SweetH2O 50K 2011 Race Report – A Fish Out of Water

I’m normally not nervous before a race. But, the 2011 Sweetwater 50K was an exception. I felt like a fish out of water in so many ways…



It started with the short drive to Lithia Springs Friday evening from Atlanta where I was working. The traffic. Yikes! How can people live like this? Then, in search of food I could only find chain restaurants and fast food – neither, of which are especially celiac friendly. Then, a trip to Wal-Mart on paycheck Friday for breakfast items was simply overwhelming and frustrating. How I wished I could be home in the familiar….

Reviewing the race on the Internet only added to the sense of being out of place. Past race reports empathized how tough the course was. My short exploratory run on part of the route suggested this was definitely a 4+ hour course. Then, the thought of a field of 250 runners on a two-loop course with an out-and-back made me panic – I don’t do well in traffic – either on the road or on the trail. I’m so out of my element I thought. I don’t belong here…

But I was here. I knew I would be fine once I got to the starting line. In the meantime I had to decide, what would my race strategy be? Perhaps influenced by a third glass of wine in my pathetic budget chain hotel, I decided that I would go out hard and just see what happened.

A group of about 6 runners immediately broke away from the pack. As the pleasantries in the early miles ensued, I learned that two others had a Utah connection - Speedster Jon Allen, formally of Logan who recently moved to Greenville, South Carolina and Matt Hoffman of McKinney, Texas who interned in Salt Lake City last summer with Jared Campbell. What a small world.



After about 2 miles on pavement we hit the single track. Whew! I just don’t have the speed or turnover to go fast on pavement and knew I couldn’t sustain the pace we were running. Once on the trail I felt great. I was relishing being on dirt and being in a short sleeve shirt. It felt great to not be in snow AND not be cold.

The course is a great mix of flats, technical sections, water crossings, and some pretty steep rollers that surprised me. The terrain was constantly changing which seemed to make the miles fly by.

Our group of six stayed together until mile 10 where Jon made a break and began to pull away. Dennis Bauer hung onto Jon. While Matt and I couldn’t keep up with Jon and Dennis, we were able to pull away from the others in the lead pack.

I completed the first loop in 2:12 and was feeling great. As we jumped on the short section of payment I could see Jon and Dennis together about ¾ of mile ahead of Matt and me. I was encouraged that Jon and Dennis were not father off the front. For the next 10 miles up until mile 25, Matt and I traded places. I’m used to running alone and found having someone either right in front of me, or right behind me annoying. I decided that at the mile 25 turnaround I would see if I could pull away from Matt on the long uphill out of the aid station and rollers that followed. I knew my best chance to loose him would be on the hills over the next three miles. I had noticed that he was faster than me on the flats and knew that if we were together at mile 28 then I would likely get dropped – big time!

I ran scared the last 7 miles. But, I felt great. No hamstring issues. Legs felt strong. And I was pleased with my speed given that I’m not a particularly good 50K runner.

Jon took first place missing the SweetH2O 50K course record by three minutes. Top five finishers were:

Jon Allen 4:23
Dennis Bauer 4:26
Jay Aldous 4:32
Matt Hoffman 4:46
Jason Hanlin 4:46

Full results can be found at http://www.sweeth20races.com/

90 days and counting, and a DNF

On Jan 1 I entered a bet with Rich. Running 90 days in a row. It sounded like a great idea, especially as I was getting ready to run the Antelope Island 100 mile in March. I should have accepted Rich's initial offer of the loser mowing the winner's lawn 3 times during the summer, because 2 weeks into it, he went on a binge of rest days and missed 3 in a row. I had already won, but decided to keep on with it. On March 31 it ended, with only 2 days missed, which were within the guidelines of the bet. One day I missed because it was Sunday and I just felt like laying on the couch and eating a bag of Cheetos, the other day was spent in the car for 15 hours driving home from Mexico. Here's a few highlights.

