Another Hard Double

Wow! What a weekend! It's not too often that there is a chance to run back-to-back 50k's. But to do it in back-to-back months is even more amazing. Tim and I ran back-to-back 50k's this weekend, and was it tough!

Last month Tim and I drove to Seattle where we ran the Pigtails 50k on Saturday January 26. Then we joined about a dozen runners to do the Yours Truly 50k on the Cedar River trail on January 27. It was a lot of fun and enjoyed the experience.

This year, I plan on running most of the races in the Oregon Trail Ulramarathon Series. The Hagg Lake 50k being the first of the series, and being that it's just 25 miles from my home is a must run. So I registered for this a few months ago. But looking at the race calendar, I had to at least consider a Yours Truly 50k on February 24.

Last month Brian Pendleton put together a very nice run on the Cedar River trail. But being in the Portland area, it just won't work out to drive up for that this month. So not wanting to give up the chance to run another 50k, I began to think about crazy ideas for running a 50k. The only rules for Yours Truly is that it must be 50k, and must be done between midnight and midnight. I narrowed it down to a track run or a treadmill run. When proposed to Tim, he wanted to do the treadmill, so I was a go.

So on Saturday morning, I woke up early at 5am. I had my daily devotions, and got ready for the day. I left at 6:30am and pickup Tim we then drove to Hagg Lake. We got there at about 7:20. I was so excited. One thing I should mention is that Hagg Lake is famous for its mud. Last year we had heavy rain and it was very muddy. But this year, the weather was very dry leading up to the race, which in my mind weans it would be a dry, mud less run.

We got our packets and chatted with Olga, Jess, Bret, and few other marathon friends that were there. Tim being the crazy guy he is, decided to run in a skirt (which is something that people do each year). He wore a nice skirt, but was not the most wild of them.

The race started with clear skies and a temperature of 35 degrees. The course is technical and if with a week of dry weather still had muddy spots. The first out-and-back of 3 miles was a hard up hill, but then we started in on the 14 mile loop (twice). In the first loop I was running smooth. At each aid station there was someone volunteering that I knew, which made it nice.

When I got back to the start after the first loop and I was tired, but knew I had to just keep going. In the second loop and just took my time and ran a nice pace. I ended up finishing with a time of 5:42, which was slower then I thought, but I have not been running on trails this winter, so I was happy. Tim finished with a time of 6:00. We stuck around a while talking with Hippo, Sean, Bret and others.

We left at about 3pm and drove home. That night, I just relaxed and got a good night sleep.

On Sunday, I got up about 7am, had my daily devotions, and then got ready for church. To make the day a little easier, Tim joined me at my church (Southwest Bible Church). We went to the 8:30 service and then went to the college/young adults group. I got home from church about 11:15am. I got dressed and got some food/water ready and picked Tim up at 11:50am.

We arrived at 24 Hour Fitness at about noon; we had to wait a few minutes in order to have two treadmills next to each other. We started about 12:15; the treadmills will only go for one hour. So that meant we had to restart the machine each hour. To make it easier I wanted to stop in a mile or half mile mark. So in the first hour I ran 6 miles in 59 minutes a pace of 9:50. In the next three segments/hours, I ran 5.5 miles in each hour. But after 22.5 miles and very tired legs I had to slow it down and in the fifth segment I ran just 5 miles. At that point I had run a total of 27.5 miles needed just 3.57 miles more and pushed the pace a bit, and got it done in just 38.5 minutes.

At the start of the run, I jumped ahead of Tim by about 3/4 mile, but as I slowed down, he kept going and beat me in the final 5 minutes. This is fine, because I beat him on Saturday. :)

So you might be asking, what was it like? My first thought was it was dreadful. But after much thought, with better preparation, it would be made much better. First off, make sure you bring food and take breaks to eat it. We didn't take breaks like you would in a normal race, partly due to the fact that we wanted to keep the treadmills. In the future we should properly get the treadmills reserved by the staff. Secondly, make sure that you stay cool. There was no circulation of the air and it got very hot. Thirdly, make sure that you keep your mind of the repetition of the treadmill. I had an iPod and was able to keep my mind on the music. Finally, make sure you don't run a 50k the day before. We had to, but not a great idea.

When I got home, I felt a little sick, but had no food or liquids in my system. I took a shower and rested. I then ate some blueberries and a sandwich.

Now, two days later I feel so much better, and had a blast over the weekend. The treadmill can be a fast run. But you must plan it right. But let's be honest, I wouldn't do it again, unless I can count it in my marathon totals. Next up is a six hour race in SeaTac on Saturday March 1. I will then spend the night in Seattle and attend Mars Hill Church on Sunday.

Check out my splits and statistics:
http://marathonfreak.com/hagg_double.pdf

Pigtails and Yours Truly 50k

This weekend was a lot of fun. To me what is fun is not fun to most. I ran 62 miles in two days. A month or two ago I was planning on running the Capitol Peak Fat Ass (Jan 19). But in hearing about how hard it is, I decided to do the Pigtails 50k this last weekend. This also allowed me to do my 12 hour training run. So how did I get two races? Well I was looking at the Maniacs Calendar, and saw that a bunch of Maniacs were running on Sunday, January 27, as a part of the international Yours Truly 50k race.

