Run Across Oregon T Minus 7 Weeks

Crooked River Gorge

 The countdown has officially started in my head.  On August 3rd, 2 days after my 50th birthday, I’ll step across the California/Oregon border just south of Klamath Falls with a goal of running across the State of Oregon in 9 days, finishing at the Washington side of the Columbia River near The Dalles on August 11th.  The plan will be to average 35 miles a day for the first 8 days, leaving a 14 mile fun run from Dufur to the Columbia for the last day.  On other runs like this that I’ve done, I’ve posted a link to the route map, I’m not going to this time.  It’s Hwy 97 and/or 197 the whole way, I won’t get lost.

I got really sick after Newport Marathon, this seems to happen a lot to me.  I blame the water at aid stations, and especially blame the aid station with all cowgirls.  I think that is the only aid station I took water from twice because the cowgirls were awesome!  I’m almost recovered enough to resume everyday running.  All reservations along the way have been made, it’s starting to feel pretty real.  I drove from Redmond to Madras over the weekend.  That will be mile 175 to 202 and I started getting a little jumpy in the car.

Aged Vanilla

I don’t know what getting old is supposed to feel like.  In the beginning does it just feel like failure?

I don’t know how to lower my expectations, nor do I really feel like that time has come, but I can’t escape some seemingly obvious truths.  I ran a pretty good race on Saturday at the Newport Marathon.  My goal, as always, was a PR.  I sat on PR pace for as long as I could.  Then with all of the effort still there, it started slowly slipping away.  I was 2 minutes off pace at the half marathon mark.  From that point forward, all increased efforts accomplished was to slow the rate of decline.  I never melted down, never gave up mentally, I just wasn’t as fast as I thought I’d be.  My training had gone really well.  I know where the flaws were.  I know the skipped long run, the 10 mile tempo runs that ended up being 7, but I trained hard.  Obviously, either not hard enough, or this really is the point over the apex.  Doesn’t really matter, my next big event, Run Across Oregon, will not be measured in PR’s or even really in time.  It will, however, give me a lot of time to think about what’s on the running horizon.

Gorgeous Oregon Coast weather.

In many ways, this was one of my favorite race weekends ever.  I suppose it started with my DNA results from 23andme, which revealed, among other things, that I am 99.9% European.  This removed any lingering suspicions about whether I am part Kenyan, and took an enormous burden of expectations away!  Nope, I am 99.9% aged vanilla.

The Patio Project

Jeanne and I have been diligently working on the “Patio Project”.  There are some drainage trenches dug on the side yard and as we have carted and wheelbarrowed supplies we have warned each other to be careful of the trenches many times.  Last Saturday, while moving some top soil around to the back, Jeanne stepped in one of the trenches and severely sprained her right ankle.  She was on crutches for a few days and then into a walking boot.  The original plan had been for her to drive out on the marathon course, but we didn’t know how quickly the ankle would start to heal.  She drove for the first time Thursday night, a little test drive of a few miles, and it didn’t go very well.  We made the decision that she would not drive out on the course and that we would wait until we got to Newport to decide whether she could try and drive to finish area. The finish was only a mile and a half from our hotel, and she figured out that if she went in between the slowest people clearing the area and the winner coming back she would have a decent chance of parking near the finish.  Friday night we went out to dinner with some amazing new friends Jerry and Julie (more on them later), at The Chowder Bowl.  The food was pretty unremarkable, and I broke a cardinal, no fried food the night before, rule.  It was calamari!  After dinner, on the drive back to the hotel, the low tire indicator came up on the dash.  I pulled over and walked around the car.  The right rear tire did look a little low, so we found a service station and filled the tire up, problem seemingly solved.  A few hours later, I ran down to the parking garage to check on the tire and it looked fine.  Saturday morning, I was scurrying around, getting ready, my normal pre race jitters going on, and Jeanne asked me to check the tire again.  I was glad to have the distraction and headed back down to the parking garage and, the tire was completely flat.  I can’t begin to express how incredible it feels to have a partner like this.  I walked into the room and said to someone that can barely walk, “I’m really sorry, but the tire is completely flat, and I have to go right now, I know you can figure this out in the best way possible, if I don’t see you at the finish by 11:00 I’ll run back to the hotel”, and took off.  She was awesome, everything taken care of and basking in the sun at the finish when I was done.

Jeanne hobbled her way to the beach!

