Donald Buraglio and Michael Dove's Blog, page 6
July 26, 2012
Knockin' On Heaven's Door: Tahoe Rim Trail 50-Mile Race Report
“Feels like I'm
knockin' on Heaven's door -
Knock-knock-knockin'
on Heaven's door … “
-Guns ‘n’ Roses,
“Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door” (video after post)
At the Tahoe Rim Trail ultras, you can spend a lot of time
contemplating Heaven and Hell.
The two poles are right there in the race’s motto - “A
Glimpse of Heaven, A Taste of Hell” – but more than simple words can express,
it’s the feelings you go through while making your way through the course. Hellish climbs and occasionally infernal
heat. Celestial scenery and lofty
elevations that make Heaven seem just a reach away. And if you’re having a good race there, the
whole experience can feel like knocking on Heaven’s door.
This was the third straight year I’ve participated at TRT in some form or another, and each time has been rewarding in its own unique
way. During last weekend’s 50-miler, the
vast majority of my time was simply heavenly – and the good vibes seemed to be
shared with many kindred spirits along the way.
And with that, we’ll get to the report
(As always, click any picture to enlarge.)
There’s certainly a more lighthearted vibe to the 50K and
50M crowds at Tahoe. Part of it could be
due to the fact that unlike the earlier racers, we’re not starting in the dark;
the other part is probably because we know how far those lunatics who started
an hour ahead of us will be running.
When other people are running 100 miles, it’s hard for the rest of us to
find anything to complain about.
One runner was even nice enough to take my picture. The conversation went like this: She said I
looked familiar and asked if I had a running blog. I replied that I did have a website and
introduced myself – at which point she said, “Oh, right – you paced Gretchen
here, didn’t you?”
It wouldn’t be the last time I heard about Gretchen; no
fewer than three more times, someone recognized me as Gretchen’s friend, the
guy who paced Gretchen, or the guy who Gretchen was nice enough to pace one time. You know … just in case I forgot whose
neighborhood I was in.
And since I seem to have so many Gretchen fans reading my
blog, I can offer two things: 1) She’ll
make an appearance in this report, and 2) Bookmark her Hardrock report and read
it anytime you want to get blown away with inspiration. Trust me, it’s that good. Then again, most of you probably know that
already.
(What was I writing about again? Oh, right – the race report.)
One of the only downsides of running the 50M event is that
the trail is very crowded for the first 5 miles or so – in fact, this year had
more 50M and 50K entrants than any time in the race’s history. Fortunately, most of those early miles are
uphill, which forces you to start conservatively …
… and by the time we enjoyed the first descent to Marlette Lake at mile
5, there was plenty of room to stretch our legs and cruise at a comfortable
pace.
Just before the Hobart aid station at mile 6, we were greeted
by an angel and a devil. One was
shouting things like “Looking good!”, and the other yelled “Embrace the suck!” You can guess which was which. It was evidently some sort of battle for our
minds …
… and on this side of the Hobart station, the devil appeared
to be winning – at least if the “Hell” sign (lower right) pointing the way was any
indication.
And in case we didn’t get the message, the flames on the “Hell’s
Gate” sign eliminated any doubt.
It was hard for me to feel discouraged, though, because I
knew what was coming up next: the climb over the shoulder of Marlette Peak,
which is one of the prettiest trails I’ve ever run …
… with one of the coolest views you can ask for above
Marlette Lake and Lake Tahoe.
I was especially happy to run this trail for another reason:
one year ago, large stretches of this segment were buried under several inches
of snow. I soaked in the scenery and
cruised along blissfully …
… and before I knew it, I was at one of the friendliest aid
stations on Earth: Tunnel Creek, which I passed through six times during my
100-mile odyssey last year, and where it’s impossible not to feel the outpouring
of love from the volunteers …
… one of whom was Gretchen, sporting her new pink Hardrock
100 shirt. Remember what I said about
the vibe at the start line? It’s also
hard to complain to a girl who finished Hardrock one week earlier – and each
time I passed through here, I left with a genuine “no worries” feeling. That’s how you know you’ve been in an awesome
aid station.
The Red House Loop gets a lot of pre-race
chatter: it’s often identified as the “Taste of Hell” the race motto refers
to. It’s essentially a long downhill
plunge followed by an uphill loop to bring you back to the same trail, and can
often get scorching hot in the midday heat.
I’ve never had much difficulty with it, though, because there’s an aid
station at the bottom of the loop …
… where a group of clowns are waiting to fill your bottles. Whether this is heavenly or hellish depends
on how you feel about clowns, I guess.
The majority of the climb out of the loop is runnable …
… until it isn’t. I’ve
learned not to get discouraged by the steep slog in this section, though; I
just consider it practice for the legitimately monstrous slog that’s waiting for you about
13 miles later.
True story about this photo: as I was trudging back into Tunnel
Creek, a spectator saw my camera and offered to take a picture of me. Apparently the still photo didn’t look too good,
because the next thing he told me was to go back down the hill so he could get
an action shot. So I actually deserve
credit for 50.005 miles on the day, if you want to get technical about it.
Leaving Tunnel Creek, the 50-milers have the course to
themselves as the 50K runners head back toward the finish. I felt kind of bad for them, because this is
definitely one of the prettiest sections of the course …
… with views of Lake Washoe to the west …
… large boulder-strewn footpaths on the Rim Trail ahead …
… and more spectacular visions of Lake Tahoe to the east.
Just when you’ve gotten your fill of amazing views, you
embark on a 5-mile downhill path that’s simply perfect for inflicting pain upon
your quads. Coincidentally, the sun was
positioning itself directly overhead, in ideal position for generating hellish
heat on the exposed sections of the course.
So by the time I reached Diamond Peak aid station at mile
30, I felt a bit like I was approaching the fringes of Hell. A curious quote sprang to mind: it was from Winston Churchill, who once said, “If you’re going
through hell, keep going”; under the circumstances, that seemed like as
good advice as anything.
To be sure, there was more hell to come: namely, the 2-mile,
almost 2000’ climb to the top of Diamond Peak ski area. This was a slow, miserable trudge for me, and
the steps seemed to happen in slow motion – actually, that’s not an
exaggeration. It took me almost an hour
to cover two miles.
In the midst of my misery, it was slightly encouraging to
see that the race directors at least had a sense of humor about the whole
thing. Honestly, it really wasn’t much
encouragement at all – but by that point I was basically grasping at straws.
Finally reaching the top of the hill was a strange moment of
duality for me: I appreciated the wondrous sights from my lofty perch close to
heaven again … but I had pretty much cooked myself in order to get there. On one of the highest points of the course, I
felt the lowest – and in hindsight, it turned out to be the closest I came to hell all day
long.
I knew the course became friendly again on the smooth,
mostly downhill singletrack back to Tunnel Creek, but all I could muster was to
walk long stretches of this section, while getting passed by what seemed like a
parade of runners.
However, here’s what I mean when I say I’ve “managed” a race
well: I’ve been in these hard situations enough times to know that they
eventually get better. In the moment, there’s
always the potential of going into a downward mental spiral - but if you can
resist those demons for a while, they eventually get tired and leave you alone.
On the Tahoe Rim Trail, I felt far too
close to heaven to let some pesky demons drag me down – and before I knew it, I
was jogging again.
And if I needed any more encouragement to keep going, I got
it from my favorite aid station angel when I finally made it back to Tunnel Creek.
With 15 miles to go, it’s time to retrace your steps back over
Marlette Peak …
… before returning to the opposite side of Hobart aid
station – where coincidentally, the sign (lower left) that greets you this time says “Heaven” ...
... and you can get some cookies and energy gels from yet another
friendly angel. With less than 10 miles
to go at this point, nothing was going to stop me anymore …
… not even one final encounter with the devil, whom I found shortly after leaving the
station. I stopped to talk to him for a
few minutes; he turned out to be remarkably friendly, and gave me some information
about the course before rushing off to help another runner who needed
help. When you can make peace with your
demons during an ultra, you know you’re having a good day.
The final climb of the day begins gradually, but ratchets up
the steepness as you pop above the tree line on the climb to Snow Valley, the
highest point of the run at nearly 9000'.
The top of the ridge is also a great place to enjoy some
more wonderful views …
… and in this case, to be taken completely by surprise. This winged-and-haloed angel was strangely unexpected:
she was running in the opposite direction (so she wasn’t a race participant),
was more than a mile from the aid station (so she didn’t seem to be a
volunteer), and had a hydration pack indicating she was covering a long distance on the top of the mountain. Despite this, she floated gracefully down the
trail straight towards me, only stopping briefly when I asked to take her
picture. If she had told me she had fallen
directly out of the sky, I probably would have believed her. I swear, ultras do weird things to your head
sometimes.
