Mmmmm.....Beeeeeer! A Review of 2014 GABF

When I started this little side project I had planned on writing more about beer.  But I haven't.  I also haven't written that much about running either.  So to quickly make up for a lack of running updates, will make quick note about Imogene Pass Run on September 6th.  Been awhile since I have raced at Imogene.  Might have taken the first few miles a little to slow.  Reached Upper Camp Bird 4 minutes slower than previous races.  Ultimately, topped out nearly 7 minutes behind fastest ascent.  Race was over at that point.  Ran hard down, but not all out.  Finished 2:52:12.  36th overall and once again outside the age group awards.  But a bluebird day in the mountain is never all that bad.

Link to Splits/Map/Course Profile (Watch didn't get started until 300 to 400m into the race)

Descending Imogene Pass.  Pic courtesy of Elevation Imagining.

The following week after Imogene, was happy to drive up to Steamboat and pace my friend, Greg, in his first 100 miler, at the Run, Rabbit, Run.  This was a blast.  It is always fun to be at these types of events, it is even more enjoyable to see someone put together a great race plan and succeed.  I paced Greg the last 31 miles-ish.  He was cruising along the whole time.  In fact, I really only ran 25 miles with him as he dropped me with 5 to go on the descent of Mt Werner.  In my defense, my downhill legs were shot from the downhill at Imogene the week before, and also the fact he did average 7:50 mile pace the last 6 miles, the 3rd fastest descent of anyone at Run Rabbit Run.  He finished 6th overall in the tortoise category with a time of 24:40.

Link to Splits/Map/Profile (Note : after he dropped me with 6 to go, I just turned off the watch.)

So after those two weekends, I was sort of beat up running wise and with the cool weather signaling the arrival of fall, was ready for some beers.  Great time for the Great American Beer Festival.  To make up for the lack of beer updates here is a ranking of all 39 beers I tried at this year's GABF.  They are ranked using the Brisco's 5 Tail Wag system.  5 Tail Wags is out of control tail wagging, butt shaking, oh my god, I am so happy to see you.  1 Tail Wag is tail tucked between legs, thunderstorm raging, find a closet to hide in.  

Here we go!

Gold Medal Winners (5 Tail Wags)

#1) Gourdgeous  :  Hangar 24 Craft Brewery, Redlands, CA

I had a few pumpkin beers before this one, a bad one and a decent one, but nothing that wowed.  Then this was WOW.  Ended up being my favorite beer of the day.  The name is probably what gave it a slight edge over everyone else.  What a great name.

#2) Peanut Butter Milk Stout  :  Belching Beaver Brewery,  Vista, CA

A friend who went to the Thursday night session gave me a heads up on this beer.  Boy am I glad she did.  Fantastic.  Might have ended up #1, but the lack of name for the beer drops it to #2.  But the brewery name, which is great, almost made up for the laziness in not naming their beer.  

#3) Mexican Chocolate Stout :  Copper Kettle Brewing, Denver, CO

A longtime favorite that never disappoints.  This beer has so much going on, malty chocolate flavor, with cinnamon and spices, finishing with a kick from the chili peppers.  Oh so good.  I have noticed the kick from the peppers can vary a bit from batch to batch, but it is never so hot that it ruins the beer.  I discovered this beer at 2012 GABF .  I hadn't realized it had won the GABF gold medal the year before in the spice/herb beer category.  If I see this beer anywhere, I will order it.

Silver Medal Winners (4.5 Tail Wags)

#4) Last Snow  :  Funky Buddha Brewery, Oakland Park, FL

A GABF veteran gave me the hint to check out Funky Buddha's No Crust last year.  The best beer I ever tasted.  It taste just like eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  To tell you how good this beer was; I don't even like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  If they tasted like this, I would eat them all the time.  It was fantastic.  Unfortunately, they had run out by the Saturday afternoon session, which is odd as most breweries usually hold back a keg of their best beers for Saturday afternoon.  Last Snow Porter nearly made up for the unavailability of No Crusts.  Last Snow has chocolate, coffee and coconut blended so well, that it just melted in the mouth.  I'm knocking off a half a tail wag for the disappointment in not having No Crust available.

#5) Peanut Butter Cup Coffee Porter  :  Willoughby Brewing, Willoughby, OH

I stumbled upon this beer at 2012 GABF.  Willoughby Brewing didn't even have their own booth.  This beer was being offered at the Ohio Brewer's Guild booth.  I had it 3 or 4 times.  Anytime I walked by that booth.  But no one else was ever in line.  Last year, Willoughby Brewing had a booth.  But again no line.  This year there was a line as it had won the gold medal at the World Beer Cup for Specialty Beer back in the spring.  I feel cool to be in before it got famous, and happy to see the brewers getting their due for making such a great beer.

Bronze Medal Winners (4 Tail Wags)

#6) Bourbon County Coffee Stout  :  Goose Island Beer Company, Chicago, IL

It is too bad Goose Island got bought up by AB-InBev.  But thankfully, the corporate masters have not messed with this brewery.  They continue to put out great stuff.  This was a strong (13% ABV) beer.  You could taste the alcohol at bit, but it worked with the bourbon flavor and coffee.  With the strong flavor and high ABV, a one ounce pour was really all you need.

#7) Hazelnut Brown Nectar : Rogue Ales, Newport, OR

Might just be my favorite brown out there. First found this at 2012 GABF.  Have bought a bomber or three over the past few years.  Still as good as I remember the first time.

#8) Frog's Hollow Double Pumpkin Ale

#9) Barrel Aged B.O.R.I.S the Crusher Oatmeal Imperial Stout  :  Hoppin' Frog Brewing Co, Akron, OH

This is not my Buckeye bias.  Hoppin' Frog just makes some good beers.  The pumpkin ale had a nice level of spice.  The stout didn't overpower with bourbon from the aging, one could still taste the oatmealy-ness of the beer.

#10) Black IPA  :  Cannonball Creek Brewing Co, Golden, CO

I generally stayed away from IPA's this GABF (had plenty at summer fests), but did grab this one almost as a lark.  Was by Cannonball's booth with an empty glass.  While deciding where to go next, grabbed a beer from this brewery as I do like most of their stuff.  This had nice aroma, good hops, with the darker malt flavor.  Turns out it would end up winning the 2014 GABF gold medal in the American-Style Black Ale category.