 

Newport Finish

A few months ago I started running with a husband and wife team in Dallas, Julie and Jerry Mullins.  I was getting a little lonely running almost everything all by myself, and driving in to Salem to run with friends was feeling like more of a production than “a run” should be.  They have both been such a wonderful shot in the arm of enthusiasm and positive energy.  Jerry ran his first ever marathon at Newport and Julie, well, wanted to PR (which would have been 4:20 something I think).  I don’t really remember her original goal time because it was pretty obvious, from the beginning, that she was capable of running much faster than that.  I remembered when Lynn Harmon saw a lot more potential in me than I saw in myself and how amazing it felt to have his encouragement and support and help.  So, I took the opportunity to pay the universe back, a little, and tried to help her gain the confidence to reach for something a little more.  As her confidence grew, she found the courage to say, out loud, that she wanted to break 4 hours.  I really never had any doubt she’d break 4.  I told Jeanne, “Julie is gonna go well under 4”.  She did, 3:53, which was pretty cool considering the first time I broke 4 hours, I also ran 3:53.  It’s such a mental barrier, than once you believe you can get under it, you really can get way under it.

Julie and Jerry Newport Sub 4 Finishers

I’m starting to really allow myself to start thinking about the actual running of Run Across Oregon. The actual logistics of running 300 miles require preparation that can’t, or shouldn’t be, ignored or minimized, but I’ve really tried to not think about the running part it until after Newport.  My mind is on it now!  It’s a big thing, I know, all the way across a state.  I know what it will take, every day, and it isn’t trivial.  35 miles every day for 8 days, I know the passes I’ll have to climb and I know it will be HOT, and I’m really looking forward to the challenge.

Goal Setting

I set goals for almost everything.  The less consequential to my life, the more likely I am to have a goal.  I have zero goals for where I want or need to be financially when I retire.  But I will quickly calculate that I’ll have to empty the grass catcher on the lawn mower 5 times before I’m done and then try and only have to do it 4 times as a challenge.

I’m not sure when the goal of a PR in a race will fade away with the acceptance of advancing age, but it hasn’t happened yet.  I know my PR times by heart for every distance from 5k to 50 miles and it still feels like I can run faster than all of them.  Well, maybe not my 15k PR, that one is pretty good.  I’ve had a few races that I decided to run at a slower pace as a tune up race for something else.  I’ve also had races where I knew I wasn’t in good enough shape to PR.  Most of the time, though, I won’t race unless I think I can do something I’ve never done before.

3:33:26.  That’s it.  Portland Marathon 2008.  I’m not sure how many failed attempts to go faster than that there have been in the last 5 years, but there have been quite a few.  Newport is a good course to run a fast time on, though I’ve never run very fast there in my 3 previous attempts.  8 days away and the weather forecast looks almost perfect, mid 50’s, partly cloudy, no rain.  It’s the Oregon Coast, that will change 8 times between now and then, but right now it looks awesome.  My training has gone really well, I’m in the best shape I’ve been in the last few years.  Now I just need to be smart for 20 miles, tough for 6 and look good for the last .2!

Today, I Am NOT a Runner

Somebody placed 2 bombs in trash cans near the finish of the Boston Marathon.  When they find the depravity responsible, we will learn many things.  They will have a reason, and that reason will make no sense.  They will not have a vendetta against runners.  They will not have been attacking runners or the running community.  They will have selected a very public gathering with high media coverage, that coincidentally was the Boston Marathon.  We will also learn that they sympathize with some groups and hate other groups, and none of that will really make any sense.  It should also make us reflect on this very human need to belong and the also very human need to stop people from belonging.  Why it is that, so frequently, belonging to one group means not belonging to another.  There are victims of this isolation every minute of every day.  We don’t need to learn to be tolerant of others, we need to learn to appreciate all so that the concept of “others” becomes what is foreign.  So, at least for today, I choose to not be white, or male, or american, or atheist, or liberal and I also choose to NOT be a runner.

Run For My Supper

For the last few years, when I was really training seriously, I would run home from work, once a week.  It’s 18 miles door to door and when Jeanne worked in Salem, this was a great plan.  I’d run home from work and she would drive me in to work the next morning.  Ever since she stopped working in Salem, I’ve struggled with a mid week long run, especially in the Winter.  By the time I'd get home from work and change, that 10 to 18 mile loop or out and back would end up with a short cut too many times for me to feel good about.

So, I’ve come up with a new plan, Run for my Supper.  I’ve always had good success motivating myself for long runs by running toward food.  My Mom and Sister both live in Monmouth and Jeanne’s daughter Hailey lives in next door Independence.  From the near side of Monmouth to the far side of Independence can be anywhere from as short as 10 miles to as long as 18 depending on the final destination.

So far, I’ve run 10 miles to Yeasty Beasty in Monmouth.  They make their own dough from wild yeast that they captured in their own handy dandy yeast trap, ok, that kinda sounded gross, but as someone who has done this, it’s pretty cool.  Good pizza, impressive beer selection on tap, and really cool people.

Koyote Cafe Tamales

Last week it was 10 miles to Koyote Cafe in Monmouth.  I over ate, a little, because their special was chicken tamales, which I had to get, and a small carne asada taco just wouldn’t leave me alone.
 

