Finger Lakes Fifties Preview and My Tour de France Predictions

Two posts for the price of one tonight:

Finger Lakes Fifties:

On Saturday morning I'll be toeing the line for my third run at the Finger Lakes Fifties 25K.  I'm hopeful that in future years that I'll be healthy and trained well enough to run the 50K or 50 miler, but for now I'm happy to enjoy only one loop on those trails in the hills near Seneca Lake.

My training lately has been amazingly consistent.  If you include the race mileage, this week will be my seventh in a row of 20 or more miles total.  It's not a lot of miles, but I'm coming back from injury, correcting my form and I'm taking it slow.  Hopefully that 20 will turn to 30 this Fall and more next Winter and Spring.

Given my PR at the Chambersburg Half Marathon, (in less than ideal - actually much less than ideal - conditions) I'm very optimistic heading into this race.  That being said, there's a little twist this year that's going to make a PR in this race a little tougher; it's going to be (almost) a mile longer.

There is a section of the normal course that is undergoing repairs, so it is unavailable to the race, so the course has been re-routed, extending the 25K loop from 15.7 miles to 16.5.  Two years ago my pace was 10:51/mile.  To match that finish, I will need to keep at least a 10:20/mile pace.  Not impossible, but thirty seconds per mile is a lot.  My 2008 Chambersburg Half Marathon pace was 9:06/mile.  This year it was 8:55 - but in bad conditions.

Judging from the weather and the rain gauge in Hector, NY it looks like the trail conditions will be similar to what they were two years ago.  It might be a little warmer, but I think I've got a shot at matching my 2:50:24 time from 2008, even with the extra 0.8 mile.  So the goal will be a race PR: 2:50:23 (better yet, 2:49:59), but if I finish under three hours, I'll be happy.

Tour de France:

Briefly, my Tour de France predictions:

Polka-Dot Jersey:  

umm...who cares?

Green Jersey:  

1.  Tyler Farrar  (yes I'm out on a limb here, hopefully the "God of Thunder" won't strike the tree.)

2.  Thor Hushovd

3. Mark Cavendish  (He has too much trouble in the mountains to get to the front of those hilly but not truly mountainous stages - and he'll be missing "Big George" Hincapie's leadout this year.)

Yellow Jersey:

1. Lance Armstrong (another limb, but not so far out)

2. Alberto Contador

3. Alexandre Vinokourov (assuming he doesn't get caught doping again.  If he does, I'll go with Basso.  Assuming he doesn't get caught doping.)

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The Proverbial Basement

You may (or may not) have noticed that I have been posting less frequently lately.  This is due to a lot of things. 

For one, we're moving.  We've been trying to get into a bigger house (with an actual yard) more suitable for raising kids.  Or a kid, as the case is right now (and is not changing anytime soon).  After months of having our house on the market, it finally sold and we have a single family house just a few miles away under contract.  It's all very exciting, and also very time consuming and doesn't really make for good blog fodder.

Also, much of my creative energy has been geared toward writing short (very short, in fact) fiction.  I've only been at it for a few weeks, but writing flash-fiction (under 1000 words) isn't especially time consuming and its been fun seeing what pops out. 

It all started when I started follwing Milo Fowler's blog.  Milo is a fellow RBU member and his quest to become a published author intrigued me.  As I read more and more stories, I got the bug and started penning a few of my own.

I just found out one of my stories, "A Rough Morning" is going to be published in August on Weirdyear.  It's not a paying market, and according to Duotrope.com, they have about a 95% acceptance rate, but it's something and the editor's enthusiastic response to a story that I thought was too cartoonish, hyperbolic and weird to submit anywhere else is encouraging.

All that to say that as we get ready to move all our earthly belongings to a new home a few miles down the road, I'm going to be posting a lot less.  I'm planning to do plenty of running in July - I have three races on the calendar (two out of the three are two miles or shorter - the other is the Finger Lakes Fifties 25K), so I'll be checking in to talk about those and my ongoing quest to run in minimalist footwear (I'm finally starting to get a solid picture of my long-term approach).

So if I drop off the radar nothing's wrong, I'm just busy.  Really busy.

The Most Interesting Man in the World

Recently, I picked up an issue of Men's Journal.  The impulse purchase was made because Lance Armstrong was on the cover, there was an article about golfer David Duval and I saw the headline "Why the World Cup Sucks" (which turned out to be pretty funny).

But inside, I found a compelling article entitled "My Life as a...High-Seas Repo Man."


