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

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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