July 22, 2012

Apparently, I'm on the two posts a year program, so I'll try to condense the last six months of training and whatnot to a piece that won't put you to sleep.
This year I finally found my focus and made fast foot travel in the mountains my first priority. Too often in the past I've let my attention run to whatever aspect of training was easiest and most convenient for me. Most of the time this was lifting or breathing hard in the gym. It's not that I found it more enjoyable, it's just that I was strongest where my attention had previously been placed, and running, although it was what I wanted to be good at, was just harder. I've put that behind me, and put in some real work in the mountains this year, along the way having way more fun than ever. The wild places are where I belong and I won't ever forget it. I've run tons of trails this year I've never seen before and followed some routes I've always wanted to. This has not come without a price though, and I am currently dealing with an overuse problem in my right knee. Moderation has never been a strength of mine.
Races haven't been as huge a priority, although there are two on the horizon. I competed as part of a four person team at the 24 Hours of Moab relay, and even though the field of competition was pretty thin, we took second. I'll take it. I did the Salt Lake Century bike ride. I didn't take part officially in the Wahsatch Steeplechase, but I ran the course a week before and managed a 4 minute PR on my own. I'll take that as well. I had very high hopes for the Speedgoat 50K, and although I think I can still set a PR, this knee problem is going to slow me a bit. After that, I'm registered for the Alpine to Slickrock 50 miler, but we'll just see how things unfold. I'm honestly more excited about adventures with my friends. Ridge runs here in the Wasatch and Uintas as well as the Grand Canyon are calling my name.
Dealing with this knee problem has had me thinking ahead to the winter and new goals.  Snowshoeing will for sure be a part of my winter as well as starting training at the Front climbing gym again. I predict more climbing and mountaineering scrambles next year. I even got an ice axe. Gym based goals are in the works too. 3000 calories on the airdyne in 120 minutes sounds like fun.
I'll be riding my precious airdyne until the Speedgoat 50K, and probably after that for a couple weeks. Then, hopefully I'll be back in full swing. Enough of that, here's some pictures. Everyone likes pictures.

The band after the 24 Hours of Moab. I'm the tall one.

10 mile run in Unicoi State Park in North Georgia.

One of many foothill runs waiting for the high country to thaw.

Gobblers Knob with Mike and Rich.

Heading up the South Ridge of Superior.

Looking east from the west summit of Broads Fork Twin Peaks.

Murray and the goat on Wildcat Ridge.

The Pfiefferhorn from Maybird Lakes.

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Hey there! It's been a while, but I'm going to breathe new life into this thing. Although the blog has been silent, my life has kept on moving and things are great. The gym where I work full time, SLC Crossfit, has moved in to a sweet new space and we're adding more and more amazing people to our ranks. I have an awesome job. My personal business is going well too, with several clients in the middle of my programs as we speak. Again, awesome. My wife, Tara, got her name picked to run in the Wasatch 100, so I can tell you now that when the trails thaw (which will be early this year), we will be on the Wasatch course almost every weekend. I've been training hard, maybe harder than ever and I'm moving into race mode stronger and healthier than I can ever remember. I unfortunately did not get picked in the Hardrock 100 lottery, but I've got a great race schedule this year.
To start things off this year, I took part in the Kahtoola Bigfoot Snowshoe Marathon (with the help of SLC Crossfit ) on January 28. With the thin snowpack I decided to not wear snowshoes and go with my Kahtoola microspikes. The course consisted of three 10k loops, two 5k loops and one 2k out and back to finish things off. Coming off almost 5 months of mostly gym training I was curious how things would go. I was pleasantly surprised. I finished in 6 hours and 16 minutes, and even though the field was small, it was good enough for 5th place. My friends did well too, with Mallin coming in under 6 hours for 3rd place, Vi coming in just over 6 hours 30 minutes to take 1st male in snowshoes, and Ed running his first marathon the day before his 40th birthday in 9 hours 30 minutes. It was a beautiful day on a fun course. I'll return to this one for sure.




