Well it is all over now, for now

Well I am still in a little bit of shock but Western States has come and gone. It is hard to believe that something that I had looked to do for so long is now over, and soon I am sure I will be in search of a new long term goal. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity and a long time coming for this dance with WSER, as you guys know, but I will share a little secret with you. I really want to go back, lol! The whole of the race was an amazing experience (really unlike any other race I have been a part of) and everything from the people who put it on to the way my crew functioned could not have been better. I am sure that most of you also follow me on Facebook, or in other ways know the outcome of the race, but I am going to take some time today to just let you know what happened during the race from my prospective and then give some of my final thoughts about what happened. Also, if you were wondering, “what is going to happen to the blog now that the race is over?” I plan on keeping it going. So if you are still interested in checking out what is going on in my running from time to time, the blog will still be here. So on to the race.

The trail map

7pm the night before, we had just finished dinner at the VRBO we picked up in Squaw Valley. It was a really nice place and it seems these house rentals are really the way to go for a large group. We have had two really successful trips going that route. Trying to eliminate any surprises before the race we elected to eat in and had Shannon and his crew joined us. Shannon had salmon and I had a very big sweet potato with rice and veggies. Most of the rest of the crew had hamburgers that they cooked out on the grill. As you might imagine there was a lot of nervous energy in the room as we discussed last minute instructions and crew plans. I elected to try and go to bed early. But every time I would try to calm my mind I would think of another thing that I needed or might need for the race. So it was an endless up and down. I am not really sure how much sleep I actually got, but I did my best to at least try and stay in the bed and relax. I know that it seems like a 3am wake-up call should have come early, but it seemed like an eternity before the alarm finally went off. When it did I made my way to the kitchen and tried to make a little noise as possible (so the crew could get some sleep) while I made my breakfast. Still keeping it simple I made three eggs with white rice. By the time I was wrapping up most of the rest of the gang had joined me in the kitchen. Sometime during the night Matt Carver had made his way to the house. Matt is a former River Parks employee that ran with us a lot back in the glory days of the old Turkey Mountain trail running group, but had since moved to California. He contacted me a couple of weeks ago about coming down to document the race (he is a super talented photographer and filmmaker). I told him that we would love to have him with us. I did not however realize that it was an eight-hour drive from his house to where we were staying. I was really blown away that he wanted to make the trip and it was totally awesome of him to see him that morning. He was a real blessing for the whole experience not only because took all kinds of great photos and video, but the rest of the crew just kept talking about how awesome it was to have him there and how good it was to get to hang out with him again. After I finished eating I went to get ready and try not to get myself freaked out. Before a big race like this my main focus is just to try and remain as calm as possible to avoid unneeded stomach distress. By 4am I was ready to head to the start line to get my race number and see if we could find Shannon. Leaving my crew to finish with their morning routine, Brynna and I made our way to the village.

In the Crowd

Less than a hour to Go.

The house was very close to the village but we come up on the back side. So it was very quiet on our way over. Of course it was still dark outside and was pretty cold. I had a hoodie on for this part. I got in line to pick up my bid and then jumped inside the area where they were serving breakfast. I had already eaten but I thought it was a cool idea for the race to offer breakfast to all the runners and crews. Instantly we went from it being very dark and quiet to humming and bustling with people. The hall was filled to the brim with runners and crew trying to stay warm as long as possible. Soon the rest of my crew joined me and spread out to see if they could locate Shannon while I pinned my race number to my shorts. Matt came back and said he didn’t see Shannon but upstairs it was much quieter if we wanted to move. So we climbed the stairs and found the bar area were packet pickup had been the day before. There was only about six other people up there and the lights were off. This was much more relaxing so the crew and I found seats and waited for the start. For the rest of the day this is what it would be like. It is a weird part of running ultras that you spend hours in the woods alone and totally quiet and then you come into these aid stations with people yelling and ringing cow bells and rushing around, it is a system shock every time. It is not a bad thing but can derail your plans pretty quick. While you are running to the aid stations you have all this time to think to yourself, I am going to do this or eat that or pick up something. But, when you come in, it is like you suddenly don’t have any time or you can’t think of what it is you wanted but don’t worry you will have plenty of time to think about it about 500 yards down the trail away from the aid station. I have never found a good solution to this, it seems it is just a part of the race but a good crew can definitely help minimize your mistakes. And a good pace later in the race can help be your brain. Sorry for that sidebar, but that was most of the morning moving in and out of these areas of activity. About the time we got comfortable in the dark room upstairs someone called out that there was only 10 minutes till the start. Time was speeding back up, and I knew then that I would be fight the clock till I finished on Sunday. Running is a sport that is all about time. It doesn’t matter how fast you run what part, or how long you spend at this aid station or whatever. It is not how you get there, only how long it takes you to get there. Time continues to march on until the finish and that will be the only time that matters. Now it was real and the time had come to go back out in the cold and wait for the start. At the bottom of the stairs I found Shannon and we shared a hug. I love Shannon and I was happy that we would both be sharing this experience, but at the same time I knew that I had my race to run and he had his. We are both runners who believe in true nature of running and we know that running is a deeply personal experience, particularly in a race this big. We would walk to the line together, however, on the other side of that starting line we would be on our own to find out what Western States would have for each of us on this day and how we would personally handle the mental and physical stress of what we were doing.

The Calm Before the Storm

Time to Head to the Start

Often at the start of marathons or 5ks there is music or a bunch of jumping around as people try and psych themselves up. 100 mile races are a little different. For the most part the race start was calm. Just a big group of people standing in the cold waiting for the start clock to hit zero. The instructions were over, the crew prep was over, the goodbyes to love ones had been said, and all the training and planning was behind us. Now it was just this clock and a trail in front of us that would lead from Squaw Valley to Auburn through the Serra Nevada Mountains. The most direct route from the old silver camps in Reno to the gold mining camps in Auburn. The route would go through deep hot canyons and cross the American River. It would be hard, but we all had run thousands of miles and spent countless hours planning to get to this start line. Now as the sound of the shot gun rang out over the ski slopes we had 30 hours and 100 miles to find out if we would break or be forged by this journey. I have often said that goals are not goals if it is something you can do. If you have run 30 marathons, running a marathon is not a goal. You can make it a goal by trying to run it faster or whatever, but for something to be a goal there has to be a real chance at failure. You cannot stand at the beginning of a goal and know that you will succeed. All you can do is prepare with everything you have and have a great deal of belief in yourself, and sometimes that will be enough. And sometimes it will not. A lot can happen in 100 miles, so I cheer all those who got up that morning to toe the line for that journey to the start line was in most cases much harder than the one to the finish will be. The journey to the start was not easy and what lay ahead of us would surely not be easy as everyone there, no matter how prepared, faced the real possibility that today would not be their day. The real possibility that all those month and years of work would not carry them to the finish. That they would not be among those to walk across the stage at 12:30 in Auburn on Sunday and receive a buckle. When faced with such odds you have to ask yourself why do it? I guess I have talked about it a few times, but it becomes even more important in a race like this. If you are putting in all that work and planning just to reach the finish line or get a buckle, you might be setting yourself up for some serious disappointment. Don’t get me wrong, that is the goal. That is why we are all out there, to cover the distance and reach the finish. But there has to be something more, some deeper reason that you are doing the run. If you have to reach the finish to find that something and it does not happen on the journey from the start to the finish or wherever you end up, then I have bad news for you. When you cross the finish line you will not be different. And it is likely that you will end up less happy then you were at the start if you thought otherwise, if you thought something would change or if you thought the person who crossed the finish line would somehow be better than that person who started the race. To modify a line from one of the greatest sports movies of all time Cool Runnings: “a buckle is a wonderful thing. But if you're not enough without one, you'll never be enough with one”. So I guess I am saying that is why we are out there, to see what is really deep inside ourselves. As I have said before I think that running like this exposes your true nature, and if you dig deep enough to find it I think you will be happy with the person you have always been inside. I talked last time about me relating to the Foolish Coyote, always searching and never satisfied. As I forced my barley awake body across the start line and began the long climb to the highest point of the course I knew two things. First, this was an amazing opportunity and would be something that I will remember for my whole life, and second it would not be enough. What I seek inside myself would be revealed on this course, but I would not be able to hold onto it. And before too long, there would be a new goal, a new race, and another chance to find that space. But, even with those thoughts in my head I was not ready for the depths I would journey through on my way to Auburn. Western States had already gifted me so many wonderful memories in the week leading up to the race, now it was time for the lesson.

At the Start Line

The race start was fairly crowded but the roads were wide so it was not much of an issue. From the start in the Village we would make or way up the service roads of the ski runs to the Watson Monument and over Emigrant Pass into an area of the course called the Wilderness. The pass is the highest point of the course and you reach it at about mile 4. The other side of the pass is single track, but the climb does enough damage to break the packs up so that the trails are not bad crowded by the time you make it over. Shannon and I became separated in the first mile; I would not see him again until the race was over. At this point you have to play a dangerous game, everyone is feeling good and moving fast. And you want to put down some miles while everything is going smoothly but you have to weight that against going to hard and blowing yourself up. I was moving very well, but really holding back. Because having attended the training camps I knew what was waiting in the canyons, and I wanted to be a fresh a possible when I reached that point. The race was split in my head by the crew stations were Brynna and the rest would meet me. So the first section would be from the starting line to Robinson Flat (about mile 30), then to Michigan Bluff (mile 55), then Forest Hill (mile 62) where I would get Jeff as a pacer, then Green Gate (mile 80) after the river crossing and where Philip would become my pacer, then Highway 49 (mile 93) where Sarah would take over pacing, and on to the Finish. So in the first section before the Lyon Ridge aid station I was going through all of this in my head when I got my first genital reminder from Western States. Not looking down I tripped on a root at full stride; before I knew what happened I was on my back in a bush off the side of the trail. I was so lucky to have fallen that way as there were big rocks everywhere, even though the bush was uncomfortable and I had to pick branches out of my shirt for a while, I was really no worse for the wear. I would have to do a better job of focusing on the trail if I wanted to get through this ordeal. Other than that fall the first section went very well. I had an alarm set on my watch to go off every hour. When it went off I would try and get at least 280 calories down, and I was hitting the water and sports drink fairly hard. Before I knew it I was rolling into Robinson Flat and ready to shed some clothing. At this point I was wearing a trucker hat, buff, and gloves. So I ditched the gloves, traded the hat for a visor, and soaked the buff. However; it is here that I made my first few tactical errors. First I wanted to switch my t-shirt for a singlet, but I told Brynna to bring that to Michigan Bluff not Robinson Flat, so it was not with the crew who had to come to the aid station via shuttle and were thereby limited to the amount of stuff they could carry. Second in all the shuffling around I forgot about my plan to eat at the crew stop. They had Smucker’s Uncrustables and Pringles that I should have eaten to put some solid food on my stomach. So far I had been all on gels and pouch based (Trail Butter and Cliff Organic) foods. On a lesser note I should have listened to my crew that wanted to filled my Buff with ice but at that time I was still feeling OK with the heat and I didn’t think that I wanted to deal with the hassle of the ice. Anyways none of those things happened and I soon headed out. Just before rolling out I asked about Shannon but as this was the first crew point there was little information to be had; however, Ryan with Shannon’s crew gave me some good advice to keep my pace down over this next section and not burn out my legs on the downhill. Despite the errors and the nerves, I left the aid station feeling confident as this was part of the course I had been on before and it was still early in the race.

The Climb to the Pass

The Monument Plaque

Coming into Robinson Flat

Back out to the Trial

Now the race moved to the area known as the Canyons. This is where every runner’s race is either made or broken. After Robinson Flat you have a short climb to make it over the peak and then a long slow descent through a few aid stations until you reach the Last Chance aid station. From there it is a sharp descent into Deadwood Canyon before the most difficult climb of the race up to Devil’s Thumb. In the run from Robinson into Last Chance I was still moving very well and the miles were still coming easy but you could definitely feel that it was getting hot fast. I was also having some slight stomach issues, but nothing that a well-timed aid station with a port-a-john couldn’t fix. At the aid stations I was trying to keep the eating on schedule but the heat was clearly having an effect on my appetite and the gels were getting a little too sugary. Add to that I was still refusing ice at the aid stations to my own detriment, opting to instead just keep my Buff wetted. When I hit the bottom of Deadwood Canyon I felt like I got there as good as could have been expected and was totally aware that I was in for a long exposed hike to Devil’s Thumb. Now I am not a very good power hiker so I was expecting to lose some time here and I was not overly concerned about that. Then about a mile from the summit aid station disaster hit. I miss calculated on my water and ran out. I was on to the steepest and most exposed part of the climb and without water could barely move. Just like an overheating car engine I was reduced to a few hundred yards of hiking then having to sit and cool down as best I could before repeating the process. Finally, within a half mile to the aid station I met some volunteers from the aid station that had come down to check on runners. It was good to see them as I knew I had to be getting close, unfortunately they did not have any water. However, in talking with them a runner coming by heard me say I was out and offered up some if his. This kind gesture kept me moving up, and most likely kept me in the race. At the aid station I relented and took all the ice I could hold and after a few minutes there to recover I was on my way into El Dorado Creek canyon and on to the climb of Michigan Bluff. The downhill run was not bad and the ice helped. When I reached the aid station at the base of the climb I was finally getting water down well again and tried to eat some fruit. I loaded up with ice and water and made my start on the hike up to the Bluff. This climb is not as steep as Devil’s Thumb, but it is long and very hot. Now the heat was really getting to me. After overheating on the last climb it did not take long for my stomach to go into full revolt. Somewhere along the trail here I had my first bout with throwing up. This is not helpful when you are trying to stay hydrated, but I was a little more motivated to keep climbing as I knew my crew would be at the top. Finally, I started seeing spectators and before long the wonderful sight of Wes. Unable to get much out at that point I just made a sign to him that I had been throwing up and he sped off to alert the crew. I made my way into the aid station and stopped at the ice tent. Brynna wanted me to move over to our crew spot, but I needed a minute to cool down. So I was feeling a little better and moved over to the patch of grass the crew had claimed. While setting there and explaining to the crew what was going on the aid station doctor came up to check on me. Now this was not just any doctor, I mean I guess not just any doctor would spend all weekend out at an aid station watching a bunch of crazies, he was wearing a 1000-miles 10-days buckle. Which means that the guy checking up on me had 10 sub 24 hour finishes at Western. That is pretty awesome. As I cooled down and got some fluids back in me I started to look human again (according to my crew) I knew the next section would not be fun but I wanted to push on to get to Foresthill so I could at least have a pacer. So I finally got up and headed back out. This next section would be one of the hardest for me in the race. But at this point I was still pretty confident that I would come out of this stomach trouble and get back to running. The stomach issues were not anything new to me at 100 mile races, but usually I can come out of it at some point. Also, I forgot to mention that the aid station was run by a group call the Donner Party, and they were dressed in old timey clothes which was fun.

A shot Matt took of me coming into Michigan Bluff. I really love this shot.

The climb to forest hill would mark the last major climb for quite some time, so despite it being crappy I at least knew that I was getting into the more runnable sections of the course. After what seemed like an eternity I finally made it to Bath Road, the 1 mile paved section that leads to Foresthill. 100k of the race was behind me which was a good thing and that this point I still had plenty of time for a good finish. In fact, I was still realistically on pace to finish under 24 hours. Foresthill is the biggest aid station and the only one that the crew vehicle can be at. So I would have access to all of my supplies. I came in feeling not great but upon stopping things would really go downhill. I ran through the aid station and made it to my crew car at the far end of the street. The moment I stopped with all my crew there huddled around me all the pain and sickness I had been trying to hold off just came rushing in. In all the races I have done I have had one DNF, at the Canadian Death Race. That DNF was due to poor planning. Going to such a difficult race without a crew and no real plan for water and food led to me having to pull out of the race. But even in that race I felt like I had the fitness to finish, just no real way to do it. Foresthill on this day was different. Soon my 10-minute stop was turning into a 40-minute stop and I was becoming very familiar with a tree near our car that was my throw up spot. I was sitting in the car with the AC on and having to really face the question, was I going to be able to finish this race. Something the race director said during the crew meeting kept sticking in my mind. He said that most everyone who crosses the river finishes the race. If I left this aid station, then next time that I saw my crew would be on the other side of the river. I knew what I had to do, so against all reason and common sense, I stepped out of the car looked at Jeff and said “let’s go”. It was a weird sensation to leave Foresthill, my crew had done great and I really felt like this was going to happen now. I was going to finish the race. At the same time, I had just shelled my whole race plan. I had to come to terms with the fact that there would be no sub-24-hour finish today. I was not going to come thundering into Auburn like I had dreamed, but that was the lesson here. I might not have a silver buckle on the other side of the finish line, but if I wanted to get there at all it was going to take a journey through a valley of pain unlike anything I had every experienced. But I would make this journey, and I could make the journey, for only one reason. I was not alone. Armed with headlamps Jeff and I made our way towards Rucky Chuck (the American River crossing). It would be about 18 miles until I saw my crew again, but I was hopeful that the next time I saw them it would be clear that we were bringing this thing home.

Just past the Aid Station at Forest Hill, Cars for a Mile Literally 

Words cannot describe how good it was to have Jeff with me for those next sections. I knew what we would be racing the sun in trying to get as many miles in as possible before darkness was upon us. But, they were not going to come easy. Every section was difficult and Jeff did his best to keep me moving and trying to put food down. I was having almost no success with solid food, however, the water and a few salt tabs were staying down. I had been through this section of the course on one of the training runs so I knew that after the Cal 2 aid station we would have a long downhill section. I was not having any trouble with sleep but thought if I could get a slight rest at the Cal 2 aid station maybe my body would reset a little. So I discussed this plan with Jeff, and I could tell he was not really seeing the benefit. His thought is that we should keep moving, and in retrospect he was most likely right. I tried to rest at the station but with all the commotion it was really just laying down for 10 mins and nothing more. However, it did give me new life for a few miles after. I even took the lead on the trail and made Jeff follow me for a while. But as we got close to the river the wheels were coming off again. The approach to the river includes a few significant climbs and I was feeling those. But we were passing some people and making alright time. Not the great race I was having before Michigan Bluff, but keeping us ahead of cut off for sure. Soon the lights of the river crossing were in the distance, and despite not looking forward to the cold water I knew what crossing would mean. This would be my Rubicon, crossing the river would be my personal proclamation that I would finish this race. Coming into the aid station was really an experience. It was lit up like a beacon and there were volunteers and crew everywhere. As soon as I came in I heard someone yelling my name. I knew that my crew was two miles up the hill at Green Gate so it was my hope that it was someone from Shannon’s crew and I could find out how he was doing. To was not part of Shannon’s crew but it was a Rush Runner (the running store in Rogers that Shannon is part of the race team for) who gave me the devastating news that Shannon’s fallen and hurt his ribs and as such had slowed him significantly. When came into Forest Hill he was 10 minutes after cut off. His race was over, and between the shock and disappointment I knew that this was just another reason that I had to finish this race. Then Jeff from Rush Running (not my pacer) asked me how my race was going and I told him about my stomach distress. He informed me that a chiropractor was giving some people adjustments at the aid station that were helping some with their stomach issues. At this point I was willing to try anything so I said I would give it a shot, in steps Gordy. That is right the chiropractor out at some freezing river in the middle of the night helping runners was no other than Gordy Ainsleigh himself, the first finisher of the Western States course (back when it was a horse race) and the father of 100-mile trail running. Gordy worked his magic and even though it did not settle my stomach it did wonders for lifting my spirits. If the founder of this race was trying to help me finish at 1 am and right then I knew what I had to do. Jeff and I made our way down to the river and were help across by dozens of volunteers that stood in the river all night to help runners not die (really it was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be) and soon we were on our way up to Green Gate.