So I was planning this to be a solo trip. I booked two nights at the hostel at Pike's Place in Seattle. I planned to drive to Renton on Saturday from the hostel, then to Cedar River from the hostel on Sunday morning. MY friend Tim Lawson (Maniac #409), was planning to doing MadAss in Madras with his cousin. But on Friday, Tim called me and told me that his cousin was sick and he could not goto Madras. He decided to join me. I was happy to have someone to join me. Tim and I have know each other for many years, I enjoy talking running with him.

We left at 4pm on Friday, after getting so snacks at the Dollar Tree, and filling up the gas tank. We ran into HEAVY traffic in getting out of Portland. It took us 1:15 to get cross the bridge and into Washington. Then the traffic was much better. We made good time and arrived in Seattle by about 8pm. We had a hard time finding a parking spot in downtown Seattle on a Friday night, but we finally found one, and checking in at the hostel.

We had a little dinner, and looked on a book about extreme ultra marathons. While I look at some of the races as just amazing, Tim looks at the races and says, "I want to do it!" We then headed to bed, because Renton is a 30-40 minute drive. And that meant we would have to leave at 6:15am.

I got up at 5:30am, and had my devotions. I always start my day in God's Word, even on a race morning. After that Tim and I had a little breakfast on the go and left at about 6:15. We drove to Renton, it took us at about 30-40 minutes. When we arrived it was COLD! My car was saying that it was 26°, which it sure felt like it. It was overcast. We were there at 7:00am, we waited for about 30 minutes before we started out on the course.

We started off and were running good. The race is three loops and then a little out-and-back. It was cold and the ground was frozen solid. It was an untechnical trail, but the frozen ground made it a trick to run on. Tim and I ran a good pace, we averaged a 9:19 mile in the first loop.

In the second loop we kept pushing along. It remained dry and felt great. We did slow down, but managed to run a 10:06 mile. This loop was completed in 1:38:27. As we got to the start area, it was starting to rain. I didn't think much about it, but boy did we get hit by it.

As we started out on the third loop, I knew it would be tough. We saw Eric Barnes and starting running with him. I know so many Maniacs by name, but it's nice to get a chance to talk with him. We were walking up the hills and running the rest. It was good. But the rain fell on the frozen ground, this caused for some very slick conditions. At one point I did slip on the frozen ground and got a bit scratched. We slowed own with a pace of 10:15 miles.

We finished the run off with a challenging out-and-back. At the end we had run a time of 5:08:01 (9:55 pace). This ranks as my third fastest. It was a lot of fun. But I was so tired. Tim had a huge PR and I was so happy for him. We drove back to Seattle, and once we found a parking spot we went to the hostel and relaxed. The first thing we did was to take a shower, and eat some dinner. After that we sept some time on the internet. But at about 7:30 were were starting to get tired. We went to our room, and relaxed, but fell asleep about 8:00 or 8:30.

We had to get up real early on Sunday. Yours Truly 50k is near Maple Valley and is about a 45-60 minute drive. We left at 6:00am, and had no trouble until we got out there. It became snowy and slick. We missed the parking lot at first, but later found it. We got there at about 7:15, and got started on the run at 7:45.

The course is a basic out-and-back, but you have to run it twice. I was feeling a bit stiff, but like all doubles it's about getting out there. Our goal was to have fun. I brought my new digital camera and so did Tim, so we wanted to take a lot of pictures, and just enjoy ourselves. Each stretch of the out-and-back is 7.78 miles. It was cold about 32° at the start, the course was a compact gravel, and was frozen. But the clouds were thin.

As we started out, we had a lot of fun taking pictures and enjoying ourselves. Tim made it a habit of taking pictures of the others runners and we crossed them. It was fun to see the other Maniacs and non-Maniacs. We arrived at the turnaround within 1:27:37, giving us a pace of 11:15.

On the return we caught up with Monte Pascual. He is a much slower runner, and was also working on his second 50k of the weekend. We decided to stick with him for a while. I think we felt like it would be nice to chat a little. As I said earlier it's nice to have a chance to get to know other Maniacs a little better. We stuck with him until the halfway point. In the return leg we ran a 12:26 pace for a time of 1:36:44.

When we got to the start area, we met up with Fred Johnson. We first met him at the start. He is a new runner to the area, and also ran Pigtails. He is a much faster runner with a time on Saturday of 4:12. He was considering on going home. But when we told him that we were going out, he decided to join us. We had a little more serious run at that point. We ran a nice pace of 12:01 for a time of 1:33:29. When we got to the turnaround, we waited up Jess Mullen. That would add a little extra time to our time.

On the final return, we pushed much harder. I was not ready for a hard return. But we were going strong. We ran a very nice pace, once again we got to know Fred better. The weather which was very nice, was getting even better. The temperature was in the upper 30's and the sun had come out. Only a few times in the entire run did we have a little snow. We finished very strong and ended up running a sub-6 hour race. Our final return was 1:17:39 a pace of 9:59, which gave us a negative split. First half of 3:04:21 a second half of 2:51:08, that means we ran a total of 5:55:29 a pace of 11:25.

We stuck around a little longer. We saw mostly everybody back in. It was a fun day. We took off about 3pm. It took us 4 hours to drive home, but this included a stop for gas and a stop at Burger King for dinner.

