Sitka Sunrise

Sitka Sunrise
Sometimes it pays to walk the dog

Friday, April 29, 2011

Wild Winter Prep for 100 miles

Wild Winter Preparation

I decided when I moved back to Sitka that my goal was to attempt my first 100 miler. The past 4 years that started with a friend asking me to run a 50 miler and was further feed by living and running in Seattle with some of the most amazing friends and runners I know fueled the dream. Sometimes the ultra bug just bites you hard and you need to experience the 100 miler. I really didn’t expect to be bitten this hard. I though 50 miles would be my max.

Training in Alaska, especially small island town south east Alaska has its advantages. The first being at sea level we don’t get the snow I would in other areas, yet I can still access it if I want it. That means I can get good long runs in with footing issues, but I can cross train with backcountry snowboard or snowshoe days in the mountains. I must admit there have been many Saturdays spent in the mountains and then many Sundays spent on the gravel roads. I have had some amazing experiences this winter.
Most recently I spend a moonlight evening snowshoeing a ridge here in Sitka. It was simple the greatest mountain experience I have had to date. As I stood on the ridge I could turn 360 degrees and every thing my eyes saw made was beyond description. The snow covered mountains to the South and east, the ocean to mountain views to the North, and the open ocean to the west. I could not help but scream “This is amazing” as the hair on my neck stood up. It was calm, peaceful, and amazing. The perfect moment in time!

That is why I choose to do 100 miles or even 50 miles or even 50K. In training, I choose to put myself in places to be there for those amazing moments. Maybe I get a chance to be there for the perfect moment. I am a little crazy to run and hike as much and as far by some people’s standards. I can’t help but get that inner high from the views I have seen and the natural beauty of the world we live in. So 100 mile finish or not, the experience of 100 miles has already started. It has been a great experience so far and I can only anticipate more greatness from it.

The race will be the Bighorn Trail 100 on June 17th and 18th, 2011. It will not be an end or a beginning, it will just be another experience.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Wausau 24 hour Mountain Bike

Wausau 24 hour Mountain Bike Race
Wausau, Wisconsin
July 31-Aug 1st, 2010
In the early spring of 2010 my friend Tyler sent me a message on facebook asking me if I would be back in the Wisconsin area in the summer and wanted to participate in a 24 hour mountain bike race. I said sure after about 2 seconds of thinking about it. Now, I must admit I was excited, and all in, but my friends ride bike a lot and I do not. So I definitely put my best effort into training for that and finishing my training for my 50 mile, but I didin’t really start focusing on the mountain bike till late June. Luckily my friends were gentle with my sometimes anal and senseless questions about the race and type of bike I should use. Of course they did give me a hard time about it.
We all met at the race on Friday night trickling in at different times. The race did not start until Saturday at 10 am, so we had some time to set up a few tents, the tent trailer, and the shelter. We had a nice set up. The team was going to consists of 5 of us. We each took one lap at a time until about 10 pm. Then myself and 2 other teammates did 2 laps consecutively in the darkness. The course was 11 miles long. During the day my teammates were running between 53 and 56 minutes laps and I was trudging along at about a 60 minute pace. At night things slowed down to about in the 64-69 minute range. It was a fun course, some short ups, some short downs, a few rock gardens and lots of single track. The experience included watching some ultra endurance athletes ride for 24 hours in the solo division. They are like semi trucks, not to fast, but very steady. I got to see some super fast brothers who cranked hard for 12 hours trading off one lap at a time. Of course there were some crazy fun teams as well. It was a great atmosphere, good course, and well organized event.
Overall we placed 8th in the 24 hour division and 1st in our category. The funny part about the 1st place in our category, was we went into the race just wanting to have a good time and we maintained that attitude throughout. We just happened to be the fasted group in that division.

