Palmer Lake 24 Hour Death Race/Fun Run

I think I just fell in love with ultras again. It was my first time doing this event, which is fairly new, it wasn't around in the old days, anyway. I was amazed by the organization, the vibe, and the bang for your buck. The organizers did an amazing job. I'll be back to this one. Maybe a new favorite.

Palmer Lake is a tiny town at the base of the Rampart Range, tucked away off I-25, protected from the madness of the nearby big cities of Denver and Colorado Springs. I haven't been there in 20 years. Before we moved away to Arizona, I ran a trail race there in 1998. I remember it being beautiful and quiet.

The entire reason I love 24 hour runs is the nighttime. Especially under a clear sky with stars and meteor showers. Life doesn't get much better than that, in my opinion. If I were more of a night person in my regular life, I would do all my running at night. The cover of darkness under the moon or starlit sky is the best venue for running, for losing yourself, for therapy, for clearing your mind into a blank slate, and renewal of your spirit. That's what it does for me.

Surrounded by mountains with pine-forested slopes, a forgiving dirt trail around a quiet lake reflecting the landscape, and just the right number of people- not too crowded, but well-attended enough to provide the just the right social atmosphere, with enough of a weather challenge to keep things interesting without being miserable- I think this might be the essence of ultrarunning.

The only drawback of this event, that I found a bit annoying- was the frequency of the trains that thundered by at least once an hour- big, long coal trains along the tracks on the west side of the course. There is a railroad crossing on the north end of the lake, and the horns would go off, waking you out of whatever stupor you were in, followed by earth shattering railroad cars, followed by hundreds of screeching wheels that sound like nails on a chalkboard. Other than being subjected to this music- and conversation-obliterating nuisance on a regular basis, and one that the race organizers are powerless to change- I would say this event is one of the best ultras I've ever attended. I'd say if the noise bothers you, bring earplugs, it certainly won't stop me from coming back.

Sasquatch (a.k.a. Dale Perry) told me about this event a few months ago and the timing was perfect for me. Then I signed up for it and discovered it was a bargain. Other than Fat Ass runs, this one doesn't cost much more than those. There is, of course, no timing system, it's an honor-based system where you keep track of your own miles. They provide a tracking method where you can write down your lap count. I found that it helped me if I wrote my laps down every hour, that way I didn't have trouble keeping track of too many at a time. To help me remember, I also wrote down the time of day when I finished the last recorded lap.

I wasn't expecting much more than a Fat Ass event based on the price, but I was pleasantly surprised to find just the right number of well-stocked portapotties, a tent with a few unexpected snacks, trash cans, and chairs to chill out off your feet if needed, which was where the lap-tracking activity occurred. We switched directions every 4 hours, which was a nice distraction, and it was convenient to set up your table or crewing station right along the course without adding any extra steps.

Not only that, but they provided race goodies- a water bottle, flask, sticker, and finishers medal, much more than I'd ever expect from a race priced this low.


After being supervised by Velcro and Gypsy while packing everything under the sun due to the weather forecast of snowy, cold, wet conditions, I decided to stay overnight in Monument, about 10 minutes drive from the event. I made a reservation at the Fairfield Inn and headed south on I-25. Sasquatch also decided to drive down Friday so we met for dinner at Chili's- not too many choices besides McDonalds, fried chicken, and a few other fast food joints. Sasquatch advised me to get there early in the morning to get a good parking spot to be able to set up for crewing along the course. He said he would be there at 6. I told him I would look for him around 6:30 am, as the race start was at 8 am.

I got decent sleep, though not a full night. My room was hot. I couldn't figure out how to lower the thermostat. I woke up at 3:30 am and couldn't fall back to sleep until shortly before my alarm went off at 5:30. Six hours was okay, but not having a full night's sleep before the race adds to the fatigue in the race. What are you gonna do? Lots of caffeine.

When I woke up in the morning, I looked out my window on the parking lot. It snowed overnight and puddles were forming on the asphalt. The clouds were barely above the ground- a thick fog obscured the view. I drove slowly to the race and got a parking spot alongside the course, with enough room to set up my table next to my car and the trail. I went to the tent to check in and found Sasquatch, who got one of the primo parking spots and parked right next to Eric Pence, another ultra friend of ours from Eagle. Eric is back to ultras now, a few months after surgery to donate one of his kidneys to his sister. Eric has always been a great athlete, and he seems to be recovering extremely well.

It was already muddy on the course, and the wet snow wasn't letting up. There was also a 10 mph wind out of the north that was worth an extra layer or two of clothing. I started out with my long compression shorts and my calf compression sleeves, which together are long enough to cover my entire legs. I wore gaiters, and on top, I had 4 layers, plus a neck gaiter, hat and headband. I brought so many clothes, I knew I would be okay.

As it turned out, I was dressed perfectly, because I was completely comfortable. There was a noticeable difference between the east and west sides of the lake with the wind in our faces or at our backs, I'd rather stay warm and be a little overdressed when the wind is at my back.

Despite the gloomy and wet start, I was thankful that the wind wasn't blowing the snow sideways, and that there weren't waves crashing over the course, like NorthCoast in 2013, exactly 5 years ago to this weekend! I've run in worse, and it was actually quite pleasant here by comparison.

I started out by running a lap every hour to save my energy, and that went well for the first four hours, until the course started to get sloppy, slowing my pace down. Each lap of the course is 0.82 miles. I wasn't doing the math in my head but I knew I wanted to beat my distance from Across the Years in December, which was 61 miles. I was hoping for 70 miles but in these conditions you can't always predict. I decided to concentrate on keeping a steady but moderate walking pace, because the footing was not great on the sloppier west side of the course.

Lots of people were running steadily, and seemed to be putting in a ton of mileage. After a while it was easy to see who was in it just to run 25 or 30 or so, and then stop. The crowd started to dwindle later in the afternoon, and while the weather forecast hadn't been exactly right- the sky did start to clear a few times off and on during the afternoon, and was visibly clearer by sunset, promising a colder but dry evening.