#11)  Demshitz Brown  :  Bonfire Brewing, Eagle, CO

This brown is giving Rogue's Hazelnut Nectar a run for its money for my favorite brown.  The brewers feel that it doesn't quite fit into either brown category that GABF judges.  I don't know exactly what category I would put it in, other then the damn good beer category.  A good name is an added plus.

#12)  Xocoveza Mexican Mocha Milk Stout  :  Chris Banker / Stone Brewing Co, Escondido, CA Pro-Am entry.
This was a Pro-Am entry.  This is fun little section to taste.  Breweries around the country hold homebrewing competitions.  Winners get their beer made at scale at the brewery and entered into the GABF.  This one was a lot like Copper Kettle's Mexican Chocolate Stout, but without the chile kick at the end.  A really solid pro-am entry.

#13) Salted Beglian Chocolate Stout :  New Belgium Brewing Co, Ft. Collins, CO

Oddly, I don't really drink New Belgium much anymore.  But every now and then I do have something from their Lips of Faith series and remember why they got so big, they have good beer.  This was a really nice beer.

Good Beers, but can't give medals to everyone (3.5 Tail Wags)

#14)  Stone Coffee Milk Stout  :  Stone Brewing Co, Escondido, CA

I'll put Stone's actual beer right here.  As with everything from Stone, it was a well done beer.  

#15)  Pumpkin  Patch Ale  :  Eddyline Brewing, Buena Vista, CO

It is fall, time for pumpkin beers.  I searched out a few.  This one was solid.  

#16)  Shake Chocolate Porter  :  Boulder Beer Company, Boulder, CO

This beer was first released last year.  Taste just like chocolate milk.  I am still amazed that Boulder Beer actually made something so good.  As their brewery is only 100 yards from my work, it actually is to my benefit they are long down the list of my rankings of Boulder brewers, but this beer might make me cross the street more often.

Nice Beers (3 Tail Wags) 

#17) Beavers Milk Stout  :  Belching Beaver Brewery, Vista, CA

The peanut butter cup might have been so good it over-shadowed this solid but not great beer.

#18) Barrel Aged Triple Exultation  :  Eel River Brewing Co, Fortuna, CA

#19) Shipyard Bourbon Barrel Aged Double Scottish  : Shipyard Brewing Co, Portland ME

#20) Blarney Sisters Dry Irish Stout  :  Third Street Aleworks, Santa Rosa, CA

#21) The Good, The Bad and The Red  :  Elysian Brewing Co, Seattle, WA

This was nice red with some good hoppiness.

#22) Red Right 88  :  Great Lakes Brewing Co, Cleveland, OH

Got to give a shout out to Great Lakes.  First time I have had this, might be one of the few GLB beers I hadn't tried yet.  

#23) Georgia Brown :  Sweetwater Brewing Co, Atlanta, GA
A really nice brown.  There are better browns, but I will gladly drink this if it is available.

#24) Heirloom Pumpkin  :  Almanac Beer Co, San Francisco, CA

Ehh.

#25) Solana Beach- May The Port Be With You  :  Pizza Port Breweries, Carsbad, CA

Ehh. Seconded. 

#26) Allagash Saison  :  Allagash Brewing Co, Portland, ME

Ehh.  Motion Passed.

#27) Bell's Porter  :  Bell's Brewery Inc., Kalamazoo, MI

Was expecting more from Bell's, slightly underwelmed.

#28) Scream  :  New Glarus Brewing Co, New Glarus, WI

Ditto for this from New Glarus.

#29) Bourbon Barrel Aged Nikolai Vorlauf  :  Funky Buddha Brewery, Oakland Park, FL

No Crusts and Last Snow are the best beers out there.  This one didn't quite hit the same level as what else they put out there.

Blah (2 Tail Wags) : In no particular order

#30) Crossroads  :  Gerry Lynch / Verboten Brewing, Loveland, CO Pro-Am entry 

A scotch ale that was ok.  

#31) BrickStone Witching Hour  :  BrickStone Brewery, Bourbonnais, IL

An overly hopped beer for the sake of being hoppy.  Forgot about the whole taste thing.

#32) 10 Ton Oatmeal Stout  :  Warped Wing Brewing Co., Dayton, OH

This came after a couple of very good and strong beers, so taste may have gotten lost, but not much going on here.  

#33) Shipyard Pumpkinhead Ale  :  Shipyard Brewing Co, Portland, ME

Nice beer if it were just an ale, but had too little pumpkin/spice flavor.  Almost tasted flat.

#34) The Dread  :  Elysian Brewing Co, Seattle, WA

Disappointed in Elysian.  Remember their beers being better.  They have a number of awards at this GABF and previous GABFs, but this beer didn't do much for me.  The red (#21) I had was good, but not great.

#35)  Bayou City Brown  :  Texas Beer Refinery, League City, TX

One of those, I need a beer late, what do you have? Might have been better trying the next booth down.

#36) Stoup Northwest Red  :  Stoup Brewing, Seattle, WA

Don't even remember this beer.

#37) Tunguska English-Style Imperial Stout  :  The Brew Kettle, Strongsville, OH

Nothing special

Stay away (1 Tail Wag)

#38) Cinnamon Roll Chickow!  :  Triple Digit Brewing, Cincinnati, OH

To show I don't have a Buckeye bias, notice my #32, #37, and #38 ratings.  The Cinnamon Roll Chickow really earned this nearly last place spot.  While it smelled fantastic, just like a cinnamon roll, it didn't taste anywhere nearly like a cinnamon roll or even a good beer.  Blah.

#39)  Tres Amigos IPA :  Tom Charters / Ram Restaurant and Brewing, Boise, ID Pro-Am entry

This was a tequila barrel aged IPA.  This wasn't bad for the reasons you might expect, the tequila.  It was bad for all sorts of other reasons, in fact I didn't taste the tequila.  The other two folks I was with weren't very impressed either, in fact, one of them spit it back out.  Couldn't even swallow an ounce.  

Still Learning How This Whole Ultra Thing Works.

Classroom : Steamboat Ski Resort
Teacher : Mt Werner Classic
Lesson : How to Race a 50K
Grade : Incomplete

When I ran my first marathon, everything went perfectly.  In fact, I made no real mistakes and the race went so well, I was afraid to do another one, because I wasn't sure if I had learned anything or was just lucky.  I did learn one thin at Chicago in 2000, which I will get to later.

