Quad Rock 50 Race Report

Ring, ring..."Yeah, I'd like to reserve a room."  "Sorry, none are available."  "Really?"  "Yeah, it's graduation weekend."

Oh no!  I had waited too long to reserve a room in Fort Collins for Quad Rock, and now I was stuck finding a hotel as close to the race as possible.  I ended up getting one in Loveland, which was still a 40 minute drive, but that is better than the 2 hour drive from home for a 6am start.  Thank goodness.  50 miles is a long way and I certainly didn't want to start with a long drive.

Ready to go!  

My wife and I headed up after work and got some dinner.  We hit the hay as early as possible for the 4am wake-up call to get to the race.  We woke in the morning to freezing drizzle and fog.  What?!?!  I did a white knuckle drive the back way into Horsetooth, barely able to see the front of my hood through the fog.  But we made it safe, parked, and got to the start line.

I met up with someone I connected with through the Pearl Izumi ChamPIons team and we made our face-to-face introductions.  He was preparing for Hardrock with this race.

The fog and sleet continued to fall, albeit only lightly at the start.  So, I decided to start with my jacket to try and keep as dry as possible.  We all were ready and off we went.  I went out relatively quickly and we all made our way down the dirt road a couple miles and then onto the single track.  Then we started climbing.  This race has a solid amount of vert, and the start of the first climb told the whole story.  I knew I was in for a tough day.  At this point I had to remove my jacket so I didn't overheat.  This certainly helped me as I worked hard to stay warm, which kept me moving at a decent pace.  As we climbed into the clouds, quite literally, the rain fell harder.  The entire tops of the mountains were covered in clouds that were just dropping rain on us.  It ended up being a game of climbing into the wet clouds, and descending to get out of it.

Before The First Climb

Photo Credit:  Mahting Productions

My wife left the park and went to her parents, so I was on my own for the first 25 miles.  No issue at all.  I made my way up the last climb before the downhill to the halfway mark.  At the aid station, I found Woody!  Awesome!  He took off down the trail and I followed to try and keep up.  We ended up chatting for the next several miles as we made our way down.  Then, a couple miles from the turn-around, I caught my toe and went flying into the jagged rocks and down the embankment into a bush.  OUCH!  Next thing I know, Woody is picking my up and asking me if I was alright.  I checked and my leg was hurting.  I looked down and no wonder!  It was bleeding pretty good and had mud worked into the wound.  But I was able to run and we headed down to the AS where my wife met me.

Photo Credit:  Terry Grenwelge

Feeling Great Before The Fall

Feeling Horrible After The Fall

It was great seeing her, but the AS crew wanted me to get my leg looked at.  I, of course, refused and asked if they could squirt some peroxide on it.  OUCH!!!!  everyone at the aid was looking and laughing at me.  It was funny.

Nice Little Trail Wound

At that point, I was drenched and freezing and now I was stopped.  It hit me hard.  I started shivering uncontrollably.  I was getting hypothermic, and I was not feeling good about heading back up into more freezing rain.

Faking The Smile

My wife gave me another jacket and I stood in the shelter to see if I could warm up.  But it was getting worse.  We decided to walk to the car to see if the heater would warm me up, when I looked up and saw my truck...but it was on another road above us!  We would have to walk a lot further to get to it.  We turned around to do so and I decided that was it...I told my wife I was going and going now.  I started running back to the start to get back on course and I didn't stop for about 2 miles and 500' of vert.  But I was warm again!  The next AS was about 7-8 miles away and I came in feeling good.  And there was my wife!  NICE!  I didn't expect to see her again until the end, but she was worried about me and decided to make sure I was okay.  It made my day!

Feeling Much Better

At this point, I was able to keep pushing and I did my next climb to the top and back down again to that following aid station .  And there she was again!  One more climb left before the downhill to the finish.  At this point, I was 40 miles in and no one was around me except for one guy about a 1/4 mile ahead of me.  We had chatted along the way and it was his first ultra.  Nice work!  He was moving well.  I tried to latch onto him and pull myself up the hill faster.  I was getting closer.  I was probably less than a 1/10 of a mile behind him when I couldn't find him anymore.  Where did he go?  That started to make me feel like maybe I had slowed and he was gone.  I ran the rest of the way in by myself.  That guy ended up getting off course right near where I lost him and he came in around 2 hours later.  I felt bad for him!

At this point, I realized I was going to beat my goal and I in my mind I set a new one on the fly to see if I could get in under 10.5 hours.  I pushed but ended up with a 10:32:56 and a solid PR for the distance.  All while climbing more than I ever had in a 50 mile event and taking a 25 minute "break" at the turn-around to warm-up.  I was thrilled and hugged my wife at the finish.

Coming Into The Finish

New PR!

Even though it was a miserable day of weather and pain, it was a great race and it made me stronger.  That is worth the suffering.  Plus, the course is awesome!