Max Hardberger is the head of New Orleans-based, Vessel Extractions which recovers ships that were taken in a semi-legal, highly corrupt manner.  A mariner of ill-repute finds a judge to payoff in a banana republic, and becomes the "legal" owner of a ship.  Who does the rightful owner call?  Vessel Extractions.  Hardberger uses stealth and trickery to recover the ship, take it back to an non-corrupt port, and hand the proverbial keys back over to the rightful owner.

At the end of the article Hardberger lists the ways he has "almost died"

• Landed in a tree while skydiving.
• Almost dragged from his car by a Haitian mob.
• His roommate's girlfriend once tried to stab him.
• Engine fire in a single-engine plane he was flying.

...and on top of that his company is going to protect ships traveling off the Somali coast from Pirates.  "We'll have one sniper with a Bushmaster .50-caliber rifle, and the rest of us will have AK-47s."

I think this might make him "The Most Interesting Man in the World."  I mean, he even looks like the guy in the commercials:
  

Western States 2010 Preview Part II: The Women's Race

After Sunday's post, I realized that I had completely neglected another piece of intrigue at Western States.  While the consensus on the men's field is that it will be won by one of three runners (Hal Koerner, Geoff Roes or Anton Krupicka), the women's race is not so easily discerned - especially with last year's champion, Anita Ortiz not making it to the start this year.

There are four women whom I'd consider in the top tier of favorites, but there are definitely others not far behind. 

Devon Crosby-Helms finished in 2nd place at the Miwok 100K, a little over 25 minutes behind ultra legend Kami Semick (who is not running WS), and won the JFK 50-Miler last fall.  But she doesn't have a lot of experience at the 100-mile distance.  Although she did win her only 100 mile race, the Vermont 100 in 2008.

Tracy Garneau, from British Columbia, Canada won the 2009 H.U.R.T. 100 in Hawaii, then shared first place with Nikki Kimball (see below) at the brutal 200-kilometer Jungle Marathon in Brazil.  So while she hails from the Great White North, don't expect to see her wilt in the heat of the canyons (especially since this is expected to be a "cool" year for the race).

Nikki Kimball is a three-time Western States Champion, winning in 2004, 2006 and 2007.  She competed last year but had a rough go of it and finished fourth, over two and a half hours behind the winner, Ortiz.  Additionally she was Ultra Running Magazine's Female Ultra Runner of the Year three times (in 2003, 2004 and 2007) only Ann Trason has won the award more times (12).

Meghan Arbogast set a course record this year at the Mad City 100K to earn the USATF title at that distance.  She ran in the top-ten last year, and although she is 49 years old she shows no signs of slowing down.

(Honorable mentions also go to Beverly Anderson-Abbs and Joelle Vaught who are certainly in the mix.)

Overall I'm putting my proverbial money on Kimball.  She knows the course well, is a former champ and I think last year's disappointment was an aberration. 

For more information on the top competitors check out Karl Meltzer's "odds" on his blog, or any of the Western States information at IrunFar.com.

(Also Sherpa John has some interesting interviews with some middle-to-back of the pack runners at his blog.)

Western States 2010 Preview: Krupicka vs. Roes

Next Saturday, ultrarunning's penultimate event, the Western States Endurance Run will be taking place.  There are races that are tougher, longer and with bigger purses (winners get trophies, finishers get medals - no cash prizes), but like golf has the Masters, ultrarunning has Western States.

The most interesting storyline in this year's race surrounds two Western States first-timers:  Anton Krupicka and Geoff Roes.

Krupicka's first 100-miler was the 2006 Leadville 100-miler.  He won.  In 2007, he won the Rocky Raccoon 100 and repeated at Leadville.  He's set course records at six other races ranging in length from trail marathons to 50-milers.  However, he hasn't finished a 100-miler since the 2007 Leadville 100.   Since then, Krupicka has battled a litany of injuries.  He never made it to any 100-milers in 2008 and in 2009 he was supposed to run Western States, but didn't make it to the start due to injury.  He then DNF'd at Leadville with legs that just wouldn't go.

This year he's tweaked his training, gotten his injuries sorted out and won the Miwok 100K on May 1st.  It sounds like he's back on track and is definitely a favorite to finish first at the track in Auburn next week.

Geoff Roes' 100 mile debut was also a win - but at the icy Susitna 100 in Alaska.   Since then he has been far more consistent than Krupicka, winning all six of the 100-milers he has entered without a DNF (although he did DNF Miwok 100K in 2009 due to stomach issues) and was the 2009 Ultrarunning magazine Ultra Runner of the Year.

