New Clown Shoes

I celebrated my 53rd birthday over the weekend. It was great having the kids and their significant others, as well as my almost 3 month old granddaughter all there for a get together and dinner. I really didn't need anything for my birthday but my kids always get me something even though I ask them not to. This year they got me a gift card to Wasatch Running. That was a great gift as I was definitely ready to try some new trail shoes. I was not at all happy with my situation at the end of the Buffalo 50 Miler. So the research and pursuit of a new pair of trail shoes began.

I did quite a bit of research online and after determining that every shoe company and most runners are now leaning towards zero drop and minimalist running shoes, I decided I needed to go the opposite direction. Unfortunately I am still about 40 pounds heavier than I should be and I still get a great deal of knee pain whenever I do some extended downhill running. As a result I decided to buck the trend and go with more cushioning.

I have always thought the Hoka One One shoes to be a gimmick as much as anything, and they definitely resemble some type of clown shoes with their overabundant sole's, but after talking with Darrell at Wasatch Running I decided to try on a few different models.

I ended up walking out with a pair of Hoka One One Stinson Evo's. They were amazingly comfortable when I tried them on and ran in them at the store. They also have a crazy amount of cushioning. I was hoping to go trail running in them today after work but Mother Nature threw me a curve with all of the rain. So tonight I will run on the Parkway in my Brooks Glycerine's and do the same on Thursday morning. Unfortunately the Hoka's will not come out of the closet until my next trail outing which due to evening commitments the rest of the week will probably not be until Saturday morning. I can't wait to put some miles on them and see how they feel, or more specifically how I feel afterward.

My training is going well and I am finally getting back to my somewhat normal running routine after taking time off recovering form the Buffalo 50 Miler. Hopefully with the new shoes I can get the trail work in I need and get up to 50 miles a week quickly, as I prepare for the Squaw Peak 50 mile race on June 2nd.

Antelope Island Buffalo Run 50 Mile Recap

Here it is 4 days later and I still can't believe I actually finished the Antelope Island Buffalo Run 50 Mile Race. My first 50 miler. It wasn't pretty and my feet are still killing me, but with the help of a good pacer (my son Josh) and a good support crew (my wife Brenda) I was able to pull it off.

I got to the starting line plenty early, in fact too early. I had to wait around for more than 40 minutes until the race started. There weren't very many runners there when I poked my head into the tent to see if anything was going on. Some of the support people and organizers, as well as Karl Meltzer who had won the 100 Mile race a couple of hours earlier were there and maybe a dozen other 50 mile runners. I decided to go back out to the car and wait until about 10 minutes before the start. When I went into the tent with less than 10 minutes until the start it was completely packed. We received our last minute instructions, went out to the start/finish line and started the count down of the last 30 seconds, turned on my headlamp, and we were off!

I intentionally walked all of the uphill sections. I was hoping to end between 10.5 and 11 hours so I certainly wasn't in a hurry. When we had completed the first few miles of uphill I was definitely in the back of the pack, I probably had about 15 runners behind me which means I had about 110 runners in front of me. As the pack started to spread out I passed a few runners but also had a few pass me. I grouped in with a couple of other runners going about my same slow pace. When we got to the first aid station they had us go out to Elephant Head first, which I really wasn't a big fan of as it was very congested. I felt like all we were doing was dodging the runners coming back at us from the turnaround, it was really crazy in that section. You could never get in any kind of a rhythm as you were constantly jumping off the trail into the weeds to pass people coming at you. I definitely wish I had gone the other way first and done the Elephant Head loop second.

Soon after starting the next section at the top of the long downhill, my foot landed funny and twisted my left knee, then I over corrected and tweaked my right knew. I was hoping the pain would go away once I got to flat ground but that was not to be the case. Just what I didn't need was knee pain for more than 40 miles of a 50 mile race. From that point on the downhills were excruciating. I knew that once I Got to about 20 miles there wouldn't be much in the way of downhills. That thought kept me going until I saw Brenda and Josh at the gate at mile 19.

At the gate I decided I needed to change shoes, my toes had been hitting hard on the inside of my right big toe, not the end, but thought I should go with the 1/2 size larger shoe to see if it would help. A quick shoe change, took off the gaitors, put on the Ipod, and away I went.