But racing the marathon actually was very easy for me.  Running and racing in grade school, high school, college, then post-college,  I knew what I could run for a 5K, 8K, 10K.  When I ran my first half marathon, the pace I needed to run was just a slightly easier effort than a 10K,  a pace that was pretty much already ingrained in my legs.  So the marathon was easy.  Just plug in numbers into Jack Daniels VDOT tables, or PR's into any of a number of other tables, and your expected time is easily calculated.  These tables are based on thousands of data points collected over the years.  Once I knew my expected time, I could train for that pace.  Then on race day, just run that pace.  And I am really good at feeling what is the correct pace and not getting caught up in what others are doing.  Case in point, at Berlin Marathon in 2005, I started immediately behind the elites.  I could touch them at the start line.  Half a mile into the race, I felt like a thousand people were ahead of me.  But it didn't matter.  I was going to run my first few miles in 6:00-6:05 pace and not worry about them.  By the end, I would pass nearly all them back.  I can chug out miles right on pace.  It is why nearly all my "raced" marathons went very well.  (In the only "bad" one, I knew early on I wasn't feeling right, but decided to chance it and stay on planned pace knowing a blow up might occur.  Sure enough, I knew my body well enough and unfortunately was right, a blow up did occur at 20 miles or so).

But the ultra thing is totally different.  Courses from one race to another are totally different.  What should I expect to run a 50K in at an altitude of 10 000 feet with 5 400 vert feet of climbing?  There is no table to plug in numbers.  What pace should I go out in?  How does that pace feel?  In a road marathon, in the first few miles, I can feel the difference between 5:40 (which might be too fast), 6:00 (which was roughly just right for most of my races) and 6:30 (which would have been a bit too slow).  In an ultra, 9:00 per mile to start feels really easy, but if I should be doing 10:00 or even 11:00, I can't tell the difference between them.  I already feel like I am running easy.  And since I am still getting to know the ultra community, I don't necessarily know who to key off of.  Ultimately I don't exactly know what I should realistically run, so I don't know if I should go out in 9:00 minute pace or 11:00 minute pace. There is just a whole lot more variables that road racing just doesn't have.

This all is a prelude to my recap of the Mt Werner Classic 50K this past Saturday in Steamboat Springs. My second ultra effort, having debuted with the Moab RedHot 55K back in February. It was a perfect morning to race.  A light rain had fallen the night before, cooling temps down.  The clouds never cleared out and it remained overcast for at least the first half the race.  Looking at the registered starters, I only recognized a couple of names.  One, I would have like to keyed off of, but since she was coming off of injury, I didn't think she would be up to speed.  Based on previous year's results and my fitness, I guessed I should be in the top 10.   That was roughly a finish time of 5:30.  I thought I could do that, or if all went well, 5:20, which was 7th.  So when the race went off, and I found myself running at the back of a group of 3 other guys, putting me 7th, I figured this was appropriate.  Now, a few days before the race I felt like I was coming down with a head cold.  Had a slightly sore throat.  Some head congestion.  A bit of a sluggish feeling.  I didn't run Wed, Thurs or Fri and just rested as much as possible and popped zinc tablets.  Saturday morning I felt okay.  I went ahead with my race plan, as much as I could call it one.  And during those first few miles, running with that group, nothing seemed obvious that I might not be up to speed.  But again, here is the difference between an ultra and say a road race.  Going out at 9-10 min pace is going to feel pretty easy, unless someone is desperately ill.  But in a road race, if you are feeling a little under the weather, you can tell, either the miles are a few seconds slower than you want, or they are on pace, but you can tell you are working a bit too hard.

The course starts with a roughly 10 mile climb up from the base of the Steamboat Ski Resort to the top of Mt Werner.   It's a gain of 3500 vert feet.  So it doesn't run straight up the ski slopes, but meanders up and across the mountain, before getting a bit steeper near the top.  At Moab Red Hot 55K, I felt like I went out to quick the first half, partially due to it being a relatively easy the first 10 miles.  I wasn't able to handle the hard parts of the course to be found in the second half.  Here, with the climb right at the start, I would be able to stay in check.  And I felt like I did.  One of the guys asked if I wanted to pass and I declined even though I did feel like I was clipping their heels.  I didn't want to make the same mistake as Moab.

Initially, the course ran through the aspens trees that make help make Steamboat such a fun place to ski.  As we got higher, the trail came out of the trees and started running up the slopes themselves.  The upper parts of the ski slopes were completely full of wildflowers and we ran a singletrack trail that zig-zagged up the slope through the flowers.  It was a beautiful scene.  My only complaint, once again a race director decided to mark the course with colored flags, that as a Red-Green colorblind person, don't stick out well against the green backdrop of grass.  This time it was orange and pink.  Add in thousands of blooming flowers and they all but disappear to me.  Luckily the course was pretty straight forward and hard to get lost on, but once I did have to ask the guy I was running with, which way to turn.   Would someone just use yellow or maybe yellow/black striped markings.  I can see those.  Anything with red in it, not so much.

Early on into the race.  Photographer caught me just as I was grabbing a gel from my back pocket.  Makes for a great photo.  Photo by Joel Reichenberger. 

Anyway, the climb went pretty much as I had planned.  I struggled a bit near the top, losing touch with the guys I had been running with, but still reached the aid station at 9.5 miles in 1:47.  I was shooting for somewhere between 1:40 and 1:50, so this was about perfect.  I didn't feel like it was too fast or too hard an effort.  I took my time at the top, grabbing some chips, M&M's, and downing some Coke, plus refilling my water bottle.  I had refilled it at the 5.5 mile aid station as well, so figured I was drinking appropriate amount of fluid.

From here the course rolls along at 10 000 feet.  You gain a hundred feet over a mile, lose a hundred, gain 150,  then ultimately lose about 200 feet as you hit the turnaround point on the edge of Long Lake at 16 miles.  Then head back on those same 6.5 miles to get back to the top of the ski slopes.  On the way out, the group I had been with pulled away I was pretty much alone this whole time.  I felt like I could average 10 minute pace in this section, and make it from the Storm King aid station at 9.5 miles to the Long Lake aid station at 16 miles in about 1:10.  This was based on splits posted from the previous year.  And pretty much that is what I did.  I came into Long Lake at 2:55, in about 11th position.  The group of guys in 7th, 8th, and 9th had about 10 minutes on me.  They were still in range.

