Wednesday, July 23, 2014
Friday, March 28, 2014
Wow! I just realized I haven't posted here for a long time. I'll make sure to update more often. So far 2014 has been a very good year. First, I'm healthy, been training, and other than a recent hammy strain, doing great! Hammer Nutrition is sponsoring me again this year and paid my way into my goal race this year, the Plain 100. Super excited about Plain and the lineup of races I have this year. I got off to a good start by winning my age group at the Orcas 50K.
My wife got interested into running last fall so we both ran our first 5K at the Portland Holiday run and I won my age group, but I was slow. We just ran the Portland Shamrock 5K and I had more competition and took 2nd in my group, still slow though. I now have the bug will train for some 5K this summer and try to go fast.
I also published another guide on Amazon, "The Paleo Primer for Trail Runners". You can check it out by clicking my author page link above.
My focus now is on the Sun Mountain 50 miler in May, one of my favorite events.
I also published another guide on Amazon, "The Paleo Primer for Trail Runners". You can check it out by clicking my author page link above.
My focus now is on the Sun Mountain 50 miler in May, one of my favorite events.
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Sunday, January 20, 2013
I was excited about this year, I felt great and the weather was good. My only concern was that I ran the upper loop the day before marking with spray paint and I felt it in my legs from slogging through the snow. I started out slow and made it to the first aid station in good time and had a shot of Tequila from the FOCF Tequila Bar. The next section was a steady climb where I felt low energy and hiked more than I should. Once on top I felt better on the backside loop until I hit the mile road section with the deeper snow. My legs remembered the day before and I slogged along slowly. From there was a steep climb to the top, which didn't feel that bad and it was sunny and warm at the summit with great views of Rainier and the Olympics. From there it was a fast 6 mile downhill to the Tequila Bar. This time I skipped the shooter and charged off to the last climb of the race. I caught up to a runner who was hiking/running about the same which really helped getting over the hump. On the last 5 mile downhill I felt great and quickly passed the other runner. I felt great, just like a short training run. I crossed the line around 7 hours, pretty good time on tired legs. It's always good to finish strong. I feel that I have a good start on the season this year.
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Sunday, December 09, 2012
Find it on Amazon: Funny Running Poems from Google Search
Friday, December 07, 2012
Monday, November 19, 2012
Why Am I Running...
Why am I running SlowerWhy am I running A Low Grade Fever
Why am I running Slower Than Before
Why am I running For School Board
Why am I running A Fever
Why am I running So Slowly
Why am I running Out of Hot Water
Why am I running And Not Losing Weight
Why am I running From God
SherpaHerb
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Saturday, July 21, 2012
On race day, Dave, Matt and I showed up for battle. Dave was in about the same situation as me except he rented a nice mountain bike. Matt was a mountain biker so we knew he would get a big lead on us at the start. The mountain bike leg went as feared. My bike was hard to control and I couldn;t shift into the low chain ring on the climbs so I got passed by alot of bikers. Then I hit a stump and went over the handlebars but landed softly! I finished near the end of the pack and tried to make up time on the road bike. I passed a few people but I definitely was not in biking form. At the kayak, I found I was only a few minutes behind Dave and I could see him way in the distance. My kayak was fast, so I started passing people and catching Dave. I landed at the dock right behind Dave and immediately took off on the run since Dave runs twice as fast as me. But the other legs had taken there toll and I was just plodding along. After a few minutes, Dave caught up to me but with the same problem, just shuffling along. After the turn around, Dave waited for me but then took off since I was going to slow. Just before the finish, I finally caught Matt, and all three of use finished within a couple of minutes of each other. Glad for it to be over, but I will do it again next year, but I think I will train a bit first!
Sunday, February 05, 2012
Monday, January 16, 2012
It's been almost a year since my last post. Last year was good. I felt stronger than ever after several weeks of hill training at Rock Candy Mt.
I had a pretty good White River 50miler, fell down running uphill at about mile 17 and lost all my electrolytes. I finally made it out of the flat section at the half way point feeling great, but dehydration set in during the next climb and it took me awhile to overcome. Ended up finishing just off my PR, but I was hoping to beat it by an half hour at least.
Cascade Crest was fun, then disappointing. I managed to fry my quads on the steep downhill before the tunnel at the half way point. Really hit me hard at mile 80 right after the No Name ridge aid station. I could barely walk on part of the fastest trail on the course. To make matters worse, Kris Ryding paced me from there, so she didn't get much of a run in but was very inspiring to have along. Again no PR as planned, took an hour longer!