Me with Gordy, Jeff is so blown away by meeting Gordy he can't open his eyes

Green Gate was the most subdued of all the aid stations that I came across the whole race, which was a little weird as it was a crew spot. But the quite nature of the aid station was nice at this point. I talked with the crew, really feeling pretty good about my time, but Brynna told me that I needed to get with it and not think I had this thing in the bag just yet. She said I needed to run if I was going to finish this thing before the cutoff. So as quickly as I could I changed my shoes and sock, put on a new shirt, got a headlamp with fresh batteries, and Pip led me down the trail. Pip was a very different pacer than Jeff, not in a bad way they just have very different styles. He was not content with letting me walk much and he really tried to keep me to at least a jog. We agreed that on flats and downhills we would do all we could to keep running. I was grateful for his pushing of the pace, and also that he tried to keep my time at aid stations to a minimum. Each aid station at this point brought more certainty that I was going to finish the race before the cutoff. And for a while it would seem that the call of the finish line was helping my running. Pip told me that we had increased our average pace by 4 minutes per mile on the second half of his pacing section. I didn’t feel any better but at least I was moving. If a 100-mile race takes you long enough there is some relief that comes after all the revolt your body does in the middle of the night while it is trying to tell you that you should be in bed and this can be the greatest time of any hundred miler, sunrise. As we approached the Ford’s Bar aid station the sun came out. No more head lamps, no more dark silence, now we would be running in this new day. As if they knew how this made me feel as I approached Ford’s Bar the music we heard blaring through the trees was the song “I can see clearly now the rain is gone” and the song was right, it was going to be a bright sun shiny day. Ford’s Bar was a cool aid station and the people were super nice, it also turns out they were good friends with Justin Walker and recognized my Runner’s World Tulsa gear. Besides being awesome they also helped me by forcing me to try some chocolate milk. This did not go down easy, but it stayed down and gave me a lot more calories than the vegetable broth I had been drinking. I left wishing I had tried that a little earlier. The next section of the course would be making our way to the Highway 49 crossing. This is where Pip’s pacing duties would end and I would pick up Sarah. It would also mean less than 7 miles left in the race. On the way to that aid station we traveled down a gravel road for about two and a half miles from Ford’s Bar before we jumping onto a side trail that would take us up the steep climb to Highway 49. Pip and I commented on how marked the turn off the road onto the trail was. I mean there was caution tape and marking flags everywhere. Turns out this is where the race leader Jim Walmsley had gotten off course earlier in the day. He ended up going from being 20 minutes ahead of the course record to well back in the field. Devastatingly finishing even outside the top ten. The race is cruel to everyone it would seem.

Green Gate Aid Station

Highway 49 Aid Station

After what seemed like forever on a climb that really was not that bad, we ended up at Highway 49. This aid station was really hopping and I was surprised to see everyone still had so much energy. I mean we had been up for more than a day at this point and for you would think at least some of the people had to be struggling with the desire to sleep. Brynna saw me right away as I came into the aid station and she was not too happy with my desire to sit down for a second and try to get some more chocolate milk down. But I convinced her it was a good idea and I sat for just a moment. Sarah was rip roaring ready to go, and I picked her to pace me this last section precisely because I knew she would have this kind of energy. So we took off to finish the climb that peaks just past Highway 49 and from there we would drop down to the iconic No Hands Bridge. This would be the last aid station and signal about 3 miles left in the race. For the climb we were still moving OK and soon we were on the meadow that goes across the top of the climb on the outskirts of the town Cool, but the heat was coming and the meadow had no tree cover so it was still not easy. During this section we passed quite a few people and I made sure to try and encourage everyone that I came across telling them I would see them in Auburn, and this is really happening. Before I knew it we were dropping down onto No Hands Bridge. Earlier that week we had come down to No Hands Bridge during a training run, and at the south side of the bridge there is a sign that has markings of 97 miles to Squaw Valley and 4 miles to Auburn. I had a little conversation with that sign during the training run and prayed that I would see it again. When we finally came into the aid station I went straight to the sign and let it know I was back. “I told you I would be back”. We spent only long enough in the aid station for me to refill my bottle and pour some ice over me. And we were off again. Even though we had a little over three miles left in the race it would only be about 2 miles before I saw my crew again. You can have an unlimited number of crew and pacers from Robie Point to the finish, about the last mile or so. I knew that all I had to do was get there. The problem was this would be a climb out of the lowest point on the course at around 500 feet to the Auburn at about 1200 feet. It is not a massive climb but it is totally exposed and with rock all around you and it feels like an oven. Sure would have been nice to finish before the sun came up, LOL. And despite all the encouragement from Sarah my body felt the finish coming and was shutting down. It is amazing how your body always knows how far you are running and really punches you in the gut when it knows you are about to stop. The last two miles might have been the hardest of the race. The climb to Robie Point was slow and required a few breaks, but before too long (total lie it took forever) I started to hear cheering. People from all over, crews and residents of Auburn had come out to cheer runners in. Finally, I reached the paved road that would lead to the track at Placer High School and my whole crew was there. I was so happy to see them and less happy to find out that the road did not flatten when you hit the pavement as I had hoped. Rather the climbing continued, but I felt like a superstar with my crew all around me, and I knew that I was doing all that I could. Finally, the road stopped its relentless climb and started to pitch back down. There we crossed the famous white bridge. I spent just a moment there to enjoy the significance of crossing this bridge, it would be less than a third of a mile to the track. And then I was there, in the track making my way around. I had thrown away my bottle and held only the rosary that mother had given me before I left for California. I had my crew and I heard the announcer start to go through all that races that I ran to get here and acknowledge each of the members of my crew. Then I was alone again, with 200 feet to go the crew goes right and I stayed straight to go through the finish. With a few more steps and a few tears it was over, I had made the journey in 28 hours 1 minute and a few seconds. In my dreams before the race I never planned on it taking this long, but I was happy in the knowledge that I had done all I could and really feel like it was a miracle that I finished at all. And it never would have happened without Brynna, Wes, Jeff, Philip, Sarah, and Matt.

No Hands Bridge Aid Station

The Climb up Robie Point

The Crew with me on the Last Hill

Crossing the Line

After crossing the line, unsurprisingly they led me straight to the medical tent. Fortunately, all I needed after they saw my vitals were ok, was to lay down for a moment and try and cool off. They gave me a cot, packed me with ice, and told me to keep drinking water until I peed. Mostly I needed to pee at some point as the last time was sometime before the river crossing and it was now the middle of the next day. My crew came up and asked me how I was doing and I told Brynna that I wanted to see Shannon and find out how he was. She told me that he was on his way. At this point I am guessing I nodded off for a moment (guess I was more tired than I thought) because it seemed like almost immediately he was there. There was a lot of emotion while Shannon and I talked. I wish he could have finished with me, and I wish his race had gone better, but that is why we do this and we knew something like this could have happened to either one of us. The real difference in running a 100-mile race is that you can do everything right and still not finish. Sometimes it is just not in the cards. However, I was glad to have him there now and happy we got that moment. After a while on the cot, it was time to find the showers and get changed. The walk across the field was slow and hot but we made it, and without too much trouble I got cleaned up and headed back up to the track to see time expire for the race. In the final moments of the race one of the oldest competitors at age 72 entered the track. With 200 yards to go and only 30 seconds left on the clock every was going crazy. He tried to run in as hard as he could even falling a few times, but just short of the line time expired. The crowd was going crazy and he covered the distance but he would not be among the official finishers of the race, and would not receive a buckle. But I still feel like he most likely found something much more rewarding in that journey. To cap it off during the award ceremony later that afternoon one of the runners who had won an automatic entry into next year’s race gave it up to that runner so he could try again. I ask you guys is there a better group of people in the world than Ultrarunners? After the buckles and awards had been passed out, and everyone started to make their way away from the high school, a strange calm came over the whole group. We had been exposed to so many amazing things this week we knew it would take a while for it all to sink in. For now, the only thing to do was to go get something to eat and head back to Squaw Valley and see if we could find this sleep everyone keeps talking about.

Waiting for a home LOL

Finally in my Hands

Pip Doing what he does best.

Back in the condo we just tried to chill out and sort through the disaster we had made of the rental car and or supplies. I made my way to the couch and soon Wes joined me with a big bowl of ice cream. I have never been much for ice cream but it looked pretty good right then. I told him so and soon he came back with the carton (about half full) with a big spoon sticking out of it. I ate every bite and then woke up on the couch 11 hours later. A pretty good end to the day, LOL. By the time I got up I was somewhat hungry but it would be almost a week before my stomach issues settled down and I started to feel normal again, I had lost almost 20 pounds during the race. For now, I was just trying to eat what I could and before long we were rushing around packing a cleaning up to head to the airport. The trip was coming to an end. I hated to see that, I wish we could just always spend time together like this but we all had responsibilities and homes to get back to. And just like that the trip was over, the race was over, this journey was over. I have a big shiny belt buckle to show for it, but more importantly for me I have these memories that I get to keep with me about the race and the week leading into it. Butt sliding down ski slopes with Pip, looking for otters playing in the river with Sarah, seeing beavers instead with Wes. Those memories mean everything to me, and who knows maybe Team Coyote will never take a trip like this again but a will be forever grateful that the Buffalo, Badger, Hare, Turtle, Horse, Squirrel (animal that I came up with for Matt) and Coyote at least got this journey. I can never truly repay any of my crew, or the volunteers, or the people associated with the race enough for this opportunity. Nor the countless others who made this journey happen, but I will spend a good amount of my life try to do just that. Until next time Go Run Tulsa, if running give you even a fraction of what it has given me you will be glad you did.

 

The Buckle

Western States The Time has Come.

Well the time is almost here. As I write this I am in Squaw Valley with the crew and we are one day away from the race. I feel that I have done all that I can do to get ready for the race but still have a great deal of nerves. A few weeks back Shannon and I came to Auburn to do a series of race sponsored training runs. It was really fun but a wake up call for what this race is going to be. And let me tell you, it is not a walk in the park. This race will be my biggest test to date, not only with the self imposed weight I have given to it but because of the share difficult nature of the race. I have always struggled in the high heat and with long downhill running. And that is something that this race has in spades. But, back to the training runs.

The Start Line (getting real LOL)

The commemorative plaque 

So early Friday morning on the 27th of last month Shannon and I loaded up and headed to Sacramento for a three day running camp on the Western States course. For Shannon this would be just a chance to tune up, but for me this would be the first time that I would see any of the course. Needless to say I was super jazzed up. And with the early flights and time change we landed in Sacramento at about 9 am. So we headed straight to Auburn and this little place I read about on Yelp Katrina’s Kitchen. You know your man Stormy has to find the best places to eat. Otherwise what is the point of traveling. It was a small cash only little place. But let me tell you it is worth the trip. A great start to the weekend.

The art at the Sacramento Airport

Third Breakfast of Champions 

Next we headed over to the Auburn Running Company to check it out. This place was awesome, if for nothing else just because of the Western States swag. Trophies from the race, all kinds of awesome photos and signatures, and just a mecca of California trail running. And the working the store were open and friendly, and as a bonus an endless stream of awesome runners who had just made it into town for the training runs were making their way through. Shannon pointed out Sage Canaday (up and coming ultrarunning superstar), and struck up a conversation. Sage is one of the favorites for the race and got in on a golden ticket (meaning he won a big race for automatic entry for the race). But if meeting him was not a thrill enough Shannon about lost his mind when Sage asked him for any advice that Shannon might have on the course. This is the kind of sport we are in folks, there just isn't this social gap between regular runners and elites like you see in other sports. Everyone want to help you and is more than willing to get advice if you have it.

Some important stuff in the window of this running store

Sage winning his golden ticket race

Well after all of this running history and royalty, I was ready to run, so we headed to the hotel to check in. Upon arriving we got devastating news. I messed the reservations up and booked Shannon and I in a king room, so one bed and two runners. And with three different weddings going on in the hotel that weekend it looked like we would be sharing a bed for the training camp. I tried to sweet talk the very nice lady TJ who was working the desk. But there was not a lot she could do. And since i am not one of those people who like to freak out at the desk workers for no reasons, especially if it was my mistake. So we joked around with her for while and finally said it is what it is and headed to the room. The room was nice other than the lack of two beds and we started unpacking. Just about the time we got unpacked the phone in the room started ringing. Shannon answered and it was TJ at the desk. She had a cancellation and had a double bed room for us. I mean we literally were in the room for 5 minutes, it is amazing how stuff just always seems to work out when you stay calm. I took it as a good sign for the weekend. And we also got a new friend out of the deal with TJ at the desk.

View from the run

I got my running clothes on and Shannon decided that he would skip this run and take the opportunity to do some work and get some supplies by checking out some local grocery stores. So he dropped me at the Robie Point Fire Break Trails and planned on meeting me back there in a while. My plan was to run down to No Hands Bridge and a little past to get 8 miles in total. I knew it was not going to be too fast as it was hot and I did not have any water. My plan was to carry my bottle with me and fill it up if I got the chance, but no water was to be found. The run was awesome and I promise you guys that the spectacular nature of what I was getting to do was not lost on me. Now more than ever I was ready to see what Western States would hold. Standing on that bridge and seeing the sign saying Squaw Valley was 97 miles behind me and Auburn was 4 miles ahead was pretty epic (and I hate using that word).

The no hands bridge sign.

The training weekend was set up like this. On Saturday we would meet at Foresthill Elementary School and be bused to Robinson Flats. From there we would run the 32 miles back to Forest Hill though the toughest part of the course known as “the canyons”. On Sunday we would meet again at Foresthill and run from there to a spot two miles up the hill from the Rucky Chucky river crossing about 18 miles of running and then we would be bused back to Foresthill. For Monday we would meet at the finish of the race at Placer High School and be bused to a spot about two miles up from Green Gate to run into the finish. About 20 miles for that day. So not an easy weekend. But a great opportunity to see a lot of the course.

No doubt the first day was designed to be a punch in the gut. This would be the part of the course that will make or break any runner’s race. This year’s race would be hot and the canyons would magnify this. We got on the bus full of excitement and before we knew it was were getting off at Robinson Flats and in a fairly unorganized fashion headed out on the snow covered trail. Pretty quick we crested the peak just past Robinson Flats and headed down and the snow was gone to be replaced by heat. The run from this point was very flat with a slight downhill. So I instantly made the mistake of going out way too fast. Like 7:30 miles fast. And all this running my butt off and skipping aid stations led me to missing a turn and running 3 miles off course. When I got back on track I was only motivated to run faster. So I hit the first canyon hard and pushed up Devil’s Thumb way too fast trying to run too far up the climbs. I felt like I was having a great day, but underestimating the hot dry weather badly. Now I was starting to feel it but I tried to keep it up. Here we are on a training run and I was trying to win the race, stupid move. By the time I pasted the next canyon and headed up to Michigan Bluff I was struggling a lot. Now it was on to Foresthill which included another smaller canyon and some climbing that should have been runnable. But I was blown up and paying for all the early bravado. And it became a death march with some bad cramping. I learned a valuable lesson for race day and it  did not feel good. I crossed the finishing line for the day at Foresthill and found Shannon waiting for me. I made it about three feet past the finish before my calves locked up. I was toast and we had two days to go. Now it was time to try and recover for tomorrow. I knew we needed to get some calories down but I was way too overheated to eat then. I would have to cool down for a while before I could get anything down. By the time we got back to Auburn I was feeling a little better and we found some good eats for dinner. We hit the sack early, trying to maximize recovery for a better showing Sunday.

Before day one looking fresh faced and bright eyed, I was not motivated to take a photo after.

On Sunday I had a better plan. I was going to head out with Shannon and try and keep a more controlled pace. Also my plan was to hit the aid stations hard, and keep eating and drinking all day. This part of the course would be much easier. So I hoped this combination would make for a better day. And for the most part it did. I was moving really well and enjoying the amazing scenery of the course. Before I knew it I was at the river crossing. Now is the time when I will remind everyone who is reading this to listen to pre run instructions, because I was ready to get this run over with so after hitting the aid station I made my way down to the river to find everyone just sitting around in the river cooling off. I pushed my way across (which was not easy in the fast moving chest deep water) only to find no markings on the other side. So I yelled back asking which way to go. Only to be told that we were going up the road to take a bus back. Not crossing the river today. So I got to wade back across the river, and totally soaked make my way up to the finish for the day. Despite that blunder, the day finished well and I felt much better. Even good enough to have two veggie burgers at the finish line before getting on the bus and heading back to the car. I got changed and waited for Shannon to make it back to the car. A little while later a bus showed up with Shannon and he told me a wonderful story that made me wish I had hung around the finish line. I guess Shannon was almost done for the day when a lizard jumped out of the bushes and on to the trail. This made him jump back and right then his legs locked up and he fell into a nearby ditch. It just so happened that all of this happened right in front of Western States 5 time winner and 25 time sub-24 hour finisher Tim Twietmeyer. I bet it was an incredible sight. I can’t believe I missed it but that is what you get for leaving the finish early. In the end both of us had a much better day and both Shannon and I felt like eating much more than the day before. So besides all the food at the finish we stopped by In and Out Burger for fries and shakes before we got back to the hotel. And after we got cleaned up we hit some little Chinese restaurant for even more food and then just for good measure before we went back to the room we stopped at the grocery store. And there I got a big piece of carrot cake. Somewhere in all of that I met my demise.

