Mac Side

I don't really even know where to start with this report...  Yesterday, I made it back down to MacDonald Forest to pick up where I left off last time I was down there.  I needed to add a couple miles to the ordeal to make it a 22 mile and/or 4 hr. workout.  Turns out adding miles and time was no problem at all, thanks to my ability to seize all opportunities of getting off-course and/or outright lost.  I figure I ran a total of about 25 miles and it took 5 hrs.  Much of this time was spent pacing back and forth or standing there scratching my head as I referenced maps and course descriptions.

I still have no idea where the course goes in 2-3 sections of the course on the Mac side of things.  The menagerie of single tracks strewn through the forest like speghetti on the kitchen floor was enough to thwart my efforts to run this yr's course in at least 3-4 places.  I packed a map and very detailed course description but that wasn't enough to save me from barreling down to the bottom of Soap Creek within the first 5-6 miles.  I decided rather than backtrack (because I had no idea where I went wrong) I would take the logging roads back to a point I knew was on the trail.  This added miles, sure, but it also added serious vert as the TH is a long ways down there.  I finally did get back on track and enjoyed the run for several miles until I got into another tangle of trails and lost my way again.  This happened in the Who Do You Know/Who Do You Love/On the Sly/Knucklehead/Lowrider section.  After a few wrong turns, additional out-n-backs on wrong trails, and loops that ended up right back where I came from I managed to find my way out of the woods and back to a road that was on route.

Monster climbs, no inspiring tunes (forgot Ipod-somewhat intentionally), no gels (forgot to buy some on Saturday during business hours), hardly enough water (2 bottles) pretty much sums up the rest of the jaunt.  Next time I am out there it will be all marked out and I can focus on running and taking care of my food and water needs with aid stations here and there--the advantages of a race.

Was glad to have a rest day today!

Rumble Grumble

Finished the Peterson Ridge Rumble 20 miler yesterday in 2:41. Overall, I had a blast running the trails and I was pleased with my time. It was a beautiful day with some stunning vistas of snow covered Cascade peaks. It was also exciting to be around a stacked up field of runners. In what other sport can you just walk up and pay a few bucks and be competing with superstars? I can't think of one.

On to the grumble:

I blew this race. I was flat out of gas in the last 2.5-3 miles and a lost a good 4-5 places as I slowed down to what was surely my slowest pace of the entire race despite it being the flattest, least technical portion and jogged it in. As I watched 40 milers come in to the schoolyard nearly sprinting it became even more obvious that I had messed something up and should have been reeling in the end instead of wating for it to come to me as I trotted. In looking at the folks passing me I had thoughts like those put down by G.Z.'s blog coincidentally discussed today.

http://georgezack.blogspot.com/2012/04/six-be-smarter-dummy.html

It's time to stop using the watch as I have been (almost exclusively as a tool to measure just how fast can I get this 8 mile workout done?) and start setting up some smarter workouts using variable paces (nice and slow at the right times and a bit fast at others).

At less than a month to the Mac 50k, wisdom will have to come a bit quicker than usual.

PRE!

Looking for something inspirational on the tube after yesterday's run on the Buck Mountain course I found myself welling up while watching Selena. I should have been welling up watching any one of the great documentary's on Coos Bay's own: One of these days I've got to do a couple laps at Hayward for this guy. What a champ.