry Turkey 5k</li>
<li>North Face Endurance Challenge SF 50 Mile</li>
</ul>
2014</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Brazen New Year's Day Half Marathon</li>
<li>Coastal Steep Ravine Marathon -- first trail marathon</li>
<li>ITR Fort Ord 35k</li>
<li>ITR Chabot 50k -- first 50k</li>
<li>Brazen Diablo Trails Challenge 50k</li>
<li>Big Sur International Marathon</li>
<li>Brazen Wildcat Half Marathon</li>
<li>Hawai'i 70.3 Half Ironman -- first 70.3</li>
<li>Double Dipsea</li>
<li>ITR Reservoir Dogs 35k</li>
<li>Brazen Bad Bass 5k</li>
<li>Brazen Bear Creek 5k</li>
<li>Swim Art Trans Golden Gate Swim</li>
<li>Brazen Trail Hog Half Marathon</li>
<li>Malibu Triathlon Classic Distance</li>
<li>JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge</li>
<li>Coastal 50k</li>
<li>Brazen Rocky Ridge Half Marathon</li>
<li>Rainshadow Running Oregon Coast 50k</li>
<li>ITR Mt. Tam 50k</li>
<li>North Face Endurance Challenge SF 50 mile</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
2013</div>
<ul>
<li>Brazen Coyote Hills 10k -- first trail run</li>
<li>Coastal Golden Gate Half Marathon -- first half marathon</li>
<li>Brazen Bay Breeze 10k, at Quarry Lakes</li>
<li>Brazen Badger Cove 10k</li>
<li>Oakland Half Marathon</li>
<li>Coastal Grizzly Peak 30k -- first 30k</li>
<li>Swim Art Trans Golden Gate Swim -- first distance open water swim</li>
<li>Coastal Canyon Meadow 30k</li>
<li>San Francisco Marathon</li>
<li>Coastal Golden Gate Half Marathon</li>
<li>Tri for Fun -- first tri</li>
<li>Coastal Cinderella Half Marathon</li>
<li>JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge SF 3.5 mile</li>
<li>Malibu Triathlon Classic Distance -- first real tri</li>
<li>Brazen Drag-N-Fly Half Marathon</li>
<li>Tough Mudder Norcal at Tahoe</li>
<li>Swim Art Alcatraz Swim</li>
<li>ITR Dirty Dare 25k</li>
<li>Marin County Triathlon Olympic -- first olympic tri</li>
<li>Coastal Lake Chabot 30k</li>
<li>Berkeley Half Marathon -- first sub 2 hr half marathon</li>
<li>Brazen Quarry Turkey Half Marathon</li>
<li>ITR Woodside Ramble 35k -- first 35k</li>
<li>Brazen New Year’s Eve Half Marathon</li>
</ul>
<div>
2012</div>
<ul>
<li>Oakland 5k -- first race</li>
<li>San Francisco Marathon -- first marathon</li>
<li>JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge</li>
<li>Tough Mudder</li>
</ul>
malarkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092430796044274490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10653237.post-27911046342111077892015-04-20T23:15:00.001-07:002015-04-20T23:15:32.695-07:00Lake Sonoma 50 Mile<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Somewhere around Mile upper twenty something, the electrolyte drink in my hydration pack started tasting horrible. It was the third of the three harder climbs in the middle section of the course. I was annoyed for a bit, thinking it was the aftertaste of some soda mixing with it. But then it got worse, which really didn’t make sense. I was hiking uphill at the pace needed to hit a goal time, but it was an exposed trail, and it was warm and sunny by this point. I stopped for a few seconds to massage a muscle knot that crept up and felt a little light headed, and my stomach protested. That’s a first, and I’ve done a number of these long runs on exposed trails on much warmer days, so I don’t really know why it happened.</div>
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I found a shady spot, stopped, sat down to rest it out, and took stock. I planned to limit myself to five minutes, to cool off the immediate heat reaction and get my stomach to calm down, since I wanted to get to a place, physically, where I could keep moving well the rest of the day. At five minutes, I wasn’t there. It took eight minutes, and I got up, and kept moving. It seemed like half the people in the race passed me during that rest, and I bailed on my time goal to focus on keeping myself feeling well enough to make it back to a less exposed portion of the course. Finishing was more important than keeping up my earlier pace, which wasn’t even a hard pace, but if I had kept it up with how I was feeling, I probably would have had to bail. </div>
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Getting to the Madrone aid station, I drank a lot of water, switched to the race-supplied electrolyte drink, and ate a little, and a volunteer poured water poured over my head. I used the next section to gear back up gradually, since I still felt off. After a refill at the Wulflow aid station, I picked my pace back up for about five miles, passing a number of people. It took about 3-4 hours for everything to recover from the heat sickness, but the resulting fatigue lasted the rest of the day. I’d repeat the pattern of hike/walk about two miles, letting myself lose time, run faster for 3-5 miles until tired, repeat, for the rest of the day.</div>
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The first half of the course went great, moving from gently sloped roads to up-and-down twisting trail (my favorite part) to the first two fire road climbs. I stayed well ahead of my goal pace through No Name Flat at mile 25.2. I ran through the creek crossings on the way out, never getting completely water-logged. Keeping the slower pace of a 50 miler felt strange, since most of my running has been at significantly faster speeds lately. I haven't built the faster pace up to longer distances, so I went out deliberately slow. Relatively speaking.</div>
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Somewhere on the way back, I wondered why I was at this race. And why I run any ultras. And I told myself I should quit running ultras and just run 20-milers and under, where I am a significantly stronger runner. Running fast and finishing in a reasonable amount of time is so much more fun. And easier to wrangle with the rest of life. And finishing before most of the crowd in a short race is psychologically much more of a high than coming in at the very back of a 50 miler. Three days later, as I write this, the reason is the mental journey. There’s a certain mental clarity that comes after one of these races that lasts for weeks. </div>
