Tuesday 121614

A good read on PEDs.

Great stuff from Jack Daniels.

This is my boss.  Sort of.

I have been trying to read a thing about Leadville each day … just to learn shit.  Google lessons learned Leadville 100 and you get a ton of hits.  Success stories and a ton of failure stories. 

A recent interview with PPA legend Dobson.

Music …

“There is a zero chance of taking the marathon seriously. I only decided on Friday that I was going to run the full distance.” Kevin Sullivan, 40yo 2:40 guy (who was a 3:50 guy … in the mile)

I am a bit disappointed the Bekele is gonna go race Dubai.  I am sure he will post some redonkulus time there but I rather see him go head to head with Kimetto, Kebede, Mutai, and Kipsang. 

I generally found the Rich Roll interview with Dean-o to be good.  I think Dean gets a bit of an underserved bad rap by some in the ultra world.  There is a lot of good stuff in this cast, including Dean addressing some of those concerns.  … that said, there is a little bit of the “drop what you are doing and follow your dream” theme in there that I cringe at.  I see this message as a bit … well, wrong.  I mean, outright, it is not wrong, but it seems to get wrapped in this idea that “if you do what you love you will never work a day in your life” craptastic message that makes no sense.  In fact, the people who are doing what they love seem to be working their ass off doing it.   But there has to be a space for your vocation not being what you love, but something else you do to support who or what you love otherwise.  I feel this message of “do what you love” slips into some sort of broader narcissism but that might become a bigger #GOM rant that is not well stated.

In any case, I am pretty sure that is not what Dean intended in the interview, but I have become a bit sensitive to that sort of messaging. 

25 who influence more … Justin Mock (image from Colorad.

Top American at London in 2010, sub 40 in the Bolder Boulder 10k in a gorilla suit, regular Pack Burro Racer (and finally securing a win this year at BV), 4th at PPM in a sub 4:10 performance.  Dude has wheels (even if his mile and 5k PRs are soft, I don’t think he ever really went after those the way he could).  Occasionally he races those little dogs he has too, but that will probably be forgotten once he gets a World Championship in Fairplay next year.  Well, that is assuming he actually runs and can hold onto his burro.  ;)

But seriously his influence to the running community in Colorado is not about that.  It is really about his writing.  He contributes regularly to Running Times (as in what seems every week) with thoughtful articles and interviews, as well as consistently and more locally to RunColo.  In terms of both local and national coverage of the MUT scene, I cannot think of anyone who has been a more influential journalist.  

Late afternoon – 9 miles with some pick ups, strides.  I thought I’d do something structured, but I felt a bit fried in the head.  I hit my downhill near 1500 meter stretch in 4:40, so not bad but I was not feeling a lot of fight.  I felt cold out there today too and was not enjoying that and then I saw the guy running in the sandals … damn it.

Tuesday 120214

Mid day – 10.2 with Bob.  Always good to run with Bob.  Solve whirled peas and stuff.

News stuff – USATF MUT names their ROY winners.  Cool to see the Roache-Deakins pair make that list.
- this is so Skurka (hat tip to JV for this find). And folks think I am number nutty.  Really I am way more a shoot by the seat of my pants kind of guy. 
- want to check out Canova?  He will be local in a conference soon (thanks JT).   
- apparently Max finds 100ks on the road to be REALLY BORING. 

25 who influence more:  so much of the Colorado ultra runner culture has been built around the legend of the guys who check out, live light, run and travel.  The original vagabond has to be Rickey Gates.

Results – after struggling at CU to make the XC squad, Rickey does his own thing and finds success – winning the US Mountain Running Championships and US Trail Mountain Championships in the same year (2008).  Since then he has blazed a trail in the US, Canada, the freaking SOUTH POLE, and Europe hitting mountain climbs, building climbs, ultras, and road races.

His results only represent part of his story:  he took a year to go work and live in Anartica, he road his motor cycle to South America, he has traveled so much it is almost hard to pin him as a Coloradoan as he is probably more a member of planet Earth than any state.

And he is a writer.  His stuff is regularly in Trail Runner.  While it is not a magazine I subscribe to, it clearly is a platform that influences the thought in the sport.

