Wildcat 50K

This was the 4th running of the Wildcat 50K at Wildcat Den State Park Muscatine Iowa. I had missed the other runnings due to not knowing anything about the race before 2012. In 2012 I was recovering from my 100 mile attempt at OT100 but I had heard from several friends that this was a great race. I had also heard that the course was tough, consisting of 5 hilly,rough 10K loops. I was looking forward to the race but was a little nervous as I had been told that the course was challenging. I picked up Ross early in the morning and we headed down to the race. I, of course ate my normal pre race honey bun and gatorade. When we arrived we checked in and dropped our donation. This race was a very very low key affair. You showed up, signed in,ran as many loops as you wanted, ate some food and went home. Great food and great people.

After a short speech and a group picture  Myself, Ross, Ross and Kelly started off in a small group. Rob also said he was going to run a few loops. Kelly and Ross K were going to run just a few loops as well while I and Ross S planned on doing the 50K.

The course crossed a road and immediately headed up a long gradual ridgeline. As usual at the start of a race everyone was jockying for position on the single track and it was back to front for the first mile or so. Eventually we headed down hill over a set of railroad tie steps then back up a small set of steps and across a level area next to a large rock formation. The course then headed up hill across another ridgeline. Then down a steep hill and up another one. This hill was one of the few I found it necessary to walk up, the angle was significant. Then the course continued over some fairly rolling terrain to a campground at the 3.1 mile mark. The campground had a small aid station where we turned around and headed back. The trail was mostly single track covered with leaves. Not very technical but the hilly up and down was constant and unrelenting. The out section was generally up hill which made the return section generally a net downhill, however there were ups and downs both ways.

We all ran the first two loops fairly effortlessly treating it as a normal group run. The conversation was great and the miles flew by. After the second loop Ross K and Kelly called it a day and Ross S and I continued on. On our way out on the 3rd loop we saw Rob heading in and feeling strong. At the top of one of the large hills a bandit aid station had surfaced giving out delicious, yummy bacon. I told them I would grab a piece on the way back as we headed down the hill. It was about then that my achilles started acting up. I had been having issues with it since July but today it really started to irritate. I think it was the camber of the trail and they constant up and down that irritated it. Eventually the pain moved up my leg all the way from achilles to lower back. My right hamstring felt like a rubberband about to snap and I couldn't take a full stride. I started falling back off the pace. I could tell Ross was getting restless as he would run ahead and then wait for me to catch up. I felt bad but I couldn't go any faster, I just tried to keep moving forward. On the way back, on the 3rd lap I grabbed a piece of marvelous bacon which lifted my spirits immensely. The 4th lap was more of the same as I struggled to run through the nagging pain that made running uncomfortable at best. The high point was seeing Rob a few more times, surprisingly he seemed like he might be running the entire race after running his first marathon just a week before.

Ross and I continued and started the last lap. I told him there would probably more walking involved. There was more walking as I declined to run up some of the larger hills I had managed to run up earlier. Truthfully though at this point I was probably walking uphill as fast as I could run uphill. So we made it to the turnaround and headed back the last 3 miles. I started feeling better somehow as the miles clicked off. Finally we hit the last downhill and headed into the finish tent. I hit my stopwatch at 6:31:49. Not my best 50K but certainly not my worst and surprisingly good enough for 9th place overall. Given the terrain and my injury I was happy with that. Immediately post race I ate a few chili dogs and had some Coke Zero. Then Ross and I drove home. It was a great day. Oh yeah and Rob finished the entire race.. UltraRob the animal!!!

Fairview Farm 5 Mile Trail run

Well..I have no pictures for this post because I had intended on posting a video log of the entire race. But my technological inefficiency showed through and my Go Pro battery was drained when I got to the race. I guess I must have left it on after I charged it. Anyways this was a good race and a great day.

The first great thing was, it was the end of Daylight Savings time and I got to sleep in an extra hour. The second great thing was I able to get  in 11 pre race trail miles at Beverly park and got to see the usual squirrels but with the additional bonus of the 6 point buck that hangs out in the park. He is usually pretty elusive and its only the 3rd time I have seen him. The third great thing was my son ran the race also and my wife was able to watch. She doesn't go to a lot of my races so that made me happy.