Once you leave the Snow Valley aid station, you traverse a
rocky but gently-sloping ridge on the shoulder of the peak …
… before dropping below the tree line for one long final
plunge, about 5 miles down toward the finish line at Spooner Lake.
When you finally reach the lake, the finish line seems like
a speck in the distance, and as the trail takes you around the lake, it
actually seems to get farther away at times.
But at this point, there’s no devil in the world that can keep you from
the finish line …
… and when you get there, you know you’ve just participated
in something beautiful.
As my final tune-up for Leadville, I was particularly
concerned about how I would feel at the end of this race – and afterward, I
couldn’t have asked for a better test run.
For one thing, my RunAmoc Dashes cemented their status as my
race day moccasins – but that’s really a minor point in the bigger scope of
things. My training has been pretty
lousy this year – I keep meaning to write about this separately, I promise – so
I’ve replied upon buildup races more than ever to bolster my confidence before
the big test next month.
Without going into too much detail (or lengthening this
report any further), I think that most of the pieces are falling into place for
me to successfully finish Leadville in a few weeks. The TRT carried me to that final threshold, and
I feel like I’m on the verge of something truly magnificent … like I’m ready to
knock right on heaven’s door, and have it open wide to welcome me in.
**
Obviously I had a handful of artist options for this tune …
but since I’m a child of the metal 80s, there was really only one choice: the
incomparable Guns ‘n’ Roses. The clip is
from the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, and is a great reminder of just how
impressive GNR was when they were on their game – as well as how disappointing
it is that they wasted it all away so fast.
Guns ‘n’ Roses, “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door” (click to play):
*See other race
reports under tab at top of page.
Get updates as soon as they're posted! Click here to subscribe to Running and Rambling.
Check out the Running Life book for a collection of our most popular columns.
July 23, 2012
Black Diamond Sprinter and Spot 2012 Headlamp Reviews
One sure sign that you’re an ultrarunner is that even in the
middle of summer, when the sun rises early and daylight stretches well past
dinnertime, you still use headlamps on a regular basis for your training runs.
That’s been the case for me this spring and summer, when I've had lots of opportunity to test two updated Black Diamond favorites:
the Sprinter rechargeable headlamp, and the Spot compact headlamp. I typically use the Spot when heading to the
trails before sunrise, and the Sprinter when I’m running on dark roads – for reasons
I’ll explain shortly.
Truthfully, the new lamps don’t represent significant
changes from the previous models; rather, they are mainly refinements of
products that were already pretty darn good.
There are still a few recommendations I have for improvement, but
overall they provide a very strong feature profile for a great price, which has
always been Black Diamond’s forte in lighting systems.
2011 Sprinter on L, 2012 Sprinter on R
The Sprinter is Black Diamond’s green marvel: it’s a super
lightweight, rechargeable lamp that is versatile enough to handle any number of
conditions. This year’s model burns a
bit brighter – 75 lumens compared to 68 on the previous version – but otherwise
has virtually identical specs. It weighs
3.7 oz (105g), with 5 hours of burn time at the highest setting, and has a
water resistance rating of IPX7 (immersion in up to 1m of water for 30
minutes).
A double power LED beam projects a very nice, even oval
flood beam through a wide perimeter, and illumination stays constant
throughout the battery life. There’s a
red taillight strobe to improve your visibility from behind, which is the
reason this is my #1 choice for road running.
The rear strobe can be turned off with a simple push button if
necessary.
AC charger (last year) on L, USB (this year) on R
Another difference between last year’s model and the current
version is that instead of recharging from a standard outlet, the new Sprinter
charges with a USB cable. This is great
if you charge everything from your computer, but I ended up using a cheap AC-to-USB adapter so I can recharge the lamp in my bedroom and grab it when I roll
out of bed on dark mornings.
One change I wanted to see was a more stable interface
between lamp and charger; the lamp doesn’t always lock into place real firmly,
and it’s sometimes difficult to tell from the LED indicator if you’re getting
the charge you think you are. The only
other downside of the new Sprinter is the same as the original version: you
only get one type of beam, so if you like to flip back and forth between spot
and flood mode, the Sprinter can’t help you there.
**
If spot mode is what you like, Black Diamond’s Spot is one
of the most powerfully compact lamps you’ll find. A triple-power LED increases the brightness
of last year’s model from 75 to 90 lumens, without changing the battery
requirement (three AAA) or overall weight of 3.17 oz (90g).
2011 Spot on L, 2012 Spot on R
Its overall shape and dimensions are unchanged as well, so
the light is still perfect for tucking in a waist pack after sunrise. 90 lumens is more than bright enough to
illuminate the trails, and the variable dimmer function can customize the level
to whatever your needs may be, whether running under moonlight or reading in
your sleeping bag. Burn time is 50 hours
on the high setting, or 200 hours with the dimmer LEDs
The Spot is chock full of other cool features as well: two red
night vision bulbs, a three-level battery life indicator, a strobe setting, and a
lock mode to prevent accidental battery drain.
Water resistance is IPX4, so it’s no problem to run through a storm.
Like with the Sprinter, my downsides to the new Spot are
unchanged from the old version to the updated one. If you prefer the flood setting (which I do),
you have to use the single power LEDs which only shine at 16 lumens. Also, even though the Spot is compatible with
rechargeable batteries, I’ve been hoping that Black Diamond would develop a
version of this lamp that can be recharged by a plug-in like the Sprinter (or
like Petzl’s CORE battery pack).
I happened to mention this point in an e-mail to my BD rep,
who gave me the following reply: We will be showing something at Summer OR [Outdoor
Retailer convention] that will be of interest to you. That's all I can say for now. So keep your eyes peeled for some kind of
announcement in the next few weeks – and I’ll let you know as soon as I’m in
the loop as well.
In the meantime, Black Diamond’s 2012 lamps provide an outstanding
combination of performance and value, especially as the days start to grow
shorter again this fall. Here are your
product links:
Black Diamond Sprinter headlamp retails for $70, but is
discounted to $56 at Amazon.com.
Black Diamond Spot headlamp retails for $40 from Amazon.com.
*Products provided by
Black Diamond. Affiliate sales support
Running and Rambling.
**If you have a product
you’d like reviewed, contact me at info@runningandrambling.com.
Get updates as soon as they're posted! Click here to subscribe to Running and Rambling.
Check out the Running Life book for a collection of our most popular columns.
middle of summer, when the sun rises early and daylight stretches well past
dinnertime, you still use headlamps on a regular basis for your training runs.
That’s been the case for me this spring and summer, when I've had lots of opportunity to test two updated Black Diamond favorites:
the Sprinter rechargeable headlamp, and the Spot compact headlamp. I typically use the Spot when heading to the
trails before sunrise, and the Sprinter when I’m running on dark roads – for reasons
I’ll explain shortly.
Truthfully, the new lamps don’t represent significant
changes from the previous models; rather, they are mainly refinements of
products that were already pretty darn good.
There are still a few recommendations I have for improvement, but
overall they provide a very strong feature profile for a great price, which has
always been Black Diamond’s forte in lighting systems.
2011 Sprinter on L, 2012 Sprinter on R
The Sprinter is Black Diamond’s green marvel: it’s a super
lightweight, rechargeable lamp that is versatile enough to handle any number of
conditions. This year’s model burns a
bit brighter – 75 lumens compared to 68 on the previous version – but otherwise
has virtually identical specs. It weighs
3.7 oz (105g), with 5 hours of burn time at the highest setting, and has a
water resistance rating of IPX7 (immersion in up to 1m of water for 30
minutes).
A double power LED beam projects a very nice, even oval
flood beam through a wide perimeter, and illumination stays constant
throughout the battery life. There’s a
red taillight strobe to improve your visibility from behind, which is the
reason this is my #1 choice for road running.
The rear strobe can be turned off with a simple push button if
necessary.
AC charger (last year) on L, USB (this year) on R
Another difference between last year’s model and the current
version is that instead of recharging from a standard outlet, the new Sprinter
charges with a USB cable. This is great
if you charge everything from your computer, but I ended up using a cheap AC-to-USB adapter so I can recharge the lamp in my bedroom and grab it when I roll
out of bed on dark mornings.
One change I wanted to see was a more stable interface
between lamp and charger; the lamp doesn’t always lock into place real firmly,
and it’s sometimes difficult to tell from the LED indicator if you’re getting
the charge you think you are. The only
other downside of the new Sprinter is the same as the original version: you
only get one type of beam, so if you like to flip back and forth between spot
and flood mode, the Sprinter can’t help you there.
**
If spot mode is what you like, Black Diamond’s Spot is one
of the most powerfully compact lamps you’ll find. A triple-power LED increases the brightness
of last year’s model from 75 to 90 lumens, without changing the battery
requirement (three AAA) or overall weight of 3.17 oz (90g).
