Book Report: "The Road To Sparta" By Dean Karnazes

The Road to Sparta : Retracing the Ancient Battle and Epic Run That Inspired the World's Greatest Foot Race by Dean Karnazes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It's like a race report, but the race is following the footsteps of history. The historical event being widely regarded as one of the most important battles and turning point in time. Karnazes really does his work learning what is known. He writes beautiful conjecture about what is unknown. Then he invites you into his life and his family and the ups and downs of one of his most epic experiences.

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Dizzy JoJo 6 Hour Potluck Race

2016 ended quietly, no races after Thanksgiving. I did do the Runners World Run Streak, a challenge to run a mile every day from Thanksgiving til New Years. That tied in with the 3 for 31 challenge I came across, that bumps it up to 3 miles a day for the Month of December. I carried on the run streak for 60 days total culminating in my birthday run on January 22nd.

Many times when I've run around Josephine Jones Park and Open Space over the past year, I've thought about the possibility of hosting a race similar to the Dizzy Goat race I ran back in June. I ran the 6 Hour timed trail race, the course was a 3 mile loop, and we switched directions each time through the starting area. Josephine Jones Park is a little gem of outdoor area in Greeley, CO. It was willed to the city by the namesake when she died in the early '90s to become what it is and to be saved from developement. The exterior trail runs right at 1.5 miles and has a maybe 60 foot climb on an upper portion. It's all crushed gravel. I figured, as far as a spot in my home town, it would be ideal for a timed race like the Dizzy Goat. I'm no RD, the logistics overwhelm me a little bit. As I was running out there in September, it popped in my head that I could do a loose group run or fat ass pretty easily, and invite my run club friends out. I decided to do it for my birthday.

I put up the event on Facebook in November. I didn't publicize it much initially because it's hard to predict weather in Colorado 2 months out. As we got into January, I started seeing promising long-term forecasts so I started trying to rally my people. The response was promising. I said my goal of at least 36k, but I was planning to be out there for 6 hours and everyone was welcome to come whenever they wished and run as much as they want. I even printed up some bibs with custom names and numbers for a few people. It was a whole thing.

At 10am on Jan 22 I started a counter-clockwise loop at Josephine Jones Park. My wife had come to the park initially expecting to see friends show up early, but she took off after my first 1.5 miles was done. I was 10k in when my run club teammate Henrique showed up a little later. Another teammate from my run club, Kate, showed up while I ran to my parent's house nearby to use the restroom. That was a bit of delay. I talked to my mom and sister for a bit, and saw my 16 month old niece for a minute, but then had to get back to the park. I was 9 miles in when I got back to the picnic area of the park.

I had set up a personal aid station with some snacks and water and such. The idea initially was to loop into this picnic area every lap and loop back the opposite direction. I spent a little more time there than I would normally like, but this was really more of a social event than a race. Henrique and Kate and I all ended up there at the same time at this point, and thought we maybe saw some other people coming from the parking area, so we waited, and waited for quite a while really, until realizing it wasn't any of our crew. So we went back out. Kate took off pretty soon after that, then Henrique took off shortly thereafter, but he was proud about a distance PR. That's what this event was about!

Photo by Sue

I was expecting some people to show up about 1pm, but when Henrique left shortly after noon it was a couple hours where I ran alone. At around 2, I saw that Sue from run club had checked in and was heading out to start running. I caught up with her a little bit later. I think I had broken 36k (or 22.3333 miles or whatever,) goal by that point. Then Jessy from run club and finally my long time friend Peter would arrive shortly after that. I caught up with them when I had a minute.

