100 miles of Istria Video

Here's a great video of the Istria 100 in Croatia that Jay ran and won a short time ago. Thanks to Alen Paliska for submitting the link through a comment on the race report.

Grandeur Fun Run Cancelled

The Grandeur Fun Run on Saturday, May 17 has been cancelled.  Please pass the word, and please don't plan on showing up as a sort of protest…. or to enjoy one another's company, donate to a good cause, or dive into a plate of post run pancakes and venison sausage. There are hundreds of miles of well maintained, authorized, official Forest Service trails out there that none of you have explored, so go find one and get to know it this Saturday morning.

La Habana Running

This past week I had the privilege of visiting Cuba for work. Each day I was able to run and explore the beautiful city Havana. The contrasts, complexity and colours of the city captivated me and I found myself intoxicated with images of people, objects, and the city itself. Here are a few pictures of what I was able to find and enjoy while on my runs. Hasta mi regress a La Habana…

100 Miles of Istria Race Report

Motovun Aid Station

“Don’t chase them. Let them go!” admonished Greg at the Plomin AS (17 km). I was stressed and anxious as I could not fathom how quickly the lead runners were moving along a surprisingly technical trail. Within the first mile of the start, my race strategy of hanging on to the lead pack as long as possible had evaporated as I counted 10 runners ahead of me. Clearly I was out of my league trying to race in Europe.

I had signed up for the 100 miles of Istria trail race several months ago needing some trails, a racing goal and an adventure:

  

The course crosses the Istrian peninsula in Croatia, from Labin to Umag. Elevation gain is 22,000 feet with an actual distance of 167km (103 miles).  The race starts at 5:00 pm so the first half of the race is run through the night. To assist in the effort and share in the adventure, Greg Norrander had graciously offered to crew.

I left Plomin and worked on following Greg’s advice. I tried to find my own pace and run my own race. I had underestimated the difficulty of the course – both in terms of the steepness of the ascents/descents, and the rocks. There was just no running fast for me as every step had to be carefully placed to avoid rolling an ankle, falling – or both. At Poklon AS (41K) I had worked myself up to 3rd place, yet I was 45 minutes behind the lead runner. The fact that this guy was running 2 minutes a mile faster than me across this terrain had me completely in awe.

The night went by quickly. The experience was familiar to US trail races in many ways such as the AS volunteers who had hiked into remote aid stations and were sitting around a fire manning an aid station in the wee hours of the morning, or volunteers standing on the top of peak administering a checkpoint and doing their best to encourage me on in English once they learned I was American. Yet the experience was foreign in that the aid station offerings of bread, pastries and bananas was leaving me unfilled (since I am celiac I could only eat the bananas) and I felt like I was imposing on the race not being able to communicate with the volunteers in Croatian or Italian.

At Buzet AS (82KM) it was reported that I was now 30 minutes behind the leader and 10 minutes behind second place. If this information was correct I was now moving faster than the two people in front of me. I tempered my expectations knowing the quality of this information is often suspect. Within a few miles of the aid station I suddenly saw a headlight floundering through a river crossing. Either this crossing was more difficult or treacherous than previous crossings, or this guy was running sloppy. As I caught up to him on the other side he looked worked. As we began the climb out of the valley I had renewed energy. I was able to pull away from him on the long gradual climb to Hum AS (95KM).

Hum - Smallest Town in the World

I ran into Hum, considered to be the smallest village in the world (population 17) and quickly filled my handheld with Coke, grabbed a banana and was on my way. I was informed that the first runner had left 20 minutes earlier. I pushed hard on the descent and wondered how many more descents I had left. Living and training in Rome had me ill prepared for the climbing and descending and I could tell my quads would be what might fail me. As I ran into Draguc (103KM) the first light was breaking and I could see Greg standing on the road into the village waiting for me. As I got to the aid station I saw someone lying on the ground. Greg responded to my quizzed face and said, “… he came in about 10 minutes ago and just lied down and hasn’t got up.” Greg ran me through the drill filling up my water pack and giving me a fresh inventory of gels and bars, as I was changing into dry socks the church bells above us began ringing to announce the 6:00 am hour. We laughed as we both said at the same time, “time to go!”

Entering Motovun Aid Station

Now that it was light I figured out the rhythm. Aid stations were generally villages on the tops of hills. From each aid station I would look for the next church or castle on the top of a hill and I knew were I would be going next. I was surprised at how steep the ascents and descents were. I had to start holding back on the descents as I could feel my quads going. On the flats and climbs I felt strong.

