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Sent: Wednesday, January 21, 2009 9:37 PM
Subject: Incline Club News V13 LR #9
Good Evening Incline Club!
Hope everybody had enjoyed the most excellent weather this past week. I know the trip up to Barr Camp was about as good as it could get for being January. If only we had that nice of weather back in August :-) Photos of the adventure along with some, er, running commentary, have been posted to http://picasaweb.google.com/inclineclub/LR8BarrCamp
Also note the plethora of race reports from Jackie, Chris, Bucky, Mike and Adam below.
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NEXT RUN: Waldo/LRR Double!
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Sunday, Jan 25, 8:00AM — Memorial Park
Waldo/LRR double! Run the UPT and then head over and do Waldo Canyon — clockwise. Next, head up LRR and return via the Barr Trail. 3-4 hours, if it would be longer just do Waldo or LRR.
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THIS WEEK’S QUOTE:
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There is no elevator to success. You have to take the stairs.
-- Unknown
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Weekend Weather Report:
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For Sunday’s Run, the National Weather Service is calling for starting temps in the 30’s with 50-60% cloud cover. High temps for the day will hit around 40. There is a cold front moving in on Monday, so if that shows up early then all bets are off.
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Suggested Course Overview:
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We all know the drill by now. Up Ute Pass trail, play a game of frogger, over to find waldo, detour up LRR and then down Barr Trail. Note that Barr and Waldo Canyon are rather icy in spots so screw shoes or similar are highly recommended.
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Race Reports:
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Swift Skedaddle Snowshoe Race — Silverthorne — 01/11/2009
Running from an Angel — Lake Mead, NV — 01/01/2008
PF Changs Rock And Roll Half Marathon — Phoenix, AZ — 01/18/2009
Houston Marathon — Houston, Texas — 01/18/2009
River, Roots and Ruts Trail Run — Caloosahatchee Regional Park, near Ft. Myers, FL — 1/11/2009
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Swift Skedaddle Snowshoe Race — Silverthorne — 01/11/2009
Jackie Nunes reports:
Distance: 10K
Goal: Finish
Results: I wasn’t last
General Summary:
Followed in the steps of some other ICer’s; didn’t use the snowshoes until the day of. I actually qualified for the US National Shoeshoe Race championships in March at Mt. Hood by participating in this race for my age group. “Now this will help get one ready for the PP Ascent..” Why? The elevation and trying to run to above the tree line in about 3 feet of powder while wearing snowshoes. It was a very fun race, and I’m already registered for 4 more.
Things Done Right:
I showed up. Wore the appropriate layers and had lots of gel packs with me. Asked a lady for some advice in regards to gait and strategy. (Turns out she is “placer” at all these races.) Didn’t wear snow/ski pants like the organizer suggested, used a very tightly woven lycra tight as the outside layer. The snow/ski pants would have been restrictive.
Things Done Wrong:
Didn’t practice with the snowshoes beforehand. Wore gloves that didn’t have wrist loops so that I could take them off and let them hang when I needed to thermo-regulate. Instead I ended up having to hold them in my hands.
Any Other Stuff:
Everybody should do this, and the entry fee is cheap!
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Running from an Angel — Lake Mead, NV — 01/01/2008
Chris Grove reports:
Distance: 50 Miles
Goal: < 10 hours
Results: 9:16
Website: http://www.calicoracing.com/
General Summary:
I decided in early December I was in fantastic shape and was peaked for a 50 miler. The problem: Its winter time. Running from an Angel was a good option (cheap travel, good location) BUT it was a week before the Disney World weekend. After some thought, I decided if I designed a conservative race plan and threw out any times goals for Disney, I was capable (and stupid enough) to run all three.
The race plan: Run the first hour. After the first hour, use a 9/1 run/walk intervals. Eat a gel every hour and not depend on the aid station food.
The weather was great except for a headwind which was never a tailwind on an out and back course. How does that happen?
I had a 10 mile runner’s high after the turn around and never a moment of despair. It was really the prefect race day. It was probably because I wore my Incline Club shirt :)
Things Done Right:
1) I did a proper 2 week taper before the race.
2) I followed my race plan.
Things Done Wrong:
Nothing!