I had a blast of a weekend. It's very fun to see so many neat runners and get to know some of them better. Thanks for reading.

Here is a link to my breakdown of the weekend.
http://www.marathonfreak.com/january_double.pdf

A Metric Century (then a little more)

Over and over again, people call me "insane" when they hear about my goals and achievements in running. Am I insane? American Heritage dictionary defines "insane" as "exhibiting, or afflicted with mental disorder; very foolish, absurd." I wouldn't say I have a mental disorder, and I wouldn't say I'm foolish, I just love to run.

In my goal to run a 24 hour race in March, I've been doing training the last couple of months. On November 17, I ran four overnight hours and put in 25.62 miles. On December 22, to celebrate the winter solstice, I ran from sunrise to sunset, over nine hours I ran 50.65 miles. Both of those runs were done around a one mile loop at Summerlake Park in Tigard, Oregon. It's a wonderful park, just a tenth of a mile from my house. It's a nice loop around a beautiful lake. So yesterday I decided to do a January training run. In doing so I planned a 12 hour run. The goal was to run 7am to 7pm with a mileage goal of 62 miles or 100k.

I know that running around a one mile loop for 12 hours (or even just one or two hours) can seem very boring. That is why I did a few things to make it better. One, I listen to music. It keeps me going, and takes my mind off the task at hand. Second, tried to get some people to run with me. My sister, Amy, joined me for four loops, and my friend Tim (Maniac#409) joined me for about 13 laps. Finally and most important, I broke the run down. Instead of looking at running 12 hours straight, I decided to run two hours, then take a 15 minute break, then repeat. This way I'm not worrying about the whole 12 hours, but only two hours.

I loaded up my car with lots of aid (water, sports drink, chips, fruit snacks, pretzels, m&ms, energy gel, peanuts, and much more). I drove to the parking lot at set that as my aid station and start/ending point. At the start it was cold and overcast. The temperature was 34°, and the sun had not yet risen so it was dark. I took off, and started with a very comfortable pace, of about 9 minute miles.

Each loop is .9557 miles. This means I lose .045 miles per loop, so in order to get to 100k (62 miles), I must run 65 loops. So that was my goal, I planned four 15 minute breaks, which meant I had 5 segments of about 2 hours to 2:15. In the first segment I was running from 7am to 9:15am. In this stretch I planned to run 14 laps (13.38 miles). Instead of doing the math for mile pacing I focused on my lap pace. As I started off I was running fast and smooth. I felt great, and even though it was cold and overcast, my body warmed up as I was running. I quickly realized that I could push the envelope and run 15 laps in that first 2:15. So that is what I did, and even finished with one minute to spare. So I ran a total of 14.336 miles and had a lap pace of 8:57, and a mile pace of 9:21.

I took a 16 minute break. But in getting some aid from my trunk, I locked my key in my trunk. So I had to call my sister and had her use the spare key to open my trunk. It cut my break a bit short. So at 9:30 I went back out, it was still overcast, and dry, but cold with a temperature of 36°. I was cold, but once I started moving I warmed up.

In the second stretch of 2:15, I planned to run 14 laps again, but I was still feeling strong I decided to keep it up. In the first stretch I was running 8:30-9:15 laps. In the second stretch I was running even faster with times of 8:30-8:50 laps. Also my average heart rate rose from 127 to 138. it felt so good, I was enjoying myself, but I knew I could keep it going. I ran another 15 laps and it only took me 2:10:27. I finished that stretch at 11:41, four minutes ahead of schedule. I ran another 14.336 miles giving me 28.671 total miles. My lap pace was 8:42, and a mile pace of 9:22 in that stretch.

I took a 15 minute break. I got some food and liquids, and rested a little bit. I decided to take only a 15 minute break, even though I finished four minutes early. This way I could get a little extra time in the next segment. So at 11:56 I went back out, again it was still overcast, dry and cold. The temperature was 39°, so it was getting a little warmer.

Going into the third stretch I had 2:19, I had planned to run 13 laps in this stretch. In the next couple laps I was running 9:30-10:00 laps. At lap 37, my sister Amy, joined me for four laps. She is not a runner, but wants to get into shape, so I encouraged her to join me for a few laps. We ran between 11 and 12 minute laps. It was nice to slow down a bit. But because of this the idea of getting another 15 laps was out, but I didn't really try for that. Instead I ran the projected 13 laps. I got done by 2:09, with six minutes to spare, and two laps ahead of schedule. I ended up running 12.424 miles and had a total of 41.095 miles. My lap pace was 10:16, and a mile pace of 10:44 in that stretch.

I once again took a 15 minute break. I drank so liquids and had some carbs. looking at my heart rate monitor I had burned a total of 5,219 calories, and had an average heart rate of 132 overall. It had warmed just one degree, but the conditions remained the same.