Again I took my time at the aid station.  I had a gel (which was my 4th for the day, having already taken 3 while running.)  I grabbed some more potato chips for salt.  Downed some more Coke.  Refilled my bottle.  Then headed out.  This was the point of the race that concerned me.  My training this summer actually has been going well.  My climbing, which in many ways is a weak point, had gotten better.  I felt pretty fit.  But I know I hadn't done enough long, long runs.  I really only had a couple of runs of 14-16 miles, or  3 to 4 hours, in this summer.  I wondered if I could make it 31 miles, without having done any 20+ mile runs.  I kinda figured, I just needed to make it back to the Storm King aid station (on the return trip it would be at 22 miles) and then I could just stumble downhill the last 9 miles.

On the return, I felt like I was slowing up.  And I was.  This initially wasn't too concerning as, ultimately, I had to regain a bit of elevation that was lost running down to Long Lake.  But a number of people were passing me easily, and I couldn't really match their efforts.  This was a little frustrating.  I was running closer to 12 minute pace.  I tried to stay positive, because my math said, if I could make the return trip in 1:20, I would be at 4:15 at Storm King.  Surely I could descend in 8 or 9 minute pace and run around 5:30.

The clouds were breaking up and sun was coming out.  But at 10 000 feet, it still was a really comfortable temperature for running.  Yet I was beginning to feel bad.  Not a specific bad, but a general, I don't feel right, bad.  I have felt like this running over Imogene Pass or the last few miles of Pike's Peak Ascent.  I didn't think 10 000 feet elevation would effect me, but I had been running at this elevation for over 2 hours.  This is where potentially, with my body just being slightly off from the mild cold I had, I was not able to handle this elevation.  The last half mile or so back to the Storm King aid station felt endless.  It just never seemed to end.  This is where I cracked.  When the trail meets back up with the ski area, there is a little hill up to the aid station at the top of the Storm King lift.  It kicked my ass.  I arrived at 4:24.  Return trip was 1:29.  I really did fall apart the last mile or so.

When I got too the aid station, they asked how I felt. "Bad" is all I could say.  Just felt bad.  Drank a bunch of Coke.  More chips.  Took my time.  Refilled my water bottle.  Then walked away.  I slowly got into a shuffle.  In my head I thought, "I have been here before."  Every Imogene Run, I feel like death at the top of the pass, and the first mile or so of the descent are hell, but as I get lower, I feel better, and end up hauling ass.  I thought today would be the same.  Once I got going, and got a little lower, I would start to feel better and roll through the last 5 miles.  I was few minutes behind goal pace, but still thought a pretty good time was in grasp.

Alas, that was not the case.  With the sun out, the temps were rising as I descended.  It started to get plain hot.  In the trees it was very still, no breeze to cool things.  And as I descended my stomach began to have issues.  Before having my gallbladder removed in April, I could get away with a lot.  I could eat pretty much anything.  I could run on anything.  Since Dirty Thirty 12 miler at end of May, my digestive system has been very finicky.  And on a couple of long runs, this has shown up on long descents.  So 2 or 3 miles into the descent, I had to stop and step off the trail.  Explosive diarrhea is the best description without being to graphic.

Then I had a couple other issues.  I was wearing short tights.  I had pinned my race number to my shorts.  Well, I hadn't realized that I had also pinned through the tights and into underwear as well.  So as I was trying to pull my underwear and then my shorts back up, I initially couldn't figure why it was so weird.  This took a few seconds to get straightened out.  The second issue I had was my shorts had started to rip along the inseam in the crotch.  This had been going on for a number of miles and was creating some chafing issues, as my skin was exposed on my inner thigh and was rubbing on the loose fabric.  I had found a way to adjust my shorts to minimize this, but now had to figure out how to get back to the sweet spot where it wouldn't bug me.

With that behind me, I thought maybe I would start feeling better again.  I didn't really, but continued shuffling along.  I reached the aid station with 5.5 miles to go, feeling like death.  It was still a long way down this mountain and I just wanted off of it.  I had some more Coke, but didn't feel like eating anything.  I didn't know how I would react.  They were cooking bratwurst at the aid station and normally I would had some along with the beer they were offering.  I just didn't think any of it would stay in my system long.  But I did take them up on the cornhole challenge.  They had a cornhole setup, and were offering $5 if you got a beanbag in the hole.  4 attempts.  This I thought was money in the bank.  I might not finish top 10.  At this point I felt like I was 50th with the amount of folks who had slowly gone by the past few miles.  But I am pretty damn good at drinking sports: darts, horseshoes, and cornhole.  I will at least win a few bucks.

My first toss was perfect distance, but 2 feet to the right of the board, into the dirt.  Okay, just adjust aim.  Second toss, perfect distance, 2 feet to the right of the board, into the dirt, basically on top the 1st bag.  Okay.  Relax.  Just a little to the left.  Third toss, a little long and about 1 foot to the right of the board, into the dirt.  Seriously, I felt like I knew exactly what I needed to do, but couldn't get my body to do.  Fourth toss, about right distance, hit the right edge of the board and off into the dirt.  No money.  And great experiment showing how mental and physical fatigue effect you.

With that behind me, I shuffled along.  Not 10 minutes away and stomach was all out of whack again.  I remember passing an outhouse on the climb up (one of those ones that are on ski resorts in out of the way places).  I couldn't remember exactly how far it was from the aid station to the outhouse.  I hoped I could make it.  Alas, this struck me hard and quickly, and I was back off the trail.  I had gotten rid of the offending safety pin that had caused my issues the first time, so getting shorts and underwear down wasn't a problem.  Which was good as this came quickly and more explosively.  Soon I was back on the trail.  And trying to get my shorts arranged as to not aggravate the chafing.  It really is telling how quickly these two incidents came on me and passed thru, that looking back at my splits, it is hard to tell in which miles I stopped for these incidents.

Now I have 4 miles to go and I am thinking it is going to take me over an hour to get down.  This sucks.  It is hot.  I feel like crap.  I want off this damn mountain.  I was thinking of ways to shortcut it down.  The gondola might have a mid-loading station I can get on and go down that way.  I am pretty much just walking.  But I am still moving forward.