So what's in store for 2012? A bunch. Here's my race schedule for the year.
January - Kahtoola Bigfoot Snowshoe Marathon (6hrs 16mins)
March - 24 Hours of Moab relay
April - Bonneville Shoreline Trail Marathon
May - Grand Canyon rim to rim to rim
June - Wahsatch Steeplechase
July - Millcreek 50K
July - Speedgoat 50K
July - Katcina Mosa 100K
September - Moab Alpine to Slickrock 50 miler
October - Grand Canyon rim to rim to rim (you know who you are)
November - Antelope Island 100K

I'm going for it this year, and I'm determined to make a serious run at this ultra endurance thing. My training has undergone a major shift and it's time stop screwing around. Let's do this.

12 tips for making the most of your gym time

     I'm excited to tell you that I've registered for the Mountain Athlete coaching certification! I'll be heading up to Jackson for three days of programming, theory, practical application, as well as two written tests and a gnarly fitness test. I have until the beginning of December to prepare and I've been training like a madman!
It will be a great learning experience, and as long as I can pass the physical test (I'm not worried about the written tests), I'll come out of it with a certification. I have a lot of work to do in the strength department, and I think I can do it, but I'll be cutting it close. We'll see!

     In other news, I spent the weekend in Boulder, Colorado helping my beautiful wife run the 24 Hours of Boulder. Despite shadeless heat and stomach issues, she managed 50 miles. I'm proud!

     As you may know, my full time gig is coaching at Salt Lake City Crossfit. I'm lucky to do what I love for a living and I've met some amazing people there. I've been thinking lately about what we do there and what should be expected of a trainee. The coaches have put together your workouts, are there to provide you with guidance and motivation, and are there to ensure your safety. As a trainee, what else is required other than showing up?

1. Show up prepared. This means show up on time. Show up rested, hydrated, and fed. Bring a water bottle and your post workout nourishment. Show up with the proper footwear, ready to run, jump, or lift. Show up with a positive attitude, ready to work hard.
2. Be honest with yourself. Your inner dialogue should reflect the reality of your strengths and weaknesses, not what you have learned to believe and not what you want to believe.
3. Be willing to work hard. Be comfortable with uncomfortable. Know the difference between pain and hard work. If it doesn't hurt some, you're not trying hard enough.
4. Listen to your coaches. We've been training ourselves and others for a long time. We're here for a reason, so listen. What we tell you is for your own good. We're here to make sure you're safe, to push you beyond your self imposed limits, and to teach you new things. We want you to succeed. When we're talking, be quiet and listen. When we ask you to do something (short of jumping off a bridge), trust us and comply.
5. Technique before intensity. Focus on doing it well before trying to do it faster or heavier. Your RX means nothing if your deadlift looks like garbage and you can't stand up straight the next day. Who cares how fast your time was if you look like a wet noodle doing push ups? Leave your ego at home.
6. Ask questions. We'll never ask you to do anything that we can't explain the why of. Asking questions helps you learn. When we don't have the answer, we'll find out and learn something too. Thoughtful questions help everyone.
7. Be consistent. Everyone has different goals and everyone is busy. Taking this into consideration, you should have a minimum number of training sessions per week. Whether it's one or five, you need to be consistent. If you show up once a month or every two weeks you're wasting your time, and to some degree ours. 
8. Quantify your training. Keep a training log, whether it's written or on line. Record every detail of every workout. Track what you eat, how you sleep, how much you hydrate, how you feel, how you perform, and how you look. 
9. Have goals. This can be anything from fitting into a pair of pants, getting your first pull up, taking care of back pain, or taking part in competition. Progress is rarely random. Pick a goal, spend the time, do the work.
10. Spend time on self care and recovery. We can give you a million self care and recovery strategies and tools, but we can't follow you home and make you do it. Stretch, foam roll, eat, sleep, hydrate, ice bath, massage, etc. Spend one minute recovering for every minute spent training.
11. Conduct yourself with dignity. How you behave under the stress and discomfort of a workout in a group is a good indicator of how you behave out in the real world. Work hard. Don't cheat. Help and encourage others. Clean up after yourself. If you don't have anything positive to say, don't say anything at all. Don't make a spectacle of yourself, we all know you're working hard, there's no reason to yell obscenities with every rep.
12. Have fun. You choose to do this. Make the best of it and make the most of it. Make some friends and challenge each other.

Get to work!