During the race Brad Bishop from Fort Collins joined me on one of his walk breaks from running. He didn't have any particular plan but seemed to be moving well. We talked a while and then he went back to running. I had the opposite strategy- mostly walking with a few running breaks. At one point somebody remarked that I reminded them of a locomotive. I'll take it as a compliment. I was moving solid and steady, but I wasn't exactly in "Walk like you're possessed" mode. It was too slippery in the mud and puddles.

I only stopped twice for short breaks- once to eat some real food out of my cooler after about 6 hours- and another time after 10 hours I changed my socks to take a look at my feet and put on an extra layer of tights for nighttime. My feet were holding up surprisingly well. I greased a few hot spots but everything looked good.

I tried to save on my phone battery and I posted on social media a few times throughout the day, and to my surprise, my friend Josh Holer commented- I wasn't thinking and forgot he was nearby in Colorado Springs. He asked if I needed anything. I asked for Starbucks. Then I thought of Sasquatch and decided to ask if he wanted anything- maybe food or hot drinks. When I saw him on the course, he said a burger or a burrito. The burrito sounded good to me. I asked Josh if he could bring us some burritos and coffee.

I was trying to figure out how to contact Josh because it was so cold my phone wasn't charging. Fortunately the people at the car parked in front of mine were crewing another runner, and offered to text Josh for me to help him find me when he got there. They were so nice- a group of people from Boulder. Ultrarunners are always looking out for each other. Such a great crowd.

Josh came out before sunset, with his girlfriend I haven't ever met, Jeana, who was super nice, and their new puppy, Ember, a black lab. They had a vanilla latte with extra shots, and two burritos. I haven't seen Josh in a couple of years, it was such an awesome treat! He walked a few laps with me and we caught up on life. That was the best tasting vanilla latte I've ever had- and it worked well too!

The burrito place mismarked the burritos- I ordered chicken and Dale ordered beef- so I unwrapped the burrito marked chicken and bit into it- and it was Dale's. We waited for Dale to come around the lap so we could give him his food. I told him we gave him the defective one. Typical Dale response, which I won't print here.

The other thing that happened at the same time was that as I was waiting for Josh to show up, I stopped at the timing tent to record my laps, and I ran into an old running buddy from years ago- Sandee Miller. She and her husband Geoff live in Palmer Lake and I used to see them all the time back in the 90s when I used run a lot of trail races and go to Leadville. Geoff was out along the course, so Sandee and I walked a lap and found Geoff. It was so great to see them!

After all the food, coffee and socializing I felt completely recharged. I cranked up my tunes. The sunset was absolutely stunning with the light on the peaks of the Rampart Range. Sandee, Jeana and Josh took a few pictures.

The sky cleared up and there was a moon, lots of stars, and even some meteor showers. The slippery puddles that had made the footing a challenge earlier were starting to dry up. The wind persisted and switched directions out of the south, but didn't get any stronger. The trains rolled by about every hour- that was irritating because you couldn't hear the person next to you, or your music. But most of the time it was quiet. There weren't too many people left on the course after 10 pm. I didn't have to use my headlamp too much, the path is so smooth that the footing was good other than a few bigger puddles.



When I wasn't talking with someone, I got absorbed in my music. People always ask me what I think about when I'm out there. I really don't think. It's an opportunity to clear my mind. What did go through my head was watching Pete Kostelnick, who is one of the young, fresh, talented ultrarunners on the scene these days, effortlessly circling the course. I think he got about 120 miles. I was thinking about my own competitive nature, and how hard it's been at times to let go of that.

It was fun and it felt fantastic to be in such good condition, to be able to do all those miles and make it look so easy- up until just a few years ago I could do that. I know I could do it again if I put my mind to it, but it just doesn't matter to me now. It is hard to not compare yourself to what you were. As we get older, we are able to accomplish some things that we couldn't at a younger age, but physically, you do lose some of that steam- especially in the speed and smoothness departments.

I have to be accepting of my ability to cover distances- not as far as before, not as fast or easy as before, but be okay with it. Stop comparing to the younger me, and be okay with where I am now. I don't think I was okay with it until now. At Across the Years I did find myself mentally comparing myself. The challenge was to separate the need to be competitive, to have the athlete's body, to train hard and see the results in my times and distances- from being in a different mindset and body than I was a few years ago. I don't need to prove anything to myself or anyone else. I always find validation when I think of Marshall Ulrich saying, "It's not about being a badass."

A good lesson for those younger runners, especially as they start to approach their late 40s and find that the consistency of performance just isn't there. I listen to some of the conversations at night- it's so funny that the people who were flying by, effortlessly running and lapping me all day long are now dragging their beaten and tired bodies- barely moving- in that zombie walk/death march, depleted of energy and calories- feeling like giving up- and I want to impart advice to them- as they start telling me how good I look as I power past them in the dark- I'm still moving the same way I was at the beginning- but that's because I didn't wear myself out by running all day.

But it's up to them to figure it out, so I don't say anything unless asked.

I have a playlist on my iPod called "night music" that ranges from headbanging to just loud and obnoxious- to keep me awake in the middle of the night at these events. I didn't have to listen to too much of it, as the coffee was keeping me plenty awake.

I went through a whole variety of music. I kept singing, the whole time. "I LOVE ROCK N' ROLL SO PUT ANOTHER DIME IN THE JUKEBOX BABY I LOVE ROCK N ROLL..." at the top of my lungs, echoing in the portapotties at 3 am.

During the night I walked with Eric Pence for a while. He told me he and Anne are getting a puppy soon- a mini black tri Aussie. Anne showed me a picture- so cute! We talked Aussies, ultras, and healthcare, and stuck together for quite a few laps.

I didn't get sleepy, just a little hungry. I kept a few calories going but didn't feel like eating too much. Just kept moving at a very steady pace. I started to do the math. Sasquatch left after 50 miles- that was enough for him. When I got to 50 miles then I started thinking about how far I wanted to go. I decided I had to do the 70 just for my own mental satisfaction. If I kept my pace up I should reach it between 6 and 7 am. Then I would reward myself with a nap in the car before driving home to Fort Collins.