Pastrami Sammich at Pink House Cafe

Yesterday it was 12 miles the Pink House Cafe in Independence.  This is one of the Willamette Valley’s best kept secrets.  The owner, Paul, had a little teriyaki place in Salem years ago that was very good, but I think he’s really found his food niche now.  It’s right across the street from the Independence Cinema, and the food is absolutely wonderful.  I shouldn't have had the Rum Cake because all I can think about is going back for more dessert.

This will be my Wednesday run for a while, patiently waiting for Funky Bun to open.

Stalking 100 Miles in One Day

I know I can run 100 miles in one day.  It seems so easy in my head.  I’ve done all of the possible split scenarios a thousand times.  There have been 20 miles runs where I’ve thought of little else except how I “should” be able to run 100 miles in one day.  And yet, the truth is, I’ve failed in 2 attempts so far.  The 2011 Western States DNF bothers me, like any DNF should, but I understand it.  I wasn’t really prepared for the running on ice and snow, fell way too many times, and just let myself get beaten up.  I can take those lumps as they come.  The 2010 Lean Horse DNF still haunts me.  I was in fantastic shape that Summer.  Physically, that may have been the best shape I’ve ever been in.  A wiser person than I, always admonishes me on long journeys, “it all comes down to how well you take care of yourself”, and I took horrible care of myself that day.  I made so many mistakes that it drives me crazy thinking back on it.  I don’t count 2011 Pacrim 24 hour as an attempt at 100, I decided ahead of time that I was going at least to 100k but no further than 80 miles and stopped at 70.

Crossing the bridge, Pacrim 2011

Which brings me to the 2013 Pacrim 24 hour, March 16 in Longview, Washington.  My stated goal is 100 miles in one day.  I can say with certainty, that I will not be in as good a shape as I was for Lean Horse, but I am in pretty good shape.  Hopefully, I’m a little wiser now.  A one mile loop course removes many mistakes that could be made regarding hydration and food, but brings with it new issues to resolve.  I have to treat that “every mile” aid station and crew as essentially non existent at least 5 times in a row, every hour.  I’m constantly perplexed by the “how slow early” riddle.  9 minutes per mile is the most comfortable pace I can possibly find.  8 minutes per mile is marathon pace, and that starts to feel like work after about mile 15.  10 minute per mile pace does feel a little easier than 9 but not by much.  Anything slower than that feels like wasting time.  I think I will run in the low 9’s to start and take at least a half mile walk break every hour, which will also, hopefully, allow me to eat a little each hour.  And do this until I can’t do it anymore.  Then, I suppose, I’ll make it up as I go along.

The Hunt For PRs

I’m almost 50. I’ve been running for 10 years. The realization that most of my best times forvarious distances has been set for life is slowly creeping in. I have a PR list in a spreadsheet. Iknow which ones I feel I still have a shot at breaking. There are some odd distances that I eitheronly ran once, early, or haven’t ran at all. Those don’t really count. Of the more regulardistances, my half marathon time has always seemed one of the “softer” PRs. On one hand,that’s surprising to me since it’s a distance I absolutely love. It’s long enough, for training to playa slightly larger role than talent, but short enough that you can “go for it” without the glamorousflame out that the marathon can bring. But, maybe that’s why I see my PR in that distance assoft, because it always feels like I can run a solid half.

It was cold!

I feel like I have this year’s big races set up really well for myself. Better than in any other year inquite a while. A 24 hour race in March, Pac Rim One Day. Then a marathon in June, NewportMarathon. Then my Run Across Oregon in August. High mileage training for the 24 hour race,then put some speed training in for the marathon, then back to high mileage training for the crossstate run. The only part of it that didn’t really make sense was the half marathon I signed up forin January, Cascade Half Marathon.

25 Seconds

I had a really good second half of 2012. No injuries, since giving up the trails. A good 50k inOctober, but no speed training to speak of. Out of respect for truly fast runners, I shouldprobably rephrase that, no track work. So, I went in to the Cascade Half not really sure what toexpect. It was cold! Around 23 degrees at the start. I didn’t warm up nearly as much as Inormally would for a half marathon. I ran the length of the indoor hallway at Cascade HighSchool several times, but that was it. I missed the first 2 mile markers but noticed at mile 3 that Iwas very close to my PR pace and feeling pretty comfortable. The road was icy in patches. Notenough to make you alter your stride, but enough to make you pay attention. At the turnaround Iwas 15 seconds off PR pace and still feeling really good. I told myself to just keep it undercontrol for another few miles and then I’d let myself start picking up the pace. Then around mile9, I started feeling some tightening in my hamstrings. It’s usually one leg or the other whensomething starts to go wrong, so it was strange to feel it equally in both legs. By mile 10 theywere both knotted up pretty good. Every other part of my body wanted to go faster, even myeyelashes were saying “let’s go”, but every time I tried to pick it up, they felt like they were on theverge of tearing. I missed my PR by 25 seconds. But I feel very confident that with some speedtraining, a little better weather and a more appropriate warm up, my half marathon PR is one thatwill still get lower. Next attempt, Corvallis Half Marathon, April 14