Catch-up and looking ahead to Western States

Snow-shoeing up Mt Bachelor - that's what I call fun training!

I haven't blogged for a while partly due to moving house and partly because a lot of other things related to coaching and Skyrunning have been keeping me on my toes. So here's a quick catch-up.

The year started off well and I'm fully past the foot fracture from last year, so that was my main concern through Rocky Raccoon 100 in Jan and the following months. I then switched to getting in plenty of fun, hilly runs in California and Mt Diablo before moving back to Bend, Oregon, in April.

Lake Sonoma 50 was a disappointment for me since it's about the most competitive 50-miler of the year in the US (I'd argue it's harder to win than TNFEC50 in San Francisco since a lot of runners are worn down at the end of the season and don't race near their abilities). It was a few days before I moved to Oregon and I just felt tired and 'out of it' but a lot of other runs in the build up had felt amazing. So I dropped at halfway since 50 grinding, slow miles wouldn't have done me any favors for the rest of the season. The very first climb felt odd with a complete lack of energy, which wasn't a good sign, but it didn't improve. It was still a very fun trip to Sonoma and I really want to come back next year to give it my best effort.

That fatigue followed me through the next couple of weeks and moving was annoyingly stressful, but well worth it now we're all set up in the new house and feel truly at home. After a week of being in Bend I ran the inaugural Bend Half, a hilly road race at which I expected to have a lot of local speedsters to race. Despite the fact I seemed to be stuck in 2nd gear I led a pack of four guys, two in the marathon and one other in the half with me. The marathoners forged ahead a little when I dropped off 6-min/mile pace but it came down to a sprint finish in the half (the races split at mile 10.5), which I narrowly won by two seconds in 1h19m31s. That was a surprise, but not nearly quick enough to go for a marathon PR two weeks later at the Eugene Marathon (the target was to break 2h30m).

Then Eugene was a fun, hard day out and felt much more encouraging. I knew I wouldn't break 2h30m, but I hoped I could get fairly close. The early miles went about to plan and I felt much better than at Sonoma or the Bend Half. I went through 13.1 in 1h18m flat then hung on for the second half to avoid slowing too much (still didn't quite feel at 100%) to run 2h38m39s.

The last few months have really been focused on preparing for Western States and it's just over five weeks til race day. The races mentioned above had an upward trend and things feel on track now to hammer some vertical and turn up to the Big Dance ready and raring to go. I feel back to normal and the speed work on flat terrain should help with cruising at much slower speeds on the trail to Auburn. Getting into the mountains is helping too, plus it's very motivating (see the photo above).

It's always tough to accept some sub-par results, but WS100 is the main event for me and I can't wait to get there. Speaking of which, in two days I'm heading to the Memorial Day Weekend training weekend that covers 70 miles of the race course. That should get the blood pumping!

#seeyouinsquaw

24 Hours Around Bend

After enjoying the volcanoes around Ometepe Island in Nicaragua at the Fuego y Agua races, I thought it was time to see a bit more of the volcanic activity around Central Oregon. Since many of the mountains near Bend are volcanoes within the Pacific Ring of Fire, there's a lot of volcanic rock and volcanic buttes.

Over the past 24 hours I've been out to Smith Rock, a famous climbing area formed from igneous basalt and tuff (volcanic ash) for a long run with Jeff Browning and some hiking at Lava Butte (a cinder cone) and along the Deschutes River Trail (good views of volcanoes). So here's my free tourist guide to these places via photos.

Smith Rock:

View from Gray Butte near Smith Rock

Jeff ahead of me heading towards Monkey Face

Crooked River around Smith Rock

Monkey Face

Mt Jefferson in the background

Mt Jefferson

Smith Rock from Burma Road

Lava Butte:

Mt Jefferson way behind Black Butte

Mts Bachelor, Broken Top and the Three Sisters

Three Sisters and Broken Top

Mt Bachelor and the lava field that exploded out of Lava Butte 

The crater in Lava Butte

Deschutes River Trail in Bend:

How Do You Know If You're A Run Bum?

Looking back over the last 18 months I couldn't help but note the contrast between my former corporate lifestyle in London/San Jose as an economist and the run-focused life I now lead. It crossed my mind I may have become a run bum. By that I mean the running equivalent of a ski bum.

So I thought I'd list out the attributes of a run bum. If you have more than a few of these then you're probably one too.

