Category Archives: ultrarunning

The Allure of Western States

Posted on February 20, 2009 | Leave a comment

Scott Dunlap has a great post over on his “A Trail Runner’s Blog” talking abou t the Allure of Western States.   His analogies with the Boston Marathon really resonnated with me.   It’s tough to say exactly why the Western States 100 is the “best” 100-miler…it just is.  But, Scott and others (this is a synchroblog) have some great insights: 

wser-buckle-24Bryon Powell Loves It All
Craig Thornley Talks About the Western States Family
AJ Wilkins Loves The “It” of the Race
Sean Meissner Shares His Memories

Check them out…they’ll definitely get you stoked to run. 

P.S. The whole “synchroblog” thing is pretty cool.  Gives you deep insights into a particular topic from a wealth of people.  Thanks Craig for this brilliant idea…and thanks to the others (Scott, Bryon, AJW, & Sean) for sharing your points-of-view.

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Posted in ultrarunning

Going into it knowing you’re in for a whoopin’

Posted on February 15, 2009 | Leave a comment

One of the reasons I love the sport of running is the pure “truth” of it.  There’s very little “grey.”   If you’re in shape, running feels easy and is the most enjoyable thing in the world.  If you’re not in shape, it’s pure pain & torture.   Unfortunately, I’ve been battling a hamstring injury and several re-org’s at work, so I currently fall in the latter camp.  

squakWhen I’m out of shape, I tend to run more often by myself (or with our dog), than with other runners.   Sorry, Jorge & Adam — I’ve been saying I need to run with y’all.  But, at some point, you just have to take it on the chin and get out and run with others.  And, I’m feeling like I’m at that point.  Unfortunately, the SRC morning run this week is a 17 miler at Squak.  Ouch!  

So, I’m faced with a choice:

1.) Either run alone and prolong my “out-of-shapedness” or

2.) Get up before sunrise on Sunday AM and show up at Squak mountain knowing I’m going to have my arse handed to me

When I used to be a “real” runner and would find myself facing a tough decision (e.g., do I go out with the leaders even though it’s slightly faster than I planned)…I’d often times ask myself — “What would Rogo do?”  (if you’re wondering who Rogo is, click here).  

Maybe it’s time I started asking that question again…damn, this is going to hurt.

Update — 2/20/2009:  For those of you (okay, maybe two of you) who care, I did show up for the run last week.  Didn’t get through the full 17 miles, as my hammie is still quite sore.  But, it was a great, great run.  Thanks to Adam & the SRC team for setting it up and leading the run.   The entire run was really, really great.   Going up Squak is always tough…the run down the backside of the mountain was really awesome, as it was a cold, slightly foggy morning.  The group kept going over to Cougar through the corridor, while I turned around at the road.   I had a tough climb up the backside of Squak, as my hammie was spent by that point (and, frankly, I’m just not as fit as I’d like to be).   As always, it’s easy to fly down the frontside of Squak.  Overall, a great run.

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Posted in My Own Running, Seattle Running Company, Training, ultrarunning

Brian Morrison — Team Innov-8

Posted on February 13, 2009 | Leave a comment

The Team Innov-8 website team has been updating the bio’s of their various sponsored athletes. One of those is local brian_morrison1ultra-star Brian Morrision.   If you know Brian, there’s probably not a whole lot to learn there.   The guy is looking forward to Western States, loves Pearl Jam, and is an avid drinker of Nuun’s Kona Kola.

However, I was struck by his advice to other runners:

My advice to other athletes would be to always listen to your body and your head. I’ve never (knock on wood) had any serious running related injuries, because I take adequate time to recover. And more importantly, make sure you’re only doing it if you’re having fun. If you start to feel a little burnt out, don’t be afraid to take some time off and enjoy some other things. When you do come back, you’ll be amazed how much more fun things will seem.

 

I believe ultrarunning, as a sport, could benefit from having more people heed Brian’s advice.  

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Posted in ultrarunning, Northwest Running

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Orcas Island 50K results

Posted on February 10, 2009 | 2 Comments

The results are posted for Orca’s Island.  As expected, Adam Lint won the race for the men (full disclosuradam-lint-white-rivere: I know Adam fairly well).   I know this guy’s under the radar screen, but if you look at what he’s been able to accomplish over the last year and a half, it’s pretty impressive — 3rd at US 50K Champs, 3rd at US 100K Champs, 2nd at US 50K trail champs, etc.  (photo to the right courtesy of the world’s best trail running photographer, Glenn  Tachiyama). 

