Autumn Leaves 50k

Race prep usually includes resting and hydrating and eating pasta. Some people are different, do different things... but usually those three things are pretty common. Well in Minnesota, I had many a race (mostly xc ski races) on the morning after watching a hockey game, and well, why not try to replicate past routines! I attended the winterhawks game Friday night, with some friends from school, some of whom had never been to a hockey game, we had a good time. We heckled the cougars from Prince George, and they heckled me when I left w/ 5 minutes to go in the third, but I had to get home to rest! Running 50k tomorrow. Many of my non-running friends think I'm certifiably insane, no question about it. So anyway... I was not getting the rest that I wanted, but they always say it's the night before the night before that really matters right?

Alarm goes off at 5:30 and I hit snooze. Twice. So that basically made me behind my planned scheduled departure. I ate breakfast a little later than I wanted, and I usually forget things when I'm in a rush. I made it out the door, and was on my way.

I had plenty of time before the race to get my stuff to the right spot, and well wait for about 10 minutes. Today, my warm up was going to be during the race. We got going and a "Team Eugene" guy took off. Seriously fast and he didn't let up the whole race. I guess that's why he's on team Eugene (they are fast). So, I was running with my new friend Win, (that's his name), and basically, he was talking and I was wanted to say, shutup, or slow down, but i did neither and just ran next to him.

The first lap was 10k, and the next 5 are 5 miles, and we did the first 10k in about 41 minutes. That was faster than I wanted to, but hey, I was doing fine, so I stopped for some gu, and continued on. The race morning was awesome for running. at most 50 degrees, and sunshine, calm winds. So after that first lap, I took off one of my (3) layers. Now overall, the course was really good, with about 2/3 of the loop being paved trail, and the other 1/3 being real trail. The one gripe I had started during the second lap, when we hit the 1 mile out, 1 mile back section on the same path, so essentially we covered this 12 times over the course of the race. boooring. But you could see the competition which is good (if your 'on') or bad (if you're fading). At this point I couldn't really tell, but I knew I was in 3rd place after the 2nd lap, which I covered easily in about 34 minutes. So that was my planned pace (35 minute 5 mile loops).

This was my first time doing this run and the flyer says 'the loop can be considered very flat and very fast' I'd tend to agree with that. If you want to run a fast ultra this is one good chioce. They did add a small hill this year but it's really small, so it's not really a factor, unless you slip on wet leaves... So I didn't slip on the leaves, don't worry.

The third lap I considered the half way lap, which thinking about this, was really not half way until the 3rd lap is complete. but I needed to think it was half way for moral support. I was still feeling really good, and I think I was down to my sleeveless T at this point, because it was so nice out. It must have pepped me up, because I did the 3rd lap in about 33 minutes. Yea! ahead of pace. Maybe I could turn this into a sub 3 marathon!??! The end of lap 5 is the marathon split. But first I had to do lap 4. Each time going around the loop, I kept seeing the same people... So some were doing the 50 miler, some the 50k, and some even started at 6am... but on the return stretch I saw some of the same people. So I thought Hmmm, he must be chasing me. At this point I knew I was in second place (Win quit after lap 3), with the first place guy, way way out front. So anyway. Lap 4 was just under 35 minutes. I was slowing a bit, still running 7 minute miles. Good enough. still ahead of pace. Honestly my goal today was sub 4. I'd be happy with that. I also thought, it would be cool to run boston pace for a 50k (3:10 marathon pace). I also thought it might be awesome to run sub Meissner in 2006, when he did this same event in 3:40:18. AH HAA a challenge. We're pretty good rivals, at least from 2004-2007 in the bigfoot 10k in Bend, but he usually wastes me in the long stuff, but he's also got way more experience with them. And come to think of it, we only raced a 50k together once. Anyway, I hit the marathon in about 3:01. pretty sweet. Sean said if I hit the marathon in 3:00 I'd have no trouble going under his time. My pace however was slowing. I had 39 minutes to run the last 5 mile loop, after running 26.2 already. My split after the first 2 of the last 5 miles was 15:30, so I was beginning to think I could do it, sub 8 minute miles. We got to the out-n-back section and I saw Stan pacing his wife running (Stan who put together the pumpkin run in N. Bonneville a couple weeks ago) and I asked "would you tell anybody if I turned around now??, we got a laugh about it, but I knew, that 3rd place was not far behind me, and sure enough i got passed right before the turn around, oh well. I was still well ahead of planned pace having a good time (suffering).

The trail section was hard on this last lap. I wasn't running fast, but I was really fighting for it. I got to the line, and the clock said 3:39:59, and then 3:40, and I was like Shit Yea. I guess my 'official' time was 3:40:14, Pretty unbelievable. The ultra running crowd is second to none, it's sure a welcoming and friendly bunch.

So it was a really struggle, those last five miles, but it just goes to show you... keep on keepin on!

Also, I did this run with no ipod. I had planned to bring along the shuffle, only to figure out I left it in the car right when the guy said "1 minute 30 seconds to start", so, maybe that's just as well. Lots of solo time out there in these ultras compared to bike racing and other shorter events.