Sun Mounatin 50 mile

Sun Mountain 50 Mile
June 20th, 2010
Winthrop and Twisp, WA
I haven’t run a 50 mile since my first ultra race in 2008. Since that time I have learned an enormous amount about ultrarunning. I was setting up to run a 50 mile last summer, but started graduate school. This year, I set my goal to run one 50 miler. I choose the Sun Mountain 50 because I ran the 50k last year and enjoyed the terrain. The 50 mile this year allowed a retrace of much of the 50K from 2009 plus added the twist river valley which was different yet amazing. Besides I always like to travel through the North Cascades to Winthrop and spend time in that area.
Annahootz, Anna, and I headed over to Winthrop on a Friday. We camped at the Winthrop KOA and spent Saturday hanging out. Of course we had to stop at the School House Brewery and Pub to have my usual burger and beer on Saturday night. So it was a relaxing and comfortable run up to the Sunday race. This was my first Sunday race and I enjoyed having the Saturday to prep and just relax.
The start for the 50 mile needed to be reached by catching the bus at the start finish line of the 50k and 25K. So it was an early start on the day to catch the bus. This was the first year the 50 mile had been run, so there were a few dozen of us on the bus. These would be the few that took on the challenge of the 50 miles. One of my biggest fears going into this race was the possibility of heat. Well the weather was cloudy and rainy which was a blessing for me. Living in Seattle at the time, I train in ran, I live in rain, and I prefer cool drizzly conditions and that is what we got. At one point during this race the sun did come out and when it did, it made its presence known. It got super hot and you could feel the heat. Anyways back to the 50 miles. Overall it is a really beautiful and challenging run. I would not say it is overly steep or overly technical. The only part I did not like was the few miles on the road.
As far as my run went, I reached my goal of under 10 hours. I ran a respectable 9:30something. The downside is I struggled with the last 5 miles or so, but I finished within my goal. Now I move onto other goals and other things. Next up, I will be participating 24 hour mountain bike race in Wisconsin with a team of 5 friends. Then I am moving back to Alaska!
Gear, Hydration, and Energy:
Asics running short
Headsweats running visor
REI long sleeve running shirt
Montrial Rockridge
Drank one bottle of HEED from Hammer before the race started
Ran with two ultimate direction water bottles. Started with one bottle of water and one bottle of Perpetum form Hammer for the entire race. I also took two Endurance Aminos and two Anti-Fatigue Caps before the race and one of each every hour during the race. Both are Hammer Nutrition products. Somewhere I also mixed in some Edurolytes tabs.
During the race I used Hammer gel Vanilla flavor.
After race drank one bottle of Recoverlyte from Hammer

Monday, July 26, 2010

Beer and Burger Alaska Friday

Well Washington friends, it is time for me to head back to Alaska. On Fridays I have a tradition of burgers and beer. One of my favorite hang outs has been the Dog & Pony in Renton http://www.thedogandpony.com/ So, I will be there Friday August 6th, 2010 starting at 7 pm and would love to have a beer and hear how the summer has treated everyone thus far before I head out. This is not goodbye, it is just a chance to catch up before I leave and come back next summer, so it will be casual. I hope to see you all there and please spread the word. I don’t have everyone’s e mail or phone number and I am certainly not an exclusive type of person, so spread the word.

Dan

Sunday, February 21, 2010

12 Summits

Saturday 2/20/2010
12 Summits

When you live in Washington or for that matter what is considered the Northwest, you are living in one of the United States ultra running Meccas. The Seattle area and Washington has produced some of the legends of the sport and currently has some of the elite, national runners. When you live in an area like this, there are some well known training runs. One of these training runs is the 12 summits. The 12 summits is actually the 6 summits of Tiger Mountain, but it is an out and back so your total summits in a day is 12. The distance in 34 miles and the elevation gain is 10,500 feet. It was a training run I read about it 16 months ago and told myself I wanted to do it. When my friend said a group was doing the 12, I was in. I describe the run simply as; climb up and run down, then repeat 11 times. It was a very grueling 8 hours and 11 minutes. One of the greatest things about this 12 summits experience was the day we picked to run. It was a beautiful, blue bird, sunny day. We saw Mt. Rainer, the Olympics, and the Capital peaks near Olympia. It was a great day for running and I can not think of a better way to have spent the day. I must admit, the 12 summits pushed me to places I haven't felt since my first 50 miler, which was my very first race over 18 miles in length. On the nice side, I am not as sore, nor as tired as I was after that race. Well, I will probably never be considered one of Washington's elite Ultra runners, but I can at least understand what it feels like to train like one of them. Ever time I complete training run like this I have more and more respect for those that have the physical and mental ability to run ultras and for those that do it competitively. They are also a supportive and pleasant group to associate with as well.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Orcas Island 2010

