Adventuring

I've been trying to just be outside, out-and-a-bout, on the move, etc.  This summer, be it the heat, lack of rain, fire everywhere, smoke inhalation, whatever, is making me itch to go places, see things, drink beers in awesome locales, climb mountains, run trails, crash my bicicleta, get sunburned, bug bit, not shower for days on end, be a dirtbag, not wear shoes, take gigs worth of photos, write again, read in the shade, be inspired by others, love a woman, camp, drive across the country, breathe air, be happy.  Lot of hippie drivel, but my mind is wandering and lusting and running a thousand miles an hour.  There is all this before me, why not partake?


With that, I'm shifting away from the basics of outlined training since it's not something I find particularly interesting or satisfying at the moment, and moving more toward being outside with a little bit of focus.  I'll continue to keep track of general mileage since my compulsive side finds that hard to let go, but I'm not going to concern myself with specified training for this or that.  I just want to be outside, running, hiking, climbing, biking, what have you.  


With that, here are some pictures from recent good times.  I've been through four states (WY, CO, UT, AZ), two national parks (Grand Canyon and Zion), several national forests (Roosevelt, Medicine Bow-Routt, Arapaho, White River, Manti-La Sal, Fishlake, and Kaibab) seen great friends get married, enjoyed the company of old friends and new friends, been developing a great relationship, and am planning and looking forward to other adventures the rest of the summer and year.  If the world doesn't completely incinerate.

Rawah Wilderness, Colorado.

Blue Lake, Rawah Wilderness.

Awesome hiking buddy.

Laramie River, Rawah Wilderness.  Photo by Elizabeth Spaulding.

Unaweep Canyon and the Dolores River, Colorado.

Monument Valley, UT/AZ.

Marble Canyon and the Colorado River.

Colorado River.

Camping in the Manti-La Sal Forest, UT.

La Sal Range.

Grand Canyon, North Rim.

Gabe and Lunde enjoying the view.

Messing with Lunde.  Photo by Tanya Musgrave Kelley.

Grand Canyon from Cape Royal.

Wyoming alumni (L to R) Scott, Jacob, Gabe, Ryan J., Bret, Ryan L., me, Tami .  Photo by Tanya Musgrave Kelley.

Bret, me, Lunde.  Photo by Tanya Musgrave Kelley.

The Waldrons, Jannel and Bret.  Photo by Tanya Musgrave Kelley.

Gabe and I recreate Forrest Gump.  Photo by Ryan Lunde.

Happy Jack Endurance Races 2012

We are within two weeks of what is the inaugural running of the Happy Jack Endurance Races, formerly known as the 24 Hours of Laramie.  Journeyman Adventures is in charge now, and a great race and atmosphere should be present come race day.  Come join us crazy Wyoming folk for an old-school ultra party in the Laramie Mountains.  Here is an article about the race:

http://www.examiner.com/article/happy-jack-100-mile-and-happy-jack-24-12-6-trail-races-challenge-runners-july

Also, check out Journeyman Adventures for more information and registration. We hope to see you there!

Metallica - Orion

This is my favorite song.  Every note is in the exact right place.  This song has always made me want to run through walls and shed tears.  It's beautiful.


Inspiration can come from anywhere.  I get it from this song.  Every time I listen to it.

Week Ending June 10 - Philosophical Paradigm Shift

First things first.  I had a pretty good week last week.  I got out and did something everyday and strung together a few runs at the end of the week that all felt pretty good.  The hip has been feeling progressively better every run.  I'm going to continue with a couple of days worth of cross-training (biking, hiking, etc.) per week as well as stay on the core work and stretching.  Complacency regarding the small things is what leads to injuries, like, say, tearing up your hip flexor.


Here's the week:


Mon. June 4 - Rode 6 miles in :45 (8 mph).  Upper UW-Headquarters-Summit-Lower UW-Aspen-Pole Creek.  Nice little morning ride on my way back to Laramie from Cheyenne.


Tues. June 5 - Ran 8 miles in 1:01 (7:37 pace).  Ran over to The Wag to meet Rachel and Horsecow for a ride up to the trails.  Met the rest of the crew at Tie City and went down Pole Creek, up Aspen, out Lower UW to Summit, then took the cutoff over to Headquarters and came on in.  My hip bugged a little while climbing Aspen, but was pretty loose by the end of the run.