Anyway! Happy running!

I-84 EAST.

Well a tired Laurie made it to Thailand after a marathon flight plan that went from PDX to Tokyo (11 hrs), then from Tokyo to Bangkok (7 hrs), and then an 8 hour bus ride to Mae Sot, the site of the Op Smile mission. woah. Send her email she has limited access. Might not respond right away, but I she will get them.

In more local news, make sure and check out the photos from the bonneville dam tour we went to yesterday. It was pretty cool.

I went up early with James, with the intent of running the Pumpkin run 5 miler in North Bonneville, WA. We planned to leave a little early... but I ended up showing up about 5 minutes late, and then James wasn't at the pre-determined meeting place either. Since I was late, I didn't feel like calling him right away, and he showed up at about 4 minutes to 8 (planned departure was 7:45am) The race start was 9am (as indicated on the website of the Columbia Gorge Running Club). We still had enough time to get there. So as we rolled out, we pondered a little on whether or not to take the washington side (hwy 14) or the Oregon side (I-84). At the last moment, I decided to take the oregon side, thinking the time saved would be worth the $1 toll on the bridge of the gods. I exited off of I-205, onto I-84. Only problem was, it was I-84 west. not East, like we wanted. Never make this mistake, even if your not in a hurry. Because there are no exits for miles, and then when you finally get to an exit, you can't just go over to the other side and get back on the interstate going the other direction.

Where was the damn GPS when we needed it. The iPhone sucks for turn by turn directions, unless you want to get in an accident... So we weaved through some city streets, and basically got every red light, and finally, after at least 2 U-turns, found I205, and then got on the right path. We figured we were not going to make it to the run on time, so we figured we'd go anyway, and just run, since it was on trails, and we did have time before the Dam tour at 10am.

We finally made it to N. Bonneville, and what do you know... the race hadn't started yet! so we paid our 2 bucks, and tried to keep warm for a few mintues before it got started. It seemed like if they would have started any later, we would have been late for the dam tour.

The run was good... 4 pretty much flat miles on a very nice trail with views of the gorge and then an unexpected 5th mile that was 3/4 up hill. Not like the uphill at Mac 15k, but brutal still. I ended up 3rd, and got an awesome pumpkin pie, a free 6 inch at subway (in stevenson, WA), a $5 certificate for tha bahma coffe bar in stevenson, and a coffee giftcard for Jolindas in stevenson that doesn't say how much its worth. Pretty sweet for $2 bucks for the entry fee! If you're going through stevenson, i'll hook you up w/ lunch and coffee. Let me know!

Joe Dudemans race report here.

We got to the Dam tour at 10:10, and Lee Sheldon (our professor) wasn't there yet, so all was good on a day where we could have used the extra hour that we got today!!! Too bad there aren't more days when we fall back. Wouldn't it be sweet to set your watch back an hour more days of the year? After the tour we went to the infamous Char Burger (Lee's favorite hang out) for lunch and ate the pumpkin pie that I won earlier in the day.

Bonneville dam slideshow here. (click photo for caption)

Non-acedemic plans over the next few weeks:
Vancouver fall 5 mile
Champeog autum leaves run (which distance? hmm)
Hood River turkey trot

Happy Halloween

I will spare you the spam email, and simply ask you to click this link for a laugh.

http://tinyurl.com/56m8h3

Thanks Sean.

and, for what it's worth, i already voted by mail, because that's what they do in Oregon.

As for other comments on the whole election thingy, it's pretty interesting how it's playing out. The national media seems to bey way pro-obama, and all the polls say he's leading, but it's getting closer and closer as we approach the election... or is it...? They just want everyone and anyone to watch the TV on Nov 4th, because that's all they care about is ratings. The newspapers are all going bankrupt, so TV man, that's where its at for the media moguls.

We have had a president for the last 8 years that pretty much nobody likes, that won in 2000 by the slimest of margins... and could have easily have gone the other way, if not for a few idiots in Florida. GWB started a war, can't stop the endless campaign in iraq, and is now pretty unpopular, even with the repbulcans. you don't see him campaigning for Mccain, at all. And he's repbulican, it's pretty apparent that the voting public has shown it's disdain for the decisions of the president, and is taking it out on the party by putting alot of democrats in the senate and house. If Obama wins, we'll have a supermajority, whatever that is. Is that good? probably not, but I think its worth a try.

It seems that the country is more divided than ever. The people that don't like Mccain, really, really don't like him, and the people who don't like Obama really, really don't like him. That's not good. We have two types of people here as I see it. You've got the what I'll call, new-school versus old school thought train. I know that not everything is perfect with Obama, but you know, Mccain picked Palin for fricken sakes. What kind of judgement is that?

To me, it's mostly about inspiration. One of the candidates in this election inspires, and one does not so much.

Who inspires you?

Finally

A blog post!

Well it's been a while since I updated, and I guess that's because not much exciting has been going on. It's been real nice fall here in Portland, the leaves are turned. It's been mostly rain free, except for a day here and there, and lets just say, that we'll take that as long as possible.