The course is a diverse mix of mountain trails, old walled roads and pathways hundreds of years old, and footways through farms and vineyards. It is one of the most interesting and varied courses I have ever run. And, I would add the most technically challenging.

As the course works its way towards the sea in Umag the climbs became less extreme and there where long runnable sections were I felt good and was able to make good time. It felt good to be running fast at the end of a 100. I began to catch the 100K runners. Seeing a runner in the distance and chasing them down helped pass the miles and the time

2'nd Place Male Paolo Massarenti of Italy

I came into Umag and crossed the finish line in 20:31. I was pleased with the effort and knew that it was probably as good of a race as I could have run living and training in Rome. It had been a most amazing adventure both visiting and racing in Croatia, and being able to share the experience with Greg.

Finish Line in Umag

Bravo to RD Alen Paliska and all the volunteers for one of the best-organized races I have ever participated in. Specifically, the course markings were the best I have ever seen, bar none! Kudos to Nancy Aburto, my colleague from work who placed 3^rd place women in the 65K. And a big thanks to Greg for coming from very far away to drive the Fiat Panda from village to village crewing me. Unfortunately the many great photos that he took were lost on a damaged card L 

Power of Four Skimo Race Report 2014

"Put on every layer you have you're going to need it" yelled the ski patroller over the roaring wind and snow as I made my way past him. We had just made the decision to go up the ridge to Highland Peak at 12,392' rather than take the detour option and dropping into the bowl 1,000' lower. My fingers were balled up into fists inside my wet gloves and I had already pulled my buff up over my nose for some extra protection. The extra layer I had brought for my core had already been put on about 10 minutes prior. This was getting serious. I looked back at Mark and he asked me if I was okay, "everything but my hands" I yelled over the 60+mph wind. "Just keep them close to your chest" he yelled back. I turned back to the ridge and looked up at the tiny black specks that the racers in front of us had become, intermittently dotting the way to the summit a mile away. Then I put my head down and started marching forward with my skis attached to my pack.

The Power of Four skimo race in Aspen Colorado travels up and down through the four Aspen ski resorts. The race is unique because it is a teams event meaning you must complete the 25 mile, 12'000' vertical gain course with a teammate. I had no plans to race it this year until my friend Mark Christopherson contacted me 8 days prior to the start and while I was little reluctant at first, I figured it would be a good challenge. There is no race bigger than this in the USA in terms of vertical gain.

Power of Four route from Snowmass to Aspen, download KML

One of the biggest storms of the season began in the early morning hours and was dumping heavy wet snow down low at Snowmass with several inches accumulating at the higher elevations. The 6am start was pushed back to 6:30 because of the weather and avalanche control work.  Eventually the nerves were put to rest and 50+ teams of two headed up the hill 2x2 for our first climb of 3,000'. We hit the top of Snowmass in about 70 mins, quickly transitioned to ski mode and started descending the out of bounds ridge toward Buttermilk. The ridge we were on required one more short ascent before we reached the top of Buttermilk. The descent was rather quick through the resort and before I knew it I was skating a slight uphill grade on a walking path to the next checkpoint.

Power of Four Profile

Everything was still going smooth at this point except the gloves I had started with were completely soaked through to the point that I could wring the water out of them. At the checkpoint aid station I pulled out my dry pair of gloves as Mark gave me 3 Clif Bloks that I promptly crammed in my mouth. At this point we were almost 9 miles in and we had covered 3,200' vert. The climb in front of us would be the monster of the day gaining 4,500' over 4 miles and also the steepest in terms of grade. The mild weather down low slowly gave way to cooler temps and increased wind the higher we climbed. As we neared the top of Aspen Highlands and past the top chairlifts the wind was at least a steady 40mph. Mark and I sought shelter in a small group of trees to get our extra layers on before attempting the Highland Bowl ridge. Leaving the shelter of the trees my core and feet were fine but my hands were completely frozen and felt dead.

Just as we were leaving the ski area boundary someone from the ski patrol told us we had the option of not climbing the ridge and instead taking a shortcut into the bowl. Had I been on my own and this was an individual race I would have taken the safer route but after I looked back at Mark I knew we would heading up that nasty looking ridge.