2011 Spot on L, 2012 Spot on R
Its overall shape and dimensions are unchanged as well, so
the light is still perfect for tucking in a waist pack after sunrise. 90 lumens is more than bright enough to
illuminate the trails, and the variable dimmer function can customize the level
to whatever your needs may be, whether running under moonlight or reading in
your sleeping bag. Burn time is 50 hours
on the high setting, or 200 hours with the dimmer LEDs
The Spot is chock full of other cool features as well: two red
night vision bulbs, a three-level battery life indicator, a strobe setting, and a
lock mode to prevent accidental battery drain.
Water resistance is IPX4, so it’s no problem to run through a storm.
Like with the Sprinter, my downsides to the new Spot are
unchanged from the old version to the updated one. If you prefer the flood setting (which I do),
you have to use the single power LEDs which only shine at 16 lumens. Also, even though the Spot is compatible with
rechargeable batteries, I’ve been hoping that Black Diamond would develop a
version of this lamp that can be recharged by a plug-in like the Sprinter (or
like Petzl’s CORE battery pack).
I happened to mention this point in an e-mail to my BD rep,
who gave me the following reply: We will be showing something at Summer OR [Outdoor
Retailer convention] that will be of interest to you. That's all I can say for now. So keep your eyes peeled for some kind of
announcement in the next few weeks – and I’ll let you know as soon as I’m in
the loop as well.
In the meantime, Black Diamond’s 2012 lamps provide an outstanding
combination of performance and value, especially as the days start to grow
shorter again this fall. Here are your
product links:
Black Diamond Sprinter headlamp retails for $70, but is
discounted to $56 at Amazon.com.
Black Diamond Spot headlamp retails for $40 from Amazon.com.
*Products provided by
Black Diamond. Affiliate sales support
Running and Rambling.
**If you have a product
you’d like reviewed, contact me at info@runningandrambling.com.
Get updates as soon as they're posted! Click here to subscribe to Running and Rambling.
Check out the Running Life book for a collection of our most popular columns.
July 22, 2012
Random Shots of Beauty
Gues what? It turns out that when you run for twelve hours and drive for seven, that doesn't leave much time for blogging at the end of the day. Accordingly, this weekend's RSOB is a brief one, in hopes that I can get to bed before 1AM:
(click to enlarge)
Marlette Lake in the foreground and Lake Tahoe in the background, as seen from Snow Valley Peak at mile 42 of today's - or is it yesterday's now? - Tahoe Rim Trail 50.
The race's motto is "A Glimpse of Heaven, A Taste of Hell", but I found my experience there to be much more heavenly than hellish. I'll save the details for my race report which should post later in the week ... but you know how that goes around here sometimes.
Get updates as soon as they're posted! Click here to subscribe to Running and Rambling.
Check out the Running Life book for a collection of our most popular columns.
(click to enlarge)
Marlette Lake in the foreground and Lake Tahoe in the background, as seen from Snow Valley Peak at mile 42 of today's - or is it yesterday's now? - Tahoe Rim Trail 50.
The race's motto is "A Glimpse of Heaven, A Taste of Hell", but I found my experience there to be much more heavenly than hellish. I'll save the details for my race report which should post later in the week ... but you know how that goes around here sometimes.
Get updates as soon as they're posted! Click here to subscribe to Running and Rambling.
Check out the Running Life book for a collection of our most popular columns.
July 18, 2012
Patagonia 50% Off Sale; GoLite Summer Blowout Sale
I know, I know … I promised a product review next – but that’s
going to wait another day so I can pass along news about two great sales I
found out about today. In both cases,
inventory tends to vanish quickly, so in the interest of providing you better
deals, I figured it was OK to break my commitment on the product review. Call it situational morality.
We’ll start with my favorite clothing company: Patagonia,
who just kicked off one of their semi-annual 50% off sales.
Patagonia stuff is an amazing value at regular price, so
when you can get if for half off, that’s – see if you can follow the math here –
doubly amazing. Check out the sale here[image error]
or click the banner above. The sale lasts through July 31, but trust me, for best sizing options you’d better hurry.
Second, GoLite is having another blowout sale on men’s and
women’s outdoor apparel and equipment.
The current sale is heavier on women’s clothing than anything
else, but there’s also a decent selection of backpacks, tents, and menswear to
check out, so visit the sale here[image error] or follow the banner above. This one lasts through August 15th.
And with that, we’ll call it a post, and hope I do a better
job of sticking to my word next time.
Get updates as soon as they're posted! Click here to subscribe to Running and Rambling.
Check out the Running Life book for a collection of our most popular columns.
going to wait another day so I can pass along news about two great sales I
found out about today. In both cases,
inventory tends to vanish quickly, so in the interest of providing you better
deals, I figured it was OK to break my commitment on the product review. Call it situational morality.
We’ll start with my favorite clothing company: Patagonia,
who just kicked off one of their semi-annual 50% off sales.
Patagonia stuff is an amazing value at regular price, so
when you can get if for half off, that’s – see if you can follow the math here –
doubly amazing. Check out the sale here[image error]
or click the banner above. The sale lasts through July 31, but trust me, for best sizing options you’d better hurry.
Second, GoLite is having another blowout sale on men’s and
women’s outdoor apparel and equipment.
The current sale is heavier on women’s clothing than anything
else, but there’s also a decent selection of backpacks, tents, and menswear to
check out, so visit the sale here[image error] or follow the banner above. This one lasts through August 15th.
And with that, we’ll call it a post, and hope I do a better
job of sticking to my word next time.
Get updates as soon as they're posted! Click here to subscribe to Running and Rambling.
Check out the Running Life book for a collection of our most popular columns.
July 17, 2012
Altra Zero Drop Sale; Sex in the Village; Sierra Slack Life
Tell me, did any of those titles catch your eye? We'll get to that one shortly ... which is among the random odds and ends that are buying me some time to put the finishing
touches on a product review slated for later in the week ...
*
First, I’ve made mention of the fact that my wife is a big
fan of zero-drop - but not necessarily minimalist - running shoes, and that one of her recent favorites is the Altra Intuition (which I reviewed here). If you’re like her, or if you’re a fan of
Altra’s more minimalist stuff (like the Adam or the Samson), here’s a great
sale for you:
PlanetGear.com currently has a great lineup of Altra shoes
available at up to 40% off. You can get
the Adam or Eve for $48 (regularly $80), and the Instinct or Intuition for $65
(regularly $100). The sale lasts through
July 24th, but there’s no telling if inventory will last that long –
so if you want to grab a pair, get going.
*
One of my first articles to make a big splash on the
Internet was a reformulated version of an old Monterey Herald article from 2005
on the topic of sex and athletic performance.
Among other noteworthy points was the fact that nearly 90,000 condoms
were distributed to athletes in the Olympic Village during the 1992 Albertville
Games. You read that right: nine - zero - THOUSAND.
In light of that, I was amused to see this ESPN.com piece
last week on sex in the Olympic Village, which I suppose can be considered an
updated version of the topic I first explored almost seven years ago. There’s no telling whether the author used my
piece as source material, but I’m sure there’s no shortage of interesting
stories to be told on this subject.
*
On a little less racy note: remember all the times I’ve mentioned
how cool it would be to work for the CLIF Bar company? Well, if for some reason you still don’t
believe me, check out this article and tell me if your employer would do
something similar.
*
Finally, here’s one of the many signs that I was in full-on vacation
mode last week: I spent more time
slacklining than I did running.
The good news is that I can now walk about 40’ on a slackline,
which – considering how dreadfully I sucked just a few months ago – honestly kind
of amazes me. The bad news is that as
far as I can tell, this has absolutely zero carryover to my running, overall
fitness, or for that matter, any other redeeming merit in any aspect of my
life. (The other bad news is that the
only photo evidence I have from last week captures me without a shirt. For the love of God, please don’t click to
enlarge.)
And yet, I’m absolutely hooked on this crazy sport, to the
point where I have slacker dreams just as often as I have running dreams. And sometimes when my daydreaming gets the
best of me, I get lost in the exploits of the truly amazing slackers, such as
the guys in the video that follows.
I probably have a whole series of posts about the slack life
in me at some point, but, you know … I guess I’m kind of a slacker when it
comes to actually writing about it. In
the meantime, enjoy this clip by a dude named Clark Grubb, which also features
perhaps the most fitting background song for slacklining: David Bowie’s classic “It Ain’t
Easy.” Indeed.
“Slacklining – Moab” by Clark Grubb (click to play):
Get updates as soon as they're posted! Click here to subscribe to Running and Rambling.
Check out the Running Life book for a collection of our most popular columns.
touches on a product review slated for later in the week ...
*
First, I’ve made mention of the fact that my wife is a big
fan of zero-drop - but not necessarily minimalist - running shoes, and that one of her recent favorites is the Altra Intuition (which I reviewed here). If you’re like her, or if you’re a fan of
Altra’s more minimalist stuff (like the Adam or the Samson), here’s a great
sale for you:
PlanetGear.com currently has a great lineup of Altra shoes
available at up to 40% off. You can get
the Adam or Eve for $48 (regularly $80), and the Instinct or Intuition for $65
(regularly $100). The sale lasts through
July 24th, but there’s no telling if inventory will last that long –
so if you want to grab a pair, get going.
