Burro Days 2018

8th run at the long course at Burro Days in Fairplay.  Jack and I came away 2nd for the third year in a row and the fourth time overall. 

It was an interesting race morning, with the usual craziness of setting up burros, catching up with the burro family, and then seeing over a 1000 people watching this affair at the start line.  89 teams lined up with 20 planning to go long.  Jack’s saddle had not made it from LVR, so Brad W did his magic and came up with an alternative saddle config (some stress there but Brad is a wizard at this stuff so we were fine).

Early on, I knew it was going to be a slow day.  Jack and I were probably the 20th team out of town and as we climbed 9 out towards Alma I could see long coursers Kirk/Mary Margaret, Bob/Yukon Jack, and Shad/Action Jackson leading a charge over short course mini teams.  With the long views that we get through those sections early I could see Jack and I were down as much as 90 seconds around miles 3 and 4.  I knew this meant little so early in the race given our history but felt a bit anxious back so much so early.  As we swung up through Billy Carter and to the power station at 9 and CR 12 we were cutting the lead down significantly.  I was sort of surprised because Jack and I were running pretty slowly – which meant those guys were going even more slow.

The race always changes significantly at the short course turn around.  Suddenly it was just the four of us and things really slowed down.  We reached the dead white limousine split in 93 … a huge difference to some of the times in the past.  And it was pretty much a hike after that uo to American Flats.  Hal W/FTB came barreling up and gave a bit of a clinic for a few miles, even taking the lead for some.  Joel P and his burro made chase in the background and so now there were six teams across 200 yards in the game. 

KC/MM moved across the Flats as I would expect Jack and I would – meaning not running but at a good walking clip.  Jack and I fell farther back and were moving slowly across the meadow.  There was nothing I was going to do (or be willing to do) to make Jack move any faster and accepted our fate of some stops on the rock climbs and watching KC/MM walk up to the top about three minutes ahead of us in about 3:07.  We hit the summit post in 3:10, about a minute behind Bob/YJ and Shad/AJ team.  KC/MM started a bomb of the descent and very quickly they were out of sight as the rest of us (including Hal/FTB) regrouped for a slow trot down through the London Mine. 

As we passed some folks watching I’d ask how far behind we were and I was getting feedback of 10-12 minutes.  This was a lead built up in about a mile or two so I pretty much figured unless something went wrong it was just a fight for the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th places.   Shad/AJ had saddle trouble and disappeared in the rear.  Then Hal/FTB were gone and so Bob and I started the 8 something minute trot down the long dusty road of Mosquito Pass.  Our pace was never aggressive but it was steady.  Yukon had no interest in leading but would come up on us, and then back off.  And again.  And again.  I smelled a tight finish between the two of us in town coming and so hoped that I could do a bit of the same sort of thing we did in 2015 with Justin and Yukon by sneaking away in the curves of the reeds of the paths below the power station. 

As we came into the power station, JZ let me know we were 19 minutes down.  Jack started his thing of absolutely knowing every where to turn on the course and steadily jogging it at 8-10 minute pace on the way back to town.  Suddenly Bob and Yukon were well of view.  We pass some short coursers.

On the final climb up the silly hill at the end I looked up and saw another short courser.  As it turned out it was Kirk but I did not know it.  We were probably still 45 seconds behind them at that point but we had apparently eaten almost all their lead.  Had I known I probably would have been more aggressive in trying to catch them but at the same time I really don’t think it would have changed the result given how we finish coming into town.  We finished about90 seconds behind in 6:08.  There was a big crowd coming into the town so I hooped it up for Jack and did some screaming to make it a bit fun.  As we crossed the line I asked Kirk how long they had been waiting for us because I thought he had been there for 20 minutes … I only realized then that we had nearly caught them.

It was fun to be out there, and I think I got everything out of Jack that I was going to get … but I’d be lying to state I am overjoyed with our third in a row finish as the bridesmaid there.  That said, no burro has been more successful on that course over the last decade than Jack.

More later with results and pics.  Thanks to all that made this happen.  It is not trivial and I know that. 

Back to Burro Days

Back in Fairplay for another go at Burro Days.  This will be the eighth time Jack and I have lined up.

Obviously we have had success here (debut race in 2010 – 4th, 2012 – a win, 2013 – a close second, 2014 – a win, 2015 – a win, 2016 – a close second, 2017 – a close second).  I think that sort of sets an expectation that we will do well again. 

I know that both Jack and I have slowed down since we started doing this.  The grind of the 29 miles ain’t as easy as it used to be.  We have also still managed to scratch out some successes despite that.  You really just don’t know in a burro race. 

I was asked today what time do I expect to finish in if “everything goes to plan.”  The thing about that  … you can’t consider a plan really, other than to take what you are given.  It could be a 5 hour finish, or a 10 hour finish, or no finish at all.  That’s not saying it is not somewhat in your (my) hands, but recognizing where you can push and where you have to just ride.

It will be a fun ride tomorrow regardless of the expectations that are out there.

A few relics from the Burro Days Museum

A couple of days in Phoenix

I had an engagement in Phoenix.  It was pretty hot.