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When I passed the one-mile-to-go sign, I very quickly got out of my just-finish-it mindset and into a time-goal mindset. I decided to finish under 13:30, a reasonable, but challenging goal of the 50th mile, and I picked up the pace a lot. Everything stopped hurting too. I came at 13:29:21, a half hour before the race ended. I was surprised at how many very strong runners dropped out of this race, some of whom I saw walking back while I was running out. But we all have our days. </div>
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After the fact, feet were the biggest problem, but less than expected, and I had no strength/cramping issues left at the end of the race. I actually felt better than after any marathon or ultra I’ve run before. Something tells me that most of what’s left to tackle to run these better is a psychological fear of failure. I’d rather come in late than risk dropping.</div>
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My next fifty is in eight months (unless I add one in early fall). I’ve taking some time off running to allow for some overdue longer-term recovery, and I'm planning to focus on form and strength for a while, followed by a few months of reduced volume training to do other things. There are a couple summer races planned, but each is more to finish than to race hard, since they'll each be a new kind of race for me. After that is another run of endurance training in the fall.</div>
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<a href="https://www.strava.com/activities/283660309">https://www.strava.com/activities/283660309</a></div>
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malarkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092430796044274490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10653237.post-42945674987800782752015-03-16T14:53:00.001-07:002015-03-16T14:53:18.218-07:00Marin Ultra Challenge 50k<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The beginning.</td></tr>
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We started before dark. It was quite the crowd for only 50k and 50 mile runners starting at 6:00 AM. I had been toying with moving up to the 50 mile distance a few times over the past couple weeks, but it didn’t make sense in the big picture, since I wanted to run a harder 50k this month. </div>
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Starting up from Fort Baker, I started out on what’s been a consistently increasing uphill pace for endurance length runs. The second half of this climb was crowded single track in the dark, so the pace was mostly fixed for about a mile. Reaching the top, we ran down the coastal trail while sunlight was slowly growing. I kept speed in check here, and also along the flat stretch through the valley to the second climb up Hill 88. </div>
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The second hill (up Coastal, down Old Springs) was steady, but not my fastest effort here, since there was a lot more course to go. I realized I was working harder than I thought as I started the descent, since my hamstrings were feeling sore. Coming into Tennessee Valley, some wild turkeys were on the attack, chasing us while a park service worker watched from his truck with a smile on his face. </div>
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Pirate’s cove was fun, as always—it was great being this far along this early in the morning. I made my first water refill at Muir Beach, since it would start to warm up soon, and the next stretch of the course would be 7.4 miles. I kept the same steady pace through this loop, along Redwood Creek (where the 50 milers split off to visit Stinson Beach and Muir Woods), up Miwok, and back along Dias Ridge. By the time I finished this loop, it was hot, and I was sucking down water, now refilling my pack at every aid station. I was also well ahead of my stretch goal in terms of pace. </div>
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New trails were next, heading up Middle Green Gulch, which passed through a farm and into a hot climb where I had my first moment of feeling tired, although it only took a few minutes to walk myself out of it. At the top, we switched to some single track I haven’t run that parallels Miwok. A few of us got lost for a moment at a confusing intersection before heading back down to Tennessee Valley, but we managed to stay on course after deciding on the single track. </div>
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Marincello, I could complain about this all day, so yeah, let’s do that. It was hot, slow, steady, and about as long as usual. It was much more fun in the dark back in December. Reaching the top, I backed off the pace a bit and just enjoyed the run along the ridgelines and back down to Fort Baker, since I was still well ahead of my stretch goal. I finished in 6:55:12, my second fastest 50k, and my fastest time in the headlands. This really surprised me, given the amount of climbing on this course. Keeping the steady pace throughout really paid off. I stuck around to watch the 50 mile winner come in about an hour later, and it took about that long to reconnect with the world, since the heat had me beat down a bit. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The end.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://www.strava.com/activities/268232013">https://www.strava.com/activities/268232013</a></div>
malarkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092430796044274490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10653237.post-24955626149123207672015-03-16T14:48:00.002-07:002015-03-16T14:48:53.564-07:00ITR Chabot 50k, 2015I ran this a year ago as my first 50k. It's close to home, an easier course (relatively speaking), and at a convenient time, so I ran it again to see how things stand at the 50k distance as compared to last year. <div>