Wed. June 6 - Rode 7 miles in :45 (9.3 mph).  Did a big Summit-Browns loop.  Beautiful morning out there.  Talked to a guy at the trail head who appeared to have slept there in his car the previous evening.  He was out from California on his way to Lincoln to see his daughter who attends UNL.  He is not the first person I've seen "camping" at the trail head this summer.  I'm not sure that's legal, but the campground at Tie City has been closed for 2 or 3 summers now, so screw it.  


Thurs. June 7 - Ran 8 miles in 1:01 (7:37 pace).  Early morning (I was on trail before 7am) run at the Jack.  Did the Summit-Browns-Headquarters loop.  While the hip has been feeling consistently better, I've been cautious about pushing it too much.  Case in point, I normally run this loop counter-clockwise, climbing up the Overlook, Browns, and the backside of Summit.  Today, I went clockwise, limiting my time and distance climbing.  Seems to have been a good idea.


Fri. June 8 - Ran 9 miles in 1:12 (8:00 pace).  Double Black Diamond.  I absolutely love this trail.  It's ridiculously fun to run.  I had watched a video from Salomon about Kilian Jornet earlier in the day and I was nothing but inspired.  I had visions that I was running like he runs while on DBD.  I know, however, that I probably looked like a fat, slow, lumbering beast compared to Kilian, but it was a fantastic run, and I'll take what I can get at this point.


Sat. June 9 - 8 miles in 1:03 (7:52 pace).  I crewed the top aid station with Alec at Pilot Hill in the morning, and was so inspired by (and a little jealous of) all those hardy souls pushing it up the mountain that I had to go out and run.  I did a Pole Creek-Haunted Forest-Super Secret loop in 85 degree heat.  That, I didn't like so much.  The run was fine.

Yucking it up on Pilot Hill.  Photo: Alec Muthig.

Sun. June 10 - 8 miles in 2:30 (18:45 pace).  Medicine Bow Peak.  I got to Lake Marie at around 9am.  I had, fortunately, thought to bring warm clothes since it was about 25 degrees when I started.  It didn't get much warmer, especially thanks to a 30-35 mph wind.  

Southwest end of the Snowy Range from Lake Marie.

I started up the trail and made myself work pretty hard.  I wanted to see how quickly I could get to the top.  I alternately hiked and ran (downhill and flat sections) until I got to the top after a little over an hour.  It was a beautiful day in spite of the wind, and the views were nice and clear from 12,013 feet.

View of the Snowy Range from the summit of Medicine Bow Peak.

Pretty bundled up for June 10.  

I ran down the Lewis Lake side of the peak, and then went back to Lake Marie via the Lakes Trail.  That trail still had snow on it and was pretty sloppy in places.  It was also cool enough that a lot of water was still iced over, and I did manage to slip and fall about ankle deep into a little stream.  That was pretty fun.

I love these mountains.

Starting the Lakes Trail.  Old Main is the center peak.

After the hike, I drove into Centennial for the obligatory green chili pizza and PBR.  Pretty nice little Sunday morning.


Week's Totals:
Miles: 54 (41 run, 13 bike)
Time: 8:17 (6:47 run; 1:30 bike)


Year to Date: 906 (813 run; 70 bike; 23 hike) 
                    107:30 (94:26 run; 7:34 bike; 5:30 hike)


Now, to explain the "philosophical paradigm shift" of this posts' title.  Last week, I boasted that I would run Bighorn regardless of being injured and generally unprepared for a 50-miler.  However, after discussing it further with some people, I decided the best course of action is to sit this one out.  Live to fight another day.


I talked briefly with Nick Clark after Pilot Hill Saturday morning.  He wanted to know why I wasn't running, and I explained to him that I hurt my hip flexor sprinting at the end of the Horsetooth Half.  He looked at me quizzically and asked, "What were you sprinting for?"  My answer: "Ninth place."  Nick shook his head at me and asked, "Why?"  I didn't have an immediate answer.  After thinking about it later, I came to the conclusion that I sprinted for ninth place, essentially meaningless, because that's what I was raised to do.  


I started running track when I was in fourth grade.  Since the beginning, the objective was to win or place as high or beat as many people as possible.  My running has been rooted in competitiveness nearly my whole life.  You kicked at the end, you raced, competed, ran down who you could, and helped the team by scoring fewer (cross country) or more (track) points.  That's my background.  It's ingrained in me.  It's almost second nature to try to lay people out at the end.  Go for the jugular, so to speak.