Bear 100 Race Report

So, after I finished my 50 miler last year, I was gung-ho to take it up to the next level.  My wife had signed me up for the Moab Red Hot 55K in February and I was already training through the winter.  I was going to springboard my year off that and build as much endurance as I could.  I had my heart set on Leadville for my first 100 and made plans around that.  Of course, things don't always work out as planned.  I put my name into the hat and waited as I looked at scheduling my year.  Of course, planning my year around a race that I haven't yet been chosen in the lottery is a sure fire way to not get your name drawn.  And sure enough, that is what happened.  What to do now?  I wasn't sure but it wasn't long before my buddy Barrett, suggested we do The Bear.  I hesitated for a moment when he said this, as I knew Bear was not easy.  Not that I was looking for easy, but stepping up from 50 to 100 miles is not like stepping up from 50K to 50 miles and adding in the extra climbing weighed on the back of my mind.  But, I was confident on my previous year and signed up with Barrett.

I worked on getting my logistics together with crew and pacers, as well as my race plan over the course of a few months.  As we were getting closer, I still hadn't been able to secure a pacer to help get me across the finish line.  Now, being a rookie 100 miler, I didn't know what to expect with asking someone to pace me.  I think there are two different views on this and I get both.  First, I think we are all in this together and all willing to help each other.  Not to mention, we all love doing this, so pacing someone is really just a fun run with a friend, right?  On the other hand, I feel that traveling hours and hours to a race and staying all weekend, especially us with families, to help someone out with pacing, is asking a lot of that person and their family.  What was I going to do?  I didn't worry too much about it and, after a lot of thought and a bit of torment, I asked my friend Mike to pace me.  He, of course, was extremely happy to do it and now I was excited to get to the start line.

We had a great time driving out.  It was my brother and wife that were crewing me and we all made the trek.  Tons of long highway miles getting there.  But dropping into Bear Lake and driving down the canyon into Logan was getting my juices flowing.  I was excited.

We got there a day early and enjoyed some dinner and beers and just relaxed.  I got up the next morning and did a little shakeout run and we went shopping for some last minute supplies.  Then we were off to the runner meeting to meet up with Barrett and Chris, his pacer/crew, and Barrett's family.   After the race meeting we went to grab some dinner together and headed back to the hotel to get everything ready and get as good of a nights sleep as possible.

Pre-Race Meeting

Photo:  Nicole Witcher

What an exciting start!  Lots of runners milling around getting ready.  I was nervous and a little anxious, but all-in-all, was doing pretty well.  I got checked in and we took our obligatory pictures with everyone.  Then we were off.

Ready As I Will Ever Be

Photo:  Nicole Witcher

My Brother, Wife, Me, and Barrett

Photo:  Unknown

Ready To Go!

Photo:  Nicole Witcher

Start To Logan Peak - 10.5 Miles

Barrett and I met up and we started off together to make the long initial climb.  I had my HRM with me and planned on wearing it the entire race.  I really wanted to have that data and, as I will get to, it showed me a lot.  But, I forgot to turn on and sync my HRM before I got into the crowd.  So, I had to mess with it as we ran up the street to the trailhead.  Not to worry as it finally picked up the signal.

I noticed some people really pushing hard to move up in the crowd and I should have paid attention to this, but shrugged it off as I settled into an easy rhythm.  Then we hit the trailhead.  And everything just stopped.  We all made our way onto the singletrack and began a slow hike up.  We got stuck behind a pretty slow moving group of people and had to wait until the trail opened up on the way down to pass.  Of course, Barrett and I just chatted along and let the race take shape.  Once the trail opened up, we let loose a little and passed everyone we thought we had to.

Part Way Up The First Climb

Photo:  Barrett Langton

Slow Train Up The First Climb

Photo:  Barrett Langton

Sun Coming Up, Us Heading Down

Photo:  Barrett Langton

And that is when I had to pee.  Go figure.  I stopped and got going again as fast as possible so I didn't get stuck again.  That ended up being a non-issue as the trail was a road with plenty of room to pass.  So, I kept moving trying to catch back up to Barrett.  I thought he must've been moving pretty good because I could not seem to catch back up.  I struck up a conversation with a guy named JB from Missoula and climbed.  I turned to see who was behind and, lo and behold, there was Barrett.  He had to take a pit stop as well and I ended up passing him.

We made it up to the AS and I refilled my bottles with my fuel and we moved on along.  I must say, this section was absolutely gorgeous and I took in the beauty of the canyon overlooking Logan and to the south.

Logan Peak To Leatham Hollow - 19.7 Miles

From that first aid station, Barrett and I continued to climb to the very top of the peak and then headed down for over 7 miles.  There was some great running in there with some double track for quite a ways.  The downs are just as hard as the ups on this course as they seem to go on forever.  I made sure that I stuck close to Barrett, but also made sure I wasn't pushing it too much as I did not want to pay for it later in the race.  We finally made it to the turn off on the Leatham Hollow trail.  This is a nice little section of singletrack that goes through the forest.  Funny thing about this trail though was how much it had been traveled on by the cattle.  This caused it to be a really tricky trail to run down as it was always falling off to the side from where the cattle had stepped and pushed the trail down the hill a bit.  I was extremely careful in this section as I fought issues with rolling my left ankle all year and did not want to have a roll this early, or at all, in the race.  We got closer and closer and I ended up passing Earl "Rocket" Jones as we got closer to the AS.  No sooner had I passed Rocket when, BAM, rolled my ankle.  But I was quick to recover and kept running on it.  It hurt but that passed quickly and I made sure it didn't tighten up on me.  As I came into the AS, I had already forgotten about it.  Thank goodness!

