Hells Gate State Park: A Little Piece of Heaven

I took it easy for a couple weeks after the January 50k -- a couple 15-20 very easy miles weeks. I needed a little battery recharge for the legs. 

"But my leg doesn't hurt that bad. I can still run."

And Sadie needed a break too. Since December, she's been dealing with an achy joint above her paw on her front left leg. I gave her three weeks off from running in hopes that she just needed some rest. After a couple easy runs after her rest, she was favoring her leg again, so I took her to the vet. She has some inflammation in the joint due to (I'll give you my translation of all the vet jargon) the specific way her joint bends -- basically it bends (think hyper-extends) more than her other joints. No injury, just an anatomical thing. But it cause extra stress on her joint, especially when she has increased impact on her front legs, like when she runs down stairs or trails, or jumps out of the car, or lands after catching frisbees.  Anyway, I have some anti-inflammatory pills to give her from here on out. So far, so good; she ran 35 miles with me this week with no limp in sight.

My running goal #1 for 2012 is the West Highland Way Race at the end of June. Goal #2 is to fight the urge - and my enthusiasm for this race - by over-training and hurting myself (see my over-excited and just two weeks before Atacama Crossing 2011 result). The plan is to wait to start ratcheting up my mileage until mid-March or so.  

In the meantime, as the snow still covers the trails on the Palouse I've found myself heading down to the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley (an hour drive and a couple thousand feet lower in elevation) to get my trail fix at some sweet winter-free single-track at Hells Gate State Park.

This is what winter near the bottom of a
Pacific NW canyon looks like.

My buddy, Aaron, joining me on his bike.

After a green light from the vet (and some pills),
Sadie's back where she's most comfortable.

Overlooking the Snake River.

Looking toward the norther tip of Hells Canyon
(the deepest canyon in the USA.)

Cool formations on the canyon walls.

Rainy-day single-track above the Snake.

Sadie.

To further help my winter trail-running blues, there was an 8-mile trail race at the park on Saturday, called the Edge of Hell. I've skipped this race the last couple years -- why, I'm not sure. 

This race has an interesting format. There's a 4-mile and 8-mile option. The 4-milers run a loop, then the 8-milers turnaround and run the loop in reverse. Thing is, you don't know who's running the 4 or the 8 until the 4-mile mark when you either shoot down through the finish line or announce you're doing the 8 (someone marks your race tag as such) then turn around.

My legs were feeling light and fresh at the start and I planned on pushing it hard, but I wanted to be careful not to get caught up with the fast 4-mile crowd. But as we crested the first climb about a half-mile in I got the sense that I was likely the fastest one to show up on this particular day. I played it conservatively for the first couple miles and followed a short distance behind the only guy out in front (who ended up being the 4-mile winner). By a rocky descent near mile 2 I decided to push the pace some more and jump into the lead, and I never really looked back after that. I was the first one to hit mile 4, and turned back to run the loop in reverse (the tougher of the two directions) with my legs still feeling good. I finished in first place with a time of 52:54. (results)

A few race photos:

Great shot of runners along the Snake River cliffs.
(photo courtesy of Aaron Whiteman)

Man, I get a bit teary-eyed when I see sweet single-track and blue skies like this.
(photo courtesy of Aaron Whiteman)

Enjoying a little descent.
(photo courtesy of Aaron Whiteman)

Running happy.
(photo courtesy of Aaron Whiteman)

Snaking up and over and around the canyon-side.
(photo courtesy of Aaron Whiteman)

Still feeling good nearly six miles in.
(photo courtesy of Aaron Whiteman)

Steep descent.
(photo courtesy of Aaron Whiteman)

Pumping those legs on the steep climb.
(photo courtesy of Aaron Whiteman)

(photo courtesy of Aaron Whiteman)

This running thing is pretty good to me. I hope I'm giving back as much as I'm taking.

Half marathon in two weeks. Maybe a little rest? Nah, I'll keep running. :)

Scott

Pullman Winter Ultra #2

We had a great time at this winter's second Pullman Winter Ultra event. The weather was again very spring-like with temps in the 40's and no snow or ice to be seen for miles.

I gave Sadie the day off as she's been showing a little bit of pain in her front left leg. This is the second time in the past three months I've had to give her some time off. Hopefully an extra-extended rest will be all she needs. I don't think a trip to the vet is necessary quite yet, but if she's hurting any after this break than I'll probably bring her in. :(

The course is four 7.75 mile loops on a paved bike path that loops around Pullman. I had a nice run and was holding on to a 4-hr pace (my hey-why-not-give-it-a-shot goal) through three loops. The last loop was tough and I slowed quite a bit for a finish time of 4:16:38, which was still good enough for a 50k PR.  (results)

On my third loop.

Post-race hydration at Palouse Falls Brewing Co.

On the schedule now are some light weeks and a few local for-fun races before I start upping the miles to get ready for Scotland.