After Day Two, feeling much better

Around 12 in the morning I woke up with the urgent need to vomit. And this continued for several hours. Finally I left the room for the 24 hour CVS down the street and got some supplies. Needless to say I got very little sleep that night but eventually my stomach settled down and for sure everything had exited. By the morning I was feeling slightly better, so we hit the breakfast buffet at the hotel. I was of course very hungry at this point and ate way too much. Still feeling ok I got ready for the run and we headed to the high school. All seemed to be going ok until we got on the hot bus and headed down the twisty roads to the start for the day. By the time we got to the start I realized that headed out that day might be a mistake. I made it a few steps down the road with Shannon before it was clear that he was feeling much better than me. So I told him that this was not happening. He was nice enough to walk me back to the start and headed out for his run. I hoped his day would be better than mine.  I talked with the volunteer who was running the training camp and told him that I was not feeling well. He asked me what I wanted to do and I told him that I was not doing good but I hated to miss this chance to run the course. He suggested that I head out with the sweepers and see if it got any better down the trail. I thought this was super cool of them. And the sweepers and I took off down the trail. They were awesome. I mean really the best, their attitude was just what I needed.

Before the last Day

For the first bit I was not sure about it, but then I started feeling better. So I picked up the pace and took off for a while. But at mile 4.5 disaster struck and I lost all of my breakfast. So I walked a little and then finally just sat down on the side of the trail. Soon the sweepers picked me back up and were super cool about it. They kept reminding me that this was a training run and not to worry about it. Just be happy that this was not happening race day. As we got close to the 7 mile mark they called for a car and that was it for my day. I wish I could have done more but they were right it was just a training run. And being able to get back to quality running and finishing my total training plan was more important than finishing that day. So I came back to the finish and soon was joined by Shannon. He had made it much farther than I but at mile 12 he found himself plenty dehydrated and called it. Not the day we were hoping for, but when we got back to the hotel we at least would get a quality home cooked meal as TJ’s mom had agreed to cook us a meal for the week. Some of the best Indian food I have had in awhile and Shannon agreed.

The awesome sweepers

So all in all we had to find the best way to look at this training weekend. I took it just like McMurtry, this was the kind of kick in the ass I needed. I had it in my head that anything less than a 24 hour finish would be a failure at Western. But that is just not the case. This course is not a gimme. It is difficult and to just reach the finish will be a big win. I needed to realize that before the day of the race. So coming to this training camp was just what I needed. I think Shannon felt the same way. And I did make some changes to my training plan for the last few weeks to focus on more hills and heat.

Unnecessary Throwback photo from Shannon's Birthday in Eureka Springs Maybe 2011?

Fast forward to today. It is the day before the race. I have been in Squaw Valley all week with my crew. And at 5 am tomorrow I head off into the dark to face the challenges of the Western States course. I can only do this because I will not be facing it alone. Not only will I have all my great crew members, but I have all the wonderful people who have been a part of this six year journey that has lead me here. All those miles from that first day I stepped out of my house in Glenpool to run to Arby’s to the 3 miles I ran at the local pub run last night have lead here. And I finished those miles because of the people who helped me along the way. I talked about some of these people in my 2010 recap post a few weeks back, but I carry these people with me always. People like my mother who does not only embody everything I hope and wish to be as a runner. But also who I strive to be as a person. It is only with strength like her’s and her unending resolve that I know no course can break me. She in part has helped me to realize that the point of my running is not to become a better person. We are who we are, it is in these endeavors that we have the chance to remind ourselves of who we really are. That there is an endless well within you and no matter how deep you reach into it, if you believe you can find the strength you seek. She is the pillar that holds my house up and the reason for everything that I am. She will be with me on every step of the course.

My mother Jenifer with her new pup (the dog is now 1000 lbs)

I will also carry the memories of my late father Logan. His life was a struggle but his heart was good. And I hope his unending love for others will be with me as well on this journey. I carry a token of him with me always and it will be with me for each step on the trail.

My sister and my dad Clint will be in my heart too. I know that they don't understand all of these crazy things that I do. And the truth is I don't always understand it either. But, I think of them on every run and hope they are proud of the things I do.

My Sister Nicona

My dad Clint

Now before I lose it let’s talk about my crew. I decided to name my crew Team Coyote. I feel that the Foolish Coyote is my spirit animal. Never satisfied and always searching, I have just always had a deep connection with the ideology of that symbol. So it was only natural that it be the name of my team. Also as I have a deep superstition for wearing anything associated with a race before the finish it gave me a logo for our crew shirts. For each of my crew I have also selected a spirit animal base on their personalities.

The Logo Sarah Made

A photo of the crew Ame took

First is my crew chief for this race and my life. My wife Brynna. She is the Stubborn Buffalo. Her steady state and unwavering concern about me keeps me in line. She refuses to bend to crazy whims and keeps me on track. Even if we have disagreements about what track I should be on. Having her there means I don't have to worry about making decisions. I can focus on running. Also, if you are familiar with Native American folklore you would be aware of a deep connection between the coyote and the buffalo. It is only a bonus that as a Colorado grad she loves buffaloes anyways.

Coyote and Buffalo

In human form. LOL

Next is the Belligerent Badger Wes. He will take over driving duties. Western States is a point to point race over 100 miles of trail. But the roads that lead to the trail crossings are much further apart. You need someone you trust to handle the twisting crazy mountain roads in the dark, after being up for 30+ hours. There is no one that I would trust more than Wes. Wes has always been a great friend, and the first to stick his hand up for any crazy adventure. Not only needed for his driving skills, Wes brings great energy to the group. We are very luck he was able to come along.

The Badger

From many years ago

The Trailblazing Hare Jeff is next on my list. One of my oldest (and oldest) running friends. I have shared trails with Jeff for almost as long as I have been running. He will be first of my pacers. Taking me from Foresthill to the Green Gate. In his almost 18 miles of pacing he will get to experience some of the hottest trails and then cross a freezing cold river before hiking up a 2 mile climb only to get to sit in a car the rest of the night. I don't know why he agreed to this, but I will be forever grateful he did. This is not the first time Jeff has paced me and the last time we had a very successful race. So looking for that again. Jeff has completed several 100 mile races, so he understands what is involved. I am actually very lucky in that all of my crew (with the exception of Brynna who we are still working on) have completed 100 mile races.

The Hare

That is Jeff on the far left.

Philip has the nickname Pip, but we needed a spirit animal, so he is the Flying Turtle. Pip has long had a connection to turtles so this was a natural choice. I also think that it fits him well. Turtles are often considered slow, but you get them in the right environment and they can fly. Philip has come a long way in his running and I have been there for a lot of it. And for that I am grateful. In fact there is no runner that I have shared more miles with than Pip. I knew the day I got selected that he would be here. Philip will take me from the Green Gate to the Highway 49 crossing. Just under 14 miles. But I will need his help to keep the pace up so late in the race.

I am sure this is how Pip felt with me harassing him all of his last race

After the Broken Arrow Sky Race

This is Pip taking a photo of his food from Katrina's Cafe

At Highway 49 Sarah the Dancing Horse will be taking over. Sarah has an amazing energy and her everyday excitement is what I will need for that last 6.7 miles of the race. I will need to keep moving and keep my mind together. Sarah is the perfect choice to help me do this. Sarah is a fantastic runner. And if we could keep her off her horse (we can't) I am sure she could be winning some of these big events. Her natural talent for running is something to see, and will be a great motivator for me late in the race.

The Dancing Horse

Before Sarah's first 100

Well that is the crew. With a team like that how could I fail. The truth is I can't. Even if it is not in the cards for me to round that track in Auburn, with friends like this willing to come out and share this experience with me, I feel like a winner. The race really doesn't matter and the buckle doesn't matter. These people matter. Yesterday was the opening ceremony of the race. This takes place at the highest point on the course. A 4 mile hike from the start line. They asked for a volunteer to walk the group up carrying the American Flag. I stuck my hand up and amazingly was given the honor. The ceremony was beautiful and I was blown away that I got to take part. The stories and thoughts shared on that mountain will be in my mind tomorrow. Also, a thought my mother shared. Here was the descendant of a 5’2” Mexican immigrant standing on the top of the world holding that American Flag, such a journey should not be taken lightly. So I ask all of you readers, as you make your journey, take some time and look around. You are blessed to be where you are right now. Riding a crest of a wave that started years before you. And the best you could ever hope for is to keep that momentum into the future. Thank you all, and Go Run.   

The Crew in Auburn

Ready to Race

Brew to Brew

Come my friends and let me tell you about a little running adventure aptly named Brew to Brew. B2B is a long running race (over 20 years) put on by the Kansas City Track Club. They are a great group of runners out of some town (can't seem to remember exactly which one). The event is most commonly run as a relay, where a team splits up the duties of making a trek on foot from Boulevard Brewery in KC to Free State Brewery in Lawrence. Well that is the idea, really the run goes from The Roasterie (an awesome coffee shop right next to Boulevard) to a brew pub in Lawrence near Free State. But, all of that is beside the point. The event is awesome and even better, if you are dumb enough you can tackle the entire 45 miles solo. And you are in luck for this blog, because I am dumb as hell. So you know I ran it, and the mad man of NWA (Northwest Arkansas) Shannon was with me. So let me tell you about this great running event, that despite selling out almost every year for the 20+ years of its existence I had never heard of.

Nice Logo, it is now a little different but I still like it

A place to visit for sure

Don't worry we went here too.

First there is the issue of Kansas City being like 4 hours away, and I would need to get there. You know me, I like to take a group with me wherever I go. But the weekend of the race was getting very close to the wedding so Brynna decided that she better not make the journey. In steps the Executive Club, even though they were not running I was able to convince Wes and Pip to make the trip over. This was good for two reasons. First, they are awesome and second this being a point-to-point race I really didn't have a plan to get back to my car. I am sure that since Shannon and Jody would be there they would have helped me out, but my crew meant that I didn't have anything to worry about. To take his generosity over the top, Wes not only agreed to come to this race that he was not running but also offered up his car and driving for the trip. Total Win! So after our Saturday morning run and of course a solid brunch, the three stooges loaded up in Wes' Subaru and we headed to KC. The plan was to meet Shannon and Jody at packet pickup near the start line. Now the trip down was pretty uneventful but I did have something weighting on my mind. See the original plan was to just crash with Shannon and Jody who being much better planners than I already had secured a hotel room. But now we had too many people for one room and as I soon learned the opening game of the Kansas City Royals was this same weekend. So there were not really any rooms to be had. So a was pretty nervous about what we would do come bed time. But I was not going to get too spun up, things usually work out in the end. So off to KC we went and before too long and without much drama we pulled up in front of The Roasterie.

Where most plans are hatched

Now going in, I didn't really know what The Roasterie was. I just assumed it was some kind of coffee shop, but as we came up on the spot I was blown away. The store has a full size WWII era plane in the roof, looking like it was about to take off. The place was massive. And I guess calling it a coffee shop is a misnomer as they process and package their own beans there as well. So walking in a was pretty jazzed up, the inside of the building was not left out on the over the top treatment for this place either. They kept the aeronautical theme going and pulled it off really well. In the back of the shop they had a whole room set up for packet pick-up for the race. Now most weird races like this that I have been to, don't really do that much in way of race bags. You usually just get your number (maybe a timing chip) and are told where to be for the race start. Not this race, not only did they have printed instructions for the crew complete with maps, but all kinds of cool bonus swag for running, including some of that coffee I was talking about (which I knew Brynna would enjoy) and a pint glass. In addition, they had all kinds of jackets, shirts, hats, and whatnots with the race logo on it. So before I left I grabbed a nice Nike running jacket with the race logo embroidered in the front. I really like the jacket and the logo so it has become a pretty regular part of my wardrobe. Plus, I had to be happy with it as Pip bought the running vest I was wanting.

I mean how cool is that?

When Shannon got to the spot I think he and Jody were a little surprised to see Wes and Pip with me. In all the running around and last minute planning I guess I never really bothered to tell them that I was bringing a bunch of people. And right away I could see the concern on their faces. They knew the hotel situation and were also worried about how we would find spots for everyone to sleep. We talked for a little while and Shannon got his packet, then we decided we could not solve these concerning issues without beer, so we made our way over to the Boulevard Tap Room. Before you get to the Tap Room there is a gift shop out front. We were instantly distracted by this and started shopping around, until someone came out of the Tap Room and said it was last call. So we rushed the bar and got a round before we missed out. We tried a couple of cool beers that were only available in the tap room (I think) and after wrapping up there went back to the gift shop. There we found some cool shirts and I got some treats for my pups, some barley dog snacks that I kind of got as a goof but the dogs went crazy for. Even dogs love beer. So it was getting late (really only 5pm) and we still needed to find some food so before we headed to the outskirts of town where the hotel was I talked everyone into checking out a cool little spot that I found a few years back when I came to KC for the Hospital Hill half marathon. It is called Westside Local, and they have a cool atmosphere and really good food and beer selections. I was particularly interested in a veggie burger that they are known and my enthusiasm got everyone else on board. So we headed that way. We were able to get in as we kind of beat the dinner rush and everyone ordered food and drinks. After a while of waiting for our food, and crushing an appetizer, the server came with some very bad news. They were out of the veggie patties so no burger for me. I was a little perplexed by this, as it was very early in the evening to already be 86ing food. But they were nice about it and I just ordered something else. When it came time to check out they ended up not even charging me for the food and I thought that was a classy move in their part. So needless to say all was forgiven. Everyone seemed to enjoy the place and it is in a cool part of town. A lot of neat little houses that have been redone. I would highly recommend checking out this area of Kansas City. Well with the beer and food handled it was time to face the music and figure out what we were going to do about the sleeping situation.

Westside Local

So the room that Jody and Shannon got was in the nearby town of Overland Park, KS. I figured we would just roll up there (as it was a little outside of Kansas City) and be able to grab an extra room at their hotel. But, oh boy, I was wrong. They did not have anything available and when we got into their room it was pretty clear that the 5 of us were not going to be able to reasonably share one room. So I hit the internet and found one lone suite even further out of town. So without giving it a chance to disappear I booked the room and we all headed over there to see what that situation looked like. It was a nice big suite and the guy at the desk was super helpful but also only a single bed. I guess like every kids sporting event in the universe was also going on for that weekend, the hotel was just buzzing with kids in matching shirts and talking a million miles an hour. But in a last minute save they brought us a blow up mattress that was really nice and Wes said it looked good enough for him, so we called it a success and headed to Sam’s Club for last minute supplies. I was into the walking around Sam’s Club and grabbing snacks and whatnot. Plus, they had my favorite Cottonelle flushable wipes. You can only get the big box of them at Sam’s Club so I grab them. I don’t mean to overstate it, but I am pretty sure that finding these wipes a few years ago changed my life, LOL. Despite my excitement it was getting late and Shannon was ready to crash so we decided to pack it in with a plan that I would be to their hotel in the morning and Shannon and I would ride in his car to the start line. Then Jody would catch a ride with Wes and Pip later after they got sleep and breakfast and all that good stuff. So finally a very long day came to an end.

The massive air bed they brought Wes

Sam's Club for the Win!

Well I guess we should talk about the race at some point. Now this race is a point to point as I said and Shannon had run it several years back, describing it as almost all road with a very short gravel section. At the start line it looked like there would be some pretty serious competition. I was not really planning on doing anything big at the race, but having just won the very cool and low key race in Stillwater OK the Land Run 50k I was unsure how it might go. But standing at the starting line with a former Badwater winner and a really solid looking sponsored runner from Colorado I felt the pressure was off. There is no way I was doing anything big for this race. So Shannon and I did our normal not taking anything seriously and jacking around at the start and before we knew it the gun went off and we raced into the dark of the morning with two or three runners taking a big lead right out of the gate. I love running at night and early in the race we crossed a big bridge over the Kansas river, it was awesome and really peaceful. Well of me anyways, I don’t think Shannon enjoyed it that much. On the other side we had to descend some steep stairs and then run under the bridge. As I headed for that area I was kind of wishing that I had some kind of light, but then I saw an unbelievable site. A line of volunteers with flashlights signaling our way. I would soon find that volunteers were something this race had in spades and let me tell you, it made all the difference. This could have been a fairly mundane race, as it was mostly just following highways, but the volunteers really went all out and took this race over the top for me.

Race Course

Finish of the Land Run 50k. I know the sign says 100 but that was for the bikes

This dude at the Finish of the Land Run was awesome, flipped out for every runner and rider.

As for the race I was completely lied to about the amount of gravel. Large sections of the beginning of the race were on the levy of the river, which was packed gravel. This would not have been much of an issue, but the shoe choice was not ideal for this terrain. Shannon and I ran together for a little while, but our paces on this day were not meshing up well. Also, there was the slight issue that I really overhydrated for the race so in the first 6 miles I must have stopped at least a dozen times to pee. So when all was said and done, by the time I hit the first crew aid station at mile 10 I was running by myself and really had no idea where I was in the field. But, I did get to meet some cool other runners on the course. For a while I ran next to a young lady named Jaclyn Long and we talked about gross running stuff. It turns out she would go on to win the race on the female side of things. I knew she looked strong when I saw her. At that aid station I got to see Pip and Wes, they looked to be having a much better time than me, LOL. But it is always up lifting to see familiar faces on the course. I blew through the aid station and let them know that Shannon should be right behind me. Just past the aid station I saw the former Badwater winner talking on his phone and slowly walking back to the aid station, not a good sign. I asked him if everything was ok, but he said that he was having some medical issues and dropping out of the race. What a bummer, with the way he took off he surely would have had a great day on the course. Hopefully everything worked out. As the race was a point to point style event I found quickly that I was not going to see many people on the course so it was going to get pretty lonely. Luckily there were plenty of interesting sites along the way to entertain me.

Besides all the volunteers and getting to see Jody, Wes, and Pip every now and again, which made for excitement. Other wonders revealed themselves on the journey. As anyone who spends any amount of time running down the side of the road can attest to, you are going to see your fair share of dead animals. That is nothing new, but as I was crossing a bridge I saw a very large bird on the side of the road. It was laying in such a way that I could not possibly still be alive, but it looked very strange. As I go closer I realized that it was a pheasant. But this was a big nice looking pheasant that did not look like it might if say, it had been hit by a car. Seemed to be in good shape, only when I got right up on it did I see that it was a fully mounted taxidermy pheasant. It must have fallen off someone’s truck or something but clearly a strange site for the side of the road. Later I was coming up a long slow climb that we would turn at the top of. I could see a group of volunteers at the intersection waiting to guide runners. So I was plugging along towards the intersection when suddenly I felt my foot get pushed forward from behind. I immediately thought, oh man I am getting hit by a car, but that was not the case. It turns out a very large dog had run up behind me and was trying to bite at my shoe. It scared the crap out of me. But with some hollering the dog ran off back home and I started to try and get my heart rate back down. At the top of the hill I told the volunteers that they might want to watch out as there was a dog that just took a snap at me. One of them looked at me and said, “yeah we saw that” so I was like “oh, well I guess I will be going then” it was a pretty strange interaction but did not really deter from the race.