We rolled into the AS and there was our crew!  What a great sight.  I think they were worried about us as we were quite a bit behind schedule due to the slow train on the first climb.  But I never even gave it a thought.  Which is great because I can have a tendency to get anxious over these things. Barrett's pacer, Chris, mentioned that we looked really good and fresh and said it looked like we just went out for a few miles.  Good start!  Barrett and I filled our bottles, ate some food, and took off up the road.

Barrett And I Coming Into Leatham Hollow

Photo:  Nicole Witcher

Leatham Hollow AS

Photo:  Jeanne/Larry Limbocker

Photo:  Jeanne/Larry Limbocker

Leatham Hollow To Richards Hollow - 22.5 Miles

This section is short and easy along a forest road that heads up to Richard's Hollow.  We ran the whole way for the most part and spent most of the three miles looking up as the canyon was gorgeous with some nice rock outcroppings and gorgeous Fall colors.  We made it to the AS pretty quickly, but knew we needed to get prepared for the climb that was about to come.  We ended up getting some ice cold water and some cold grapes before we headed out and up the hill.

Barrett And I Leaving Leatham

Photo:  Jeanne/Larry Limbocker 

Richards Hollow To Cowley Canyon - 30 Miles

The section coming out of Richard's Hollow is absolutely gorgeous.  I had to keep remembering that as this climb was brutal.  The heat of the day was really bearing down on us and the climb was around 6 miles and 2100' of climb.  It was great climbing up the trail with Barrett, and talking with people along the way.  The trail was pretty technical, and climbed quickly.  So it was strange when we looked over and saw cows up there.  It was honestly amazing to see them in the area we were at.

How Did They Get Up Here?

Photo:  Barrett Langton

We came out of the trees and into a more exposed area and it was hot.  So, hot that I called this section the E Coli section because we were all dipping our hats into the stagnant, nasty puddles of water along the way that were filled with who knows what else.  But, let me tell you, in that heat none of us cared!  It just felt good to have something to cool us down.  Later on I heard that the heat was in record territory that day for the area.  Go figure!

Some Sheep In the Exposed Climb

Photo:  Barrett Langton

We kept climbing and chatting as we met people.  As we crested the climb, we ran into Sheila Huss.  She is another FrUR and we all introduced ourselves.  Quick shout out to Sheila as she was crushing her fourth 100 that summer as she was going for the Rocky Mountain Slam.  And she did it!  She was the only runner this summer to attempt or complete the RM Slam, so great job Sheila!

At this point, we were headed downhill for a bit to make our way into the Cowley Canyon AS.  This is a nice section as it is a fire road with lots of room to run.  I cruised down and made my way into the AS.

At this point, I decided it might be good to take a look at my feet.  I was wearing my Hoka Speedgoats and my right pinky toe felt it a bit.  So, when I pulled into the AS I removed my shoes and my wonderful crew applied vast quantities of Vaseline to my feet.  I put new socks on and got my shoes back on, grabbed my "cool towel" and soaked it in the bucket of water they had at the AS.  I also filled my hat with ice and put it on my head.  This was a race changing decision for sure as it kept my body temp down when it was needed most.

Coming Into Cowley Canyon

Photo:  Nicole Witcher

Cowley Canyon To Right Hand Fork - 36.9 Miles

Barrett and I headed up the fire road that climbed the 2 miles and 900' up the hill.  I kept removing the hat from my head as I was getting an ice cream headache.  So I would keep the ice on my head until I got the headache and then would hold it for a bit.  I repeated this until I accidentally dropped my hat and lost my ice.  But it was what was needed for that climb and helped immensely.  I kept the cool towel around my neck to stave off the sun and heat.  Toward the top I felt pretty darn good.  There was a nice 5 mile stretch coming up that would take me into the 45 mile AS.  Once I crested the climb, I ended up passing a guy puking his brains out on a stump on the side of the trail right as I started heading down the trail.  Poor guy.  I ran through an incredible aspen stand then all the way to the fork and the only "out and back" section on the course.  Not much of one really, but I kept passing people heading out of the AS as I was headed in and it gave me a good boost.  I pulled into the AS and my brother and wife were there ready for me.  I sat down for a bit in a chair and got ready for a nasty climb in the worst heat of the day.  I made sure I got my bottles filled and my cool towel soaked again to keep me as cool as possible.  Right before I left I grabbed a disposable water bottle that was ice cold.  Another really good decision.