*
One of my first articles to make a big splash on the
Internet was a reformulated version of an old Monterey Herald article from 2005
on the topic of sex and athletic performance.
Among other noteworthy points was the fact that nearly 90,000 condoms
were distributed to athletes in the Olympic Village during the 1992 Albertville
Games. You read that right: nine - zero - THOUSAND.
In light of that, I was amused to see this ESPN.com piece
last week on sex in the Olympic Village, which I suppose can be considered an
updated version of the topic I first explored almost seven years ago. There’s no telling whether the author used my
piece as source material, but I’m sure there’s no shortage of interesting
stories to be told on this subject.
*
On a little less racy note: remember all the times I’ve mentioned
how cool it would be to work for the CLIF Bar company? Well, if for some reason you still don’t
believe me, check out this article and tell me if your employer would do
something similar.
*
Finally, here’s one of the many signs that I was in full-on vacation
mode last week: I spent more time
slacklining than I did running.
The good news is that I can now walk about 40’ on a slackline,
which – considering how dreadfully I sucked just a few months ago – honestly kind
of amazes me. The bad news is that as
far as I can tell, this has absolutely zero carryover to my running, overall
fitness, or for that matter, any other redeeming merit in any aspect of my
life. (The other bad news is that the
only photo evidence I have from last week captures me without a shirt. For the love of God, please don’t click to
enlarge.)
And yet, I’m absolutely hooked on this crazy sport, to the
point where I have slacker dreams just as often as I have running dreams. And sometimes when my daydreaming gets the
best of me, I get lost in the exploits of the truly amazing slackers, such as
the guys in the video that follows.
I probably have a whole series of posts about the slack life
in me at some point, but, you know … I guess I’m kind of a slacker when it
comes to actually writing about it. In
the meantime, enjoy this clip by a dude named Clark Grubb, which also features
perhaps the most fitting background song for slacklining: David Bowie’s classic “It Ain’t
Easy.” Indeed.
“Slacklining – Moab” by Clark Grubb (click to play):
Get updates as soon as they're posted! Click here to subscribe to Running and Rambling.
Check out the Running Life book for a collection of our most popular columns.
July 15, 2012
Random Shots of Beauty
It’s always hard to leave the mountains behind in the
summertime, but at least this year I know I’m planning to return a couple more
times. Of course, those are for the
purpose of running ultras, so it isn’t really the rest and relaxation that I
love so much about our family’s annual trip to the Sierras - but I suppose that’s
nothing to legitimately complain about.
On a similar theme, this weekend’s Random Shot of Beauty was
a coin flip between two shots from the past week, so I decided to just post
them both. The first one was taken earlier
in the week:
A shot from a small island in the middle of Lake Alpine,
where my 11-year-old daughter and I parked our kayaks in order to indulge in one of our
favorite mountain activities: finding the biggest rock we can jump from, and repeatedly
plunging ourselves into the cold water.
The second was taken more recently:
The Stanislaus River at nightfall, as seen during a
riverside picnic on our last evening in the mountains.
I didn’t do very much structured training during the trip,
but with Leadville a mere 5 weeks away, it’s time to get back to business –
which is why I’ll begrudgingly set the alarm early tomorrow. And I know the mountains will be waiting for
me to return.
Get updates as soon as they're posted! Click here to subscribe to Running and Rambling.
Check out the Running Life book for a collection of our most popular columns.
summertime, but at least this year I know I’m planning to return a couple more
times. Of course, those are for the
purpose of running ultras, so it isn’t really the rest and relaxation that I
love so much about our family’s annual trip to the Sierras - but I suppose that’s
nothing to legitimately complain about.
On a similar theme, this weekend’s Random Shot of Beauty was
a coin flip between two shots from the past week, so I decided to just post
them both. The first one was taken earlier
in the week:
A shot from a small island in the middle of Lake Alpine,
where my 11-year-old daughter and I parked our kayaks in order to indulge in one of our
favorite mountain activities: finding the biggest rock we can jump from, and repeatedly
plunging ourselves into the cold water.
The second was taken more recently:
The Stanislaus River at nightfall, as seen during a
riverside picnic on our last evening in the mountains.
I didn’t do very much structured training during the trip,
but with Leadville a mere 5 weeks away, it’s time to get back to business –
which is why I’ll begrudgingly set the alarm early tomorrow. And I know the mountains will be waiting for
me to return.
Get updates as soon as they're posted! Click here to subscribe to Running and Rambling.
Check out the Running Life book for a collection of our most popular columns.
July 12, 2012
Merrell Barefoot Hylidae Wrap Women's Sandal Review
*Admin note: a standard review follows below, along with an
announcement from Merrell and a product review update afterward.
**
One of our family’s annual springtime traditions is to order
the kids their summer sandals. With the
prospect of hot days, lot of outdoor activity, and frequent trips to the lake, river, or beach
on tap, they need something that can handle a wide variety of uses as well as repeated trips in and out of the water.
In previous years we typically get them Tevas or Land’s End
water sandals, but I often find myself wishing there was something more in line
with the barefoot ideal. It seemed crazy
that the vast majority of sandals still had built-up heels and thick midsole
cushioning – which was why I was very happy to get a look at Merrell’s Summer
2012 footwear catalog.
Merrell Barefoot Hylidae Wrap sandal, Drizzle color
More specifically, my daughter has been wearing the Merrell Barefoot Hylidae Wrap sandal for about a month now, which is part of the
“Water” subcategory of the company’s extensive Barefoot line. The male equivalent is the Aqua Wrap, which
in my opinion isn’t nearly as colorful a name as Hylidae, which is the
scientific name for a Family of tree frogs – many of which, like the sandals
themselves, are semi-aquatic.
Like any good tree frog, the Hylidae Wrap is also very
brightly colored – at least, my daughter’s version (known as Drizzle) is, with
a color scheme that’s right in her pre-teen wheelhouse. You can also get them in silver or black,
but no one wants to see a black tree frog, right? For a summertime water shoe, the brighter,
the better – at least in my daughter’s opinion.
Obviously there are a lot of reasons why I approve of the
shoe also. There’s a mere 4mm
compression molded insole for basic comfort while maintaining outstanding
ground feel. It’s a completely flat, flexible platform with no drop from heel to toe.
At a mere 5.2 oz, it’s very lightweight, and the upper is open enough to
allow full freedom of movement of the foot during any activity. And if you happen to insist on vegan
footwear, the Hylidae Wrap is a safe choice in that regard as well.
The upper has drawn my daughter a lot of attention because
of its styling. There’s something about
the criss-crossing of nylon straps and synthetic leather along with the
contrasting color that catches the eye; I stopped counting the number of times
people spontaneously told my daughter how much they like her shoes – and for an
11-year-old girl, that’s a pretty cool thing to happen.
Two of the straps are Velcro closures, so there’s a lot of
adjustability for individual preferences.
All of the synthetic leather surfaces have a thin neoprene lining for
additional comfort, along with an antimicrobial coating to manage odor control. My daughter wears these as all-day shoes and
hasn’t had any problems with discomfort.
Antimicrobial coating is also used on the EVA footbed, which
is contoured to slightly cradle the foot and keep it secure inside the upper.
Of course, tree frogs are known for their sticky grip, and
the Hylidae does a great job of mimicking that characteristic with a high performance
rubber outsole. The only odd thing about
the outsole rubber is Vibram’s name for it: they call it the Gecko Glove outsole,
a reptilian moniker that doesn’t jive with the amphibian theme of the shoe. But maybe that’s just me being picky.
For practical purposes, the Vibram outsole provides great
traction on nearly every possible surface.
There are 2mm lugs to help grip in loose gravel, and the rubber compound
holds on pretty effectively on wet rocks.
The outsole is also non-marking, in case your daughter wants to wear
them to gym class when fall rolls around.
Thanks to its ability to combine high performance aquatic
function with barefoot friendly construction, Merrell’s Barefoot Hylidae Wrap
is probably one of the best developments of summer for both my daughter and
me. It retails for $85 from Amazon.com.
*Product provided by Merrell
**If you have a product you’d like reviewed, contact me at info@runningandrambling.com.
**
Two more Merrell related notes …
1) This week the company launched a new promotional
campaign with a simple yet very noble goal: using its love of the outdoors as a
catalyst to build a community of athletes who exercise outside. They’re calling it The Pack, and there’s only
one rule: go outside and do something! A
promotional video follows below, which was especially timely for my family, in
that it prominently features stand up paddleboarding – an activity my family
and I have done a lot of this week.