I passed the guy warning us about the conditions on the ridge with a singular focus to get up and get down quickly. My goggles were useless as they were frozen inside and out so I was forced to squint in order to find my way and I carried my poles sandwiched between my upper arm and chest. Soon I started passing a few people and it invigorated me to charge even faster. I quickly glanced back and  found I was leading a small group of 6 or 8 us. Then with about a half mile to go a gust of wind hit me so hard I fell to my knees. The wind was now a steady 60 mph and gusting past 70. My buff had been pushed down off my face and hung uselessly around my neck. The gust lasted for a good 15 or 20 seconds before I struggled to my feet and continued upward to the peak.Three more times I would get knocked down and in that instant everyone around me would disappear in the white out conditions. This felt like true mountaineering but I was poorly dressed for such endeavors and reminded myself, up, down, quickly.

What felt like an eternity probably took us around 30 minutes to reach Highland Peak. Once there I struggled to get my skis off my pack, unable to use my fingers. Now that I wasn't moving I was starting to get cold and I knew it was serious. With the skis finally on the ground I clipped into the first one and then pushed my toe into the binding of the second ski and it wouldn't clamp on to the boot. I tried several times in frustration until Mark came over to help me. Ice had become jammed in the toe piece and the binding wouldn't fully close We both started desperately jamming the tips of our poles at the toe for a few seconds before I tried it again. I held my breath and pushed my toe into the binding. SNAP. It worked. Within seconds we pushed off and started skiing 42 degree, powder filled bowl.

Had I been warmer and not concerned about my hands I would have enjoyed the fresh powder and face shots more but I really needed to get down in a hurry, so that's what we did. Back at the base we skinned up for a short flat section to the Congo trail. Mark got ahead of me slightly before I stepped right out of my ski, the toe piece was still giving me trouble and after several frustrating minutes I figured it out.

Next up was the infamous Congo trail which doubles as a mountain bike trail in the summer. Picture a bobsled track on a 25 to 30 degree slope with trees lining each side. Not exactly the descent I was looking forward to after 5 hours and 9k vert in the legs but I made it down pretty much unscathed.

At the bottom I quickly transitioned for the final climb of the day up Midnight Mine road. I had read about this climb and everyone said it was just demoralizing as hell. Well, they were right. It's not the fact that it gains 3,000', what makes it so terrible is that it is 5 miles long. I've never skinned such a low angle for so long. Mark finally broke out the tow bungee and I gladly snapped it on, happy to receive a little help so close to the end. After about an 1hr 45mins of climbing we had one long descent through the Aspen resort left. The groomer we started out on fooled me into thinking it might be easy, but that quickly changed as we followed the flags under the "Experts Only" sign. I did my best to hold it together and keep Mark in sight and after 20 mins of descending we crossed the line in 7hrs 40mins. Not quite the race we were hoping for but I was still satisfied with the effort.

Out of the 47 teams that completed the Highland Bowl route we finished 27th overall (Full Results). I want to thank Mark for his patience and support with helping me finish this adventure. Also, the skis he is responsible for developing, the Voile Wasatch Speed Projects, were absolutely amazing. If you're looking for a durable, lightweight ski that is affordable you should definitely check them out.
Next up, the Wasatch Powderkeg, then I should start thinking about running...

Movie Night!

Last summer a good friend of mine accomplished something utterly amazing, traveling from Durango to Denver in a little over 8 days and breaking the record for the Colorado Trail. Scott Jaime is the guy I'm talking about and his adventure was captured by Matt Trappe. If you have been running Ultra's for any amount of time you already know what a great guy Scott is and if you haven't seen Matt's photography well then you are missing out (check his site if you don't believe me).

Running the Edge - The Colorado Trail

There are two showings for us in Utah along the Wasatch Front, Ogden and Salt Lake City. For other showings check Matt's site.

• Ogden Info: Friday March 28th, 7:30pm at Peery Egyptian Theater. Tickets $12, Facebook event
• Salt Lake City Info: Saturday March 29th, 7:30pm at Brewvies. Tickets $12, Facebook event

Scott and Matt will both be on hand and there will be plenty of schwag given away. Don't miss out on a great night!

Brighton New Year’s Day Pentathlon

My "go-to mountain" - Mt. Millicent

I’ve been back in Brighton over the Christmas/New Year's break indulging myself in all sorts of fun winter mountain activities; skate skiing, tele-skiing, running, snowshoeing and snowboarding. To welcome 2014 I thought it would be fun to combine all five activities into a New Year’s Day celebration.