Right Hand Fork To Temple Fork - 45.1 Miles

This is really where my race started to come together for me.  I left the aid station and just set a goal to move as quickly as possible. I was hot but feeling awesome.  I put the cool towel over my entire head and kept the sun off me.  It was really keeping me cooler and I started to climb well.  This was another 3 miles and 1000' of climbing and it hurt in that heat.  But I got to the top where they had a makeshift, water-only, unmanned AS.  This was great!  I filled just a little in my bottle to save more for the people behind me and took off down the hill.  This was a fire road and I was able to actually pick up the pace a little.  I caught up with a couple girls that were racing/pacing and latched onto them as we ran down the road.  The course cuts right into a field and across some section that wasn't really a trail.  It was really fun!  There was a river I could see down below me a bit and I kept thinking I wanted to jump in!  But, I stayed with those girls as they were running really well and I felt like I could ride their coattails.  It was perfect.  Right before we got into the AS, some pissed off guy in a massive pick up truck came barreling up the road and we all jumped out of the way.  Easy there cowboy. I pulled into the AS and began looking for my crew.  Where were they?!?!  I couldn't find them anywhere.  So, I went to the food table and started grazing some oranges and keeping an eye out.  Within a few minutes I saw my crew!  YES!  They came over freaked out because I beat them to the AS.  Haha!  My brother changed his entire approach to crewing the rest of the race because of this.  I was making up time in all sorts of ways and he didn't want to miss me.  Love it.  I sat down for a little bit and tried to eat something.  The heat was getting to me.  I ate a bite of an Epic Bar and immediately spit it out.  It wasn't right.  I ignored it and my brother said I had to eat something as I wasn't keeping up with my fuel plan.  Imagine that.  So, I tried again and ate some food.  I got my bottles ready and grabbed my iPod to listen to some music as I headed up this next climb.  It was going to be a big one.  5 miles and 2700' to get me to the next AS and the halfway point.

Temple Fork To Tony Grove - 51.8 Miles

I put on my favorite band on my iPod, crossed the highway to head up and out.  I put it into an incredible climbing gear and just passed a ton of people all the way up the hill.  It was pretty cool.  A couple people gave me some props as I passed them at mile 46 or so.  Then, right near the top another guy asked how the hell I was able to climb like that.  Haha...um okay.  It felt good!  At this point it was getting dark and cold and I was ready to pull into the halfway point.  I started heading down the 2 miles to the AS through the campground at Tony Grove, which is awesome looking and I would love to camp there sometime.  Everyone camping there was cheering me on and I could hear the real party at the lake as I got closer to the AS.  Then, as I was almost there, who did I see?  MIKE!!!  My pacer!  I didn't expect to see him for a while yet.  I could not have been more happy or excited about this.

Coming Into Tony Grove

Photo:  Nicole Witcher

He ran with me into the check-in and over to my brother's car.  I sat down and my brother handed me a fresh grilled cheese and chicken noodle soup.  Godsend!  I was getting rather cold and changed into my night gear.  Really it was just a Capilene long sleeve shirt and another long sleeve shirt over it, my headlamp, and a different pack.  Mike and I checked back out of the AS and headed off into the night.

Tony Grove To Franklin Trailhead - 61.5 Miles

I just want to touch on why I didn't expect to see Mike, my pacer, until the 61.5 mile mark.  Mike had to work in the morning until 10am and didn't even leave Denver until that time.  I started my race at 6am.  What???!!!  He drove 8+ hours across WY and into UT, parked, ate a grilled cheese sandwich that my brother made him and then headed off into the night for 50 miles with me.  What an incredible friend.  I cannot even say how thankful I am for him doing that.  He literally got me to the finish and made my first 100 an incredible memory for me.

So...we took off up the little hill in the dark with only our tunnel vision focused on our lights on the trail.  We had a 3 mile and 800' climb out of Tony Grove and just put our head down and climbed.  Of course, I felt rejuvenated at this point because I had a great friend to chat with.  And chat we did.  We talked and talked and then talked to people who we passed.  I think the only time I actually got passed was when I took a solid fall.  Actually, my most incredible fall running to date.  I tripped on a rock as it was a pretty gnarly trail.  I flew like Superman, landed on my left hand, and promptly fell and rolled down the embankment.  I didn't even know what hit me before I felt Mike grabbing my pack and pulling me back up to the trail.  We laughed, said a few words with the guy that caught us, and headed down the hill again.  My hand hurt.  I wouldn't really know why until I took my gloves off at the finish line, but I ripped a solid wound in my hand.  Better to not look and ignore...that's my philosophy.  Haha!  This section is really long between AS's and the more I thought about it the more I knew I was lucky that Mike got there when he did.

One thing I remember, but not entirely sure if it was on this section, was coming to the top of the climb and seeing all these eyes looking at us.  Scared both Mike and I and we realized it was just a bunch of cows.  Haha!

My body and brain tend to start shutting down around 11pm from my limited experience in overnight running, but I could feel it coming on. This is where all the details may get a little hazy at best.  I will see what I can put together, but I understand why so many of the videos on YouTube I see have almost no chatter during the night sections.  Go figure.  We came into the Franklin TH AS and I was pleasantly surprised to see my wife.  Yea!  I expected her to be at the condo by this point, so that really helped me.  We pulled into the AS and found something I should not have found.  A warm tent with a fire!  Uh oh...I spent WAY too much time here, but I got myself completely taken care of and ready to really go through the night.  At this point it was about 10:30-11pm and I had been running for 16.5 hours.  I was feeling it big time.  I might have put on a jacket at this point too.  I remember being cold and having a hard time warming up.  We headed back out into the dark with really no one around us.