-I started out with a bad case of Plantar Fasciitis, and it seemed to be getting worse. Defying conventional wisdom, I increased my mileage, decreased my rest days, and it went away.

-I ran 784 miles

-I spent way too much time on the treadmill, and ran up Grandeur exactly 0 times.

-I did, however, summit the top of Lincoln Lane and 2700 East about 55 times.

-I PR'd at the Moab 50K and felt very fit coming into the Antelope Island 100 miler.

Which brings me to the DNF. While in Mexico two weeks before the race, I felt great. What a great way to taper. Sleeping more than I've slept in months, long runs on the beach and deserted dirt roads, and soaking up some long missed warmth and sunshine. Instead of heading home fully rested and relaxed, I picked up a nasty sinus infection and stomach friend two days before heading home. I immediately loaded up on the kids emergency antibiotics I had brought, and was feeling decent by Monday. By Thursday the stomach was still a little funky and Friday morning (race day) my head was full of gunk again.

In addition, I had planned for a late start at 6 pm instead of noon on Friday as I didn't have enough vacation accrued at the VA dental clinic where I spend my Friday's. I got out a little early, made it to the start line by 5, where the weather had improved to perfect conditions instead of the blizzard conditions at noon, and headed off, fairly apprehensive as to how my body would hold up.

My legs felt great, my sinuses emptied fairly quickly, but from the moment I started eating, my stomach let me know it would be a long 100 miles. Even after stopping multiple times to clear my troubled intestines, I finished the first lap in 2:40, right on pace and legs feeling great, and hoping that after clearing itself, my stomach would settle down. At Lower Frary, I was still on pace, but becoming more unsettled and by the time I had left the Ranch (mile 33) and was headed back to Lower Frary, I couldn't keep anything in. No vomiting, which is surprising for me, but a lively version of the Aztec two-step. For me the race was over. I made it back to the start/finish area at around 1 am, informed a disappointed Mick that I had dropped and he didn't get to run 30 miles in the dark with me, and that was that.

Looking back, there is some disappointment, purely from the fact that I was really ready to run. I had trained hard and felt like I could have given it a good run. But, my body said otherwise, and from a health perspective, dropping was the right thing to do. From that standpoint, I have no regrets.You can fake a marathon, you can sometimes even fake 50 miles, but to run 100 miles, and to run it hard, the stars have to align themselves and your ducks need to be all in a row.

Now, I feel like a little redemption is in order. I'm in 100 mile shape, and the Salt Flats 100 is in a couple weeks. Anyone have any other suggestions?

A Red Rock Smorgasbord

While patiently waiting for spring to come to the Wasatch, I had three great runs this week on a work trip to Southern Utah.

Wednesday night I ran in Red Canyon, a fabulous 13-mile loop up Lossee Canyon, connecting to Castro Canyon via the Cassidy trail, and down Castro Canyon. An excellent run with a variety of terrain including stunning red rock, stream crossings, ponderosa forests, and high desert. The trailhead is just a quick 5-minute drive off highway 89 near Panguitch making this a perfect run to break up a drive to/from the south.





Thursday night I finally connected the Tom’s Canyon and Squaw trails in Kanab. This could be one of THE VERY BEST short (6 miles) trail runs in the state. Start at the Squaw trailhead at the north end of town next to the recreation center. Run through the La Estancia sub division (about a mile of pavement) and up Tom’s Canyon. Watch for where the trail leaves the road on the left and follow the steep trail to the top of the mesa. The trail is challenging, the scenery stunning, and the views of Kanab and the surrounding valleys spectacular. Once on top follow the ATV trail towards the towers and connect with the Squaw trail.





Friday night on my way home to Salt Lake I stopped for a quickie to Kolob Arch in Zion National Park. This relatively flat and speedy 14-mile out and back offers a number of stream crossing, stunning scenary, and of course, an arch!. Easily accessed from I-15 between Cedar City and St. George, another great run for when you are traveling north or south.



