Back of the pack

Sadly, nothing to report on the training front. These two pesky things, work and life got in the way today, dern it. April Fools’ Day tomorrow. Usually have something wicked but funny up my sleeve for the Big K, but maybe not this year. Been so hectic… I always give fair notice the morning before, but manage to get her anyway.

In 2002, with 9-11 still fresh in everyone’s mind, I got a co-worker to call from work and leave a message on our answering machine that I was being called up to go to Islamabad, Pakistan– I was in the Navy Reserve then, but have since retired. Karen came home from work, heard the message, freaked out… April Fools, haha!

2005, I think it was, I got her in the morning with the “rubber-band on the kitchen sink sprayer” gag. She went into the kitchen first thing after getting out of bed, to get a drink of water. Turned on the faucet and got sprayed. Turned it off. Then, unaccountably, turned it back on and got sprayed again! April Fools, haha!

Anyway, that made her think she was off the hook, though in reality, it only set her up for the whopper. Called Karen later that day and told her I forgot to open the dog door so the dogs had to stay in all day (I didn’t really leave them in all day, though). Then I got this fake dog poop that looks incredibly real, and put it on her pillow.

Karen got home from work, thinking that the dogs might have had an “accident,” having been kept in all day. Saw the fake poop from the bedroom door and freaked out… April Fools, haha!

Guess it was 2004 — my parents had invited us to go on a Caribbean cruise with them and my brother’s family later that year in July. Karen was looking forward to that cruise like a Fundamentalist looks forward to the Rapture.

Got a friend to ring the phone. Pretended it was my Mom calling to tell us the cruise was off. Karen was crushed. “I knew it was too good to be true,” she said sadly. Didn’t have the heart to let THAT one go on more than a few minutes. April Fools, haha!

Well, it’s just one day a year, and I always give fair notice. Too bad I probably don’t have anything planned for tomorrow.

Weekly totals aren’t too good, I must say. LRD (Lovely Rest Day) yesterday, and today… well, Wednesday Night Trail Run tomorrow, thank goodness!

Total for the week: 0.0 miles, 0.0 push ups, 0.0 crunches. Oy!

143 days to Leadville.

More later!

gary

Hit the Clinton Lake North Shore trails today for 15.75 miles. Out 10 on white in just under 2 hours, back on blue a little slower. Finished in 3:17. Much of the trail was runnable, but some was pretty juicy. Overall, wonderful conditions. It was, as we say in marketing “minty fresh.”

Met Nick Lang at 10 a.m. and headed out on white, relaxed pace. Nick is tapering for the 50 at Rockin’ K, so only did about 6. Said so long and he dropped down to blue at the second Lake Henry cutoff.

I continued solo, following Pat Robinson’s tracks in the sleety slush. Nick and I saw him in the parking lot at our start. Pat had just finished 8-ish. Followed his tracks to just past the 5-mile marker, then it was virgin trail, except for animal foot prints, to Lands End.

The big snow that was forecast never did arrive. It rained and sleeted all day yesterday. Probably got and inch or so of grainy ice. But this morning dawned blue and mild. Was probably in the high 30s, low 40s when Nick and I started. Temps were 50 or higher by the time I finished.

Ice encased the trees. They looked like chandeliers with the sun shining through. On the trails, for the first hour or so, there was a steady barrage of ice bits raining out of the trees as the day warmed up. On hit my right ear and really stung!

The white trail was wet, but pretty solid. A little debris down. Stopped to clear in a few places, where I could. Big tree down, just past the 9-mile mark. A climb-over. All the little streams were splashing happily along, well-fed, and sounding almost like their mountain cousins.

Blue trail WAS a stream in several places between the turnaround and the 5-mile marker. Still frozen just underneath, I guess, because the trail was still runnable.

Jumped down to red to run along the lake. Dirt sections were pretty bad — cakey mud. But it all came off on the rocky sections.

Past Lands End, the trails were wet — submerged in places, but still hard, and I had a great time splashing on through. I thought the big water crossing at about 2 1/2 miles from the finish would be way swollen, but it wasn’t much higher than usual. I got across without immersing the gore tex.