Nick's borderline disgust at my explanation for kicking for ninth place made me realize something.  While Nick himself is a competitive runner, and a very successful one at that, he also is just a runner.  And one of the fundamental differences between the trail guys and the track/road guys was clear to me.  While I'm sure guys like Nick have that killer instinct to go for the win, they also recognize when a race is decided and move on.  Was there a difference between me getting ninth or tenth place at Horsetooth?  Of course not.


What I'm trying to say here is that I need to move away from being so competitive.  While I do desire to be fit and race well, I also would like to simply be running.  If I'm hurt because I pushed myself too hard by being too competitive, then I can't run period.  The past few weeks have really made me realize how much I need to run.  It's the core of who I am.  It's how I express myself.  It's my therapy.  It's perpetual, spiritual.  Back in college, when we joked about Sunday long runs being like religion, we really weren't too far off. And not being able to run has been emotionally and spiritually draining for me.  I need to do it.  So it's up to me to be smart about it and accept that it's okay to get tenth instead of ninth in a race.  Just enjoy the run itself.  Connect with it in that moment and enjoy it.  It doesn't need to be anything more than that.


I also talked with Coach Sanchez Saturday evening at the post-Pilot Hill potluck.  He and I had a great conversation over a beer (or two in my case).  I explained to him the injury situation and he told me to stay home.  "Ragan, how many times do I have to say there is a fine line between tough and stupid?"  He, of course, is right.  That man thinks of everything.  He and I also talked about the old days, the old teams, his days at Adams State in the 1970s and the crazy workouts Coach Vigil used to have them do (30x880yds with 220 jog rest!!!!), and, of course, the guys.  


"I used to see you finish runs and sit on the bench there in front of the field house and pay your respects to your teammate.  I know how close you and Kevin were," he said.  "I saw you out there and said, he's on the team.  I knew you were the guy I wanted.  I'm glad you stuck around."  Coach put a lot of faith in me for what, at the time, was no reason.  Then he stood up for me and gave me a chance.  Without that, I honestly doubt I'd still be running today.  Twelve years after I first met him, he still coaches me, still teaches me, still inspires me.  He still knows exactly what I need to hear exactly when I need to hear it.  


With that, I will stay home to live to fight another day.  In the meantime, I'm going out for some runs.  Don't know where, how far, or how fast, but that doesn't matter.  All that matters is the run.  
              

Weeks of Cross Training

Before I get into the past few weeks of training (or lazily doing things), I had a conversation with my parents this weekend that influenced me to give Bighorn a go.  While I haven't logged the training I wanted in order to compete, I feel that, if the hip can hold up, I can do it.  Again, to hell with the competitiveness; I just want to run.  What's the worst thing that can happen, really?  Somewhere along the way I decide I can't go any farther and I drop out.  That won't be the end of the world (though it would be the first DNF of my life).  While I don't want to DNF, if I have to, I have to.  At least I will have started.


Yes, this poses a risk to the Rainier trip in July.  A bum hip certainly won't feel good on ~9000ft. worth of ascent.  But to not even try, well, that would be the sissy-la-la way out.  Sissy-la-las need not apply.


Anyway, that's my epiphany.  I already paid the money and I have a good idea of what I'm getting into.  It's going to be a suck-fest, but nothing worth having or doing comes easy.  Sometimes it just sucks.  And then you have a beer and tell a great story.


As for the last three weeks, I've struck a balance that I feel is starting to work. I was primarily biking three or four times a week with the occasional hike and no running.  Last week I decided to give running a go and found that with an easy pace and book-ending the run with core work and stretching, I can run without a lot of pain.  It's not 100%, but it doesn't nag and throb like it did a month ago.  Last week I also began to alternate run days with bike days which, for the first week at least, worked pretty well.  I plan to keep that up this week and next going into Bighorn.


Tues. May 15 - Rode 7 miles in 40 min (10.5 mph).  My first time on my bike, on the trails in nearly four years.  Had a rude awakening on the Summit-Browns-Headquarters loop.  Turns out, I currently have bike handling skills on par with the six-year old version of myself who was just learning how to ride a bike.  


Wed. May 16 - Rode 8.5 miles in 44 min (11.6 mph).  So, after my first ride in four years, I decided it would be a great idea to immediately enter a mountain bike short track race.  Joke's on me, I got my butt kicked.  I hit up the third and last of the Laramie Short Track races out in the prairie.  It was a lot harder than I anticipated.  Turns out, running fitness doesn't translate to cycling fitness (who knew, right?).  While I have a pretty good cardiovascular system, I lack some of the musculature for cycling and I certainly lack the bike handling skills necessary to be, you know, good.  I took DFL in the short track, even getting lapped.  What can I say, it was a humbling experience.  Sometimes you need to get your ass kicked so you remember what it's like to not be on your high horse.