I’d get out in the AM for 40 or so minutes and 30 minutes in the evening.  The mornings usually came in at 90 something degrees, but the evenings after work were always at least 105.  One night it was 116.  I’ll say it was hot, but not too bad for a 30 minute stretch.  That said, I knew that if I decided to go for an hour it would be a whole different game. 

Summertime playing

Good week of running on whole with 66 plus miles, 6k plus of vert, a race effort … better than typical.  I’ll take this next week as light given I am heading to the oven of Phoenix and it is the week before Burro Days.

On Saturday we got out for a nice hike that brought us up through Woods Quarry and the Royal Arch.

On Sunday I ended up at Walker Ranch, starting the loop out of the Myers Gulch lot.  That loop is amazing on so many levels, including how flipping hard it is to climb out of the river.  But even if not running it is some of the most beautiful running there is in the area.

He is getting pretty close to wrapping up on that coveted rank award.

BRR 5K

I did the 5k at the BRR last night.  19:29.  I was fairly determined to not get out too fast and while I did not pop out at 85, I passed through 400 in 90 seconds, and 1600 in 6:00 on the nose.  It felt fairly good through that but at 6 laps I could feel the wheels starting to come off.  I came through 3200 around 12:10 (which given I did a two mile race in 12:08 recently gives a perspective), and then things began to fall apart.  I managed only a 6:28 in the last mile.  I felt like I “went soft” in the last mile but there was not much fighting I could do about that.  Or perhaps wanted to.

There were some friends and family out there (JZ, Greg, the Mooney family, some kids from the HS) and I felt ridiculously supported, loved and a bit embarrassed as I ended up second to last and lapped twice by the guys running 15 something. 

I have wondered if my slowing matches the expected level one should see with aging or if I have just “let myself go.”  I took my 16:28 from 2004 at the age of 34, found an age grading performance calculator and it puts the performance at a 78.8.  Last night’s performance was a 73.4.  So it is in the ballpark but a bit of a drop off as well.  At the same time, it seems to be a long stretch to get to 18:09 which would be an equivalent to 78.8 at this age.  That is a lot of 80 seconds (or over 25 seconds a mile).

I was curious about my best performances and I think I ran a 15:57 at the age of 30 in the Governor’s Cup in 1999.  That was an 81.4 percent.  My best miles line up around that as well.  I can throw in a few other times around my early 30s and they end up being around 80-81 percent. 

So there has been a bit of the decay with age that lines up, but there is also some drop in the percent that has likely come with a lack of focused training, a lack of racing and whatever other excuses I wanna throw in there. 

Never satisfied

I am getting ready to head over to the Boulder Road Runner track meet.  These meets have been occurring for nearly as long as I can remember being here in the Boulder area.  For years, the cost of doing an event was 2 bucks.  Now it is 7 bucks for non-BRR members and 5 for members.  It is still a great buy.

The BRR Summer Track Meet results site is fun to look at … there are results there going back to 2004!  And I can look at those results in many cases I can remember the specific race … and not just my races, but the races of guys like Hegelbach, Denning, Ames, Geldean, Funke, Durden … I mean I can still visualize and remember those races they ran. 

Looking at the results from way back, I am struck by few things … first I am sort of stunned at how good some of these performances are.   There are races where dudes are running 8:30 and change for 3k.  But more than that … on top of that … I see performances that I sort of shrugged as unimpressive or even may have had some ego in looking down at that I hold in with a very different perspective now – and those are the performances of the masters guys.  Yes, seeing late 40 something year olds breaking five for the mile or a 41 year old Andy Ames running 16 flat for 5k … I’ll admit I have a hugely different appreciation for that.

Finally, when I look at my results from back then I have to sort of laugh.  I used to do the 1500 (or mile as they alternate) and 800 double.  The events are usually about 15 minutes apart so the 800 was always pretty tough.  Here are some results from a night in 2004.  

I remember being dissatisfied to some degree with the result in the 1500 and thus signing back up for some level of punishment in the 800.  Ah, good old days that I can both smile and shake my head at (as a reference I ran 16:28 for 5k in another meet that summer). 

I hold my dissatisfaction as both a strength and a weakness.  I don’t want to be satisfied because it can lead to lethargy, an ease and a contentment with being good enough … and with that you are closer to death.  I want to be satisfied with it enough to know that I did what I could and I have earned what I have earned. 

Off to the track …

Choices

Pretty hot today.  There was a nice break yesterday but the heat is back with being 90 degrees at 8PM (as I type this). 

Tomorrow is supposed to be pretty warm again, and there is the BRR track meet.  The mile is at 6:20 and its supposed to be about 94 then.  The 8PM 5k is likely to be around 90 again.

I am on the fence as to if I want to see if I can muster a sub 19 in the 5k … which sort of seems a bit unlikely given that is 6:06 pace and I averaged about that for 2 miles in much cooler conditions (and only mustered 6:19 pace for a recent Parkrun 5k) or if I will jump in the sting of a mile … and have to fight for a sub 5:45. 

(*fwiw – the recent 12:08 lines up to a 5:44 and a 19:21 on so called race prediction calculators … they also say that is a 3:05 marathon, which seems way more unlikely).