Past Lake Henry, it got slower. The Lake Henry Mud Pits were in fine, shoe-sucking fettle, though I managed not to feed them. And the last “Muddy Mile” lived up to its advertising — especially that section about 1/2 mile from the finish.

Managed to stay upright the whole time, though I had a couple close calls. Once, out-bound on white, trying to avoid a dog off the leash, I almost took out the dog’s owner. Some definite slip-sliding.

Well, the muddy season at Clinton has begun.

Total for the week — 38.9 miles, 124 push ups, 84 crunches.

145 days to Leadville.

More later!

Gary

Yup, that’s the story of the past couple of days.

Let’s start with wrongness. My “Days to Leadville” count, with which I’ve been ending my blog lately, was wrong, wrong, wrong, by 30 days. I originally counted the days on the wall calendar, but must’ve missed one of the pages with a 30-day month. Or, I might’ve been counting the days to the Mt. Hood PCT 50. I’m not going this year, but friends are, so it’s on my radar.

Anyway Christy Craig spotted the error — 148 days, not 118 days — like I had listed. Or she might’ve spotted my 118-days comment on Coleen Voeks’ blog, one of my favorites, “Running on Strawberry Hill.” The number of days is important to Christy, since she plans to pace Coleen at Leadville.

Anyway, for being so eagle-eyed, Christy gets her choice of a red, yellow or blue “UltraStory.com” salt cap holder (the KC TrailNerds have a considerably less flattering, but hopefully affectionate nickname for them, which I won’t share here; this being a family-oriented blog) for long runs. The only catch is, Christy, you have to mention that you read this blog entry.

So. Wrongness ‘fessed up to and dealt with. In my experience, people like you better when you’re wrong and admit it, than when you’re right. If I’m right about that, and I’m confident I am, then I apologize.

Next — disappointment. Jayhawks lost in the “Bitterweet” 16 last night, to Michigan State, 67-62, after leading for most of the game. I was positive they were going to win. I was certain of it. I told everyone at work they would win. Of course, I chose Michigan State on my bracket.

Still, very disappointing.

Weather also disappointing so far. The big, predicted snowstorm — up to 10 inches of snow — has not materialized. Went out to Clinton Lake this a.m. to meet the crew, hoping for a run in snow, but rising wind and spurts of freezing rain is all there was.

Levi Bowles and a woman I hadn’t met before, Kelly, showed also, but I bailed in disgust. Levi and Kelly went ahead and ran. Studs. Kelly had a beautiful black lab with her. The lab was overjoyed to be outside in the freezing rain, but I’m hedging my bets for tomorrow. They’re calling still for some snow tonight, and some blue sky tomorrow, so could be good for some snowy woods pics, which I’ll post here, if they are to be.

Outside now, it’s freezing and rainy and ice all over everything. Bleah! as Snoopy says.

LRD (Lovely Rest Day) yesterday and unexpectedly today, so weekly totals haven’t changed:

23.15 miles, 124 push ups, 84 crunches.

146 days to Leadville (thank you Christy)

More later!

Gary

Looks like March is going out like a lion. Don’t remember how it came in. Big snow forecast for Friday and Saturday. Also high winds, sleet and freezing rain. Have I mentioned how much I hate the cold? Yesterday it was minus 10 — in Gary degrees, or 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Sixty is bearable. Anything less is minus.

Elliptical today. Felt tired and draggy going in, but perked up once I got going. Managed 6.9 miles for my hour at level 16, rolling hills. Hit 6 miles at 52:03, and did the rest in reverse. 62 push ups and 42 crunches. Decent workout after two not-so-great ones Tuesday and Wednesday.

Week so far:
23.15 miles, 124 push ups, 84 crunches. Kind of a weak week

118 days to Leadville!

More later.

gary

Another rather unsatisfactory training day.

Ate a big lunch late in the day… 4 p.m. Was still digesting when I met the crew for the Wednesday night trail run at Clinton Lake. Felt sluggardly as a result. All the blood my muscles needed for running was busy helping to digest the foot-long Tempeh Reuben I got from Yellow Sub.

