Free Shoes!

The Sage to Summit Winter Race Series wrapped up this past Saturday. I was unable to beat Dan Yarborough for the second straight race. My race strategy was to hang on his shoulder as long as possible and then make a move some point late in the race. That was wishful thinking! I hung on for a mile or so and knew I had no chance. He took off at a very quick pace right from the gun and that left me hanging on for life for the entire rest of race. The courses for these 10k's were so difficult as I've said many times. The soft sand and hills made me long for road racing. I looked at my Garmin and saw I still had almost 4 miles to go, so it was best not to be longing for the road just yet.

The good news is that I was lucky enough to win the points series. I did so by getting one win and two second place finishes. The 2nd place finisher is a really neat guy, who probably would have smoked me had he made that his mission. Fortunately for me, part of his mission this year is to cover more miles on his feet running than any miles in a car, boat, train, etc. You guessed it, he's an "ultra guy" and goes by the name of Phil Kiddoo. This meant he ran to and from each race. Perhaps I'd have a chance to win Boston if Ryan Hall had to run from Mammoth to the race start. I mention Phil, because the best part of this series was meeting him and a lot of the eastside (of the Sierra) runners who live in the Bishop area. I particularly enjoyed talking with Phil and Jeff (pictured) who both have nice bios here.


I also won free shoes with my victory. For this reason, I'm now considering myself a professional runner. I'll do whatever it takes to hide the fact that I answer phones for a living. I did score some sweet Sanuks which I've been sporting around quite a bit. And yes, technically they are not shoes, but the owner of the store graciously let me apply my win to sandals.

The March Madness Half Marathon in Cary, IL was this past Sunday. This was a special race for me last year, as it was the first race where I really felt part of a team (in terms of running events). I wrote about it ages ago. Its a difficult course, and a great tune-up for Boston. Several friends put in good performances, but none better than Robert (pictured left) who finished 8th with a 1:16 on a very gnarly (whoa, the west coast is influencing me) course. Be sure to check out the excellent recap he wrote about the race on Coursing.

Speaking of Robert... when reading his entries about his faster miles something interesting has come to my mind. I find myself really missing those type of runs. Training at altitude rarely gives me a chance to run fast. I do get a bit faster on intervals and shorter tempo runs, but on any of my 10 -25 mile runs I'm pretty much hanging around 7:10-7:45. The view I have are beautiful, but there is a simple joy in moving at 6:30 or faster for long portions of runs with friends. I'm not doing a very good job of putting this simply enough. But, essentially, it feels good to run fast, and I don't get that as often up here. My hope is that the feeling I'll have at sea level will be so great it will justify my time up high.

Wish you could join me for my workout tomorrow. 2 miles at 6:00. 6x800 at 2:45. Sounds pretty easy. But, its always a bit tougher at 7,000 ft. Also, I'll be skiing for the first time tomorrow. I hope I break a leg.

Chico

Weeks ago when I signed up for the half in Chico I was hoping to make a splash. I felt as though I could crush my old PR. Unfortunately, by the time I started the race I wasn't anticipating much. Luckily, I did feel better than I had in two weeks and I managed a 1:19. It was good enough for 4th (one spot out of a $100 cash prize). And, in one sense it sort of acted as a 13 mile tempo run. A news article on the race can be found here.

The best part of my weekend was that Ashley came to visit. It was very quick and rushed, but we had a good time. She did very well in the race, finishing 6th and running a 6:48 pace.

More on the race to possibly come later if I feel inspired.

Mazungu

I've been anxious to write in here again since my last entry, as I don't like to have a negative vibe hanging around for long. Thanks for all of the positive encouragement that many of you sent my way.

The good news is that I'm feeling more myself now, and while I still have lingering congestion, its safe to say I'm no longer sick. In all, I missed 5 straight days of running, and my body got really worn down. I hopped back on the running on Saturday evening and I've not missed a day yet.

Unfortunately, I can tell that I'm a long way from 100%. I lost about 3 pounds when I was sick, and I've had a lot of muscle soreness and general slowness during my return. During my "speed" workout today I was unable to crack 6 minutes in three consecutive miles. 2 weeks ago I ran a workout with a 3-mile segment at about 5:40 pace, so I've clearly regressed considerably.

I still plan to race in Chico on Saturday, but my expectations are very low. I've been getting loads of sleep, and plan to continue to do so, so I hold out a small amount of hope that I'll somehow rebound completely by race day. But, in reality that is unlikely. I had hoped to feel spry at the lower elevation, and use the race as an announcement that my elevated training was a smashing success. Instead, I'll just put in a good effort, and if my legs are back I'll ride them. If not, that will have to wait a few more weeks for Boston.

I'm driving to Reno tomorrow in the afternoon, and spending the night in a casino (it won't be the same without you Jason), and in the morning I'll be heading to the airport to pick up Ashley and head to Chico. She is due for a good race as I know she's had some of the best training of her post-collegiate career.

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I really enjoyed this article from Running Times about a guy my age, who left the USA to train in Kenya. I've scanned it in below. Click on each page to see full-size.