Snake River Canyon Half Marathon - Race Report

My training for Boston is on schedule, and I'm feeling fit.

Saturday was my big tune-up race, the Snake River Canyon Half Marathon, put on by the wonderful folks at Palouse Road Runners.

This race unofficially marks the beginning of spring running on the Palouse. Temperatures in the canyon are usually near 50 degrees for the race, and it's usually one of the first runs of the year when you can appropriately wear shorts. But this year we received a cold blast of winter on race day. Race-time temperatures were in the mid-20's and snow was fluttering in the air all morning. The canyon is also notorious for brutal headwinds on the out section of this pancake flat out-n-back course. We still had the headwinds (~10-15mph), but it wasn't nearly as bad as we've seen in the past.

I'm hoping to blister my marathon PR at Boston, so my training has been geared - more than ever -toward running a fast time at a road marathon. I'm not doing track stuff or anything like that (I'm not that invested in my marathon PR), but I have been doing pace-specific training runs for the first time in my life. And it's been paying off. I've seen some of my (admittedly soft) shorter-distance road PRs fall the last couple months.

So I was feeling pretty good about myself heading into the race.

Race Goals
A goal: sub-1:19
B goal: sub-1:20
C goal: beat my PR (1:21:09)

The gun went off and after a quarter of a mile there was a group of 20 or so slowly pulling away. I was running with my buddy Dan Froelich (we had the same A goal). The faster group was doing 5:50's or so - which was a bit faster than we wanted, but with a group that big there is quite an upside when you're running into a headwind. We decided it was worth sticking with them, so we hurried up to get on the train.

Then around two miles the group of 20 or so split into two groups when about 10 guys starting surging. Too quick for us, so we settled into the second half of the pack with a few familiar faces (Dan Hollingshead and Chris Morlan). Around mile four, our group started splintering a bit, and the wind started to become a factor. The last couple miles into the wind before the turnaround was starting to get tougher than I was hoping it would be.

Chris hit the turnaround first, then I hit it a little behind him in about 39:45. I was just off my A goal pace but still feeling optimistic that I could make up the lost time with the help of the tailwind. Dan and Dan were just behind me at the turnaround.

Nothing eventful on the way back. It was just a long, lonely attempt trying to hold pace. Chris held a 15 to 20 second advantage over me most of the way back. For four miles or so I tried to slowly reel him in, but it wasn't happening. Every once in awhile I'd feel a gust of wind hit me from behind, and I kept imagining it was the Snake River kicking me in the butt to "go faster, Scott!"

With three miles to go, I was still under my 1:19 pace...I just needed to hold it.


With about two miles to go, Chris started fading a little and I snuck up beside him and then eased by. "Hey, Chris." "Hey, Scott." "Hoping to hold this pace to sneak under 1:19," I said. "Dig deep. You're almost there," he said.

I hadn't looked back since the turnaround, so I didn't know where Dan and Dan were. I was hoping one of them would catch up with me so we could run with each other to the finish.

With about a half mile to go, I finally knew I had 1:19 in the bag. I tried to make a little bit of a surge to see if I had anything left in the tank. There wasn't much left, but that last mile was my second fastest of the day.

I crossed the finish line in 1:18:17. (official results)

I'm pretty stoked with how I ran. It has me feeling good as I start counting down to Boston. Now that my big tune-up race is done, I can officially start getting excited about the starting line in Hopkinton.

Keep running!

-Scott

Winter Training, and 2014 International Race Announcement

It's that time of the year when all the Pullman gray starts sneaking under your skin. Where's the sun? No one knows.

I spent a long weekend in Washington DC for a work conference (Annie came too, and we spent a couple extras days in town to visit her brother and sister-in-law). No break from winter there.

Mount Vernon Trail along the Potomac River
(just south of DC)

Icy Mount Vernon Trail

Then back to Pullman and more winter. When the roads are clear of ice and snow, it's nice to make the 45-minute drive down into the valley for some usually snowless trail running along the Snake River. There's a short trail system (8-10 miles of spaghetti-style trails) that can temporarily take my mind off the dozens of feet of snow covering my Moscow Mountain trails right now. 

Winter Trail Running at Hells Gate State Park, Lewiston, ID
with a couple of the dogs and a few of the guys.

The Snake River Canyon Half Marathon is a month away. I'm looking forward to using that as a gauge to see where my fitness is a few weeks out of Boston. So far I feel like training is going well, though it's difficult to get a solid long run in with snowy and icy roads to run on. I took about 15 seconds off my 5k PR a couple weeks ago, so I guess that's a good indicator that my fitness isn't too bad right now.

