2010 year in review

I had planned to run my first 100km in 2010 and a 100 miler in 2011.   Fate intervened when my name got accidentally drawn in the Western States lottery in December 2009.  That wasn’t supposed to happen.  I only entered for the additional ticket a few years down the road.  Snow began on us hiking the the Appalachian Trail in earnest in SW Virginia and thru-hiking became quite a challenge.  Once my Aqua Mira water treatment froze (let alone water) we knew it was time to get off the trail and put on a few well earned comfort pounds for the winter.

Hitching off the Appalachian Trail in SW Virginia in Mid December.

Returning to running felt arduous initially.  I was surprised how hard it was to get my heart rate back up on tempo efforts, but for some strange reason I never properly addressed the lack of early season speed and opted for quantity over quality all spring.

Training for WS I managed to keep myself quite entertained mapping the maze, which anyone who has run the McDonald Forest 50km knows quite intimately.  It turns out that its quite easy to get lost in this forest … and that’s just the way I like it.

While putting together my PhD dissertation I burned off a bit of energy running every real trail and deer trail in the Maze.

I was treated to a spectacular course at the Chuckanut 50km, my first race of the year.  The ridgeline trail in the Chuckanuts is really fun, and April’s mom volunteered at one of aid stations to see what ultrarunning is all about … hungry and smelly people eating bananas and m+m’s at 10 in the morning, right?

Spring arrived (most popular post of the year) in the McDonald forest outside of Corvallis, the Erythronium bloomed, Cardamine shined and as the Snow queens went back to the soil for the year we made the mandatory pilgrimage to the charming Central Oregon Cascades town of Sisters for a jaunt through beautiful Ponderosa Pine forests on the Peterson Ridge Rumble course.  Even though I opted for the short course, I got a good taste of what running on really sore legs would be like.  Training for WS was ramping up, and I wasn’t taking any taper for any races.  The post race burritos at this race were amazing.

Erythroniums in bloom in the McDonald Forest outside of Corvallis, OR in May

I continued to increase my weekly volume and used Capitol Peak 50 miler as a tuneup race.  The race went really well.  The course was quite nice, the middle miles were on some really nice singletrack, and the ascents of Capitol Peak itself were quite memorable.  I was particularly pleased to finish before my good friend Gaby went home, which pretty much means I must be getting faster, right? 

The one thing I learned from this race in particular was that I needed to spend more time on flats on tired legs.  Thus I added some ‘morning after’ runs to my training plan, whereby I would run 4-5 hours on a Saturday afternoon/evening followed by 2 hours on fairly flat roads early the next morning.  These runs were not pretty, but I learned quite a bit about the darker side of my digestive tract.

By the time the Mac 50km rolled around I should have known better that long slow training runs produce long slow races, but I ran it anyways because it’s more like a party than a race.  April did really well at this race, and at 4 years in I am really getting antsy for my 5 year finishing mug next year (that can count for a wedding gift, Scott and Ken).

April looking happy to finish her 2nd McDonald Forest 50k

Somehow someway I randomly managed my best tempo effort of the year on the lunchtime ascent of Bald Hill from OSU Dixon Rec Center, and followed that up quickly with a 5x repeat of McCollough Peak.  Both were amazing runs, the whole return from Bald Hill I knew I was on PR pace.  I was on fire.  The McCollough ascents helped me prepare for large cumulative elevation drop at WS, it was one of the most fun runs of the year, way overdone, big mistake, and I’d do it again in a heartbeat if I had the chance, anyday. 

Oak Creek to McCollough Peak repeats.  I designed the course to look like a map of Africa.

I managed some pretty sweet running in NW and SW Oregon as I wrapped up my training for Western States.  The ascent of Mt Defiance was particularly memorable for two reasons:  this was the only run of the year in which I yogied food and water off hikers just to get back to the car (admittedly poor form for an ultrarunner), and my knee made a very intimate connection with a rock about 4000 vertical feet away from the car, the scars of which are still visible today.

Humbug Mtn and saddle in the NW Oregon coast range

Brutal and beautiful descent of the Mt Defiance trail in the Columbia River Gorge

Darlingtonia Pitcher plants in the Kalmiopsis Wilderness.

After wrapping up the intense but rewarding early season training, in June I learned just how little I know about running when I finished Western States.  No puking, no crying and only 2 naps.  I’m not sure I got what I signed up for, but that was a fun run!  Somewhere along the way I reached the existential stage of ultra-running where one no longer questions whether one can or wants to finish race, but rather questions the justification for the existence of the race altogether.  Then my brain stopped working for the next 40 miles or so.  I really enjoyed the 2^nd sunrise on the trail, and 77 miles into a race is a pretty epic place to get engaged.  Thanks for pacing me in life, dear!

At the Western States finishing line.  I prefer to think of myself as 'fashionably late' rather than slow.

I experienced some minor blister issues during Western States.

I remained in denial about how poorly I recovered from Western States through the Mt Hood 50m in July, where I bested last years time by something like second by a mile and the Waldo 100km in August, which nearly ate me alive.  I felt like I really had to gut this one out and am quite happy to have crossed the finishing line.  It could have easily turned into my first DNF.  In between I managed to bike down the coast from Corvallis to San Francisco over 12 days.  It was a really fun trip.  I got a run in nearly every day on trails that I have never run before and I am definitely hoping to convince April to join me for the entire West Coast sometime.

April finishes her first 50m at Mt Hood in July.

Coastal prarie in Samuel Boardmann state park on the SW Oregon coast.

Crossing the Golden Gate by bike on the last day of a 12 day trip from Corvallis, OR to San Francisco, CA.

April and I near Mt Fuji summit at the Where's Waldo 100km in August.

In early September I moved to Switzerland to begin a postdoc in the Wind Engineering and Renewable Energy lab at EPFL in Lausanne.  Before winter set in I managed some really nice runs around Rochers de Naye twice, Leysin, and Lac Hongrin.  I was pleasantly surprised by how much of these runs were above treeline, somewhat taken aback by the (lack of) quality of construction on mountain trails here as well.  I also started a new book – An ultrarunners field guide to Swiss Cows.  Or maybe it’ll be a coffee table book.  I haven’t decided yet.

Ridgeline route near Rochers de Naye Switzerland.

Another unforested ridgeline route near Leysin, looking down at the Rhone valley and Lake Geneva.

Swiss cows make great running company in the Alps.

Seasons turning above Lake Hongrin.

By late fall snow was closing down the high mountain routes and I turned by attention back towards a spring marathon (Zurich on 4/17/2011).  I ran the Lausanne half marathon as a tuneup and returned to the track with an eye towards the 3:10 Boston qualifying time.  I don’t want to run a 3:10, I just want to be able run in some race that says I need to run a 3:10.  Plus I feel like I learned something from all the long slow distance I did in early 2010.  I want to start 2011 differently by getting faster at the shorter distances.  Finally April and I rolled up the year with a running visit to a Chocolate factory, the beautiful Swiss mountain of Moleson and a giant pot of fondue.

The author showcasing his amazing inability to pin a race bib number on straight while running through the UNESCO world heritage designated vineyards along Lake Geneva during the Lausanne half marathon in October.

Yasso 800's moving the right direction in late fall in preparation for Zurich marathon in April 2011.