My fourth stretch was much of the same. I started back at 2:24, I planned another 13 laps, and knew that would be the goal, and all I could handle. Just two laps in I got a call from my friend Tim. He had planned to run with me, but had to work, so was going to join me later in the day. I figured he would join me for an hour or so. He joined me in lap 47 and told me that he could run with me until 6pm. I was surprised and happy to have someone to run with. He brought his camera and was taking pictures of me. He had much more energy then me, and had fun taking pictures. He took a total of 105 pictures! I enjoyed running with him. He kept me going and was willing to walk when I needed to walk. I pulled off the 13 laps in that stretch in 2:16 minutes. I added another 12.424 miles, giving me a total of 53.519 miles (a new personal record). My lap pace was 10:28, and a mile pace of 10:57 in that stretch.

In my final break the sun was setting and the sky was starting to clear. The sun peaked out and made the park just beautiful. I had some food an liquids, and had a chance to relax a little. My break was once again limited to just 15 minutes, this would give me a little more time in the last stretch. With the sun setting the temperature dropped to 38°.

The final stretch was difficult, I was for the first time looking forward to finishing. I started out at 4:55, and was running out the last 2:05. I had planned to run 11 laps, and if I could do that then I would run 67 laps, two ahead of schedule. Tim left to burn the pictures to a CD and then brought them back to me by 6pm. It seemed like a lonely stretch. I was not listening to music when I ran with Tim, and just put the music back on in the last couple of loops. It got dark fast and made it harder. I starting to crap up, but tried to run as much as I could. I was running the laps between 10:30-12:00 minutes. As I ran past the 65 lap mark, my goal was to keep going until 7pm. After lap 67, I had just one minute left, so I ran a small stretch to get an extra 0.1229 miles. I ran the 11 laps, which gave to 10.636 miles this gave me 64.115 miles in 12 hours, and 10:57:48 of running time.

When it's all said and done, I ran over 100k. I reached my goal, I felt great, and I'm looking forward to March. Today it rained, I guess I picked a good day, because even though it was cold it was dry. I know that to most people this seems insane. Maybe it is, but I have a love for running. To most people running a marathon is a huge achievement, but for me and many other ultra runners. We look toward the 100 mile races.

My next training run will be February 16, I plan to do another overnight run. But first I will be doing the PigTails 50k on Saturday, and then Yours Truly 50k on Sunday. So until then, thanks for reading.

Checkout the breakdown of this run (lots of fun statistics): http://www.marathonfreak.com/12hour_run.pdf

Winter Solstice Running

Months ago, I was looking at the calendar I noticing that June 21 is the longest day of the year, I thought "how fun would it be to run from sunrise to sunset." As I thought even more, my mind moved to the winter, and the winter solstice (the shortest day of the year).

I thought about running a 24 hour race. When I did my 50 miler in November I officially started training for 24 hours. Each month I plan on doing one thing to get ready for it. In November I ran overnight a 4 hour run from midnight to 4am. So to celebrate the shorted weekend of the year, decided to run nine hours, from 7:30am to 4:30pm.

To get ready I stopped at the Dollar Tree, I bought so pretzels, animal cookies, peanuts, m&ms, and some other stuff. I knew that the weather would be cold, and maybe wet. I drove my car down to the park near my house and used that as my "home base".

My plan was to run 45-50 miles. I started out at 7:30am, which was just before sunrise. I started out in a nice pace, but to fast. In the first hour I ran about 7 laps, which was 6.7 miles and a pace of 9:17. I ran 15 laps (14.3 miles) without stopping then I took a break. I got something to drink and eat.

In my second stretch I ran 12 more laps. I passed the 20 mile mark in about 3 hours, I knew I was running to fast, so after 27 laps (25.8 miles), I started a 2/1 split (run 2 laps, walk 1 lap). It worked well for me, but it was cold and wet, so just before my third stretch I changed my cloths. My sister joined me for three laps (#40-42). My dad got on a mountain bike and rode alongside me for about the last eight or nine laps.

So I ended up running 53 laps (50.652 miles), I ran till 4:45pm, which was just after sunset. I ran a total of 8:28 (pace of 10:02), I rested for 45 minutes, which mean that it took me 9:13 overall (pace of 10:56). In that time I burned a total of 6,181 calories, I had an average heart rate of 129 (peak of 148).

I had a fun time, I hope this will help me in training to run 100 miles in 24 hours. This run does not officially count as an ultra, but I did run my second 50 miler.

Here were my splits:
5k = 0:28:09
10k = 0:57:34
15k = 1:26:53
Half Marathon = 2:01:49
30k = 2:51:12
Marathon = 3:59:45
50k = 4:49:10
60k = 5:56:41
50m = 8:21:27

Christmas Marathon

What better way to celebrate Christmas then to run a marathon. Okay, the marathon was not on Christmas, but close enough. I wanted to get at least one marathon in the month of December. This is the best one, it's just 2 hours from home and a late start.

On Saturday, as I was getting ready for work, I got a visit by a man who lives in Portland's west hills. He was looking for someone to ride with him to the Christmas Marathon. He got my name and contact info from the Maniacs website. He had run the Portland Marathon and Seattle Marathon, and now was looking to become a Maniac. He's a nice guy and I figured it would be nice to get a ride. So I said sure.