I have an ambitious year planned with an early 100 miler at Badger Mt. Really looking forward to the Rainshadow runs in the North Cascades this summer.
I had a pretty good White River 50miler, fell down running uphill at about mile 17 and lost all my electrolytes. I finally made it out of the flat section at the half way point feeling great, but dehydration set in during the next climb and it took me awhile to overcome. Ended up finishing just off my PR, but I was hoping to beat it by an half hour at least.
Cascade Crest was fun, then disappointing. I managed to fry my quads on the steep downhill before the tunnel at the half way point. Really hit me hard at mile 80 right after the No Name ridge aid station. I could barely walk on part of the fastest trail on the course. To make matters worse, Kris Ryding paced me from there, so she didn't get much of a run in but was very inspiring to have along. Again no PR as planned, took an hour longer!
I have an ambitious year planned with an early 100 miler at Badger Mt. Really looking forward to the Rainshadow runs in the North Cascades this summer.
Monday, February 07, 2011
Another great time at Orcas. It started out a little slow, Kris and I missed the 4:00 ferry and had to wait 3 hours till the next one. Fortunately I had an audio book "4 Fish" and learned about the extermination of Atlantic salmon and the successful domestication that brought them back, a little genetically altered. Friday night at the lodge was fun seeing everyone show up, getting something to eat, then the Oly crowd headed to our bunkhouse. I scored a lower bunk with drawers so I was very happy. By 10:30 lights were out and we all konked out. Kris, Heidi, and I woke everyone up at 5:30 in the morning. Kris and Heidi were doing a super early start since they had to leave early afternoon and they wouldn't just run the 25K. I got up early to cut bagels and muffins for the breakfast I host every year. Breakfast went great, John and Alex (won the ultra series last year but now injured) helped alot. We were all bad at making coffee. At the start of the 50K, I ran into Glen but didn't catch up to him till about 3 miles in. We ran the first loop together until the downhill when Bushwaker showed up and I took off. I felt great after the first loop, and had a good climb up the powerline, Bushwaker passed me right away, good training for Hard Rock! I topped the powerline and had a great downhill chasing Joesph down to the lake. But I hadn't been drinking enough and I was about out of water for the loop around the lake. I stumbled through this bad patch, mad at my poor planning. I started to recover after the water stop and climbed the 3 miles to the top of Constitution with Joesph. It was great to see Glen near the top taking pictures and even better seeing the aid station at the top. I chugged down some fluids, ate some food, grabbed a cookie and headed down. My dehydration showed on the downhill. I just couldn't get the wheels turning. But I felt good so as it started to level out, I ran better. When I got down to the last lake loop, it looked like I might be able to finish under 7hrs.
I was running strong, but at the back end of the lake, we were sent on a new trail so the finish was farther away than I thought. I didn't care, I was happy I was running strong at the end especially after not training much before the race. I finished in 7:07, sixth in my age group, a half hour slower than last year. I guess the course was a little harder and longer than last year and I was a little bit slower. As usual, great food, music, beer, and bonfire after the race.
It was a great start for what I hope is a fun ultra season!
I was running strong, but at the back end of the lake, we were sent on a new trail so the finish was farther away than I thought. I didn't care, I was happy I was running strong at the end especially after not training much before the race. I finished in 7:07, sixth in my age group, a half hour slower than last year. I guess the course was a little harder and longer than last year and I was a little bit slower. As usual, great food, music, beer, and bonfire after the race.
It was a great start for what I hope is a fun ultra season!
Monday, January 17, 2011
We had a very successful Capitol Peak Mega Fat Ass. Last week I marked the upper part of the course, on race day I was going to sweep with Kris. The morning started with me watching the start, then heading up to Falls Creek to set up the turnaround aid station with Glen Rodgers. We then headed up to the peak where Glen would be stationed. I ran down the course to Falls Creek to meet Kris. It was a great warm-up run and I got to see most of the long course runners heading up the hill before I got to the 17 mile turnaround. It was unseasonably warm and dry and everyone was in good spirits. I didn't have to wait long for Kris sweeping behind the last long course runner, who promptly dropped! The last runners left about 10 min prior so I knew we would catch them before the top. We headed up at a steady pace and it began to rain. I ran into Seth in first place bombing down past the trail 50 intersection, he only had a couple of minutes on Yassine though. It would prove not to be enough. By the time we reached the top, we had caught the last runner, the temperature dropped 10 degrees, the wind was blowing and we were in full rain gear. The last guy was 61 years old and just plodding along. As Kris and I followed him, we started to get cold, and he started to have problems. Half way up the steep grunt, we decided I should run ahead and get the search and rescue to drive up to the peak and pick him up. I ran up and over the peak and down to the search and rescue and rode with them back up to the top to pick up the runner. Then I ran back down to the aid station with Kris and grabbed my insulated vest to stay warm. The last runners were now a 1/2 hour ahead of us, but we make up 15 mins on them by the time we reached Fall Creek. Boy it was wet, I've never seen it that wet up there and the trails were raging creeks. It was slow going picking up the flagging and all the water and mud. We never caught up to the last runners and finished just as it got dark. We were both totally soaked and tired but it was a good experience and I got 30miles in!