Orcas Island 50K February 6th, 2010
Well for the 2nd year in a row I headed to run the Orcas Island 50K and for the second year in a row the weather was fantastic!
Orcas Island 50k is run at the Moran State Park on Orcas Island. It is somewhat of a Ultra runners trek to Winter Camp. The run is based out of the Moran State Park learning center and camp. Some of the runners stay in the camp cabins and others camp there. My friends and I rented a cabin at West Beach Resort and Campground. We had a cabin on the beach and it was a wonderful time. I had a burger and a couple of beers before Friday night then got some good sleep.
The race started at 8:30 am. This is a late start for most 50K races, but because some people catch the early Saturday morning ferry to Orcas, the race starts a late to accommodate for that. The sun was out for the start of the race, temps were low 40’s I would say. I started with some running friends but then after we started to get to some of the first good climbs I started to pull away from them. It is always hard to know at the beginning of the race if that is a good thing or a bad thing. I train with one of these friends regularly and we have a similar pace and he was one of the people we were sharing the cabin with. So I don’t want to be going out to fast, and I also don’t want to leave my friend behind either. In the end though, they will catch me if I bonk and they will let me know about it. The goals for the race were come in around 6 hours (time last year 6 hours, 38 minutes) and try to stay strong through the entire race.
The race has two aid stations (mile 11, mile 24) and one water station (mile 21). I was moving really well in the first 11 miles which climbs up Mt Picket which is on the eastern (I think that is the compass direction) boarder of the park. I felt strong and arrived at the first aid station at 1 hour 45 minutes. I moved onto the second major climb so after that and again felt strong. The sun was out but there was a nice breeze hitting me in the back and the temperature wasn’t too hot. I moved into the water station at mile 21 at about 3 hours and 30 minutes. I felt strong and moved onto the Mt. Constitution climb to aid station 2 at mile 24. The climb was hard, but I felt like I was climbing well and the scenery was amazing. I caught the view towards Mt. Baker a few times. I arrived at the 2nd aid station at about 4hours and 15 minutes. Then I started on the steep quick downhill. After the downhill comes a one more uphill section that isn’t very steep and here is where I started to falter. There was a runner just a few yards ahead of me and I used him to set my pace. I wasn’t struggling enough following, but if I passed I wasn’t sure I what would happen. Then I started the long downhill to the lake and then the last long mile or so to the finish. That last long mile I was really pushing, but that didn’t mean I was going fast, it just meant I working really hard just to keep a decent pace. I pushed up the final small hill, then turned down the small hill to the finish in a final time 5 hours 45 minutes. So I managed to reach one goal, but the other goal eluded me. I still feel good about this run. Not a bad start for this time of the year.
Gear, Hydration, and Energy:
Asics running short
Headsweats running visor

REI long sleeve running shirt
Montrial Hardrock 09’s
Mountain Hardware gaiters
Drank one bottle of HEED from Hammer before the race started
Ran with two water bottles one ultimate direction water bottle and one Nathan water bottle. Started with one bottle of HEED and one bottle of Perpetum café latte flavor. Filled the bottles with one nuun and one water at each aid station.
After race drank one bottle of Recoverlyte from Hammer
4 hammer gels, peanut butter and jelly sandwich quarters at each, so keebler fudge strips, peanut m&m’s.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Bridal Trails 2010

Bridal Trails January 9th, 2010
First 50k of the 2010,and as you can tell by my blog, first 50k since april. No I haven't stopped running, I have continued to train, but have added mountain biking, and rock climbing back into the list of activities I enjoy. I helped a friend by crewing and pacing part of the run this summer at the Mountains to Sound race. I was signed up to race the White River 50 mile but had to drop out due to mental ultra I am currently running ( I enrolled in Doctoral school to earn a Doctorate in Education). The mental ultra takes me back to MN 2 weeks in the summer and coincided with the race. So I think I may find a race in MN/WI before those two weeks this summer. I also took a two week road trip through California. When I say through, I mean almost top to bottom. Drove the I5 down from Seattle to San Diego, then Drove Hwy 1 all the way back along the coast till Oregon. So I was a different busy.
So back to bridal trails, the 5.2 mile, 6 loop race was a ton of fun and without the rain the course was very nice, but still provided some really nice muddy spots. Having lived in Washington for more than one year now, I have become friends with some fellow ultra runners and it was good to see them all at the race.
As I am just formulating some of my running plans for this year
Objectives for the race were pretty simple: Stay hydrated (which can be an issue for me), run comfortably, finish around 6 hours, and have fun.
Results: I stayed hydrated (I took a potty break on every lap), every lap felt good, finishing time was 5 hours, 10 minutes, lap times were nice and relatively consistent, and I had a blast. I ran with some friends for the first half of the race and then I just found a zone and kept going. I have a lot to learn and a lot of training to do, but it felt good.
Gear, Hydration, and Energy:
Asics running short
REI running visor
Petzel Tikka XP 2 was my headlamp and I loved it. I started with it is spot light mode and that was okay, but then flipped up the diffuser and loved it. Other runners even commented on the light it put out over the whole trail. I know some runners can run without lights, but I am okay with lights.
REI long sleeve running shirt
Montrial Hardrock 09’s
Mountain Hardware gaiters (I got blisters on the upper part of my ankle where the gaiters close around the leg, never has happen before. Not sure what to do about that)
Drank one bottle of HEED from Hammer before the race started
Ran with one ultimate direction water bottle (filled at aid station on each loop) bottle 1: started with HEED from Hammer, bottle 2: water, bottle 3: NUUN, bottle 4: water, bottle 5: NUUN, bottle 6: water
After race drank one bottle of Recoverlyte from Hammer
One hammer gel at the start of each new lap, peanut butter and jelly sandwich quarters at each lap

Next Race: Orcas Island 50k February 6th, 2010