I'm excited about running Boston again.

----

One of my favorite things to do during winter is to daydream about all the awesome things I'll be doing during the summer. Annie and I made separate top-10 lists last year of the place we want to visit most. Greece made each of our lists, so that's where we're going this year! To keep my tradition of running a race in a new country each year, I signed up for the Mount Olympus Marathon. It's a lot like the Pikes Peak Marathon, only steeper (but at less altitude). I'm super excited about this one. Super super excited. But I'm going to hold off on my true excitement until after Boston, because I'm super excited about Boston too.

Mount Olympus Marathon, Greece

Keep running!

-Scott

New Years

My #1 goal for 2014 is to stay healthy. I had a few down months in 2013 because of the Achilles. It's still not 100% (some say it will never be completely/100% healthy), but it feels strong - maybe 95%?- and I'm running with confidence. One thing I have learned to do (or that I'm going to try to do more of), is to take it slower and easier after big runs and races. For example: I will no longer race less than two weeks after a 100-mile race. That didn't work for me this past year.

With no big winter race plans this year, training has been relaxed. But I'm headed to Boston again in April! So January 1st was my start date to build-up for Boston. I'm hoping to stay healthy and run a PR (sub-2:55) or faster. If I'm healthy and the weather cooperates, I'm pretty confident I can sneak under 2:50.

I'm getting close to choosing my 2014 destination race. It's exciting. When we have our plane tickets purchased and I'm registered (registration open January 23), then I'll make an announcement.

Until then, enjoy a couple photos from one of my (and Sadie's) favorite local running destinations.

Keep running!

-Scott

Trail Running in the Grand Canyon

Like many trail runners, running across the Grand Canyon is one of the bucket list biggies. Since last year, I had been hatching a plan to do a double crossing (40+ miles) sometime this fall. My buddy, Buzz, was all-in too. We set our sights on Thanksgiving week and made travel arrangements. Last month Buzz was still dealing with some lingering legs issues from the Moscow Mountain Madness 50k in Sept that kept him from getting in a solid long run training. So a couple weeks ago he made the smart decision to back out of the double crossing, but still planned to make the trip and do some shorter runs. I contemplated doing a solo attempt, but in the end decided to back out of that attempt too. The new plan was that Buzz and I would run a couple shorter runs together, then I'd tackle a bigger run on my own. We focused on the trails with easy access from the South Rim.

Map of the trails we ran on this trip. 

Day 1 - South Kaibab to Bright Angel (~16.5 miles)

These are the most-used trails. We ran down South Kaibab, but after a mile or so we pretty much had the trail to ourselves all the way down to the river. A 5,000' descent in about seven miles is enough to get your legs warmed up. The canyon had some rain (and snow) a few days before we got there, so the trails were in great shape. No dust, and only a few muddy spots.

We hit the river and headed west along the River Trail to hook up with the big ascent up Bright Angel. The 5,000' climb back up to the rim is relentless; by the end we weren't doing much running at all. Bright Angel was pretty crowded the final three miles or so. 

I could attempt to use words to explain the beauty and immensity of the Grand Canyon, but it would be fruitless. I could try to take pretty pictures too, but it wouldn't approach the reality.

"The wonders of the Grand Canyon cannot be adequately represented in symbols of speech, nor by speech itself. The resources of the graphic art are taxed beyond their powers in attempting to portray its features. Language and illustration combined must fail." - John Wesley Powell

Up high on South Kaibab

Buzz descending South Kaibab

Buzz on South Kaibab switchbacks

Buzz descending South Kaibab

Bright Angel ascent

Bright Angel Ascent

Bright Angel snaking up the Grand Canyon walls

Day 2 - Rim Trail (~11 miles)

The Rim Trail is the easy, much-paved trail that runs along the South Rim near the Grand Canyon village and all the lodges. We weren't originally planning to run this trail. "It's too paved and touristy," we thought. But since my long run was planned for Day 3, we thought it might be a good idea to give my legs a little bit of a break from the big climbing.The full trail is probably 12 or 13 miles long, but we started just shy of the most eastern point. The couple miles around the village are crowded, but after that the trail was surprisingly quiet. This might have been the longest 11-mile run of my life; every view around every new corner brought us to a jaw-dropping stop.