This was not the bird clearly, but you get the idea. 

At this point I was heading down a long road and running low on water and food. I had been doing a really good job on this race of staying on top of my nutrition but I realized that I had not seen the crew in a while. Times like that always make me nervous, because even though there was almost nowhere to get off course when you are out there by yourself for a long time and you haven’t seen your people you start to question if you are on the right track. Just then as if they had heard me Wes’ car came flying down the road. I would later find out that they went back to KC to get Shannon’s car and move it to the finish line. What a pro move by the crew, these guys are the best. So at the next aid station I was able to get more food from them and settle into the last half of the race. Coming into one of the aid stations one of the workers took my bottle to fill it and said that the leaders were only about 5 minutes ahead of me. Which I didn’t think much of as five minutes is an eternity when you are running. I was looking at the table they had set up while he was filling my bottle and a lady behind the table was making peanut butter and jelly tortillas. She asked me if I wanted anything, and I asked if I could have the big tortilla that she just spread peanut butter all over. I think this caught her a little off guard as she was in making mode. So she had to think about it for a minute and then was like, of course. But, she still didn’t really know what I was asking so it told her to just roll up what she had. She was like, “the whole thing?” Which I nodded in the affirmative to. Man did it really hit the spot and worked well as a handheld for moving on down the road.

 

Some of the awesome volunteers from the race. 

Further down the road, about 10 miles from the finish I was on a series of rolling gravel roads when I noticed a guy way up ahead of me with a SUV not too far in front of him. I thought this was a little weird, he would go for a while and about the time he would get up to the SUV it would take off again. I didn’t think much of it, but thought it was a little lame if that was his crew and they were giving him assistance. But as I caught up to him the SUV just drove on. I would later find it was a course marshal. Just as I was about to catch up to the shirtless guy he turned and spit on me. I guess he was rocking out on his headphones and did not hear me coming. I think I scared the crap out of him and he was super apologetic. Turns out that it was the guy from Colorado and the heat and wind were making it a tough day for him. We only talked for a moment, mostly about how he wished he had worn road shoes and I was wishing I had worn trail shoes. Then I was off again, I knew that I had little chance of catching whoever was in front of me, but at least it gave me something to work for.

How my crew preps for my arrival into an aid station.

I came up to the next to last aid station and Wes, Jody, and Pip were all jumping around and excited to see me, or at least excited that this day would be done soon. I just motored right through the aid station with Pip even running my bottle back up to me. I was in a grove and wanted to keep it going. At the last aid station, you run up to the top of this levy. Here I did the same thing, with only 5 more miles to go I was ready to get this thing in the bag. I stopped for just a second so Jody could bring me my bottle and then I was off into the wind. At this point the levy skirts this big open field and the wind was howling. I had to pull my hat down just to keep from losing it. With all the pain in my legs I felt like I was barely moving, and my Garmin would later reveal that these were some of my slowest miles. I also kind of lost some motivation, as I could see way in front of me and had no sign of the leaders. But I did my best to stay in it and in the last few miles I was given a little bit of a break from the wind and was able to start moving better again. About 1 mile from the finish I heard someone coming up from behind me, and moving really fast. Man that was a bummer to get past right at the finish after all that work, but as he came up he started yelling, “don’t worry man I am a relay runner”. That was cool of him, and turns out he was part of the winning team. So I kept my head down and pushed to the finish.

And then there it was, after 5 hours and 55 minutes I was crossing the finish line. The 45 miles was done and all I could muster when Pip ran up to me was, “how far were the leaders in front of me?” He looked at me weird and said, “dude you won the race”. That didn’t make sense to me, the aid station guy clearly said that the leaders were in front of me, but turns out that I broke the tape. I was pretty stoked about it, and I guess my team’s strategy of not letting me know that I was in the lead worked. I was pushing so hard to catch the non-existent leaders that I ended up winning by 30 minutes. After me the young guy from Colorado came in and we talked about his race. Turns out this was by far the longest race that he had ever run, and he did awesome. Then after that look who came down the trail but good ole Shannon for third. What a great day, and after Shannon came in we made or way to the after party to find some quality brews before the long drive back home.

Coming into the finish

Top three

Look at that sneaky guy

This was the place that held the after party. Really nice.

I almost didn’t tell you guys this story because I hate to seem like I am bragging. But let me tell you this run and the success that I had on it had very little to do with me. As always the first shout out goes to Shannon, because as always I would not have even known about this race if it had not been for him. Then Wes, Pip, and Jody took amazing care of me and knew just what I needed to have a great finish. Then my wife Brynna for always letting me run off on the weekend, despite me always being gone during the week for work, to do these crazy events. The race and the volunteers were amazing and kept me on track, and kept the cars off me. And of course Runner’s World Tulsa for giving me the gear and support for run this race. I also want to shout out to the Land Run 50k the week before. That race was awesome as well and really picked up my confidence before this run. Guys, weekends like this are great, but it helps that the weekend would have been great no matter what place I came in at. I encourage everyone to look up this race, and make a team for next year. Seems like the relay team would be the way to go for less running and more drinking, LOL. I am just saying if you come out to this event you are going to have a great time. And if you spend a weekend somewhere with friends who love to run like you do it will make for memories that you want to hold onto. Most of these running groups, this is what it is really about, jamming people in a hotel room, packing small dive restaurants, and just cutting loose doing what we love. You have heard this line a thousand times from me, but get on board with a running group. The people are what make our sport what it is, because lord knows it is not the running. LOL.

This was the cool local running spot that sponsored the race. Ad Astra Running in Lawrence  

I know that was a long one, but thanks for sticking it out. Now get your butt away from this computer and Go Run Tulsa. See you next time for more stupid running adventures. 

Closing Thoughts

We all have that one year.

So, some of you might know that this has been a big year for me. Full of big runs and quite a few PRs. So every now and again you see where your life is and you wonder how you got here. Anyone who knew me in let’s say 2007 would never have expected for me to end up where I am today. So? How does one go from spending every weekend at car shows, being way overweight, and having very little direction in their life end up here? How do you end up married, spending almost every free moment running, and on a very upward tract in your career? I know that the answer that you are expecting me to give would be “go run”, right? That is something I would say. But rather I think it is more complex than that, or maybe simpler. My life took a radically different turn in one year, and that year would change the course of my life and lead me to where I am today. While running was a big part of it that was not the only factor. And a quick recap of some of the highlights show it is amazing how much can change in just one year. So for this blog take a trip down memory lane as I take you through the year that changed my life the most (so far) 2010.

So I have to set this up a little, for it to make any kind of sense. So coming into 2009 I had fairly recently moved back to Tulsa (Glenpool really) and away from my family in Bristow. Now I did not grow up in Bristow I spend the majority of my formative years in Jenks. But my family moved to Bristow after I left for college, and I moved there for work after I left Stillwater in 2007. But the small town life of Bristow was just not working well for me, so I thought moving back to more familiar surroundings would be good for me. So obviously I was not super happy with my home situation. Then to add to that I was in a new role at work but was not meeting that role with a whole lot of success. And to top it all off I had fallen into the trap of overeating, and spending way more money than I had to things I did not need or most of the time even want. It was just a constant shuffle of things in and out of my life like I was searching for something. And anyone who has known me for a long time knows that this is something that I was known to do. I was always getting into different hobbies and whatnot, just moving the pieces of my life around to try and fill some void.

Early in the year I had been seeing someone, but that relationship fell apart (and for the better as we were not good together at all). So here I was spending a lot of time alone in this new big house and not really knowing what to do with myself. Mostly I spend my time watching HBO and falling asleep on the couch. Then my mother gave me a book, and that book was “Born to Run”. She told me that this book meant a lot to her and had affected her pretty powerfully. Now my mother has always been a runner, so just being a kid of course I was totally against running. You know how stupid we are growing up, anything that your parent likes is stupid. So I am not even really sure why I agreed to read the book, but I had a lot of free time on my hands so I figured what the heck. And if I am honest this book hit me hard. It really made me question what I was doing and what was important to me and it seemed to me that the people in this book had the same problem I did. They all had a void in their life that needed to be filled, so maybe this was a way to do it. Now remember at this time I am not running. So there I was sitting on my couch in Glenpool and thinking I have to do something with my life so I decide that I need to start eating better and get into shape if I want anything in my life to move in the right direction. So I hatched a plan to run from my house to the local Arby’s (honestly I thought of this a healthy food option at the time) one mile away according the magic of Google Maps. Digging through my closet I found some old mesh basketball shorts, a plain white cotton undershirt, and some crappy old tennis shoes that I used to mow the lawn and headed out the door. About 15 minutes later I was at Arby’s and sure that I was going to die. I sat there and ate something a caught my breath before making the trip back to the house. That little run would greatly affect my life, but I promise I am getting back to 2010. So that run took place in October of 2009, I ran my first 5k at the Tulsa Run at the end of that month. The Tulsa Run was the best race I could have selected for my first not only because it is a blast and one of the biggest in Tulsa, but because I remember often sitting at the finish line as a kid waiting for my mother to finish. So there was a lot of personal connection to the race. Soon after though I stupidly decided that I would run my first Half Marathon at the Williams Route 66 in November. The hunger for running was growing but going into the new year I needed to do something big. I mean I was losing weight and feeling better, but I was still doing this mostly by myself and just felt like I needed to move the needle in a big way. It would take something big.

Me finishing my first 5k phone in hand for music

The Medal from 2010

Notice the Styling white cotton Tee-shirt

At the beginning of the year I found what that would be, the 50k at Post Oak in February. I talked a little about that race last post, but at the time I signed up I did it because I basically thought it would be impossible. I have often been quoted as saying that goals are not goals if you know that you can do them. That just makes it something you can do. I honestly at this point assumed that I would try this, fail, and have to reset with something else. I mean really how could it be possible to run ten 5ks in a row, on trails, in the woods. Forget that I was reading about people running 100 miles, that was just in a book. This was for real and me that we are talking about. I was never going to survive the race. But I had a more fundamental problem right out of the gate, how does one train for a 50k? So like anyone who doesn’t know where to start I turned to Google. Even though it was just a few years ago, back in 2010 it was hard to find anything about training for an ultra. But I eventually found a plan for a 50 mile run. I figured, well if I do that I should be able to do a 50k no problem. But the program was full strange language that I did not understand, like 4x1600 to TMP. I reached out to the only place I could think of Runner’s World Tulsa. As a non-runner I had been there several times over the years to get my mother shoes for a birthday or Christmas or whatever. I was in luck when I call as Kathy the owner of Runner’s World Tulsa answered and she took pity on me (or was excited about sharing the suffering) and explain speed work. So I hung up the phone pretending like I knew what she was talking about only thinking to myself, how do you run at a certain pace? I mean at this point I had no gear, I was just keeping track of my distance by running the same loops that I had mapped out on the internet. So I did the only thing that I could think of and wrote all the parts of this work out on a big legal pad and went to the YMCA to jump on a treadmill to do the workout as prescribed. So basically I was being a big idiot but I was lucky that I had good people all around who were eager to help me out, because I am sure I looked like a professional running at my 11 minute pace and checking things off on this pad. So finally a longtime friend of the family Steve Lee (an amazing all-around athlete) came up to me and said, “what in the hell are you doing?” After explaining my stupid plan, he told me that there was a group that training on Turkey Mountain on Saturday mornings. He said this group would be able to help me out and that they would be doing some training runs out at Post Oak as well. It was clear I should hook up with them and see what I they could teach me. And just like that TATUR (Tulsa Area Trail and Ultra Runners) became part of my life. On the first run out there it was cold and dark (7am in December) and I showed up late. Having no idea where they would be running I just took off on the only marked trail I saw (great ultra-running tactic) and hoped for the best. And when I somehow amazingly caught up to the back of the group I ran into one Mr. Randy Ellis, one of the best runners and for sure one of the best people you could ever meet on the trail. This running legend made me feel welcome in the group and assured me that my dreams of the Post Oak 50k were not stupid. It was just what a scared new runner needed to hear. To this day I still look up to Randy as one of my running idols, and just an amazing human being.

Randy During A Race

His book about running across the country. Oh did I forget to mention that?

Meeting the TATUR group was one of the best things that could have happened. The whole group was all over my plan of running this first 50k, and many of them had already done that kind of distance or further. So they became not only big supporters, but a wealth of knowledge. So with this group behind me I completed my first 50k, and then soon after I was in all kinds of ultras. The 6-hour Snake Run, Lake McMurty, and then what would become a big goal for me that year the Midnight Madness 50 mile run. In preparation for this I was doing all kinds of races and any other running event I could find. One such event was taking part in Lisa Smith-Batchen’s quest to run 50 miles in every state in the US. I ended up running the entire 50 miles with her while she was in Tulsa. Not only did I learn lessons from her that I still quote to this day, but I also ended up with my photo in Runner’s World magazine when they did a story on the run. So here I am only a few months into 2010 and I have gone from a new runner to that ultra-guy who is at every local race. I really came out of nowhere, but most of the people who knew me before just figured this was the latest fad for Stormy and soon enough I would move onto something else. Surprisingly it seems that they would be wrong on this one.

This is actually the flier from when she was in Tulsa

That is me in the Green Shirt (without beard)

So here we are into this story a little ways and still all we have talked about is running. I promise that this year being important was not just about running, there were so many other little things that happened that year that seem like not a big deal and would turn into major events. For example, early in the year while running a little 15k trail race in Eureka Springs AR, a place that I visited as a kid but had not though much about since, I meet a man named Shannon McFarland. We finished the race right next to each other he burned me on a big downhill right before the finish line and came in 10^th and I came in 11^th. I don’t know why but at that time finishing in the top ten was a big deal to me. Anyways we talked for a while after the event, he kept blabbing on about this half marathon in Bentonville that I had to come up and run. I didn’t ever follow up with him even though he seemed like a nice guy, and then it turned out we ran a bunch of events through the next year without realizing the other was at the same event. In fact, we would run our first 100-mile race together without even knowing it. But eventually we got on the same page and now Shannon is one of my best friends. This reintroduction to Eureka would also be important, but more on that later.

It is hard to see but that is me in the Red and Shannon next to me.

We had not met at this point.

As I said at the beginning 2009 at my work was not going very well, and moving into 2010 I was not doing much better. Running would eventually be a great outlet to allow me to focus in on my work, but it started as a big distraction. But during the year other things would happen that would change my professional path. I was asked by my work to take part in a professional leadership training class that the company (J-W Energy) was holding in Dallas. It would be a four-part class taking place over four weeks throughout the year. Basically you would go for a week of meetings in this hotel near the home office, then we would come back a month later. I have always liked these self-help type of classes, and it was neat but I didn’t really think much would come of it. With the benefit of time on my side I know that in that year I would make business connections that would rocket me through the organization over the next few years. The curriculum itself would not be near as valuable as the people that I was able to learn from. Also, my enthusiasm for the opportunity came through and I made a good impression on group. By the end of that year those business connection, particularly with a man that would become my boss for a large part of the next 6 years Gene Gradick Jr, would be some of the most influential that I would ever have. I continued to work and learn from most of those individuals and we able to see that I was derailing myself from my career path. With their guidance I really changed my work life and have been blessed with a fair amount of success as a result.

Another small event that would become the major driver of my life came from a small race I decided to take part in, on June 6^th 2010. The race is not held any more but was fun and a neat concept. The race was called the TATUR Estim8ur. In this race you would run on an unknown course, any kind of personal timing equipment was not allowed. All you know before the start of the race was the distance, 8 miles. The goal of the race was not to win (or be the first across the finish line) but rather every runner is made to guess what their finishing time will be and at the end whoever comes closest to that time wins. So really it is anyone’s guess who will come out on top. To make it interesting you place your estimated finish time on your back so other can decide if you know what you are doing and run your pace. At the time of this race I was racing a lot, so my running was progressing pretty well. As such I was running much faster than I had planned and the next thing I know I was the first runner to cross the finish line. This would have been my first overall victory (had it been that kind of race) and I was excited about how well the run went, but I was about 2 minutes ahead of my estimated time. Needless to say I lost by a lot. At the end of the race I was hanging around and started talking with the lady that won the race. She finished within two seconds of her estimated time. We had a good laugh about the whole race, and how I crossed first and yet she totally kicked my butt. As we talked I found out that on the course she had ran into my mother and talked with her for a while. Well we kept talked for a while, as I am quite chatty, but the whole time I was trying to figure out if the guy she ran with was a friend or like more than a friend. This question would not get answered that day rather we ran out of time. She told me that her mother was in town and she had to meet her for breakfast. So, before I knew what had happened she was gone and I was just hanging out by myself again thinking about what to do next. I wanted to be able to talk with her again but in all my chatting I never asked for any contact information. I only knew her name, Brynna.

This was actually the banner from the previous year

After the race I actually ended up going out to my parent’s house to spend the day. And I was distracted, I just couldn’t get this girl out of my mind. I really felt like I had missed my chance to see what could have come of us hanging out. So, then I did something I have never done before, Facebook stalking. LOL, ok not really stalking but I looked her name up on Facebook and sent her a message. At this time, I really didn’t know if she was in a relationship or what, and pretty much just felt like a creeper for contacting someone like this. Particularly someone that I had only just kind of met. I am pretty sure this is a textbook runner horror story. You are a girl and finish a race, then you talk to some weirdo just trying to be nice and the next thing you know he is sending you Facebook messages. That was what was going through my mind until to my great surprise she wrote me back. Soon she agreed to meet up with me and go for a run. I know, total shocker, I get a girl to agree to meet up with me and I still want to go for a run. I am basically super romantic. Anyways we went for this run, and I was dragging her all over the Riverside trails, until she finally told me that she was done with the running. So we walked back to our cars, and spent the next hour or so talking in the parking lot until she said she had to get home. She later told me that her sister was waiting for her to call to make sure I didn’t kill her or something. So she was gone again but not before your man got her to agree to plans for a second meeting (still not calling it dates at this point) to not run but go to the lake. And the rest my friends is history. We continued to hang out, and even went on an official date finally to the Philbrook Museum like fancy people. And she was able to slowly find out that I was not a causal runner and that I basically embodied the difference between a runner and a jogger (as Dean Karnazes once said, “The difference between a runner and a jogger is that a jogger still has control of his life.”) and still she did not run away. But rather she took it all like a champ and even went to the magical Eureka Springs with me for a running weekend. And as we all know that is the true sign of love. If you take someone to a weird place that you love for reasons that make no sense and they love it too, then you have a keeper. She agreed to pace me for the final 10 miles of my fifty-mile race, and saw me at my most vulnerable. When you have been running all night it is hard to put up an act. Anyways, the moral of the story is that a few weeks ago I finally married that girl. For reasons that elude me she agreed to all of this. Despite me proposing during the middle of the Victorian Classic 10k in (you guessed it) Eureka Springs, with most of our friends along for the trip.

