Rest day. Paced my brother as he ran Rocky Raccoon, or at least part of it. I'll write a report of the details, but he really had a great 3 loops (60 miles). And I thought he was going to make it. However, it was not to be. He takes a DNF much better than I do. Anyway, I can't believe Phillip Seymour Hoffman died of a heroin overdose, crazy.

QOTD: Do you have any races coming up and what are your goals?

Mt. Cheaha 50K. It is a long training run, but I don't plan to mess around, either. This race is just to better familiarize myself with the Pinhoti 100 course, on which both races are run.

Morning!  It's a gym/strength day, with a possible short run this afternoon with DS2.

qotd:  I gave myself to the beginning of Feb to decide on spring races.  Well, here we are and  I just need to push the button.  I'm looking at a local trail HM and Zumbro 17 (if it hasn't sold out).  And maybe the Dirty German 25k.  Since I haven't even registered, no firm goals have been set other than to run and have fun.  What I'm really looking forward to is a possible trip this April to the black hills/badlands.  Not racing, but I'll certainly fit time in on the trails.

Well Saturday was a complete day up north with x-country skiing, running, and snowshoeing so Sunday was to be more of the same fun. Went over to my favorite ski trails in the U.P. which have some beautiful hilly, narrow trails twisting thru the trees. Over many years of skiing there I have always thought as I'm flying downhill thru those trees that one little screw up and I'll be doing a Sonny Bono. I screwed up, hit a tree in a messy pileup and now have a broken hand. Had to ski out about 3.5 miles up and down those hills and that was a bitch. Drove home a lttle later and straight to my clincs urgent care in Madison. So here I am semi-crippled again. Damn. My right hand of course.

runtrail--85 spots still open

QOTD-I am registered for a snowshoe race close to my cabin on the 16th. We'll see. My spirit is broken right now but I can still snowshoe I guess.  Am planning on the 17 at Zumbro but have not entered yet.

Morning all,

Snow is coming down good in North Jerz so I am working from home.  I plan on hitting the bike and going for a run as soon as the work clock is timed out.

QOTD: I just mailed out my race application to Manitou's Revenge this AM.  You have to mail in an application with a self addressed/stamped envelope and I guess they'll mail me back a decision...no money until I'm in, which is nice.

Northern: Sorry to hear about the hand.

Is it bad that I laughed out loud at the thread title?  I'm heartless, I know.  Still, Hoffman means about as much to me as the next dead guy with a needle in his arm does; I don't care if he played in movies.  Really, each Monday is the first Monday without John Doe, but we generally don't take notice of the non rich & famous.  Alrighty...on to running!

We've got another arctic snap here in Western Montana, which is actually a good thing for our ecology.  But, sub-zero temps sure make running somewhat more painful.  SRD for me today, but I'll be out in the frigid stuff tomorrow, so I'd better get my merino long johns in the wash after work today!

QOTD:  I only have 1 race scheduled for this year.  It's the Missoula Half in July.  I signed up for it last year before we began our baby budget.  This year, I'm concentrating on just running for fun & fitness while proudly watching my son grow!  My biggest running goal this year will be to get my son into the running stroller as soon as he can sit up on his own.

Is it bad that I laughed out loud at the thread title?

My reaction to this is typically "what a f'ing waste" followed closely by sympathy for family.  You know that they have probably been walking on eggshells for many many years - just waiting for the inevitable call.

I had lots of fun working at the RR 100 mile DamNation aid station.  Quick info, the RR100 is five 20 mile loops with an out-back part so the runners hit DamNation twice (miles 6 and 12) each loop.  It's a great place to watch as people's day progress.  It's a lot of work though. I started working at 6am on Saturday and left at about 11am on Sunday, I did take a little nap for about 1.5 hours at about 5am Sunday morning.  My DD also helped out for two shifts, she was a trooper and at one point manned the cook stove for hours... (from abt 9pm to 4am) gaining a whole new legion of new fans   ;-) .

I didn't get to pace anyone due to either my friends having another pacer lined up or they DNF'ed before I was going to join them.  I was "on call" if anyone asked us at the aid station, but no one did.

It was cool watching things at the front, watching those who were pushing the edge early disappear and the smart ones advance.  Ian Sharman is just so impressive.  I had a few interchanges with him while he was in for quick "visits", biding his time about 2 to 3 minutes behind whoever was leading, then with 14 miles to go he asked me how far behind he was, I told him 7 minutes and he grinned and took off with a bit of fire in his eyes.  We'd see what happened out there 6 miles later when they passed through again... but it was not to be, he was then about 10 min behind after those 6 miles and you could see he had given it a go but was gonna keep going about the same, his only play left was to see if Matt Laye up ahead "came back to him", I see that Matt put on another 10+ min on Ian over the last 8 miles to the finish.  The young guy in 3rd (Jared Hazen) was great all day too.  Similar story up front for the ladies, sad to see Michele Yates drop at DamNation after 3.5 loops, but that opened the door for local fav Nicole Studer who was running a smart race all day.

There were lots of DNF's along the way.  Typical warm and humid conditions around here took their toll and I guess lots of sweating resulting in lots of blisters.  I never saw so many people getting treated for blisters.  Also heard lots of folks complaining about the humidity - all I kept saying was "welcome to east Texas..."  Then a front went through and the temps dropped 30 degrees with some rain.  Those that were in semi-bonk mode from the tropical weather couldn't keep their pace up enough to stay warm and got cold.  Lots of stories out there I guess, just like any other 100 miler.  But here were also great stories of those that had great days and first time 100s completed.  The whole range of emotions out there.

Anyway after spending a lot of time on my feet this weekend, but not running, I'm planning to do 5 or 6 miles after work today.

qotd: the next big one for me is Bighorn 100 (WY) in June main thing for a flatlander is to finish the thing, I'll do Hell's Hills 50 miler (TX) in April as a training run.

We took a fairly rare for us day off and may or may not miss another day or two since we are driving down to Florida for DDs birthday and to help DD and SIL with some stuff that are more in my skill set than theirs.

QOTD: No races currently planned.  I considered doing a road 5k that my son in law is running while I am in Florida, but decided not to.

Hoping to try some new shoes today .... left foot is bugging me still, so we will see.

After a weekend of downhill skiing I am hoping to hit the trails!

 

QOTD: Zion 100 April 4. Thinking of a training race before that, but the local ones are too close to the event (Mar 15 --- 50 mile or 50k). Seems like a bit of a pipe dream now -- well, as long as I am dreaming.

Canyons 50k in May

Lavaredo Ultra Trail or Bryce in June (Bryce would rule out a cycling event the next week in all likelihood) -- anybody here run Bryce?

Bear 100 in September

 

Harrier -- ouch! Hope you heal fast

Lace -- good luck!

I crewed it last year for a friend. The course was modified slightly for this year. Gorgeous country, it's at altitude though (7,000-9,000ish)

Constant up and down. Pretty well run race (IMO)