Monday, May 26, 2008

North Bend to Vantage, Or Thereabouts


This weekend I did NB2V, sponsored by Shawn L. and family. NB2V stands for North Bend to Vantage, which is 108 mile jaunt total, on an old railroad grade trail, named the John Wayne Pioneer Trail. Later, it is called the Iron Horse Trail. John Wayne wasn’t a pioneer in any sense that I know. Re-routing was necessary this year, because of avalanche danger on the trail at Snoqualmie Pass. So, the start was moved back, and after 19 or so miles in, participants had to catch a ride over Snoqualmie Pass, to start again at the Fire Station in Easton (start/finish line of the Cascade Crest 100). This made the official mileage for the event 90 miles.
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My crew was Kaitlan and Dick, Shawn’s sister and boyfriend. I don’t know if they knew what they were getting into, but they were absolutely terrific. We loaded up the vehicle with a cooler and a few different bags of shoes and clothes. I would meet them at pre-arranged locations—they had their directions, I had mine. The splits varied widely—anywhere from 5 to 19 miles.
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The run started at 6:30 AM Saturday morning. I’d say there were about 12 runners, and then some bikers. Maybe 7 or 8 runners were going for the whole distance. Long runners included Arthur, TC, Ray G., Shawn L., Tim L., me, Ryan from Klamath, Jane H—that’s probably it. There were a bunch of bikers, but once gone, they were gone gone. The crews were equal size to the runners, so in total, 25 or so participants, maybe.
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It didn’t take long for everyone to spread out. I never saw the fast people after mile 3, but I heard second hand via cell phone reports about their adventures. The first 19 were up through the Snoqualmie Valley—slight upgrade of a trail, usually covered, lots of railroad trestle crossings. I ate a Subway sandwich—cold cut combo--and a potato, with salt.
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At McClellan Butte, I caught a ride to Easton with Dick and Kaitlan. Easton was hot. Really hot. I don’t do well with heat. I went with a Seattle sombrero, shades, and a paint can full of sunscreen. I looked like a dork. 11 miles to the next stop. I got killed by the sun, despite my best efforts. Even if you’re not burning, the sun seems to just drain the blood out of the arms, the face, and the stomach gets tight—sun is tough. Next time—popsicles, or otter pops. Ray, Jane’s husband, parked his trailer halfway, which was a saving grace for aid in this leg. It was all I could do to make the next aid station, at South Cle Elum.
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I hung out in Cle Elum for 45 minutes, trying decide if I should call it a day at 50k. I was ready to drop, physically and mentally. The next leg was 18.6 miles with no aid, and my left Achilles was feeling awful—a real injury risk. Still, I switched shoes, walked around a bit, chattered with the crews. Finally, I said whatever, filled three bottles, and set off. It’s an ultra running thing.
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As it turned out, the next 18 went great. The goal was to make it to Thorp, at a meetplace near the I-90 Thorp fruit stand. Life got easier. The sky clouded up, cooling things off a bit. I shuffled to country. The trail continued to be flat, passing over and by the Yakima River on occasion. There were horses. There were cows. Sage, dandelions, and gravel. Endless gravel. I also had some ranger danger—this friendly ranger drove up, sweeping the trail, and he told me I needed to get off the trail, as the “park” (all 108 miles of it?) closed at dusk. He had Ryan in the front seat—no room for me. I was mentally out of it (48 miles in at this point), and so I told him all about my plans to go to Vantage, and said there was a bunch of us doing the same thing. Duh. Not my brightest moment. He looked at me funny. Still, he let me finish the leg, as long as I'd then cease and desist. Agreed. He drove off.
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When I got to Thorp, I really didn’t know what I was going to do---it’s been a long time since I’ve played dodge the cop. It was an even 50 miles at that point, so stopping had plenty of appeal. My crew was again awesome. Dick said not to believe the ranger---the ranger was just doing his job, and he probably didn’t really care. Spoken like a 20 year old. I decided again to chance it, and maybe dive into a bush if I needed too. Off I went. It got dark. The next stop was Ellensburg. The rain, which had begun earlier, started falling harder. There was a long white bridge, a skunk, and dogs barking at me. I could see for miles on the flats, I-90 in the distance. Sometimes I’d pass a house and see a television on, and it looked so nice inside. The rain was getting cold.
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At Ellensburg, Kaitlan and Dick were again out of the car in a flash, encouraging me. Finishing had to happen now—only 30 some miles to go! I knew I’d get through it, one way or another. After a potato and a Frap (Frapotato?), I was off, hiking with Ray G. for a while. (Ray bought Haggen Daz in Ellensburg—few trail ultras go past two 7-11s.) I kept my light off most of the time, as it wasn’t really necessary. The rocks on the trail got bigger, and my feet were blistering, big toes and heels. Farmland on both sides of the trail. Rain getting heavier, Marmot Precip activated. The next meetup place was Kittitas, maybe at 1 AM. I kept wondering how/why my crew could put up with this silliness. I did bring them dvds to watch (including “Happy Feet”), but I don’t think they watched them.
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Kittitas was a blur. After Kittitas, things got blurrier. It was pouring rain, and there was lightning, and it was 2 or 3 AM, and I had been at this for 20 some hours. I started hiking into some hills, real coyote country. The instructions said we were supposed to make a turn to cross the freeway, before the railroad trestle that crosses I-90, as the trestle is impassable. Ray G. even pointed this out to me, before leaving Kittitas. Even so, somehow I missed the turn—I was looking for a white gate, and kept going three miles, almost to the I-90 trestle. I shouldn’t have missed the turn, and I should’ve figured things out sooner, but I was out of it. My Achilles was tight, I was peeing within a minute after drinking anything, and I felt slightly feverish. Finally, I sat on a rock, read the instructions, sucked it up, turned around, and hiked back. Three more miles, out of the way.
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Finally, I made Army West, the final meetup place, and the Crew. I decided to call it there, at mile 75 for me, TOD 5:15 AM---a self-imposed cut-off. Sometimes you gotta know when to say when. If I had kept going, I’d probably still be going, or maybe vulture meat. I know I could’ve made it—I can always make it, but nothing about continuing made sense. I feel really good about it.
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Afterwards, we drove over to the Vantage parking lot. Arthur was in already, but we got to see Tim and Shawn finish. Ray finished, I’m sure, but I left a little before that. We all walked and talked in a fog, having been up all night. Kind of had to be there. We were all whupped. Another do-gooder ranger came by, and after some not-so-stern questioning, he let us go in peace. Jon drove me back to North Bend, and from there I made it home on caffeine and moxie. Sometimes small is better, and I don’t think it gets much better than a shared challenge like this.
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The Crew