20 Miles

Basically I just ran around the park back and forth. I'd chat with my friends when I'd see them. I'd grab a bite and a drink of coconut water or Nuun when I got back to the start. I broke the marathon mark a quarter mile out from the aid area, and made it in to see Sue standing there. She congratulated me. I told her I was a half mile away from my longest run ever, and at just over 5 hours, way ahead of the 6 hours it had taken me. But I was worn out. I felt accomplished, but I didn't think I had much left in the tank. I walked with Sue to the parking lot, and said goodbye to her. I caught Jessy coming back the other way and kind of jogged with her. Then I got the legs going again. I went back out and got the 27 miles and a little bit more for good measure. That's when I decided I was done for the day. Only Peter was left out there at that point, I figured he'd be wrapping things up pretty quick. So I sat at the picnic table and tried to get a head start on refuelling. I took my snack bag back to my truck and came back to see I had just missed Peter starting another lap. So I started another lap. I stuck to the lower portion of the park, fearing the hills a bit. I came back with about 28.5 miles. I waited for Peter to come back in, and he just wasn't. I looked at my watch and thought for a minute that if I'd quit waiting to be done and just went out and ran 2.5 more miles, I'd get to that 50k mark I'd been gunning for for the last year. My legs weren't thrilled about it right away, but they fell into the muscle memory of what they were supposed to do real quick, and I ran lap around the edge of the park, then a little on the lower section. I ran into Peter as he was leaving. I thanked him for sticking around because I was going to quit if he weren't out there and now I was going to accomplish a real goal. As I ran back up to my truck I hit that 31 mile mark, and I went an extra 10th for good measure. It took 6 hours and 5 minutes total, and that's with a lot of standing around, I didn't pause my watch all day until I thought I was done at 27.5 miles.

26.5 Miles (Photo by Sue)

 I look back now and wish I had gone after 36 miles for my 36th birthday. I think I'm falling back into the trap of the post run view. It was rough after about 20 miles. It was a real struggle to keep going after 27. I need to remember that. But also it's great to do something so above and beyond to build for later; To do something that is rough and learn that rough doesn't mean much.

That night I went home, I had a lot of pasta for dinner and relaxed with some beer. I woke up the next day surprisingly fresh. I went to work as usual and didn't seem like my legs were all that too upset about what they had been through. I still ended my run streak there, just out of an abundance of caution.

Now I'm formulating more ideas to make my little birthday race bigger. So put a pin in your calendar for January 21, 2018.

2016 NCMC Turkey Trot 5k

I made a jump this year, my third year of running. I made some bold decisions and I pursued some large goals race-wise, putting the local 5ks on the back burner. Still, I decided two years ago that I would make the NCMC Turkey Trot a Thanksgiving tradition. It's great to have the consistency of a race on the same course at the same time every year with many of the same people.

With my focus on longer, steady-paced stuff over the year, including a trail half-marathon less than three weeks prior, I didn't focus much on 5k speed. I did try a little speed work in the fall, but I didn't make it a consistent practice. Then the week leading up to the race I felt a little fatigued. So there was no expectation at the starting line on race day.

I set my 5k PR in 2014 on July 4th, a course that runs along the local 4th of July Parade route, where the whole first and third miles are a steady downhill. Early in 2016 I had brushes with hitting that mark or besting it on a couple of routine training runs. That was before I started training with the goal of hitting the 50k mark in a 6 hour race. It's a vastly different strategy, to the point that I often hear ultramarathoners who can't stand the idea of a 5k race.

At the start line of the Turkey Trot I saw a guy I'm Twitter friends with. He won the Loveland Classic 10k as well as the 10k that accompanied the Longmont Trail Half Marathon that I ran in July. Knowing he's a swift and experienced runner, I got on his heels to get through the crowd as the race started into the first couple of corners. I figure since I was able to stay with him and eventually lose him in the crowd, that he wasn't out to win this race, but this strategy worked out in my favor.

I looked at my watch just once during the race, right as it vibrated for the first mile mark. It was sub 7:30, that's what I recall. That surprised me a lot. I hadn't pushed that pace in a long time, but I felt very strong and relaxed and in control. My stride was good and my breathing didn't feel the slightest bit labored. In previous years I was gasping for air at the halfway water stop, and I'd try to down a little solo cup of water while staying in motion, because my mouth was so dry from panting. This time I kept moving through it, and into a gentle downhill in mile two.

My trail running experience this year has given me a lot of confidence to make up time on downhills. We don't have anything very steep in my city, but it translates well enough. I caught up to several groups, letting my momentum build on the descent, sometimes running outside of the coned off bike lane to pass the congestion.

With less than a mile to go, the course of the accompanying 2k race meets up with the 5k which seemed to add a bit more congestion this year. It got a little tight trying to slalom around a lot of walkers and kids weaving around. I don't think I got slowed down too awful much, but I feel like it's just common courtesy to pick a side of the road and stick to it if your walking on a race course, but I digress.