Monday 112414

-The SNL take on the recent EO regarding immigration is awesome.
-CU – no surprise, wins the national title.  While that was a no brainer of a pick, it is amazing that they did it when Oregon when 1-2.  Those are some pretty low sticks to overcome.  And I don’t think CU had a single race where their top guy was the same.  That is really amazing. 
-King wins and ARs at the World 100k.  Okay, WMRC champ, World 100k champ, on a US World XC team, OT for the Steeple, a stellar debut at the 100 mile distance at Western, and a 2:15 marathoner.  And the guy is out there every week it seems.  Is there a runner with a greater range of significant wins ever?  I guess there could be an argument for Salazar with a 4:01 mile, wins in major marathons and a record at that distance, and being hugely competitive in the 10k in his college days, and a win at Comrades … others?  Arguably if King had made the Olympics in the steeple, or was a sub 2:10 marathoner, we might not see him at these other events. 
- Apparently the new Incline is perfect.
- Remember when the TNF 50 was like 5 guys who were awesome?
-Good read on why marathon times (particularly mens) are getting faster while 5k/10k times are stagnant.
-Wolves might be the more ultra-esque than humans.

AM – a couple of miles with TZ and then I headed out.  I did loops (1500m) around the ‘hood.  At 8.2 miles, I felt the calf twinge and before that it was perfectly fine.  I still did a few more loops, cutting the planned longish down to 11.6 though. Windy and chilly.

Afternoon – got out with JZ for a mile.  8.6 miles.  Rolled through 3000 today.

25 who influence more – there are a small handful of guys that have come to the MUT scene in the last few years that are FAST.  By fast, I don’t mean they can run a 13 hour 100, but they come to the game with PRs at shorter distances that are a bit atypical.  A handful of years ago, a 2:30 marathoner could be counted on to be a pretty strong force in the ultra scene.  While there is still some truth in that, the ultra ground is being invaded by more guys with sub 2:20, sub 2:15 PRs at the marathon distance (and with that, sub 30 10k times). 

(yes, side note, I know we all know that everyone who is fast at the shorter distances is not a lock to be quicker at the longer distances, but when it sure does not hurt to come to the MUT scene with a 2:15 road marathon PR).

One of these guys who moved to Colorado just a few years ago is Sage Canaday (another non Coloradan is Max King, who I mention here because it is interesting that he and Sage both went to and ran at Cornell).

Sage gains a certain amount of his attention with his speed:  he was the youngest qualifier in the OT marathon field in 2007 and later PR’d at the distance with a time of 2:16.  He trained with the renowned Hanson group (who produced 08 Olympic Team Member Brian Sell) in his run up to that (for those who don’t know about that group, it is one of the post collegian US potential elite training groups). 

Post that gig, he moved to Boulder and stepped into the MUT scene.  His first assignment, at least it seemed to me, was to destroy every possible FKT up Green Mountain.  And he did.  Find a route on Strava on nearly any of the peaks west of Boulder, and the guy probably owns the top time.

Of course, his efforts were not limited to the “no rules” FKTs on , but over the last few years he has picked up wins at the east coast’s prestigious hill climb, Mount Washington (also becoming one of a few to break an hour on the course), and then a win at the Pikes Ascent last year.  These performances “bookend” significant showings at the ultra distance.  CR and the win at White River, twice at Tawawera and twice at Speedgoat 50k.  No foray into the 100 miler yet, but has also won the USATF100km title at Bandera.

Again, Sage is not just influential because of his wins – but I see him as a guy who is shifting the business of being an athlete.  He juggles multiple sponsorships (I count 11 on his site).  As far as I know he is the first runner who ever actually put together a beer sponsorship (Avery).    He consistently moves his brand and share his message with video blogs, blog posts, and recently podcasts.  Flip open a copy of Trail Runner magazine, and the guy is in a full page spread.  He is actively involved in coaching (10k to ultra distances), and covers the local circuit of stuff, and events internationally.  He is transparent in his failures – sharing what his mistakes have been, but also putting out there as to what he thinks has made him successful. 

Few bring the range across the number of event he covers, the regular jumping in, the business and outreach picture.  In the world of Colorado, the guy is influential.

