Hang Nine

I had the privilege of joining JV for his 1000th summit of Green Mountain this AM.  Arguably Jeff did this months ago, as he had some additional 100 summits or so before he started formally keeping track.  In any case, today was his count of the 1000th.  A small crew of us gathered to join him on his trek, and the mountaineering experience was off the charts:  Skurka, Homie, Ralston, Bruce, and then we met Tony and Joe at the top. 

I did a short jog with TZ in the AM and thought conditions would be great.  I went out with her around 8 and it was in the 50s. At 9, as I was prepping to head out, I noticed that the temp was dropping and I could see the haze coming in from the west.  It got colder still.  By the time I was leaving the house around 30, it had dropped probably 20 degrees and it would be in the 20s by the time I got to Boulder.  A haze locked in the Flatirons – but this would set up for a beautiful inversion view from the summit.

We hung at the summit for a bit taking in what Jeff has hundreds of times before, and enjoying the moment.  The inversion was pretty amazing.
We headed back down into the cloud (where it was colder too), casually and carefully as there were sections with socked in ice.  Once at the bottom I was able to entice JV into one of his favorite pre/post race treats – a bowl of cereal.  An amazing day for a great guy with an incredible crew.  I had a blast.  Thanks for sharing it Jeff!

Side note – there was a lot of chatter as to how quickly the weather turned.  I found this graphic from the local wunderground web site that reflects how quick the temps dropped.

8:45, 54 degrees.

 
9:30, 24 degrees – and still dropping.

So 30 degrees in 45 minutes.  Amazing!

I ended up with 5.6 on the day (4.6 on the Green RT), and 101 and change on the week. Largest week of the year – but again, just grabbing it while I can.   In general, I held it together fairly well, but it was a little bit of edge island.  I could feel the calf having issues in the front of the week, but it let up.  I did some squats in the middle of the week and I could feel that niggling in the right side for the rest of the week.  Green today was not too bad, but admittedly the effort was very light for these guys.    Leadville lottery opens this week and I expect to throw my name in the hat.

November was a month that I had hoped to get back at it a bit more after the travel month in October.  As it turns out, the months were nearly the same – in October I had 271.7 miles.  November I had 274.4.  34.8 hours in October, and 38.2 in November.  8 days off in October and 5 in November.  In part I think this was because while I was traveling in October, I could commit to a schedule when not working of getting runs done (when just on work travel).  In November, I had a set back at the start of the month with the calf spinning up a bit … so it took me some to work through that.

AM – 15 miles.  Easy easy.  Tired. 

Got out to the farm to check out the burros, including some of the new residents.  JV brought along his charming daughters, and I met Kim – a new burro owner.

We had brought some apples.  I had brought them in an old IPA box.  Once the apples were done, Elroy decided he wanted the box.  Or maybe he thought he’d get an IPA out it.
       

These images from Jeff.

Interesting interview with Buff Theroux.

Okay, not as impressive, but anyway …

15.1 miles, 5.1 of that with Hans, mid day.  He is coming around so well.  I can actually get him to move pretty well now.  Prairie dogs however remain a challenge.  Unseasonably warm, and little wind so wonderful run.  Felt a bit of the build of the load over the last few days, but all good.  Sort of weird actually … a bit of tired, a bit of knowing that I better not push on that too much, but at the same time an understanding that there is a building occurring under there.  Didn’t bring water and so was a bit parched the last two miles.

I have been without a phone/ipod device for the last week.  So all my runs have in the past week have been without the noise/joy of music or podcasts.  I’d like to say that a week of being without the sound from a device made my head more clear to the voices in my head.  Unfortunately the pool there is probably only hip deep so it was pretty quick wading there.  Tonight my replacement arrived.   Back to the ‘casts …

Latest ATUC, latest ET. 

And you need blind faith … No false hope, no false hope.  Do you have blind faith?  No false hope, no false hope.  Where is your blind faith?  No false hope, no false hope.  Open your eyes, open your eyes, step into the light.  Open your eyes, step into the light.  The sound becomes …

Mid AM – 5.1 dog jog with Hans.  He saw 30 dogs (various folks out walking) and he did not try to kill any of them.  This might be a first.