Enjoyed the run otherwise, thanks to the company. Didn’t go too far — about 6.5 miles, and kept a relaxed pace throughout.

Runner roll call:
Nick Lang, Debbie Webster, Julie Toft, Liz Smith, Kristen Harms. Ben Holmes and Sophia Wharton got there late, but came bustling off the trail in time to be in the post-run photo. Kristen didn’t make the post-run photo — had to leave the run early. Also saw Pat Robinson on the trail, with another runner I didn’t know. Yet.

Dog roll call:
Nick’s Roxie not only ran the trail, she wore a good part of it!

Nick and I discussed when we planned to start ramping up our Wednesday night runs for Leadville. Probably after the upcoming Rockin’ K. He’s doing the 50-mile, but I’m just doing the marathon this year.

In other news, Greg Burger announced he’s signing up for Leadville. He did the “Leadville 50″ in 2007, but I think he will nail it this year. Danny Miller will pace, since Danny’s going to be in Denver around that time anyway.

Front (L to R) Roxie, Liz Smith, Julie Toft. Back (L to R) Sophia Wharton, Ben Holmes, Debbie Webster, Nick Lang

Trails were muddy after Monday’s rain. Temperature was about 50 degrees, which felt nice after we got going a little. I was too stuffed from my late lunch to go to the after-run dinner. Not sure where they went, but as I left, I think it was between On the Border and the 23rd Street Brewery.

Weekly totals: 16.25 miles, 62 push ups, 42 crunches.

119 days to Leadville!

More later,

gary

Rough night last night.

Thunderstorms. Cubby Bear, the old black chow-mix is terrified of thunder. He jumped up in bed with us, shivering and shaking, needing petting and baby talk. 2:30 a.m. Finally had to take him down to the basement and camp out with him there so the Big K could get some sleep. She had some crucial event in KC she had to take care of all day, and really needed to be on her toes.

Also got caught in a time crunch between work, grocery shopping, and taking our other dog, Sophie Jones, a little schnauzer mix, to the vet. Just managed to squeeze in 3 nice miles on the hills and grass at East Hills Business Park, where I work, after I got off. No push ups or crunches or stretching. Just change, run, jump in truck, go to store, make dinner… I’m pooped!

Nice weather though. Forties, breezy, sunny. Air all freshly washed and clean. Did I mention I’m one whipped pup?

By the way, I’ve added Dana Roueche’s famous “Strategy for finishing Leadville” to the blog. If you’re thinking of running it — or just want an idea of what’s involved — check it out. It’s third entry from the bottom under “Pages.” One slight problem — when I copied it in, the numbers in the charts came in a little skewed. I’ll fix it. Just not tonight.

120 days to Leadville.

More later.

g

Boy, have I been lucky with pacers.

First, in the Heartland 100, ’03 and ’04, a crew of Navy Chiefs from my Reserve Center came out to see me through, along with the Big K.

Next in Leadville, ’06, Greg Burger, sub-3 Boston Marathoner saw me through. And last month, Tony Clark, Marine and HURT 100 finisher got me to the finish at Rocky Raccoon.

Luck appears to be holding. Realizing I’ll need a pacer to get me over Sugarloaf inbound, I queried the LT100 e-mail group. Mark Allen, formerly of London, now of Leadville (22 years), responded, offering his services for the race, which I gratefully (and quickly) accepted.

Mark completed the LT100 in ’96 and ’99, along with Wasatch Front and Kettle Morraine. Grew up in the U.K. Former police officer — London, 7 years; Vail, 20 years; currently security director for a private ski resort development.

“Still do part time police work, it’s too much fun,” says Mark.

Mark, during tenure as a Vail police officer, and bear cub.

The above pic shows Mark a few years back, rescuing a bear cub that had broken into a house. The mother was put to sleep, Mark said, because she had invaded homes a dozen times. The cub and twin were raised by the Division of Wildlife and released back into the wild. Mark says he will try to get some pics of the bears before they were released, which, if he can, I will post on the blog.

