My Sorta' Schedule

Well I'm about a month into "training," and things are feeling pretty good. My little tendon issue seems to have worked itself out, and I'm healthy *knock on wood* for the time being. Training is on track, but I still haven't completely committed to a set schedule of races. There are a few loose ends that need to get wrapped up before I can finalize my plans. I'm hoping that in the next two or three weeks I'll know for sure where and when I'll be racing. For now, I'm only signed up for Chuckanut, but I've posted my tentative schedule.

On a non-running related note, I would urge folks to go buy Eddie Vedder's rendition of Bruce Springsteen's My City of Ruins. It's available on Pearl Jam's website as well as itunes. The song itself is beautifully sung, and more importantly, proceeds go to help Haitian earthquake victims.

Tiger Mountain Fat Ass

Saturday morning marked the first Tiger Mountain Fat Ass in two years. Last year the event had to be canceled due to massive amounts of snow.

Well, in my case, it was actually just a half ass. That's fitting too, since it seems like I gained about an extra half an ass in Portugal over the holidays. I ran every day while I was there, but life seems to revolve around food there, especially around the holidays. Since it's once every couple of years that I get to experience the delights of Portuguese cuisine, I don't worry too much about what I consume.

The drive out from Seattle to Issaquah was a bit discouraging. Rain was pouring down and showing no signs of letting up. However, as the 8 am start rolled around, the rain subsided and my mood perked up.

The Tiger Mountain Fat Ass, as I'm sure most are, is more a social kick off to the new year than an actual race. This year was no exception. As everyone began to congregate near the start, I was struck by how many people I knew. I guess that I've been at this for 8 or 9 years now. Considering that this is still a relatively small sport, you get to know and recognize a lot of people in that amount of time.

There have been couple instances where I treated the Fat Ass like it was a race. The first time that I became aware of Kyle Skaggs was at this event. At that point, he was just a young friend of James Varner and John Pearch that they dragged up from Olympia. He had an unbelievably beat up pair of Asics road shoes, and some super thick, non Merino wool socks. He may not have totally looked the part of uber-talented ultra runner back then, but he sure ran like it. The course was a bit modified that year, but I think we came in at or just under 2 hours. That was the first and very last time I was able to run with Kyle. Ahhh....those were the days.

Then there was the 2007 Tiger Mountain Fat Ass, when I felt I had something to prove. I didn't necessarily feel like I had anything to prove at the fat ass, but after the disaster at States, I wanted to dismiss any thoughts that I was just a one hit wonder. So at the 2007 event, I blasted from the start and ran away from the beginning. I ran a pretty good time for the loop, especially considering it was blanketed in a lot of snow, but I didn't enjoy it. I may have said "hi" to a few folks at the start, but I ran completely alone all day. Plus I was so frozen at the finish that I just hopped in my car and drove home. I realized that was pretty pathetic and goes against the spirit of the fat ass tradition.

Now I'm all about easing into to the new season. There's plenty of hard racing ahead, and racing that actually means something. There are very few opportunities to get so many runner friends gathered in one place. You've got to soak it all up.

Looking Forward

I don't know about you, but I'm sure looking forward to 2010. It's not that 2009 was a terrible year, but it had some difficult moments. My best four-legged friend and primary training partner, Kiwi, had some pretty serious health issues that plagued her from Last February through most of the summer. Seeing her in so much discomfort and shelling out more money than I want to think about in vet bills, added some major stress to the better part of the year. That stress definitely affected my running performance, and not for the better.

But that was 2009. Kiwi's health is much better now, almost a year later. She's running again, although not quite as much as she once was, and getting better each month. She may not ever be out running 20+ mile runs again, but she's certainly able to go out and do 5-8 without issue.

My biggest concern, looking forward to 2010, is keeping all the dates and deadlines for races straight in my head. Getting a spot at popular ultras these days is nearly as hard as procuring Pearl Jam tickets to an intimate venue. It's exciting to see the sport gaining in popularity, but it's frustrating to be on the outside looking in on so many of these races.

For example, Andrea and I were just in Portugal. I knew that Way To Cool had gone to a lottery this year, and I knew that lottery opened on Dec. 13. Unfortunately amidst all the excitement of being abroad during the holidays, I neglected to get my name in the lottery by Dec. 19th. Thus, another year goes by without me running Way Too Cool. That means I really can't miss the January 9th registration opening for the Chuckanut 50k, just one week after Cool.

I've realized that I just need to block out two hours in order to line up my 2010 race schedule set. Those 2 hours have just been hard to come by. Don't get me wrong, I've got my plans more or less set, but I can't afford to miss any of these all too crucial sign up dates.

Anyway, I'm really looking forward to 2010. Last year I started to feel a little burnt out on racing. I thought that maybe I'd just lost some of the desire to compete. However, now, as 2009 comes to a close, I'm itching to get back out and race hard in the new year.

