Quad Rock

A steady rain fell on Friday night as Maddie and I sat in the Runner's Roost and gave out t-shirts and parking passes for Fort Collins' first ultra.  There was a quiet excitement in the air as the trail running community from the Front Range and beyond prepared to run the inaugural Quad Rock 25 and 50 mile races, organized by our very own trail running super stars, Nick Clark and Pete Stevenson. 

On Saturday morning, I woke at 3:00 am after a restful night's sleep, ate a bowl of oatmeal, drank a cup of coffee and then drove over to pick up Cat and Brian and head to the start.  We were greeted at the entrance to Lory State Park at 4:20 am by the second place finisher at last Sunday's Colorado Marathon, Sarah Hansen, who wished us well and pointed us towards a place to park.  There is something wonderful about standing around in the predawn darkness with all of your friends getting ready for an amazing adventure on the trails. After we picked up our race numbers from Mary and took off our warm clothes, we walked to the start line to hear Nick give final race instructions.  It was pretty cold so I went with long sleeves over my Fort Collins Trail Runner shirt and then I saw Sam in just a singlet and made a last second decision to toss the long sleeves and commit to some suffering.  I also forwent a headlamp figuring I could get by with the light of the other 200 headlamps on the trail for 20 minutes until dawn broke.  Both of these decisions ended up being good since the 7 minute pace we went out at warmed me up quickly and lighting was fine.  A few minutes in, we turned off the park road on to the winding East Valley single track and I took a look back to see the surreal sight of of hundreds of headlamps moving in a single file line steadily along the trail.

I ran with Kyle and Justin and we clipped along the Valley and across the border into Horsetooth Mountain Park.  We hit the turn on to Sawmill and I joked with the runners around me saying, "Here's where the fun begins," knowing that the 21+ miles ahead were all straight up or straight down.  I ran the Sawmill, Stout, Towers climb pretty well and arrived at Towers aid station in 1:08. Aid station captain Chris Hinds and his crew filled my water bottle, gave me some encouragement and sent me on my way down Spring Creek.

Kyle was just ahead of me through here and Scott passed me going down hill looking very strong on the first lap of his 50 mile adventure.  We ran past the falls and came into the Horsetooth aid station (mile 10.4) in 1:38.  This was another wonderful aid station captained by Rob and staffed by good friends.  Pete was there telling me to keep pushing for a sub 4 hour finish.  Betsy helped me fill my water bottle and gave me a chunk of peeled banana and some gummy bears.  Mike (running the 50) appeared as I was heading out and he also seemed to be having a great day.  I left the aid station heading up towards the rock thinking, "I really only have 15 miles left?"

The climb up the rock trail was fun and I hit the beginning of Westridge with Mike and Kyle and a couple others.  Westridge has been difficult for me in the past with some steep uphill sections and lots of semi technical downs.  Today it felt easy and I ran it comfortably with Mike and before I knew it, we were back out on Towers Road heading back through the Towers aid station.  From here we went down Mill Creek, another technical down hill that I have struggled with before, but I knew that today this descent was mine so I let it go and enjoyed the ride.

I felt good all the way down to the Arthur's Rock trail and my last aid station of the day.  I was glad to see Mindy and Lindsay and others dressed in tu-tus and helping tired runners.  I gave Mindy my gloves, filled my water bottle and mixed in the Gu Brew powder that I had been carrying to get some electrolytes in me for the final climb up the Howard Trail and then the descent of Timber to the finish line.  I was a little tired, but there was only 7 miles to go.  I headed up the trail just behind Mike and we traded positions a few times as we zig-zagged back and forth up the Howard switch backs.