Franklin Trailhead To Logan River/Steep - 68.6 Miles

As we headed out into the dark I kept thinking that this would be no problem, at least that is what I kept repeating since I knew the climb was going to be 4 miles and 1700'.  Then a solid down for a few miles and 1300' descent.  I had to stop and rest a few times on the way up the first climb.  It was brutal at that point in the race.  Mike was great and let me stop, but also kept me moving really well.  He told me he was really surprised that I was climbing so well.  I will take his word for it, but maybe all those hard training runs were paying off.  We got to the top of the climb and headed down the descent.  We came into the next AS and, again, the tent felt amazing with the fire in it.  I got some more chicken noodle soup and we headed across the river and back into the night after, again, too much time spent in the AS.

Logan River/Steep To Beaver Lodge - 75.8 Miles

This next section can be disheartening as you can see the next AS from miles and miles away and it seems to take forever.  At least that is what I was told by a good source.  And they were right.  And to start things off, we climbed another three miles and 1200' of vert.  Around this time, if memory recalls correctly, is also where I decided I had to take care of some paperwork, if you know what I mean.  So, at about mile 72, I stopped and looked around for some kind of branch or stump to perch on.  I had visions of cramping up as I tried to go.  That wouldn't be good!  I found a perfect stump and took care of my business.  Much better!   We continued on and I had a little bit of revitalization that helped get me to the next AS.  As I mentioned, we could see the lodge from miles and miles away and finally made it down to the road.  We made it up to the parking lot for the lodge and found my brother waiting for us outside.  I was told to not go into the lodge at all costs, but it was so cold, my feet needed tending to, I was tired, and the lodge won.  I went inside.  And spent WAY too much time in there.  Go figure.  But, we got my feet taken care of and enjoyed a little time in the warmth.  Then we headed back out into the cool night.  Only 25 miles to go.


Beaver Lodge To Gibson Basin - 81.1 Miles

When you leave the lodge, you head through this field of sorts, down a bit and then do a button hook to climb back up through a little field.  We crossed the road again and headed up the next climb.  This is absolutely where my mind goes foggy.  At mile 79 I had to do some more paperwork.  Um, okay.  So, this time I kept climbing and looking off into the trees to see if I could find another stump or log to perch on so I didn't cramp up.  I couldn't find one though and it was getting to the point that I just had to take care of business. So, I found the sturdiest log/branch I could find and tested it to see if it would hold.  It was close, but it seemed like it would hold.  I went and then...all of the sudden...crack!  The branch broke!  I remember shoving my feet out to try and jump backward to not land in my own poop.  Yuck!  But, I managed to do it and Mike and I had quite the laugh at that point.  Saved my butt...literally.  We continued climbing and I was so groggy.  I kept seeing things off in the forest and at one point had a little "hallucination" of sorts with some kind of strange "animal" on the side of the trail.  And my body kept telling me that my intestines were "cleaning out".  I was literally burping and farting about every couple minutes.  Haha...I remember Mike laughing every time I would do it.  He made a comment that it would happen about 30 seconds into each section of actual running I would do.  Hilarious, but glad no one else was around.  We finally made it up to Gibson Basin and enjoyed the brief chat with the volunteers.  You gotta love these people...they are amazing.  Ridiculous time of the night, up by the campfire, making us coffee, soup, and working on the HAM radios.  I am so thankful for all the volunteers.  Amazing people.


Gibson Basin To Beaver Campground - 85.2 Miles

At this point, we had some nice fire road to run, and Mike pushed me good.  He said we would run for a minute and then walk for a couple minutes.  We did this pretty well and he really helped keep moving me along.  It got better and were were able to run longer and have shorter walks.  That was really nice.  Of course, we were so focused on that, we didn't see the state line sign and didn't get the obligatory picture next to it.  Next time!  I don't remember much else until we pulled into Beaver CG.   We couldn't find my brother with my stuff, so Mike left me in the tent by the fire eating my chicken noodle soup and went to find my him.  He found him sleeping in his car.  Haha!  Too funny.  We got everything together and took off into the night again.


Beaver Campground To Ranger Dip - 92.2 Miles

As we were leaving one of the volunteers warned us to watch out for the turn.  Apparently the course markings were missing or something happened and some people took a wrong turn a bit before us.

Later, after the race, I found out that the person that took the wrong turn was an acquaintance of mine, Luke.  He was in 2nd place and working to take over the lead when he missed the turn and took about a 7 mile detour.  Oh man...I felt so bad for him after learning that.  He is such a strong runner too. 

We climbed up and could see the lake.  Awesome!  I just had to make it over and around these little hills (read as mountains) and down to that lake.  But before doing so, we still had a lot of ground to cover.  We worked our way around the fire road and we were running.  We were running pretty well actually.  At least from my vantage point.  We ran all the way into the next AS and saw my brother.  Yes!  Almost there!!!

This AS was awesome.  They were making up pancakes, bacon, eggs, coffee.  Heck, it was a full on breakfast extravaganza.  I sat down, got handed a couple pancake burritos with eggs and bacon inside and was feeling awesome.  I was ready to finish the next 8 miles and complete this thing!  I was going to do this!!!