Brynna Helping me at the end of Midnight Madness

Brynna and I right before the Start of the Mother Road 100

As for the rest of 2010, I would that year run my first 50-mile official race (despite having gone that distance with Lisa during her 50 mile run in Tulsa) the Midnight Madness, and by the end of the year run my first 100-mile race. The Mother Road 100 from Baxter Springs, KS to Catoosa, OK. I only ended up running that race because a good friend of mine and a very gifted runner (and cyclist) Jason McGinnis had to drop out at the last minute due to injury. I had been training to run the Williams Route 66 marathon in Tulsa and had not run longer than 18 miles for a while. But I figured what the heck and gave it a try. I was only able to finish with the help of some amazing people like Kathy Hoover the wonderful owner of Runner’s World Tulsa, Ken and Dana Childress who are masterminds of this kind of distance, Jason who came out and paced me in for the final bit, and of course Brynna who drove around all over creation to crew me for this mess. As of yet I have not bested my finish from that race, crossing the line at 23 hours and 10 mins (maybe Western will be the lucky race to make that time fall, lol). I was down for the count after that race, in case you are wondering 100 miles on pavement is not awesome for the feet. But the next weekend I was still signed up for the Route 66 marathon and I hated to miss out. So I stayed off my feet for the whole week and then jumped into the marathon just hoping not to die. I was somehow able to finish in 3 hours and 38 minutes and received the “my first marathon” medal. Did I mention that it was my first marathon? Yeah with all the jumping straight from 5k’s into ultra-running I had never got around to running a marathon so that was my first. It was a great experience and I have made that race a part of my running calendar every year since.

Jason and Brynna bringing me in at the finish of my first 100

Andy, Aaron and I before Route 66

I know that is whole rambling post has been a little disjointed. If I want to be honest I wrote it over the course of several weeks. I have been meaning to be a lot more punctual about my blog post, but with the wedding and all the travel I just have not made time for it like I had hoped to. But, if you guys will stick with me I am really going to try and keep making an effort to keep this up. Just like this post I think it is very important that we look back on where we came from when we get a chance. Who knows what little things in our everyday life will have ripples that we will feel years down the road. I would have never thought that getting overly excited about running races would not only have given me some of my closest friends, but would also lead me to meet my future wife. And if we don’t take the time to appreciate the little things that happen and keep those stories alive we could lose some great moments. I mean really one of the things that made it take so long to write this post was that I had way too much to talk about. Even just looking at that one year, if I wanted to write down every major event that happened to me, this post would be 100 pages long. I encourage anyone reading this today to look back and think, what was a year that changed your life? I bet if you are like me, you might be able to pick one and talk about a lot of big things that happen on year “x”. But the truth is that these little moments are happening all the time, and even though we might have big accomplishments in any given year (like running your first ultra) the big movers of our lives are not those. Running that big race or buying a new house might seem like a big deal at the time, but it is the chance encounters and happy accidents that your will be talking about 10 years from now.

For the next post I will try and get back on track, but until then Go Run Tulsa, you never know maybe this one will change your life.  

Still on the catch-up game. (a proud Post Oak Tradition)

So a few weeks ago was the Post Oak Challenge. This is one of my special races every year. On Saturday they host a 10k, 25k, and 50k and Sunday has a quarter, half, or full marathon on tap. Now crazy runners have the option to do both (the doublers) and more than a few do. The race is in a beautiful part of Tulsa and the course in difficult, which I think is a great thing. This race began in 2010 as a very different style race with a quarter, half, and full marathon on Saturday taking place on the road, and all of the other events taking place on the trail on Sunday. Over the years the race has changed and grown, and all the directors have put their hearts and souls into the race making it the two-day trail party it is today.

I ran the very first Post Oak 50k in February of 2010 as my very first ultra. I had only began running in October of 2009, so this was a pretty big deal for me and 2010 would end up being one of the most important years of my life. However, we will save the recap of 2010 for the next blog post. Let’s focus on Post Oak. After running it I decided that I wanted to give back to this race, so in 2011 I teamed up with TZ to help run one of the aid stations at the base of the biggest climb of the race, Holm’s peak. It was awesome. And I don’t just mean that our aid station was awesome, in fact that year it was pretty basic just us and some music. But the runners were the best, they were as excited to see us out there as we were to see them. So I decided that we needed to bring this up a notch. I vowed from that day on that every year I would return to Post Oak to have the best aid station I could and do my part to make it a party for the runners.

Me Pre-Beard with My Mother at the end of 2010 Post Oak

Me at 2011 Post Oak working the aid station explaining running to Mitch

In 2012 TZ and Ed made the mistake of inviting me to be part of their aid station team, and I unloaded my scheme. So rather than having a normal aid station with all the supplies and what not that the race provided (which was all great stuff) we made breakfast burritos, had beer, and just for good measure decided that the station would have a disco theme. Why disco? Because my awesome friend Ame made me this sweet ass Disco Stu jacket for Christmas and I needed more reasons to wear it. So we went into this not really knowing how the people would react, and of course because they are runners and runners are awesome they went nuts. It was a big hit. And, thanks to Susan Westmoreland and Brynna who cooked all the food and what not; Ed, TZ, and I were able to just run around like idiots the whole time. But of course there was a downside. What could we do to top this and make it even bigger next year. I didn’t want this to be a one and done type of deal, I had made that stupid promise to myself that we would keep this thing going to make it the place to be, so we needed a plan for the next year.

Team Disco

Disco Stu does not advertise?

Mitch said this burrito was better than my pep talk last year

So in 2013 Ed and I hit the aid station again with a sketchy plan of two different themes for the two days. On Saturday we elected for 80’s glam rock, and Sunday would be the Mexican Fiesta. We had a blast with this, finding that there is a surprising amount of 80’s memorabilia at the local party supply store. So manned with plastic inflatable guitars we attached Saturday’s aid station with more music and crazier food. Now people knew we were coming so I was happy to find that we did not disappoint. The other benefit to us running an aid station (the first being that we are crazy) is that almost everyone that we had at our aid station was an accomplish ultra runner. So not only did we bring the party to help lift spirits, but we also had our own aid station supplies to help get people through low spots and knew when to push on people to eat more, or whatever else it took to get them through the race. We would all laugh hysterically when someone said they wanted to drop, because we knew that they came to the wrong aid station to do that. It is always a little rough being a runner at a race you are not getting to take part in, but if you have not spent time working an aid station at a race you need to get on it. It is one of the best ways to spend a weekend, and you quickly find those volunteers are working much harder than the runners. (No offence to runners). Sunday we had a Mexican Fiesta on tap, with the now infamous salsa challenge. See on Sunday they placed us at the bottom of the “Hill from Hell” it is a 0.7 mile climb straight up to the finish line. So we decided that was too easy and encouraged people to take a shot of salsa before running up the hill. And thanks to Danielle as a reward they got tiny plastic sombreros to wear up the hill. It is amazing what people will do for tiny hats, and we quickly ran out. Totally underestimating the number of people that would do this stupid challenge.  

Rocking with Ed

Just what runners need

So classy

Notice the Sombrero 

Ok, by 2014 this had become a thing. So we really had to step up the game, luckily we had some new recruits for the craziness. Adding to the normal gang of Ed, Brynna, Wes, and I we had Philip and Sarah. Plus, a gang of other friends and people that wanted in on this action. So to keep with the Saturday theme we went for 90’s grunge rock. In those days the aid station was at the Pole Barn (the starting line for the race back in 2010) which was really nice, because it has electrical power. We needed that power by this point as we had several radios and even more griddles going to keep the music and food hot. During the race that day Shannon was with me at the aid station when a guy who had been way out front came in after just having twisted his ankle. He really felt like he was going to have to hang it up and drop out of the race. Luckily Shannon and I were able to talk him into letting us wrap his ankle up and told him to promise us that he would at least try and finish the race. Having been so far in the front of the race he had plenty of time. He hoped off and I really didn’t think much of it after that, just continued my craziness for the next group of runners. A few months after the race I received a letter in the mail from the US Airforce Base in OKC, which seemed strange. I opened it to find a letter from Captain David Temple who was the runner we helped. He thanked me for my assistance and included a challenge coin from his unit that he carried into Afghanistan during his tour. I have to say this was one of the most touching things I have ever seen, Captain Temple could have never sent that letter and I would have still been happy to help him and never really given it another thought, but he did take the time to send the letter and it is one of the few items that I have framed and hanging in my office. And every time someone comes in and looks at it I get to think of that day and tell that story, it is amazing what happens when you are grateful and take the step to let someone know. I am grateful for that letter and love sharing that story.

For Sunday we had to pull an all-nighter. We kind of forgot to make a plan for Sunday and did not want to do more 90’s rock. There was a lot going on with our friend Wes at the time so we had a little excuse for being distracted. However, thanks to the Wal-Mart in Sand Springs and a lot of felt we came up with a plan. And as the sun rose over the course on that day the Monty Python’s Holy Grail aid station was born. Complete with coconuts for horse noises for the runners (a suitable alternative to cowbell if you ask me). It was a blast and by the end of the day we had the surprise of Wes joining us out at the aid station. So we had a lot to cheer about. Also, we may or may not have convinced a running legend (I mean a for real running legend) to do a keg stand from a keg we stole from another aid station. But there is no way to confirm this, other than the photos. To this day I am not sure why Johnny has not kick us out of his race, but I am sure glad he hasn’t.

Pip and Sarah (she is the evil bunny)

Me knighting Eddy James

We really class up any race

For 2015 we did a mashup with the LMFAO v. Michael Jackson aid stations. This quickly just devolved into a be as crazy as possible aid station. That year someone made the mistake of not only allowing us to bring a much more powerful sound system, but allowing me to have a microphone. So you can imagine how that went. But our crew keeps growing and if anyone questions the dedication of this aid station group just take a look at Sarah’s fingers by the end of the day. She will have worn all the skin off her hands from shaking the cow bell of every person coming through. I mean come on people you have to love this group.

We somehow got on the website (pretty sure it was hackers)

The man, the myth, the legend

This year we decided to do an Oktoberfest theme, complete with costumes, polka music, brats, potato pancakes, and homemade pretzels. Not so German but totally awesome were the electrolyte cookies Pip and Sarah made and the just badass cookies that Danielle made. To add to that Johnny (the race director) brought us a for-real professional sound system, and the brew master Frank made us two kegs of beer. You heard that right friends, he brewed us beer just for our ridiculous aid station. And as awesome as this all was, we had some real competition from the other TATUR aid station down the hill where TZ had set up a Cantina (or as most would call it just a full bar). All in all, a great couple of days, and just the best people all around. The runners, the other volunteers, the race directors, and the spectators. If you have not taken part in this race in the past do yourself a favor and put it on your calendar right now. I will promise you, if you come out and run it we will offer you a beer. What more do you need? Now Go Run Tulsa.   

Grill master Wes with Ed creeping in the background

Me filling in when Wes got called into work

Frank prepping more beer behind me

Part of the Crew

Good times

So it has been a few weeks but we have stories to share about my running adventures.

I am sorry that I have been a little lacking in the blog posts as of late. But with all the traveling I have been doing for work plus some big weekends it has been tough to get some time to sit still and write an update. So this morning I am using a flight to Carlsbad NM as my chance to get some writing in. I will share what I can and maybe in a few post  we can get caught up to current.

One of the biggest highlights for the last few weeks was the fastpacking trip we did for Shannon's birthday. Shannon for those of you who do not have the pleasure of knowing him is a great person with a great heart, and on of the reasons we make so many trips to the northwest Arkansas area. Being a big time trail runner there was only one way in his mind to spend a birthday, and that was in the woods with friends. The previous year he took on the Buffalo River Trail solo and had a bad fall coming up short on finishing. This year we (John, Pip, Stan Ferguson, and I) came along to offer support and ensure that he got it done. So on Friday the 12th of February we headed to Rogers Arkansas to crash at Shannon and Jody’s for an early departure to the trailhead. I had John and Pip with me for support and that night when we go into Rodgers we met Shannon and Jody at a cool dinner spot in town.

Shannon and Jody

Pip eating all the bacon as a sacrifice for all the non-meat eaters

When we got to Shannon's house after dinner we found a massive stash of GU products that we stole most of. Just in an effort to punish him for his hospitality. Before we hit the sack I asked Shannon about the plan for the next day. You know the kind of thing normal people would do before driving to another state with limited supplies and whatnot but we are geniuses. So we ask after we cannot do anything about it. “Will this be a trail run or a hike?” He was adamant that it will be a fast pack. Which in my tired state I took as hike, rather than asking questions of clarity. Now if I had bothered to do one second of math I would have put together that if we were going to cover 34 miles in one day before it got dark we would have to run. But I am dumb. So even in the morning when I got up and saw that Shannon, John, and Pip were all in running clothes I still dressed like we would be on a slow hike all day. And it is not like we were in a rush, Shannon had got up to cook us all breakfast before the departure, and Jody’s 11 cats made sure everyone did not need an alarm clock. About 1 mile into the trail I regretted every choice I made on gear, but those are the breaks and we had a big adventure ahead of us so no time for looking back.

Pip and John (notice the running gear)

Shot heading to the trailhead

Unloading from Stan's war wagon

Maybe we should have taken a photo of the map

Our plan was to park at the end of the trail and meet up with Stan Ferguson (the RD for Arkansas Traveller) who would ferry us to the start line and join us on the trail. His sister agreed that she would drive up and pick up his car later and move it back to the end of the trail. Not only was this a baller move on his sister’s part but it meant that we would get to share the trail with a running legend. Not the kind of thing you get everyday (the man has finished more than twentyfive 100 mile races).

The entire hike (really a run) was beautiful. Arkansas has some of the most wonderful trail systems in the area and the biggest bonus is they are really not much of a trip from Tulsa. I highly suggest checking them out if you are unfamiliar, it is worth the 2 hour drive. Now my assumption going into this was that we had some kind of plan and Shannon knew the trails. Both of these proved to be false. Despite the ungodly amount of food I was carrying it was just impossible to carry enough water. Now Shannon like a good man came out the day before and dropped some water off on the trail. The only issue was it was 20 miles in. And as we got lost several times the distance kept growing. So only about 8 miles into the run we found ourselves off the single track after leaving a campground and on a country road. And it looking like we were trespassing on a homestead with a SUV parked out front. As we stupidly stood in the middle of the road having a heated debate on who got us lost and where we had the best chance to get back on trail, we heard some shouting from the SUV. Great here we go, I thought, we are going to get killed for trespassing during this run. But rather than an angry landowner we got the surprise of the year. It turned out it was Chris Cantwell, who parked his car facing the part of the trail we should have come out on.

Cantwell's aid station number one

This is the magic of our running community, unprovoked Chris and his wife drove out to the middle of nowhere to guess at when we would be coming by on the trail to provide us aid. It truly was one of the greatest things I have ever seen. So awesome. This would not be the last time we saw them and that evening we even talked them into eating dinner with us. So spoiler alert, we totally lived through the the run. Not only did they have water, the best peanut butter sandwiches you could get (with the exception of TZ’s wife Dana), and Pringles. They also gave Shannon gloves because he did not bring any and it was just cold enough to make that a very bad decision, and they called Stan’s wife to find what aid station food he liked and had his favorites on board as well. It was truly amazing.  

Some sites from the trail

More

Steel Creek Campgrounds 11 miles from end of trail

The trail had all kinds of cool waterfalls and rock formations to check out. And as we continued to get lost we got to see all kinds of extra sites. The sites helped to take away from how rough the trail really was. In terms of both technical foot work and sheer climbing. Towards the end of the trail our little group got a little split up, my legs were giving me a little trouble on the downhills so I was pushing it in hopes of banking time in case I ended up needed to walk it in. John ended up having a little bit of stomach trouble as well. So it was late in the day when I suddenly got to a major road and was cursing everything as I was sure I got off trail again. It ended up that is was the end of the trail and the parking lot we had used that morning was just on the other side of the street. It took me several stressful minutes to come to this conclusion. But we all made it in before dark and felt completely wiped. It was a great experience and something I will not soon forget. But it seems to be becoming a tradition that Shannon's birthdays have been memorable experiences for me.

Old Structure at the end of the trail, a great site

In the end we made it back to Shannon's place and talked Jody into getting ready and joining us for dinner before John, Pip, and I headed back to Tulsa. We found a place and John sweet talked us into a table for our large group. The restaurant was very accommodating for a group of 10 on a Saturday night in a busy part of town. The table became a place for good times and stories about the day. It was the perfect end to another amazing adventure, and the best part is we would see Shannon and Jody again the next weekend when they made their way to Tulsa for the annual Post Oak Challenge. So everyone left happy.  

From this trip I got some good lessons. First gear is not all that important. Now I would have been much more comfortable with some proper running gear, but at the same time after a few miles it was only a minor annoyance compared to the amazing scenery and wonderful company. This is an important consideration, you will find yourself in a running sanario when you don’t have all the gear or whatever for a race or run. You can let it ruin your day and ensure your running is a disaster, or you can just roll with it and figure out that it is really not that important. Next, downhill running is a difficult thing to master and I will need to seriously focus on it in the build up to Western. Finally, as with most of these stories I have shared, running is the most minor part of it. Truth be told I almost bailed on this whole weekend. I have been traveling so much for work the prospect of spending more time away from home wasn't ideal. But if I had not succumb to peer pressure I would have missed this experience that I will remember forever. Not because of the running, but because of the time with friends. People that I care about and don't most likely don’t deserve to have in my life. I only wish that there was more time to spend with all the great people that I have the chance to be around. Look at this deal with the Cantwell’s I have a whole new level of respect and gratitude for them (even if I already knew they were awesome). They drove out of their way to help some fellow runners. If they had not decided to do that we would have never known any different but now we all got to share this special moment. And at the end of the day feelings like respect and gratitude are things we could all use more of in our lives.

Keep running my friends, and find some people to share the trail with. Hope to see you out there.

Zoe update, she is fitting right in and is happy they we let her be in charge of our whole house. The most amazing part is how well Rush has been with her.

A Week of Hills

So here we are, another week of running in the books and we tried to keep this week vertical for the most part. During the week I was able to get my runs in but I had my first college test in 11 years, so I was understandably distracted for most of the week. I did however have a great run at the Botanical Gardens with Philip, Sarah, Brynna, and Kathy Hoover. Kathy would be running the Rocky Raccoon 100 miler in Texas that weekend, and I have to admit I was super jealous. Rocky Raccoon is one of my favorite races and the people down there are just the best. Kathy looked very strong and unsurprisingly killed it at Rocky. But she was not alone, we had a whole group from Oklahoma and Arkansas down there and for the most part everyone did great. A good old running buddy Russell the Iron Horse even came through with a crushing sub-24 run. Great job Iron Horse, I don’t know what magic training program you are using, but you need to share that stuff. All the excitement around Rocky helped to really boost my spirits about my upcoming race, which is just what I needed this week.