The next 17 miles were quite painful, I took some baby aspirin and made sure I was getting adequate water, Chomps/Gu, and S Caps. I was run/walking. The pain in my knees would not allow me to continually run. Unfortunately the walking periods were beginning to last longer than the running periods. Not what I was hoping for. From about the 25 or 26 mile mark until the ranch turnaround, I was having leaders pass me on their way back. I was slow, hurting and becoming very discouraged.

It's funny the things that you focus on and that become important at this stage psychologically. There was a girl in a bright pink top that had passed me just before the Lower Frary aid station, about mile 27.5, I did a fairly quick stop there and headed out in front of her. She soon passed me again on the trail. She was walk / running like I was but definitely able to run more than I could. She was building her lead. I told Josh and Brenda that I wanted to do a very quick stop at the ranch turn around to make up some time and some ground. The girl in pink had become what I was focusing my attention on to help take some of my mind off the knee pain. As I got near to the ranch aid station the girl in pink had not completed the turnaround and passed me. As I got closer to the ranch I knew I needed to do a very quick stop there and get back out. As I went in I saw her still at the station. Josh quickly filled my water bottle, drank some Coke, had some chips, I took off my Ipod, and picked up my experienced pacer, Josh. I felt like I was ready to go.

From here Josh tried to get me to run as much as possible. It just hurt so bad. I would run about 75 yards and have to walk 200 or 300 yards. I could walk quite fast as I was not having a stamina problem, just a knee pain problem. My knees were getting worse and worse. It almost brought me to tears when I would run. It is in this section that I let Josh know that I was not in a good place right now and was really in trouble. I continued doing the run /walk system until we hit the Lower Frary aid station on the way back at about mile 39. At this point Josh suggested I go for full on Ibuprofen. I wasn't really sweating as I was doing a lot of walking. we also knew that at this pace I would not be able to finish before they took down the finish line at 6:30 or 12 1/2 hours so Ibuprofen it was. After a few miles the Ibuprofen kicked in. I was able to run a little more and walk a little less. However my feet were starting to get some significant blisters and the balls of my feet were bruised and quite painful. Plus that girl in pink was right on my tail. from just after the Lower Frary aid station until the Mountain View aid station she was right on my tail, never more than about 25 yards behind us. When Josh and I would run, she would run, when we would walk, she would walk. Josh even asked her if she wanted to pass us and she said "No, I really like the pace you guys are going". I was now determined to stay ahead of her no matter what.

At Mountain View aid station I didn't stop. Josh had my water bottles full and had a glass of Coke for me and I just walked right through. For the first time in a long time I was starting to feel like I could actually run for more that 75 to 100 yards at a time. Once we got to the top of the hill I started running more. I hadn't been able to pass more than one or two crippled runners since the ranch turnaround. Fortunately only one runner had passed me. When we got less than a mile from the Lakeside aid station I saw a couple of runners that I could focus on passing. The girl in pink was still right on my tail. I passed 2 runners just before the aid station. I again didn't stop as Josh had my bottles filled and a glass of Coke ready to go. The one runner who passed me a couple of hours ago was in the aid station, I passed him there. The girl in pink stopped at that aid station and looked like she was really struggling. I didn't see her again until the finish line. I passed 2 more runners going around the mountain. Josh was definitely pushing me to get to 12 hours. I ran most of the last 4 miles. I knew I probably wouldn't be able get under 12 hours but I wanted to make sure I didn't let anyone pass me. With a little more than a mile left I saw 2 more runners that I thought I could pass. As I ran by the 1st one I could see she was actually a 100 Mile runner. She was going to get in under the 30 hour 30 minute mark for her first 100. We congratulated her and went after the next one. I passed the next one with about 1 mile left. From here I didn't have anyone close enough to reel in before the finish.

Unfortunately I was not able to get in under 12 hours. I forgot to stop my watch when I went across the finish line but my time was about 12 hours 2 minutes and 30 seconds, the official times have not been posted yet. I had finished my first 50 Mile race! My daughter Brittany was there to greet me and of course my supportive wife was there. Josh ran (I use the term loosely) the last 17 miles with me. He really pushed me and I honestly doubt I would have made it under 12.5 hours without him. A good pacer is priceless.