Wednesday 111214

Late afternoon – early evening.  10 miles.  3 degrees, so cold.  And sort of humid (65%+).  No beard for me to create a good ice beard, but I had build up around the hat.  I wore a jacket yesterday but with the humidity it seemed like I was just soaking underneath it so I went with a wool poly sweater today.  While it looked old man like it worked a lot better.  10 miles

Really slow in the cold and the dark.  Just one of those runs …

News stuff – A “podcast” interview with Benji and Amie Durden from Flatirons Running.  If you listen, you can hear Greg W selling shoes in the background.  Pretty fascinating stuff – particularly when Benji talks about the 1980s trials, and how Rodgers and Bjorklund didn’t attend, and Kardong couldn’t make it because of Mt St Helens.  Quite a bit of stuff in there about how they feel about PEDs. (near quote) “I was once told by someone of importance in our sport, who I won’t name, that I was not serious because I wouldn’t take drugs.”  Good listen.
-not running related but sort of as I keep an eye on the local XC team:  I have wondered why the local HS XC team moved up in the past year to the 5A (largest school) classification, but football stayed 4A.  Basically how the counts are divided up are outlined here.  In some regard it doesn’t matter – but at some point it does for some of those teams and individuals.  For example, I was talking to someone about the girl who won the 3A championship.  If you stacked the results across the board, she would have not cracked the top 30.  On the other side, the 2A champ for boys, would have won all the races outright with the time he posted (but even that is hard to compare since he ran about 4 hours earlier in cooler temps).
- still catching up on last week’s news.  NYCM - The “look” that Kipsang threw Desisa after Desisa bumped him (Desisa was completely flailing and Kipsang looked like he was jogging), and then just put the race to bed – incredible.  Oh yeah, and now add a malaria injection to the list of “why I tested positive for PEDs” all time great excuse list.

25 that influence more … this one is going to come across as being a bit of a homer but … how many people in CO have actually been intimately involved in making their take on running a state law?  And how many of them have also been the guy that has scripted multiple World Champions?  Or brought hundreds of people to the start line of a race to do something that they would probably never otherwise do?

Okay, burro racing is somewhat niche.  But it is Colorado’s Heritage Summer State Sport as passed by the legislature.  There are only a few people that can lay claim to driving that to completion and two of them are in the shot above:  Bill Lee and Brad Wann.  Bill is, along with Curtis Imrie, one of the cornerstones of this indigenous to Colorado sport – and Bill has been bringing people to it for decades.  Look at the board listing world champions over the last six plus decades of burro racing in Colorado, and Bill’s burros are all over it.

Each summer people come out and do the crazy “ass” summer sport of burro racing – a combination of some ultra event of running, and zen-like  patience with an animal.  Some love it.  Some like it.  Some hate it.  Everyone I have talked with who has done it walks away from it with a new appreciation for something.  That is influence.  And Bill makes it happen for those people at a level that no one else does, year after year.

It has drawn the slow runner and the fast runner.  Heck, even Jon Sinclair did it.  Colorado Hall of Famer that will never be because he pisses folks off Tom Sobal smoked the Fairplay course – 29 miles with a climb to 13k feet from 10k feet over roads, trail and mountain meadow in 3:45 – with a Bill Lee burro.  Last year 20 burros were brought to Fairplay, because people wanted to try the sport.  No else brings burros in that number to let people try this sport (some actually never have even been near a burro before that day).  That is influence.

 
The guy has his own set of running history as well – running races like Leadville, Mohican, Angeles Crest, and Western back in the days of 28k modem dial up and before lotteries were the way you got in.  Simply by the nature of how long he has been doing it, he is one of those guys that has seen more of the the MUT running scene than  most of us ever will.

Am I biased because of my relationship with him?  Hell yeah.  But it is my blog and my list.  I started the list because I wanted to point out people who had moved the sport more than some guy who blogs a lot  – and clearly Bill has done that. 

Monday 111014

News stuff:  Latest ATUC.   The women’s beer mile record fell.  Did Serena Williams really say her ass was too big to run a marathon?  Tabor Scholl commits early to CU.  Most important, it snowed today.  I guess that means the official start of the Ice Beard season is underway.  I currently have no chops to build such a thing on, but the snotsicles are going to be coming out.

Different sort of stuff that caught my eye:  nice TED talk on “The Power of Why” and then separately – why TED talks are typically so engaging.

Right calf is still hot.  I thought with that and the snow (as light as it was) I’d give it a day of complete rest but Hans was in town and he begged me for a run.  He was only slightly excited.  He broke the leash outright.  3.4 miles.  None of that fast but I guess I got some sort of core workout on the side where I was holding the leash.

Foo releases the rest of the Sonic Highways album today.  Guess what I am listening to?  It is not a bad album, but I don’t think it is as good as ESPG or In Your Honor.  The two tracks, “Congregation” and “I Am A River” are the albums highlights.