As I eluded to way at the beginning of this rambling recap, I did learn one thing at 2000 Chicago Marathon.  As it was my first marathon, I was worried about the dreaded wall.  And at mile 22, I thought I had hit it.  I had been running 6:10-6:15 pace for the last few miles.  I was starting to feel bad.  I went through the 22 mile point and saw I had run like 6:50 or something.  I thought, well I guess that's the wall.  My primary goal was sub 2:45.  I was closer to 2:40 pace at the time.  I just told myself to hold on.  If I just run 7 minute pace, I can get my primary goal.  When I went through mile 23, my split was sub 6, like 5:50.  Right away I recognized that mile 22 was mis-marked.  I was angry.  How could a major marathon do that.  Over the next half mile (mind wasn't working well.  Another experiment with mental faculties when physically fatigued) I calculated that my average pace for the past two miles was 6:20.  I hadn't really hit that wall at all.  I was still fine.  I might feel like crap, but I actually was still running a good pace.  Had I let the "bad" split at mile 22 effect me mentally, I would have slowed up and then when I realized the mistake a mile later, I might not have been able to get back into the groove.

So with 4 miles to go at Steamboat, I just kept chugging.  On the slight downhills, I could get into a decent shuffle.  The more extreme downhills were harder, more like a survival walk.  Any uphill was definitely a walk.  The flats were a mix, walk/shuffle.  It wasn't fast by any means, but after awhile I had chugged through a couple of miles.   I am now coming up on the gondola.  I am also approaching the 2.2 mile to go aid station, which is just tables with water jugs on them.  I drench myself with water.  Chugged a bunch of cold water, and realize, its only 2 miles now.  I can do this.  This is less than a half an hour.

I can't say it was a remarkable transformation, but I did run (ie shuffle quickly) the vast majority of the last 2 miles.  More so than I had the previous 2 miles.  Finishing in 36th place with a time of 6:23:56, nearly an hour slower than I thought I would run, wouldn't seem fulfilling.  But somehow, grinding out those last 5 miles, really made finishing feel like a major accomplishment.  Almost better than if I had finished in 5:20 and in 8th spot.  But than again I don't know what that feels like yet.

It took me a little while to feel slightly normal.  At this point I would be remiss in not giving a shout out to all the volunteers.  The aid station people were great.  And at the finish, I had sought out shade to lie down and put my feet up.  A volunteer, seeing me hobble then crash, asked if I wanted any food.  She would gladly bring some over.  I declined.  But when I asked if there was any Coke, she said she was sorry, but it was back at the finish line.  Seeing my crestfallen face, she sent her daughter (probably 9 or 10 years old) to go fetch some.  I am forever grateful.  It got me feeling better, than I did eat a little food.  I was going to stick around for awards, but decided I probably only had a small window of feeling okay before I would crash, so I headed back to my campsite.  A nap in the hammock was start of recovery.  Then back into town for dinner and a beer.   Finished recovery by heading to Strawberry Park Hot Springs, my favorite hot springs in Colorado.  Under a moonless sky, filled with stars and the Milky Way, relaxing in the hot springs, is really the best post-race recovery there is.

So what are my grand takeaways from this race, i.e why did the last 1/3 of the race turn into a death march, much like Moab Red Hot 55K.

There are a few things that probably caused this.  I can't definitively point to any one as being the singular reason, but they all probably contributed.

1: Slight cold I had few days before hand.  I didn't notice it race day, but it is hard to quantify how that effected my body along with the altitude.  See 3 as to how this might have been corrected

2: More important the 1, and probably biggest factor, lack of long runs.  Only having a few 15-17 mile runs, covering 2.5-4 hours isn't enough.  I thought I could get away with it on this race as the last 9 miles were mostly downhill.  But it may have started to catch up to me at 19, 20, 21 miles, before I even got to the downhill.

3:  I need to lose the competitiveness.  I know I am not going to win any races.  I know my talent level. But I still want to do well and I thought I could finish top 10.  But my next 50K, I am going to have to put that completely aside and do the first third super easy, even if that means I am 50th.  Because I would like to run a race where I pass people the 2nd half as oppose to watching a train of people go by me.  When I can finish a 50K running, I know I won't feel good, but running versus death marching, will go along way to figuring out how hard I can go out.  In the case of Mt Werner Classic, knowing I was a bit under the weather the few days before, meant I should have been a bit more conservative going out.  Instead, I couldn't let go of the top 10 group.  I easily let go of the top 3, because they obviously were faster.  It was that 2nd group I might also needed to let go as well.

4: Stomach.  This obviously was a big problem the last 8 miles.  What is hard to quantify is how much it might actually been a factor before that.  Was I really digesting everything I took down.  I would think gels would get absorbed quickly, but maybe I wasn't actually getting as many calories as I thought.  Going forward this is my biggest worry, because it might be the hardest to control.  I can run more in training.  I can run smarter in races.  But if stomach doesn't cooperate, there isn't much I can do.  Paying closer attention to diet likely is the biggest key.  And taking something like Imodium as a precautionary measure before/during a race might be something else I need to do.

Here all the nitty gritty's of my race, course, profile, splits, pace, etc.  http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/664692481#

Full race results:
http://www.runningseries.com/sites/ssrs.signup4races.com/files/u4/2014_mt._werner_classic_50k_trail_run_-_final_race_results_with_splits.pdf

I would highly recommend Mt Werner Classic.  Volunteers are great.  Course is nice.  Very runnable, not technical, which I like.  Wildflowers at the top are beautiful.  Nice mix of trees and more open exposed areas.  Not amazing alpine views like other courses in Colorado, but still some pretty views.  And Steamboat is a cool town, and the hot springs afterwards are huge plus.

Running through the wildflowers at mile 24ish.  Photo by Joel Reichenberger.

Next up is Imogene Pass Run in September.  I know how to run that.  The climb up Mt Werner did give me a good feeling about IPR.  That my climbing, for me anyways, is in a good spot.  Goal there is to be competitive and finally make the podium in my age group after finishing 4th in my age group each of the three times I have run IPR.  It is my favorite race and I look forward to getting back there after not being able to run it for a few years.

Another 4th in Telluride

Last year, my friend Drew and I, along with Brisco, took a long 4th of July weekend and headed to Telluride.  It was a picture perfect weekend.  And unknown at the time, one of my last camping trips with Brisco.

A Happy Hiker.

After last year, I was stoked to go back again this 4th of July, in particular to run one of the loops we hiked.  So we headed back down again this year.  Drew wasn't up for the run, so I was solo for this effort.