My final analysis. I have huge blisters on the balls of both of my feet. I also have bruised the balls of both of my feet. I also have multiple small blisters. I will lose at least 1 toe nail and could lose as many as 3. My knees feel a lot better but it could just be that all I can feel right now is how bad my feet still hurt. My teeth ached for a full day from clamping my jaw shut so tight from the pain.

Overall I am happy with how I did. I was more than an hour longer than I was hoping for. However, I was fighting pain 75% of the race. My stamina was good. I know I need to run more steep downhills in training before my next run to prepare my knees. I also know I need to figure out my shoes. I don't want blisters like this again and I don't want to lose any more toe nails!

Thanks to everyone who supported me in preparing for this run as well as the race organizer and the volunteers at the event, they were awesome. Special thanks to Brenda and Josh. I absolutely could not have done it without both of them.

2 weeks until the Buffalo Run 50 Mile Race

With less than 2 weeks until the Antelope Island Buffalo Run 50 Mile race I thought I needed to post an update. My training mileage and consistency has been good. I have averaged 40+ miles weekly over the last few weeks. I have had a few minor set backs but am very happy with my training and preparation overall. I am having some pain in my heel but it subsides when I start to run, probably an inflamed tendon. My weight is no where near where I would like it to be, but let's face it, I love food! Until I get my eating habits more in line with where they should be my weight will be a challenge. Overall I continue to eat better but my sweet tooth constantly causes my problems.

As far as the race goes, if the weather is decent I think I will finish between 10 and 12 hours. To narrow the window I believe I will finish at right around 10 hours and 45 minutes. Time will tell if I am even close at estimating my time at a race that is this long. If we have bad weather that will add to the time.

Not much left to do between now and then but a few short mountain runs and tapering down for the big day. Brenda and Josh will be my support crew. Josh has run this race twice before. Brenda and I have supported Josh in both of these races. So my crew will be top notch and very familiar with this race. If I mess up it will all be on me as I won't be able to blame my support crew for anything that will go wrong.

2012 Plan

Here we are on the 6th of February and I now have the bulk of my running year planned.

Unfortunately, I did not draw out for the Wasatch 100. The good news is that my son Josh did. It will be awesome to see him conquer that course again and to help crew him. With me missing out on the Wasatch lottery I will be running the Bear 100 in late September for my first 100 mile mountain race.

Leading up to the Bear 100 I will be participating in 3 races in preparation and for qualifying for the Bear 100.

The first race will be the Buffalo Run 50 Mile race. This race is on Antelope Island on March 24th. My main goal for this race is that I need to run a 50 mile race in under 16 hours in order to enter the Bear 100. I can't imagine it will take me even 12 hours but you never know. In years past I could use my race in June for qualification for the Bear, however races are now filling up faster than ever and I don't want to chance missing out due to the race filling up before I can get a qualifying race under my belt.

My second race will be the Squaw Peak 50 Miler on June 2nd. This should be a fun race to be running in. I was scheduled to run this race last year but tore my calf muscle and was not able to compete. Josh is also in this race which will be the first time that both of us are in the same Ultra race. I won't see him at any point in the race, only at the start and finish lines as he is much faster than I am, but it will still be fun to be in the same event.

My third race with be the Speedgoat 50K on July 28th,. I ran this last year and am hopeful to knock a couple of hours off my time from 2011. I should be lighter, faster, and have course knowledge this year which will help me shave off a lot of time. Josh will probably also be in this race which will make it more fun as well.

The last race will be the Bear 100 starting on September 21st. This will definitely be an incredible event for me. I have wanted to run a 100 miler for a long time and at that point will have spent 2 years working up for it.

Between now and then I need to lose a lot of weight, and run a lot of miles. I am currently running about 33 miles a week and am increasing weekly. My goal is to be running more than 50 miles a week in the couple of months prior to the Bear 100. My weight goal is to be down to 170 before the Bear 100. That in itself may be my biggest challenge of all.

Back to Training

I took quite a bit of time off of training to make sure my calf is completely healed. Over the last two weeks I have had several runs of 5 to 8 miles and everything is feeling great. Starting this week I will get more consistent and stick to a schedule building up to the Spring, Summer and Fall races with the end objective to complete a 100 mile race in September.