Put your training in context

     When a sport specific athlete tells me they do crossfit, I think "No, you use hybrid training to cross train." I would only call a training program crossfit if the end goal of that training program was to be fit in a general way, or to train for a general physical preparedness competition (crossfit games).  The goals are different, and context matters.

     My life in the fitness world started with my interest in mixed martial arts. The time I spent on the mat and in the cage was made more efficient by spending time in the weight room. Strength and conditioning for fighters is pretty similar to hybrid training a lot of the time, so this type of training is where I got my start and began to learn. It wasn't crossfit, because there was a clear goal ahead at a specified time. The training progressed in waves with time further away from fight night spent building strength, some time mixing in weights with circuits and time closer to fight night spent building metabolic capacity. You might recognize this concept as periodization. That's the difference between crossfit and hybrid training. Time and goals. Context.

     Crossfit is a hell of program, and even though there's a whole bunch of bickering and silliness floating around the internet, don't be swayed. If your goal is to be in great shape and to be ready for almost any type of casual athletic endeavour, then crossfit is the way to go. If your goal is to compete in the crossfit games, then crossfit is the only way to go. The crossfit athletes that I train with at my gym are unbelievable, and their capacity is off the charts. These guys could jump in many athletic events and do fairly well without any specific preparation. Their goals are open ended and typically without a specific time frame. Generally ready, all the time.

A goal or event focused athlete, however, has goals that are easier to define and will be tested on a specific date. They know what they want to do and when. Hybrid style training can still be a small part of the overall training program, but it has to be appropriate to the current focus or cycle.

     I am an endurance athlete. By that I mean that I take my training seriously and I want to do well at a certain thing. For me it's trail running. My training now revolves around this goal, and I'm planning ahead to events in the distant future. I have sport specific goals and personal goals where training is concerned. I have a list of priorities. I can't rely on hybrid style training all the time to get me where I want to go. Can hybrid training be a part of the process? Absolutely.

     If I have a definite goal on a definite date, then I can't develop all my capacities at the same time forever. Not if I want to perform at the top end of my potential. I'm planning on several events next summer, so I know when to be ready. I know what the distances, terrain and time frames are, so I know what to be ready for. Building up to an event can take a while and there are many aspects of physical capacity to focus on.
     For an untrained athlete, I think the first step is building a solid foundation of general physical preparedness. That's hybrid training (crossfit) if you weren't paying attention. This means getting fit enough to train. Not to toot my horn, but as far as GPP goes, I has it. So the next step would be overall strength. We talked a bit about strength standards a couple posts ago, so let's get up to standard. This is where some folks fall apart, because you can't develop strength and endurance simultaneously. One can be generally maintained while the other is developed, but there is ALWAYS compromise. This winter I will be getting strong (again). Over the summer I ran a lot and lost some strength, but that is a compromise I was willing to take to reach my goal. The great thing about getting strong is that the process is pretty straight forward. Lift heavy, eat, rest, repeat. There are MANY strength programs out there and I rely on the strength experts when it comes to building strength. When you need to specialize in something, you look to the specialists to help. Where to go for strength?
Jim Wendler
Westside Barbell
Mark Rippetoe
Those are a few of the most notable. Follow the recommendations of one of these for the winter, and you WILL get stronger. You can't go wrong with focusing on strength for a few months. You don't have to get big to lift heavy, and you don't have to give up on your sport. You simply shift your focus for a short amount of time, and enter your sport season stronger, more durable and generally more useful. Compromise, timing and context. I take these time proven programs and tweak them to fit my modest strength goals.
And if crossfit is what you're interested in, and you're in Salt Lake City, then the only place to go is SLC Crossfit. It's all the good things about crossfit minus the egos and high socks. Plus the coaches are pretty badass.