I made a steady push up the last little hill and pushed the proverbial pedal down for the last two city blocks or so, and really gave all I had left into the crowded finish area. I saw the clock just past the 22 minute mark a few steps before I sprinted across the timing strip. I stopped my watch at 22:18. The official time was a tad bit faster at 22:13. It turned out to be a huge PR. I really didn't expect that when I lined up that morning. Maybe at best, I though I could know a few seconds off of it, not 1:18 faster than my previous best. It was quite a good feeling. All the work that I put in throughout the year translated to so many accomplishments at various distances and surfaces, and to have such a monster 5k at my last race of the year just felt like a perfect bow on 2016.

Reflections and Trials and the Highlands Ranch Backcountry Wilderness Half Marathon

I want to remember how miserable I feel at the end of a race.

It's been well over three weeks since the Backcountry Wilderness Half Marathon, a 100% runnable trail race; much more gentle terrain than the Black Hawk race at the end of July, and my time showed that: just over 2 hours. Second best half marathon and my PR was set on an extremely flat course. This wasn't crazy, some 1100' of climbing, certainly nothing to sneeze at.

It was an interesting course. Once outside of the concrete path connecting a park and rec center to the ritzy Highlands Ranch homes built tall and feet from each other's walls to fit in all their excess space, it followed what seemed like road along the edge of pasture: Two parallel tire ruts worn into the wild grasses, pocked with prairie dog holes. The climbs were gentle and the downhills were perfect for making up time. I'd seen it pointed out that the trails were probably made more with mountain bikes in mind than for hiking or running. For 8 miles they went, wide and rolling and smooth, then things switched up. We were treated to a single track: rocky and rooty, just when you're comfortable and maybe feeling a little lackadaisical about picking up your feet. And it started with a good downhill section with no room to pass those who may not have the same confidence. I knew that steady descent meant that we'd have to soon go back up, and that's were it started to get hard. That's what I want to remember.

There's a lot of good in making the best of things. That's not something many people who've known me would expect that I'd be good at, but it something that I've really gotten in the habit of. Even things that would often try my last nerve have become things that I almost enjoy ( like work.) It's running that has precipitated this obnoxious positivity. It's the trials of racing to that finish line, that is where you find the strength. I feel like in the minutes and the hours after crossing that line and I've had a bunch of water and a little food and I've caught my breathe, I so quickly forget how miserable those last miles were. I downplay that conversation those parts of my mind were having while assessing the pain and the weakness and the distance still to go and the fight to determine how much I would give it and how much I would give in. When I'm back home and posting the finished info to Strava and the pictures of my smile and medal to Instagram, even I am already not appreciating what I went through. 

This time I want to make myself remember because I started so strong, but the last 2 miles felt so long, and I know I could have probably given a little more, but what I gave at the time felt like the bottom of the tank. I want to remember how awful the race in Black Hawk was, at the first half, because I was hungover and need to shit during a race that would be tough in the best conditions. I want to remember the time lost in Longmont with less than a mile left when the weaker part of my will won the argument and I slowed to a walk to get my legs back under me, I damn well could have waited five more minutes til I was finished to do that. I want to remember that feeling at the Dizzy Goat of that 9th lap that the gals at the scoring table were surprised I wanted to do, and the pain of getting up that hill, of falling, of grasping at the waistline of my sagging, sweat-soaked shorts as I pushed through to the finish a final time. I look at the photo of my face as I did that. It's tough to remember the feeling, though.

I want to remember looking back so that next time I can remember that I've been there before, I've faced it, I reacted either with perseverance or not and to know that I can do it again, better, stronger. These trials I'm putting myself through by choice, because the reward in the end is so great: confidence and strength and joy -- fucking joy!

It is a privilege to run and a privilege to choose your trials. I've taken it so for granted for so long, but now I recognize it. I'm grateful for it. I want to remember the hard times I choose to face because I've long attempted to avoid hard times in reality, but that's where the measure of yourself is found and forged.

A photo posted by Matthew Ronne (@matthewronne) on Nov 5, 2016 at 6:33pm PDT

Vegan MoFo

If you've arrived here looking for Vegan MoFo posts, I apologize. I signed up for the event with the best of intentions, figuring with a little homework I could get it done. I didn't foresee some things coming up that have gotten in my way. I haven't been cooking much at home. I haven't made it to my favorite restaurants. 

Thanks for stopping by. I should have a post up next week about my race this weekend. Some other life stuff is sorting out, and I'll share that when I can.