Kathy on the Rocky Course

Oh, and running legend Gordy was on course

I would have killed someone for one of these cookies

The Iron Horse with the coveted Painted Sub-24 buckle

As the week wrapped up, on Friday my plan was to already have my Calculus test done and just leave work to get my run in. However, things got in the way and I really felt like I needed the extra day to prepare for the test so I used Thursday as an extra study day and left work on Friday for the test center downtown. Man I was nervous, this is my first ever online class so I was not sure what to expect. Plus this would be a big weekend for me so I didn’t want to start it off with a bust. I walked into the test center and started the exam, of course I found that the test was nothing like the practice exams and most of the notes I had worked up were of no use to me. The test was on a computer so it was a little nerve racking, with that system there is no credit from the work out of the problem it is all about the answer here. So, after checking everything a dozen times I pressed the button to submit my exam and to my surprise got the results back immediately, 100%. BOOM! What a weight off my chest. I know this was the first exam and the others would be much harder but I walked out of the test center on cloud nine. I was in knots over this test, which on the good side really provided a good distraction from the crazy 50k trail run I had signed up for on Saturday. I hit the house and started my run for the day even getting in a bonus mile before getting to the Executive Club Meeting (FYI the Executive Club is at McNellies each Friday and open to all). And there I found Wes as always ready to discuss the problems of the world.

At the meeting Wes, Jenn, Allyson, and I needed to discuss our plan for the trip to the White Rock Classic 50k in Arkansas the next morning. It was about a 2 and a half hour drive, and the race start is 9am so we selected to make it a day trip. Well I say we, it was Wes and I because Allyson and Jenn were no shows. From there we made it over to Chimera for dinner (guys this is one of the best food spots downtown and if you haven’t made it over remedy that problem immediately). After dinner we tried to hit Antoinette Bakery for pie day, only to find they had sold out of all the pies. Which begs the questions: why are they sold out of pies at 7pm and if they are sold out why are they still open. “Forget it” I said and decided to head back home to get some sleep before the race tomorrow. I needed to use this race as a training run, but decided I did want to push it a little bit to see where I am at. Also this course with it’s almost 5.5k of climbing and 5.5k of descending offers something that I can’t easily get in our area, very long downhill sections.

Sweet Salad From Chimera

I woke up that morning feeling really good, but got some bad news right away. In a text from Wes, he woke up with a fever and sore throat so he was out for the race. What a bummer, at this point I was just hoping that Jenn and Allyson would show. They did and Allyson even agreed to drive us, which was awesome. We made our way to the race, and left in plenty of time to not be in a rush. I tried a little different pre-race plan for this as opposed to Switchback and ate a lot more food which seemed to work out but I was nervous about it at the time. A wrong move with your stomach can end a race faster than almost anything. There are not a lot of sights on the drive in the dark to Arkansas but the moon was out and we could see Venus which was cool, and of course there was plenty of pointless conversation about race plans (other races, not strategy), what we would eat, and a lot of talk about music from the 90s. When we got close to the race start we stopped at a little gas station that was being swarmed with the runners and bikers about to take part in the race (there is a 50k mountain bike race on the same course that starts 30 minutes after the runners) this was a great deal for us as we had never been to the race and they gave us the final directions on how to get to the start. It seemed really cold out at that point (and it was 25 degrees) but somehow it magically got a lot warmer before the start.

A shot from the White Rock course

When we got to the race we heard from our good friend (and the a-hole that talked us into this race) Shannon, he and his wife Jody (the Queen of the Road) would be taking on the mountain as well. I was very excited about the whole start and felt cautiously optimistic that I was in for a good day. These free races on crazy courses are some of the best around. Everyone out there is just in it for the love of running and could care less about who wins or whatever; they are just out there with one goal “Good Times Running”.  The race (if you are not familiar) starts with a two and a half mile climb of 1000 feet, you know to get the lungs warmed up, and then you descend back down the other side go over a smaller climb and then turn yourself in for the major climb up White Rock. This whole race takes place on very good condition forest service roads, and let me tell you it has some of the most beautiful views that you can see on a race. With the exception of the controlled burn that they were doing at the very start (which even that was not that bad) there was nothing to complain about. The temp was just about right, it was sunny, and the aid station at the top of the mountain had homemade hummus pre loaded in tortillas, it doesn’t get better than that folks.

50k Profile

View at Turn Around

At the start of the race Shannon and I ran together for a while, but somewhere along the way got separated. At this point I feel I should tell you that Shannon was a little under the weather, and by little under that weather I mean that he was in the minor emergency room the day before due to some sinus issues. But, Shannon is an incredible runner and very strong on the downhill running (and area where I am very weak) so I figured it was just a matter of time before he passed me. The race for the most part was lonely, which was fine and gave me plenty of opportunity to check out my surroundings and think about how lucky I was to be having such a great day out here. Also it was warm enough to rock my Runner’s World Tulsa trucker’s hat, rather than the beanie I had to use at the Switchbacks. To think I almost skipped this race, thank God for Shannon twisting my arm about it and Jenn and Allyson signing up right away. When I reached the turnaround I was surprised to find myself in 5^th place overall, I didn’t plan to do anything about it but it was nice to know that the training was paying off. After the turn I crossed paths with Shannon who was coming into the turnaround, he yelled to me that he was coming to catch me and I yelled to him that they have hummus at the top. We all have our priorities. The trip back would be a lot of downhill running, until the final major climb, so I tried to just keep an easy pace and not blow myself up. During this section I found myself move into third by the bottom of the finial climb. As I made my way up the climb I got within sight of Chris in Second place but the second the road turned back down he was gone and that was ok by me. I came into the finish feeling great, with a PR 50k time of 4:42:40 (beating my 2010 Lake McMurtry time of 4:48 on a much easier course) and third place overall. I didn’t have to wait long for Shannon to come in, and he swore revenge at Western. It was good times for sure and it is always nice to run on a course with enough climbing that you can beat most of the mountain bikes while running, lol.

The white on my hat is salt.

The fast ladies

Allyson had opted for the 25k, but I think she has her eye on the 50 for next year, and Jenn was signed up for the 25k but was shamed into the 50k and had a great race despite getting into a fight with a thorn bush while trying to use the bathroom in the woods; the bush won. Right before we needed to leave to get to Scott’s house for a painting party for Erin’s birthday we got to see Jody finish, so the whole thing worked out just perfect. Upon leaving we decided that we would all die if we did not get food soon, with the only issue being that we were in the middle of nowhere. I told the ladies that the only highly rated place on Yelp that was within an hour (and not a BBQ joint, not good for no-meat options) was a place called Kountry Xpress an Indian food place. When we got there, it was a gas station with a sign out front that said “India Food”, not sure what that means but at this point we were committed and needed to get something. Amazingly, either because of level of hunger, low expectations, or just sheer luck, the food was great. I mean some legit India Food and we were fueled up to hit Scott’s party. The gas station also had 35 flavors of Soft Serve ice-cream which the girls got in on, but I said no way I will save my treats for the cake at Erin’s party. When we got to the party (after showers and what not) we found Bob Ross painting fun, way too much pizza, and no cake! It was still a great time and I am happy that Scott let us ruin his house with paint.

India Food complete with Gambling

Really pretty good

He makes it look easy

The next morning we met for a shakeout run at Chandler Park with the dogs, and ran into several other running buddies on that trails which is always a welcome surprise. The legs felt good and even if the pace was slow I was happy to be out there. After the run we went our separate ways only to have a group of us descend on my parent’s home to watch the Super Bowl that night. I always enjoy having people out to my parent’s house, not just because my mom is one of the best people in the world, but it is so peaceful out there; and a fantastic place for some gravel road running by the way. It was fun and we brought way too much food as a result of a miscommunication between my mother and I. One would think that if she says that she is worried they might not have enough food for everyone that bringing food would be a good idea. But, when they cook for an army all the time there is always enough food. Jeff, Ame, Sarah, Pip, Wes, Brynna, and I lasted until about half-time before we decided that we did not know anything about football and we had work in the morning, so we went ahead and called the weekend a wrap; a pretty successful few days, if you ask me.

This is hockey right?

This last weekend was just what I needed to recharge my running. I got to see so many of my friends complete their first or whatever number 100 miler. I could really see White Rock fire up both Jenn and Allyson about trail running again, and I even got to run with Rush the wonder dog out on the trails. These moments out there running have to be held on to. It is easy to get down on your running this time of year, with it still being dark in the mornings or after work which can make getting runs done depressing. And the weather is so all over the place you can hardly know how to dress or even what temp you will encounter after the run starts. But good friends and a positive attitude can lead you right to where you need to be, “Good Times Running” have fun my friends and GO RUN. 

P.S. Foster pup Zoë joins the herd as an offical member of the house. 

Better Late than Never

Well I have just been buried at work, and because I have so much free time I decided why not go back to school. So I am taking some classes and my first big test is this Friday. So the blog has been on the back burner. But I did have some thoughts I wanted to share about last week.

The training during the week was pretty uneventful, and with the exception of Tuesday’s run I did most of my training solo. On Tuesday I had a great run with Philip and Sarah out at the Botanical Gardens. This is becoming a regular part of my training rotation and I am really happy about that. The course is shortish (3 miles) but challenging enough to make it not boring for the 6-9 miles I get out there during the week. And everyone that I have taken out there seems to have the same feeling. There is an extra bonus too when running out there this time of year. At the top of the big climb every lap, because the sun is always already down, you get this awesome view of downtown Tulsa. Very cool, and it is super quite out there too. In fact that night we were running and these coyotes started barking all around us, which understandably is something you just don’t get running in town.

While doing some of my solo runs this past week I was thinking about how individual a sport running is. This is an activity that you have to battle with all on your own. When you are out there, you have to rely on whatever you can pull out of yourself to complete each run either training or racing. And, while we tend to do it in group it is a profoundly personal effort every time. And that is what makes it so amazing. You get this solo triumph each run but at the same time you get to share that with a group of people that have an understanding about what you are going though that no one else can, or even wants to, compute. And this deep connection is what brings us together and while running is far from a team sport I feel a stronger connection to many runners than I ever felt in more traditional sports.

Proper Pre-trip Parking

That brings me to the weekend and an adventure with my running family. This past weekend we spent Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday running and running-around in one of the most magical places on earth, Eureka Springs Arkansas. If you have not been to this sleepy mountain town you need to go there right now. And if you live in Tulsa, what are you waiting for it is only like 2 and a half hours away. On this occasion we made the trip to celebrate Jenny and Chris’ birthdays. We ended up with a crew of 13 people, in two different houses, and we all got a chance to do what we love the most, run! Well except Jonathan he rode his mountain bike (BTW Eureka is a mountain bike Mecca as well) but the rest of us ran. We came in Friday night after a dinner stop in Rogers Arkansas to eat with Shannon and Jody. They would be coming out to ES Saturday afternoon, but we could wait and need to see them right away. In my car we had seven peeps, so Shannon made reservations at a cool spot called Hammontree’s Grilled Cheese, a place all cheese lovers should check out. After we all ate too much we made it into Eureka to drop some of the folks (Wes, Jenn O, and Allyson) off at the downtown house and talk with Jenny, Chris, Rachel, and Jonathan who were all already there, then we (Brynna, Pip, Sarah, and I) made our way out to the Lake Leatherwood cabin with the plan that we would all meet out there at day break for running on the Leatherwood trails.

Some Wisdom

Not a Local brew but a good one

Food shot from Pip

Lake Leatherwood is one of the best trail running spots around and almost no one has ever heard of it. There was in the past a great race out there (a 15k called the Freakin Eurekaen) but it has long since disappeared. The trails are magnificent and there is some very serious climbing. When everyone arrived we made our way out. It was quickly decided that staying together as one big group would not be a good plan so we broke up. Which at the time seemed like a good idea, but ended up meaning that Chris and I were the only ones to make the full loop around the lake, plus some bonus to make a 10 miles day, Pip and his group ended up doing the hardest climb twice and never making it to the far side of the lake getting 8 miles, and Brynna and Allyson ended up taking the trail to Eureka before heading back to the cabin. You would think that all this misdirection would lead to some annoyance, but everyone had a blast and no major drama came out of it. So we decided to wrap this thing up and everyone shower then meet at the bigger house in town for breakfast. We had a plan for breakfast but it turned into a lot of grazing on various fruits and veggies then sweet potatoes (with some eating bacon) and finally huevos rancheros. But the time our 100 hour breakfast was done Shannon and Jody showed up and we decided to quite literally descend on Downtown Eureka.

The Lake

Trail Shot

Runners Coming in

The main town of Eureka is mainly an artist community (with some bikers, cowboys, and bars you know like you do) so the place is full of cool little shops. We spent too much time and money in the hat store and a store specializing in crazy spices, but before we knew it the group had congregated at a little bar on the far side of Eureka called the Cathouse and we knew that if we were going to drop all of our spoils off at the house before the Mardi Gras parade, and whatever shenanigans we were going to get into that night, we needed to get a move on. Did I forget to mention that it was Mardi Gras in Eureka? Well it was and the place was busier and crazier than usual. So highlights from that night included a Mardi Gras parade that is exactly what you would expect from this town with the mayor looking like the wizard of Oz and this old guy dressed in all white just dancing up a storm down the street, then a crazy old west photo shoot (which is all Jenny wanted for her birthday) and a great dinner at Local Flavor (one of the best places to eat in town and if you go you need to eat here). The night ended with a little too much drinking and more drama than we would have liked but as we would see in the morning it did not dampen our spirits.

The Cathouse and Brynna with a new hat

Red 11s Must be a running store, right?

Just an everyday scene in Eureka

Ridiculous 

The next morning we decided to run the 10k course from the Victorian Classic. This little race holds a special place in my heart and is one that I am finally coming back to run this year. But since the house we rented in town was on the course we decided that it would be fun to do our own invitational version to close out our weekend. The course starts high in the town and the first 5k runs mostly downhill, and then the next 5k is almost all uphill. So not the easiest run but this time we all stayed together for the most part. About 2 miles into the run Chris and Pip were a little in front of the group when we saw Pip go down on this little downhill. We all had a little laugh at his expense, as it did not look like a serious fall, and we talked about how it was that we could run all day on the trails and not go down but we couldn’t handle the roads. It was assumed that he slipped on some gravel, but as I soon found out that was not the case. As I approached the little downhill I took the high side to avoid the spot where Pip fell only to find that it was oil, not gravel, which he slipped on. At that point I thought it would be a good idea to show Pip how you really fall on a road. So I went rolling down the hill and got my knee good and bloody for the rest of the run. Have to love those roads. After I pealed myself off the ground we continued the run and down the road found some cool caves on the side of the road, some of the group took some time out to explore them. As we got to the bottom of the hill we found a cool little musical park. Not sure what else to call it, just a lot of large random chimes and things to bang on as we went by. Then we reached the turning point and it was a long climb out of the hole we were in. On the way back up the hill Pip decided to show his mastery of the falling skills I demonstrated for him earlier and this time lost a good amount of skin from his hand. Basically we cannot handle the road at all. We eventually made it back to the house without everyone dying and agreed that we would clean up and find a place for breakfast. So we cleaned up, packed everything up, and I called around to see who could handle a party of 13 with no notice. It turns out that one of our favorite places that closed down a few years back (Pancakes) reopened with a new name The Filling Station. So we made our way over there, to find an amazing breakfast buffet that changed as we continued eating and basically we ate way too much.

Going up through Town

Good times and great Pancakes

At this point we all knew that we needed to start heading back to T-Town, but we didn’t want the weekend to be over so we made a last second decision to add the Turpentine Creek big cat rescue to our trip. This is a very large site just outside of town in which they take in old or injured exotic cats to live out their lives. It was a very cool place and to see these animals up close it is a site to behold. If you are in the area this is worth your time. And all the money goes to keeping the rescue open, so you can feel good about handing over the $10 a head. There is a half mile walking tour that is guided by one of the rangers working out there (they made sure to ask us to let them know if the walk was too far and they would bring a car down to get us LOL) and there is a bunch of pens in the top part to walk around. All it all a great end to the weekend. I will try not to blow up this whole blog with all the photos from the rescue but I took a bunch, and I have the feeling that if you go there you will too. It is amazing sometimes when you look back at it, but running can take you some pretty amazing places with some people that I am so grateful to have in my life. I can truly say straight-faced that I love all of this running family. Till the next adventure, go out there and run!

Showoff

Western States is mocking me

Just watching planes go by

Sarah needs that Fish and Shannon will not help

The Big Easy and Pie Day!

Well I have a hard time believe that anyone is still reading this, but according to the blog counter someone is. So, I guess I will keep with it. So this week was another on the road. I got up Sunday, feeling surprisingly good after the Switchbacks and boarded a plane for the Big Easy. Now I have been to New Orleans one other time, and I have to be honest I was not a big fan. Don’t get me wrong the food is incredible and the sites are cool, but for the most part it seemed like a very dirty town and I dislike walking down the street and having people hassle me. But, I needed to be there for work so like it or not I was going back.

Right off, I knew this trip was going to be a little better. First, I was staying at the JW Marriot right off the French Quarter in a nice room with a very nice view. Second, a lot of cool people were in town so a good time was going to be had. So I went to bed the first night sure that even though my flights in were super delayed and I got to the hotel 3 hours after I was supposed to be there, this was going to be a great week.

View from my room

Monday morning I woke up with a little bit of a sore throat and that didn’t seem good, but I shook it off and found out that my meetings for that morning had been cancelled (or at least they didn’t need me there). So itching from not running Sunday I decided to hit the roads of New Orleans and get some miles in. I talked with the clerk down at the front desk and he told me that I would have to run on the side walk about a half of a mile to the southwest of the hotel, but then I could just run on the trolley tracks. I asked him if that was something I should do? It did not seem like the best idea if I wanted to avoid getting hit by a trolley, but he told me the trolleys are very slow and most runners in the area do this. It also had the bonus of cutting way down on the street crossings and traffic. So I took his advice and when I reached the trolley tracks found they consisted of a grassy median in the road with the tracks buried in the sides. So it was really just a well worn grass trail. Pretty sweet, oh and the trolley were super slow, in fact the one going in the same direction as me took more than 3 miles before it passed and stayed ahead of me. The view was very neat too; I guess the street I was on (St Charles Ave) is on the parade route for Mardi Gras and they were already setting things up as it was only a few weeks away. On the sides of the street there were all these crazy old trees (to go with the old buildings I guess) that were covered in this cool ivy with beads from parades of the past grown into them. It was really something to see; plus it was warm, which was a nice change from the freezing cold of the past few weeks and there were quite a few other runners out there so I guess the clerk at the hotel knew what he was talking about. When I got to the far end of my run I was at Tulane University and so I made a loop around Audubon Park that is right in front of it, the park was full of people and had this cool lake right in the center. All in all it made for a nice ten mile run and I felt good the whole time. When I walked into the hotel I was met with a welcome surprise, my friend Jeremiah had his afternoon meetings cancelled and wanted to go to lunch. Jeremiah is the clone of Anthony Bourdain and always knows the best spots in any town. I have learned over many travels with him to not question his suggestions.