The sun started to rise- the light was reflecting on the mountains and lake. I finished my 86th lap, which was 70.52 miles- at 5:42 am. I was satisfied. I didn't care about sticking around for any more miles- that was good. I broke down my table, thanked Jun who helped me find Josh, and moved my car out of the way so I could warm it up and take a little nap.



I dozed off for maybe 5 minutes when another train came blasting through- it woke me up, so I decided to get going and see if some food and coffee would revive me. When I got to south Denver I pulled off and went to a Starbucks, got a coffee and a sandwich, and felt so much better, I was ready to drive. I drove home and got there around 9 am, Dennis helped me dump my stuff out in the garage, and after being attacked by the girls, I took a shower and climbed into bed.

As of today, Monday morning, I owe the sleep bank only about 4 more hours. I have to get packed for Washington DC. I'm headed there later this week to #NursesTakeDC, a grassroots rally of nurses at the US Capitol for passing national legislation for safe nurse: patient ratios in hospitals and healthcare facilities. I am one of the speakers. I'm so excited. I will share the details on this blog after I get back.

photo credits: Josh Holer, Jeana Connaughton, Sandee Miller

Welcome 2018, Flu vs. Toenails, Across the Years 24 Hour Run

How quickly we forget.

That is why so many older people do ultras, our memories are poor so we soon forget any suffering we might have endured, and we go back for more.

As I threatened, I went to Across the Years to run the 24 hour race with my Colorado buddies Sasquatch and Anne and Matt Watts.

Dale (Sasquatch, aka Richard Cranium) is coming off treatment as well as a stem cell transplant for cancer, and he's been training almost the whole time. We've run infrequently together this year but enough times that I've seen him over pretty much the whole treatment ordeal. We ran for about 5 hours together one day a month ago and he was doing extremely well.

We all signed up for the 24 hour race on the 30th, instead of the New Years Eve day. It would be less crowded on the track and more laid back. Matt had about 80 miles to go before he got his 1000 mile jacket at Across the Years, so his goal was clear. Anne was out to get 50K or so and that's all she wanted. Her ulterior motive, so I found out, was to get away from Matt, who had apparently picked up a case of rabies and was compulsively howling at the moon and foaming at the mouth.

I flew down ahead of time and stayed with my family in Scottsdale, and rented a car to haul my crap across town for race day. I met Dale at the track at 7 am on race morning, and we rented a table and set up our stuff. Dale's friend Tom Hamilton, who was in the six-day race, generously offered his tent in case we needed to crash or change clothes or store our stuff.

                                                                                We got our packets and goodie bags, and our ankle transponders. We proceeded to the timing tent to harass our Floridian friend Mike Melton, who was doing the timing and complain about his GPS accuracy. We saw our friends Nattu and Karen, Karen was in the 72 hour race, and Nattu was kicking back, prepping for his upcoming race at HURT and crewing for Karen. I don't think I've seen them since 2011 when I did the Badwater double. They both look the same, fit and happy and it was great to see them!



Finally, it was time for the pre-race briefing before our 9 am start. Mike did a demo of how to make the turn every four hours, since a runner's IQ is proven to decline by 5 points per hour of running. Something like that. They only allow geniuses into the 6 Day race, for that reason.

Soon it was time to start, and we were off. Around the course, which has a variety of surfaces- packed dirt, asphalt, slightly looser softer dirt on the narrow section, and then this hellacious 150 or 200 meter stretch of loose, deep pea gravel, that is new since the last time I ran there in 2011-2012. It certainly added a challenge, both mentally and to the feet, adding a degree of shear that provided excellent conditions for blistering.

The weather forecast was for warm and sunny conditions, high of 76 and low of 45. It looks nice on paper, but it was pretty warm that day. I started with the crowd, running slowly for a lap or so, until I thought, I really don't feel like running now. Maybe later. With 21 minutes of running on my watch, I started to walk, and it felt comfortable and enjoyable and so I stuck with it for the duration.

I spent more time socializing and in the food tent than I ever normally would. The food offerings were perfect, they had my PBJ standby, grilled cheese, quesadillas, and plenty of other good stuff. The best thing was the fresh vegetarian sushi they made in the aid station. Wow.

I saw an old running acquaintance who used to live in Fort Collins but has since moved to Arizona, Rick. He was volunteering at the aid station so we got a chance to chat for a while. And Steve Finkelstein, who in past years would be found in the timing tent, was there to visit. I saw so many runners I've known for years, it was so much fun to catch up and be there.

Every four hours at the turnaround Mike and his helpers would be leading some kind of dance at the turnaround point, depending on the time of day, it looked like a bunch of staggering uncoordinated lunatics, making sure everyone went in the right directions round the orange cones.

At 12 hours I had just hit about 40 miles. I had roughly estimated I might get 70 or 80 miles at best, so it seemed reasonable. I rewarded myself by using the real bathroom, with flush toilets. It was warm in there. It didn't really get cold until about 11 pm and I grabbed some extra clothes off the table and took them with me into the real bathroom on the next lap. There were few people in the bathroom and I used one of the stalls to get changed. I was trying to pull my compression shorts up over my shoes and up my legs without cramping or falling over. I was having to contort myself in this little stall. Why I chose to go in there to change is beyond me, but like I said, the IQ does diminish.

In the middle of my contortion act, I suddenly thought of my friend Stephanie Willingham. This was a classic moment that we would have shared, if she were crewing me, she'd be helping me, and we'd be giggling. And so I started giggling, hysterically, so hard that I started to get side stitches and worse cramps. To the point that I was almost howling, I could hardly breathe I was laughing so hard and my sides hurt so bad. The other people in the bathroom could hear this, and one person asked me if I was all right. One of those, you had to be there moments. I finally freed my foot from the bottom of the shorts and pulled things up, and was able to catch my breath and return to the race.

Throughout the night, Matt Watts had been lapping me constantly, and every time he came up behind me, he launched into a barkfest, startling all of the people nearby at the moment, and a few times, me. I think he was concerned that I missed Gypsy and Velcro and wanted me to feel at home. Most of the time I was checking over my shoulder, but a few times he got me good! I promised there would be paybacks.