I got up at 6am, had my devotions, and got ready. My dad drove me to Peter Corduan's house, and we left for Olympia by 7:05am. We chatted the whole way, and got to the race at about 9am. The race was to start at 10:30am. I know that often Maniacs and others do an early start for Bob Green's races. I just didn't know if the early start would be 9:30 or 10:00. So I got my bib and shirt and got ready for the 9:30 start. Just before the start Bob told us that we would not have aid for the first half. I thought for a second, and decided to run with a Gleukos bottle. I was unsure if I could run with a bottle in hand. The only time I run with a bottle is with a belt, but never in hand. But I figured I should have something to drink.

I started out running smooth. I had no real goals in mind. I definitely wanted to break 4 hours. My worst road marathon time in 4:00:30. But I knew this would be no problem. I wanted to run a good race, if that meant a 3:40, 3:45, 3:50, or 3:55 then so be it. So my first few miles were at a good pace of an average of 8:29 pace. But after that I missed a lot of mile markers. I got a few of them but never got a a full mile time until the end.

I was running and enjoying the overcast and cool (but not cold) weather. The start was about 41°. I was running with a Gleukos bottle, and what was nice is that it was a flexible bottle. This made it nice, because as I drank the Gleukos, the bottle became easier to hold. And without normal aide, the Gleukos tasted like honey. I think this might be something that I can use in the future.

With an hour early start it was very early to see the difference between the early and regular start runners. Brian Pendleton started out with a vengeance, and lead me the entire way. I thought he might be taking pictures on the way back, but he just kept cruising. I ended up finishing second among the early starters.

A church friend, Cara Esau, was there to run in her third marathon. She was trying to qualify for Boston. Because she is a woman and in her 40's she has a qualifying time of 3:45. She started about five minutes after I did, and I wasn't too surprised to see her finish not long after I did. She had a time of 3:44:37. Just 10 seconds slower then me. That meant that she qualified. So I must say congratulations to Cara. I have to admit, I'm a little jealous that she is going to Boston. But maybe I'll get there someday.

So for Peter, it was his Maniac qualifier, and he did a great job. I was surprised to see him right behind be for the first five miles, but he slowed down in the last half. He ran a PR of 3:57:26. So happy to have his company. He is now Maniac #749, I hope to run and travel with him in the future.

Getting back to my race. I ran 1:51:23 in the first half, that's a 8:30 pace. I felt great, but my hip was getting sore, so at the half I stopped and got a quick drink before heading back. It seems like before each aid station on the way back, the cramping came back, so I would stop and drink and then it felt better. I put my iPod shuffle on about mile 3 and listened to a great sermon by Mark Driscoll, before enjoying the sounds of dc Talk, Newsboys, and Switchfoot.

I ended up running a pace of 8:37 in the last seven miles. So that meant I had a great even run. I finished with a time of 3:44:27 which is a pace of 8:34. I felt great I was very happy with my time. It stayed dry and started raining about an hour after I finished.

We left about 3pm, and drove back. We got back at 5pm. I took a shower and went to the evening service at church. It was a great day, and to top it all off I pasted the 3,000 mile mark for the year at mile three. What a blast!

Time for an oil change?

At the beginning of the year, I was looking to dive deep into running and marathons. My friend Tim (Maniac #409) said he was looking to run 3,000 miles. He ran a 6 day race this year, I thought that would be a good goal for him, but not for me.

I started the year, by running a little here, and a little there. In the first two months I was running when I had time and felt like it. In January I ran only 17 days, putting in 178 miles and one marathon. In February I ran only 16 days, but ran 195 miles and one marathon and one 50k.

In March, I took on the spring with a vengeance. I was enjoying the change in weather, I starting upping the mileage. Sometime that month, in which I ran a record 301 miles, I thought about the goal of 3,000 miles. My friend Tim at that point told me that things were not going to work out for him to run 3,000 miles. But being a college student I could make the time to put the mileage in.

For the remainder of the spring I was on a roll! I ran only one marathon a month from March through June, but my mileage was crazy. April I posted a new record of 310 miles, May I ran 283 miles. In those three months I ran an average of 5.25 days per week, and about 68 miles a week. I was having so much fun and loved every minute of it.

In June I ran the Pacific Crest Marathon (my anniversary marathon) for the third straight year. But that is when I increasing my marathons pace for the year. In about an eight week period I ran five marathons and one 50k. After Pacific Crest (June 23), I ran my next marathon on The 4th of July and five days later I ran the SEAFAIR marathon (July 9). At the end of this eight week period I ran my first double. On Saturday, August 11, I ran the Crater Lake Marathon and the next day I ran Haulin' Aspen in Bend.

After such a crazy period, I was ready for a break. During the months of June and July my mileage was down. I ran 221 in June and only 207 in July, but in August I ran 255 miles. I was riding my bike as a way to cross-train and keep my body fresh.

In September I was looking to take it easy. But that didn't happen. I started working with my mom on getting her ready for the Portland Marathon, by doing a lot of long walks (10-20 miles). I felt so good in September that I just keep pushing. This is when 3,000 miles became a reality. I ran a new record of 346 miles in September.

After the double in August I felt like pushing to the next level. I figured if I could do a double (and a tough one) I could run a 50 miler. So I looked to Autumn Leaves (Nov 3), as my first 50. That meant focusing on long training in October. I led the month off with the Portland Marathon (Oct 7), and then in the next two Saturdays did some ultra-training. I ran 31 miles and 40 miles in the those two Saturdays. I finished the month of October with 304 miles.