Check out The Pack website here, and check out the promo video below:
“Welcome to the Pack” by Merrell (click to play):
2) As for my family’s outdoor activity: it’s been a week of
hiking, biking, kayaking, fishing, running (a little bit), paddleboarding, and
generally playing around in the great outdoors – and pretty much everyone in my
family has been doing it in Merrell shoes. My wife and son brought a single pair of shoes
each: Trail Gloves for my son, and Pace Gloves for my wife. One of my daughters is using the Dash Gloves,
and the other is wearing the Hylidae sandals reviewed above. (Since I’m the resident shoe diva, I brought
multiple pairs to use.)
L to R: Pace Gloves, Trail Gloves, Hylidae sandals, Dash Gloves
The point here is that everybody’s shoes have proven
remarkably versatile in wet and dry conditions, and extremely durable,
especially considering that in some cases the shoes in question are more than
one year old. I’m often asked about what
single shoe I’d recommend if you can only buy one pair – and if you have a wide
variety of outdoor activities on tap, it’s hard to do better than Merrells.
Get updates as soon as they're posted! Click here to subscribe to Running and Rambling.
Check out the Running Life book for a collection of our most popular columns.
announcement from Merrell and a product review update afterward.
**
One of our family’s annual springtime traditions is to order
the kids their summer sandals. With the
prospect of hot days, lot of outdoor activity, and frequent trips to the lake, river, or beach
on tap, they need something that can handle a wide variety of uses as well as repeated trips in and out of the water.
In previous years we typically get them Tevas or Land’s End
water sandals, but I often find myself wishing there was something more in line
with the barefoot ideal. It seemed crazy
that the vast majority of sandals still had built-up heels and thick midsole
cushioning – which was why I was very happy to get a look at Merrell’s Summer
2012 footwear catalog.
Merrell Barefoot Hylidae Wrap sandal, Drizzle color
More specifically, my daughter has been wearing the Merrell Barefoot Hylidae Wrap sandal for about a month now, which is part of the
“Water” subcategory of the company’s extensive Barefoot line. The male equivalent is the Aqua Wrap, which
in my opinion isn’t nearly as colorful a name as Hylidae, which is the
scientific name for a Family of tree frogs – many of which, like the sandals
themselves, are semi-aquatic.
Like any good tree frog, the Hylidae Wrap is also very
brightly colored – at least, my daughter’s version (known as Drizzle) is, with
a color scheme that’s right in her pre-teen wheelhouse. You can also get them in silver or black,
but no one wants to see a black tree frog, right? For a summertime water shoe, the brighter,
the better – at least in my daughter’s opinion.
Obviously there are a lot of reasons why I approve of the
shoe also. There’s a mere 4mm
compression molded insole for basic comfort while maintaining outstanding
ground feel. It’s a completely flat, flexible platform with no drop from heel to toe.
At a mere 5.2 oz, it’s very lightweight, and the upper is open enough to
allow full freedom of movement of the foot during any activity. And if you happen to insist on vegan
footwear, the Hylidae Wrap is a safe choice in that regard as well.
The upper has drawn my daughter a lot of attention because
of its styling. There’s something about
the criss-crossing of nylon straps and synthetic leather along with the
contrasting color that catches the eye; I stopped counting the number of times
people spontaneously told my daughter how much they like her shoes – and for an
11-year-old girl, that’s a pretty cool thing to happen.
Two of the straps are Velcro closures, so there’s a lot of
adjustability for individual preferences.
All of the synthetic leather surfaces have a thin neoprene lining for
additional comfort, along with an antimicrobial coating to manage odor control. My daughter wears these as all-day shoes and
hasn’t had any problems with discomfort.
Antimicrobial coating is also used on the EVA footbed, which
is contoured to slightly cradle the foot and keep it secure inside the upper.
Of course, tree frogs are known for their sticky grip, and
the Hylidae does a great job of mimicking that characteristic with a high performance
rubber outsole. The only odd thing about
the outsole rubber is Vibram’s name for it: they call it the Gecko Glove outsole,
a reptilian moniker that doesn’t jive with the amphibian theme of the shoe. But maybe that’s just me being picky.
For practical purposes, the Vibram outsole provides great
traction on nearly every possible surface.
There are 2mm lugs to help grip in loose gravel, and the rubber compound
holds on pretty effectively on wet rocks.
The outsole is also non-marking, in case your daughter wants to wear
them to gym class when fall rolls around.
Thanks to its ability to combine high performance aquatic
function with barefoot friendly construction, Merrell’s Barefoot Hylidae Wrap
is probably one of the best developments of summer for both my daughter and
me. It retails for $85 from Amazon.com.
*Product provided by Merrell
**If you have a product you’d like reviewed, contact me at info@runningandrambling.com.
**
Two more Merrell related notes …
1) This week the company launched a new promotional
campaign with a simple yet very noble goal: using its love of the outdoors as a
catalyst to build a community of athletes who exercise outside. They’re calling it The Pack, and there’s only
one rule: go outside and do something! A
promotional video follows below, which was especially timely for my family, in
that it prominently features stand up paddleboarding – an activity my family
and I have done a lot of this week.
Check out The Pack website here, and check out the promo video below:
“Welcome to the Pack” by Merrell (click to play):
2) As for my family’s outdoor activity: it’s been a week of
hiking, biking, kayaking, fishing, running (a little bit), paddleboarding, and
generally playing around in the great outdoors – and pretty much everyone in my
family has been doing it in Merrell shoes. My wife and son brought a single pair of shoes
each: Trail Gloves for my son, and Pace Gloves for my wife. One of my daughters is using the Dash Gloves,
and the other is wearing the Hylidae sandals reviewed above. (Since I’m the resident shoe diva, I brought
multiple pairs to use.)
L to R: Pace Gloves, Trail Gloves, Hylidae sandals, Dash Gloves
The point here is that everybody’s shoes have proven
remarkably versatile in wet and dry conditions, and extremely durable,
especially considering that in some cases the shoes in question are more than
one year old. I’m often asked about what
single shoe I’d recommend if you can only buy one pair – and if you have a wide
variety of outdoor activities on tap, it’s hard to do better than Merrells.
Get updates as soon as they're posted! Click here to subscribe to Running and Rambling.
Check out the Running Life book for a collection of our most popular columns.
July 9, 2012
Marin Ultra Challenge 50-Mile Race Report
“Even on a cloudy day
–
I’ll keep my eyes
fixed on the sun.”
-Cage the Elephant, “Shake Me Down” (video after post)
The buildup to a 100-mile run can be a strange process. If you’re anything like me, the main event
burns like a bright hot sun on your race calendar, eclipsing everything else in
its vicinity.
There’s a physiological aspect to this phenomenon, as each
tune-up event builds the strength and stamina that will be needed for the
eventual 100-miler. However, there’s a
psychological component to the process as well; when a challenge as formidable
as Leadville looms on your horizon, it completely dominates your thoughts to an
extent that every single training run and practice race is defined solely by
the contribution it will make to your success on the big day (and night – and
in my case, the following day as well) of the target race.
While it’s perfectly understandable, sometimes I regret
carrying this mindset into races with me – because more often than not, the
events I’m participating in are fully deserving of their own moment in the
sun. In particular, Northern Californians
are blessed to have some of the most amazing trails and wonderful races anyone
can ask for, and it’s easy to feel like we live in the Mecca of ultrarunning. So
when I say that a new NorCal race has the makings of an instant classic, that’s
not a statement to take lightly – but last weekend’s Marin Ultra Challenge
definitely fits that description.
The race isn’t one to take lightly either - with nearly
11000’ of climbing, many runners considered it more difficult than The North Face 50 in this same region – but the course designed by Hydrapak’s Jim Vernon
offers a wonderful combination of new trails and classic Marin County
thoroughfares, over terrain that was generally runnable but often simply
grueling. I could tell you more … but
it’s probably easier if we just get to the report.
We’ll start with a theme that will recur throughout the
race: it was a very foggy day. Although the 6AM start time was technically
after sunrise, you couldn’t really tell that by looking across the start area
at Rodeo Beach.
The course doesn’t start out particularly dramatic, with
rolling fire roads and gradual climbs leading to the top of Coastal Trail
that overlooks the city from the Golden Gate Rec Area. Unfortunately …
… see the Golden Gate Bridge there? Or Alcatraz off to the left? Or the city skyline in the distance? Us either.
I felt bad for a couple of first-time runners I ran close to through
this section, knowing the killer views they were missing under the
blanket of fog.
After passing the views that weren’t viewable, we rolled
back down to the start/finish area where the first aid station awaited us at
mile 9.
From there it’s an old standby climb from Rodeo Beach, up
Coastal Trail and over Wolf Ridge before descending down into another aid
station at Tennessee Valley. There
really aren’t many different ways to get from Rodeo to Tennessee, so this route
is probably familiar to anyone who’s done other ultras based in one of the two
areas.