View from the Rim Trail

Along the Rim Trail

Day 3 - Hermit to Tonto to Bright Angel (~25 miles)

Buzz dropped me off at the bus stop before the sun came up. It was about a 35-minute shuttle from the village to Hermit's Rest where I'd plunge down into the canyon on the less-used Hermit Trail. That morning, fog filled the Grand Canyon. The sunrise will be one of those memories etched into my mind forever. It was just me and two others on the shuttle, so the driver was gracious enough to stop several times for us when there was an open vista toward the east.

I dropped down Hermit Trail into the thick fog. There wasn't much running on the beginning of the descent. The trail is rocky and technical, and there are several rock slides that need to be scrambled around. After a long descent, I hooked up with Tonto Trail to begin making my way back east toward Bright Angel. The Tonto section is some of my favorite trail I've ever been on. I saw only a couple hikers during the first 20 miles before I met up with Bright Angel for the ascent out of the canyon.

Getting out of the canyon is no joke. I was feeling very strong up until less than a mile to go when I had an epic bonk. I shuffled my way up to the rim and to the beer waiting for me in the lodge.

This route is a strong contender to break my top-10 runs of all-time list.

Sunrise over a fog-filled canyon

Into the fog on Hermit Trail

Hermit Trail 

Hermit trail

Happy to be alive on Tonto Trail

Tonto Trail along a cliff

Tonto Trail above the Colorado River

Tonto Trail 

Keep running!

-Scott

Moscow Mountain Madness 50k - race report

The Moscow Mountain Madness is the oldest annual trail race on the Palouse. It's looked different throughout the years, but traditionally it's been something in the 10-13 mile range. This year a 50k was added to the schedule, so I've been pretty stoked about this one all summer. The only worry was whether my Achilles would be ready to handle the pounding or not. After a couple pain/injury free 20+ mile outings in the Wallowas over the past few weeks, I decided the MMM 50k was a go.

Doug, the RD, asked me to help design the 50k course earlier this summer. I've run these Moscow Mountain trails many times over and have always had an idea of where a good 50k course would be if we ever decided to put one on. It's a little long (32.5 miles), but that extra little bit is worth it. 

My plan was to treat this race more like a fast training run than a race. I still had some reservations about the Achilles. Will it hold up? Am I pushing it too much too soon? And so on. I've been racing shorter distance in the last couple months, so I knew it could handle hard running, I just didn't know whether it could handle 32.5 miles of hard running -- and I knew I've lost my racing long distance legs, so I figured even if my Achilles could handle racing, the rest of me simply isn't in race shape for a long run.  I thought a 5.5 to 6-hr finish sounded safe.

I ran with my buddy, Buzz, for the first half of the race. We both had 5.5 to 6 hours as a goal. A group of six or seven of us pushed the first climb at an easy pace. By mile six everyone had spread out a little, and Buzz and I were running together in fifth and sixth place. We wouldn't see anyone else the rest of the day.

At the highpoint of the course around mile 15.5, Buzz and I were still together and we were just about right on our pacing plan for a 5.5 hour finish. Buzz's downhill legs weren't feeling as good as he hoped they would, and he fell behind by a minute or so through mile 18. From there on I was on my own until the finish line.

I crashed once, but there wasn't much blood. I felt 'easy' on the downhills all day, and I banked a few minutes on the big descent at mile 20 knowing that a big climb was coming up afterward (why did I put that climb on the course!). The climb at mile 23 reminded me how much endurance/stamina I'd lost since March. I hiked more than usual, but my overall pace was still in the 5:30-5:45 finish range. So I was happy with how things were going. 

On the straightaways and downhills after mile 25, I fought the urge to really push it. And I'm glad I didn't push it, because as it was my right hamstring started cramping up like crazy during the last two miles. And it was a game of Red Light/Green Light during the last mile when a cramp would grind me to a halt so I could stretch it out.

I crossed the finish line fighting cramps, but right on my goal with a time of 5:29. (official results) 

I think everyone was happy with the 50k, and this went smoothly for the most part. Now's time to start thinking year number two. 

course profile

I'm tagging along in the rear
as we approach the first aid station

Peg-leg McMurtrey crossing the finish line.

Next up is a little rest to make sure everything is feeling like it should. I'm going to be overly cautious while I attempt to get my fitness levels back that I had last year and this year going into Rocky Raccoon. I'm going to be conservative this month with my mileage. I have the Wild Moose Chase 25k on Sept 29th, and the Mt. Spokane 50k on Oct 5. 

Right now everything is feeling good, and each day I'm more and more confident with my Achilles. But I'm still not ready to kick my training into high gear. I think I'm going to play it relatively conservatively the rest of this year, and then make sure that I'm rested and healthy so I can give it a proper go at this race in April.

Keep running!

-Scott