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Starting at the Smuggler's Brewpub on the corner of Pine St and San Juan Ave is ideal for reasons that should be obvious, but will become clear later.  I ran this loop (and hiked it last year) in a clockwise direction.  I will point out in a few places why I think this also is ideal.

The first two miles run along the San Miguel River and are relatively flat, allowing one to ease into the task ahead.  And the task ahead is obvious.  Once out of town, the first major obstacle is clear, the climb up to the top of Bridal Veil Falls.

A mile into the run, you can see where you need to climb to, the top of the falls, using the switchbacks to the left of the falls.

Shortly after passing the Pandora Mine site at 2 miles, the climb begins.  I didn't get the earliest start, so it was quite warm.  And there were alot of people driving/hiking up to the falls.  The best comment I heard was a dad telling his two sons, who were about 7 to 9 years old, to quit whining, that guy is running up the hill.

The falls had a lot more water coming over them than last year.  The cooling mist was godsend early into the run.

From Pandora Mine to the top of the falls is 2.6 miles and nearly 1300 vert of climbing.  But the view is worth the effort.

Still a little mist left on the lens when I took this shot from top of Bridal Veil Falls.

From here, you leave the main double lane 4x4 road, and run on a single lane 4x4 road (not open to vehicular traffic).  This is the Wasatch Trail and runs up the Bridal Veil Basin.  The nice thing about this trail is that it is entirely runnable from a footing stand point.  The continued climbing and higher altitude forced me to power hike many times, but the footing wasn't an issue.

The scenery did cause me to stop a number of times to take it in and take pics.

As you continue to climb up the Basin, fewer people are seen, until you basically have the place to yourself.  And, it got a little cooler.  Perfect temp for running.  This is one reason I like doing the loop this direction, get the hottest section done earliest.  And if you get out earlier than 10:30AM, then you never really have to deal with heat to much.  The grade of this climb up the basin is also nearly perfect, generally runnable, with some small steeper sections that require power hiking.

As I reached the upper portions of the basin, route finding became more difficult.  Last year, I ultimately took a wrong turn.  This year I was aware of that, but snow patches did slow things up, and finding the trail thru the snow, slowed things up.

Snow in the upper basin made route finding a little more difficult and did slow the run down a bit.

Eventually I reached the saddle below Wasatch Mtn and was ready to run down the Bear Creek drainage.

Which Way Do I Go?

This is part of the run is also part of the Hardrock 100 course, to be run this coming Saturday.  It was the 2nd time I had been on the course this weekend.

Hardrock 100 course markers made the descending thru snowfields easier to manage.

The initial descent is pretty steep.  At the top of the pass, you are at 13 090 feet.  In the first mile of descending, you lose 800 vert feet.  Then another 700 vert feet the next mile, followed by 900 vert feet the next mile.  I much rather descend that, than climb it.  Another reason to run clockwise.

Descending into the Bear Creek drainage

Another reason to run clockwise, is it allows for a wonderful add on if you are feeling good and want more miles.  Unfortunately, do to my late start, I didn't think I had the time to do so.  But one can climb out of the Bear Creek drainage to the top of the Gold Hill lift and descend back into town by way of the Telluride Ski Resort trails.  I suspect this would add on at least 5 miles to the run, depending on how you climbed up and descended.  It also would add on close to an hour and half to the run.  That is why I skipped out.  (along with the fact I was out of water, and my filter was clogged)  But next year, I am going to add in the climb.

The single track trail eventually meets the double track Bear Creek Trail and the grade lessens to make for a nice last couple of miles into town.  Of course, there are a lot more people to dodge again as you get closer to town.

Finishing in town, the loop was 15.1 miles.  4300 feet of climbing and then 4300 of descending.  Total time running 3:26.  (total time with rest breaks, generally picture breaks 3:52).  After a quick splash in the San Miguel River to clean up and feel slightly refreshed it was time for a Coke, beers, burger and fries.  Hence why the start/finish spot is at the Smuggler's Brewpub.  They brew some decent beers.  Telluride Brewing Co makes better beer in my opinion, but unfortunately aren't in old town Telluride proper (plus no food, and due to weird city regulations, no seats in their taproom).  But Smugglers does have some good food.  A little pricey, but that is the cost of doing business in Telluride.   Anyway, a solid place to reload after a solid run.  Plus the outdoor seating is nice as well.

This is the 2nd 4th of July weekend in Telluride and it might become a tradition.  On Friday hiked the Swamp Canyon trail (also a part of the Hardrock course), near Ophir.  First time thru Ophir.  Beautiful little settlement.  On Sunday hiked Deep Creek Tr / Whipple Mtn Tr / Iron Mtn Tr on the north side of the Telluride valley (above the airport).  And again, camped out by Alta Lakes, a phenomenal spot.  Tried to see the fireworks by hiking up from campsite to the top of Prospect Basin (in the Telluride Ski area), but fireworks didn't clear high point at top of Apex Lift.  Still was great way to spend the evening.  Had a few beers.  Relaxed.  Enjoyed the sunset.  Startled some elk.  It is weird to have the top of a ski mountain all to ones self.  The stillness and quiet is such a contrast to winter when this spot is usually crowded with people.

Drew and I enjoying a beer atop Telluride Ski Resort.

On return trip back to Boulder made stop at Colorado Boy Brewing in Ridgway and then Elevations Brewing in Poncha Springs.  Highly recommend both.  Many tail wags for both these places.  

So for all pictures from the weekend, click below

https://plus.google.com/photos/106597417627187460452/albums/6033518874918120193

For stats/details of run click below

http://tpks.ws/m5UM

Farewell to a Friend

February 27, 2003 - June 4, 2014

This past Wednesday, I had to say goodbye to my best friend for the past 11 years.  Brisco greeted me Tuesday night the same as every previous night, tail wagging.  But early Wednesday morning, he was not doing well.  At 6am I took him into the doggy ER.  After stabilizing him, the vets determined along with other complications, he had a tumor in his abdomen that had started to bleed into the abdomen.  The tumor had been growing on his spleen for some time, but was not affecting his personality so had gone undetected.  I had to make the decision to let him go.

In one aspect, in the end it was an easy decision.  He had lived a happy, full life and in the end it was a quick end without a lot of suffering.  He was relaxed, content, and peaceful at the end.