Aaaand two months later

Jeez, blogs always start off with the best of intentions. Well, this one is about my running, and to be fair, August and September were as quiet as this blog was on that front. I had a strong month of running in August, no races though, and at the end of the month picked up an IT band issue that led to a lot of rest in September. Anyone who's had an IT issue know that they seem to just linger, but with some regular stretching and a new focus on other exercise outside of running, it's gotten to be quite manageable, and I'm back to over 30 miles each of the past couple of weeks.

I've spent these weeks in between races focusing on my run club. It's the best part of what running has brought me. There is so much importance there. We humans are social animals. We can't ignore that. I keep meeting new, friendly people through running. As an adult, that can be a tough thing, making new friends. Run club is an invaluable part of my life.

I am signed up for a race, a trail half marathon on November 5 with a couple of the ladies from run club, I also will do the local Turkey Trot 5k on Thanksgiving. I've incorporated some speed work into my routine a bit lately, I am gunning for besting my 5k PR there. It's been a while since I put my focus on that.

Other than running, I am planning on participating in Vegan Month Of Food or VeganMoFo here on this blog. That's a deal where bloggers are given a daily food topic to post about. VeganMoFo happened in October in 2011, which was the month I gave myself a vegan diet challenge 5 years ago that I have not and do not expect to go back on. I thought it would be a good thing for me participate in this year to give myself a challenge to blog every day, work on some of the creative energy I'm feeling right now, and to play with and share some of my remedial recipes. So look forward to that in November.

To go with October challenges, I'm working on consistent morning routines like is so the rage right now. Every morning so far this month has started early with at leat 15 minutes of meditation, then a quick exercise. It's mostly been some sit-ups, pushups and planks, with a little variation, (like the pushups were out of the question a few days in with some soreness from jumping into the routine a bit too much too quick,) but consistency grows on itself. That's what I'm going for, not just to be able to run as long and far as I want, but to be my best self.
So that's my little refresher. 

I hope everyone has a great October.

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Black Hawk Trail Half Marathon Race Report

After a flat half marathon in Longmont, I had two weeks to kind of change focus for the mountains of Golden Gate Canyon State Park and the Black Hawk Trail Half Marathon. I hadn't been to any proper trails since the Dizzy Goat in June, and didn't find time or will to do so with the heat of July upon us. I ran repeats on the upper section of my home park in Greeley, Josephine B. Jone Park and Open Space, as often as I could. It's crushed gravel and a relatively mild 40 foot climb, but it's what I had available to me most often. It wouldn't even begin to prepare me for what I was about to face.

On Saturday July 30th I drove down to Base Camp at Golden Gate Canyon, a campground on the outer bounds of the park and near the gaming town of Black Hawk. I arrived a little later than initially planned, having watched most of a weather delayed Colorado Rapids game back home before I left.
It was a pleasant evening in the mountains. The campground had a great view of Mount Thorodin and Tremont to the north. It was a quick walk around the sold out camp ground. There was a general store with alcohol available at the attached Pickle Liquors. (They sold t-shirts, they thought it was so clever.) I did grab some beer, something I normally wouldn't do on the night before a race, but figured it might help me get to sleep early.

Pickle Liquors

Mt Thorodin to the left - Tremont toward the middle

Camp

I don't know if it's true, but it seems that camping before a race is a rite of passage for trail runners. This was my first time doing so. My wife and I bought this ten very early on in our dating life with the best intentions of being outdoorsy people after camping on a friend's family land. It hadn't even been used in the 9 years since. I finally put it up, cheap piece of shit from K-Mart that it is. The bungees holding the hooks on the rain cover weren't all tied, but I got them good enough to hold for one night. I used a crooked charcoal grill on the campsite to warm up some lentils and rice I premade at home. Then I was in my sleeping bag pretty close to sundown, even with the campground noises like a nearby campfire singalong to the greatest hits of the likes of Pink Floyd and John Cougar Mellancamp.

Camp Lentils

I slept pretty good except for my neighbors waking up at one point and cursing loudly in the middle of the night for some reason. Well that didn't make me feel so bad for having to get up be a little noisy breaking camp at 5.

The alarm I set on my watch roused me, and I put on my run gear. For this race it was my Newton BoCo Sol shoes, my go-to Feetures socks, Reebok 2in1 Shorts, some unbranded tech shirt I picked up somewhere, and my VegRunChat Halo Headband.