My first 50miler was a huge success, with a time of 9:22. I felt great. But I took it easy the next couple of weeks. Last year, the fall was tough I lacked the motivation to keep going and didn't feel up to running, plus I had nagging pains. This year was a different story. I felt fantastic and I think the cross-training and easy months in June and July helped. I figured I should just keeping going. I love the Seattle Marathon and decided to join the Maniacs for a pre-marathon marathon. That's right my second double, I ran fantastic and had so much fun. In November I logged another 267 miles.

So that leads me to this month. I have had so much fun running like a "freak". As of today I have logged 2,945 miles. I need just 55 more miles and I have a whole three weeks to go. I will have no problem running 3,000 miles, and am looking now at 5,000km (3,107 miles).

On Sunday, December 16, I will be running the Christmas Marathon. Sometime during that race I will hit the 3,000 mile mark. It's fun to have goals and reach them. It keeps me motivated and on track.

They say that every 3,000 miles you should have your oil changed in your car. My car is due for an oil change, but what about me? Do I need to change my oil? Do I need to rest up?

Maybe, but after seeing so many Marathon Maniacs going so much further then me, I ask myself "how far can I go?" I saw that Larry Macon (Maniac #120) has run 91 marathons this year, and has run 79 the last two years. That makes me look little, but what can I say?

I'll push strong this week, I'll run 60-70 miles and get 3,000 on Sunday. But I will continue until the end. Like a marathon that you are going to PR, it's not good enough to walk across the finish line, you have to push hard till it's done. In January and February I will rest a little, and next year, I look to average 45-50 miles a week. This has been a year to remember and I'm glad the Lord has given me the strength to continue.

Doubling up Seattle

In 2005 I started running marathons. After my first in June and my first ultra in July. I was hooked! I was looking ahead to the rest of the year, and planned to run Seattle. After a bad run at Tahoe (or a least I made so many rookie mistakes). I ran Seattle, looking for a strong run. I PRed by 26 minutes. I have always enjoyed Seattle. Last year was a bad weather year, but being a late November marathon, what should you expect.

Last year I found out about the "Ghost of Seattle marathon". I wanted to run it, but I realized I wasn't ready for a double. So I trained for my first double in August, which was Crater Lake and Haulin' Aspen. That double is considered by most to be the hardest you can find. (at least in the northwest). After running that double I decided to train for a 50 miler, which I did (Autumn Leaves). And now just three weeks later looked to do the "Seattle Double".

My sister, Julia, and I drove up to Seattle on Friday afternoon. We stayed at the Green Tortoise hostel at Pike Place. It's an okay hostel, but just a little loud at night. We went to the expo so I could get my stuff on Friday evening. We had little dinner and got a good nights sleep.

I woke up at 6am, had my devotions and got ready for the first marathon of the weekend. Julia came with me. She wanted to run the half, but was not doing it in an official way, instead just wanted to run on her own. We left at 7am, and arrived at Mount Baker, by 7:30am. Not too many were there, but I did see Monte Pascual and Brian Pendelton.

It was chilly with temperatures about 37°, I started off by running with Eric Barnes and Jon Mahoney, we ran around Seward Park, and I let them run on ahead. I was looking to run a nice slow steady pace. It was my first marathon running with my heart rate monitor. It was fun to see so many Maniacs enjoying a nice day on Lake Washington. I saw Ray Shaw, Jon Yoon, Eric Barnes, Michelle Barnes, Jenny Appel, tc, Robert Lopez, Van Phan, Jon Mahoney, Jess Mullen, Monte Pascual, Brian Pendleton, and Stan Nakashima.

In the first time around I ran the first half in 1:51:51, which I thought was a half marathon. Later I found out the course was about a mile short, so this first half was only about12½ miles. In the second half I felt pretty good, I finished the 25 mile marathon in 3:47:17. Being that the course was only 25 miles, should I count it? Well I do. For two reasons. First, it's marketed as a marathon, so that is what I take it to be. Secondly, The original marathon in 1896 was 40k or 24.8 miles, so a 25 mile run is the old marathon distance.

So to recap this first day, I ran a 3:47:17 in 25 miles, this is about a 9:05 pace. So that means my marathon time would be about 3:57:59. My heart rate averaged 147, with a peak of 165, and a low of 100. I also burned 3,590 calories. The best way to describe this is that it feels a lot like a training run. It's a fun run, and very well organized.

My sister got confused with the course and ended up pulling her butt muscle. So waited around for me and We drove back to the hostel. My parents drove up on Saturday afternoon. We went to the Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner. I was quite tired and ended up going to bed by 10pm.

On Sunday morning, I once again got up at 6am, had my devotions and got ready. I got my stuff together and checked out by 7am. I then walked over to the Seattle Center for the race start. I left the hostel by 7:30am. I met someone at the hostel who was also doing the marathon. He was a nice guy. I ended up walking with him to the start.

It was chilly but not as bad with temperatures about 43°, with clear and sunny skies. I wanted to finished and have a good time. But I also wanted to run under 4 hours if possible. So I started out with the 4 hour group. Just before the start I had a chance to talk with Marilou Russell for a few minutes.