It wasn’t until leaving Tennessee Valley that the course
sprung some new challenges on us, beginning with a gentle climb up the Miwok
Trail that darts in and out of eucalyptus groves …
… and eventually leads to the Dias Ridge Trail, a very
pretty meandering single track that eventually deposits you at Muir Beach and
another aid station at mile 19.
Shortly after leaving Muir Beach, we encountered what must
be one of the craziest trails in all of Marin County: the Heather Cutoff. As far as climbs go, its numbers aren’t
particularly daunting; what makes it memorable are the multiple zigzagging switchbacks
that wander in every conceivable direction on the face of the hill. The trail is somewhat hard to appreciate from
the bottom …
… but looking back down from the top you get a better sense
of how convoluted the paths can be. Also
– see that little patch of blue stuff in the top left corner?
It was the sky! It
was nearing midday by this point, and the sun finally burned through the fog
just in time for us to get some cool views of Mt Tamalpais as we ran along the
ridge line.
Another cool aspect of the race was visible here as well: at
a few different locations on the course we passed by photographers taking
pictures of the runners. Of course, that
in itself isn’t very unusual, and I figured that later in the week I’d receive
an e-mail with some blurry thumbnail photos and a solicitation to get the “real
photos” if I send in 30 dollars. What I
didn’t realize at the time is that Inside Trail Racing recruits their own team
of photographers to take photos and post them to the company’s Picasa page. They posted multiple pictures of
every runner, which are completely free and easy to download - and that kind of
tells you all you need to know about Inside Trail Racing’s love for the trail
running community.
As for the photo above: that’s me cresting the ridgeline
from the previous photo. I was especially
grateful for shots like this, since most of my self-photos from the day kinda
sucked.
Meanwhile, back at the race …
Remember the Dipsea Trail from my Miwok 100K report? The one with the beautiful redwoods and
steep staircase descents that leads to the town of Stinson Beach? They used that trail here as well. However …
… unlike at Miwok, you don’t actually go to the beach at the
Marin Ultra Challenge; instead, you try to gain your composure, and possibly
contemplate sitting down for lunch with the cycling club at Stinson Beach
Market – because the next part of the course is an absolute killer.
Over the next two miles, you’ll climb nearly 2000’ up the
Willow Camp Trail – an uphill slog that seems to go on forever. On the plus side, you finally get to see the
beach – on the minus, it’s much too far away to enjoy it.
This climb is virtually the same one that opened this year’s
Miwok 100K – but instead of doing it in the dark early morning at the start of
the race, we were doing it in the heat of midday with a full marathon already
on our legs. Despite my recent familiarity with the climb, this
one seemed harder the second time around – and sometimes it’s better to not see
what lies ahead of you.
Thankfully, after cresting the climb the course rewards you
with 6 miles of flat and downhill terrain, starting with the wide-open Coastal
Trail towards Pantoll Campground …
… and shady forests of the Old Mine Trail that lead to a
welcome aid station …
… as well as another race photographer! As you can see, I’m not exactly blasting at
full throttle here: by this point, my legs had become pretty weary, and I was
already in the “one foot in front of the other” mode I shift to towards the end
of most ultras – except in this case, I had almost 19 more miles to go.
This was kind of a low point for me, but there wasn’t any
particular crisis to speak of – I just generally felt sort of empty. So I munched on some Pop Tarts (yes, really - they're becoming one of my aid station favorites) while walking
the initial descent out of the aid station …
… and went super conservatively through the beautiful
redwoods of the Ben Johnson Trail. In
fact, I was moving so slowly …
… that when I reached the visitor center at Muir Woods
National Monument, it was probably hard to distinguish me from the hoards of tourists
making their leisurely strolls through the tall trees.
Fortunately, as often happens in ultras, a bit of time and
shade was all I needed to perk up again – and by the time we began the long
climb up the Fern Creek and Lost Trails within Muir Woods, I found a little
more bounce in my step.
At the top, you leave the shade behind on the appropriately
named Sun Trail that travels just below Panoramic Highway and connects you to
another section of the Dipsea Trail …
… where you give all of that elevation back before
crossing Redwood Creek at the bottom of Muir Woods again.
This section of the climb out of Muir Woods is
affectionately called “Dynamite” by Dipsea racers; it’s not the “Hey, this is
great, we’re having a blast here” meaning of the word … rather, it’s the “This
trail will almost certainly blow your legs up” connotation. There’s a difference.
And guess what awaits you after completing the Dipsea climb
and the following long descent? Another
killer climb, this time away from Muir Beach as you begin the classic route toward
Pirates Cove. Also notice that the fog
had started to roll back in …
… and by the time I finally made it to Pirate’s Cove, most
of the scenery was shrouded away again …
… leaving me with nothing but another steep climb as I made
my way back home.
From the top of Pirate’s Cove, it’s a long steady descent
into Tennessee Valley, where all the aid station volunteers tried to tell me I
looked good.
I suspected they were lying, but couldn’t really confirm it
until seeing one of ITR’s Picasa photos after the race. Truthfully, I probably looked like hell – but
with less than 5 miles to go, I wasn’t going to let that stop me.
Once I completed the final climb of the day, the fog was
back at full strength, just as it had been in the morning. Normally you can see Rodeo Beach in the
distance below this sign at the top of Wolf Ridge – today, not so much. I knew it was down there, though …
… and soon enough it materialized in front of me, about 11
and a half hours after I left it.
I’m not running fast race times anymore - more on this in a
separate post – but I was happy with my race management on this day. I only hit one really dark patch, and
otherwise was able to prevent all sorts of little issues from escalating into
major ones. It was something of a
pleasant surprise, in that part of me was expecting things to be a whole lot
worse (more on that later as well).
Another mild surprise was my footwear for the day; I
switched from my customary Soft Star Original RunAmocs to the RunAmoc Dash,
which I’m beginning to like more and more for the steep technical terrain that
is so prevalent at Northern California ultras.
All in all, I came away very impressed and satisfied with
the Marin Ultra Challenge: impressed that Race Director Tim Stahler and Inside Trail Racing managed to put together such an outstanding first-time event, and
satisfied that the pieces of my Leadville training might actually be falling
into place. And with that bright hot
100-miler looming on the horizon, this cloudy day in Marin was exactly the
thing I needed.
*
Cage the Elephant, “Shake Me Down” (click to play):
*See other race
reports under tab at top of page.
Get updates as soon as they're posted! Click here to subscribe to Running and Rambling.
Check out the Running Life book for a collection of our most popular columns.
–
I’ll keep my eyes
fixed on the sun.”
-Cage the Elephant, “Shake Me Down” (video after post)
The buildup to a 100-mile run can be a strange process. If you’re anything like me, the main event
burns like a bright hot sun on your race calendar, eclipsing everything else in
its vicinity.
There’s a physiological aspect to this phenomenon, as each
tune-up event builds the strength and stamina that will be needed for the
eventual 100-miler. However, there’s a
psychological component to the process as well; when a challenge as formidable
as Leadville looms on your horizon, it completely dominates your thoughts to an
extent that every single training run and practice race is defined solely by
the contribution it will make to your success on the big day (and night – and
in my case, the following day as well) of the target race.
While it’s perfectly understandable, sometimes I regret
carrying this mindset into races with me – because more often than not, the
events I’m participating in are fully deserving of their own moment in the
sun. In particular, Northern Californians
are blessed to have some of the most amazing trails and wonderful races anyone
can ask for, and it’s easy to feel like we live in the Mecca of ultrarunning. So
when I say that a new NorCal race has the makings of an instant classic, that’s
not a statement to take lightly – but last weekend’s Marin Ultra Challenge
definitely fits that description.
The race isn’t one to take lightly either - with nearly
11000’ of climbing, many runners considered it more difficult than The North Face 50 in this same region – but the course designed by Hydrapak’s Jim Vernon
offers a wonderful combination of new trails and classic Marin County
thoroughfares, over terrain that was generally runnable but often simply
grueling. I could tell you more … but
it’s probably easier if we just get to the report.
We’ll start with a theme that will recur throughout the
race: it was a very foggy day. Although the 6AM start time was technically
after sunrise, you couldn’t really tell that by looking across the start area
at Rodeo Beach.
The course doesn’t start out particularly dramatic, with
rolling fire roads and gradual climbs leading to the top of Coastal Trail
that overlooks the city from the Golden Gate Rec Area. Unfortunately …
… see the Golden Gate Bridge there? Or Alcatraz off to the left? Or the city skyline in the distance? Us either.
I felt bad for a couple of first-time runners I ran close to through
this section, knowing the killer views they were missing under the
blanket of fog.
After passing the views that weren’t viewable, we rolled
back down to the start/finish area where the first aid station awaited us at
mile 9.