I did get into the Squaw Peak 50 mile race scheduled on June 2nd. That should be a good run and one I need to complete if I end up entering the Bear 100. The Bear 100 requires that you complete a 50 mile race in under 16 hours, which is not at all difficult but you do have to "check the box" in order to gain entry. Next week I will put into the lottery for the Wasatch 100 mile race but with the lottery for that race being about a 50/50 chance with only one draw (my 1st year putting in) I need to have a back up race. Depending on how things go I also intend to run the Speedgoat 50K again. I think with the course knowledge I now have and training a little differently this summer, I will be able to make a significant improvement on my time from last year. Depending on how my training goes over he next few months I will probably also run one of the Antelope Island Buffalo run events. Either the 50K or the 50 Miler depending on where I am at with training at the end of March.

Work has been very rough over the last few months and I don't know if it will get better in the next 3 to 4 months. I think once we get past the 1st quarter things should start to slowly improve. I bring this up as it has been a serious mental drain on me. I try to not let it affect my training but sometimes it completely takes over my brain and unfortunately my life. Running generally has let me escape some of that stress, but at times I find that during my entire run all I did was think about work. Not a good thing!

I also have my first grandchild due the 3rd week of January. That will be awesome but with my daughter and her husband living with us while he is in school, it will be somewhat of a distraction, albeit a joyful one and I wouldn't trade it for anything. My wife is extremely excited to have our new granddaughter staying with us for a while.

We are now just one week away from Christmas and with my training and diet not being what I would have liked, I have put on a few pounds. Now that I will be training more seriously and watching my diet I hope to get my weight back in line once the holidays have passed. I just cannot pass up good food that is so abundant this time of year.

I would like to wish you a very Merry Christmas, and a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year.

It's Back

Here we are just a couple of days before the Pony Express 50 Mile race and my calf injury is back. I felt it on my long run almost 2 weeks ago and then when I was doing a short run on Saturday it came back with a full head of steam. There is no way I can do a race right now. The only bright side is that although it is in the same calf as my previous injury it is in a different part of my calf, hopefully it will heal fast and not cause me too many problems long term.

Maybe it is for the best as today I can tell I am getting sick to boot. My wife has been sick for a few days now so I figured I would probably get it, sure enough yesterday I had a scratchy throat and today I also feel feverish.

With the injury comes a change in plans. There will be no 50 mile race this year. I will not make my goal in that regard. I hate missing goals, it is so discouraging. I will now be shooting for the Antelope Island/Buffalo Run 50 Miler in the spring of next year. That gives me a lot of time to heal, to train, and to lose weight, all of which are very important going into next year and running a 100 mile mountain race next fall.

Hopefully the two months find my calf healed, my spirits soaring, and my training on schedule.

What's next?

It's now been more than a month since I completed the Speedgoat 50K. I didn't run for a few days as I was just too sore, then I got a sinus infection and am now on my 2nd round of antibiotics attempting to get on top of it. Work has been rough the last month as well. I am cautiously optimistic that work will get better beginning in November, probably not before that. In spite of all that I have had a couple of mountain runs over the last few weeks and have been hitting the mileage fairly consistently on asphalt now that my thighs, hips, and knees have recovered from Speedgoat.

I should do about 45 miles this week if everything goes as planned. So what race to day next? My goal is to do at least a 50 miler by the end of this year so that I have the qualification taken care of in case I end up in the Bear 100 next year. With that in mind there are 3 nearby races that will fit the bill. The Slick Rock 50 is in Moab on October 8th, that may be a bit soon but I will probably see how I feel at the end of this week and go from there, it would also require a hotel stay the night before, not a big deal but not as convenient as sleeping in your own bed. The next option is the Pony Express Trail 50 that is on October 21st. This race definitely has some appeal as your support crew can be with you the entire race, not just at specific aid station locations. The down side is that this race is flat as flat can be. almost no elevation gain, in fact the entire race is on a dirt road in the west desert on the Pony Express Trail. The 3rd option is the Antelope Island 100K on November 5th. Definitely has some appeal to me as it has elevation changes on about half of the course, the other half being quite flat. It is also 62 Miles which adds another dimension to that decision.

I think I will have a better idea on which one of these to go with over the next couple of weeks of training. Time will tell.