For the past 11 years, he has been my running buddy, camping buddy, hiking buddy, snuggle buddy.   He came to me at 8 weeks old, flown from Oregon to Ohio.  When I picked him up at the airport, he was so small and frightened.  Those first few days were a bit rough, as he suffered from a bad case of separation anxiety.  I couldn't leave the room without him crying and whining.  A big thanks goes out to Lawson my roommate at the time, for getting thru those early days.

But he quickly settled down.  And when I could control his energy, he picked up on his training.  Another big thanks goes to Dayton Dog Training Club.  We went thru Puppy Kindergarten.  Basic Obediance Class, twice (sometimes he just was a little to excited, so we repeated).  And then finally Manners Class.  I still remember having to basically lay on Brisco for most of a class because he wouldn't settle down and the instructor saying, in 2 years he would be a great dog.  She was completely right.

During his years in Dayton, he became a part of the Dayton Men's Cross Country team, although taking him to the track might not have been the best idea.

Then we moved across country to Colorado, the perfect state for the perfect dog.  He found a home at Fleet Feet becoming the shop dog for a number of years.  More people knew him than me.  People would stop in just to say hi to Brisco.  Jay would spoil him rotten, along with the guys at Pro Peloton.

Wednesday morning run at Boulder Res became a ritual.  And began his rise to fame.  The above pic appeared in the NY Times twice, once online and later in print.  After all those Wednesday mornings, I think I could have just let him go and he would have run the 10 mile loop on his own.  Unless, of course, he found someone else to run with.  Once he decided he wanted to run with a group of Kenyans.  On a day when I barely got thru 9 miles, I had to add on another 2 or 3 chasing him down.

Brisco with the Wednesday Morning Crew.

I figure that for about 6 or 7 years, he was consistently running between 30 to 50 miles a week with me, which means he probably put over 10,000 miles on his paws.  You couldn't ask for a better running partner.  Stayed on trail (except to take a dump, always did that off trail).  Waited for you if he got to far ahead.  And never chased the wildlife on runs.

He probably put another few thousand miles on those paws hiking the trails and mountains of Colorado.  He summited 13 14er's with me.  I really thought I would have another summer with him, so he could bag a few more peaks.   He loved the mountains.  He loved camping.  He loved trying to get into my sleeping bag, which didn't quite work out very well.

Happy Camper.

We won the inaugural Rocky Dog 5K Trail Race at the Vail Mountain games in 2011.  We defended our title in 2012.  But last year, we fell to the young pups.  And also when I started to see the age set in.  The muzzle was mostly gray now.  He started to have a harder time hanging for more than a few miles on a run.  By last Fall, he was semi-officially retired from running.  But our adventures at the mountain games earned him more pub including this Eukanuba ad in Outside magazine.

And last Fall he had another close call.  Over the years he seemed to be the punching bag.  He was bit 4 times, resulting in 3 trips to the vet or ER.  He also ate a full bottle of arthritis medicine (that was for my roommate's dog).  That resulted in a trip to the ER and getting his stomach pumped.  Then last year, when I was gone to run in Switzerland, Brisco found himself stuck in Lyons during the epic floods.  And again he found a way to get in front of the cameras, ending up shown on local news being unloaded from National Guard trucks that were used to evacuate the town.

Then he showed up in the Weather Channels documentary on the flood (Disaster in the Rockies) being loaded into the trucks.  In some ways it is quite amazing that he escaped all these episodes with only a few scars.  

But the thing I will miss the most is my lap dog.  When our day of adventures came to an end, he just wanted to be with you.  Curled up with you.  At times this wasn't exactly convenient, but he didn't care.  When I came home from work, he would be there to give a hug.  He loved hugs.  I will miss his soft ears.  I will miss his out of control wagging tail.  The tail that I think did its own thing and caused his butt to wiggle and shake.  I will miss how proud he seemed to be with a bone in his mouth.   I will miss his obsessiveness with tennis balls.  I will miss the completely unconditional love he gave everyone.  

I will miss my friend.  

Click here for a photo album of Brisco thru the years, from pup to old man.

Red Hot 55K, Luckily Not so Hot.

Last Saturday I made my ultra debut at the Red Hot 55K in Moab.  Since moving to Boulder in 2005, I have transitioned away from road racing to jumping into a bunch of different events.  While training alot on trails the first two years in Boulder, I focused on racing Berlin and Chicago Marathons.  But with so much going on around me here in Colorado, it was easy to try new things.  I have done a bunch of Stroke n Stride events which eventually led me to finishing a few triathlons including the Boulder Half-Ironman in 2012.  I thought it would be fun to do a 100 mile bike race that took me up Lefthand Canyon twice.  I love doing the Nighthawk Snowshoe Series at Eldora and recently finished the 30K Sourdough Trail Snowshoe Race.  And I have done a bunch of trail racing, including Imogene Pass Run, Pike's Peak Ascent and Jungfrau Marathon.

All that left, of course, was one thing to do, Ultras.  While many of the events I raced took me over 4 and half hours to complete, I had not actually ran a race over a marathon.  Last year I had planned on doing an ultra, but groin sprain resulting from skiing or snowshoeing plagued me off and on for much of the year.

This year I have been healthy.  And since I didn't get a ski pass this year, I have gotten in alot more running this winter.  That being said, not enough 2 to 3 hour long runs to feel completely comfortable with the 55K distance (34 miles).  Still, I was done procrastinating.  Time to step up and see how things go.

So on Friday morning, I joined a few friends and drove to Moab.  Even leaving Boulder at 11 am still didn't guarantee we would miss ski traffic.  As it was President's Day weekend, there was quite a few folks who had skipped out on Friday and were headed to the mountains.  It was slow going thru the tunnel, but once pass Copper, had the highway to ourselves.

Rolled into Moab around 5ish and stopped at Eddie McStiff's to pick up packets.  The line was out the door.  I loved most everything about this race, but if there was one thing they could do better, it was the packet pick up.  It was slow.  Process could be better, but on the plus side, you could have a beer while waiting in line.  They also specifically stated there would be no race day pick up, hence why I took a day off work to show up in Moab by 7pm.  Lo and behold, there was race day pick up.   I think this sets bad precedent.  Do you believe what is on the website.  Should I expect other races who say there is no race day pick up to have race day pick up?  Not a big thing, just a little nitpicking.