25 that influence more … Melody Fairchild.  She is not a loud person, but her results are incredible.  In Colorado, she is a legend.  As a high schooler, she won the Bolder Boulder citizen’s race 3 times, nabbed 8 state titles in XC and track, ran 2 miles under 10 minutes (9:55, and then a HS record that stood for nearly a quarter century), won Kinney twice (it is now Footlocker), and took third in the World Junior XC championships.

That sort of thing gets eyes on you, and you become an influence.  The running world watched her with anticipation as she headed to the University of Oregon, to watch her struggle with what scares us so much with runners – and what seems to be particularly true with young female runners:  an eating disorder and injuries.  After giving up her scholarship she came back to win the NCAA 3k in 96.

After a brief foray into the marathon, she seemed to step out of the limelight, and slippled into various HS and college coaching gigs.  In the last few years however, she has been a force on the MUT and masters scene.  She was 8th in the WMRC in 2012, won the Collegiate Peaks 25 miler multiple times, took 2nd in the Masters race at USATF XC in Boulder this past year, and has picked up a variety of other wins and podium appearances.
That is a helluva storied career.  While I appreciate the results folks post, in this project I have increasingly come to see that influence can be bolstered by results, but it does not mean it creates the influence alone.  The influence really comes with what one does back into the sport.  I understand these often go hand in hand – one does not get the stage to influence as easily as the “winners” but “winners” are not necessarily the best influencers.  Melody has constellation of results (along with some really big results in there) and has also given back.

She “gives back” to the sport in that she directs a summer running camp for middle and high school girls focusing on training, appropriate body image and mental strength:  "I saw a disturbing trend in young girls in high school, not making the successful transition to collegiate running and then, again, from college to post-collegiate running," Fairchild says. "I wanted to teach young women to trust what is going on with their bodies and begin to understand what they are capable of."  As I have probably made clear previously, I see the impact that coaches have – particularly on children to be hugely influential. And now Melody is the coach at Shining Mountain as well.  And if that is not enough – she also runs the Boulder Mountain Warriors XC team, a team for kids.

Sunday 110214

AM – 16.2 miles. 
Felt pretty good despite the Green trip yesterday.  I then ran into Tim and Riley and they put the screws to me for a few miles.

I had been content floating along at an easy pace, but Riley was in a tempo run.  I was talking (family friendly) smack with Timmy when he got a flat.  I agreed to go on with Riley and then realized her pace was a tad hotter than I was accustomed too.  Nice wake up call and good to see those two.

Sort of crashed out a bit towards the end on the climb back home as not bringing fluids caught up to me.  Ended up with 71 and change on the week.  Not a great week as I missed two days, and had nothing big or stellar but I did some make up work on the days I had, either getting in longer days, doing some speed work or getting some vertical.  Last three days were 46 and change.  I can say that I do feel fitter than I was this summer in some regards.  I am not sharp but I have got a bit better at the underlying strength with some of the longer stuff at an easy steady pace.  Where I take that … well …

Off to Atlanta for a few days, so will be another mixed week, and one of “taking it where I can.”

News – of course was interested to see what happened in NY. Winds played some havoc with times out there but guess what – it was a great race!   And it is sort of insane that the top American marathon is like 85 years old.  And the top US 5k guy too.  As long as I am talking about old guys, it is worth mentioning Lee Troop pulled 2:25.
- interesting stuff … running advice from 160 years ago
- another touching article from Hal.

25 who are more influential … I don’t expect most the MUT folks to know this guy, but he is a big deal in the road and track world.  Jay Johnson (pic from his Twitter account)

For many of us, our first exposure to Jay was when he was a Buff, and came on strong in the late parts of the text Running With the Buffaloes that followed the 1998 XC team, Goucher’s national title win, and the death of Chris Severy.

After that he went off and was a coach at the DII level, but then came back to the growing powerhouse of CU to be a part of the coaching staff there for another five years. 

That is pretty important.  The guy goes to CU for 5 years, gets a kinesiology degree, but then gets 6 more years at CU under Wetmore – the guy who topped Justin’s list (and no argument from me that he should).  A decade with a guy who is arguably one of the best coaches in the nation … and it translates into him then coaching folks that are national champs (Metvier, Cabada and Vaughn).

He has not solely focused on coaching the elites.  His influence is felt wide with a variey of projects he is involved in.  He is the director of the Boulder Running Camps each summer. He produced the DVD set RunningDVDs.com, where he pushed the concepts of general strength exercises (activities other than running).  Much of this content has been replicated on his youtube channel.  He has a regular podcast with coaches, runners, and thought leaders in running off his informative website.  His latest two projects are the High School Running Coach site and Distance Recruiting project – efforts specifically aimed at high schoolers looking to bring their running to the next level and into the college realm.   His reach is vast, detailed, informative, and moving the sport forward. 