Or if the heat will make a chicken of me in all such affairs.

Another lap on Green

I got a lap in on Green this AM with Jeff and Homie.  It was my second summit on Green this year.  It was Jeff’s 37th on the year and Homie’s 400th.  Or something like that.  So yes, these guys can climb ridiculously well.  I pretty much went about as quick as I was going to go and they took a walk up the hill behind me to be nice.  And then they were kind not to blow by me on the way down either as I old man picked my way through the rocks. 

It was a foggy morning and so a pretty wet climb, but the time flew as we made chatter on the trails.  These guys were the first two with me in my first ever “ultra” … a run from the Rim to Rim to Rim in the Grand Canyon.   Both hard and easy to believe that was 8 years ago now.  Running with these guys is easy:  laughs, history, common topics to touch on, and just good “dooods.”

I headed over to practice afterwards to get another half dozen miles in … super easy.  It had to be.

On a related side note, I got a lap on Bear on Sunday … it was the first time I had been up on that peak (based on my notes) since 2015!  I recalled why as I was going on Fern.  That trail is so stupid steep it is something I can’t really run.  I guess there are some who can run it but nearly most folks can’t.  So there is a benefit to it, but at some point it is just a different thing.  But on this Sunday, a very rainy Sunday, it was a nice escape to visit this peak I had not been at in almost a thousand days. 

You are the author of the book of your life

Crashes and such

A few weeks ago KZ had a skid out on a mountain hill road and put some hurt on the Pumpkin.

The frame was not bent and so TZ’s brother was able to do some work in his home garage to get it a little prettier.

Guess, sadly, it is not unfortunately a “beater.”

On Sunday, I decided to engage in my own crash of sorts, and to line up at a Rocky Mountain Road Runners (RMRR) race.  It was 2 miles, and as is often the case with RMRR runs, your start was based on your performance in a recent race.  If you had raced previously with the RMRR they’d base it on that, or in my case it was based on my best estimate.   Given the recent 19 and change 5k for the Park Run I did, I figured holding 2 sub sixes would be a stretch, and guessed a bit more conservatively a 12:15 for 2 miles.

Given this, I was given then a handicap.  RMRR run their races so that the start is variable – meaning that the slowest folks take off first and the fastest take off last.  Hypothetically, this means everyone finishes at the same time.  It does not ever work out that way, but it does make for a very busy finish.  The last quarter mile of the run is more like the first quarter mile of a race – where you have to bob and weave through runners

It warmed up pretty quickly and it seemed a bit steamy (for Colorado).  I did a warm up with Greg and Jen.   With the shift in the race start there was some fun smack talk as to who would catch who.  I had about a 75 second lead given over Greg and I was not super confident I’d be able to hold him off – particularly if he caught sight of me in the last 400 meters.  I expecting to be typically stupid and get out too fast and to be struggling in the later stages – making a late kick down and caught more likely. 

My handicap had me start 8:29 after the first starters.  I got out quicker than I should but I managed to dial it back a bit so that I hit the mile in 5:55.  I had been regularly catching folks and not been caught by anyone.  As we rolled through the turn around triangle at the far end of the course, I spotted Greg about 125 yards behind me.  I got a bit soft in this part – trying to push but also not comfortable with the uncomfortable in this space – but that is why I was here.  I slowed in the second mile to 6:13 (to 12:08), but held off Greg (who ran 11:12). 

It was good work, but again – I am almost re-learning how to be in that space.  Avoiding races and workouts only makes it less familiar to the body and to the brain.  Racing is part of the training experience as well.

12:08 … it is not great for me.  In fact, my younger brain thinks how that would be a “gee this is not going well for me” sort of day if I split that for 2 miles in a 10k, but this is where I am now.  I need to own it – and just look to see what I can do to improve on it. 

I spent a fair amount of time over the weekend working with JZ in redoing the floor of the shed.  It had rotted out over the last 10 years from water damage, so we had to redo the some of the joists and put in a new bottom. 

We had helpers.

Minimum requirements

I have a whole rant on the victim mentality but I’ll let this picture cover it instead.

Plugging away here with a week at home.  I was thinking I just need to adhere to some set of minimum requirements for training.  Like every week will include some sort of short fast something, every week will have a threshold tempo something and every week needs a run at least 90 minutes or longer.  It is easy to say that when looking back.

I watched Lucho race on Thursday night and afterwards he said I should train for the 400 with him.  I think the chances of me doing that are about the same as me doing a 100 miler again.  Generally I am happy with my getting out every day but I do think I need to continue to up my “minimum requirements” so that I am not just jogging for 80 minutes every day.  As Bob told me if I keep doing that it will be 20 minute 5ks within the year. 

Summer training with the HS group is progressing nicely.

Mid year

June is in the rear view mirror.  I finished the month with 1664.5 miles / 225.35 hours / and 68,405 feet on the year.  I have had seven days off from running on the year.  Also can toss in 35 travel nights for work, 2 camping nights and 2 nights for travel other than work. 

It was a good week of exercise – coming in over 60 miles with the challenge of 2 different travel sites over the last week.