Ultimately, I think the men's race at Western States is going to boil down to one of these two runners (with due respect to the 2009 champ Hal Koerner).  The question is, will Krupicka's legs keep moving for all 100 miles?  Will Roes' stomach woes reoccur at altitude or in the hot valleys that the trail passes through?  These two have never raced each other, so no one really knows whose faster, but I give the edge to Roes. 

So my pick is Roes - but what I really want is a tough race fought out between two (or more) healthy competitors.

The Softball Conundrum

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Last year I decided to not play another season of softball.  This was part due to scheduling, part due to a lack of desire to play, and part due to the fact that I think it messed up my hip from always turning the same direction.  It happened every year usually in late May/early June.  It would clear up just in time for the Finger Lakes Fifties, but it definitely cost me some valuable training time.

That being said, I'm a big believer in cross-training.  That's why I still cycle (on occasion) and do some strength training (on occasion).  But I think the repetitive nature of running the bases messed up my hip.  Not seriously, but enough to throw off my training.

Fast-forward to last Friday.  The softball coach, Matt, shot me an e-mail on Thursday to tell me they were short on players and asked me to fill in.  So Friday night I played two games - the first being the most action I had ever seen playing right field.  Had a good time, but there were still a few reminders of why I left the game - including the coach on another team (playing on another field) telling his players they needed to "run up the score" on the opposing team - in a church league!

On Saturday morning I woke up pretty sore.  Not crazy sore, but sore.  Still felt good enough to run nine miles at Pinchot, but I wasn't feeling great by the time I finished.

Sunday morning I woke up sore again.  This time crazy sore.  I know what you're going thinking - "that's because you ran nine miles the day before" - well, not really.  I'm fit enough to handle nine miles without any repercussions.  I think this was more the "day after the day after" rule (that is not a typo).  When you do something new, it's not the next day that you feel awful, it's the day after the next day that you really feel it.  I had used some muscles that had not been used in a long time on Friday.

I wasn't surprised to be sore in my arms and shoulders or even in my torso (especially abs - it hurt to sneeze).  But what was weird is that my feet were sore.  Not "I've been on my feet all day" sore, but DOMS-sore.  Sore down in the muscles of my feet.

That got me thinking.  Last year was the first year I didn't play softball, and it was the year that I didn't run all summer thanks to some tendinitis in my foot.  Could the muscles in my feet been strengthened playing softball in such a way that it actually prevented the tendinitis in previous years?  But last year when I didn't play, could the tendinitis have been due to weaknesses in certain muscles?

Something to think about.

Fun Links

I haven't done a "links" post in a while, and for some reason my brain hasn't been very blog-focused lately...so here goes:

The Blue Canyon 100K is officially off my life-list.  Not that it was ever on.  But after I read Donald's race report (and the RD's reaction!) at Running and Rambling, I definitely had no impulse to ever try doing that race.

Weirdest NFL (non-)arrest report ever.

How cool would it be to get Jack Nicholson to sign this photo?

IRunFar.com has a great listing of Ultra Running camps.  Maybe someday...

Headline from Yahoo:  "New oil numbers may do more harm to fish, wildlife"  ...and that's just the numbers - just imagine what the actual oil is doing!

Lance Armstrong is Radio Shack's Chief Mobility Officer LOL!

Three Ways Your New Baby Can Help You Run Farther and Faster

Babies are time-consuming.  They demand a lot of attention, and unfortunately as a long-distance runner, your training also requires a lot of time and attention.  But there are ways your baby can help you train.

Sleep Deprivation
Okay, this is the most obvious but if you're running 100 miles, you are probably going to be running through the night and into the next day.  Having a new baby means you're probably getting only a few hours of sleep each night.  Just think how much less tired you will be on a lonely trail at 3:00 AM, when your body is already adapted to being up at that time!

Intervals
This doesn't really come along until your child is mobile, but you'll find that you'll need to move quickly to keep her from rolling off the bed, crawling up stairs, crawling down stairs, playing with the only electrical outlet in your house not baby-proofed or chewing on a poinsettia leaf.  You'll need to accelerate quickly, only to have a brief rest period before you need to stop him from doing something else potentially fatal.  This is a great way to build speed, possibly taking seconds off of your marathon time!