So Jeremiah said we have to go to Cochon, which is a cool spot near the National WWII Museum. When we got there the lunch crowd had already set in, but we were able to get a spot at the kitchen bar. Kind of like sitting at the sushi bar but with these guys cook in the giant wood burning oven that was way cool, and they also passed us over some samples of what they were cooking which was much cooler. The food was incredible. I mean really incredible, everything I tried was awesome but the whole time we sat there I kept seeing these little cast iron skillets that they were taking in and out of the oven. So when we finished up and started to leave I finally had to ask one of the cooks, “What is with the skillets?” He told me that was the rabbit stew and dumplings. I felt I had been cheated (or would have but the meal I had was incredible) and swore that the next time I came in it would be rabbit stew for sure.

On our walk back to the hotel I was talking with Jeremiah (who is also a History Major) about how I had never seen the WWII Museum, but heard it was very well done. He told me that he and his father had visited almost every major European site from WWII in their travels, but the museum was very well done and they have this crazy 4D movie that we very interesting. Then he insisted that we go check it out. We got there just as a showing of the movie was starting, so we had an hour to kill before the next showing. We bought tickets and started to check out other parts of the museum. This was good and bad; don’t get me wrong if you get the chance to go to the WWII museum do it for sure. But don’t just give yourself an hour like I did. This is a whole day activity. We were about halfway through the “Road to Berlin” exhibit (which is one floor of one of the five buildings that make up the museum) when we realized that we only had about 10 minutes until our movie started. So we rushed through the end of that part and made it to the movie. Just like everything else at the museum the movie was well done, powerful, and it snowed in the theater (I guess that is what makes it 4D). So long story short go to this place. Even though we needed to get back to the hotel and get some work done we ran through one more building before we left, and agreed we would have to come back when we had more time (unfortunately that time did not come this trip). 

Inside one of the buildings

After we got back and got some things done a group of us decided we would meet for dinner. Well the first place we had planned on going was booked up. So the other guys we had in our group said “how about Cochon?” Well you can guess my answer, and in a diet destroying move we headed back to Cochon. As I set down Jeremiah asked what I would be having, I promptly slapped him in the face and yell rabbit stew and dumplings of course. It was spicy and wonderful, a great end to a cool day.

The dish in question

The next day I had meetings for most of the day, and I felt like crap (the sickness was upon me). But at the end of the meetings I talked my boss into going for a run with me, which was cool. How many people work for someone that would be willing to run in a strange city with you? We did a short four miles and then went to dinner with a good group in the French Quarter.

On Wednesday was the start of a conference that I was attending in the same hotel that my meetings had been at earlier in the week. As I knew the conference and the obligatory after party would destroy any chance of running, but I had backup and my good friend Stephen from Denver agree to meet me at 5am in the lobby for a 6 mile run. It was so nice to be able to go run in the dark and not freeze to death. I almost didn’t know how to handle it but managed to refrain from way overdressing. The conference was pretty good, and after the first day wrapped we headed with a group to a place called Jacques-Imo’s. This place was also amazing and I had some good local beer as we waited for the other of the five taxis to arrive (not sure what secret way our driver knew but we were the last to leave and got to the restaurant way before the others). I got a fresh fish dish with the hopes I could pretend that it would somehow make up for the day before, but everyone said I should have got the fried chicken. The fish was great, but when I left I texted Brynna a photo of the sign outside (pretty funny) and immediately I got a text back saying “you have to try the fried chicken there” guess I missed the boat again. 

The sign out front

Local Brew

Upon getting back to the hotel I was trying to find a group to go out. Most everyone was going out Thursday night, but I was flying back that night so this would be my only chance. Luckily I was with a group that doesn’t take a lot of convincing to push them out the door so we hit the French Quarter in search of live music and good times. After a while of trying to stay away from Bourbon Street we ended up at the back entrance of Pat O’Brien’s, I mean it is a famous Bourbon Street bar but since we did not go through the Bourbon Street entrance we decided we were in the clear. It was a good time with dueling pianos and some old guy playing a tray (don’t ask), but before I could leave I was told I had to have a hurricane. Now I do not drink hard liquor, or soda. I am a beer guy, but I figured when in Rome. So I got this drink and felt like I poured an entire pack of Fun-Dip in my mouth. Well that was enough to call it a night (reminder I was getting sick this whole time) and I returned to the hotel room with every intention of getting up at 5 for more miles with Stephen. The night ended up being horrible, and the creeping crud had me hacking up all night. So when I got a text from Stephen at 4:50 saying he was out for the run, I decided Thursdays are supposed to be off days anyways and went back to bed. I think it was a good call.

Best I can guess this is 100% sugar

Thursday after Stephen gave his presentation at the conference we decided to sneak out before the break and go to Café Du Monde, this is a happening little (not little) place just on the boarder of the French Quarter that only serves Coffee (with Chicory) and Beignets (kind of a French Donut with tons of powdered sugar). We no more than sat down and Stephen tells the waiter we need a dozen beignets and two coffees (they normally sell the beignets in orders of three for a table). So they brought all of this stuff to the table and Stephen looks at me, then all of this food, and then back to me and said “I might have got a little over zealous with that order”. We did some damage though and put down 5 a piece before the called it good, and spent the entire walk back to the hotel trying to get all the powdered sugar off of us. On the way back we walked through Jackson Square and checked out the statue of Andrew Jackson that they were about to remove. I guess it went to a public vote and it was decided that they didn’t want it around anymore. Seems kind of strange to me, but glad I got to check it out before it was gone. The rest of the day went smooth until we got to the airport and then had the normal last flight of the day drama getting home, ending up with me getting in after midnight but I got there and was grateful to be back home.

All that remained of our battle with beignets

Even the horses are crazy in NOLA

Before Removal

Cool view on the other side of Jackson Square

Friday I got my run in and headed to the Executive Club to discuss the weekend running plans. The decision was made to meet Jeff at 96^th and Riverside for our 16 miles on the Creek Turnpike trail. But got a call from the “Cat Master” that morning that he was having a pet emergency and couldn’t make it for the run. So Sarah, Pip, and I regrouped and decided to change our plans to meet with the Runner’s World group out at the fairground. The group was only running 11 so I hoped to get out there early and get 5 in so we could be done when the group wrapped up. Pip did not like this plan as he wanted more sleep but when I pulled up in front of his house and laid on the horn, he finally conceded to my way of thinking. We had a nice easy 5 mile run and finished up just about right so that we only had to stand around for a minute before taking off again with the Runner’s World gang. With the group this time I got to share some miles with Troy and Kathy Moore. These guys are great and have been running with Runner’s World for a while, but the last few years have been really getting into Triathlons. They have already done some Ironmans and have just been looking incredibly fit lately. So it was cool to get to talk with them about their plans for the year and of course getting to talk about bikes is always fun. When we wrapped up Pip, Sarah, and I grabbed Brynna from the house and hit Dilly Diner for breakfast with Bowie. Then we went our separate ways to prepare for Pie Day.

The photo in our booth at Breakfast

Around dinner time I was still not feeling 100% with this stupid head cold, but everyone was meeting at Pip and Sarah’s for a pie party and I was not going to miss that. It was a blast watch what everyone came up with for their dream pies; I of course went overboard with this vegetarian shepherd pie idea. So I took a bread baking tin and wrapped pie crust around it, filled it with sweet potatoes, black beans, and a bunch of other veggies, then topped it with this crazy mash potato and broccoli concoction that I made. It sounds crazy, and it was, but it came out alright and I ate way too much. On Sunday I was still feeling out of it, so I put my run off till in the afternoon but I finally got out there and did my 11 miles. Maybe not the best plan but I actually felt pretty good the whole run, so that was nice. All in all I felt like it was a good way to close out the week, and I am looking forward to the next week of staying in town.

Pie a la Stormy

Over the past few months I have been focusing on my diet. People tell me all the time that with how much I run it must be nice to be able to eat whatever I want. Well that is just not true (believe me I wish it was). Running, or any working out for that matter, is great for being healthy but the only way to control your weight is to focus on your diet. Years ago a friend of mine Kurt Egli turning me on to a calorie tracking app “My Fitness Pal” and while I am sure that there is a million apps like this out there the point is the same. If you think about everything you put in your body throughout the day, and keep track of that where you can look back on it you will be amazed at how it will affect your eating. I find myself drinking a lot less of my calories, and eating a lot more fruits and veggies just for the sake of getting to eat more. If you haven’t taken a good look at your diet I suggest you consider it. Now think about what I am saying here, not go on a diet. A “diet” is often a temporary thing; your diet is a whole approach to food. While we tend to get side tracked and sometimes end up in New Orleans for a week, continuing to make small changes in the way we eat can really get you to where you want to be for whatever event you are getting ready for. Since October when I weighed in at 206 this past week I got below 180 for the first time I a while. And not surprisingly I have already seen my ankle issues go away and my shin that has been bugging me since the beginning of the year now feels great. But most importantly I feel a lot better. It is crazy how much we get stuck on eating thinks that for the most part make us feel like crap after we eat it. Anyways, I will get off my soap box and say “Go Run” and have fun.

Frosted Trails and SnowyPeaks

Another week of running is in the books. This last week I was in Farmington, New Mexico for work, so not many funny stories of running with friends but I still have a few things to think about, and “oh boy” wait till we get to the weekend.

Landing Monday for a week in the field, no I did not get to hang in Colorado the whole time.

Like I said above one of the hardest things about traveling is doing all the runs solo. It is true that every now and again you might find an awesome local running group to share some miles with, but in this case it was a series of solo runs, and some interesting workouts on the off days (I am sure people were wondering who was stomping up an down the hotel stairs for 45 mins). Because it was just me, I tried to keep my pace a little stronger for this week, but that is not what I am going to talk about here. What I want to talk about is the amazing adventure that you can (and will) have by busting out of your hotel and hitting the local trails and streets while traveling. It is easy to fall into the rut of just pounding out your training miles on the treadmill in the hotel, the excuses are limitless and for the most part totally justifiable. And I am not going to bag on treadmill running, I have a treadmill and I really like it. Sometimes it is a great option, and I have to admit I seriously considered it last week because let me tell you it was cold as hell in Farmington. But I was lucky to get back to the hotel most nights before it got too late (aka too dark), and I figured you can’t pick the weather on race day so I should just deal with whatever Mother Nature had to throw at me. So how cold was it? Oh what is the word I am looking for? Stupid cold, complete with beard frost, but it was also beyond beautiful. I found out that just down the street from my hotel was a crushed rock path that followed the Animas River. The path was dotted with strange, mostly empty, pads of brick (like they planned to put something there and never got around to it) and sections of the crushed path did not get that much sun light and were still basically packed snow.

Part of the River Trail in Farmington

A couple of things struck me about this trail. First, the number of people that were using it, this trail was not wasted on the people of Farmington. This has not been the case on all of my travels, you would be surprised how many amazing trails I have found that were basically empty, but here despite the cold there was a good number of people out there walking up and down the trail (did a say the trail was beautiful, because it was). Next the trail was quite, despite going under several roadways there was not a great deal of road noise so I was treated to the sound of the river and about 100 million geese that were hanging out in the water. This is a special part about being a traveler and a runner. As a runner we get to experience places in a way that you don’t get if you never leave a car. It is a much deeper look into these towns, and by braving whatever it is that makes you not want to leave the hotel (weather, dark, or the unknown) will allow you to be rewarded with things you get to carry with you the rest of your life. My first run this week got started a little late, so as the run went on I found myself running in the dark. The part of the trail I was on did not have any additional lighting and I was too stupid to pack a headlamp.The moon not much help as it was not bright but the little bit of light that was out was reflecting off the snow which made me relatively sure that I would not slip and die. I was shooting for 11 miles that night and did not want to end up doing loops, so when the trail was coming to an end (despite the growing dark) I shot off on a side trail that was heavy with snow. My decision was almost immediately rewarded with something amazing. As I came around what I assume were camping sites on this side trail I ran right into a herd of mule deer just hanging out on the trail. This must be a safe spot for them because they made no attempt to move and did not seem too worried about me being there. So there I was in the dark, in the woods, with a herd of deer just feet from me. I made my way past them and was having trouble shaking how cool that experience was. So before I knew it, it was time to turn around where I was even more surprised to find they still had not moved. The deer covered the trail and did not care that I was there. Pretty amazing stuff if you ask me. But this was not the end of the surprises that the trail had for me this trip.

This was my view in the field this week, not too shabby! About 6000 ft.

The next night we got back to the hotel a little earlier and I only had 9 miles so I thought here is my chance to knock this run out before the sun went down. It was a little warmer that day so much of the frozen hard pack ground was now soft and squishy in places, but still a great trail. I saw even more people out than the day before. The people seemed  friendly and there was a 5k amount of waving. As the run went on I approached one of those brick sections of the trail and something cool happened. This being a shorter run for the week, I was really trying to push the pace as much as I could while still holding it for the whole run, but as I approached the brick section I noticed that a kid's bike and two of those razor scooters where on the side of the trail. As I got close to the pile of kid transporters, three kids that had to be around 6 or 8 years old jumped out of the woods and mounted their various modes of speedy trail conveyance. So here I am in an obvious race with these kids and they are laughing and having a good time. I will not leave you in suspense, they won but we all left the area with a smile on our faces. I gave them a thumb up and told them that they were awesome. As I left that section of the trail I realized that this what I had just been part of was stranger than the herd of deer from the night before. How often do you see a group of kids just playing by the river? It was pretty cool. Almost right after that I ended up in a fairly weird spot. It was actually an area they called the “All Veterans Memorial” but on first glance I thought I had run into a satanic worship site. Let me explain, this area was similar to the other brick pad sections but much larger. In the center of the section were 5 pillars that had super realistic eagles on the top of them all facing the center. These pillars were connected by a huge upside down star. And, in the center of that star a weird orb fountain, seemed pretty crazy to me particularly as it was getting dark. But when I found a picture of it in the daylight maybe it is less satanic than I thought. As for the non-running parts of the trip itself I was in luck, because one of the guys traveling with me was also on a diet. So we were able to forgo our normal road trip diet of hamburgers and beers, and this time ate fairly reasonably. It is never easy to keep up a diet while on the road, but let me say if you can talk your co-workers into sharing in the misery it really helps. Running is all about sharing and caring, mostly sharing pain and misery and caring that you are not the only one suffering.

I stole this photo off the internet, but you get the idea.

On Friday I got up early (4am) to get to the airport and fly back to Tulsa, I had to get back for my annual check-up at 1:30pm with the doctors. There I found out I had officially lost 20 lbs since October so that was a big win. I celebrated with a 10 mile run before hitting the pub to meet with the Executive Club. Much of the discussion this week focused on the race the next day. My hope was to get a quick dinner and hit the road before too late to get to my hotel in Poteau for the Switchcbacks 50k 8am Saturday morning. Sleep be damned. Around 8pm Pip, Sarah, and I loaded up in the hot rod Fiesta to get to the hotel. It was a fairly uneventful trip but we were surprised as we pulled up to the hotel to find my cycling team’s van out front. Turns out their winter training camp was in the same area (I am currently taking a break from cycling till after Western States). So we were greeted by many familiar faces and said some quick "hi" and "what are you doing here" talk before we rushed to bed. Luckily the race had a fairly late start so we got some sleep in our room that shared a wall with the elevators. We could have complained, but the beds were soft and we were two hours closer to the start line than if we had left from Tulsa, so it was a win.

Turnoff for the Race start line.

When we showed up to the race we found a spot in the ditch along the dirt road right by our buddies Jenn, Jenny, Scott, Allyson, Rachel, and Wes. Victor and John found spots much closer to the start line because they got there the night before and camped out. Friday was a beautiful day in the 60s but the morning of the race was plenty cold and the rain/sleet started right before the gun went off. We stayed warm however because we had the warm smiles of Shannon and Jody (our friends from NWA) to keep us warm, lol. We all had a good laugh and a spirited discussion about how stupid this activity was.

A bad photo Clint took at the start line.

Photo of the race course I stole from TZ

That is me crossing the River

If you are unfamiliar with the switchbacks, I encourage you to look it up. It is a rough and beautiful course with lots of climbing and river crossings to ensure you get your "cost of race" to "time in the woods" formula to the max benefits (dollar per hours on the trail one of the cheapest races around). I wanted to make sure I kept this as a training run. Not meaning that I would not run hard, but I did not want to "race" this course. I needed to not trash my running for the next week or worse injure myself and be down for a few weeks. To keep this promise to myself I started towards the back of the field, and as this is all trails there was a lot of log jamming at the start of the race. This forced me to ease into the race and by the time I broke free from the mid pack I was far enough from the lead group to not worry about them. There are plenty of places to trip and fall, or slip and crack your head on this course. So I took every tricky spot very carefully and made it to the first out and back without much drama. The course is set up with an out and back in one direction with the 25k runners and then back through the start finish line and on to an out and back in the other direction for the second 25k. Because of this layout no matter where you are in the field you get to see all the runners. It is pretty awesome. I got to see John having a blast in his crazy outfit and Rachel crushing the course on her first time at this race. Shannon was not too far ahead of me at the first turn around so after getting a tortilla filled with peanut butter from Kate at the top of Winding Stair, I was able to catch up to Shannon and we ran together for a while. For some reason anytime I got around Shannon I started tripping on everything my feet could find. This must have distracted Shannon because he ended up turning an ankle and had to drop to the 25k. It sucked, I was having fun running with him and the rest of the course was devoid of people for the most part. But I ran with a smile on my face, the rain had stopped and I was making fairly good time on the climbs. I am in general a very weak downhill runner, but I was able to really limit my time walking on the climbs and kept it at a jog for most of the climbing sections. About 200 ft from the second turnaround you have the biggest river crossing of the race. This seemed a little unnecessary but all part of the fun. The water was high, very cold, and moving fast. So I tried to look for the positives and decided it was just a free vasectomy, lol as no one would be able to have kids after freezing to death in that river. On the other side I was treated to awesome volunteers and some cheese quesadillas. Then it was time to turn back and get right back into the river. I finished strong and got to hang around with everyone for several hours at the finish before heading to Jenn O’s house for a post-run homemade pizza party. At the finish I got to talk with the man behind the race Tommy for a while. I also found out that Rachel had won the 25k as first overall female and Victor had come in Second overall in the 50k. Later when Sarah came in and she was the 3rd overall female in the 50k. So it was a great race for team TATUR or the OK Dirtbaggers or the Executive Club or whatever stupid name we have come up with for this week.