When the race started I just took my time as we headed out of downtown Seattle. I was running a very good pace, and didn't feel that bad. I wasn't that sore and was able to run 8:30 miles. During the I-90 out-and-back, I saw many Maniacs. It was nice and took my mind off the race. I saw the following Maniacs, Bob Dolphin, Ray Shaw, Barefoot Jon, Mary Latta, Robert Lopez, Little Leslie, Monte Pascual, Steve Yee, Chris Warren, Tony Phillippi, and Annie Thiesson.

By mile seven I came up to a pacing group and decided to stick with them for a while. I realized that it was the 3:40 group. By mile 10 I knew that I could not stay at this pace, but I wanted to stay with them as long as possible. I ran the first half in 1:51:21 (8:30 pace). I knew the second half would be a different situation. My goal was still to run a 4 hour marathon. By mile 16, (with 10 miles to go) I was at 2:17:39, I was looking to run 10 min/miles or faster. I was running 9:00-9:30 paces. I finished with a time of 3:53:41 (8:55 pace).

I was so happy to have finished in under 4 hours. I still have not run a road marathon in more then 4:00:30. I had an average heart rate of 144, with a peak of 162, and a low of 121, and burned 3,560 calories.

I walked back to the hostel and we drove home. We ran into a lot of traffic on the way home, but really enjoyed the weekend. The Seattle Marathon is one of my top two favorite marathons. I look forward to doing this again next year.

Saturday = 3:47:17 (9:05 pace) for 25 miles, but 3:57:59 adjusted time
Sunday = 3:53:41 (8:55 pace)
Total = 7:40:58 (9:00 pace) for 51.2 miles (adjuested time is 7:51:40)

Check out my splits. [page 1], [page 2], [page 3]

Midnight Run in the Rain

I have really caught the running/marathoning bug. In August I ran my first double, then trained for my first 50 miler this month at Autumn Leaves. So what's next? I want to try to do Where's Waldo 100k in August 2008, but also would like to run the Pacific Rim 24 hour in March. My friend Tim Lawson (Maniac #409) is running the Ultracentric 24 hour race today. He has motivated me to look toward my goal.

I figure with just four months to go I should start preparing for it. So each month I plan to do something. This month I'm starting by getting used to staying up late and running in the middle of the night. So this morning, I went down to a wonderful park less than a quarter of a mile from my house, where there is a paved one mile loop. Since Pacific Rim will be a one mile loop, this is perfect preparation. So here's my report:

I started out by packing some aid. I put a plastic bag with water, fruit and some dry socks and put it under a picnic table. It had been raining all day long on Friday, so I was getting ready to run in the rain. I had my reflective vest and my flashlight and was ready to go.

On Monday at the Portland Running Company group run, I had won a free heart rate monitor. This is just a wonderful "toy" for me. It gives me even more statistics to track in my running. I had it on and was ready to go.

I first told myself that I wanted to run at least 20 miles. I had set for myself a limit of four hours. After having worked from 11am until 8pm. I wanted to get in a good four hours and call it a day. I had been up since 7am so I was looking at 21 hours at 4am. So I thought to myself if I run 20-24 miles I'll be happy. My new heart rate monitor holds up to 27 laps, so I really didn't want to do any more then that. The loop around the lake is 0.9853 miles. Here is a map. I figured 27 laps would be 26.6 miles (just over a marathon), that was my limit.

When I started, it was dry. But not for long, that only lasted about 3-4 loops. Then it started with a light rain and got worse. Fortunately, the heavy rain didn't start until 3am. But a lot of light rain adds up. The temperature was nice at 48°.

I was all ready for the dark, but quickly found that The street lights and house lights added enough light for me. I rarely used my LED flashlight and was just able to run. It was interesting to see few people walking there dogs in the first hour. After that I saw only one person, he was a teenage boy who was under the covered area. It looked like he may have been locked out of his house or something. He fell asleep on the picnic tables.

I started out in a nice pace in the 8:40's. I was just cruising, and was enjoying the night. When I got to lap 13, I felt like I needed some liquids and a little something to eat. So I stopped and drank some Gleukos and had a few Shot Bloks. By this time it was about 1:54am. I was on track to get at least 26 laps.

I then kept going, after lap #15, I was feeling like I wanted to slow down, but something inside me wanted to keep going. I tried to keep it up until lap 20, which I figured would be at 3am. Then I would slow down the last hour and finish with 25-26 laps. So I did. I ran 20 laps (19.71 miles) in 2:58:30. This meant I had about an hour to run 5-6 more laps. I keep going, but was slowing. I was running about 9:30's those last 6 laps. I finished at 3:58am, with 26 laps (or 25.62 miles). I was happy to get the mileage in and was so happy to go home and get dry.

Next month, Tim and I plan to run on Dec 22, round this some lake. We will be running for nine hours in what I like to call the Winter Solstice run. We will run from sunrise to sunset on the shortest day of the year. I look forward to it. But before that I have a double in Seattle next weekend, and the Christmas Marathon (Dec 16).

Happy Running!

If you would like to look at my splits, here is the statistics. [PDF]

My first 50 miler: Autumn Leaves 2007

Yesterday I ran my first 50 miler (I'm sure it will not be my last). It was the Autumn Leaves 50 miler. I have so much to say about it.