I had taped my feet before the start because I knew I had not spent enough time on them to prepare for 24 hours on these varied surfaces. Anticipating my usual problem spot, under the ball of my left foot. My feet actually felt good until at least midnight, so I didn't mess with them. Dale was being meticulous about his feet, changing his socks and shoes every few hours. But I prefer to leave my feet alone unless I feel there is something going on. My hands weren't swollen much, I had been peeing plenty, and I was taking in fluids and S caps. I think what happened was when the temperatures dropped at night, that's when everything got thrown off. Around 2:30 am I noticed my right heel was bothering me, and it was affecting my gait. I had about 56 miles, I think. My right calf hurt from raising my heel, avoiding putting my full weight on that side. Time to look at the feet.

I stopped in the medical tent to ask if they minded if I work on my own feet in there, and they were fine with that. It would be warmer in there, and if I had a cramp they could help me. I went to my table and grabbed my foot supplies and a fresh pair of socks. My left foot felt fine, so I didn't want to touch it.

Once I got my shoe and sock off the right foot, I discovered that I had a huge blister on my right heel, which I had to cut with scissors because I couldn't lance it with a pin. A huge amount of fluid poured out onto the floor of the tent. The top of my right foot had also blistered, and popped on its own. That was bloody, so I cleaned it best I could, and covered it with antibiotic ointment, telfa, and a tegaderm.

Getting my freshly socked right foot back into my shoe was one of the most painful experiences I've had in some time. I managed to get the shoe on, but then I couldn't walk- couldn't put weight on my heel. I taped it so it would continue to drain with the direction of force as I walked, but it wasn't ready for body weight. I thought I was done. I decided to go into the warming tent and sit for a while, have some hot cocoa and figure out a plan.

When I entered the tent, I saw Sasquatch, doubled over in a chair, dozing. I pulled up a chair close by and he stirred. He told me he experienced a wave of nausea and was in there taking a break to see if he recovered. I think I dozed, hunched over in the chair, from about 5 am to 6:15 am, when I opened my eyes and looked at my watch. Sasquatch was still dozing. Finally at about 6:45 am I got out and started moving slowly. Sasquatch got out soon after me.

Tom Hamilton saw me at the timing tent, as I asked for assistance with figuring out which direction I should be going in. He got me off my butt to do a few more laps. Somehow I got about 6 more miles in before the finish and finished with 61.9 miles. Just short of 100 K. Sasquatch ended up with 55 plus miles.













It was easy to pack up given the race setup and rented tables. I dragged my stuff back to the car and took off for my dad's house. It's only 35 minutes in early morning weekend traffic. I got home and spent the next 24 hours sleeping, eating, and recovering.

On the afternoon of the 1st, I started to feel a little sniffly, but I wondered if it was just the bad air quality in Phoenix. By the time I woke up on the second, it was clearly some kind of a cold, as it had moved into my throat. I tried to keep from passing it to my dad and stepmom, and did a few things but took it pretty easy. I was supposed to see my friend Heidi, who recently moved to Scottsdale from Flagstaff, and I warned her about the cold. We ended up meeting in south Scottsdale and went for a walk.

My legs felt fine, but my left big toenail was turning purple and felt really weird. I wore sandals all day because any pressure on that toe hurt. Plus my other foot was completely bandaged up from the open blister.

Wednesday I had to fly back to Colorado and I kept a scarf over my face, took some cough medicine and cough drops to keep from sharing the love...I had some masks too but they were so hot on my face and itched my nose it drove me crazy. The flight was quick and easy, and everything went smoothly. By the time I got home I felt like death warmed over.

What is more annoying- having the flu or having a sore toenail? While I have the flu I can forget about my toenails except when the sheets brush over them...what a creepy feeling. Anyway, I took my temperature which was 99.8, so something was going on. Not sure if it was the flu, but I stayed home all week and slept a lot. Managed to get a little work done despite everything, even though the first two days I was home, my head felt like it weighed 50 pounds and it hurt.

I'm feeling a little better today, slept without taking anything last night and no coughing fits.

Here's I want to say, now that I've told my race story.

1. I ran this event with an eye on the conditions, as I have been on the fence about two things, one is a return to doing more ultras- yes, my competitive nature will surely come out in full swing if I do. And the other thing is doing a six day race and where I want to do that. This course showed me that I'll either have to have feet that are tough as nails, or find a different venue for that length of a race.

2. Don't put things off. I learned this with my Badwater Double. If you are thinking about doing something, don't wait. Do it now. You might not have a chance later, or it might not be as easy to get to. Look at Dale, he is back at ultras even with a big question mark hanging over his head with regards to his cancer, but he made the most of it this year and did what he wanted to do. You never know what can happen. Don't take your health for granted.

3. I forgot briefly, in my absence, that ultras in general, and Across the Years specifically, have been a powerful motivator for me as I've gotten older. I've always watched the people in their 60s, 70s and 80s at this event with admiration: Karsten Solheim, Don Winkley, Jeff Hagen, Jeannie McDaniel, are just a few examples of people who continue to inspire me, showing me that there is no limit to human endurance with aging. Sure you might not get as many miles in, or as fast, but their spirit is what counts. And their performances are phenomenal. Jack Denness, Bob Becker, Art Webb at Badwater are some other examples.

I feel so privileged to know these people and have shared miles with them on the same course. And as the years go on, my friends and I are moving into their shadows, following their footsteps, and we'll soon be the old-timers at the events.

4. I have about 180 miles left to get my 1000 mile jacket. I think I can reasonably accomplish that in two years, if I sign up for the 48 hour at least once in those two years. I am going to plan on doing the 48 hour next year and then whatever's left over, I will sign up accordingly the following year. If all goes well. You never know.

5. This blog officially is having it's tenth anniversary. YAY! And now I might even blog more frequently, now that the book is done and I can focus on other pursuits. The book, by the way, will be out in two weeks. You can check out the info here and I'll post on this blog when it's officially available on Amazon.

Happy New Year!

Roasting

Not really roasting, it's been freezing here. It's roasting in Death Valley, Phoenix, and LA. It was only today that we got warm enough that I wasn't wearing long sleeves and tights. I got back to running this week, only about 21 miles, and walked an equal amount. I've been doing a lot of cooking the past few days. Getting away from the garbage I was letting myself eat after the race.