Aid Station at top with Kate making tasty snacks

Rachel on her way to victory

Sarah picks her way through the river

Jody, Me, Sarah, and Pip at the finish

The ride back was entertaining with some laughs and snacks. And the pizza was just what the doctor ordered for post race recovery. I had to leave early unfortunately and get back to the house to pack for my next work trip. I was on a plane for New Orleans Sunday afternoon, but that adventure is for next week. Run hard my friends and remember to enjoy all the stupidity we share on these adventures.

A special thanks to Tommy who not only put on the race, but hauled water to the out and back aid station which had no road access. Think about that guys, this man is so dedicated to his race that he hand hauled water for 200 runners to the top of a mountain. You have to love that. 

Cold noses and warm soup.

This was a great week for running, and some might say the weekend was a little rough. But we will get to that. So this week was a down week for me, cutting back from 55 total miles last week to 44 miles this week. I am doing a slow build up in my schedule for Western but I still like to dial it back every three weeks or so. With the week being shorter I wanted to make sure to get some quality runs in. So I did a lot of hill work this week. On Tuesday Sarah, Pip, Jenny, and I headed out to the Botanical Gardens for that climb. We had a pretty steady pace going but then Sarah decided that she wanted to take advantage for the downhills and really picked up the pace. I am telling you guys on these downhills she was moving. So before we knew it, the whole group picked up the pace on both the uphills and downhills. All in all, my last 4 miles were all below 8 min pace. Pip said it was one of his better runs in the last few weeks. I am a strong advocate for keeping your pace under control for training runs. But you would be surprised how much a strong run can boost your training, and some times you have to just grab them when you can. That feeling you get when you finish a hard effort is one of the best feelings in running. That sense of quiet you get inside when you stop and catch your breath is awesome. We all left that run with a smile on our face, and the slightly better weather made the run a complete success. There are not just a whole lot of spots in the area that you can get long solid climbs and descents like out there, it is just too bad they went and put that chip seal down on the road. I really preferred the gravel.

One of my Favorite Thoughts on Hill Training from "Running and Being"

On Wednesday I put out a call for anyone who wanted to join me in a little not so well know training area I have. The neighborhood my grandma lived in while I was growing up. Mount Manor in West Tulsa is a hilly older place with some sweet, but short trails hidden in the back. The first to answer the call was Ed and Christy, who showed up and burned up the road. Unfortunately, I am too slow getting off work and they were finished by the time I got out there. But, I did eventually make it out and had Pip and Sarah in tow. For this evening I had 8 miles, so we did them as reversing loops around the outside of the neighborhood. Each circuit was one mile. Surprisingly it didn't get boring and seemed to go by pretty smooth. Not burning up of the road like the night before, but I was happy with my pace after the harder effort at the Gardens. It really is a cool little neighborhood. Much of the discussion that night centered around Pips political debates with his barber and me changing from the Fitbit Surge to the new Garmin 235. I really liked the Fitbit, even if it wasn't the most accurate GPS watch because the app and the amount of information was just amazing. Plus we all have them so we were constantly challenging each other, but the Garmin is a better watch and with the addition of the through the skin heart rate built into the watch I made the move. I was hoping I could import the data into the Fitbit app and stay on the challenges, but no such luck. Also brought up were the advantages of tear-away pants and why they ever went out of style.

Detailed Instructions

Thursday was an off day for me, and because this was a down week I decided to skip the gym and get some other things done. I travel a lot for work, and will be on the road for the next two weeks. And seeing as it will be 3 degrees in Farmington NM next week I decided it was time to get a proper coat for the field. Pip and I hit Drysdales, and if you have never been to that store in Tulsa, go check it out. The most Oklahoma of all stores in town. Before Drysdales I did make a short stop to Runner’s World Tulsa to reload on GU and body glide to be ready for the weeks ahead. I wise man once told me that if you can control your stomach and chafing you can run forever. I also believe it is important to know how your body with react to different foods and whatnot while running, so I have been trying a little of everything to see how I handle it. This time I picked up some Maple Bacon flavored GU, my opinion is it taste like eating the bottom of a maple syrup container. But I am sure some people love it.

Rush does not care if the Trails are muddy

On Friday I got of work a little early so I took Rush to Turkey for 8 miles before I hit the pub and it was a disaster. I have not seen Turkey so muddy and torn up since the 2010 Snake Run. If you ask me, I would say steer clear of there for a while until it drys out. I know some people think that is me being a whiny runner, but remember two important things for success in training. First, don't get hurt. All your training means nothing if you hurt yourself and have to take weeks off. It is slick and loose out there which can easily lead to an injury. Second, make the miles count. If you have to tiptoe around and crawl down and up climbs you are not spending enough of your training run running, so you have to ask yourself what am I getting out of this. Now if you are just messing around and having fun, ignore all of that. However, for me the run that was suppose to have helped me decompress from the previous week and ended up just making me more stressed out. But Rush was happy and I got my 8 miles, so I decided to get to McNellie's and I could decompress there. So got to the Pub around 5 and Wes had a chair ready to go for me to post up as we waited for the rest of the Members of the "Executive Club" to show. They did not disappoint, excluding Pip and Sarah who got off at regular times and still needed to get their runs in, and the members shared lies and solved all the world problems. Mostly the weekend training and what to eat.

Lots of Mud

Better Alternative 

On Saturday the Runner’s World Training Group had 10 miles. My schedule only had 9 but figured 10 would be easier with the group than 9 on my own. So I pulled up to the parking lot of the Tulsa Fairgrounds just as the snow was really starting to pick up. Did I fail to mention that it was snowing? Yes, yes it was and it was not yet cold enough to keep it solid, so it was a windy wet mess for the whole run. But, don't worry we all made it through and another group that was finishing up around the same time showed us the best way to beat the cold, Shots! After getting into dry clothes Grand Master Wes and I decided to cook up some Huevos Rancheros from a recipe had found. We cook enough for anyone who showed up and plenty did. In the end we didn't really follow the instructions but everyone seemed happy enough and making 12 servings for $40 is a big win over our standard $1000000 tab at Mom’s Diner (even if Mom's Diner is worth any amount they charge). After getting our fill of such a fancy breakfast we decided we needed some culture, so we headed to the Philbrook Museum for their Andy Warhol exhibit. We are so sophisticated. We all went our separate way for a while after that, until dinner when I made some crazy black bean and sweet potato tacos and most everyone found their way back out to the house. It was great, and before everyone went home we had a plan for Sunday.

Sarah Excited about the Snow

Syd not impressed

Pro Runners Handling the weather

After Run Pick-up

Classy

We knew that the run Sunday"s run would have to be early. Our friend Rachel was having a waffle party at 9am and who would want to miss a Waffle Party? But we also knew that it was going to be 13 degrees in the morning. So you could easily see our issue, life and death decisions had to be made. We decided that waffles are worth more than our personal safety so we headed out for 9 miles at 6:30 am. Allyson, Pip, Sarah, and Jenn O joined the fun. It was crazy cold and required some dodging of ice but otherwise was pretty nice. Pip and I were rewarded with some frozen beards as a result. And we only showed up a little late to the waffle party, thanks Sarah! Too many waffles were had by all, and the toppings ranged from you normal peanut butter and bananas to fried chicken. And of the 16 or so people there, I am pretty sure 20 brought stuff for mimosas. I didn't not partake but the Orange Sherbet Mimosas did look pretty awesome. From there we did a little shopping for furniture and hatched a plan for another dinner at the house. This time spinach salad and lentil soup. Wes got called into work (totally lame Verizon) but we picked up a Victor and Danielle along the way, ending a great weekend with some good laughs around the table. And as a bonus, right before bed, I got to talk with my good buddy Hunter, a good friend from Houston that has recently been infected with the running bug. He was having some foot issues so we had a long talk about Shoes, lacing strategy, and Socks. Very exciting.

Beard Frost is the Best Frost

Creepy Family Dinner, not sure what Pip is doing

A good start to a Shoe Running Problem

Some of the best socks

My big struggle this week has been sleep. We are currently fostering an adorable 5 week old puppy, but you know what puppies can do for getting a solid night sleep. Let me tell you, I can feel the difference. If I got anything out of the Fitbit, and now the Garmin, it is using that sleep tracking can make all the difference in your training. It is one of the things I love about running, it is a whole life activity. And everything you do has an effect on it. I used to really believe that I could get by on 5-6 hours of sleep, and I did alright. But now that I am really aware of not only how close I am getting to that 8 hour goal, but the quality as well it has really got me out of a rut in my training. If you have not tracked you thought about your sleep, remember it is all part of the training and just as important as the running for getting where you want to be in race day.

Not as peaceful as it looks

Wrapping up 2015 and Kick starting 2016

Well we closed out 2015 in Oklahoma with some typical Oklahoma weather; giving all of us stupid enough to spend the holidays running a great lesson in what not to wear. I had some fairly big running weeks for the last two, which gave me plenty of chances to be over dressed and sweating to death, or freezing cold and dying of hypothermia. Most times in the same run. If there is one thing that I hate about the winter time when it comes to running it is the exponential growth in the amount of laundry. Many of my running crew high tailed it out of town for the holidays, but I managed to find plenty of poor saps to run with me, and even took advantage of a few solo run opportunities, which I find acceptable in small numbers.

Sounds about right

If you are like me than the weekends are your times for big miles and big brunches. Right now the Runner’s World training is going so that makes for a sweet guaranteed running group for Saturdays. So for the 26^th I had to get in 16 miles. My good OLD running friend Jeff (I call him the cat master) agreed to meet me before light to get in 8 miles so that I could join the RW group for my final 8 at 8 o’clock. This worked out well, not only because Jeff is a great runner and my little running buddy Rush managed to not kill me while chasing squirrels, but because those solid miles with Jeff were without rain and set me up for a killer final eight with the group.

Jeff in his natural Habitat

There are several awesome groups to run with at RW, you have Ed and the Honey Badger, or Patty and the Dominators, but on this day I wondered over to the fast group for no reason. We were joined by a few high school kids from the Edison CC team, so the final 8 miles went at a stupid 7:30 pace; pretty good for hill and rain. But it was deceiving because it was still fairly warm outside. So on Sunday when the rain was still going I decided to just brave the weather and do my 9 miles by myself. This turned out to be a terrible idea, it was cold, the wind was crazy, and most importantly I had no one to make suffer with me.

Just look at the Results

Then during the last week people started to trickle back into town. So I conned Jenn O into going to the YMCA with me. I love the Y, and have been going there my whole life. In fact if you happen to go into the downtown branch you will see a banner for my mother who has been an instructor for over 25 years. But anyways, Jenn told me that there is this secret (not secret at all, I am just an idiot) cardio room upstairs that has two, count them two, rowing machines. So my plan was that if I am taking a day off running then I would hit one of these for 30 minutes for cross training. Let me tell you a little training tip, rowing is hard. That is all. Then on Tuesday I took Jenn and Jenny (yes everyone I know is named Jennifer so keep up) to one of my favorite training spots, the road to the Botanical Gardens. It is a 3 mile out and back with a vicious climb every time. We did it three time and on the last lap I got a little in front of Jenn and Jenny (truth be told I think they only let me get away so they could girl talk) and at this point it was fairly dark out. I was wearing a high viz green hat and jacket and was running on the correct side of the road and just ahead of my coming the other way the girls were running along on the wrong side of the road. No big deal, I though, they will just move over as I get close. Not what happened, I guess they were so caught up in their conversation that they did not see me till I was about to run over Jenny. This let to Jenny freaking out and screaming, and my laughing to myself and shaking my head as I moved on down the road.

Brynna, Alyson, Rachael, Danielle, Jenn O, and Jenny down low

On New Year’s Eve Jenn and I hit the river early for our 9 miles, this time Rush was a lot less manageable but we survived, and then figured we would take it easy until the festivities that night. The night did not disappoint. 

The True Runners, Sid, Evey, Pippin, Rush

It started at Victor’s crash pad before the Race into the New Year, and we drove right by his place at first. That is because all the lights were out in the house and there was this crazy strobe light in the living room. I hesitantly approached the door, and walking into a full on crazy dance party. As fun as this looked (not fun) I just made my way to the kitchen where there was normal light and would just check on the craziness from time to time. In the end the dance party was pretty much Rachael and a lot of destroyed pieces of tensile all over Victor’s living room. All the girls dressed up for the run in ball dresses, and I wore a tuxedo jacket, tie, and a vest for the race; however, Victor did not have a sweet outfit. This had to be remedied, so I took all the leftover pieces of tensile and piled them on his head, and Danielle safety pinned it all to his stocking cap (crisis averted). The race was cold but awesome as always, with Rachael crushing the course and coming in second overall female at just over 20 minutes, but by far the fastest runner in a ball gown.

Victor's Hat for the Win

New Year’s Day most of my running crew was at the Polar Bear plunge. I did not attend this year, but have on several occasions. Out of this has come a little bit of a New Year’s tradition of food at Stormy’s house after the race. So I took the chance to get a jump start on the cooking. I had back up after I got back from the gym, Wes showed up as support and we hit the store. In years past we did waffles and such but I never felt like they were a big hit, so this time I wanted to try something totally different. I talked Wes into us trying a quiche, and he said “whatever dude” (standard Wes response). We retrieved the items for our quest and attacked the kitchen. Brynna even made a gluten-free pie crust so we would have that option covered. Before we knew it we had 5 quiches going and I was getting a little nervous that we overdid it. As if hearing my worries Jenn O called right then and said that she hoped I would not be mad but like 15 people are coming over. So it all worked out. The quiches were not a disaster, and other people brought enough snacks and alcohol to cover us finishing the cooking. Now I was not going to drink much as I had twenty miles in the morning, but that did not stop some people. I will not get into the details, but let us just say the party went on for many hours, and ended with someone almost going through a window (loss of balance not fighting) and a lot of 90’s hip hop. What I mean to say is it was a total success.

The Polar Bear Crew

Finally we get to the last weekend of running, I was particularly excited because this big weekend was followed by a down week, and I really feel like I needed it. The 20 miles on Saturday went well, even though I got there a little late and missed the early group. But despite the cold when I pulled up there was Jenn O and Jenny waiting for me to show up so that we could catch the group. We got going and finally caught the early Dommies group, at which point Jenn O was feeling staying out late the night before and held back. I was starting to get in the grove and convinced Jenny to go with me to get some extra miles before the official RW group started. In the end I still had a bunch of running to get done, and when I wrapped up (not alone thanks to Jeff [not Cat Master Jeff, another Jeff] all runners have the same name) Wes was the only one still at Runner’s World. So we decided to hit Brunch at the home base, McNellies. We had an awesome breakfast there, and plotted another run on Sunday from McNellies so that we could finish and have brunch there again. Word of the plan got out and it was such a great plan that we had Pip, Sarah, Scott, Allyson, Jenn O, Jenny and Chris join us. Pip and Sarah had been out of town for two weeks visiting their folks; the only problem for them was that it was 70 degrees in Georgia and not 70 degrees in Tulsa. So Sarah took on the run with one arm warmer and one glove somehow and almost died. She lived, and Jenny somehow magically found us, because her text messaging screwed up the night before and didn’t get our messages about running until we were already on the move. But everything turned out right and we not only had a nice sized group but were treated to some of the best running views you can get while road running as we topped Reservoir Hill twice on the trip. And then, of course, we had McNellies to greet us at the end who’s warm embrace of chicken and waffles or biscuits and gravy ensured that all the caloric burn we had in those nine miles was immediately undone.

A PSA to all

Ok well that was way too long, and I promise to keep the future post shorter. I doubt they will be less rambley but hey, no one has to read this crap. The main point I have about these last two weeks is the importance of a great running crew. Those people you meet up with on the trails or road are some of the best people around. And I know that if you are new to running it can sometimes be intimidating to join such a large group, but it is just like going to the gym for the first time, it might seem crazy at first and you might not be sure what to do but there is a secret, we love to talk. Runners love when people are interested in their training, and they are dying to tell you all about it. So do yourself a favor, make a running plan (or have someone help you make one, like Google) go to one of these runs and start telling people about your plan, ask them about theirs and start comparing notes. Running is never easy, and even for me it is a struggle to get up and going every time. And, I hate to say this but just wanting to stay in shape or have a hot body is not going to get you out of bed in the dark and cold to get to those runs. You have to find out what running means to you, and decide what you need to do to stay engaged in it. It is not for the love of running that I do it as much as I do; it is for those people standing in the dark and cold waiting for me. What kind of person would I be if I let them down? 

Just Look at those Faces, how could you say no?

What is Stormy Talking about?

So this is my first attempt to get on the blogging train, or whatever you want to call it. And the first thing you might ask is why? That is a good question, and I guess the truth is I feel like a lot of stuff is going on in my life right now and who knows it might be useful later to remember it.

Why this year?

Well this is the year I was selected for the Western States Endurance Run and so my whole year, starting back in November will be geared to that race in November. Oh and I am getting married or whatever, back to running.

Who am I?

Well most of you know me, I am Stormy. No, my last name is not weather. But I am a local runner who has been around the block a few times but still feel fairly new to the scene. My first race was the 2009 Tulsa Run 5k, and I only started running that October of 2009. In my stupid plan, I went on to do my first half-marathon in November of 2009, then my first 50k in February of 2010, and by November of that 2010 I ran my first 100 mile race. Since then I have completed six 100 mile runs and the WSER will be my lucky number 7.

But this blog is not really about me, it is about the people that I run with. What I am most proud of in my short time running are the people that I have trained with and the things they have accomplished. I have helped many runners tackle their first ultramarathon or longest race. I have led crews or paced for some incredible performances, and got to see my far share of spectacular failures. I have had the chance to share my beloved Turkey Mountain with many new runners. My running heroes, like Kathy Hoover and Ken Childress, have let me help them in putting on some amazing running events. And some people say I have my own annual running event that I keep alive, but that is mostly speculation. 

What is this thing going to be about?

Mostly this little column will be about training. As you can imagine I will be running a lot over the next year. But more than numbers and miles, I hope for this to be a place to share some of the stupid stories about the things all of us runners go through in the build up to that one shot, Race Day.

Join me as I run all over Tulsa and everywhere else, with some of the best people around.