photo by Erin Bibeau

I got to the top of Arthur's still feeling great and now I knew there was only about 4 miles to go and it was all downhill so I gave it everything I had left.  This was absolutely the fastest I have ever gone down Timber and I was keeping an eye on my watch.  It looked like a 4:10 was going to be really close and I knew all I could do was run.  I wasn't too worried about it either.  In fact I was having such a good time that I was wishing the end was not so close.  With a mile and half to go, I could hear the finish line, the trail smoothed out and I ran hard.  A quick glance at my watch showed 6:40 pace which was as fast as I could run and some quick calculations of remaining distance and time told me that I was going to be just over 4:10.  I finished in 4:11:40, 11th place and am very happy about my race.  Just a few weeks ago, I thought a 4:30 was a really ambitious goal for this race and I ran nearly 20 minutes faster than that and it felt easy.

photo by Marie

The rest of the day, I bundled up in all the clothes I had (it never warmed up) and helped and cheered for 50 milers at the turn around, talked and laughed with friends, ate, drank, met Scott Jurek, and enjoyed a couple hours of volunteering at the Arthurs/East Valley Tu-tu (2.2) aid station.  Molly finished her shift at Horsetooth and picked up Maddie on her way to the post race festivities.

Me and Scott                          photo by Cat

Sam, Kyle, Justin, Jen, Laura, Brian, Tim, Shaun and Cat all ran amazing races in the 25 with fast times, high places or a lot of grit to get it done.  Mike, Scott, Ryan, Steph, Kristel, Chris, Kris, Phil, Katie, Brian29 and Chris ran the 50 and all finished very well meeting and exceeding goals they had set.  It was one of the better days I've had in a while.  Nothing beats spending the whole day outside in a beautiful place with all my friends running, laughing, playing, cheering, suffering, eating, drinking and living life in the moment.  Pete and Nick put on a great event that already has a reputation of being a race not to miss.  The Fort Collins/Front Range running community is a wonderful, supportive family that doesn't hesitate to jump in with both feet to support their friends whether it is volunteering for their race or giving them a hug and and listening ear during tough times.  Quad Rock is now without a doubt my favorite race ever.  Can't wait until next year.

Laura, Jen and Cat showing off their post race fashion

SAM working the finish line with a smile

TNC giving out the 25 mile awards

Cat took 1st place masters and 5th overall . . .again!

Leah, Maddie and Sarah enjoying the finish line fun

50 mile winner and course record holder, Ryan Burch with a smile just after his finish

Kyle ran an amazing 25 mile race with a 4:05 and 2nd place masters finish,
but got crushed in the half mile kids race. Maybe he's not a short course specialist afterall.

Sam, Brian, Maddie, Cat, Jen and Ryan

Hinterberg coming in strong in the last 100 yards of the 50

8:49 and 10th place overall.  I think that equals a 17:30 and top 10 finish next month at WS.

Lindsay, always with a smile at the Tu-tu aid station

Steph, with 2.2 miles to go to her 2nd place finish

Steph trying hard to get some fluids and calories down

Brian29 had an outstanding race in the 50 with a blazing last 2 miles and a 10:19 finish

Cat, Mindy and Lindsay cheering runners and trying to stay warm

Katie, after 48 miles, still had some spring in her step on her way to an 11:11 finish for 11th place!   Wow

RD is a tough job, especially if you also mark the course, run an aid station and sweep the course

Eric put in 50K worth of sweeping, cheering, taking photos, all in his lovely pink tu-tu

Quad Rock's official cake baker

Horsetooth Rock

I've been to the top of Horsetooth Rock more times than I can count, but I've only run it as a time trial 4 or 5 times.  All of these times were around 33-34 minutes with my best time being 33:02.  In a break from the usual everyother Thursday run up Towers, we ran a time trial to the top of the rock last night.  This is a shorter climb totaling only 2.4-2.6 miles depending on the chosen route.  There are several different options to get to the top and each runner has the freedom to choose their own route.  I felt pretty confident that I was up for a PR after my good run up Towers two weeks ago, but my legs were pretty tired after the weekend and a tough track workout on Tuesday and an anger at mountain bikers induced tempo run in Pineridge on Wednesday.  I headed up the hiking trail with Brian29 at 6:10 hoping to go under 33 minutes and maybe hit a time in the low 32s.  I took the shorter, but more technical Horsetooth Rock Trail and tried to maintain a steady pace over the rocks and up the steps. At the junction with the South Ridge, I took the service road up past Wathen and on to the final approach up the rock.  I was feeling the fatigue in my legs pretty hard by this point and I walked several of the steeper rocky sections arriving at the final scramble up to the summit in just over 28 minutes.  I usually take the climbing section slowly and carefully, but I knew that I was close to a sub 30 minute ascent which at the start of the run I wouldn't have thought possible.  Thanks the the sticky flat sole of my NB 101s and a new found fearlessness, I scrambled to the top and hit my watch at 29:42 for a 3 minute 21 second PR.