Any Other Stuff:
Running from an Angel was a great little road ultra. The area around Lake Mead is scenic. The course is rolling hills and never flat. The weather was perfect.
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PF Changs Rock And Roll Half Marathon — Phoenix, AZ — 01/18/2009
Douglas Smith reports:
Distance: Half Marathon
Goal: 1:39:00
Results: 1:41:22
Website: http://www.rnraz.com/home.html
General Summary:
Ran this race for the third consecutive year. Beautiful weather, almost 50 degrees at start, with mid 60’s at the finish. There was a pretty good headwind in the last 5 miles, but enjoyed the wind for the most part, as it really did help the cool down the overdressed. Seemed like every band was playing Ritchie Valen’s “La Bamba” along the course, but there were two bands that were playing music you could actually pace on.
Things Done Right:
I had hoped to PR at this race, and was trying to run 7:30 miles from the start versus my normal kill the first 3 miles and struggle in the rest of the race. I managed to do this almost exactly for the first 7 miles, but then faltered. So pacing is getting slightly better. I beat my time from the past two years, so I guess that’s a positive (but barely, 20 seconds over last year).
Things Done Wrong:
The normal stuff, not enough sleep, overdressed, and didn’t hydrate enough during the race.
Any Other Stuff:
Steve Scott, the legendary U.S. Miler, and founder of “Speed Golf” (what?) was the 1:39 pacer. His wife was running with him, and was apparently the keeper of the Garmin 305, as he was strongly “instructed” by her to slow down for about every mile I was able to keep up with them. I wisely hung back so I wouldn’t get caught in the cross fire! Good to see that it’s not just us weekend hacks that get yelled at by their wives. FWIW, I think he ended up finishing at 1:39:33, so he got close...
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Houston Marathon — Houston, Texas — 01/18/2009
Mike Sandlin reports:
Distance: 26.2 Miles
Goal: Under 3 hours
Results: 2:52:10
General Summary:
Starting temperature was 52 degrees and was 70 degrees by the finish — a little warmer than our Sunday Incline Runs! The course is flat, except for 60 feet climb (overpass) at mile 14 — I ran the whole thing! Thanks to my Sunday runs on Long Ranch Road!
Things Done Right:
Even pace throughout the race.
Things Done Wrong:
Should have been running up Barr trail with my fellow ICERS!
Any Other Stuff:
About the time I hit the “big hill” at mile 14, I thought about our club beginning their first Barr Camp run — boy did I miss everyone!!!! Writing this report just to get a * (I know it’s a little sick).
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River, Roots and Ruts Trail Run — Caloosahatchee Regional Park, near Ft. Myers, FL — 1/11/2009
Adam Feerst reports:
Distance: 1/2-marathon
Goal: 1)Race hard to see what shape I’m in. 2)Win. 3)1st Master.
Results: 4th oa. 1st master. 1:30:50. SVT. Not sure what shape I’m in.
Website: http://www.rrrtrail.com/
General Summary:
There were several unknowns for me (besides obviously not knowing the course or competition):
1)I don’t what kind of race shape I’m in. We had a baby last Jan. She and the family was my main focus in 2008. I did run, but it was purposely not focused, nothing really long (>2hrs), and no speed work, until a few weeks ago. I did some small races, but nothing I targeted, and nothing longer than 63 min. Planning to do Boston in 2010 (I’ll be 50), and want a qualifying time in 1st corral, probably low-mid 2:50s, on this spring (May 3, possibly Ft. Collins, possibly sea level).
2)I was sick two of the prior three weeks. I didn’t run at all the 3rd week prior, and only got in one run the week prior. I still had a runny nose and was coughing up some plugs on race morning.
3)Hard to judge effort level at sea level.
4)Supra-Ventricular Tachycardia (SVT)
SVT is caused by a secondary electrical pathway in the heart that causes the heart to beat prematurely. This causes the heart to beat extra fast, typically 30-50 beats higher when I’m running; my HR might be in the 180s-200s, instead of 140s-160s. When this happens, the chambers don’t have time to fill before the blood is ejected into the body, so I’m pumping less volume with each stroke. My heart is also working a lot harder.