And tonight I’m back in Sat Lake looking at snow, patiently waiting and longing for spring...

Happy Birthday Peter

Because we all know that Peter is a glutton for attention, I thought everyone should know that it's his birthday today. Feel free to send him warm wishes.

Brotherhood of the Traveling Shoes

I’m not really sure when it began. Our collective recollection of that first exchange is fuzzy. Christian claims it was during a run late last summer when Peter suggested that he demo his new Hokas on the descent from Twin Lakes Pass to Brighton with the reported exchange taking place on the leeward side of a large granite boulder. Although, I think the origin may have been after the 2010 Pocatello 50 when Peter took pity on me not having any dry shoes to drive back to Salt Lake in and offered an extra pair of Montrail Hardrocks. “Just keep them,” he said.


Regardless, a year later we’ve found ourselves behaving like a bunch of teenage girls – exchanging a plethora of size 8 running shoes at a dizzying and often confusing rate...

Actual quotes from conversations, emails and texts the past couple of weeks include;

Christian to Jay, “Matt just gave me a pair of Montrail Rogue Racers to demo and review. Do you want to borrow them this coming week?”

Jay to Peter, “You gotta try these Rogue Racers Christian gave me, I’ll drop them off at the clinic along with your Newton racing flats. Loved those Newtons, they sure made me feel speedy. It was like wearing paper towels on my feet!”

Peter to Jay, “Glad you liked them. Let me know when you want to borrow the Hokas.”

Jay to Christian, “I think the Rock Ridges would be perfect for Hardrock. I’ll leave a pair on the porch. And, why don’t you also try out the La Sportiva Fireblades and Crosslites. I’ll leave them on the porch too.”

Christian to Jay, “SWEET. Thanks!”

Christian to Jay and Peter, “Hey, who has the Rogue Racers??? I want to wear them for the Buffalo 50K and need them back”

Radio Silence from Peter and Jay. Hmmm… I hope this isn’t the end of the Brotherhood of the Traveling Shoes…

BoSho Opening Day

In the Wasatch we get a few trails that are situated at a low enough elevation and right aspect to allow running nearly all year long. One of those trails is the Bonneville Shoreline Trail.

The BST, or BoSho contours along the Wasatch from Logan to Springville and while it's not continuous from beginning to end it has to be the most used trail in the Great Basin and Saturday was opening day. Two days of dry weather in the middle of the week followed by a 70 degree Saturday brought runners, hikers and bikers out in droves. I joined Greg, Peter and Jay for a stroll along one of our favorite routes on the BoSho (We plan on doing this again on April 23rd at 7am) except we decided to skip the opening southern loop around Red Butte. I finally brought the camera along to document our run, something I need to get better at this year. For those interested in stats we did about 22 miles and 5,000' vert.

Jay in "dry" fork before the sun came up

On our way up "Unkle" or Black Mountain Ridge as the sun is coming up

On top of Black Mountain Ridge looking east. Grandview Peak is just left of center, between Black Mountain and the City Creek Ridge

Peter is using his neon arm to show us where we'll be running in another ~10 miles

A bit of snow can still be found along the Black Mountain Ridge

Peter and Greg running up the trail from City Creek on the west side of the canyon

Greg, running over to the radio towers amidst the dormant scrub oak

Peter demonstrating perfect form for throwing rocks at our favorite target. Hit the target and 3 mins are deducted from your time, or if you're like me you'll end up with a sore arm and 3 mins behind...

Peter leading Greg up to the North Salt Lake bench

Up above the gravel pits in North Salt Lake (L-R) Peter, Jay and Greg look out at Antelope Island on the horizon

Topping out on Meridian Peak

At the top of City Creek just before the "Drop"

Peter pointing out our location ~10 miles ago

Just before we hit the bottom of City Creek Canyon

Buffalo Run 50 Mile Race Report

For me, getting to the starting line was the hardest part of 2011 Buffalo Run 50 Mile race. At 8:00 pm the night before I was planning on skipping the race and going skiing instead. The weather forecast was frightful for a fair weather runner like me. And, I hadn’t a good run in more than two weeks. I was clearly in my annual “why can’t it just be spring?” funk.