CO Marathon/Quad Rock Preview Double

Saturday I ran the first 21 miles of the Colorado Marathon course starting with Pete, Cat, Celeste, Brian and Gabby at 6:30 in morning way up the canyon.  Celeste's goal in training to run sub 3:30 at the marathon three weeks from today was to run the first 5 miles easy (around 9 min/mile) the next 10 miles at goal race pace (8:00 min/mile) and the final 6 miles easy.  My job was to help pace her to this goal.  As it is so easy to do on this course, we started out too fast clocking the first couple miles well under 9 minutes, but we did settle in to a solid 7:45-8:00 minute pace for miles 6-16.  We backed off the pace slightly for miles 17-19 and then pushed on mile 20 for a very strong 7:36, then jogged the final mile back to the school where we had left the cars.  Total time for 21 miles: 2:50.  Average pace: 8:07 with a total of 12 miles under 8 minutes and 7 miles under 7:50.  It was a beautiful, cool, sunny morning in the canyon and a great day to be running.  Celeste is definitely fit, trained and ready for a marathon PR of sub 3:30 or better.

This morning was the official Quad Rock 25/50 preview run hosted by the race director himself Pete Stevenson.  The other race director was off messing around in California. It was windy and cold at 8:00 am in the Soldier Canyon lot at Lory State Park, but the skies were mostly clear despite the predictions for rain and snow throughout the morning.  More than 25 runners were present from all around the Front Range to test their strength on this course that is already being talked about as one of the tougher 50 milers around.

We started together heading south out of Lory on the East Valley trail running in a seemingly endless line of trail runners sporting the full spectrum of running apparel, hydration packs and trail shoes. Just over 3 miles in, the first climb begins as we headed west up Sawmill to Stout to the infamous Towers Road. On Towers, I met up with Brian and Tonks who had started from the Soderberg trail head. We ran together and talked for a while and then I was on my own for much of the first big decent down Spring Creek towards Horsetooth Falls. Near the falls, I met up with Victoria and a small group of other runners. We ran together to the upper Horsetooth lot at about mile 10 where a full aid station will be on race day. 

Celeste and Cat power up Sawmill

Scott and Sam were taking a quick break here to eat and fill water.  I headed out with them a couple minutes later to begin the second big climb of the day up Southridge towards the Rock.  The climb went smoothly and we hit the Wathen/Westridge junction feeling a bit tired and glad to be more than half way done.  After Westridge and a short stretch down Towers, we started the big drop down Mill Creek which is steep and somewhat technical and has always been a challenge for me to run well. Today, I felt great and ran this trail better than I ever had.

Scott and Sam looking epic as always at mile 18.

We took a break towards the bottom of Mill Creek before dropping down to the Arthur's Rock Trailhead where 25 milers (like me) will see their last aid station on race day.  From the Arthur's trailhead, we started our last and probably toughest climb of the day up the Howard Trail towards the base of Arthur's Rock.  This climb was hard.  Rocky switch back after rocky switch back take you relentlessly over 1000 feet up from the valley floor.  We were glad to reach the top and took a relaxing sit down break at the top before setting out for the final 4+ miles down the Timber Trail to the finish.  The weather had been strange all day starting with an unexplainable snow shower under a cloudless sunny sky while I was running down Spring Creek (I thought it was big flakes of pollen until I noticed they were melting on my skin) to blasts of icy wind while we sat near Arthur's Rock to sun baked warmth while climbing towers.  As we came out of the trees on Timber in the last two miles of the run, we got hit in the face with a full force snow/hail storm.  I had to hold my hand over my face as I ran to prevent my face being torn off by the blast.  A few minutes later the snow cleared and we hit the trail head and the cars and we were done.  Our total time on the trail was 5:06 for nearly 26 miles and over a mile of vertical according to my watch.  I am pretty confident that a 4:30 will be possible on race day.

