Muddy Mesa fun

Recently my Saturday run has been up south on Ninth, then along the Mesa Trail in Chautauqua. It makes for a hell of a climb to start and Mesa is a great place for 'quick feet'.
Last week my 90 minute run brought me a respectable 7.5 miles. When I was finished though, I knew I had more in the tank and vowed to get to 8 miles in the same time this week.
In between this week and last, there was the small matter of the first snowstorm of the year here in Boulder. Twelve inches of snow fell, turning Mesa trail into a snowy, icy, slushy, muddy mess.
In spite of this, I still managed to pull off 8.04 miles in the trail nastiness... and I still felt spectacular. Next time I do that route, I'll see if I can push it to nine miles instead.
I also decided to take some video of my feet during one of the descents, being curious to see them myself. I've also posted the video for your viewing amusement.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nm5vN99lnew&feature=youtube_gdata_player

An Ultra Dinner

Last night I was able to attend an event hosted by the Boulder Trail Runners at Sherpa's in downtown Boulder. The event was a roundtable question and answer session with four of the best trail ultra-runners in the world, Scott Jurek, Tony Krupicka, Dave Mackey and Geoff Roes.
I won't get into everything they said, I wouldn't be able to do it justice, but I'll cover a few highlights. The nature of the sport seems to keep these guys very grounded and human. They're still very competitive and have healthy egos but the lack of big money in ultrarunning seems to keep them more normal and approachable than you might expect.
One of the best questions of the evening could be summed up in a single word... "Why?" The answers they gave for why they do what they do were simple and fairly straight forward yet still bore a lot of meaning. The endorphin rush, love of nature, ego, because it's there. One of them, Jurek I believe, observed that he had never come back from a run and thought afterwards "I wish I hadn't done that." There were a lot of heads nodding in the room to that comment, mine among them.
At the end of the evening as people dribbled out of the restaurant, the foursome continued chatting with the attendees who had packed the upstairs area almost to bursting, and by the time I left my mind was abuzz with ideas and thoughts so that when I went to bed I lay there almost ninety minutes before finally finding sleep. Those ideas are still churning in my mind, we'll see where they lead to.

2011 Running Goals

It's getting to be close to the New Year so I thought I would go over some of my running goals for the coming year.
My first goal, at least chronologically, is to win the individual run portion of the USAT Club Challenge. USA Triathlon does an annual event over three months during which members of triathlon clubs log their training mileage. There are multiple facets to the competition and the one that I want to focus on is during February, which is the run focused month. Whichever athlete logs the most miles during February, wins. Last year's winner had 350 miles, I figure that if I shoot for 400, that should be sure to do the job. I'm looking at the whole month of February as one very long endurance event.
My second goal is actually my primary goal for the year. The Leadman. 284.2 miles in 5 events in under two months. The first thought I had when I heard of it was "What kind of idiot would do something like that?" My second thought was, "I've got to try it!" I'm that kind of idiot I suppose.
The third goal is to finish three 100 mile trail races this year. Currently I'm eyeing Moab in late March, Leadville in August (part of the Leadman) and Boulder in October.
There are two or three other races I'm eyeing, but those three goals should keep me pretty busy for most of the year.

Shoefree Running

Since I started running seriously (for me) eight years ago I have off and on tried my hand, or rather my feet, at barefoot running. I can't say for sure what first prompted it, it may have been a suggestion in one of the many running books I owned to do sprints barefoot. Or it may have been a nostalgic novelty of my childhood summers when the only time I wore shoes was when I went into a store.

In either case during my preparation for the 2004 NYC Marathon I would occasionally find myself stepping out for a run unshod. As I was living in Boston at the time, running the streets and sidewalks sans-soles was not terribly appealing since the sidewalks often had glass or other less pleasnat material on them. In fact, it was a disgusting idea. So I would trot over to a nearby track and do laps on the grass. The onset of cold weather followed by an extended break from running after the mearathon meant I didn't pick it up again for some time.

At graduate school running was my great escape and I would slip back into barefoot running whenever it rained. A lap around campus on wet concrete and grass was both more exhilirating and relaxing than any other escape I could conceive.

When I moved to Boulder I continue my shoeless jaunts in the rain, though these were fewer in Boulder's dry climate. They were also still almost always quite short, largely because I was self-conscious about it. It attracted odd looks, even in Boulder.

Lately, though, I've been doing it more. In part because I started running in Vibrams and in part because I miss the sensation of the earth/grass/road on my feet. I enjoy feeling more connected to the environment around me and the sensation of nimble-footedness that you cannot get in any pair of running shoes. And really, isn't enjoying it what it's all about?

Chasing Boston

This blog was born as a result of, and named after, my dream to qualify for the Boston Marathon. As much as I enjoy the triathlon stuff, at my core I'm still a runner, it's just who I am. I am Chasing Boston.

So where am I in regards to this dream?
Well, first of all, to get there I need to finish a certified marathon in 3:10:59 or less. That's a 7:17 pace.
My first marathon I finished in 4:52:04, an 11:10 pace. I'm not sure what my current marathon pace would be, but a 5k at a 7:17 pace would probably be pushing it (though I think I'm very close).
I do feel confident I could do a marathon in under a 10:00 pace, but beyond that, I'm not sure. Yet.
it will be exciting to get my 5k pace down below 7:17. It would be like finally having that pace in range...

Run x2

Tuesday, April 10th 5pm
Cool, sunny
Course: Boulder Canyon
Distance 5.2k
Time/HR
2:02 / 137 (home to Boulder Creek/9th)
7:02 / 166 (9th to Park)
5:59 / 170 (Park to Turnaround at Curve)
5:44 / 155
6:05 / 173
1:50 / 182
t = 28:42


Thursday, April 12th 5:30pm
35, Flurries
Course: Boulder Canyon
Distance 5.2k
Time/HR
2:12 / 144
7:09 / 166
6:10 / 174
5:26 / 167
6:12 / 173
2:07 / 177
t = 29:16 / 169

I like the Boulder Canyon run, it's scenic and is all uphill on the way out, then downhill on the way back. The trail is well maintained (if a bit sandy at the end).

Powered by ScribeFire.