Next week I'll bump the miles to 40, and the following week it will all depend on how quickly I feel recovered from the propofol. It's funny that to me, getting that stuff in my body is more of an issue than the colonoscopy itself. I want to be able to resume full training by that first week in June.

I wish I had a lot of exciting stuff to write about, I feel excited about a lot of happenings in my life right now, mostly to do with my business. I just don't have a lot of running news at this time. I am very excited about training for NorthCoast and seeing what I can do on a road course. And then I have another race in mind, down the road, that I am thinking about, on the track. One thing at a time, though.

I'm looking forward to those speed workouts again, tempo runs, and running a few short races too. We have quite a few 5Ks, 10Ks, and half-marathons around here in the summer and I'll do some. I'm also looking for another marathon to do in July.

I'm enjoying the small number of clients I have now, it's always a challenge to come up with new ideas based on whatever their situations are, to help them. I'm going to do a small amount of print advertising in one particular local publication because it will target the clients I want. I am going to be doing a radio show on a local public radio station, and it will be available as a podcast after the show airs live. Then there are a few other things on the horizon that might result in some publicity for my business. That makes me happy.

Right now I am sipping a new concoction that I threw together and I don't know why I never thought of this before. I heated up a cup of unsweetened almond milk in the microwave until it foamed on top, for about a minute and a half, then added a packet of instant Starbucks decaf French roast coffee to it, and a couple of teaspoons of sugar-free vanilla syrup. It's a decaf skinny vanilla almond latte. And it's awesome. Costs less than $1.50 to make at home and costs over $3.00 at Starbucks with regular skim milk. Plus it only has about 40 calories and a tall Starbucks skinny latte has 100. But who's counting calories?

I am watching what I eat over the next two weeks. I ate everything in sight for about a week and I could feel a little of it creeping back onto my midsection, it's more noticeable when you start with less. And pretty amazing how fast it comes back. I don't want to go back anywhere near where I was before. So I'm back in the habit of cutting out the crap, and by the time June rolls around, I should be good to go.

The Best Advice and Support...

Just got back from the gazillionth walk around the neighborhood with Iris. It's my way of multitasking. I'm trying to walk it off in my recovery, and I've been needing to think. Walking is great for thinking.

It's thundering now, and sprinkling lightly. I wish we'd get some real rain out of these clouds. The backyard finally has color and looks like spring.

I'm definitely feeling it now, my legs are still sore and my feet and ankles are a little puffy, still. Sleep has been coming back slowly, but I don't know if I'll repay the sleep bank from naps anytime soon. That's okay, I'm sleeping 9 hours a night and that works well.

I've been getting things organized in my life and I need to get focused on work again this week, which I will, but for now I've been doing a lot of thinking and reflecting on my race and what I want to do for the rest of the year.

Last night I had a great talk on the phone with Joe Fejes, we discussed my results from Cornbelt and how I could improve on efficiency, training, or strategy. I got some great ideas from him, and some suggestions, and it helped to state my thoughts to see what he thought.

I was totally pumped when I got off the phone with him. We had a pretty mellow conversation but it got me thinking about prioritizing things, what I want to accomplish, and for some reason, it made my brain kick in all at once. I was suddenly excited about all these different things at once. I went for another walk with Dennis and the girls after I talked with Joe, and I told Dennis what we talked about and what I was thinking.

Dennis helped me untangle the thoughts in my head and make sense out of my plans and goals. It's great to be able to talk nonsense and have someone interpret and straighten out your thoughts to help you make sense. Dennis understands my babble when it comes to running and knows how to weed out the garbage, which is so helpful. It's great to hear his perspective as someone who has been there, knows me, and knows what's realistic for me.

And I am so thankful to Joe for his guidance, we've only had a couple of conversations but they've been so helpful as I move forward in my pursuit of better performances. It helps to bounce your ideas and questions off another athlete. He was amazed when I told him how much I ate during Cornbelt. He gave me some great insight to what I'm doing regarding that. Plus he's been trying to work on some stomach issues, so I'm hoping that maybe what I told him about how I do it might help him in some of his longer events.

This morning I started digging around in travel plans. I have several trips coming up that are not related to racing, and I needed to start looking at those, and then I decided that it's time to sign up for NorthCoast 24 Hour, so I did that and made hotel reservations in Cleveland, found a screaming deal at a good hotel where I stayed last time, for about half the price I paid last time. That's always nice especially when it's the 24 hour event and you won't be using the room on the middle night, but keeping it anyway for convenience.

I'm very excited about the rest of the year. I plan to do a few marathons and half marathons this summer, nothing big, just for some good workouts and training runs. I was trying to find a 50 miler or 12 hour race in late July or early August but there were very few that were either the right terrain, dates, not conflicting with other travel plans, or reasonably affordable to get to. So I'll just stick to the shorter road races and focus on good quality training, and that will work just as well. Maybe even better.

It's weird to live in Colorado and say you can't find any ultras to run. There are a ton, but they are all on trails and up in the mountains. Am I the only road and track ultra person in Colorado? I know I can't be, but sometimes it feels like that. What, no one else in Colorado likes to run around in circles?

I made some airline reservations for our trip to LA this summer when we visit my parents at Manhattan Beach, and I made reservations in Spearfish for the Leading Ladies Marathon, which I will do in August. That's a fast one, and I really want it as a fitness test. I don't care about running a certain time, it's still a training run, but I am looking to make some progress toward being able to hold a certain pace in ultras, and this will be a great way to measure that.

I'll be going off to Badwater to work medical there in July, and I looked into the possibility of doing a marathon either before or after that trip but both marathons were cutting it too close and the travel arrangements were too complicated. So I opted to find something else, that doesn't conflict with having a relaxing and fun time around Badwater.

Wheaties Boy (Shannon Price) has been super encouraging about going for my goals. It's so important to have a buddy, someone who backs you up and supports you, even if they aren't there all the time, because we rarely run together, and for the next month I won't even be doing workouts with him. But even when we don't get to run together, in spirit, it's awesome support, and it helps so much to verbalize my goals and have someone to keep me honest, and even more, someone who believes in your vision as much as you do.