Friday 103114

News
- CU men dominate the PAC 12s with a 30 point total.  30 points as a team is impressive.  The 12 second spread between their 1-5 guy is insane.  Cranny was second on the women’s side.
- this could be a big deal in the marathon world.  As in just the beginning …
- latest ATUC.  Great stuff on balance in there.
- got to listen to the latest E/T on the run today, and it pretty good /funny.
- maybe you are interested in what the top 15 men ran for the marathon in Kona.
- I am loving that I wake up Friday morning and I get a new Foo Fighters song.  This latest one in their release from Sonic Highways is my favorite so far.  Dig the “western” root riff of it, as it sort of reminds me of RCPM/Refreshments.  And I always love the build to the scream.

Yeah, Dave is living the rock and roll dream, but the dude is bustin ass.

Let my opportunity to run yesterday (early AM) slide and got nada.  I am trying to look at these as a take it as it comes sort of thing and not worry about it.  In the past I would force a late night run to make it happen.  I am not sure if that is more beneficial or if grabbing the running when I can and maximizing it is better.  One approach drives consistency, the other forces effectiveness and probably a more hard easy approach.

Still fighting the snot monster today.  Got out for a decent run that was what I would call easy aerobically (not breathing hard) but solid on the legs for that sort of running.  16.1 miles. 

Month of October finishes at 271 miles.  Not great, not bad but I am happy with it given the international travel, the uptick in work, family vacation, 8 days off.  Year is at 2819 miles (and just under 65 a week).  Things are flat these days though.  Seriously – my vertical for all of October was less than what I would get in one day in Manitou in August.

25 more influential …Greg Weich. 
I am sort of “double dipping” here.   By saying Greg, I am actually giving the hat tip to the all the coaches out there, as they are hugely influential.  Anyone who has been on any high school sport team probably remembers their coach.  I have not seen my HS XC/Track coach in nearly 30 years and I remember the guy, his mannerisms, his speeches before and after meets, the inflection in his talk, and his bone dry humor that makes more sense to me now then it did then. 

By the very role these people are in, they are influential.  With young runners, they are gearing them up for that next level of success (or not), or a love for the sport for a lifetime (or not).  In terms if Colorado running in HS, I could be talking about Greg or Paul Roberts or Sean O’Day.  They get their hands on a part of the tiller of the young minds for a period that sets a direction of sail for a long time.

As a parent, you doubly realize the impact a coach has.  I am sure I have told this story before but to illustrate this point – here it is again:  KZ’s freshman year of XC and one of the first meets (St. Vrain) … KZ had not made her entry into cross particularly easy for herself.  She had not decided to take up running until the day before formal practices had started.  As a result, she had not engaged in any of the summer training.  There was, as there are in many starting runners, no real difference between an easy pace, a hard pace, a warm up and a race.  It was just running, and it was hard as she was just getting her first regular taste of endurance training.

I had buzzed around the course throughout the day, cheering on kids, and taking pictures.  I positioned myself about 300 yards from the finish for KZ’s race, a bit in the trees so that she could not really see me (I knew she was annoyed by me taking pictures).  Up the course, maybe another 30 yards was Greg (so he was about 330 out from the finish), at the end of a slight rise.  He was there taking stock of the kids, and providing some well time words at the end to get them to kick it in.  KZ was one of the last kids to come in, but Greg was waiting.  She did not see him, and just in the middle of the hill … she began to walk.  I could see Greg’s body language and he yelled something to my daughter that she needed to get going.

Here is the part that still cracks me up:  she looked up, while walking and waved at him and smiled.  I uttered a silent “oh crap” to myself while also laughing.  Greg “reiterated” his message (a bit more dynamically).

Their talk after the race:  Greg: “Zackers.  what kind of effort did you give out there today?”  KZ:  “umm, I think … I don’t know.”  Greg:  “If you are walking that close to the finish and waving at me smiling, you can give more.  Let’s say you gave a 7 today.  Next time, make it an 8.  Okay”  KZ (grim faced but controlled):  “Ok”

In typing that I can see the paragraph does not even come close to the influence and the interaction that actually went on.  This is a conversation that if I tried to have with my daughter would have gone completely sideways, followed up with an emotional angry outburst, and hard feelings.  No – the coach is not a parent, and they thus have powers of influence that are often greater in certain contexts and more refined than the parents. 