September 15, 2011

And we're back!
I had a great time this past weekend pacing Geoff Crockett at the Wasatch 100, and although he had to drop at mile 93, I think he should be proud of himself. I started running with Geoff at Lambs Canyon at mile 53 and ran with him through the night to Brighton at mile 75. He pushed through some bad times up there, and by the time we got to the Guardsmen Pass road he was totally delirious. I caught him running with his eyes closed a couple times and at one point he started mumbling incoherently. The only thing I could make out of this mumbling was the phrase, "you're doing that farmer shit aren't you?" I asked him to repeat himself, but he just laughed and said, "I don't know." I think the altitude was screwing with him in combination with his inability to stomach anything sweet. We made it to Brighton and with a lot of prodding and threatening, pushed him out the door almost an hour later. He soon developed some pretty disgusting blisters under the nails of his big toes, which slowed him down to a crawl. Knowing he would not make the 36 hour cutoff at the finish he made the tough decision to drop at mile 93. You're a badass, Mr. Crockett.
So I ran 22 miles on Friday night, and soon realized that my feet are still hurting from Leadville. They hurt deep in the bones and joints. I'm going to take a break from running hard and jumping for a few weeks to let things heal a bit more. This postpones my plans to begin regular speed sessions, but there's always the gym and the bike. The gym work is going well and my strength is coming back slowly. Yesterday I back squatted a 3 rep max of 235, which should put my 1 rep max at about 250. That's 50 pounds lighter than last winter, but no big deal.
Yes, it's time to lift HEAVY.

Here's a shot from the mile 75 aid station at Brighton. Geoff is feeling the effect.

How strong is strong enough?

There's a lot of exciting things going on around here.

     First of all, I'm officially launching Ascend/Descend coaching services. If you are preparing for an event or adventure or just need to take your training to the next level I can help you improve any aspect of your fitness. Click on the Coaching tab at the top for details.

     Secondly, I'll be pacing my friend Geoff at the Wasatch 100 this weekend. I get to run the section from Lambs Canyon to Brighton. I'm excited to run this particular section and I'm pumped to watch Geoff succeed. This guy is FAST, but I think after 50 miles he'll slow down enough for me.

     Last, but not least, I mailed off my application for the 2012 Hardrock 100. This is my dream race. I've wanted to do this longer than I have actually been running. I love the mountains, and there's something about altitude that really excites me. Forty eight hours to finish 100 miles of running with over 67,000 feet of elevation change. I'll find out if I made it in sometime in December. If this doesn't pan out, I've got some adventures up my sleeve for next summer. We'll see! Check out the race website: Hardrock 100.

     And with that I'd like to turn my attention to the cooler nights and earlier sunsets. The cold, cold winter is soon to arrive and after a solid Spring and Summer spent running and racing, my attention has turned to strength and speed. It's a fact that running long makes you weak. Running long and weak are relative terms, of course. My long runs aren't that long for ultra running standards and my definition of weak may seem normal or even strong to many people, especially ultra runners. For the last couple years, I've been fascinated with developing relative strength. Relative strength is the maximum force exerted in relation to body weight. Instead of shooting for some standard number on each lift, like a 400lb back squat, shooting for some standard based on your body weight makes more sense to me. Mountain Athlete (a great gym, with damn good programming) has a list of relative strength standards that I find pretty spot on. I omit a couple things from their list and add some of my own. The following are the strength standards that I will be working towards and the standards that I think any endurance athlete would benefit from obtaining. 

                                MEN         WOMEN

Dead lift                   2 x BW      1.5 x BW

Back squat            1.5 x BW    1.25 x BW

Front squat          1.25 x BW         1 x BW

Power clean         1.25 x BW         1 x BW

Bench press         1.25 x BW         1 x BW

Press                        1 x BW      .75 x BW

Pull up                   +.5 x BW    +.25 x BW

*All standards are 1 rep maxes. BW = body weight.   

     From a powerlifting standpoint, these standards are laughable, and from an endurance standpoint they may seem unreasonable. I included upper body movements for my own benefit, and if you are an endurance athlete you could live without working on these, but I think a strong upper body can benefit every athlete. Besides, don't you want to be capable of battling a bear on your next trail run? You could at least try to make it a fight. At the very least, you should be able to take a box from the floor and put it on a shelf when you're old.

         

29 hours

     After almost 30 weeks of consistent training, my goal of running and finishing a 100 mile trail race has been realized. I've been putting off writing this because I'm still processing the experience, so I'll just run through the details and try to gain some insight.