Monday, April 26, 2010
There are so many to thank for this weekend's Capitol Peak 50 miler. First of all, thanks to John for despite many obsticles, put on a fantastic race on a great course with great weather and thanks for letting me run it this year. After hurting my hamstring 2 weeks ago at Peterson Ridge 60K, thanks to Ted from Integrated Sports Therapy for getting me back on the trail with no pain. Thanks to Kris and James for most excellent trail marking, aid stations and everything else. Thanks to tall Dave and Jim for chopping that tree across the road like busy beavers. Thanks to Wayne for not being 20mins late picking me up for the start. Thanks for Racheal for hopefully accepting my apology. Thanks to tall Dave and Wayne for starting slow and running steady with me. Thanks to Clem for giving me tips about the Swan Crest trail. Thanks to Kent Holder for showing us how it's done when you're over 70. Thanks to Bill and Jenifer for running the Mt. Molly aid station all day. Thanks to Dave and Terry for standing in the middle of no where and pointing us up the grunt. Thanks to Ulrike for sweeping though I never saw you. Thanks to Laura for helping Kris sweep. Thanks to Heidi for finishing strong. Thanks to Rob for finishing 6th in his first ultra. And finally, thanks to Wayne for finishing his first 50 miler!
Sunday, January 24, 2010
This is going to be a very interesting year. It all started out with a notification that I was selected to be a Hammer Nutrition sponsored athlete for 2010! I thought it was worth applying for since I had quite a few podium finishes in my age group, but I think they were most impressed with the number of referrals from my website. I get some free stuff to hand out and deep discounts so it will be alot of fun. The other exciting news is I'm going to do the Swan Crest 100 in Montana at the end of July, should be an incredible course as a point to point along the Swan Crest range. Hopefully I will also be able to do the Waldo 100K again and get an age group award.
I had mixed results at our first event this year, the Capitol Peak Mega Fat Ass. I normally only do the 25K, but this year I went for the 50K distance. Unfortunately, I came down with some stomach flu and turned around early a couple of miles short of the summit. I still got in about a 24 mile run, but I really wanted to run the whole thing. At least I got back in under 5 hours and got to watch most people finish. Next is Orcas 50K, fun time but hard course.
I had mixed results at our first event this year, the Capitol Peak Mega Fat Ass. I normally only do the 25K, but this year I went for the 50K distance. Unfortunately, I came down with some stomach flu and turned around early a couple of miles short of the summit. I still got in about a 24 mile run, but I really wanted to run the whole thing. At least I got back in under 5 hours and got to watch most people finish. Next is Orcas 50K, fun time but hard course.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Note to self, don't drive to a race on I-5 on a late friday afternoon! The longness of my weekend started with sitting by the tacoma dome for a half hour waiting for traffic to clear so I could make to HWY 18. Kris missed the delay by taking the Puallyup shortcut, what was I thinking? Wayne, Kris, and I all car camped together at the start/finish. John was there helping out James organizing the aid stations and making a late night trip into town to pick up more supplies. Of course James waited until about 10:30pm to head out and mark the whole course! I slept great and woke up early to help get the registration table organized since James was still out marking the course. James showed up just in time to give the pre-race talk and get us started. The course starts with a two mile uphill on a gravel road which was marginally runnable. I managed to keep up with Kris, and Wayne even caught up to us, all that Rock Candy Mt training was paying off! Once on single track trail, it kept going up and I couldn't keep up with Kris anymore so off she went. My goal was to finish 1st in my age group so I started looking for old farts to pass. I was feeling good and it was great to see John making p-nut butter sandwiches at the first aid station. After 10 miles of constant up, it was great to be on the ridges, but the trail always seemed to have more ups then downs. I decided to take it easy, not knowing if there would be any relief further down the trail. I managed to pass what I figured was the last old guy and ended up running alone for a couple of hours. The weather was great at the start, but now there were rain showers and wind blowing on the exposed ridges, so I threw on my jacket and enjoyed the peekaboo views. I finally caught up to a couple of runners as we ascended the big switchbacks up the exposed grassy hillside. A couple of miles later, we made it to the aid station. It seemed that the distance between aid stations was always more than expected and the trail