From there it’s an old standby climb from Rodeo Beach, up
Coastal Trail and over Wolf Ridge before descending down into another aid
station at Tennessee Valley. There
really aren’t many different ways to get from Rodeo to Tennessee, so this route
is probably familiar to anyone who’s done other ultras based in one of the two
areas.
It wasn’t until leaving Tennessee Valley that the course
sprung some new challenges on us, beginning with a gentle climb up the Miwok
Trail that darts in and out of eucalyptus groves …
… and eventually leads to the Dias Ridge Trail, a very
pretty meandering single track that eventually deposits you at Muir Beach and
another aid station at mile 19.
Shortly after leaving Muir Beach, we encountered what must
be one of the craziest trails in all of Marin County: the Heather Cutoff. As far as climbs go, its numbers aren’t
particularly daunting; what makes it memorable are the multiple zigzagging switchbacks
that wander in every conceivable direction on the face of the hill. The trail is somewhat hard to appreciate from
the bottom …
… but looking back down from the top you get a better sense
of how convoluted the paths can be. Also
– see that little patch of blue stuff in the top left corner?
It was the sky! It
was nearing midday by this point, and the sun finally burned through the fog
just in time for us to get some cool views of Mt Tamalpais as we ran along the
ridge line.
Another cool aspect of the race was visible here as well: at
a few different locations on the course we passed by photographers taking
pictures of the runners. Of course, that
in itself isn’t very unusual, and I figured that later in the week I’d receive
an e-mail with some blurry thumbnail photos and a solicitation to get the “real
photos” if I send in 30 dollars. What I
didn’t realize at the time is that Inside Trail Racing recruits their own team
of photographers to take photos and post them to the company’s Picasa page. They posted multiple pictures of
every runner, which are completely free and easy to download - and that kind of
tells you all you need to know about Inside Trail Racing’s love for the trail
running community.
As for the photo above: that’s me cresting the ridgeline
from the previous photo. I was especially
grateful for shots like this, since most of my self-photos from the day kinda
sucked.
Meanwhile, back at the race …
Remember the Dipsea Trail from my Miwok 100K report? The one with the beautiful redwoods and
steep staircase descents that leads to the town of Stinson Beach? They used that trail here as well. However …
… unlike at Miwok, you don’t actually go to the beach at the
Marin Ultra Challenge; instead, you try to gain your composure, and possibly
contemplate sitting down for lunch with the cycling club at Stinson Beach
Market – because the next part of the course is an absolute killer.
Over the next two miles, you’ll climb nearly 2000’ up the
Willow Camp Trail – an uphill slog that seems to go on forever. On the plus side, you finally get to see the
beach – on the minus, it’s much too far away to enjoy it.
This climb is virtually the same one that opened this year’s
Miwok 100K – but instead of doing it in the dark early morning at the start of
the race, we were doing it in the heat of midday with a full marathon already
on our legs. Despite my recent familiarity with the climb, this
one seemed harder the second time around – and sometimes it’s better to not see
what lies ahead of you.
Thankfully, after cresting the climb the course rewards you
with 6 miles of flat and downhill terrain, starting with the wide-open Coastal
Trail towards Pantoll Campground …
… and shady forests of the Old Mine Trail that lead to a
welcome aid station …
… as well as another race photographer! As you can see, I’m not exactly blasting at
full throttle here: by this point, my legs had become pretty weary, and I was
already in the “one foot in front of the other” mode I shift to towards the end
of most ultras – except in this case, I had almost 19 more miles to go.
This was kind of a low point for me, but there wasn’t any
particular crisis to speak of – I just generally felt sort of empty. So I munched on some Pop Tarts (yes, really - they're becoming one of my aid station favorites) while walking
the initial descent out of the aid station …
… and went super conservatively through the beautiful
redwoods of the Ben Johnson Trail. In
fact, I was moving so slowly …
… that when I reached the visitor center at Muir Woods
National Monument, it was probably hard to distinguish me from the hoards of tourists
making their leisurely strolls through the tall trees.
Fortunately, as often happens in ultras, a bit of time and
shade was all I needed to perk up again – and by the time we began the long
climb up the Fern Creek and Lost Trails within Muir Woods, I found a little
more bounce in my step.
At the top, you leave the shade behind on the appropriately
named Sun Trail that travels just below Panoramic Highway and connects you to
another section of the Dipsea Trail …
… where you give all of that elevation back before
crossing Redwood Creek at the bottom of Muir Woods again.
This section of the climb out of Muir Woods is
affectionately called “Dynamite” by Dipsea racers; it’s not the “Hey, this is
great, we’re having a blast here” meaning of the word … rather, it’s the “This
trail will almost certainly blow your legs up” connotation. There’s a difference.
And guess what awaits you after completing the Dipsea climb
and the following long descent? Another
killer climb, this time away from Muir Beach as you begin the classic route toward
Pirates Cove. Also notice that the fog
had started to roll back in …
… and by the time I finally made it to Pirate’s Cove, most
of the scenery was shrouded away again …
… leaving me with nothing but another steep climb as I made
my way back home.
From the top of Pirate’s Cove, it’s a long steady descent
into Tennessee Valley, where all the aid station volunteers tried to tell me I
looked good.
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I suspected they were lying, but couldn’t really confirm it
until seeing one of ITR’s Picasa photos after the race. Truthfully, I probably looked like hell – but
with less than 5 miles to go, I wasn’t going to let that stop me.
Once I completed the final climb of the day, the fog was
back at full strength, just as it had been in the morning. Normally you can see Rodeo Beach in the
distance below this sign at the top of Wolf Ridge – today, not so much. I knew it was down there, though …
… and soon enough it materialized in front of me, about 11
and a half hours after I left it.
I’m not running fast race times anymore - more on this in a
separate post – but I was happy with my race management on this day. I only hit one really dark patch, and
otherwise was able to prevent all sorts of little issues from escalating into
major ones. It was something of a
pleasant surprise, in that part of me was expecting things to be a whole lot
worse (more on that later as well).
Another mild surprise was my footwear for the day; I
switched from my customary Soft Star Original RunAmocs to the RunAmoc Dash,
which I’m beginning to like more and more for the steep technical terrain that
is so prevalent at Northern California ultras.
All in all, I came away very impressed and satisfied with
the Marin Ultra Challenge: impressed that Race Director Tim Stahler and Inside Trail Racing managed to put together such an outstanding first-time event, and
satisfied that the pieces of my Leadville training might actually be falling
into place. And with that bright hot
100-miler looming on the horizon, this cloudy day in Marin was exactly the
thing I needed.
*
Cage the Elephant, “Shake Me Down” (click to play):
*See other race
reports under tab at top of page.
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Check out the Running Life book for a collection of our most popular columns.
July 7, 2012
Shepherd's Bush Book Winner; Random Shots of Beauty
Hey … I’m a little overdue on a race report, aren’t I? Apologies if you’ve been awaiting my report from
the Marin Ultra Challenge; I’ll have it posted in the next couple of days for
sure. In the meantime, let’s take care
of one point of business: announcing the winner of the Showdown at Shepherd’s Bush book giveaway.
Before I do, though, thanks very much to everyone who
supplied a favorite marathon memory with their entry. If you have any question as to the historical
significance of the marathon race, scroll through the comments section of that
post for a small sampling of the colorful history of the event.
Having said that … Meg T, e-mail me your contact info – you’re
the winner! To everyone else, I’d definitely
recommend grabbing Showdown at Shepherd’s Bush from Amazon.com in either
hardback or Kindle formats.
*
As for the delayed race report … I’m chalking up my
delinquency to the fact that I’m currently living on mountain time, as our
family is enjoying another week in our favorite getaway spot in the Sierras. It’s always one of the most restful and
rewarding times of the year for us, and I’m always grateful for the opportunity
to be here.
Speaking of things to be thankful for, here’s your Random
Shot of Beauty:
God, country, and tall pine trees, as seen outside the
Mountain Christian Fellowship in Arnold, CA.
Get updates as soon as they're posted! Click here to subscribe to Running and Rambling.
Check out the Running Life book for a collection of our most popular columns.
the Marin Ultra Challenge; I’ll have it posted in the next couple of days for
sure. In the meantime, let’s take care
of one point of business: announcing the winner of the Showdown at Shepherd’s Bush book giveaway.
Before I do, though, thanks very much to everyone who
supplied a favorite marathon memory with their entry. If you have any question as to the historical
significance of the marathon race, scroll through the comments section of that
post for a small sampling of the colorful history of the event.
Having said that … Meg T, e-mail me your contact info – you’re
the winner! To everyone else, I’d definitely
recommend grabbing Showdown at Shepherd’s Bush from Amazon.com in either
hardback or Kindle formats.
*
As for the delayed race report … I’m chalking up my
delinquency to the fact that I’m currently living on mountain time, as our
family is enjoying another week in our favorite getaway spot in the Sierras. It’s always one of the most restful and
rewarding times of the year for us, and I’m always grateful for the opportunity
to be here.