Between Dennis, Wheaties Boy, and Joe, I'm so thankful, so lucky they all have my back! Three incredible athletes, and great human beings. Thank you all.

Date With A Porn Star...

Curiosity killed the cat. Or maybe it was a raccoon. I saw dozens of dead raccoons, roadkill along I-80, like the official roadkill of the Midwest.

I had to check out this Maid-Rite thing. I had a sadistic fascination with anything as bizarre and porno-esque as a "loose meat sandwich" and I was in post-race repletion mode, so why not?

Conveniently, as I needed to stop for gas in Grimes, Iowa, there happened to be a Maid Rite place just behind the gas station off the exit.

I ordered a basic Maid-Rite basket, just a plain sandwich and fries, and a drink. They give you a spoon, too, in case you have some stray loose meat that falls out of the bun. I was impressed by the fact that they had hand sanitizer by the register and by the trash cans. How often do you see that in restaurants? Actually they should have that in all restaurants, and all hotel rooms for housekeeping staff to use between rooms. What a concept.

Anyway the plain old boring Maid-Rite sandwich wasn't too bad, it wasn't exciting or anything, but it was palatable. And a small, reasonably sized dose of French fries tasted pretty good too at that time.

The other thing was the portions were like normal food, not supersized like everything else in the world. I drank the iced tea for the caffeine, and hit the road again. I did a few laps around the parking lot before leaving, it felt so good to walk the stiffness off.

I lucked out again, the wind shifted yesterday from east to west, so I had a tailwind going home too! Nice for saving money on gas, and it made the trip a bit faster.

After a while I needed to stop again at a rest area just to walk and stretch out my legs. So I did that.









And then half an hour later I was starving again. I stopped in Kearney and for some reason I was craving Taco Bell, so I found one, and ordered one taco supreme and some beans, and that wasn't enough so I went back and ordered two more tacos. There I was, living out my Taco Bell fantasy.

Before I got back on the road, I felt sorry for Dennis tonight, after all this horrible road food.

I stopped one last time for gas and being hungry again, in Sidney, Nebraska. This time it was a McDonald's salad.

Then a couple of hours later I was home, with a beautiful sunset over the mountains.

It was so nice to be home to Dennis and the girls, I got the dramatic greeting from the Buffaloes, and we took them for a walk around the block to help me stretch my legs.

I feel pretty good despite the long hours on the road, I'm sure Tuesday I will be sore from sitting in the car, and I cannot wait to get back to eating salads and my other normal foods.

Maybe this would be a good time to get that colonoscopy over with...

2014 Cornbelt 24 Hour Race: Adventures in Iowa

Pre-Race
It was a long pre-race day. I left Omaha Friday morning around 9:30 after doing some grocery shopping at Target there. I slept great in Omaha though I didn't plan the hotel location very well. It was out of the way of I-80 so I got a scenic tour of Omaha strip malls and suburbia.

It was windy as hell all the way across Nebraska and Iowa. I got great gas mileage.

It was a 4 1/2 hour drive east on I-80 across Iowa, after 7 1/2 hours on the road across Nebraska the day before. I stayed hydrated so I had to stop a lot, and finally, finally, finally got to Eldridge around 2:30 pm.

People drive slow in Iowa and there were a lot more semi trucks on the road, along with roadwork and the 70 mph speed limit. I kept seeing all these "Maid Rite" signs along the highway and I texted Rachel when I was close to Des Moines, just to see if there was a chance she wasn't at work that day. I asked her about Maid Rite. I was thinking it was like Home Depot.

She told me it's "loose meat sandwiches like Sloppy Joes" which already sounds really gross to me. But okay. I know what that is. It's just that Maid Rite doesn't sound like a restaurant. Sloppy Joes sounds a lot better than "loose meat"- that sort of makes my skin crawl. Is that a porn star's name?

Anyway, I arrived in Eldridge, the room wasn't ready, but at the front desk there were a couple of scruffy-looking characters fresh off the road asking questions. They turned around and one was Andy Lovy! Andy is the team physician for the U.S. National 24 Hour team and many other races, including Across The Years. He was trying to figure out how to get to the armory in Moline with a friend of his, John Surdyk, another ultrarunner who has been around for years but I've never met before.

Andy told me I should go for 127 to make the women's national team. One thing at a time, I told him, 110 was my goal for now. I needed to see if I could make it through that before setting my sights on that far out goal. Actually I'm not even sure 127 would qualify at this point, there have been so many women in the 130s or better. John started asking me questions and I didn't want to talk about it, so I changed the subject. They soon took off for their sightseeing, Andy offered to let me hang out in their room until my room was ready but I told him I had plenty of stuff to do.

I knew with Andy there that it would be a good day. I love going around in circles with him, he's always so encouraging and positive, and funny.

I went out in the parking lot while I was waiting for my room, and started making my PBJs and portioning out my race food into bags. As I was making PBJs a big truck from Minnesota pulled up next to me and I was so involved in spreading the peanut butter I didn't notice the guy walked up behind me until he said something. It was Ed Rousseau, longtime ultrarunner from Minnesota. He's 74.

He kept me entertained by his stories for a while as I made PBJs, then we must have both headed over to the track at the same time, so we helped each other drag our stuff to Lancer Stadium and onto lane 1 of the track. He entertained me with a few more stories and then we took a pre-race selfie, and he continued putting up his tent and I went back to the hotel to check into my room. Then it was time for the prerace dinner.

At the pre-race dinner I saw many familiar faces. It's been two years and that was the only other time I ran this event, but a good number of people remembered me. What a nice bunch of people. I sat with Ed and Dick Hogan and talked with Andy, Bonnie Busch, and the RD Karl Ungurean. We ate pasta and Karl gave a short pre-race briefing. There's not much to say. Hopefully no one would get lost on the course.

When we left there was a little sprinkling outside- some clouds, but the wind calmed down. The sunset from my room window was pretty. The weather forecast looked good, as long as the wind didn't get too bad.