Happy New Year!

Whew!

I did it. I made the cut for Inov 8's 2010 team. I'm pretty sure it was a decision based on my career resume, and not so much on what I did in 2009. Outside of a mediocre race at Chuckanut and a win at the Sun Mountain 50k, my season was pretty lackluster.

Ahhh, but that was 2009. I've got some new tricks up my sleeve for 2010. First and foremost, as I've already stated, I'm taking a break from Western States. That just feels good to say. Anyway, I'm going to focus on 1 or 2 other hundred milers. Bighorn fits nicely into the mix, because it's only a week before Western States, and my last few years of training have been geared toward a June 100 miler. And it sounds like Hal, Ian, and the Rogue Valley Runner's crew may have a hundred happening down their way in September. That will hopefully be the second of my 100's. Then, of course, I'll sprinkle in a handful of 50k's and 50 milers to round out the year.

I'll be wrapping up my running for 2009 in Portugal. There won't be any racing, unless I stumble upon a local road race, but it'll be fun to log some miles abroad. Andrea's family is from Porto, so we're spending Christmas with them. It's not completely new running terrain for me, as this will be my fourth time there, but it's still a whole lot more novel than my daily run-commute to and from work.

Enjoy the holidays!

I Almost Forgot

This coming Saturday is a very big day for many of my fellow ultra runners. For myself it'll be just another Saturday in Seattle. I have nothing at stake in the most anticipated lottery in the sport of ultra running, the Western States 100 drawing. I can certainly appreciate the nervous anticipation and excitement around the lottery. I have been a bundle of nerves myself on lottery day. However, I must admit that I almost forgot that this Saturday was the WS lottery. I've got nothing at stake in this year's random selection, and I'm quite happy about it.

Don't get me wrong. I do love the Western States 100, yet I harbor a lot of ill feelings (I won't say hatred) about it at the same time. As many of you know, Western States hasn't been exactly kind to me. I'm talking purely about the race itself, not the people involved. The canyons, the saw briars, and the heat, oh the scorching heat, all have gotten the best of me. And lets not forget the rubber. Yes, the perfectly smooth rubberized track of Placer High, that got me too.

I've decided that I need at least a year off from beating my head against the Western States wall. I'm not admitting defeat, I'm just recognizing the need to channel some energy elsewhere for a year or two. I like the timing of a June hundred miler though, so I'm thinking about running Bighorn. I've decided I just need to get a little confidence back in running that distance.

Good luck to all those who are eagerly awaiting their lucky draw on Saturday!

Wintumn

Alright, I admit it! I've been suffering a bit from PPJTD. You suspected as much, right? What do you mean you've never heard of PPJTD? You know-Post Pearl Jam Tour Depression. Well I won't call it a full blown depression, but it qualifies as a legitimate bummer. Now they're off gallivanting around Australia and New Zealand while I'm stuck in the gray Seattle drizzle. Ahhh...to be independently wealthy.

Well, my leg is mending nicely, and my mileage is steadily climbing back up. As soggy and dark as Seattle becomes this time of year, it's a wonder anyone runs at all. Yet for some strange reason, I love running in this weather. It makes you feel like you're really accomplishing something, something more than JUST a run. There's an element of being hardcore, and maybe a little crazy, when you're out logging miles in the wind and driving, sideways rain. I love it. Yes, spoken like a true Northwest kid, I know.

It's not quite winter nor fall. I'll call it wintumn

The Board Room

The beautiful thing about laptops is that you can blog from just about anywhere. Like right now I'm sitting in the Alaska Airlines Board Room, awaiting a flight to Newark, NJ. The Board Room is a new place for me, and I must say I could get used to it. I believe that it's typically reserved for First Class passengers and frequent flyer types. Andrea managed to get her paws on a couple of complimentary passes, so now I'm sipping a complimentary Bloody Mary and blogging away in a very comfy leather chair. I'm not a big fan of flying, thus me sipping a Bloody Mary, but I could get used to this.

Anyhoo, why are we going to Newark, NJ? Alaska had a direct flight available to Newark from Seattle. We're actually headed to Philadelphia to see Pearl Jam, and Newark's only an hour and a half away. We're going to catch the final two shows ever at the Spectrum as Pearl Jam closes it down for good. Oh, I can't wait. Rumor has it that the 11pm venue curfew has been lifted for Saturday night's show, and there's talk that the show could push into the wee hours of Sunday morning with special guests galore. I'm trying not to get my hopes up too much, but it's so dang hard.

Let's get back on track. This is a running blog after all. My foot is feeling much better and allowing me to run. Last week and this week will be in the 40+ range. My foot is like 95% healed, but those last 5% are sure taking there sweet time to get right. Nonetheless, it's no longer slowing me down and it feels good to be upping the mileage.