photo by Sam

GPS Data

Round Up

A view of the summit                                                           Photo by Eric Lee

13 FCTRs showed up for a dark, cold and windy 5:30 am start at the Round Mounting Trailhead this morning.  Many more joined as the day went on and by mid morning the sun was out, the wind had quieted down, the birds were singing, flowers were blooming and it was an all around perfect day to be on the mountain running trails.  I ran 30 minutes faster than last year and felt about a thousand times better.  The climbing was still tough of course and the final push to the summit on lap 5 was a beast, but I never felt completely wasted.  I ran strong and steady on the descents and with the help of Mike and Shannon, I pushed negative splits on the final miles to make my sub 7:30 goal by 4 seconds.

It really was an all around great day running with so many good friends.  I am so thankful to have a group of amazing people to talk, laugh, play and suffer with on and off the trails.

After the breakthrough on Towers on Thursday and feeling so good on such a tough run today I am glad to say that my running finally seems to be going in the right direction.  Collegiate Peaks 50 is three weeks from today.  These last few days have given me a lot of confidence about what I can do.  Another big PR would be awesome. 

Coming back down from the 3 mile mark                          Photo by Eddie Metro

The Summit                                                                           Photo by Eric Lee

5 progressively longer climbs that add up to 9200' of vertical in 29 miles

GPS data

24 Hours of Utah - Solo with lots of good friends

Maddie and I put in a half day of school on Friday then jumped in the car to head back out to Moab. This would be mine and Maddie's 4th trip to 24 Hours of Utah the Run.  Back in 2008, this race was my first real ultra running event thay I ran in preparation for the San Juan Solstice 50.  I returned in 2009 with my family to run it solo again and finished 13 laps (1 more than the previous year).  Ean walked the last lap with me that night and we had a great time being out on the slick rock together in the dark under a sky filled with stars.  I went back last year with a free entry (thanks to a facebook trivia contest) and a team of 4 other FCTRs.   We had a great time taking turns running and doing a lot of hanging out and laughing at the campsite.

This year was another solo effort, but I was joined in the solo running by Kyle and Scott (both training for their first 100s this summer) Cat, and Sam.  Also along for the fun were Maddie, Sarah and Leah (Kyle's daughters) Celeste, Jen, Dan and Danny.  So although I was running solo, I knew it wouldn't be too lonely.

It was a beautiful morning and the day promised to be hot.  We took out together on the first lap at a casual pace knowing it would be a long day ahead.  I was quickly reminded of how stunning the lanscape is here and I was so glad to know that I had the whole day and the night to be outside under the warm sun and bright stars admiring the beautiful vistas with good friends while I challenged myself to run as far as I could. 

I ran the first three laps on and off with Sam, Cat, Scott and Kyle.  As the day went on we spread out as a result of different paces, break times, and taking care of the kids, bt we'd still pass eachother out on the course (odd laps were run clockwise and even counter-clockwise, so there were always people going in both directions)
Kyle and I regrouped and ran my10th lap together, finishing 54 miles in just under 12 hours.

starting out lap 10 with some additional company who were on their way
 to the creek to make mud pies

Cat, smiling and moving steadily forward as always

Kyle hitting the point of his longest run ever!

 . . . and he keeps on going.

Sam heading out for another lap late in the day

Maddie was awsome all weekend.  Here she is running me in on lap 10.