The bigger problem was with my procrastination.  Since I wasn't leaving Boulder right away Friday morning, I didn't pack Thursday night.  I had to rack my current homebrew from the primary to the secondary and didn't feel like packing.  So Friday morning, when I go to pack, I can't find my arm warmers or my GPS watch.  I thought I had left my watch at work and didn't want to drive over there to pick it up.   As for the arm warmers, until I clean my room, I don't know where they are.  Well, come Saturday morning, I began fretting about not having the arm warmers.  It would be chilly at the start, around freezing.  But with a high predicted of 65, I didn't want to go with a long sleeve shirt underneath my singlet. Turns out the arm wamers weren't needed.  The GPS watch was the vital thing missing. 



View Larger Map


Race started at 8am, with temps in the 30's.  Overcast sky.  Race started with a mile climb.  This was perfect as I would take it real easy.  And I did.  The course is fantastic.  With great views throughout.  The first views coming at the top of this first climb.

The first mile climbed a few hundred feet.  I am in the middle of the pic on the right side of the road as you look down.

The descent began my first mistake.  I began to cruise a bit to fast.  I caught up to my friend Greg Lackey, who I drove out to the race with and began to run with him.  We ended up passing Kerrie Bruxvoort around 2 - 2.5 miles.  This was a mistake.  When possible run with the elite women.  They know what they are doing.  Then I passed another guy I have raced a bunch on the snowshoes, Neeraj.  Chatted a few minutes and kept on going.  He said I would do well.  I replied that he likely would pass me back later.  This ended up being true.  Why I didn't settle in with this group is a mystery.

The course during the early miles.

After about 7 miles, I realized hanging with Greg was not a good idea, and I was going a bit too quick.  I let him pull away (which was easy to do, during the climb from 8 to 10 miles) and found myself pretty much all alone.  Kerrie passed me around 10 miles.  I already felt that I was going a bit too hard and didn't really try to stay with her.  Instead, I got into a nice groove from 10 to 17 miles. 

I hit what I believe was mid-way point around 2:20. 8:15 mile pace.  In reality, that was 30-45 seconds per mile than I really should have run.  A GPS watch would have been good here.  While I was running relaxed and easy, I haven't done too many long runs lately, so I can't really feel the difference between 8:15 and 9:00 mile pace.  And because the first half the race was relatively easy terrain and good trails (mostly 4x4 dirt/sand roads), it was easy to be running 8 minute pace and it feel easy.  At halfway I was probably 25-30th place.

The 2nd half the race gets interesting.  It has a fairly good climb.  It has lots of slickrock.  It has lots of route finding.  It also has some fantastic views. 

Things were going well.  The clouds had not cleared.  It appeared that the forecast would be incorrect.  It was going to stay overcast.  Temps, I don't think, ever really even got into the 50s.  The big climb from 18 to 22.5 miles introduced the slickrock portion of the race.  It was here I started to power walk for the first time in the race.  A few folks passed me in the climb, but when I topped out, I didn't feel to bad.

The next 7 miles would feel endless.  I was beginning to feel tired.  I knew that my training was good for about 26 miles and I was coming up on that.  The slickrock on the descents was starting to take a toll on my legs.  Route finding always meant you had to be paying attention, couldn't just zone out.  With little around, the race director had to tie pink ribbons on whatever was available.  Be it a rock placed in the middle of the slickrock, or on a small bush, which if the wind blew the ribbon into the bush, it made it impossible to see.  (Especially those of us who are red/green colorblind).

Give you an idea of the desolation that one felt on the slickrock portions.

At one point, there were 2 people about 20 to 30 yards ahead of me.  We were climbing a small hill.  As they went over the rise at the top, they disappeared from view.  When I crested, I looked around and they were no where to be seen. Having followed them the past 15 minutes or so, I hadn't really been paying attention for the flagging.  So I spent a few moments off course, trying to figure out where to go.  I never could understand how I wasn't able to see those two runners.

Trail, We don't need no stinkin trail.  Route finding thru the slickrock sections required paying constant attention.

It was during this section of the course that I got passed by bunches of folks, including Neeraj.  I couldn't respond.  I wasn't able to really let loose on the downhills.  I just wanted off the slickrock.  There was a sign for the last aid station 1 mile out from it.  This was the first time in the race I was out of water and had no gels.  It was the only time I felt close to bonking.  The mile seemed endless.

I had run the last 5 miles of the course when I was in Moab over Thanksgiving.  Once I got to the aid station, I knew what was coming. We were pretty much done with the slickrock and would be back on 4x4 dirt/sand roads.  Knowing this section helped me believe I could keep running to the finish.  It was here where for the first time I walked on something that wasn't an uphill.  But these were short walks, maybe 50 meters.  And only a couple of times.  I was happy I never raised the white flag and surrendered.  I kept on plugging along.  And while I was tired and slow, it didn't materialize into a full on death march.

The finish felt great.  I made a good push at the end.  I was tired, but not destroyed.  I ran 5:32. Finished 77th out of 301. My second half took 3:10.  Looking at the pace it is obvious the first half was a little too fast.  I ran 8:15 mile pace the first half and 11:10 pace the 2nd.  My overall pace was 9:45.  If I had backed off 30 to 45 seconds per mile the first half, I really think I could have kept 9:15-9:30 for the 2nd half.  Which would have put me in close to under 5 hours, which was sort of a goal of mine.  I also would have finished about 30 spots higher.  This was the main lesson learned from my first 55K.

Positives from the race:
1)  I do believe my nutrition was on.  The overcast skies really helped as I didn't have to worry to much about dehydration and salt intake.  It was perfect weather for this race.

2) While I was a little quick, I think with a few more long runs, that early pace may not have been all that bad.

3)  February 15th and I just ran 34 miles.  At no point in my life would I have consider myself in shape to run 34 miles in mid-February.  Usually after November, I am deep in beer drinking and skiing shape not running shape.

4)  I recovered quickly.  The achilles were tight Sunday morning, but a day walking around Arches National Park (worked out well that it was free National Park weekend) helped them release.  By Sunday evening I was walking normally.  By Wednesday I was racing again at the Nighthawks series.

5)  I am looking forward to my next 50K.

This was also my debut as an Ambassador for the Boulder Track Club MUT (Mountain/Ultra/Trail) Team.  I did get quite a few compliments on the singlet.  Looking forward to representing BTC this year.

Pictures from Myke Hermsmeyer  and Derrick Lytle


Click on the picture below to see my pictures from Arches National Park, as we hiked around the day after the race.

Arches National Park