Somehow before I went to bed I mustered the motivation to throw some cold weather running gear into a pile and prepare a pot of coffee for an early morning alarm. Oddly, when my alarm went off at 4:00 am I was excited. Maybe a race was just what I needed to break my funk.

My lack of preparation evidenced itself when just several miles into the race Dylan Bowman, Duncan Callahan and myself took a wrong turn. Maybe I should have looked at the course map?? After about half a mile we realized our error and backtracked to get back on course. Unexpected detours are challenging for me. My emotional brain wants to immediately get back in the race and regain the places that have been lost. My rational brain (what little rational part I have) knows the importance of staying calm, not beating oneself up for the mistake, and monitoring the burn while picking up the pace to earn the lost places back. I’ve learned from experience that catch-up can be costly!

After a few miles we were able to join the front pack that was being lead by Scott Dickey. Now it was time to just settle into the zone. The Buffalo Run 50 Mile is kind of a fun race in that there are two out-and-back sections where you can determine your position – AND – say “hello” to friends. I always get a boost when I see Greg Norrander and his camera (photos in this post are courtesy of Greg). Other friendly faces along the way included Brian Kamm, Bob Adler, Glen Merrill.


At the Elephant Head aid station (13.5) Dylan appeared to have about a three-minute lead. I remember thinking that just for giggles I would try and keep sight of his yellow La Sportiva jersey to the Gate in the Fence aid station (19). That idea truly ended up being just for giggles. After the aid station my legs began to feel a bit heavy. Mid-race doubts started entering my mind. “I went too hard trying to catch up.” “Maybe I should have got my lazy ass out the door and run more than 40 miles per week the last couple of months.” "If I wasn't so fat." “I’m just not cut out to be an ultra runner.”

After about a mile of highly pleasurable mental doubt wallowing I got the right thoughts back in my head. “I’m finally healthy again after a year of being plagued by injuries.” “This is a perfect early season training race.” “How lucky am I that I can run and feel so good.” I was back in the race…

At the 21.5 mile turn-around Dylan was two miles ahead of me. Scott Dickey and Duncan Callahan were about a half-mile behind. Then as if I wasn’t moving, Scott and Duncan flew by me. For the next five miles or so I watched them continue to pull away. I did my best to manage my resentment towards fast young guys.

Then, like manna from heaven, there was Scott at the Lower Frary aid station. Upon my arrival he immediately took off and gapped me. Damn. With a complete loss of faith in all miracles running related, I resumed with my resentment towards fast young guys.

Not long after I caught up with Scott who was clearly struggling from the effects of a recent bout of pneumonia. We ran together for a mile or so before he slowed down.

After the ranch turnaround I learned that I had about a two-mile lead on runners in the 4th – 6th positions. I felt good, and knew at that point that I could place 3rd. I spent the rest of the race working on turnover, running relaxed and fine tuning my race pace. I surprised myself in that once I let the race go, I actually started running faster.

Hats off to 25 year old Dylan Bowman who finished in 6:15 crushing the old course record. He really opened it up on the second half of the course. Duncan Callahan (also 25) finished in 6:35. And yours truly, who has great respect for these young ones (I’m over my resentment now), finished in 6:44.

As for that winter funk, I sure hope it is gone for the year. This racing stuff is fun...