continued to have more up than down! Finally there was a good downhill section and I took off, leave the other runners in the dust. One of the aid station workers told me that Kris was about 8 min ahead, but I didn't think I would catch her since she is always faster on the downhills. But the down was short lived and I was back to an upward slog when I ran into Kris, who was just standing there, frustrated about where the next aid station was. We ran together to the last aid station, but shortly after leaving, Kris decided to slow down since she was doing hundred in the hood next week and only needed to finish. I told her only six more miles, should only take an hour and a half. But the trail was still going up and it took forever to reach the water drop with 2 miles to go, before the final downhill and Kris went blowing by me cussing and swearing about it taking too long to finish. I just kept plodding along at an easy pace and got passed for the first time by the woman I passed back at the windy pass aid station. I figured I would finish around 7:30, but that time went and passed and I still wasn't close to the finish. So ten minutes later, I finally saw the line. Kris beat me by over 3 minutes, but I was happy, I won my age group and James gave me a couple pairs of socks as a prize! The best part was waiting for Wayne to show up. He was concerned about finishing this hard race and we had even talked about taking the early start, but in the morning, he toed the line with the rest of us. We were getting nervous as the cutoff time was approaching when here comes Wayne, hauling down the trail with 5 min. to spare! It was a great accomplishment for him, just starting trailrunning a year ago. This course was exceptionally agrivating because it always seemed to go up and come to find out, it was probably 34 miles so it was long and it felt long. I hung out afterwards to help break down the finish and since I had room in my van, hauled some tables to Easton for storage. I ended up very tired and the next day felt that even though I had a good race, I was just burned out on the whole process and decided this was my last race for the season. I would miss hundred in the hood, but I had a good season, finishing in the top three of my age group in every race but one. It's now time to regroup, rest, then start training for next year!
Monday, September 07, 2009
I was looking forward to this race for many reasons, in '06 I only made it half way, in '07, I took a 6 mile detour. So this time I was ready to hit it hard. This is one of my favorite races, but now it conflicts with my new favorite race, the Cascade Crest 100. So I guess I'll be alternating races each year. After missing out on the hardware at White River 50 because I wasn't a member of USATF, I joined for this race since it was the 100K championship and I had a chance for the podium in my age group. Kris and I drove down together and stayed in a little cabin just down the road from the start. We both skiped the early start this time, we felt we should be able to finish under the 16 hours and win a hat doing the regular start. I have to admit it was alot better starting at 5:30am rather than 3:30. At the start, there is a mile hike up a ski run to get warmed up before running on single track started. I was feeling realy good and stuck behind Wendy as she passed through little groups of runners. After a while, I let her go, she's alot faster than me and I settled into a comfortable pace to the first aid station where I took a potty break and took off for Mt Fuji. It was great on the out-n-back to see the leaders and on the way down, I saw Kris not too far behind me. I felt great from Fuji to Mt Ray then halfway to the Twins, things started to unravel. My stomach started to go and I started to slow down. By the time I got to the Twins aid station, I wasn't feeling very good and couldn't figure out why. Unfortunatly, Kris showed up at the aid station feeling the same way, so we limped out of there together and headed to Charlton Lk, the halfway point at a slow pace. I had a brief moment of thought at Charlton lake about dropping, but we were way ahead of our split time and Kris and I decided to take off hoping we would feel better later. I figured out I was dehydrated and at road 4290 aid station took some time to drink alot. From there, I felt better and better and left Kris to go off on my own. I had a good run back to the Twins and figured I was still an hour ahead of my projected split. I took it easy on the climb to Maiden Peak and also on the steep downhill because last time I got shin splints and had to limp into the finish. This time I felt great and ran well on the last leg, passing a few runners until Ben Blessing went flying past me with two miles to go, hoot'n and hoolering. He also passed me near the end of Cascade Crest so it was actually fun to see him go by. I finished at 14:35, a great time for me and ended up getting a USATF medal for 2nd in my age group!