For what is worth, I heard about the influence that Greg had in that conversation for at least half the ride home from my daughter.  My daughter is probably not going to run competitively in college, but the guy is influencing her quite a bit.  And Greg does this with 80 kids a day over the XC and track seasons.  That is a lot of influence. 

He is not a run of the mill coach.  The guy has coached many athletes of national caliber at the HS level:  Brent Vaughn (who later went on to be the US XC National champ), and the Kaltenbach sisters.  Underneath that is tons of layers of other really solid HS running kids (Gonzales as a 9 flat 3200 guy last year comes to mind).   He has had state XC titles at both Smokey Hill HS and Broomfield HS.  While such conversations are always amped with argument, his name gets kicked around as one of the best coaches in the country in the HS (go troll LR for that). 

No surprise, he ran for Joe Vigil at Adams State.  He is a solid runner in his own right – posted a 2:35 at the age of 40 in the marathon a few years back.  When not coaching, he manages the Flatirons running store (new, and was at BRC before that) – and hence is influencing the running community via that angle.  

Wednesday 102914

News stuff
-Mike H pointed me to a good article regarding one of Lucho’s athletes, Larisa D.
-nice short read on a guy who has done 100k miles in his life. 
-good read on foreign runners in the NCAA.
-Kennedy is doing NYC.  Interesting perspectives in there … “He found it to be a life of necessary selfishness, everything focused on his career, which brought great achievement but came with a price.”

AM – got a run in before heading in for a full day of work meetings. Had a short window of time so I did 4 x 1500ish on a local trail nearby … down on the odds, and ups on the back.  I feel a bit off.  Not bad.  Just not right.  Not sure if it is the cold I am fighting, or the catching up I am doing, or the altitude change or the time change.  But I am off a bit.  So I decided to get on it to see if I could force it a bit by getting to some harder work.  I was trying to feel it a bit like 5k pace, but the climbs back were a bit tougher.  About 6.1 miles.

I like that workout though because it is close, and works effort a bit more than pace – particularly on the ups.  I will go back to this so for reference, it was 5:03.5 (5:41 pace), 5:55 (6:40 pace), 4:46.9 (5:22 pace), and 5:46.9 (6:35 pace).  Light jogging on three minutes rest.

Evening – it was a tight squeeze but I got in 4 steady.  Parked at the restaurant we were meeting at for dinner, changed in the car, and got running.  I wanted to find that pace that was going to get me a bit of running but not kill it so that I appeared like I needed to be carted to the ER over dinner.  Back in 28 minutes.  Rolled down the window, blasted the AC and got changed back.  Combed the hair and walked into dinner at the ready.  

25 who are more influential …Chances are that if you have done a 5k or 10k race in the north metro Denver area, you have seen this guy.  And in fact, if you have run a HS XC meet in the area, you have most certainly run by this guy at the finish line.  And you probably didn’t notice.

He is usually doing something like that.  He will be staring at a computer near the finish line, getting up on a ladder to adjust a camera over the chute, instructing folks on how to manage finishers as they come in or tweaking some cables that are no longer working. 

In fact, now that I think about it, he has seen more of my finishes in races than anyone else.  And so, he has probably seen my best and my worst in road racing.

Guess what – the guy is an Olympian.  In 1980, Mr. Benji Durden won a spot on the US Olympic team by taking second in the US marathon trials with a time of 2:10:40 (which in today’s terms would seem pedestrian on the world stage, but … if you ran that at Chicago recently it would make you almost a lock for the US team in two years – and keep in mind in 1980, the marathon record was still in the 2:09 range). 

But of course, the 1980 team did not go to Moscow, as Jimmy Carter decided as such. 

Most people who cross through his finish chute probably don’t know who he is or what he as accomplished.  And they don’t care.  And that is fine.   They care that their results are posted shortly after the race on the side of the nearby shed, are accurate and then they look that up a few hours later on line.  And this guy has done that for easily hundreds of thousands of racers over the decades.  No – seriously.  He did the timing for Bolder Boulder for years (he still might, I don’t know that), and that alone was tens of thousands of people each year.  And then nearly every other weekend, he was managing the finishes for the local 5k or 10k or the such and such 5 miler.  Some weekends, he is doing multiple races.

I met Benji in 1996, shortly after I moved out here and started running and racing somewhat more seriously again.  I became so spoiled by how quick he’d get his results up, that I’d be pissed when I would go to other races and they would say they would mail results out in a few weeks. 