It was diagnosed in Oct, 2007. Although, I’ve probably had it for a number of years. All those times I thought I was getting bad HR readings was really SVT. I don’t notice it when it happens (most people feel a throbbing in their neck or chest, and light headed), but it does definitely affect my performance.
Thus, my plan was to go out conservatively for the first few miles, I guessed at about 6:30 pace, then see how I felt.
Two guys went off the front in the first 600m, and were quickly out of sight on the twisty, tree lined trails. I might have chased if I hadn’t been getting over a cold. Instead, I settled into the 2nd pack, maybe 8-10 of us. It was conservative enough that there were a few conversations going on. It felt a lot more like the start of a marathon or 50km, then a 1/2-marathon pace, which was fine with me.
About 5 or 6 min in, I moved to the front of the pack. I prefer to see the trail, and to set my own pace. I assumed everyone else stayed with me, but I didn’t look back. Went through 2mi (missed 1mi marker) in 13:00, and 3mi in 19:30; right on my estimate, if the miles were accurate.
Just past 3mi, two guys pushed their way through the pack. They asked if anyone else was in front. They were surprised to hear about the other two. I didn’t know whether they had been sitting on the pack or started late. They started to open a gap. I started to go with them, but my legs felt flat. I don’t know whether it was the cold or SVT. My HR was about 190 every time I looked at it. I didn’t want to start pushing the pace that early with SVT.
The course opens up about 5km. We weave, accordion-like, through an open field, for the next 1.5mi. I was able to see that the two leaders were about 2min ahead. My only hope of catching them was that my SVT would subside, and that they would fade. By the end of that 1.5mi section, the next two guys had put 25-30 sec on me. One of them had gray hair, so I assumed that the top master spot was gone too (he was “only” 39). I entered the forest with just one other guy on my heels; the rest of the pack had splintered.
The next 7+ mi are tight single track. The first couple or fairly straight. Occasionally, we’d run up the side of a burm, then drop back into the forest. After a while, I noticed that the guy on my heels would drop back whenever we did this. There aren’t that many real trails in FL, so there aren’t that many great trail runners. I decided to pick it up ever so slightly. I’m not sure I actually increased the pace. Rather, I made sure I didn’t scrub off any speed whenever the trail turned, dropped, or otherwise got technical. By the 1/2-way relay exchange, I had opened up a gap.
The next couple of miles were more twisty, and in denser forest. Even I had to duck a few times (sometimes it pays to be short). I was still in SVT, so not ready to push too hard, but did pick it up just a bit, and made sure I kept my momentum through all of the twists and turns. I really focused on keeping my turnover high. That was in lieu of pushing the effort too hard, and helped keep my balance and speed through the trees.
At about 8.5mi, there’s almost 2mi of fairly technical trail. It continued to be very dense and very twisty — some of the turns were >180º; I even used my had to swing around some trees. In this section, we also repeatedly ran up and down the side of a small ridge. These dips and climbs were very short, but steep, off-camber, sharply bottomed out. It was very hard to maintain any momentum through this. I clocked mile 9 at 9:00. I was fairly certain this was long (1.225 on my foot pod, which I only saw after). I hadn’t scrubbed off that much speed, only half of which had the ups and downs. I caught one of the two guys who pulled away at 5km. I started to think about catching up to the other, who I thought was the first master. Mile 10 in 8:10; could’ve been right.
Towards the end of the section, I caught site of the guy who entered the forest on my heels, in a weave through a slight clearing. I think I only had about 20 sec on him. With <5km to go, I decided to start pushing, SVT be dammed. I wanted to make sure that he didn’t have another chance to see me, or get close enough to race me to the finish. I knew I had the technical advantage. I didn’t know about raw speed in the open, or how I would hold up with SVT. I pushed through the last few sets of twists, and across some rickety foot bridges. By the time I came out of the dense forest, and through a long, straight, open stretch, I couldn’t see him behind me.
The last ~1.75 are fairly open and good footing. I tried to get time gaps to the guy ahead of me, but didn’t get anything consistent. Still, I raced as if it were a 5km, with the hopes of running him down. My SVT had finally ended. I was pushing the mid-high 160s. I did mile 12 in 5:15 (yeah right, that was way short). I never saw him, nor the guy behind (not that I was looking back). I finished 50 sec ahead of 5th, 1:19 behind 3rd, 4+ out of 2nd, and 5+ out of 1st.