Monday, July 27, 2009
This was going to be an interesting race. I was feeling good but the weather was going to be hot. I did ok with hot weather at the Grey Rock 50K so I thought I still had a good chance to get a good time. I was especially happy that my new trail shoes showed up at the running store 20min before I was leaving town, they had been back-ordered for 3 weeks and I was afraid I would have to run in my beat up road shoes. Got up to Buck creek and set up my tent by the start line then up to Crystal Mountain for the spagetti feed. Met Kris up there and we ran into Glen and heard his great story of finishing Western States just under the time limit. After a great nights sleep, woke up in time to watch the Eric and TJ take off with the early starters. I decided to where my pack for the first half of the race so I could carry all my fuel, then ditch it when it got hot. I ran the first leg too fast again, even with a minor fall, it was good to see John there to cheer us on and I was feeling great. Charged up the climb and did the stairs without anyone passing me which has never happened before. A quick potty break and I met up with Kris and and actually beat her to Corral Pass. At the aid station, there was John cheering us on and after grabbing some eats, Kris and I left together. On the way back, we saw Heidi and Harvey both doing well. When we got to Ranger creek, I knew Kris would crush me on the downhill, but I actualy stayed with her half the way down until I started not to feel good. I got to Buck creek almost on 10hr time and by far the fastest I'd done that first loop. I tried to fuel up as best I could, but couldn't get up to speed on the 2 mile flat before the climb to Fawn ridge. Things got worse during the climb, I was hiking slow and couldn't run the runable sections. It was warm, but I had screwed up my fueling and was low on energy. To top it off, I couldn't choke down a gel so it wouldn't be till I stumbled into the Fawn ridge aid station before I could fix my situtation. I spent some time recovering at the aid station and getting refueled and by the time I made it to Sun Top I was feeling better, but still spent too much time there before heading down the 6.5 mile road section. The downhill went great! I just took off at a steady fast pace and stayed consistant all the way to the bottom, passing about 10 runners. At skookum flats aid station, I had to sit in a chair for a couple of minutes though, with John reminding me that the finish line was that a way! So I headed off down the trail, feeling ok, plodding along until about the last three miles I ran out of energy and had difficulty running for any length of time. I think almost all the runners I passed on the downhill went by me in this last section. It was hot and depressing and I was mad about screwing up my finish time. I eventually made it to the finish at 10:46, not a bad time for the conditions but I knew I should have done much better. Kris struggled also but still beat me by at least 20 min. Heidi came in an hour later, very tired, and Harvey kept us all anxious by finishing 2 min. before the cutoff, the last official finisher! I was very happy with my performance on the first loop and the road downhill. I think I needed to eat more atfter the ranger creek aid station to not fall behind before I reached buck creek. Well I should be able to go under 10 hours next year!
Friday, July 17, 2009
"The toughest 50K in Washington" With a boast like that, I couldn't wait to check this race out in Yakima. After a successful Rock n Roll marathon, Harvey signed up and we car pooled over with his 2 year old daughter and brother-in-law Gil as the babysitter. After checking into our hotel in Yakima, Harvey had the good idea to drive out to the trail head so we could time it correctly in the morning. Lucky we went out there since it ended up taking about an hour to get up to the campground. The next morning, we arrived right on time, it was a small mostly local crowd doing either the 50k, 25k or 12k. King Arthur showed up on his harley after waking up at 2am and charging over the pass. The RD gave his pre race talk emphasing that it would get hot out there and to take lots of water. He also warned us about lighting strikes and forest fires. At the start, we went up the first 2 mile climb, I took it comfortably and in no time was cruising down the 5 mile downhill to the middle aid station. Then came the 7 mile up to the turnaround aid station. I spead up to pass the guy in my age group ahead of me. It was starting to warm up and I could feel alittle elevation (5-6,000ft) but the climb wasn't that bad. I got to the aid station, did the mile out n back and checked my watch. 3:10! this was going much better than I thought. Instead of trying to beat 7 hrs, I was closer to a 6 hr finish! On the way back, I heard a helicopter and a couple miles down the ridge was a new forest fire. It looked like it was far enough away not to effect our race, but I caught myself interrupting my downhill run stopping to look at the fire from time to time. It was getting hot so when I left the middle aid station, I decided that instead of going all out to finish under 6 hours, I would take it easy on the last 5 mile climb since I had my age group in the bag. So I walked most of the climb, got passed by a couple of runners, then I even took it easy on the last 2 mile downhill because it was rocky and I didn't want to fall. I finished in 6:10 and felt pretty good about how I managed the race. I stayed well hydrated and felt good most of the time. I even got a little medal for winning my age group. But all that went out the door when I locked Harvey's keys in his van. It ended up taking Harvey 31/2 hours to catch a ride into town, get hold of AAA, and ride with the locksmith back out to the campground. In the meantime, I helped the volunters break down the finish line. It was a great event, but a long day...
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