Ranger Dip To Finish - 100 Miles

As we were leaving, the volunteer told us it was no problem.  One mile to the top and we were home free.  Of course, that mile climb to the top was 600' of gain.  Oh come on, how bad can that be?  At mile 92, it is horrendous!  I had to stop and regroup a couple times as we headed up the trail.  But, we made it to the top and...BAM!  The gnarliest descent I can imagine at mile 96 through the end.  At mile 98 it was an 1135' drop in a single mile.  Is that even right?  Anyway, I had been positive the entire race, but this was a bit much.  I started complaining.  Do these people in Utah know about switchbacks?  Haha...not that funny though as my tendon in my left foot started acting up due to the descent.  I complained, but we made it down...only to discover that we had to head back up a little climb.  What???  We made it up that climb, after questioning whether we were actually headed the right way, and finally made it to the road to take us home.  And that road seemed to go forever.  But, way ahead I could see the cross street and the turn we had to make to get us to the finish line.  We turned the corner, I saw my wife and brother, and then the emotion took over.  I could not believe I was doing this.  I could not believe I was finishing 100 miles.  I ran the rest of the way in with my wife, Nicole, and we hugged at the finish.  I did it!

Almost There!

Photo:  Preston Witcher

Overwhelmed With Emotion

  

Photo:  Preston Witcher

Running It In With My Wife

Photo:  Preston Witcher

Finished!

Photo:  Preston Witcher

Finish Line Hug

Photo:  Preston Witcher 

We Were Both Done

Photo:  Preston Witcher

The Best Crew and Pacer A Guy Could Have!

Photo:  Unknown

I must say, I did not know what to expect at all from this race.  I am typically a very confident person, but this was unexplored territory for me.  And I loved every single minute of it.  I learned so much and cannot wait to apply some of those lessons learned in my next one.  And I am already planning that.

Bling

Chase The Moon 12 Hour Endurance Run Race Report

I had initially planned on doing the Power of Four 50K and the Devil Mountain 50 as lead up races for The Bear, but life gets in the way sometimes and I ended up deciding to do a great race in my own backyard with Chase The Moon 12 Hour Endurance Run.  This made sense for my family as the race was literally in my own backyard, alleviating the logistics and cost of traveling to the other races.  This also made sense for me as I had a little bit of specificity to it with running all night since it is a 12 hour race that runs overnight from 7pm to 7am.  It has a 10.3 mile loop that is run in a washing machine style, starting out counter-clockwise and then reversing clockwise.  Rinse and repeat as many times as possible until the cutoffs start.  Then you have the option of running a 3.5 mile loop until that cutoff kicks in toward the end of the event.  I wanted to see how my body would react at night after being up all day to get a feeling of what to expect at The Bear.  I definitely learned a lot.

I started this race with my friends Mike, Chuck, and Chris.  I made it through two loops with Mike and Chris which put it close to 11pm.  That is when I really started to notice the drop in my attitude and my energy.  I struggled through the next 30 miles on and off through the night.  I would hit a low and then regroup and get moving again.  It was definitely eye-opening for me to see that happen as I did not run into that when I ran my 50 miler at Run Rabbit last year.  I also learned that my heart rate drops to a low level overnight.  It is something that I paid close attention to while running this race.  No matter what I did to raise it, I could not.  I did not seem to have the energy to get my movement fast enough to raise it.  I noted this for what to expect in my 100 miler.

That all changed for me once first light hit.  I was climbing up with someone I had met on the trail.  We were staying together just making our way, but once the light hit, I was re-energized and began to pull away.  I was able to run once I crested the climb and ran it all the way in the last few miles.

I ended up getting 51.5 miles in 10:56:39 but that was all I needed.  It was really all I wanted too.  I had learned so much about what I can do running overnight and was going to think about that as I headed into the next 8 weeks of training for The Bear.

Me, Mike and Chuck                                   My Daughter and Me

Finished

Official Results

Strava Activity  

Dirty30 Race Report

This was one of my planned races for the season and to start to get my mountain legs working for the training I had coming up. This is an absolutely awesome race and you know it from the moment you sign up for it with tons of communication, year long social media presence and fun, and a great atmosphere.

A ton of people that I know we're also doing the race and I made plans with AJ, Chuck, and Barrett to head out together. We made our way out early enough that we were able to get one of the coveted parking spots at the start line. Any later and we would've had to take a shuttle in. We parked right next to Ben, so I made my way over for a chat as we got all our stuff together and made the requisite bathroom stops.  Then we made our way to the check in, got ready to go and met up with Chris at the start line. 

Chuck started 5 minutes before us with the fast guys. Nice Chuck!  Our gun went off and AJ, Barrett, Chris, and I started up the road. I had planned on sticking with Barrett and we chatted along the way for a bit. AJ started out nice and easy and I should have paid attention to that. Barrett started to pull away and I tried to keep him in sight. This race has a good amount of climbing in it and it felt like it kept going forever. I made it to, if I remember right, the second aid station and I stopped to refill my bottles with Tailwind. This is where Barrett pulled ahead on a big climb out of the station. I worked on keeping him in sight and headed out before I saw AJ or Chris come into the station. Again...I should've paid attention to that. 