Last year I was cyclocrossing, but this year, I havn't really got race fever yet. It's been more popular than ever, and all the races up here are breaking records in terms of riders, which is great. I have gotten in some epic road rides around the northwest hills which is always fun. (Westwood st. up to council crest, west 57th, thompson to skyline, then up old germantown road. yea.) As far as the running goes, the ankle feels ok; I'm lacing them up for a 15k trail run near corvallis tomorrow. I won't break my records, but hopefully will show up on time this year. After that it's going to be cruise control until I turn on the mileage in January, to get ready for my second Hagg. That's the plan.

I've been coaching some workouts with the PDX nordic ski training group, sponsored by XC-Oregon. There's been an average of about 16-25 people per weekend, and that's alot for Portland. I've helped out last year, and there was an average of about 3 people per week, so the excitement is building you could say! I think the nicer fall weather has been a big plus too. As far as the coaching goes, we do a mix of strength, technique and intesity training in a 90 minute session. I'm not exactly yelling: Come-on dirtbags!!! get your asses up the hills, but today lets just say they were sweating.

Next week Laurie leaves to Thialand, for a few weeks of op smile medical mission, and travels... but I'll still be here. Our Hydro instructor is taking us on a tour of the Bonneville Dam next weekend; he knows pretty much everything about hydro-electric dams and pretty much invented the things, as far as he's concerned.

the break in review

Six weeks off, well sorta. I still managed to work under 20 hours per week so it wasn't complete off time, if you know what I mean. The spirits are high and the future looks good, despite continued possible world financial melt down and eminent government bail out. The break started out...

with a day trip to the coast. It was one of those 100 degree days inland, where it's about 60 at the coast. Pretty special for the dogs who pretty much

The macbook just crashed a while ago (and the blogger autosaved the above, so I'm just leaving it), and now I'm on the PC. Sux for me. Hopefully the macbook comes back to life tomorrow, but it's not looking good right now.

Anyway, the dogs loved the beach. Then it was on to Minnesota for Labor day weekend! It was some great weather (in the 90s), and we got to spend some time at the lake with family. Too bad we couldn't stay longer, but we both left with a little bit of a chest cold.

Then I planned to do some 10ks and a half marathon (Laurie did the 1/2 marathon along w/ Kelli and Kyle above!), to get back into shape. I did the first 10k, and it was pretty good. On the Tuesday after the P2P 10k, I sprained my ankle ending all hope of running any other races during the break. Oh well. I've been getting some rides in at least, and the ankle is finally feeling better.

I got to go sailing w/ a friend from school in his catamaran and after several hours of fun sailing we were nearing the end of the day, and caught an unusually strong gust of wind and flipped the thing. I ended up sitting on the top cat up in the air, and he was in the drink with his son. So we did manage to get it upright, but it wasn't easy. All in all, it was fun.

Then last week, we went to Bend for the weekend, after not being there much at all for the last year (and then some). The whole weekend, we hardly went anywhere without running into someone we knew, which felt kinda good, (but admittedly was a little weird), but just reinforces the small town-ness of Bend (that we miss) and that we don't get much of here in Portland.

So school starts on Monday, so it will be good to get back in the mix with the other clowns /er students again, we have a pretty good group. I'm looking forward to new classes this term. It's like a chance at a new start. Also, Laurie is going to be in Thailand (w/ OpSmile) in November for 3 weeks so send care packages around halloween. :D

And I watched the debate the other night, and I found it real interesting how Mc-Cane (sic), basically ignored Obama when Obama said we have to restore America's reputation in the world, because the world view of the USA is basically pretty shitty. McCane (sic) is an old timer that has all this 'experience', but I'm saying that all that experience he's got, is just what got us into this mess (or all of these messes) and we need some new life running the show up there. holla if you hear me! WORD.

Now lets just hope the bail out works.

P2P

Battled through a strong chest cold for days, I didn't know how I would feel, but I felt good enough to run the pints to pasta 10k. The name implies there's pints at the start and pasta at the finish, but that's not quite accurate. Both are at the end of the race, but it goes from (near) the widmer brewery to the old spaghetti factory in portland. A more accurate name would be strips to pints and pasta, because the actual start is at the North American Adidas headquarters (Adidas = 3 stripes) and there's free beer and pasta at the end (at 9am!).

Since it was point to point, and I didn't want to ride the school bus to the start, I decided I needed another training run to prepare, so I ran to the start (a tradition at bigfoot 10k in bend). The race is downhill for the first mile and then mostly really flat after that. I took that as a free fast mile, just was going to pace it easy down the hill to 1M and then start to race. With that tactic, I essentailly turned the 6.2 mile race into a 5.2. mile race.

It was a really hot day, and I felt slow, but hit three miles in just under 18 minutes. I just tried to hold on, and amazingly the miles just clicked by, but I still felt slow. The final time: 37:34! 6:03 pace. woo hoo.

Race 1 of 3 is complete in my 'fall weekend footrace before school starts' season. Next up Timberline half marathon next sunday. Sean says I should run the marathon the day before, but it's filled up! So there that's my excuse. The next weekend is bend bigfoot 10k.

Time to get in shape

Joe Nathan