I’m still not really sure what kind of race shape I’m in. I ran fairly hard the last ~2.5mi. That was after being fairly conservative for the first 10.5 or so. I know I have some work to do before my marathon.
I was in SVT for 1:04:30 straight (185-196, ave 190) of the 1:30:50. I’m not upset about it. It’s just something I have to deal with (at least for a while. Tried ablation. Couldn’t trigger SVT, so couldn’t ablate).
I’m not sure the best way of handling SVT in a race, or whether it’s better to know or not. I’ve raced hard through it, and struggled. At GoG, in 2007, I was in SVT for 36 min straight, ran hard the whole way, and lost ~40 sec/mi, the last 4+ mi, over the people I had been running with. At another sea level race in Dec ‘07, I again held back early on while in SVT, then ran some people down over the last few miles. I’m sure being at sea level offsets some of the SVT affects. However, there was a sea level mountain race I did, where I lost ground on the downhill (my strength) after pushing the uphill in SVT.
Another option is to stop, and let my HR reset. There are some things you can do to help this. I thought about it, but wasn’t willing to give up my position at this race. I’ve done it on some training runs, but at lower effort levels, and often the SVT would resume once I started running again (perhaps stopping later). I can only do this if I know it’s happening, which I only know by looking at my HR watch (for much of this race, I put it on a view that didn’t show HR).
I think I need to do another couple of shorter races to test my fitness (so I know how to pace myself at my marathon), and to play around with different approaches to SVT.
Things Done Right:
After traveling all day on Saturday, spent time helping to take care of our baby, and spending time and eating dinner with niece, nephew and in-laws, rather than going out for a pre-race run. Priorities.
Bought NB790. Tried them once before race. Fit like gloves. Lightweight, 8oz. Traction. Good lateral stability.
Things Done Wrong:
Have a daughter? Have SVT? Right.
Any Other Stuff:
It was a very fun course for sea level. Like I said earlier, not a lot of very good trail runners. A lot of triathletes there. There was quite a bit of carnage (bloody shins and foreheads, twisted ankles, bruised and muddy shoulders) at the finish. Good food. Nice prizes. Great aid stations.
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IC BIRTHDAYS: 1/21/2009 — 1/27/2009
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Dennis Murphy:
http://www.inclineclub.com/show.asp?name=Dennis%20Murphy
James Branson:
http://www.inclineclub.com/show.asp?name=James%20Branson
Lisa Marie:
http://www.inclineclub.com/show.asp?name=Lisa%20Marie
Mary Williams:
http://www.inclineclub.com/show.asp?name=Mary%20Williams
Mayah Bennett:
http://www.inclineclub.com/show.asp?name=Mayah%20Bennett
Spencer Johnston:
http://www.inclineclub.com/show.asp?name=Spencer%20Johnston
Stephen Vaughan:
http://www.inclineclub.com/show.asp?name=Stephen%20Vaughan
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NEW IC MEMBERS: 1/14/2009 — 1/20/2009
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(None)
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UPDATED ABOUT ME PAGES: 1/14/2009 — 1/20/2009
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Michael Puig:
http://www.inclineclub.com/show.asp?name=Michael%20Puig
Mike Sandlin:
http://www.inclineclub.com/show.asp?name=Mike%20Sandlin
Paul Longenderfer:
http://www.inclineclub.com/show.asp?name=Paul%20Longenderfer
Todd Murray:
http://www.inclineclub.com/show.asp?name=Todd%20Murray
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NEWSLETTER SUBMISSIONS:
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Additions to Incline Club News from IC members are welcome and encouraged. Submit a Newsletter Item at:
http://www.inclineclub.com/newsletter.htm
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WEBSITES:
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Incline Club
http://www.inclineclub.com/index.htm
Barr Trail Mountain Race
http://www.runpikespeak.com
Presented by Pikes Peak National Bank
Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathon
http://www.pikespeakmarathon.org
Training for the Ascent and Marathon on Pikes Peak
http://www.skyrunner.com/guide
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ACCOUNT SETTINGS:
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