Evening – 10.2 miles in the dark.  Gorgeous evening.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Sadly, I think I can already guess the story.  And yes, it won’t have the magic it had when I was a kid in the 70s.  But I will see this one and be fairly geeked out. 

I have not been to Shoes and Brews, but I like the concept that your first brew price is based on a 800 meter time trial.

Lengthy but good self health analysis post from Tawnee.

Mid day – 17 miles.  Calf was still reminding me it was not happy a couple of days ago, but it amazingly felt significantly better over yesterday.  Not sure what is up with that.  Ran into Neeraj for a couple of miles towards the end.  Weather was much nicer today, as the winds had dissipated. 

Midday – a baker’s dozen with Bob.  The wind was pushing pretty good out of the west and the right calf was still feeling like it had been kicked so I warned Bob we’d be slow.  He was cool with it.  The pace was easy, and with some of the wind segments it felt like we were barely moving, so I was surprised to see that we had even averaged 8:10 pace on the RT. 

News – I will probably rent this

-Anton in a Volvo commercial.  Come on Tony, wait for BMW or Audi to come to the game!
- JV pointed out this obstacle course race thing to me.  Has King in it.  It is worth the watch just to see him take the tire jump (tune into 4 minutes if you don’t want to watch the whole thing.  Cool game in any case – particularly as it has a mine shaft component in it. 

And Max did this nuttiness four days before setting the AR in the 100k.
- North America’s hardest races.  Count me as having done three (MW, Pikes, and the Grouse Grind), and about 40% of Hardrock.  While these lists are fun, I still say there are some 800s I have done that rival anything as hard as I have ever done.
- Interesting post on the new media marketing for ultrarunners.

-The SNL take on the recent EO regarding immigration is awesome.
-CU – no surprise, wins the national title.  While that was a no brainer of a pick, it is amazing that they did it when Oregon when 1-2.  Those are some pretty low sticks to overcome.  And I don’t think CU had a single race where their top guy was the same.  That is really amazing. 
-King wins and ARs at the World 100k.  Okay, WMRC champ, World 100k champ, on a US World XC team, OT for the Steeple, a stellar debut at the 100 mile distance at Western, and a 2:15 marathoner.  And the guy is out there every week it seems.  Is there a runner with a greater range of significant wins ever?  I guess there could be an argument for Salazar with a 4:01 mile, wins in major marathons and a record at that distance, and being hugely competitive in the 10k in his college days, and a win at Comrades … others?  Arguably if King had made the Olympics in the steeple, or was a sub 2:10 marathoner, we might not see him at these other events. 
- Apparently the new Incline is perfect.
- Remember when the TNF 50 was like 5 guys who were awesome?
-Good read on why marathon times (particularly mens) are getting faster while 5k/10k times are stagnant.
-Wolves might be the more ultra-esque than humans.

AM – a couple of miles with TZ and then I headed out.  I did loops (1500m) around the ‘hood.  At 8.2 miles, I felt the calf twinge and before that it was perfectly fine.  I still did a few more loops, cutting the planned longish down to 11.6 though. Windy and chilly.

Afternoon – got out with JZ for a mile.  8.6 miles.  Rolled through 3000 today.

25 who influence more – there are a small handful of guys that have come to the MUT scene in the last few years that are FAST.  By fast, I don’t mean they can run a 13 hour 100, but they come to the game with PRs at shorter distances that are a bit atypical.  A handful of years ago, a 2:30 marathoner could be counted on to be a pretty strong force in the ultra scene.  While there is still some truth in that, the ultra ground is being invaded by more guys with sub 2:20, sub 2:15 PRs at the marathon distance (and with that, sub 30 10k times). 

(yes, side note, I know we all know that everyone who is fast at the shorter distances is not a lock to be quicker at the longer distances, but when it sure does not hurt to come to the MUT scene with a 2:15 road marathon PR).

One of these guys who moved to Colorado just a few years ago is Sage Canaday (another non Coloradan is Max King, who I mention here because it is interesting that he and Sage both went to and ran at Cornell).

Sage gains a certain amount of his attention with his speed:  he was the youngest qualifier in the OT marathon field in 2007 and later PR’d at the distance with a time of 2:16.  He trained with the renowned Hanson group (who produced 08 Olympic Team Member Brian Sell) in his run up to that (for those who don’t know about that group, it is one of the post collegian US potential elite training groups). 