     I don't think the reality of what I was attempting really struck me until I got the race info packet in my email. Mandatory medical check ins, strict aid station cut-off times, elevation profile...it was all there, waiting for me to put words into action.
     Tara and I rented a van and made the drive to Leadville, Colorado on Thursday afternoon and slept at a rest stop in Glenwood Springs that night. Friday morning we arrived at our destination. The mountains around Leadville are massive. They're not as dramatic and jagged as the Wasatch, but the amount of space above treeline let you know that you're up a bit higher, and breathing is going to cost more. The medical check in was nothing more than a weigh in and receiving a wristband with your emergency contact and physical stats. Check that off the list. I had been looking forward to the pre-race briefing, but the gymnasium where it was held was packed to the rafters with racers and crew. The elevation was starting to work on me, and the heat, lack of space and overall stuffiness of the meeting drove us outside with a lot of others. Not being able to hear anything from outside, we decided to risk missing important updates and drove out to a couple of the aid stations. After scouting out some of the directions we found a quiet pull off and slept for a couple hours. Not much else to do that day but rest and make sure everything is organized. We headed into town for last minute supplies and dinner and hunted down a campsite early. The nerves were really buzzing and it was perfect timing for peace and quiet with Tara. With everything organized and ready to go we hit the sack just in time for the most hellish lightning storm to tuck us in. Instead of passing through, this one just sat overhead and unleashed its fury. Thunder and lightning has a special quality at altitude. The sound rolls and rumbles, almost like it's flowing overhead. A perfect confidence booster to help us sleep.
     2 a.m came quickly, and the morning preparations and short drive to the start are a blur. The town was very much alive even at this hour. All the businesses opened early and people were everywhere. Then, all of a sudden it was time to line up at the start. All of my inner demons were talking loudly at this point. "What are you doing here?", "These people all have something you don't. Go home." Without Tara being there, I might have listened to them, but I couldn't let her down or the people who were at the time driving down to help me.  It was time to find out what I'm made of. I kissed Tara goodbye and waited for the gun. "You're better than you think you are, you can do more than you think you can." That choked me up. The emotions were running high. Countdown. Gunshot. We were off. 625 people running through the dark with lights on our heads, all toward the same goal. I cranked up the headphones and tried to soak it all in.
     From the start to May Queen is 13.5 miles. It's beautiful and runs around the north side of Turquoise Lake. Around mile 9 I twisted my knee enough to partially pop my kneecap out of groove. This is a problem I've been dealing with since I was a kid, and a few years ago I had surgery to correct it in the right knee. This was the left, and although it hurt, I just ignored it. The pain went away and I kept on trucking. I arrived at May Queen at 6:32 a.m. Tara greeted me with a smile, fuel and water. Doing great, feeling great. 13.5 miles in 2 hours and 32 minutes.
     May Queen to Fish Hatchery is 10 miles and climbs over 11,000ft Sugarloaf Pass. It's a long sustained climb and one hell of a bomber downhill. I rolled into the aid station at 9:05 a.m. It was starting to heat up so I changed into lighter clothing, filled up, got a kiss from my wife and I was off. 23.5 miles in 5 hours 5 minutes.
     Fish Hatchery to Half Pipe is 5.6 miles and is what I remember as my least favorite part. Lot's of asphalt leaving Fish Hatchery and mostly dirt road for the rest. It was hot and exposed and this short section took 1 hour 54 minutes. I lost focus on this section and fell behind on my calories. To make matters worse, this is the only aid station where I would not see Tara. I stumbled through at 11 a.m. 29.1 miles in 7 hours.
     Half Pipe to Twin Lakes is 10 miles. I rallied through here and got caught up on calories. I was oddly excited to get through Twin Lakes and climb Hope Pass. We moved off the dirt road to more single track here and it was shaded so I picked up the pace. I made it to Twin Lakes at 1:20 p.m. 40 minutes ahead of the cut off and feeling positive. I took a bit more time here fueling up, cooling off and taking care of my feet. It was good to see Tara and she got me refocused. I picked up trekking poles here for the climb. 39.5 miles in 9 hours 20 minutes.