On the way up the next climb, which was quite steep and rocky, I locked in behind this Scottish guy...or bloke should I say?  He really livened things up and I had a blast talking with him...when I could understand him. Haha. We made our way up and to the loop at the back part of the course. This is where we got to see the first of the elites and I made sure to say hi to Timmy Olson.  He looked solid. I made it to the aid station and turned around to climb back up where I just came from. This is where I saw AJ and Chris come in not far behind me. As I climbed back up a strong runner passed me and I tried to latch onto his progress. But he was too fast and pulled away. That's when AJ passed me like I was standing still. Remember when I said I should've paid attention? That's why. Like I was standing still. AJ is a very strong runner and I would expect him to pass me or stay ahead of me regardless, but I definitely started too fast. Nice work for AJ though and I stayed motivated and kept pushing on. I finally made it around to the last aid station before the dreaded Windy Peak climb. 

I got myself some cold Coke there. Coke is the one thing I love late in a race but it is never cold. And I gladly drink it hot. But it was COLD!!! Yes! I want to thank the volunteers for that....along with everything else!  My rocket fuel kicked in and I made my way down to start the climb. 

I saw Jeremy and Woody coming back up from the Windy Peak climb. Jeremy was doing the 12 miler and Woody was was doing the 50K and both of them were looking solid.  Jeremy told me the climb wasn't that bad and to just keep pushing.  Woody gave me some great encouragement and I pushed on up.  And kept pushing up...and more climbing up...this shot is where Kurt Hardester caught me climbing up Windy Peak maybe halfway up.  

After this shot, it climbs up and around the mountain and further up the backside of it.  Really rocky terrain as you get closer to the summit.  Once I hit the summit, I turned back around to make my way to the finish.  I remember finally getting into a groove and feeling like I was running well only to look down at my watch and see I was logging 11+ minute miles.  Go figure.

I had a goal of sub 7 hours on this one and didn't quite make it in.  I have dealt with Plantar Fasciitis for the past year and a half or so and it was really bothering me from about mile 12 on.  I sucked it up and ended up getting to the finish in 7:11:54.

Not bad and I was still quite happy with it.  It was exactly what I needed to build on for my 100 miler in September and I got what I wanted from it.

The post-race party was fantastic with food, and beer, and live music.  Again, this race is very well run and there is absolutely no question I will do it again.

Beer Goes Here

Official Results

Strava Activity

Platte River Half-Marathon Race Report

Well...it has been a while. I've been training hard all summer. Combined with full time kids and work and I have not had a chance to put any of my race reports up. So, I decided I should put some quick ones up for my races this year while on the drive out to the Bear 100 as we are headed into Utah.

My first race since Red Hot was a gift, so to speak, from a friend, Mike. It was a free entry into the Platte River Half. I wasn't planning on running this race as a 'race' and thought it would be fun to run with Mike.  Our friend, Chuck, was also running and we all drove down together.  I told Mike I was just going to take it easy and if he wanted to run ahead he should. I had just run 20 miles and 4k' of vert the day before and didn't want to push my training too much.  He said he was going to hang with me and we proceeded to run at a reasonably mellow pace. We talked a lot, as we always do, and I really enjoyed the run. He mentioned trying to progressively pick up the pace. I felt really good and agreed.  

About half to two-thirds of the way through the race I realized I could PR and casually mentioned it to Mike. I think that was all it took for him and he very quietly started to pick up the pace, egging me on a bit. After another mile or so, we were really moving along well and Mike picked it up again. He kept asking how I was feeling and I was good. So he would pick it up again. Then he talked about the bridge. The only "hill" on the course, which is a downhill course, is a bridge that goes up pretty good. He said lets push it up and kicked it into gear. I hesitated for only a brief moment and latched onto his heels. We passed a lot of people going up and over that bridge. We crested, turned the corner and hit the homestretch. We both sprinted in and heard Susie Wargin, call our names. 

I ended up PR'ing the half with a 1:40:22. We walked to the finish party and met Chuck. Grabbed our food, our beer, and headed back with a free ride on the LightRail. Great day and had a blast running and hanging out with Mike and Chuck.

Official Results

Strava Activity

Training and PT Thoughts - 3/2 - 3/22

Well, I am back at it.  I have my plan and am working toward my races for the year.  It is officially on.  It is going to be a long cycle with my first race in it coming up at the end of May with the Ultimate Direction Dirty 30.  I have my plan all laid out through September and have already been doing a great job in increasing my mileage responsibly.

But, after running the Moab Red Hot 55K on February 14th, I ended up taking a couple weeks of some downtime.  This wasn't the initial plan, but I had some body issues that popped up several days after the race that needed to be addressed.  So, I wanted to talk about what has happened and what I am doing about it.

First off, I did not take any time off during the winter months.  This was a first for me.  I have always taken some solid time off/down in the winter months.  I always keep running, but never the mileage that I accrued this year.  But, I was fit and feeling good and wanted to be sure I kept it up to springboard into this season.  Mission accomplished.  But, in return, I needed to do some stuff to ensure I could keep that training going without any repercussions.  And I did nothing.