Post that gig, he moved to Boulder and stepped into the MUT scene.  His first assignment, at least it seemed to me, was to destroy every possible FKT up Green Mountain.  And he did.  Find a route on Strava on nearly any of the peaks west of Boulder, and the guy probably owns the top time.

Of course, his efforts were not limited to the “no rules” FKTs on , but over the last few years he has picked up wins at the east coast’s prestigious hill climb, Mount Washington (also becoming one of a few to break an hour on the course), and then a win at the Pikes Ascent last year.  These performances “bookend” significant showings at the ultra distance.  CR and the win at White River, twice at Tawawera and twice at Speedgoat 50k.  No foray into the 100 miler yet, but has also won the USATF100km title at Bandera.

Again, Sage is not just influential because of his wins – but I see him as a guy who is shifting the business of being an athlete.  He juggles multiple sponsorships (I count 11 on his site).  As far as I know he is the first runner who ever actually put together a beer sponsorship (Avery).    He consistently moves his brand and share his message with video blogs, blog posts, and recently podcasts.  Flip open a copy of Trail Runner magazine, and the guy is in a full page spread.  He is actively involved in coaching (10k to ultra distances), and covers the local circuit of stuff, and events internationally.  He is transparent in his failures – sharing what his mistakes have been, but also putting out there as to what he thinks has made him successful. 

Few bring the range across the number of event he covers, the regular jumping in, the business and outreach picture.  In the world of Colorado, the guy is influential.

So a few things about bird hunting …

… let’s start with that I absolutely suck at it. 

When a pheasant pops up, you as the hunter have probably two seconds to get a bead on it and get the shot off.  After that two seconds, the bird is gone, hauling ass in flight to the next field, the next county, anywhere away from you. 

Upon seeing said bird start flight, my brain however starts a process of, “oh, hey there is a bird.”  Of course I should already be prepared for such a sighting, as this is exactly why I came to Kansas and heck, I have been thinking about such a moment for the last hour as I have walked the field following dogs to flush them out.  But still it is as if I am suddenly plopped here for the first time, dumb and unknowing.  My brain starts to think of each of the steps.  I have to think about raising the gun, flipping the safety off, getting my finger on the trigger …

…if the bird is anywhere near close after this ridiculously long process with my maxed out underpowered personal CPU – and as mentioned before the bird has hit the gas hard to get the hell out of Dodge – the next problem presents itself.  And that is shooting the dang thing.

I am a lousy shot.  And I am probably worse with a swinging gun like a shotgun than a stable target.  Add on top of it that: I am a flippin’ wuss, because when I let the 12 gauge fire, it feels like I have been punched in the shoulder, and had my fingers jammed in a door. 

So when I fire, I hope the bird will fall.  It is a hope almost similar to what I felt as a pop fly come to me in right field as a kid.  I’d put the glove out and wonder if would catch it.  I could think about what it would take to catch it but at some point it felt like dumb luck.  And I point the gun and shoot and wonder if one of the hundreds of BB’s that make up the shot in the shell are going to find a target other than dirt.

Thus far, they have not.

I just suck at this.

I’d like to say that my failure at hunting sets me up to love it.  It is true, that my lack of aptitude does draw me to it a bit but I would probably like it more if I had better odds at the whole thing. 

The hunting aside,  I love the beauty of the walk in the field with the dogs, the incredible size of the Kansas ocean fields, and hearing the sound of a flock of a hundred song birds swing over the field (again and again) where you hear that “whoom” of their wings in unison. 


We didn’t get many looks.  Actually the most bird chances came on Friday after JZ and I chased a rooster who was cackling at us up and down a hill.  We got a few other chances over the next couple days, but mostly it was shots I couldn’t make or probably had no business even looking to take.  Our host got one in crazy wind conditions, which is what folks do when they can actually shoot.
Hans got into our host’s rooster (thankfully I got that broke up before any harm was done), and I lost my cell phone in a corn field (which of course meant I hunted for that instead of birds for a few hours – with essentially the same net result: nada).  Bumpy weekend of sorts but fun in other ways.

Low mileage week (40 and change) but have next week off from work so I am going to see what I can load in.