     Twin Lakes to Hope Pass is 5 miles and tops out at 12,600 ft and involved about 6 water crossings. I love going uphill. I'm not a fast runner, but I can motor uphill. I made it to the Hopeless aid station way under the cutoff while trying to outrun some ugly looking clouds. This aid station was surreal. The whole camp is packed in by volunteers with llamas. As soon as I broke above treeline I was treated to the sight of about 10 (I'm guessing) llamas grazing in a field. There were two or three runners on their hands and knees throwing up and several others laying on their backs in the grass. Despite all my worries about the elevation, I felt great. After grabbing a cup of potato soup from a friendly volunteer I headed over the pass down to Winfield.
     Hope Pass to Winfield is 5 miles and marks the turnaround point of the race. Halfway there I got to see Tara. The actual aid station was so crowded that they were allowing crew access at the trailhead, which is where I saw her. I headed up the dusty dirt road that leads to Winfield where I picked up my pacer, Upper Level Gumby. Gumby and Scooter (Stryker!) greeted me at the aid station and directed me to the medical tent. I started the race at 188lbs and weighed in here at 185.6lbs. Looks like I was doing a decent job staying hydrated. Gumby and I checked out and started the 2.5 miles back to where Tara was waiting. Arriving at the trailhead I changed into some warmer gear and grabbed a headlamp. It felt good to put on some dry socks, but my feet were showing some wear. Now we had the daunting task of going back over Hope Pass. I tried not to think about it, and having some company for the trip was a big pick me up. 50 miles in 13 hours and 32 minutes.
     Winfield to Twin Lakes is 10 miles. We made it back over the pass to Twin Lakes 7 minutes faster than the first trip. It rained a bit on the way up and we paused at the Hopeless aid station only long enough to get some hot soup. We rolled into Twin Lakes at 9:38 p.m. The non negotiable cut off time is 9:45 p.m. I had just enough time to change socks, choke down some food and get a kiss from the wife. I picked up Dan Chace as my pacer at this point. 60.5 miles in 17 hours and 38 minutes.
     Twin Lakes to Half Pipe is 10 miles. This started the real battle. Shaving the cutoff time so close at Twin Lakes really crushed my morale, but it also got my mind turning toward escapes. I didn't see any way with the amount of pain I was in, that we could possibly make it to Half Pipe in time. I thought I would get cut at the next station and I was okay with that. I didn't care anymore. Dan had other plans and we arrived at Half Pipe at 12:30 a.m, a full 45 minutes ahead of schedule. I was secretly disappointed that I had to continue, but it was uplifting too. My feet were really beginning to hurt and I knew that blisters were growing on the balls of both feet. 70.5 miles in 20 hours 29 minutes.
     Half Pipe to Fish Hatchery is 5.6 miles. Gumby took over at this point and I think he knew he had his work cut out for him. The section ahead was just soul crushingly boring flat asphalt. You would think that I could speed up here, but that's not how I work. Not only am I a poor flat runner, but the hard surface was hell on my feet. Gumby got me to Fish Hatchery at 2:30 am. That's 30 minutes ahead of schedule. I started to think I could do this. 76 miles in 22 hours and 30 minutes.
     Fish Hatchery to May Queen is 10 miles. It took us 3 hours and 34 minutes. I regained my sense of humor here if only for a short time. In the aid station, I dropped my favorite mitten in the port o john. In my delerious state this was the pinnacle of hilarity. As Gumby and I left the aid station we passed a few houses, and on the lawn of one of these houses (at 2:30 am mind you) were several loud speakers. Right as we passed, Chariots of Fire began to play. I think Gumby was as tired as I was at that point, and he all but lost it. "It couldn't have been scripted better!" This sense of well being quickly passed as we began to climb the Power Line trail. I convinced myself, and Gumby, more times than I can remember that we were for sure at the top. It just never ended. I could feel every step pressurizing my blisters, forcing the skin to separate more so the fluid could move. I was in agony. We climbed and climbed and climbed. Gumby kept on me about hydrating, eating and moving and miraculously, we made the top. For real this time. The long anticipated downhill was hard to take advantage of at this point though, because my feet were done. We ran when I could, but it was infrequent. We rolled into May Queen at 6:04 a.m. 24 minutes ahead of schedule. Gumby had pulled me through probably the darkest part of the race. Arriving at May Queen I knew I could do it.  86.5 miles in 26 hours and 4 minutes.