This race is literally a block from my house but I have never run it before because of scheduling conflicts. So after I got done with my warm up miles the family and I moseyed on down to the race site and checked in. I had tried to scope out the course prior but wasn't 100% sure on the route. We hung out for about 40 minutes talking to a lot of my running friends and introducing them to my wife. My son Jay was going to run the 3 mile race and I would be running the 5 mile.

Eventually we all lined up for the start and wouldn't you know it my GD Garmin wouldn't work. I have never had an issue with it before but I just decided to go without it. Once we started I tossed it to my Wife as we ran past. I ran pretty hard the first mile and my breathing was pretty ragged. I am not sure if that was because I wasn't in rhythm or because the first .5 to .75 miles was mostly uphill. I tried to keep some runners  I knew ahead of me in sight but eventually I slowed slightly to a more manageable pace. My legs were really dead going uphill and as this course is nothing but rolling hills that was a problem.

I just decided to run comfortable and hard without redlining it. At about mile 2 we did a short extra loop that included a small obstacle course of a waist high tree log contraption. That was exciting (insert sarcasm here). I had run most of the trails obviously but this course was new so I wasn't quite sure where we were at most of the time as far as distance.

At what I thought was about mile 3 we did a lot of climbing followed by a down hill and some more climbing. At mile 4 we headed back into familiar territory so I picked it up, knowing there was only about a mile left. The last .5 miles is deceptive as you can see the finish but there are about 3 or 4 switchbacks before you actually hit the finish. I hit the last straightaway with my normal energy and finished in 46:33. Not sure where that put me age group place wise as I forgot to look at the results..meh.

Jay finished his 3 mile run just ahead of me and he looked strong. We all hung around to cheer on the rest of our friends as there were quite a few of us at the race. Post race I had a cookie and then Starr,Jay, I and our 2 dogs walked about a mile or so back home taking the scenic trails instead of the straighter paved route.

Trail running is probably my favorite thing to do at this point in my life.

Des Moines Marathon 2013

I hadn't run this race since 2006. The reason was I had a very bad experience back in 2006 after a experiencing a modified course and lack of training. I had pretty much blown off ever running this race again until a friend asked me to to join his charity running team. Team Red Shamrock was running the event to raise to raise money for post cancer care. So Team Red Shamrock showed up to run the race with bright eyes and bushy tails as my daughter would say.

Myself and Ross took the 100 mile ride from CR to the race where we met Team Red Shamrock founder John. John had our race packets and also gave me a kickass Red Shamrock stocking hat. We then headed to the starting line which was a few blocks away. It was a bit chilly and per usual I had to hit the Porto John prior to race start. This put me behind the power curve and I ended up getting stuck in the back of the almost 10,000 runners at the event. I could see my hoped for pace group, the 3:45 group way up in front of me.

When the gun went off it took me almost 3 minutes to cross the actually starting line. I started off with what I thought would be a steady pace. I had this half ass thought in the back of my head that I might be able to PR the marathon distance at this race. I was coming off a big 17 plus minute PR at a 50K I ran the previous weekend so I wasn't sure if it was possible. So anyway I kept it steady as I weaved my way through the usual crowd and congestion that starts at the beginning of a race. Eventually the half marathon runners split off and us marathoners headed up a long hill that was the beginning of 5 miles of rolling hills. I continued to pass runners and kept my pace steady even up the hills. The miles kept ticking away and before I knew it I was at mile 11 or 12 and the course had flattened out considerably. About that point we ran into and through the Drake University stadium. I tried to catch a picture of myself on the jumbotron but I wasn't able to frame it correctly.

After the stadium I kinda fell into drone mode. We hit a small paved trail section through a park and it was in this section that I finally caught the 3:45 pace group at about mile 17. It had taken me that long to catch them and when I did I was only able to hang with them for a few miles before I started feeling fatigued and slowing down. At least I felt like I was slowing down. The course ran through and circumnavigated a large park and also Greys lake. It was running around Grey's lake in 2006 where the wheels came off. In 2013 however I was feeling relatively fine and just anticipating the finish line. I looked at my watch with 4 miles to go and realized I could practically walk it in and still set a new personal marathon record. 

As I rounded the corner for the last 500 meters I turned  it on and was able to cross the line in 3:45:46 which was a new PR.  Was a good day and my Des Moines demons are now slain.