10 laps down.    Photo:  Maddie May

After the 10th lap, I took a long break to eat and rest.  I had a wonderful bowl of Ramen prepared by Maddie and Celeste, dug out a long sleeve shirt and my headlamp and headed out alone for lap 11.  I felt really slow and weak as I started up the slick rock portion, but by the time I hit the backside of the loop, I was feeling much better and I ran the last 3 miles in at a decent pace.  I made a quick stop back at the camp and tried to convince Kyle to come back out for another lap, but he chose instead to stay in his tent and cry about the outcome of the Syracuse/Ohio State Game.  So I headed out alone again for lap 12 and I was definitely getting tired, but I finished it feeling okay just a few minutes before midnight.  I sat by the fire near the start/finish for a few minutes and gladly accepted a hot grilled cheese sandwich.  I knew I wanted to get out for at least one more lap and I knew I needed to go do it now, so when I finished my sandwich, I got up and walked back out.  Lap 13 was slow and painful.  I walked a good 90% of it and staggered and stumbled the rest.  It was still nice to be out in the quite Moab night.  I stopped and sat down at the far end of the course to rest and dump fine red Moab sand out of my shoes and socks.  I stumbed back in to camp a little past 2 am and I knew I was done.  Another lap would have been great, but I had nothing left to prove to myself or anyone else, so I pulled on some warmer clothes and climbed into my sleeping bag for a couple hours sleep.

At the awards in the morning, I was glad to see Scott and Sam and Kyle, who had all gone out for a final early morning lap and were feeling good about the day's accomplishments.  I took home the 3rd place medal for the men's 24 hour solo division.  Cat took home the women's 2nd place medal.  Scott and Kyle both ran farther than they ever had before.  Sam, Jen, Celeste, Dan and Danny all had a good day out running in a beautiful place.  The girls sang, danced, jumped rock to rock all the way around the campground and made amazing poop-shaped mudpiles in the creek.  A wonderful weekend outside with so many good friends doing what we all love to do.


Results here

Run to work and Social Run nachos

Woke up early this morning to run to work.  As I finished my coffee, Ean surprised me by coming upstairs dressed to run and said she would join me part of the way.  So Ean, Shadow and I headed out the door at 6:15 to a clear, cool and slightly windy March 1 morning.  We stopped about 2 miles out where I turn off the bike path to head through the neighborhood to school and Ean led us though a some light yoga as the sun rose in the east.

Tonight was my night to host the Thursday night Pineridge social run and dinner which I always enjoy.  We had a relatively small group of 8 out for the run -- probably due to the threat of snow which never really amounted to much.  We had a nice run around Pineridge taking the spectacle/barbell/baby rattle route since the Timber Trail was closed.  6 miles then back to the house where a few more joined us for nachos, beer and an assortment of wonderful dishes and then Celeste's famous chocolate cake for Micah's birthday.  We sat around  the table and discussed the merits of a college education, streak running, upcoming races and Pete's March Madness.  Speaking of March Madness, the 2nd annual big beginning of spring run around the reservoir will be held this year on March 18.  Look for more details soon.  1st Pineridge downhill mile of the year will be 4 weeks from tonight on March 29.  Happy March!

2011

Here is my day by day running miles for 2011.  The circles are races and the boxes are total miles for the week.  This was my highest mileage year ever with 500 more running miles than 2010.  I ran a total of 333 days for the year with 32 days off.

I did not achieve a couple of the big goals I set for 2010.  I didn't run a marathon PR in May, but I did run a solid race (my second fastest time) and I did it with very little speed work or marathon specific training.  I did not finish the Leadville 100, but I learned some valuable lessons that I will take with me this year.

Despite these two (and a few other) defeats, I had a great running year.  I ran a lot of miles with great friends on beautiful Colorado trails.  I ran a lot of races (30 including the FCRC T&H series).  I ran all but one of the Thursday night Towers Time Trials.  I ran across the Grand Canyon and back in October.  I got to witness and be a part of Ean's amazing launch in to road, trail and ultra running.

As I look back on the year, I am so thankful for my family that always supports and participates in our many running adventures; the incredible FCTR running community that is always up for another adventure; and the beautiful place where I live.

As 2012 begins, I hope to run smarter, run faster and have many more great adventures with my family and friends in the mountains, deserts and canyons.