Gag Reflex
To get the most training out of your child rearing experience, I recommend using cloth diapers.  When running a fifty miler it can be tough to keep your energy gels down.  Dehydration and fatigue can conspire to make your stomach want to eject those precious nutrients your body needs to get you through a race.  But if you're scraping baby poop out of clothe diaper every day your gag reflex will slowly desensitized and you'll find that even a greasy cheeseburger on top of two quarts of cytomax will go down smooth.

(You don't want to end up like AJW):


I know I'm only scratching the surface here, so if any of you ultra-running veterans have any other suggestions, please comment!

One to Go

Yesterday I did a 14-mile "long run" through town.  It was ridiculously humid, and I actually went through about 90 ounces of water in the 2 1/2 hour run, but when I finished I still felt really good.  And I did it rather fast.  If you exclude the break I took to pick up some water and pretzels at a CVS, I averaged about a 10:15 pace without any issues trying to keep my heart rate below LT.

I'm thinking I'm in pretty good shape looking towards the Finger Lakes Fifties next month.  I finally registered last night.  I'm injury-free, running well, losing weight...it's all coming together quite nicely.

I'm even becoming more acclimated to the heat - yesterday was a great test.  As my water was running out I realized that I probably didn't have enough electrolytes with me, so along with the bottle of water I purchased, I got a 99-cent bag of Rold Gold pretzels.  I think I must have looked pretty ridiculous running through town, carrying three water bottles and a bag of pretzels.  Add on top of that that my favorite shirt for long runs, gets a little see-through when I'm sweaty (did I mention I was really sweaty yesterday?) and I had taped up in the usual spots (you other long-distance runners know what I mean) I'm sure I may have elicited some strange looks - although I didn't notice any.

So now I have one more long run to go before the Fifties (or "the twenty-five" in my case this year), it won't be as long as I had hoped I'd be able to put in, but it should be adequate to give me that last bit of endurance training to knock a little bit more off that time.

Earthquake 2010: A Firsthand Account

Yesterday morning at 8:25, I was still settling in at work, going over my assignments for the day and sipping my coffee.  Suddenly there was a loud rumble and the building shook.  I looked out the window, since I can see the Pennsylvania Turnpike from my desk, to see if a truck had overturned or come flying off the road into our office parking lot.  But there was nothing.

I didn't think much of it until a co-worker who works in another building e-mailed me to ask if our building rumbled a few minutes ago.  Wow!  I thought, I wonder what could have made both our building and the building down the street rattle?  Then another co-worker who works in a building eight miles away e-mailed and said she felt it too.

So I turned on the radio and they were reporting that people had felt the shake all over the place.  Then finally, I found it on the USGS website:  A 3.1 magnitude earthquake (later downgraded to 2.9)  had struck Central Pennsylvania!  We have had some weaker quakes in recent years down around Dillsburg, but nothing that could be felt more than a few miles away.  But this one rattled windows as far away as Harrisburg.

You'll all be happy to know that we're all fine here, our house is still standing, and we have access to food and water.  It looks like we're going to be okay, now we're just waiting for aftershocks.

Got Lettuce?

This year, Beth and I decided to join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).  We pay a sum of money in the spring and every week we get an assortment of organic vegetables for our family.  This was mostly a way to get us to start eating healthier - because if we're getting all these vegetables there's pressure to eat them.  Because we PAID for them gosh darn it!

And I have to say, that our plan is working. It turns out that one of the major crops grown at Spiral Path Farm is lettuce (several varieties, that is).  More leafy greens than you can shake a stick at.  I have had more salads in the last two weeks than I probably have had in the two months prior to that.

Which is good, because Beth made Babs Platts's Presidential Request Peanut Butter Fudge this weekend.  My hope is that all the vegetables will offset the copious amount peanut buttery fudgy goodness I've ingested over the last three days.

The good news (or bad news, depending on whether you ask my head or my heart) is that the fudge is gone.  Yet the lettuce remains.  And there will be more next week.

Hot Asphalt

I learned something this weekend.

You'd think barefoot running would be pretty simple, just take off your shoes and run.  But you have to watch for conditions.  I've already learned in the winter that my feet will get sore much quicker running on cold concrete or asphalt.

It turns out the same goes for hot concrete or asphalt - only even more so.  I now have a blister between my first and second toes (which isn't really bothering me) and a somewhat painful callous on the outside of my left foot right at the base of my pinky toe.

So if you're thinking of taking up barefoot running in the summertime, do so early in the morning because by ten the ground will be too hot.

Could be worse though - check out what happened to Barefoot Jason here.  Jason, by the way, is training for the Burning River 100 - and planning to run the whole thing barefoot.