Running results are not some critical service, like water or electricity, but it is one of those things that we expect.  We expect the lights to go on when we flick a switch.  We expect the traffic lights to work.  When we pick up a phone (or click it on now I guess), we expect it to call.  It is only when stuff goes wrong, then we realize that there is someone behind that making that happen.  And we have come to expect that our race results get up, correctly and quickly.  When it is not done, we suddenly notice the lack of service, and realize how good the service was before.

Benji was doing pull tags at the time in the mid 90s – no chips or camera or any of that  - and still getting results up more quickly and accurately than any body else in the area.  Well, mostly accurate.  I used to give him shit that when I was trying to break some time goal, I’d actually have to run TWO seconds faster than that to get that.  If you wanted to break 17 for a 5K, you better not run 16:59 on your watch because it would actually show up as 17:01 in the results.  I became so accustomed to this I actually started to not stop my watch until two strides down into the chute.  He some very scientific explanation on rounding that I was not sure I agreed with … so I still gave him crap about it.

Like the others I have mentioned, Benji is approachable, and passionate about the sport.  He cares about his work, and the detail it requires.  You don’t see just regular pull tags as his primary way of timing anymore.  It is chips and camera.

For what it is worth, after he took second in the OT, he’d PR later in the marathon, 2:09:57 in a third place showing at Boston in 1983.  He ran sub 2:20 25 times.  He ran 3:01 as a 55 year old.  He had prostate cancer, fought it and won.  He has completed a marathon in every state in the Union. He was a coach. I think I asked him once how much money he won in professional racing and with sponsorships and it was something ridiculously low.  Like 10000 dollars all told.  There was no prize money in races like Boston back then.  If you really want to do your homework, go look at some of the stuff he was posting on LR in 2004 about his training in the heat with layers of sweats.

An Olympian that touches the results of that many people and is a real guy running his own business … well, yeah, I would call that pretty influential.

(note, given the real life schedule, I am not expecting to post one of these 25 tomorrow)

Tuesday 102814

News: 
-Looks like GoLite is done.  Bummer.
-PAC12 break down

Great sunrises and sets the last couple of days.
Afternoon – I have been wanting to get in a longer run for a few days, but it is not lining up with either how I feel or how I am letting the day get away.  I thought I’d get it today, but I lost about an hour I thought I had.  14.1 which started easy but progressed up a bit to steady.  One of those runs where I felt like I was trying to snot rocket out a Saturn V but I was only getting Sputnik satellites out.

25 who are more influential … it should also be no surprise that I would put Lucho on my list.  Here is one of the more pretty shots I have of him.

Before you think I am talking about Lucho because he is a friend of mine, consider the broader impact that he has had.  Like others, you can look at his athletic results – like being former Leadman CR holder (and sub 20 in the 100 there), or being the top amateur at Kona -- or his training logs from when he was going for it, pounding out 40 hour training weeks with 100 miles of running, 500 of biking and a dozen of swimming. 

That is part of why he is influential.  The larger reason why is that he is REAL and the people can see that.  He was one of the first bloggers in the mid 2000s bringing posts about training, goals, Canova, low intensity training, and mixing it with being a Dad who like to fish, deals with insomnia, finding the right place to live and raise his family.  People can relate to him because he is not just the Fakebook guy that only brings good news, but instead nudges you (and sometimes shoves you) to consider your choices both in athletics and life.  Can’t get to a weight room?  Build a sandbag out of a bike tire.  Or lift a log in your back yard. 

I’d make a case that the term MAF would probably have been generally forgotten, but it has been reinvigorated into the ultra running culture because of Lucho (who brought it from a tri world that is often ridiculously distance from the running world) who blogged about it extensively.  The game was upped in 2011 when he and Tawnee P started the “Ask the Ultrarunner, Ask the Coaches” series on Endurance Planet.  Hundreds of episodes later, they still get questions from people wanting to know how to approach training.  He has coached hundreds of athletes over the years, both in CO and elsewhere for multisport and ultras. His “finger prints” are everywhere.   True story – I was on an other continent recently and got together with someone I had never met because they were coached by Lucho, and I happened to know him.  I think part of why he is influential is because the people he interacts with feel his passion for them to succeed – and people naturally are attracted to that.  I am lucky to have the guy as a friend, but even if I didn’t his influence would be significant on running in CO.