In the morning the sunrise was gorgeous but I was too busy getting my stuff together, which is unusual for me. I usually never want to miss a sunrise or sunset. But this time I missed all of them- the pictures, anyway. I did get to enjoy them, they were all spectacular. I was focused and didn't want to waste time dealing with my phone.

I ended up only with these few pictures, and the selfies below, taken 12 hours apart.

The race
I did not sleep well the night before the race this time. This is unusual because ever since last fall since I quit work I have been sleeping great, including before races. The walls of this hotel are paper-thin and there were kids bouncing up and down on the floors somewhere, probably not anywhere close to my room, maybe upstairs. It took me forever to fall asleep, I got up and did things for a while, and then I probably got 4 hours of sleep. I woke up maybe half an hour before my alarm went off at 5.

I was glad I had my stash of chocolate cherry crack Clif Shots. I had coffee and ate a ham and cheese sandwich and some oatmeal. I left at 6 and went over to the track to finish setting up my table. There is so much to do to get things organized and set up right so you don't end up wasting time looking for things at each table stop.

Before the race, we met our first lap counters who work in 3 hour shifts. Then it was the national anthem, and at 7 am it was time to start.

My plan was to run 6:1 (run 6 laps, walk 1 lap) for the first 12 hours, keeping a comfortable pace for both. I was shooting for 3 minute laps average, but leaving time for screwing around. Bathroom breaks, a night clothes change, and table stops. That would put me in 12 hrs at 58 miles with lots of wiggle room. The plan was 110, 58/52. I was going to drop back to 4:1 for the second half, but if it was hot in the afternoon, I could drop back to 4:1 during the heat of the day, from about 1 to 5 pm. I could always make it up later.

The race is run in lane 2 of the track, which allows runners to set up their tables and gear in lane 1 instead of on the infield, where it is usually wet and muddy. That also makes it nice because the measurements result in 396 laps being 100 miles, or 99 laps per 25 miles. It's just nice to know you have the "bonus" miles already built in.

I got through 50K at 5:55 a little ahead of schedule, but it was cool outside. The wind was strong from the west, whichever direction we were going we would have the north or south side of the track into the wind, with a tailwind on the opposite side. I reached 50 miles in 9:43, again ahead of schedule, but I wasn't pushing it and I was actually holding back. At 12 hours I was at 60.5 miles. Then I took a 20 minute break to change clothes and get ready for night. I texted Wheaties Boy and told him how I was feeling. I told him I was trying to figure out at what point to bust it wide open- if I should wait for 100 miles to do that. He agreed.

I did great with hydration and eating all day, until about 9 pm. I ate 2 ham and cheese sandwiches, six of the 10 PBJs I made, ate 8 of the 12 yogurts, and just a few handfuls of potato chips. I also ate a baked potato at night, had about 4 bananas, half a bag of chocolate covered donuts, drank iced tea, lots of coke, a ton of vitamin water zeros, I like those with S caps in them, they taste better than water, and give some variety. I also did maybe half a dozen gels all night, just the caffeinated ones.

I hit 70 miles in 14:15, and 80 miles in about 16:30. Around 16 to 20 hours I was really struggling with getting the calories in. I was still running a lot more than I was walking, but I did dial it back to more like 2:2 for a while so I could find a way to get my stomach to cooperate. Finally I tried a banana and that did the trick, then I was able to eat donuts too. I did well most of the day so that saved me. I was peeing once an hour, the entire time, even toward the end when my fluid intake was down to a couple of cups of coke each hour.

I stayed on 6:1 through about 70 miles, but I noticed it was making it more difficult to eat and digest food at that point. I knew I would have to keep a balance between pushing it, being able to take in enough fluids and food, and not burning myself out before the end. I would have to say I managed it all pretty well and got a great result.

I wasn't swelling, didn't have blisters, and I never bothered with my feet at all- same shoes, socks, gaiters, compression sleeves the entire race. I did have a hot spot in the usual spot under my left foot, but I haven't been taking care of the calluses there the way John Vonhof always warns about. But it wasn't bad and in 24 hours it wasn't even uncomfortable enough to distract me, I just knew it was there.

One thing I was concerned about before the race was my left ankle. A few times, after the last few races, I had terrible swelling in front of the lateral malleolus. When I did my 30 miler on the track a few weeks ago, my ankle did that again. This time there was nothing. Whatever it is, it didn't cause a problem.

Bonnie is an incredibly strong runner. Going into the race I figured she would be my main competition and we could push each other. She wasn't having her best day though.

I had no idea but there was this young runner named Trista who is a marathoner, and for a while she was ahead of me. The only way I found out was that at one point we passed by the lap counters at the same time and it surprised me to hear that she was one lap ahead of me. She was running with two of her friends who came to the track. It looked like she was hanging in there, but fading.

My walk is a lot faster than just about anyone's, except for this one racewalker who was out there. Every time Trista started walking, I knew that I could gain on her by walking myself. So that kept me occupied for a while when my stomach wasn't cooperating and I didn't feel like pushing it yet.

When I got to 100 miles, it was at 21:16, which was a 2 1/2 hour PR for me. While having nearly 2 hours and 45 minutes seems like plenty to reach my goal of 110, but it's not as easy as it sounds. Averaging 4 miles an hour at this point in a race can be a challenge, especially when you're running low on fuel and fluids. If you're doing a lot of walking, unless you stay on top of a decent pace and get sub-4 minute laps, that's still 16 minute miles, which is slower than 4 mph.

I picked it up a little, but I decided to wait to really turn the afterburners on until we did our last direction switch at 22 hours. At that point I was at about 103 miles and I knew 110 was doable if I stayed with it, but maybe more if I had it in me. Doug was my lap counter and I told him I was going for at least 110, and I got lots of support from the lap counting tent. I can't wait to see the splits because I wonder how fast I went those last two miles. I think I had about 23 minutes left on the clock at 110 miles. I got through 111, and then started on 112. My final distance with the last partial lap was 112.29 miles.