The Runner


The Race Director

The Speed

The Overlook

The Sights

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Trail Work at Fragrance

The Washington Trails Association is a great organization, and I got to learn a bunch about them firsthand this weekend. The Wasatch 100 is one of those 100s that has a trail work requirement---first, you have to lottery in, and if your name is picked, you still have to complete 8 hours of trail work, before you're approved to run. I set aside this weekend to fufill this requirement, and I did it through the WTA. I joined WTA when I got home, having enjoyed the experience so much--they're awesome.
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WTA works with the Forest Service, the National Parks, the State Parks, and probably other organizations, to provide volunteer service for trail repair. Dollars are tight for the government, and trails don't get many of them. Since 1950, Washington has gone from 12000 to 9000 miles of trail, often because trails can't be maintained. Often times the Parks have just enough money to cut away the fallen timber, but shoring up switchbacks, fighting erosion, and building routes takes a lot of people. This is where WTA has been great.
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WTA runs trips all over the state. You can visit their website at http://www.wta.org/, and choose all sorts of places to volunteer. The coolest thing to do is to go on a weeklong trail work party in the backcountry. They ship all the gear in on mules, and set up camp for a week. From basecamp, crews will do all sorts of sophisticated trail work. The company is good--everyone is outdoors types, with all sort of knowledge of trails, flora, fauna, et al. I'll be taking a long look at possible week-longs next year.
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I chose to do my time up at Fragrance Lake, off of Chuckanut. I run there all the time, its near enough, and I figured I'd get to see the results of our work often enough. We actually got to drive up to the lake on a closed road--that was a first. After going over safety issues, we set about repairing a switchback, and building a rock wall to shore up a second switchback. With roughly 15 volunteers, we got a lot done in a single day. It was fun, as we took breaks whenever we needed to, chattered, and got to spend the day in the woods. I also learned about the Washington State Native Plant Society today--another pretty cool group, if you like plants.
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As far as running goes, I punted on today, since I worked hard enough up on the hill (even if I did drive up there). I did buy a cool Marmot Precip, which I've wanted for a long time, for rainy days. They're supposed to be the ticket. Yesterday, after class, I went up Mount Galbraith, got lost in Wonderland, and had a good old time. The mountain biking ramps are insane on Galbraith. Tomorrow I'll do something, but now it's time to focus on NB2V.