Photos courtesy of Greg Norrander

Antelope Island Buffalo Run 50k race report

I wouldn't call myself a gambler, but I do like to take calculated risks. Not the kind of risks that put my life in danger, more like the kind that test my limits, especially if there is less at stake. I've also come to realize that the more time there is between races the more risk I'm willing to take. Enter the Buffalo Run 50k, my first ultra I ever did back in 2006 and my first race this year. Before my lucky number was drawn for Hardrock I was actually doing speed work a couple days a week to prepare, but since then my training focus changed a bit to incorporate more climbing. Despite the lack of speed work my goal was to run a 4 or 4:10

Standing on the start line I was able to catch up with Nick Clark and a few other friends before we were off. Midway up the first climb I found myself in the lead group with Nick, Seth Wold, Jake Krong, and Mike Foote. The pace seemed a little fast but still well within my limits but my heart rate monitor told me something different, holding steady at 166 to 168. I knew that was too high but carried on anyway.

Seth, Nick, Jake, then Mike and myself 20 yards back, Photo: Greg Norrander

We all stayed together through the first aid station at mile 5 and then we hit the long downhill. Within seconds Mike and I watched Nick, Seth and Jake use their high turnover to pull away. We chose a more conservative pace and lost at least a minute before we started climbing again. Mike and I stayed together on the long switchback climb but when we hit the flat section at the top I could feel my hamstrings tighten up as I tried in vain to stay with him. I backed off for the moment and decided I would try and make up time on the climbs.

Coming back through the overcrowded Elephant Head aid station at mile 10.6, Mike had a minute on me and the other had about 4. Shortly after this I realized I needed electrolytes but I had none. I admonished myself for overlooking such an important detail and kept on eating my gels. I saw Greg taking pictures after the next climb and he confirmed the splits I had calculated. Foolishly I kept on pressing because I was still on pace to break 4 hours. I hit the turnaround in 1:55 and spent a good minute or so hoisting the water container on to the table and filling my bottle. The climb back up was not nearly as smooth as first time so I was quite surprised to only be a couple minutes slower this time up. I was eager to start running faster on the flat but my hamstrings protested so I just did what I could. I switched into survival mode and moved as fast as I could through the rest of the lap. I should have stopped and filled my bottle the last time through Elephant Head AS at mile 26 but I took one look at the line and just kept on running. I received a bit of lift from Betsy, my lovely wife, as we crossed paths in this section. She was looking strong in her first ultra and she encouraged me to gut it out.

The finish line. Photo: Greg Norrander

Shortly after the trail split with about 3.5 miles to go I was caught by Shaun Christian and gamely tried to match his pace but it wasn't happening. I ended up crossing the line in 6th place, stopping the clock in 4:25. For those keeping track that's a 2:30 second loop, a full 35 minutes slower than the first. The lack of electrolytes figured into part of the slow down, but in all honesty a sub 4 was too ambitious (this year) and I blew up going for it. Jake took the win in 3:38 followed by Seth Wold, Nick Clark, Mike Foote and Shaun Christian, myself, Bryon Powell and David Hayes, full results here. The top 3 all went under the course record set by Nick last year. Really quite amazing.

Besides beating myself to a pulp, the highlights were seeing all my friends and meeting some new ones. I had a great time hanging out at the finish chatting with everyone while I anxiously waited for Betsy. She had predicted something around 7 hours but I knew she would be faster and I was right. I was super proud to watch her finish strong and stop the clock at 6:18! Congratulations to Jay for taking 3rd in the 50 miler with a 6:43, watch for a report on his race soon. Thanks to Jim Skaggs for his ongoing deal with the weather gods and putting on one of the biggest ultra's in the country.

Betsy crossing the finish line. Photo: Greg Norrander

Montrail Rogue Racer Review

Check out the review I did on the uber-light shoe over on Matt Hart's blog.

Montrail Rogue Racer - 8.8 oz.

Wasatch Pedicure

The long anticipated presentation of the Wasatch Pedicure has finally been posted on YouTube. I feel some sort of Indie short film award coming my way. If you've never heard of Ignite Salt Lake, you should check out the next event which will be sometime in August. It's a completely random blend of people speaking on any subject you can think of. If you want to do a presentation of your own, you can submit an idea to Jesse once they finalize the date. If you don't live in Salt lake, odds are your city has an Ignite event as well. Enjoy, and please don't judge my public presentation abilities........