While Lint didn’t quite beat Kyle Skaggs course record of 4:30, he was definitely close finishing in 4:32:49.  

With Krissy Moehl electing for the 25K option, Ellie Greenwood, team Montrail (Vancouver, BC) won a close women’s race:

 5.18.10 Ellie Greenwood
5.19.15 Nicole Seana
5.22.41 Shawna Wilskey

Full results can be found over at Rainshadow Running.  

The ororcas5cas race is well known for it’s stunning views from up on Mt. Constitution, but I’m guessing the fog put somewhat of a damper on that…although the higher peaks were visible above the clouds.  The temps were great for fast racing, and I heard that new race director James Varner did a stellar job.  

If you ran the race, would love to get your thouhgts.  Feel free to post comments below…

Updates:

Matt Hart has a video of the Orcas 50K up on his blog. 

In Matt’s video, it’s nice to see Adam Lint wearing an SRC jersey instead of that horrible West Penn Track Club one…all of us from Western Pennsylvania know that it’s the Pittsburgh Pharoah Hounds (not WPTC) that is the club for the “real” runners.

Krissy Moehl has a nice recap of Orcas Island that can be found here.

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Posted in ultrarunning, Northwest Running, races

The Elite vs. the Near Elite

Posted on January 27, 2009 | 3 Comments

I’ve long believed that there are just a few small things that seperate elite ultrarunners from near-elite ones.   I don’t have perfect definitions for “elite” or “near-elite” but, I’ll use some local Seattle ultra-runners as examples:

Elite = Scott Jurek, Uli Steidl

Near Elite = Brian Morrison, Greg Crowther, Adam Lint, etc. 

I’m hopeful that my designations/classifications don’t create hard feelings.  These are just my own subjective calls and anybody who reads this blog knows that I’m not the brightest bulb.   The point I want to make is that there are often subtle differences that seperate these two classes of runners. 

One great example of these differences if rest/down-time.   My perception is that the elite runners are, in general, better at scheduling/taking down time than the near elites.   Obviously, I’m making broad, sweeping categorizations here, which is never fair and never accurate.  But, I do come across many near-elite runners who — in their effort to become elite — fail to realize the importance of rest/down-time.   Instead, they race ultras several times/month…12 months a year….years in a row.  

hibernationIt should be noted that rest/down-time can mean different things for diferent people.  Scott Jurek has a nice post up about his concept of “Hibernation” which he borrows from the Kenya distance runners.    Scott has just takend 6 full weeks off of running.  

Others, such as Uli, don’t seem to stop running for weeks on end, but are definitely either in the process of building up for a big race or recovering from a big race.   Check out Uli’s training logs, and you’ll see what I mean.   There are lots of 120+ mile weeks, but also a fair amount of 40-50 mile weeks.  

Most of us who don’t fall into the elite OR the near-elite category (including myself) has the opposite problem…we likely take far too much rest in any given week, month, year.  

What do you do for rest?   Does my hypothesis that elite runners take more rest seem correct…or totally whacked?   How much rest is enough?  Too much?  

Feel free to add comments below…

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Posted in Training, ultrarunning

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Bridle Trails Results???

Posted on January 12, 2009 | 4 Comments

I was planning to run the Bridle Trails 10.4 miler this weekend.   However, I caught a bad winter cold and struggled just to get a few miles in with my dog instead.  

alka-selzerHowever, I’m dying to know results.  I checked out the Seattle Running Company website as well as the SRC Facebook page, but wasn’t able to find any results.   Even Uli’s homepage doesn’t have his last week of running, so I’m not even sure if he won (although I can’t imagine otherwise).  

Looks like the participation was good though.  The following were registration numbers:

163 5 milers
141 10 milers
85 50K solo
12 50K pairs (24 runners)
18 50K teams (78 runners)

This race has grown over the past few years, which is awesome.  It is a great, early season race with trails that are well suited for a novice & advanced trail runners alike.  The limited climbs make it great for newbie, while the mud & much can challenge even the most experienced trail racer. 

Given the recent weather, I’m sure it was a mudfest…sorry to have missed it.  If you have results or ran, leave a comment and let us know what happened/how it was.

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Posted in Seattle Running Company, ultrarunning, Northwest Running, races

The Ultimate Ultra Calendar???

Posted on January 7, 2009 | Leave a comment

  If you’re like me, you spend a fair amount of time searching the web looking for cool trail/ultra races.  Sometimes you’re interested in a race of a certain distance.  Often, you need a race on a certain date.  Other times, you need a race either close to home or in a certain geography.   Once in a while, you don’t know exactly what you want…you just want to see what’s available out there so you don’t miss anything cool.  