Oh, and in the last few days winter has finally arrived in Pullman.

(click here for pano w/ sound)

New Year's Eve Marathon - race report

I had so much fun running the New Year's Eve Marathon in Dallas with my sister, Melanie. Running with family is a special treat that I'll never get tired of.

The holiday break was a lot of fun. I have family and friends scattered between the Austin-area, Dallas and Houston (where I'm from), so I spent a good deal of the trip driving back and forth across the state. This was my longest stay back home since 2005.

The marathon was about five minutes away from Melanie's home, which was about as good as having a hotel room on the start line. Temps were in the low 30's at the start, but warmed up nicely to the 60's. It was a beautiful day to run.

The course was a super-flat 6.55-mile "loop" done four times. The "loop" was actually a modified out-n-back, which meant we were going to be seeing the same 3-mile stretch of sidewalk a lot.

Melanie's goal was to break the 5-hr marathon barrier for the first time, and my job was to keep her spirits up by singing Broadway tunes to her the entire way.

One of the main benefits (the only?) of a multiple-out-n-back course is that you get to see your cheering section often. And we had a little cheering section, which was very nice.

I had a great time running with Melanie. And she did awesome. She smashed her PR and sub-5 goal with a 4:42:04.  Awesome. (full results)

Praying to the hydration gods.

Melanie, Annie (she ran the 5k), me

Shortly after the start.
We weren't the only Maniacs there.
(PS. I love my Brooks Pure Flow.)

My bro-in-law, Mike, and my niece, Zoe,
practicing their air-horning.

Mile 14 or so.
Stopping to say hi to our cheering section.

All-smiles all day long.

This is Melanie around mile 25.
The light at the end of the tunnel was both real and a metaphor.

Approaching the finish line.

Awwwww...brother and sister -- so cute. :)

I'm in "off-season" semi-rest mode right now. But that doesn't mean I'm not running.  I have another Pullman Winter 50k this weekend. BUT, I have taken several days off in the last two weeks, so I'm feeling pretty rested/restless.

Keep running!

Scott

Pullman Winter Ultra #1 - race report

Nearly 40 humans and a few dogs showed up for the first of two runs of the second annual Pullman Winter Ultra series. Some of us did the full 50k, others 25k or shorter. The weather was great for a December in Pullman -- sunny and temps in the upper-30's to low-40's.

The course is a simple 7.75-mile paved loop around Pullman. Four loops equals 50k. The course is extremely flat minus the double-pointed hill.

Sadie ran the 50k with me. She's seems to be fully recovered from last month's leg issues. She's done great on a couple 20+ mile runs the last couple weeks, so I thought she'd be ready for the 50k.  And she did great -- a little tired on the fourth lap, but so was I!  I ran about what I was expecting too. I probably could have gone a bit harder to beat my best 50k time (I missed it by about 5 minutes), but the goal wasn't to gas it on this run.  (results)

I'm actually feeling in very good shape right now. I think the break from racing as much as I was has allowed me to put in some better quality weekend runs. I think I can break 4hrs on this course if I really wanted to (and if the weather is not like we had at the first event last year.) But it would probably hurt a lot...so I'm not sure how bad I want to.  My main incentive right now is to not injure myself. Last winter I think I overtrained a bit with the growing excitement for my Atacama Crossing attempt and I ended up straining my achilles a couple weeks before that race. My excitement for Scotland is growing a little each day, and the more excited I get about running, the more I want to run, even on "rest" days.

Sadie with one mile to go.

In other news, I'm heading to Texas for the holidays, and I'll be running a marathon with my sister on New Year's Eve near Dallas. Should be fun.

And I received exciting news that in 2012 I'll be a part of the Brooks ID team for a fourth consecutive year.

Keep running!

Scott

My "OMG I Can't Wait!" Race for 2012

I love to run. I love to travel.  And after I ran my first marathon in 2007, I thought it would be a great idea to incorporate the two by traveling to another country for a race each year. So far, so good.

In 2008, I visited spectacular Iceland for the Laugavegur Ultra.

In 2009, I traveled to South Africa to run the famous Comrades Marathon.

In 2010, I drove north to beautiful British Columbia for a low-key 50k in the North Vancouver mountains.

In 2011, I trekked south of the equator again to compete in the epic Atacama Crossing in Chile.

And if everything goes as planned, this summer I'm going to Scotland for the 96-mile West Highland Way Race! I submitted my application five weeks ago and just received confirmation that I've been accepted to participate. This race has been on my bucket list since I first created a race bucket list. I'm stoked.

It's nice to have an exciting event waiting for me on the calendar. I think it makes training so much more enjoyable when there's even a tab bit more motivation attached to my feet each time I step out on the trail. Not that I really need any extra motivation; I'm still riding the running-high I got back when I ran my first marathon in 2007. :)

Keep running!

-Scott