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I ran the first four hours at a faster pace, staying below 12 min/mile, but something caught up with me, and I dramatically slowed down for a few miles in the second loop when my left ankle started acting up. I picked up the pace again for the last 4-5 miles along the lake shore, finishing in 6:25, a 50k PR. </div>
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Not much more to say this time around, it was very much a long effort to build up to the MUC and Lake Sonoma as well a personal 50k time trial, and I've run here too many times to say much new about the course. It was warm, peaceful, and a good mix of hills and flat sections, trail and pavement. The guns were firing, the lake was toxic, good food/beer at the end, so all's good.</div>
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<a href="https://www.strava.com/activities/258130909">https://www.strava.com/activities/258130909</a></div>
malarkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092430796044274490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10653237.post-65796225727912734522015-02-14T11:27:00.001-08:002015-02-14T11:27:27.847-08:00Golden Gate 30k<div style="font-family: Futura; font-size: 12px;">
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Rain falling lightly, then harder, then lighter again, as a small crowd stood under a very small shelter to stay dry. Waves crashing against the surfing beach across the road, below the Headlands. Green and wet hills under light fog in a warm breeze. The tops of the hills would be windy today. And the rain was forecast to last all morning. </div>
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It’s weather like this that really brings trail running to life for me, and the Golden Gate 30k really shined in this regard. I ran this to start building distance back up, but the wet muddy weather really made it the perfect training run. The plan was to run it harder than any long races from last year, and to let myself blow up if needed, mainly to get the training effect in. Fortunately, that didn’t happen. </div>
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Driving, pouring rain. Ankle deep mud. Fog. Wind gusts, some over 40mph. And a clear glimpse of the bay every now and then. The race would run through all variations of wet and muddy weather. At one point, I expected hail, but that didn’t come.</div>
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The first climb out of Rodeo Beach went fast, and I zoned out for a while, not thinking about much. The climb up fox was a fast hike that came and went without much thought. The Pirate’s Cove trail brought me back around, since this is where everything went to muck at the North Face 50. This run was much better, and I kept the pace up through it.</div>
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IT band tightness. A short stretch break. Concentrated uphill running. And a long set of hike/run intervals up Marincello. Up here things became interesting.</div>
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And by interesting, I mean ridiculous. And by ridiculous I mean fun. The rain was pouring so hard it became difficult to look very far ahead. Puddles became splash fests. But it was warm.</div>
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After the last aid station, I ran fast down the last part of the Coastal trail, and then quickly hiked up the last hill to the road section, where I planned to run fast back down. Then the 40 mph wind blasts came, redefining ridiculous. I couldn’t not laugh. Somewhere here I decided to wrap it up at a fun pace instead of pushing all out to the end. </div>
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This race was over fast, mentally. I covered this ground at my faster pace to date. I originally planned to run the 5 mile, but I’m glad I moved up in distance, since it really was the right time to move back up to endurance pace. Since my last long race in December, there was a definite change in mental perception of the hills. I’ve been running/hiking a lot of hill repeats with 800 feet of climbing over the last two months, so nothing here felt long in comparison. My time was 3:38:40, 32/95, and my fastest run on almost every section of the course.</div>
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https://www.strava.com/activities/252342548</div>
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malarkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092430796044274490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10653237.post-53776518395304744852015-01-25T12:39:00.000-08:002015-01-25T12:39:16.939-08:00Coyote Hills 5k<div style="font-family: Futura; font-size: 12px;">
This seems to be the spring of repeat races.* I ran my first trail race on the 10k course here two years ago. I returned this weekend to run a flat (relatively speaking) and fast race. </div>
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I went out fast, but kept my own pace, keeping what felt like my max sustainable speed. I slowed slightly on the uphills, just enough to avoid losing the ability to speed up again on flat sections and downhills. I wasn’t until a quarter mile before the finish that I felt completely maxed out. This prevented a sprint to the end, but indicated good pacing. My last race at this distance required a short walk break and a large drop in speed at one mile.</div>
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I finished in 26:47, 23/458, and first in my age group. And just below my goal pace of 7:45 min/mile, at 7:42.5. Strava says it included PRs at half mile, mile, 1k, 2 mile, and 5k distances (this course was closer to 3.5 miles). I’m curious what my flat course 5k time would be now, especially if I tapered, but there’s other things to do. </div>