Sunday, May 11, 2008

Life In A Northern Town

"Life in a Northern Town" is a new cover of a 1986 UK single by The Dream Academy, currently sung by Jennifer Nettles, Jake Owen and some other country singers. It's playing on Country Countdown right now, and I'm knocking down some coffee, procrastinating meaningful business. The picture to the left is a goat/ram picture, taken by me a couple years ago, in Jasper, Alberta, on the Tonquin Valley trail. Or maybe it was Waterton. Whatever. It is a goat with horns, or a ram. Probably a ram. I was probably too near it. Goats and trail running and the environment go together, and I'm short on material, so here's a goat picture.
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As far as trail running goes, the North Face Endurance Challenge was here in Bellingham/Skagit this weekend. Maybe I should've ran it, and I kind of wish I did, but it's all sort of silly, considering I did the marathon last Sunday, and I have NB2V in a couple weeks. Also, it was a $100, and it was a tuff 'nuff course. I instead opted to do the Blanchard Ultra loop, which appears to be the second portion of the 50k and 50m race course. In fact, my whole "secret" loop had trail ribbons. Not sure how I feel about that, as the trail was improved with trail work, but there'll probably be more up there now. I think its good. After knocking out the loop, I came back to the rig at the mile 38/18 aid station, and watched a few go by, including Cory from Spokane and a few others I recognized. The race looked well organized, despite rumors to the opposite, and I'm sure the course was tough. On the one hand, I had enough in me that I could've done the 50k, but my own run wasn't inspiring as far as performance goes, but it was gorgeous, with views of the Skagit and Islands. The End.
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Coda: Life In A Northern Town
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Sugarland, Little Big Town, Jake Owen et al. (2008)
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The Dream Academy (1986)
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Monday, May 5, 2008

Eugene Marathon


Terry S. and Bryan R. came by this Saturday morning, bright and early at 6 AM, to head down for the Eugene Marathon. Coffee sounded good once we made it to Seattle, so we hit Pike Place Market and the "original" Starbucks. Pretty cool--we drove right up, said hi to the vendors setting up, ordered a coffee and then went next door for fresh baked piroshkies. Yes.
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Five hours later, we make Eugene. Mostly country music on the road. Lots of running talk. How to run a race. How to organize a race. What races suck. What races rock. What to eat at a race, etc., etc., etc. The expo (at the race) was cool, although the Exposers were unsuccessful in separating This fool with his money. The Saturday Eugene Street Market proved much better at this, with its 750 vendors and real live drum circle. I had the good fortune to meet a local "artisan" who specializes in twig craft, and perhaps other personal medicinals. I Just had to purchase the twig bird feeder--only $16! It looks sort of witchy. Score!
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After that excitement, we went looking for Pre's rock, which is a memorial rock to Steve Prefontaine, pictured above, marking the sight of his tragic car wreck. Prefontaine has become a legend, as far as running goes, and he made his name running for the University of Oregon. People leave shoes in tribute. We found the memorial, but it didn't come easy. 45 minutes of seriously comical head scratching, driving in neighborhoods, and looking around. Totally worth it. We followed this up with a visit to Hayward Field, sight of several Olympic Trials, including the this year's trials in a month or two. They wouldn't let us in.
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Fast forward to the marathon, 7 AM Sunday morning, with the start outside the same Hayward Field. The race DJ played C&C & the Music Factory's Gonna Make You Sweat. They always play that. Race DJs are really clever. OK. Eugene is now OFFICIALLY one of my favorite road marathons. This race is awesome, maybe the best marathon in the northwest.
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The marathon is sponsored by Krusteaz, because it is "flat as a pancake." There's a couple small hills, but it is a PR type of course. It is a little crowded starting out, because they start the halfers, fullers, and 5kers at the same time, with about 8000 total. The course is absolutely beautiful, starting through quiet neighborhoods (with ankle burning potholes--watch out), and then the last 13 miles are along the Willamette River. I saw some really cool birds with big feathers over the river. The time of year is right too--the temperature reached the 60s by the end, but overall it was just about right, especially after all the cold we've had.
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I ran pretty well, without going all out. 3:48. No stomach challenges. The night before was mashed potatoes, soup, and broccoli. Need to remember that. New shoes, Asics Nimbi. My one mistake was having chocolate milk and bananas after the race. I almost lost it. Need to remember that too. My mile splits were usually within 10 seconds or so, with the half marathon splits only a minute or two apart. I had to focus to keep the pace steady for the last three, so there was effort, but that just made for a good run. I don't want to go all out, as I'm looking to things further on. What I want to do is stack some good long runs week to week, and this was a good start.
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The finish was awesome--you cross the river, take a turn, pop out of some woods, and come right up the backside of Autzen Stadium, with the big O for Oregon. Everyone ran terrific, including Skagiteers Dr. Rob and Shawna W., who also made it down. All around a very cool weekend. Next up, NB2V, unless I decide to do North Face. Trail work for Wasatch in two weeks.