     May Queen to the finish is 13.5 miles. To finish under the 30 hour cut off, I had 3 hours and 56 minutes to cover a half marathon. I knew it was possible, but I knew it was going to hurt. Dan was again my pacer and we headed out. My friend and the person I consider to be my running mentor, Murray, said to me before I left Salt Lake, "Enjoy the sunrise." The way he said it really made those words stick. He said it like only a person who knows something you don't know can. We were headed east along the north side of Turqoiuse Lake. The sun began to rise and the sky turned pink and everything in my life seemed right. I was still in an incredible amount of pain, but it was just one of the many things in my awareness. I was going to finish. We cruised through Tabor Boat ramp where we got to see Tara and Gumby and Scooter for a moment and all of a sudden we had 7 miles to go. We left the single track and the lake, crossed a road, descended a steep hill and we were on a dirt road. This dirt road was like the final level of some sadistic video game. Dante's final level. It was flat and runnable, and it was like a treadmill. We ran for 30 seconds at a time. We ran from ribbon to ribbon. I asked a woman, how much further? I think she said 2 miles. Why would she lie to me when I was in so much pain? It went on and on and on. Other racers were questioning too. They all had a look of panic. Dan tried to encourage me and get me to run. I thought that he must be trying to save himself. We were trapped there. And then we saw them. Ribbons marking a junction. Pavement. The pavement was short lived and we turned again to a shorter section of eternal dirt road. Buildings became more frequent. The pavement returned. A high school. Do you want some water? No. We crested a hill and in the distance I saw it. FINISH. We started a gentle trot. It was a long hill to the finish. Gumby came running down. "You've got to pick it up, people are taking a long time on this section." I threatened him with a beating if he's joking and I start running. Sprinting. I'm running so hard that I can't breathe and I'm starting to sob. Tears are welling up. My feet hit the red carpet at a blistering sprint of probably 4 miles per hour. I break the tape. Stop running. My beautiful wife is there in tears. She tells me how proud she is of me. I stoop over. Someone puts a medal around my neck and rubs my back. Stop running. I can stop. I stand there for a moment. Medical check in. Only 2lbs down. I lay in the grass. Congratulations. Thanks. Gratitude. Relief. Goodbyes. I can barely walk. 100 miles in 29 hours and 35 minutes.
     Sitting at the post race meeting waiting to get my buckle was torture. I loved seeing everyone acknowledged and awarded, but I felt like if I didn't get out of there my legs would turn to concrete. I lived and I got my buckle.
     Arriving at the hotel some hours later I could just barely walk. Laying on the bed of the hotel I started to shiver like I had a fever. I couldn't walk now without help. I laid in the shower and let the water run over me. Tara helped me to the bed and we slept.
     It's been a week now and I'm almost recovered. Still a bit of knee pain and more than a bit of foot pain. The swelling is gone and the blisters are beginning to peel.
     Running 100 miles was an intense experience to say the least. I've expanded the map of my self and I explored some territory that would have remained unknown had I not taken the leap. I had to tame some strong demons to do it. Every self doubt that I've ever had ran through my mind during those 29 hours. Every failure and shortcoming tempted me to add this to their list. Every shitty thing that ever happened to me came to mind and I thought, "Why should this time be any different?" Every time I ever quit on myself came to mind. It's easier to repeat failure than it is to forge ahead to what you want. Sometimes "almost" seems like enough. I had time to sort, to organize me. There was no satori, or dramatic flash of realization or brilliance, but just a soft reminder that I've heard a million times before. Life is good just the way it is. 29 hours will boil you down. The core of what makes me happy stood out in my mind, and they were all the simple things I already have and already am. I'm sure I'll forget this lesson soon and begin grasping and reaching and losing sleep any day now, but this lesson leaves more of a mark every time I relearn it.
     I am forever grateful for the help and encouragement I received leading up to and during this. Gumby, Dan and Scooter, that was a long way to drive and a lot of sleep to lose. Thank you. I would not have made it without your help.
     Tara, my wife, thanks for putting up with all the time I spent in the mountains on the weekends and all the time when I was too wasted from training to be fun. Thanks for staying awake for 38 hours and being at every aid station and taking care of me. You know I only do these things to impress you.

                                                                           Nothing left.