Happy New Year!

the FCTR crew at the Resolution Run 5K, New Years Eve 2011

Chubby '11, WS '12 and beyond

It was a wonderful weekend for running in Fort Collins.  On Saturday, I spent the whole day out on the local trails with 60+ runners from the Front Range and beyond at the 2nd running of the Chubby Cheeks 50K, marathon and 22 miler.  I opted for the marathon route this year due to slow going on snowy and icy trails.  Even though this route was 5 miles shorter than the route I ran last year, it took me 20+ minutes longer so I still feel like I got my money's worth.  I ran most of the way with Celeste and Ziggy and was treated to a full day of singing, taunting and threats of being bowled over.  It was great.  We were joined at mile 15 by Mindy and Lindsay and at mile 24 by Brian and Marie.  We all made it back to Nick's place well over 7 hours after we started and had a great time eating, drinking and hearing everyone's stories of snow and ice and getting lost and being tired and being glad to be part of a great sport and an even better community.

One big climb down, three to go

Ziggy checking out the view from the top of Arthur's Rock

Nick pulled up the results of the Western States lottery and called out the names of Colorado winners.  I was glad to hear Mike got in, but unfortunately my name was not on the list.  Well, maybe next year.  As for this summer, not racing a 100 in June frees me up to do some pacing which will be a lot of fun too.  I will be pacing Kyle in his first 100 at Big Horn on June 15 and maybe I'll make the trip to California the next weekend to do some pacing, crewing, and cheering out there too.

I was pretty sore today from yesterday's fun in the snow.  While Maddie was at ice skating practice this afternoon, Ean and I ran in to Mike at EPIC and we went for a very relaxed 8 miler in the sunshine on the Spring Creek, Poudre and Power Trails.

Fort Collins Thanksgiving 4 miler

It was another great Thanksgiving morning in Fort Collins (our 6th).  My mom and step dad, visiting from California, came out and ran the 4-mile race with us this morning.  Ean and I ran a relaxed warm-up through town and met up with Scott, Pete and Celeste.  We slid in to the starting line-up where we formed a pack of my favorite local friends and runners including Mike, Rob, Brian, Brian, Shannon, Lisa, Nick, Tim, and about 3000 others.  I went out hard but under control and exchanged some laughs and encouragements with others around me.  I ran briefly with a couple runners from my cross country team and was glad to see them out staying in shape and running well in the off-season.  As we made the right turn on Mulberry, Brian commented that pace felt fast, and it did, but my watch said we were well over 6 min/mile.  Mile 1 was 6:09 and felt too hard.  I pushed and tried to stay relaxed up Mulberry, but the pace got slower and it kept feeling harder.  I was glad to see City Park and the turn on to Bryan.  Mile 2 was 6:32 (ugh).  My sub 26 minute goal was slipping away, but I decided to just keep pushing to do whatever I could on the final 2 miles.  I made the turn on to Mountain pushed on to Shields, gave Mr. Stone (Blevins school counselor and regular race volunteer) a high 5 and then hit mile 3 in 6:24 (a little better).  I knew I just needed to hold that pace for one more mile and I'd be there.  Cat, Mindy, and Mary were at the turn on to College and their cheers helped me push the final 150 yards to the finish.  I really didn't have anything left for much of a kick, but I gave it all I had and watched the finish clock get closer and closer to 26 minuted as I approached and crossed the line in 25:54.  This was not my fastest run on this course, but it was faster than last year and I am happy with that.  Mike, Scott and Pete were all at the finish line still catching their breath and they had all run great races with PRs of one to two minutes.  I jogged back to the corner just in time to see Ean coming in for an amazing finish and a huge PR of 34:24, which was more than a minute and a half better than her goal. We jogged back to find Maddie who had met up with a friend and we ran in to the finish with them.

We walked with Maddie back to the car to grab some warmer clothes and then jogged back on the course one more time to finish with Micah, Ama and Papa.  We found them less then a half mile from the finish, having a great time on this beautiful morning.  We ran in together one last time and then headed home for the Thanksgiving feast.  I am thankful for my family, my friends, my community and wonderful days like today.