Attributes of a Run Bum:

1. Did you pick your current location at least half based on how good a place it is to run?
- Yes, Bend, OR, largely appeals due to the trails and running community.

Deschutes River Trail, just by my house

2. Did you give up a well-paying job or university to run more?
- Ok, that is kind of hippy-like and I did. But what's the point of a career you don't care about?

3. Do you train every day? Often more than once?
- Yes, but so do lots of athletes with normal jobs.

4. Do at least three quarters of long distance trips involve a race or the main reason being running?
- I'd guess 95%

5. Do you have a beard?
- Well I haven't shaved for a couple of days but I'm safe on this one.

6. Do you have hair on your legs?
- Yes, otherwise I'd be a triathlete bum.

7. Do you describe a marathon as 'speed work' or, at the least, not consider it a big deal?
- Kind of both, but I do like them.

8. Are some of the most frequent questions you answer along the lines of 'don't you wreck your knees?' or 'how many days/stages do you do that race over?'
- Aha! No...because most of the people I talk to are runners...

9. Are most of your friends runners, especially extreme/ultra/fast ones?
- Almost got away with #8 there...

10. If you're male, do you weight less than most 10-year old girls and if you're female do you have issues with wind blowing you away?
- I'd say I'm closer to a 14-year old girl's weight.

11. Do you sleep in your car a lot before races or long runs?
- Only the night before a race and I'd probably do that up at trails even if I was a millionaire.

12. Do you have more shoes than your wife/girlfriend (male only question)?
- Yes, by far.

13. Is running or running-related work your main/only source of income?
- OK, lucky number 13 is the decider and ultra coaching provides my main income.

So I suppose that makes me a run bum, although I'm very happy to be called that given what it entails.

Ice and Fire - Pole Creek Fire

Middle Sister Summit

This morning I got up early to run with fellow Bend-ite (Bender?), Rod Bien in the Cascade Mts. We drove out to Pole Creek trailhead, ran a beautiful route to the steep climb up to Middle Sister (10,047ft), which was a scree-slope of clambering. But the views were incredible. We even spotted a small fire starting miles away and I commented that we had a great viewpoint for the Forest Service to spot fires.

The downhill was some of the best running/sliding I've ever done with a glacier and jumps by crevasses. All the time with stunning views and the fire we spotted looked like the eruption of a volcano over North Sister. We ran back, gradually speeding up as we saw the parking lot looked very close to the fire. Then within the last 100m we saw smoke everywhere and fire on our right. The rough road back out was completely filled with smoke but we decided to see if it was passable (not a smart idea). After a few feet we saw a car on fire, quickly reversed and went up a dirt track that our map showed was a dead end.

Our best bet looked to be to park the car as far from the fire as possible then hike out or get rescued (we called the emergency services, of course), hoping the car wouldn't be burnt to a crisp. There were maybe 20 other cars in that parking lot and I'm sure they're all burnt-out husks now. 15 mins later and ours would have been as well.

Then we saw a sketchy dirt road going parallel to the fire  and decided to see if that would get us out as our road was definitely a dead end. Two hours later and after numerous calls to the emergency services, we got around the fire even though our map didn't show the roads we drove, despite it showing all the forest fire roads...

Rod's car was a little worse for wear but we were glad to be safe and out of there. It was never really dangerous once we got out the parking lot, but we had no idea whether we'd need to leave the car and hike out due to inaccessible roads or dead ends.

That fire (the Pole Creek Fire) is huge and the closest to Bend and Sisters this year. Plenty of others are stuck out there camping or hiking and their cars are lost, so I hope they all make it out safely and don't try to get back to their cars. The forest around there will be scarred for years so the photos below are the last ones for a long time of the greenery in that area.

But it was the most beautiful and fun run I've ever been on, topped off with more drama than necessary. Think I'll have a beer now. We were lucky but also made sure people knew where we were going and how long we should take. We also had more food and drink than was needed for the run and extra clothing. The mountains and forests certainly deserve respect and fires are not to be taken lightly (trust me, we didn't).

I won't label the mountains in the photos as it'd take too long, but these shots include Bachelor, Broken Top, South/Middle/North Sister, Jefferson and Hood, spanning maybe 100 miles of the Cascades.

10 days after the fire started, it reached over 24,000 acres and here's some video from local firefighters and helicopters.

Driving away from the fire on back-roads.