It was a little tough getting things going that early in the morning. I couldn't manage to get the tent rolled back up to fit in its bag (Still haven't fixed that over a week later,) the elastic inside one of the tent polls came undone, and somewhere between the tent and my truck I misplaced my wallet. After everything was loaded up I went over by the general store where I could be a little more noisy and dug more for it and walked back to the campsite to give it one last once over, no dice. I didn't worry too much initially. It was perplexing, but I was pretty sure that it had to be in the truck somewhere, and I had to go.

5am

The race was a little ways away from the campground. I found it easily enough, following the signs that Endurance Race Series put up. It was a drive though. I arrived fairly early, and kept looking for my wallet as I ate a little food and used a restroom at the parking lot a few times.  I didn't have a substantial breakfast, I was going a little light on fuel but took a couple of Larabars with me after having felt some hunger in my previous race.

At the start line we were notified that the race was to be 12 miles, rather than the usual half marathon distance. That didn't bug me so much. I had heard of trail races having fluctuations in mileage. I guess you could change the name of the race, but whatever. I felt like I could probably use the restroom one more time, but it was time to start.

This one started really rough. I was not feeling it within the first mile. I knew I was under-prepared, but my brain was foggy, my legs were week, I kept wondering where my wallet was, maybe my camp neighbors came into my tent and stole it, and I knew I was going to need to poop before long. I was able to stay with the same group of people for the first 4 miles, but kind of lost them on a climb and then into the second aid station. After that I was on my own for a couple miles with the occasional person passing me. Just ahead of mile 5 the course begins to climb and climb with no reprieve. I grouped up with a couple of guys ahead of me and a couple of girls coming up behind me and we power hiked these tight, tree-lined switchbacks for nearly 2 miles and 1,000 feet, and when we got to the top: it was fun. I felt good, like this is what this hobby is about. I just fuckin walked up a mountain. The guy in front of me turned over the top and we saw a downhill, and I said, "Well that's a welcome sight."

The misery wasn't completely over. It was a net downhill the rest of the way, but still some steep climbs to be had. I still needed to use a restroom, luckily aid 3 was at the bottom of a hill at a trailhead with facilities, possibly a more welcome site than the downhill in mile 6. After that I took it easy: Hike the steep parts, run the flat and push a little on the downhill. I really enjoyed the last few miles. I came down the final hill and turned to run into the finish at 2:29:23. I figured sub 3 hours on a mountainous course for a half would be a good enough goal. I guess I need to up that as under-prepared, a little hungover, and needing to poop I did 12 miles in 2 and a half.

Start/Finish and this rock

After heading to the finish area and having a post race banana and and IPA, which, I've had beer after races twice now, and my taste buds must be really screwed up after a race because it hasn't tasted good either time. Again, there wasn't much else for the plant based athlete to refuel after the race. The same guacamole company was there as was in Longmont, but they didn't seem to have brought chips or some other guacamole delivery vehicle. So I went back to my truck to snack and find my wallet before I got too far away from the campground. I found that I stupidly left the door unlocked, right by the trail and restrooms, with all my camping gear, a couple of electronics, and my wallet presumably buried inside. I pulled out the tent and felt around to see if I left my wallet in a storage pocket then I saw it sitting on the cup holder for jump seat in the back. Sweat off my brow. 

So everything worked out. Again, I leave a race satisfied, a little wiser about what I need to do to improve. I took a little rest week to start August: just three runs for a little over 20 miles. There's nothing on the calendar at this point. I did turn down a Ragnar opportunity for this upcoming weekend. I'd love to do that, but the timing's not right. I'm going to take some more time for myself, my wife and dogs and see what comes up.

Another little thing here at the end. I've been really heartbroken this morning. A woman named Michelle Walters was killed in a crash with a truck during the bike portion of the Ironman Boulder race yesterday (8/7/16). Michelle was also a participant with me at the Dizzy Goat Trail Races in June, and, though I didn't really make friends with anyone out there, I recognize her photo, and there was so much comradery in this little limited entry race where you're all repeatedly running the same 3 mile loop and encouraging the same faces for hours on end, I can't help but feel some connection to her personally having done that race, somewhat, together. 

We're also coming up on the third anniversary of my brother-in-law's and 5th anniversary of my cousin's deaths in a traffic crashes, and this stuff weighs so heavily on my mind all the time. More than 30,000 people die due to car crashes every year in the US. Most of these are because of little mistakes. There is no excuse for it. Follow the rules. Pay attention to driving when you are driving. Stay between the lines. Stop at stoplights and stop signs and look both ways and down sidewalks and bike lanes. This starts with each of us.