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* Unlike all of last year, I picked this winter/spring’s races for training reasons. It occurred to me while writing this that only the final race, Lake Sonoma, is on a new course. </div>
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<a href="https://www.strava.com/activities/245482620">https://www.strava.com/activities/245482620</a></div>
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malarkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092430796044274490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10653237.post-48276184300353221202015-01-19T22:05:00.002-08:002015-01-19T22:05:54.514-08:00Steep Ravine 10k<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Up and Down to Cardiac Hll. 1400+ feet of climbing. The first race of the year, and of this training cycle.<br />
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One goal for the year is to bring back short races where I can push the pace the whole time without paying for it later. Months of long endurance runs near my limit left me really wanting to push the pace again in races, since I haven't done so all that much since 2013, when I focused mostly on the half marathon distance for a year. And while my endurance went way up in 2014, speed went down. I ran the marathon distance at this race last year, and I really like the straight and to the point up-and-down-repeat layout of the course.</div>
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After the North Face 50, I pulled myself way back to all short runs; I don't think I've been out for more than 10 miles since then. I added a lot of longer interval work, but focusing more on form, strength, cadence, and consistency, rather than speed as a goal in itself. And I added regular strength training back in, finding and addressing some really weird strength and mobility assymetries that crept in over the second half of 2014. Many of them I was completely unaware of until I spent a week focusing entirely on mobility work after TNF50. I added long hill repeats, climbing up and running back down Redwood Peak, since it's close to 800 feet in less than a mile, about the same amount of climbing as most Marin hills, and, more importantly, close to home. </div>
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But the Cardiac Hill climb is quite a weak point. It tends to beat down leg strength/endurance, causing me to slow dramatically later in long races. Adding this race was a way to get a climb of this size in by itself for training purposes, while on great trails. </div>
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The Steep Ravine trail was closed, apparently a small landslide and a missing bridge have shut it down for a month. Similarly Highway 1 has a section out for the month. November/December's onslaught of rain in the middle of the drought is taking its toll on Mt. Tam. The course changed to an out-and-back on the Dipsea, along with a short section on Old Mine. </div>
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I started fast on the road coming out of Stinson Beach, and paced myself based on feel for the entire climb. Anytime I felt like I was pushing the pace on a steep hill hard enough that I'd later lose the ability to keep my pace, I backed off for a bit to loosen things up. One nice thing about running so many 50k's last year is that I've really gained a good sense of where that line is, although I do intentionally cross it for training effect in races, and pretty much always in the hill repeats I'm doing now. </div>
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The other nice thing about short races is not even thinking about the aid stations. It was there. I didn't really make eye contact with anyone, see I had no intention of slowing or stopping, and it's a complex intersection, but I did manage to thank the volunteer who steered me down the correct trail when I started to overshoot it. </div>
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Coming back down Dipsea was fun, and there was some fun banter about all the stairs with a few people who were keeping a similar pace. The stairs didn't bother me at all this time, and I could have taken them quite a bit faster if I wasn't in the crowd. Despite the East Bay being fairly dry this month, the trails here were wet with a few muddy places, and all the wood stairs were wet, to many other runners vocal disdain. I ran with the Hoka Challengers for the first time in a race, and they worked great here. </div>
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On the non-stair portions of the downhill, I was really able to open up and keep a fast pace, not something I'm used to here, as I usually run this downhill after beating myself up over the first 28 miles of a 50k. Coming into town, I sprinted the last half a block, but the last person I passed did the same and passed me right before finishing. I came in at 1:16:25, 40/142, 10/17 AG, yada yada. More importantly, I made my goals of my fastest climb to Cardiac Hill from Stinson Beach, as well as my fastest descent back down. And a fun thing that's never happened: I PR'd every Strava segment on the course. After tapering for all of one day. There's still ways to go on improving my climbing on longer hills, but my current training seems to be working. </div>
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This kicks off a series of most hilly trail races over the next few months that are focused on hills in the 800 ft range, with the goal of significantly cutting my 50 mile time at Lake Sonoma. I'm starting back at a short distance and plan to run races of increasing distance to up the effort across the board. The rest of the series will be a flat 5k for isolating speed, a hilly 30k, a mixed flat/hilly 50k, and a hilly 50k. <br />
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malarkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092430796044274490noreply@blogger.com0