My celebration started at 6:00 am with a run from Brighton over Guardsman’s Pass to Deer Valley and back with speedster Kevin Schilling. It’s great to have friends who think the best way to welcome a new year is with an early morning run. (15 miles)

Next was tele-skiing on perfect corduroy after catching the first chair on Millicent. A number of high-speed laps were just what I needed to get a good case of Bernina legs. (8.5 miles)

After a quick switch into snowboard boots I was back on Millicent. This was my first time on the board this year and the first run was a bit shaky. But, just like never forgetting how to ride a bike – the board and I once again became one. (8.5 miles)

I was looking forward with great enthusiasm to event #4 – skate skiing. If I had to choose only one sport I could do for the rest of my life, my choice would be skate skiing. I enjoy the total workout – legs, arms, and core. But more so, I find that the rhythm and motion allow my head to go to that other place that I so like to visit. (17 miles)

And for the final event of the day, snowshoeing with my kids. Yeah, it took some arm-twisting and even the promise of a few post snowshoeing beers, but they joined me for a wonderful late afternoon jaunt through the woods (3 miles)

And for fun symbolism – the day added up to 52 miles of ground covered – my age on this first day of January 2014!

All-in-all a most enjoyable day and hopefully some good prep for several running events in early 2014 including the Treviso Marathon outside of Venice, Italy in February where I would like to run a sub 3:00. And then on April 11 the 100 miles of Istria trail race in Croatia. I’m feeling healthy and strong and have high hopes for doing well at this race across the Istrian Peninsula. While it is only January, I’m feeling healthy and strong, and am confident this could be a good running year for me.

Grandeur Fun Run 2014

The 7th annual Grandeur Fun Run will be held Saturday May 17, 2014.
See sidebar to the right for details.

See you there!!

Thanksgiving Prep

This is pretty much how it's been in my kitchen today.

SkiMo and finding my mojo

Wow, it's been a while since I've done a post. I suppose I've been feeling a little uninspired since the Wasatch 100 that wasn't. I was one of the many that failed to finish this year's run and while I could make many excuses it was my own fault. Something I learned from this year; if I'm going to put high expectations on myself then I also have to be able to deal with it when it doesn't work out. Which brings me to the reason for this post: SNOW and the MOUNTAINS! If you want to skip to what I'm about to write about got to: UTAHSKIMO.ORG

After Wasatch I took some time off before turning my attention to new mountain activity for me, SkiMo. I wrote about this last year after I jumped in the deep end and ended up having a great time. Now I have a little more experience and I want more of you to join me. I want to make it clear that I am in no way an authority on ski touring or SkiMo, I just have a blast participating in it and learning a wealth of information along the way. SkiMo is short for Ski Mountaineering and is basically a race on the snow, up a hill, back down, repeat often.

First you must choose your gear. Alpine touring gear is the current fast gear but you can use anything you want except full nordic gear (cross country, skate or classic) tele skis, or split boards were seen often last year. Next you need a little bit of fitness so that once you get up the hill you can ride back down.

Up until 2 years ago there was basically one race here in the Salt Lake valley that one could participate in if they were into moving fast across the snow. That race is the Wasatch Powder Keg, which has been around for many years and this year it will be the North American Championship race. In addition the Keg we have a full series of races that are set in a low key, affordable environment. Thanks to the enthusiasm of Chad and Emily Brackelsberg, Andy and Jason Dorais, Jared Inouye, as well as many other volunteers we have 8 races leading up to the Powder Keg in March. The Wasatch Citizen Series. What started as a few folks showing up on Tuesday evenings at Brighton, turned into steady turnout with 40 to 100 people showing up regularly last year. Why? Because it's fun, the people that show up are friendly (many you will recognize from trail running) and there's no pressure. Visit UTAHSKIMO.ORG to learn more.

What to expect:
The races are at Brighton ski resort, mostly in the evening starting at 7pm, ending at ~9pm, hang out at Molly Green's afterwards for prize drawings and getting know friendly folks.
Full avy gear is not necessary so don't worry about a pack (this is required for the Powder Keg though). Bring a headlamp even though we are often getting light from the night ski runs. You'll also need a helmet. I would suggest a bike helmet if you don't have a skimo specific helmet, a normal ski helmet will be way too hot. Many people bring a heavier jacket to the start/finish area and leave it there. Don't overdress, just like running you will generate a lot of heat going uphill. The courses are generally quite short, about 10 to 15 mins up, focusing on the transitions from up to down and back again. There are usually two categories, Race and Heavy Metal. Race is for light gear, Heavy Metal is for more mainstream touring gear. Go as fast or slow as you want nobody is keeping track and there are no results.

Last year the greatest benefit was all the new friends I made. Side benefits included gaining some fitness with an activity other than running and last but not least, faster transitions. Hope to see you out there.