Jason Robillard has put together a great site to help people find ultra races.  His site, theultramarathonstore.com, makes it easy to find races across all types of attributes — date, geography, distance, etc.

the-ultramarthon-store

Jason also makes it easy to e-mail him with additional races that should be on his site.    Check it out.  It might inspire you to get our there and race!

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Posted in races, running, ultrarunning

Training for Western States 100

Posted on January 6, 2009 | 1 Comment

Like many, I’ve long been fascinated with Western States.   I’m incredibly impressed and wowed by nearly all ultra races, especially those 100 miles or longer.  But, Western States is THE ultra race.  I have a long term goal of running it someday and, ideally, getting a buckle.   However, I may be suffering from Bucklemania. 

You ask what is Bucklemania?  Well, there is a great article over at ultrarunning.com that defines “bucklemania” and provides some very important considerations when developing a training plan for Western States.  

ultrarunning-training-for-ws1

If you’re considering Western States — or any 100 miler — I’d recommend checking it out.

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Posted in races, Training, ultrarunning

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Ultrarunning and Toughness

Posted on December 30, 2008 | Leave a comment

Toughest Runner You Know…

In a previous post, I wrote about Tom “Rogo” Rogozinski, an IUP runner, who was/is the toughest runner I know.   Apparently, I’m not alone in my thinking.    Not only has that post about Rogo been the most viewed on my site, it’s also generated some interesting comments (both on the blog and via my e-mail inbox).  

The most interesting, was the following, from David Warady:

David Warady //

I will personally attest to Tom’s toughness. Without a doubt, in my 20 years of racing, Tom Rogozinski and Richard Westbrook (4th in TA) were the toughest runners I’ve ever competed against.   Rogo’s 8hr, 59 mile stage, might be the most incredible individual effort in the 1992 TransAmerica race.

If anybody is qualified to deem somebody “tough” it would be Warady.   He won that 1992 TransAmerica race by nearly 6 hours:

1992 Runner’s World Trans America Footrace
Huntington Beach CA to New York NY
June 20 to August 22, 1992 – 2935.8 miles

(28 starters, 13 finishers)
1. David Warady, 35, USA CA – 521:35:57
2. Milan Milanovic, 32 SUI – 527:16:21 (+5:40:24)
3. Tom Rogozinski, 24 USA – 528:48:54 (+7:12:57)

In many ways, Uli Steidl reminds me of Rogo – hardcore.   If you want to see just how “tough” Uli is, check out his running logs which are posted here at his website.   Still not convinced of Uli’s toughness, check out the following paragraph from Uli’s recount of the 2007 North Face Endurance Challenge 50M race in San Francisco where Uli beat the legendary Matt Carpenter (who I think is undoubtedly the toughest runner I don’t know).   Uli recounts:

 

Uli Steidl & Matt Carpenter

Uli Steidl & Matt Carpenter

Matt meanwhile went to his drop bag. I expected him to slowly catch up to me again in the next few minutes. But instead I heard him come up behind me like a runaway train. I wasn’t sure what to think. He pulled up next to me and said “Uli, you’re &%#*ing tough” All I could think of was “So are you!” I was really surprised to hear what he said next “I think I’m done.” And with that he dropped off the pace and I was by myself.     

 [Note: Full race recap from Uli can be found here] 

 

 

So, I think Rogo & Uli are the toughest runners I know.  Apparently, I’m not alone in my convictions. 

Who are the toughest runners you know?  Comment below…

 

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Running at Cougar Mountain

Posted on April 15, 2008 | Leave a comment

As most trail runners in the Seattle area know, Cougar Mountain is a great place to go for a long run.  It’s the perfect blend of very runnable singletrack trail coupled with some tough climbs that are enough to keep you “honest.”   I’ve never gone there and done a longer run (90+ minutes) and not had it put a hurting on me. 

As you may know, the Seattle Running Company puts on a series of races — the Cougar Mountain Trail Run Series – each year.  I ran the 10 mile race there last year and struggled mightily (aka, walked) much of the last 3 miles.    

This past weekend, I was able to get out to Cougar and do that same 10-mile loop…on a training run…by myself.  I finished more than 10 minutes faster than I did last year, and felt strong at the end.  While I realize it’s often different come race day, I was encouraged that I’ve made that much progress over the past few months.  Needless to say, I’m looking forward to a great summer/fall of running.

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Posted in Seattle Running Company, ultrarunning

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