Speaking of things to be thankful for, here’s your Random
Shot of Beauty:
God, country, and tall pine trees, as seen outside the
Mountain Christian Fellowship in Arnold, CA.
Get updates as soon as they're posted! Click here to subscribe to Running and Rambling.
Check out the Running Life book for a collection of our most popular columns.
July 2, 2012
Showdown at Shepherd's Bush: Book Review and Giveaway Contest
I’ve often made reference to the fact that for a very long
period of my running career, I was something of a marathon fanatic. I ran several races per year, routinely travelled
hundreds of miles to find new courses or revisit old favorites, and excitedly
watched every major marathon I could find on television.
I also absorbed every piece of information I could find
about the history of the event, which I considered nothing less than the most
epic and legendary race in the history of the world (I was a bit younger then,
and a bit more inclined to hyperbole).
Although I now have a different perspective on the race – it’s not
nearly as epic as I once imagined, but perhaps just as legendary – I’m still fascinated
by the marathon as an event, particularly in the details of its formative
years.
Accordingly, for the past couple of weeks I’ve been completely
geeking out over Showdown at Shepherd's Bush, a captivating history of the
marathon at the most critical time in its existence: the years immediately
before and after the 1908 London Olympics.
Most folks know the ancient Greek origins of the marathon; very few,
however, recognize how pivotal the London race was in cementing the marathon as
one of the preeminent athletic pinnacles and cultural touchstones of the 20th
Century.
The book is also the story of three remarkable runners whose
paths converged on that fateful day in London: Dorando Pietri, a determined and
hard-nosed Italian who almost literally ran himself to death in front of the
Queen and 80,000 spectators; Johnny Hayes, an opportunistic working-class Irish-American
who rose from an often tragic upbringing to achieve athletic immortality; and
Tom Longboat, an Onondaga Indian from Canada whose sheer athletic talent was
rivaled only by the severity of the persecution that followed him to every corner
of the globe.
Dorando Pietri at the 1908 Olympics; photo from Getty Images
Author David Davis culled literally hundreds of source
documents to create a vivid narrative (along with a cool collection of vintage photos) of the three runners in the years before
1908, and follows them throughout their post-Olympic notoriety. At the center of it all is an extended
account of the 1908 Olympic Marathon, which has to go down as one of the most
dramatic and controversial of all time. I won’t go into all the details here, but
suffice it to say if something similar took place today, it would cause a fair
amount of hysteria among Olympic aficionados or sports junkies.
Aside from putting some wind into my geek flag, another
pleasure of the book was its depictions of the training conditions and
prevailing exercise science wisdom of the day. Davis reports that before key events, “competitors
were given breakfast [of] milk and a couple of beers apiece”, and that during long
footraces, “If a runner was in extremis, he downed a shot of whiskey or
brandy.” Other anecdotes are
particularly amusing in light of the current natural running craze: Davis notes
that the “primitive, arduous” footwear the runners used were nothing more than a
leather upper and rubber outsole. He
doesn’t mention that today, modern minimalists shell out upwards of 100 bucks
for similarly primitive gear.
With another London Olympic marathon just around the corner,
the timing of this book is just about perfect.
If you’re a marathon geek like me, or if you simply enjoy the historical
intersections of athletics and sociology, Showdown
at Shepherd’s Bush makes for a very entertaining read. And for one of my readers, you’ll get a
chance to check out the whole story for free.
Showdown at Shepherd’s Bush retails for $17 from Amazon.com
(or $13 in Kindle format
), and the publisher has provided one copy for me to give away as a contest
prize. But since I’m celebrating my
inner geek in this review, I want to give my fellow running geeks out there an
edge of sorts in winning.
So here’s the deal: you get one contest entry for leaving
any old comment, one additional entry if you identify a memorable world-class marathon
moment (for example, German Silva turning the wrong way in NYC or Bob Kempanien puking Gatorade at the Olympic Trials – and no, you can’t use those), and a
third entry if that moment happened in an Olympic marathon (like Deena entering
the stadium in Athens – and that one’s now ineligible as well). Also, there’s no copying someone else’s
moment; if there are duplicate memories listed, I’m only giving credit to the
earliest entrant. As I said, the
advantage definitely goes to the geeks on this one.
Leave your comments in the box below to enter, and I’ll
announce the winner this Saturday, July 8.
Thanks very much to St Martin’s Press for sponsoring this contest, and
good luck to everybody!
*Product provided by St. Martin’s Press
**If you have a product you’d like reviewed, contact me at info@runningandrambling.com.
Get updates as soon as they're posted! Click here to subscribe to Running and Rambling.
Check out the Running Life book for a collection of our most popular columns.
period of my running career, I was something of a marathon fanatic. I ran several races per year, routinely travelled
hundreds of miles to find new courses or revisit old favorites, and excitedly
watched every major marathon I could find on television.
I also absorbed every piece of information I could find
about the history of the event, which I considered nothing less than the most
epic and legendary race in the history of the world (I was a bit younger then,
and a bit more inclined to hyperbole).
Although I now have a different perspective on the race – it’s not
nearly as epic as I once imagined, but perhaps just as legendary – I’m still fascinated
by the marathon as an event, particularly in the details of its formative
years.
Accordingly, for the past couple of weeks I’ve been completely
geeking out over Showdown at Shepherd's Bush, a captivating history of the
marathon at the most critical time in its existence: the years immediately
before and after the 1908 London Olympics.
Most folks know the ancient Greek origins of the marathon; very few,
however, recognize how pivotal the London race was in cementing the marathon as
one of the preeminent athletic pinnacles and cultural touchstones of the 20th
Century.
The book is also the story of three remarkable runners whose
paths converged on that fateful day in London: Dorando Pietri, a determined and
hard-nosed Italian who almost literally ran himself to death in front of the
Queen and 80,000 spectators; Johnny Hayes, an opportunistic working-class Irish-American
who rose from an often tragic upbringing to achieve athletic immortality; and
Tom Longboat, an Onondaga Indian from Canada whose sheer athletic talent was
rivaled only by the severity of the persecution that followed him to every corner
of the globe.
Dorando Pietri at the 1908 Olympics; photo from Getty Images
Author David Davis culled literally hundreds of source
documents to create a vivid narrative (along with a cool collection of vintage photos) of the three runners in the years before
1908, and follows them throughout their post-Olympic notoriety. At the center of it all is an extended
account of the 1908 Olympic Marathon, which has to go down as one of the most
dramatic and controversial of all time. I won’t go into all the details here, but
suffice it to say if something similar took place today, it would cause a fair
amount of hysteria among Olympic aficionados or sports junkies.
Aside from putting some wind into my geek flag, another
pleasure of the book was its depictions of the training conditions and
prevailing exercise science wisdom of the day. Davis reports that before key events, “competitors
were given breakfast [of] milk and a couple of beers apiece”, and that during long
footraces, “If a runner was in extremis, he downed a shot of whiskey or
brandy.” Other anecdotes are
particularly amusing in light of the current natural running craze: Davis notes
that the “primitive, arduous” footwear the runners used were nothing more than a
leather upper and rubber outsole. He
doesn’t mention that today, modern minimalists shell out upwards of 100 bucks
for similarly primitive gear.
With another London Olympic marathon just around the corner,
the timing of this book is just about perfect.
If you’re a marathon geek like me, or if you simply enjoy the historical
intersections of athletics and sociology, Showdown
at Shepherd’s Bush makes for a very entertaining read. And for one of my readers, you’ll get a
chance to check out the whole story for free.
Showdown at Shepherd’s Bush retails for $17 from Amazon.com
(or $13 in Kindle format), and the publisher has provided one copy for me to give away as a contestprize. But since I’m celebrating my
inner geek in this review, I want to give my fellow running geeks out there an
edge of sorts in winning.
So here’s the deal: you get one contest entry for leaving
any old comment, one additional entry if you identify a memorable world-class marathon
moment (for example, German Silva turning the wrong way in NYC or Bob Kempanien puking Gatorade at the Olympic Trials – and no, you can’t use those), and a
third entry if that moment happened in an Olympic marathon (like Deena entering
the stadium in Athens – and that one’s now ineligible as well). Also, there’s no copying someone else’s
moment; if there are duplicate memories listed, I’m only giving credit to the
earliest entrant. As I said, the
advantage definitely goes to the geeks on this one.
Leave your comments in the box below to enter, and I’ll
announce the winner this Saturday, July 8.
Thanks very much to St Martin’s Press for sponsoring this contest, and
good luck to everybody!
*Product provided by St. Martin’s Press
**If you have a product you’d like reviewed, contact me at info@runningandrambling.com.
Get updates as soon as they're posted! Click here to subscribe to Running and Rambling.
Check out the Running Life book for a collection of our most popular columns.