Running Village 50K 2013

So this race was another local 50k that I had run previously. It was run on some trails in Cedar Falls Iowa about 60 miles from where I live. This was the second running of the race with last year being the inaugural edition. Some changes had been made to the course so it was really like running a totally different race. In the previous year there was a 25K and a 50K option consisting of one or two 15.5 mile loops. This year the options had changed to 10 mile, 20 mile or 50K options. I was running the 50K. I knew the course would be fast and not very technical based on my previous years experience so I was hoping to perform well and possibly set a personal record. My previous fastest 50K had been run in 2011 at the Trail Mix 50K in Rochester Mn.

As seems to be the case on all my runs I worked late the night prior and finally got into bed about 4.5 hours prior to when I needed to leave to make packet pickup. As luck would have it one of our dogs decided to be a shit head and jump on the bed and off the bed while alternately whining and scratching the door. Never did find out what his deal was but he effectively kept me up all night. Thanks Joe. I rolled out of bed with the alarm bleary eyed and none to happy with my chances to PR. I stopped for the traditional Hunny Bun and Gatorade and made my way to Cedar Falls. When I arrived for packet pickup it was still dark and not too many people where in the running store that was sponsoring the race. I gave them my name, picked up my packet and parked my car by the starting line. I made contact with my other friends running the race, Ross S, Ross K and Kelly, and we chatted and milled about until race start. Mostly bitching about how cold it was. Eventually we all lined up behind some cones waiting for the start.

The RD gave some last minute instruction and off we went. By my count there were about 31 individuals running the 50K. We had a controlled start as we were required to follow the RD riding a mountain bike until after about half a mile he pulled off and the race was on. The fast runners took off and I fell into  pace that I hoped would gain me that PR.  The race now consisted of three 10 ish mile laps of mountain bike trails and single track.The first lap would be exploratory. I just kept a constant pace as I went up and down the rolling hills and through the winding single track. Some of the course was one way and some was two way traffic. I saw some good views as well as seeing  the leaders coming back at me at some point. I decided that if I was ahead of the race plan I would use the second lap to take pictures of some of the views. I mean seeing the scenery is a big reason I like running ultramarathons in the first place. I was able to to speak briefly to both Ross and Kelly during this lap, they were both running ahead of me and running hard. Ross looked to being contention for the lead.

As I headed back to the turnaround at the end of the first lap I could see that the 20 mile race had started. I saw those racers heading toward me in the opposite direction. I finished that first lap in 1:42 hours. As I had intended I pulled out my phone and prepared to take some pictures on the second lap. I found that it was necessary to carry the phone in my hand to do this efficiently. I also found out I needed to be careful if I didn't want to take a tumble. However I continued ticking off the miles at a good clip. I passed the 25k mark in 2:30 hours. It really helped my pacing to know where I was on the course due to the previous lap. I once again saw Kelly and Ross on this lap. Kelly looked to be somewhere in the top 5 females and Ross appeared to be running in 2nd place. It was hard to tell, as by now there was a mixture of 50K, 20 Mile and 10 Mile runners on the course. By the time I started the third lap my phone was dead. So I was sans photos and sans music.

The third lap was a copy of the prior two, however I was starting to drop off the pace a bit. I estimated I was slowing down about 30 seconds per mile. It was also during this lap where I actually felt like I was racing. I had been being trailed for about 4 miles by another runner who was making steady progress in closing the gap. I entertained myself by imagining I was holding him off at Western States and we were running in the lead pack. I managed to hold him off for about 6 of the 10 mile loop but eventually he did pass me and  he then finished about 2 minutes ahead of me. Once I hit the last aid station I saw another racer that I thought had outpaced me long ago. Ultras being ultras I had caught him through relentless forward progress. The race was on again as I tried to put as much distance between him and I as I could. I ran hard thinking he was behind me, I kept sneaking looks over my shoulder at the turns to see if I could spot him. I never saw him but I put that down to the foliage and the winding course. Once I emerged from the woodline and hit the last 1.5 miles of running trail to the finish I didn't look back but just focused on the finish. I crossed the line in 5:07:02 a PR by almost 18 minutes!!!! I turned and looked back down the course to see I had been racing a ghost. The runner I thought was behind me was nowhere in sight and actually he finished 5 minutes behind me.

It was a great race and a good time. I PR'ed and won my age group. For the first time I also ran the entire race. This was the first ultra where I had not walked one step. Ross came in 2nd overall and accomplished a PR as well. Kelly PR'ed and also won her age group. I am looking forward to my next race.