I left my house at 4:45am and drove to Champoeg for the start at 6:00am. It was cold and dark. The loop was changed so it was just 4.9 miles and a 1.2 mile out-and-back was added. The first full loop was all in the dark. At one point, myself and another runner got off the course, but found our way back quickly.

But going into the second loop I ran with Karen Wiggins for about a mile, which was nice to chat with her. Later in the third loop I ran with Marilou Russell. I also saw so many Maniacs along the course like Eric Barnes, Bret Henry, Rick Smith, Gail Philips, Robert Lopez, Marc Frommer, Little Leslie, and many more. Since there is a stretch of about 1.5 miles in the middle of each loop, I saw them many times.

I started slower and then got into a groove after the sun came up. For the first half I felt great. After five loops, I had run 26 miles and did it in 4:32:35 (10:29 pace). I felt like it would be nice to keep up the pace. But I knew I would be slowing down at some point. My goal at that point was to try to keep it up as long as possible.

Since I did the early start I was parked in the lot near the start, which is long the course. So after each loop I could stop at my car for aid. It's a nice race to be your first 50 miler, because the aid is very good. In each loop you have three stops at two aid stations. I of course did not stop at each possible stop. But it's nice to have.

After seven loops I was still feeling good, but at that point my times dropped. I was averaging about 52:36 per loop, but in the last three loops I averaged 1:01:13. In loop #8, I ran in 57:17, which I did not walk, just ran slow. But in the last two laps I was running/walking. Loop #9, was 1:01:58, and loop#10 was 1:04:24.

I was happy to finish in under 10 hours, and was trying to finish in under 9:30 if possible. Which I did. I would highly recommend this race to any ultra or marathoner. If you get get your head around doing either 6 or 10 loops. It's very well organized and just a great race. Here were my splits:

1 - 12:04 (1.2mi) - 10:03 pace
2 - 56:19 (5.15mi) - 10:56 pace
3 - 53:17 (4.95mi) - 10:46 pace
4 - 49:38 (4.9mi) - 10:08 pace
5 - 49:12 (4.9mi) - 10:03 pace
6 - 52:03 (4.9mi) - 10:38 pace
7 - 52:43 (4.9mi) - 10:46 pace
8 - 53:51 (4.9mi) - 10:59 pace
9 - 57:17 (4.9mi) - 11:41 pace
10 - 61:58 (4.9mi) - 12:39 pace
11 - 64:24 (4.9mi) - 13:09 pace

I ran a total of 50.5 miles, which is partly my fault for getting of course a little, but the race distance was a total of 50.2 miles. I look forward to my next 50 miler (maybe this spring).

40 miles of Training

In just two short weeks I will be running my first 50 mile race. It's called Autumn Leaves at Champoeg State Park on November 3 at 6am. I ran a 50k there last year, and am looking forward to this race. The daunting task of running 50 miles is made even more of a challenge because it's made up of ten, five mile laps.

Of course, when looking to run a distance longer then you have in the past, you MUST train for it. In August I ran my first double (two marathons in two days), in training for that I ran two 20 mile runs on back to back days, and also ran two marathons in five days. In order to do a 50 miler. I figure I have to do lots of longer runs, and also have to get used to running repetitive loops.

On September 29, I ran a short 1.59 mile loop near my house, ten times. On October 7, I ran the Portland Marathon. On October 13, I ran a 50k route that went through Beaverton, Aloha and Hillsboro. Finally, yesterday I ran a five mile loop, eight times totaling 40 miles. So here is how it went:

First off, Autumn Leaves has very unpredictable weather. Last year it was overcast and cool, in 2005 it was pouring down rain, in 2004 it was cool, overcast, and foggy, in 2003 it was 35° and clear. So I must prepared. Yesterday was overcast, and raining.

I had a cold, so I was very unsure about running 40 miles, but I had to give it a shot. I took three Ibuprofen and a decongestant. Got up at 6am and left the house at 7am. Drove down to the park which would be the start and end of each loop. I had a trunk with water, chips, candy, and many other foods, and of course dry clothes.

I started at 7:10, it was pouring. I had my Maniacs hat to keep my head dry, and a fleece jacket to try to stay dry. But my problem was the rain made my fleece very heavy. So after one lap I took the fleece off, and put a garbage bag on me, which I ran in also the whole way.

It rained for two straight hours, then stopped for about an hour and then picked bag up later. It must have rained for about five of the seven hours, I was running. The temperature was very cool, at the start it was 47° and at the end 52°. But if felt so much colder with the rain.

First half went real well, and then took a ten minute break, before going back out there. I then ran two more laps and took a five minute break, then finished the last two laps. Overall I was very happy with the run, and realized how hard running 40-50 miles is. The last ten miles were so hard and I just have to realize it's going to be a grunt at Autumn Leaves. Here were my splits:

1 - 52:23
2 - 49:13
3 - 49:37
4 - 47:01
break (10:00)
5 - 49:00
6 - 48:04
break (5:00)
7 - 51:37
8 - 49:57

It took me about 7 hours to run this 40 miles which is about a 10:15 pace. If I can keep that pace for Autumn Leaves then I will run it in 8½ hours. My goal is 9 to 10 hours. So I should be in good shape. Now it's time to taper for the next two weeks.

Happy Running!