Monday 102714

If (and it is a pretty big if) I do both Pikes and Leadville next year, the bulk of my training needs to be done by the time I hit June.  Basically between June and July, I have three weeks where little if any training will get done.  Why?  I will be on a boat somewhere.  And often not hitting any land.

Those trips are not ideal for training for a marathon up and down on a 14k peak, or a 100 miler out of Leadville of course.  That said, the reasons for being on these boats is simple:  life time opportunities with my family. 

If anything, knowing that I will be dealing with these circumstances only furthers my belief in that I need to get my training while I can, and maximize that.  With down periods like this (and others dealt because of life, work, etc), I need to look to push myself in the up periods, almost to the point of breaking, and then leveraging the down period as a recovery. 

Maybe it works, maybe it doesn’t.  It will be fun either way.

Yesterday’s haul (which later led to today’s canning operation):
She has been rehabbing in the mountains while we have been away.  She is back.  Two and half weeks left with the cast spoon thing.  Yes, it reads, “do not chew.”  She is Australian so I am not sure she can read anyway.  And yes, I am going to make that squirrel pay.

She somehow thinks this is still a good idea.

I thought I’d get out in the afternoon, but the day got away with me.  Still catching up with stuff after being away for a few weeks, including circling the kids to make sure they catch up (with teenagers this is a bit of pushing rope up hill).  Between that, math homework, and fighting off a cold, I was not motivated to roll out into the dark of 9PMish …

News stuff:
- Monarch girls have had the grip on the XC 5A state title for three years and were heavily favored on Saturday to continue that streak.  But Fort Collins, the bridesmaid for the last three years took it by FIVE points. 
-The Lyons kid Roberts posted the fastest time across all the races on Saturday – and the only kid that was going to probably challenge that was Alhamra.  I was surprised to not see him at the top of the result – but he apparently had a pretty bad day.
-Also in XC was action over in MA, that included Abby D’s return to racing.
-NSFW – but holy crap funny from BroScience.  Thanks Jeff.  Glad I had the headset going for that one.  Of course, this is more of Jeff’s life.
-thinking of JV, this is the sort of race that I think he’d love.
-The guy I have run more miles with up and down Mosquito Pass wrote a book.  It is a good read, even if I get trounced in the end to take second.  ;)  No, seriously, I had read a copy a bit ago and I found it sometimes funny, sometimes painful as Hal spoke of some of the stuff he has gone through. 

- The Basic is this Saturday.  ‘Nuff said.

25 who are more influential … it should probably be no surprise that the first guy I would list is Matt Carpenter. 

Carpenter’s resume in terms of wins and course records is mind blowing.  18 wins at Pikes and the CR holder up and down in a time that no one has come near in decades.  3 wins at Mount Washington in sub 1 hour times.   Winner at Leadville and course record holder at 15:42.  And that is just a little bit of it.

But for what it is worth, that is only part of why I put the guy down as influential. 

Arguably, most of Matt’s most epic efforts came AFTER he failed.  Read through his race reports on the link above and you see a thread that is common and inspirational:  high expectations going to a race, coming up short and then retuning his focus to leave no stone unturned:  Pikes, Leadville, NF 50 in SF.  It is a story that many of us can relate to, or at least one we can relate to more than the guy or gal who comes out and wins from day 1 all the time. 

But that still is only a part of why I see him as influential.  The guy started the Incline Club which helped hundreds of runners train for Pikes and Leadville races over the years, helped get the Barr Trail race going, pushed back on the USATF with how they treated MUT runners, took a principled stand on what he expected of races and how they treated elites (probably to the point where he has pissed enough folks off that he has been held from the CO Running HOF), became the registrar of the PP races, created one of the coolest result databases out there for Pikes over the years, and …

… he reached out.  It seemed to me that any guy that asked this guy what they should do for training – he was willing and caring to help out.  You probably would not get the nice “you are crushing it dude” answer that you get on Fakebook, but instead a pretty critical and straight forward analysis of what you were doing wrong and what you need to do to fix it. 

Matt stepped out of the limelight a few years ago, which probably why he did not make the list Justin posted.  He was one of those guys who was so good that even as he neared 50 he was considered sometimes unrealistically the favorite against guys half his age.  In the eyes of some, he probably had to step away for a bit to get away from that sort of expectation.   You could argue that he is less influential now that he has changed the focus in his life to other pursuits.  Or you could argue that the seeds he planted are still growing.   Every summer the guy’s name still comes up in terms of records, wins, and accomplishments.