Next pic is from last year — Mark on top of Mt. Massive, 2nd highest mountain in Colorado, and third highest in the 48 states. 14 four something, I think.

The pic I’m really looking forward to posting — me and Mark at the finish! Looks like once again I hit the jackpot for a pacer. I AM PSYCHED.

In training news, 6.75 miles in one hour on the elliptical, level 16, rolling hills. Hit 6 miles at 52:59. did the rest of the hour in reverse. 62 push ups, 42 crunches.

121 days to Leadville!

More later.

gary

Twenty miles today on the Clinton North Shore trails, in good weather, relaxed pace, charming company. Did one full loop of the Free State Ultras, which is coming up end of next month. Forties at the start, 60s by run’s end.

Runner role call: Debbie Webster, Laurie Euler, Angie Shellito, Sophia Wharton, Ben Holmes, Lisa Wright, Mircea Sauciuc, Levi Bowles, Pat Robinson, Kevin, Jim Megerson, Mark Inbody, Nick Lang, Julie Toft, Coleen Voeks, Curt Schueler. And me.

Curt and Mark got there early and had done the 9.75-mile Lands End loop by the time we all met at the Corps of Engineers parking lot at 7:15 am.

Got on the trails a little before 7:30. About half of us went out fast. I stayed with other half, bopping along at a more relaxed pace. Wound up staying with Debbie, Angie and Julie for the 20. Everyone else did their own distances, from the Lands End loop (Coleen, Curt, Mark and I think Pat and Kevin) to 30 miles (Nick and Laurie) and several distances in between. A lot of us stayed together for much of the run. As we got to Lands End, saw Ben, Sophia and Jim come blasting up from the red trail — they probably had two miles on us, if they did the red trail out and back. Never did see Mircea again after the start. Hope Clintie didn’t get him!

Lisa stayed with us until about 9.5 on white, then she and Levi headed back on blue.

Trail was in great shape. A little muddy in the usual places, but mostly runnable. More mountain bikers than we’ve seen through the winter, but it’s spring, what’cha gonna do? They were all nice and having fun, just like us.

Front L-R) Debbie Webster, Laurie Euler, Angie Shellito (Back L-R) Sophia Wharton, Ben Holmes, Lisa Wright, Mircea Sauciuc, Levi Bowles, Pat Robinson, Kevin, Jim Megerson, Mark Inbody, Nick Lang, Coleen Voeks, Julie Toft.

Had planned to do the 29-mile Perry Lake East trail with a group tomorrow, but decided against it for several reasons. Main one being I don’t really need a 29er to get ready for the next race, which is the Rockin’ K Marathon. Will go for a 30 or two next month to get ready for the Free State 100 k, however.

And will definitely need to get some long runs in for that race the third weekend in August!

Weekly total: 50.16 miles, 246 push ups, 84 crunches.

123 days to Leadville!

More later,

gary

LRD (Lovely Rest Day) today.

Read Dave Wakefield’s “thrilla in Manila” account of his 3 Days of Syllamo race at Rock Star Ultrarunner today. Since it’s unlikely I’ll ever be a frontrunner battling for the lead in ultras, Dave’s race accounts, and this one in particular, is the next best thing.

I swear I got winded just reading it!

If you ever wanted the experience of being a rock star ultrarunner in a brutal race against killer competition, without the pain and effort, well, here it is!

Thanks for sharing, David. Congrats on a great race, and a nice piece of writing.

124 days to Leadville!

More later.

gary

Got 6.71 miles on the elliptical today, level 16, rolling hills. Hit 6 miles at 53:27. About the same as Tuesday. About 25 seconds slower. The difference is that this time I kept things at a steadier pace, and finished in much better shape than Tuesday.

Did the rest of the hour in reverse.

62 push ups, 42 crunches.

Weekly total: 30.16 miles, 246 push ups, 84 crunches.

In other news, looking at pitching a story about women’s trail running to Fitness Magazine. Hopefully, the runners I want for my sources will agree!

125 days to Leadville!

More later,

gary