Due to training over the winter months and not working on my strength, I have had an issue creep in from overuse.  What it appears is that it is Piriformis Syndrome.  I started feeling it about a week or so before the Moab race.  Driving out to Moab really caused it to become irritated as does sitting for any length of time really,  I use a standing desk at work and that really helps, but mostly I need to strengthen the glute and hip muscles so I can help release the piriformis and, in turn, release the sciatic nerve from impingement.  To do that, I have been incorporating a routine that helps build my hips and glutes.  This specific routine looks at helping IT Band issues, but, if you look at all the exercises, they mimic the same ones you need for piriformis syndrome.  So, I have begun to incorporate this routine into my schedule, and am doing this every other night before bed.

I use these items to help with the below exercises:

Exercise Band

Lacrosse Ball

Foam Roller

Lateral Leg Raises: lie on your right side with a theraband around your ankles.  Lift your left leg to about 45 degrees in a controlled manner, then lower.  I do 30 reps per side.

Clam Shells: lie on your right side with your knees together and a theraband around your lower thighs.  Your thighs should be about 45 degrees from your body and your knees bent at 90 degrees.  Open your legs like a clam shell but don’t move your pelvis – the motion should not rock your torso or pelvic girdle.  Keep it slow and controlled.  I do 30 reps on each leg.

Hip Thrusts: lie on your back with your weight on your upper back your feet.  Your legs will be bent at the knee.  Lift one leg so your weight is all on one leg and your back.  Lower your butt almost to the ground and thrust upward by activating your glutes.  This exercise is great for glute strength and hip stability.  I do 25 reps on each leg.

Side-Steps / Shuffle: with a theraband around your ankles and knees slightly bent, take ten steps laterally.  The band should be tight enough so it provides constant resistance during all steps.  Still facing the same direction, take another 10 steps back to your starting position.  That is one set.  I like to do 5 sets.  This exercise will look like a slow-motion version of a basketball “defense” drill.

Pistol Squats: These are simply one-legged squats.  The key to a successful pistol squat is to not lean forward, keep the motion slow and controlled, and make sure your knee does not collapse inward.  10 per side.

Hip Hikes: Stand on your right foot.  With your pelvis in a neutral position, drop the left side so it is several inches below the right side of your pelvic bone.  Activate your right hip muscle and lift your left side back to its neutral position.  I do 20 reps per side.

Iron Cross: This dynamic stretch will help you feel loose after the previous strength exercises. Lie on your back with your arms out to your sides and swing your right leg over your torso and up to your left hand. Repeat with your left leg and do 20 reps in total.

Now, I have also been dealing with plantar fasciitis/heel spurs since July of last year and have learned to run through it.  I have done lots of PT around this injury with massage, ice, heat, stretching, but none of it seems to work.  It will flare up and then subside.  It hasn't been really bad until just recently again and I am focusing on what may be causing it rather than just the symptoms.  

In speaking with the massage therapist as well as the chiropractor, they both see that my right leg is shorter than my left.  This is known to be a major cause of plantar fasciitis.  But why is my leg shorter?  It appears that my QT muscle has been doing most of the work and not my multifidus.  The QT is one that is use for stability, but should not be doing the work for the back.  Rather, the multifidus should be doing the work.  Thus, my QT muscle has gotten too big from taking the load, which has weakened my multifidus muscle and shortened the QT causing the chain reaction down my body to my foot.  Wow!  Crazy, eh?  Here is a diagram so you can see what I mean about those muscles:

We also believe this is part of what is causing my hips to be tight and contributing to my piriformis issue.  So...the head bone really is connected to the neck bone and so on down the line.  Important stuff to pay attention to.  So, in order to combat that and get my muscles to do the work they were designed to do, I have incorporated the following into the same routine at night.  This, hopefully, will help alleviate the real cause of my issues and help alleviate the symptoms.

I use these items for the routine:

55cm Exercise Ball

Spiky Foot Massager

Foot Strengthener

I do the following in the routine:

Back Extensions:  I use the 55cm exercise ball and lay on it face down with it in my belly.  I put my feet against the wall and keep my head up while I raise my body up a bit to work the multifidus muscle.  I do a total of 30 reps and do 2-3 sets.  You definitely feel this in your back.  The key here is to make sure you don't raise your body too high.  No higher than parallel to the floor.  It looks something like this but don't come up quite has high:

Foot Strengthener:  This one is easy, but really seems to help so far.  I do 30 reps per foot and, depending on how it feels, I will do 2-4 sets.

Massage:  Finally, I use the spiky massage ball to really get in on my fascia on the underside of my foot.  I roll it along my arch and really dig it into where the fascia connects on the underside and inside of my heel.  This hurts, but should break up the fascia which is what I need.

After I do this , I spend some time doing a yoga stretching routine, which is the same one I use after all my runs, and then go into using the roller and Lacrosse ball to target the piriformis as well as my hamstrings down through my calves and into my feet.

So, that is it in a nutshell.  I have been doing this now for a couple weeks.  It does seem to be working, though, since I am running 50+ miles/week now and it is only going to increase, I think it will take some time.  The piriformis issue really seems to be getting better with the exercises.  The plantar/heel spurs have good days and bad days.  I am just going to keep at it.  I will keep updating my results in case anyone is interested.