There were so many moments during the race that I would observe the track and the sky and the people and for a moment realize that this was what I would rather be doing more than anything. running this type of event, where you truly get to share it with all the other runners, is my favorite thing of all. When the sun set in the evening and rose again in the morning, and we were all still out there, circling, more slowly but just as determined, to push through until the very last second when the finish gun went off.

I spoke to a young runner named Josh for a while, he was fascinated with Fort Collins and all things Colorado, and he is an admirer of Nick Clark. There were quite a few people doing their first 24 hour races. Amy was one of them, she was running well but she kept taking breaks and sitting down. I told her not to stop- to keep moving and do things while walking, because it takes longer to get your muscles moving again after you stop.

The Midwestern runners always are impressed when you tell them you're from Colorado. They love to visit Colorado. They always ask me why I come there for races when we have so many great trail races at home. I don't race trails anymore, and Colorado doesn't have enough road ultras and almost no track ultras, either.

Ed was doing well all day, he was trying to get at least 84 miles so he could finish his 1000th Cornbelt mile. He ended up going beyond his goal, and notably, won the men's race! At age 74!

Andy's friend John was plugging along, he said he had a headache, and he was starting to lurch to the right. Andy was having foot pain so he went as far as an ultra- 26.5 miles, and called it a day. The whole time he was out there it was fun hearing him cheer for me each time I went by.

There were several other runners I remembered from last time who I talked with, and their encouragement helped. And Bonnie, especially, she was cheering me on to my goal the whole time, and beyond it. At night on the track some of the runners had their spouses walking with them. In a small race like this it's nice that it's an uncrowded track. There were only 30 runners this time.

Between miles 90 and 100 I controlled my pace and spent time trying to force calories in. I knew I needed to have enough fuel to last through the two hours without wasting time to stop and eat and drink too often. I finally got bananas and chocolate donuts, along with iced coke, to work. Bob is one of the volunteers I remembered from last time, he runs the refreshment table at night. If no one comes by the table for a while, he sits on a cooler and nods off occasionally but if you let him know you need something, he is on top of it. He must have gotten me half a dozen cups of iced coke, and he cut up bananas for me, and brought everything to my table before I finished the next lap.

I was at absolute top speed for the last 3 or 4 miles. My legs felt like they were going to burn off. I doubt I was going much faster than 10 minute miles but that's fast enough at the end of 112 miles. When you see Karl walk out to the track with the gun, you are in an all-out sprint to get every last meter before you come to a dead stop when he shoots the gun.

I ended up with an 11 mile PR at 24 hours. I placed first overall, 10 miles ahead of the next runner. The top 3 spots were women, me, Trista and Bonnie, and 4th place was Ed.

The lap counters at this race are amazing. Totally on top of it. They let you know where you are each lap and make eye contact. Out of the nearly 445 laps I did, there were probably half a dozen times when the lap counter was distracted or had more than one runner going through and I had to yell their name to make sure they saw me. Every other time they were on it. It's the human touch, and they cheer for you, there's lots of support for the runners. Karl is the RD and he does a great job, along with the help of Bonnie Busch and her husband, and several other local runners.

Someone was nice enough to take this picture of me while I was waiting for Karl to roll the wheel around the track to measure our exact distance on the partial last lap we each did.

And just when you think the race is over...

I had enough time after the race to grab about half my stuff and put it in the car, then go to the hotel and shower before the post-race breakfast and awards. My last lap counter, Doug, helped me carry my heavy stuff to the car and Ed and I agreed to go back to the track after breakfast to help each other get the last of our stuff. While carrying my milk crate to the car, Doug remarked, "I see you have crack..."

My gels were organized by regular gels and "crack"- the super caffeine ones.

While undressing and taking a shower I had horrible foot cramps, leg cramps, back cramps, side stitches, and everything was seizing up. I figured I didn't take in enough fluids the last few hours when I picked up the pace but my stomach was not happy. I drank a bottle of water before the breakfast, but that was all I had time for.

I had an interesting experience at the post-race breakfast. I was sitting down at the table and started to eat a few small bites of food, when all of a sudden I started feeling funny. I felt the blood drain from my head and felt nauseated, so I got up to go over to the restroom. On my way to the door I don't know what happened, it happened so fast all I remember is that it felt like I tripped, hit the wall, and slid down, and suddenly I was on the floor, all I could see were some shoes and I heard some voices talking to me. "Are you all right?"

It was Bonnie and another woman from the group. I must have gotten up too fast and I bet my blood pressure tanked because I was so dehydrated from those last few hours on the track when I couldn't take in enough fluids.

Anyway I told them I felt nauseated and they helped me get up and took me into the bathroom, where I got down on the floor and sat there, waiting for it to pass. I had a few dry heaves but there was nothing coming up. Bonnie brought me some ice water and a wet towel, and hung out on the floor with me until I started to feel better. We started laughing about it. I said, this is too funny. She told me she's done it lots of times.

I was starting to feel better and she got me a chair from the other room. I told her to let everyone know I was okay, because the entire group saw me do this. Quite dramatic!

When Bonnie brought the chair in the bathroom, she told me I looked like the wicked witch, she pointed at my shoes and legs that were sticking out under the stall.

Soon we were giggling hysterically. I said, I need pictures of this, this is blogworthy material. So she took pictures of me on the floor of the bathroom.

Finally I felt good enough to go back in the room, and I drank my orange juice and diluted it with water and shook some salt in it. That was my old cure for when I got lightheaded at work- it was so hard to drink or eat enough, I always found myself lightheaded or having muscle cramps there.

Ed and I got our post-race selfie (the two winners!) and we headed over to the track again, along with Mick, one of the volunteers, and his wife, and they helped us get all of stuff loaded up.

So now I'm back in the room and I took a two hour nap and then went to the store, and the only thing that sounded good was soup. So here is my first pre-race meal. I'll be eating and sleeping this off for a few days.

I'm planning to take it easy the month of May. I can feel that this race took more out of my body than the 24 hour races have in the past. I did a lot of running and my mileage going into it, while decent, was not particularly high. I think the key to improving at the 24 hour event now is going to be more high mileage weeks with more intensity, not all the time, but more than I've been doing.

The results are here. I'll be back again.