Sun. May 20 - Rode 5 miles in 30 min (10 mph).  I went for a quick ride at Happy Jack on my way to Cheyenne.  Felt pretty sluggish.


Week's Miles: 20.5
Saddle Time: 1:54


Mon. May 21 - Rode 10 miles in 60 min (10 mph).  Longer ride at Happy Jack on a beautiful evening.  Went out Upper UW and Headquarters, then rode the entirety of the Crow Creek loop, back to Headquarters to the Summit cutoff, then back in on Lower UW.


Also, I bought a car from my parents.  My mom bought a new one, and offered her old Bonneville to me for a discounted price.  Considering my truck has been A) broken (ball joint was going out; it's in the shop now getting fixed) and B) gets such amazing gas mileage (13 mpg on a good day, oh yeah!), I had been shopping around for a new car for a while.  This one, while not exactly new (2002 model year), is newer than the truck (1995 model year), is in great shape, has pretty low mileage, and can pull 35 mpg on the highway (pretty dang amazing for a full-sized sedan with a 3.8L V-6).  I figure it'll serve me well for a little while.  Hard to turn down that deal.

Meet Silvie.  Even got a bike rack thrown in, so I can look like a total yuppie.

Now Chuck the Truck can be used exclusively as pictured. 

Thurs. May 24 - Rode 8 miles in 60 min (8 mph).  I went down Pole Creek to the base of the Bitch, then turned around and came back up Middle Aspen.  Forgot how much Middle Aspen sucks.


Sun. May 27 - Hiked 6 miles in 90 min.  Elizabeth and I went up and hiked Crow Creek on a sunny, but windy morning.  The weather all Memorial Day weekend pretty much sucked.  The hike was good, with great company.  I'm looking forward to more hikes with her, if we're ever in the same place for an extended period of time.  June is a busy, busy month.

I'm a dumbass, Elizabeth is a bobblehead.

Dead trees and the Front Range on the horizon.

Week's Miles: 24 (18 cycling, 6 hiking)
Total Time: 3:30


Tues. May 29 - Ran 6 miles in 52 min (8:39 pace).  First run in a month.  The return of Tuesday Night Trails.  Rachel, Daniel and I went for a very relaxed run on the Summit loop.  Good news, the hip felt pretty good.  This excites me.


Wed. May 30 - Rode 8 miles in 60 min (8 mph).  I started at the Summit trail head, then went in on Lower UW, bombed down Middle Aspen, suffered coming up Aspen proper, then went back out Headquarters to the Crow Creek Cutoff and back into the trail head.  I'm still very green on the bicicleta.  


Thursday May 31 - Ran 5 miles in 38 min (7:35 pace).  I ran the fence line loop out in the prairie in the morning.  I felt pretty good.  I book-ended the run with a lot of core work and stretching.


May Miles:
Cycling: 47 (YTD: 47, 4:54)
Running: 40 (YTD: 765, 86:48)
Hiking: 13
Total: 100 (15:20)


Fri. June 1 - Rode 10 miles in 70 min (8.6 mph).  Started at the Summit trailhead, then out Summit to Browns, down the backside of Headquarters to Blair Wallis road, then in on the Old Happy Jack road, up Pole Creek, and back in on Upper UW.  Nice ride.  I'm feeling more comfortable on the bike.


Sat. June 2 - Ran 7 miles in 51 min (7:17 pace).  I ran the Headquarters-Summit Loop.  The hip bugged me a little toward the end.  The uphills (particularly Overlook) aren't feeling super great.  Turns out, you need the hip flexor to lift your legs up when going uphill.  News to me.


Week's Miles: 36 (18 cycling, 18 running)
Total Time: 4:31


Gear: 2004 Specialized XC Pro, Saucony Peregrine (369 miles)

What's up?

The last couple of weeks have been mostly off.  I've been doing some mountain biking with varying degrees of success, I've gone on a couple hikes, and last night, I went for my first run in nearly a month.  While it felt pretty good when I was doing it (a very easy 6 miles on the trails in 52 minutes), I am a little sore this morning.  I'm hoping that by stepping up the core exercises, stretching, and interspersing the runs with bike rides, I'll be able to get going again.  


Our trip to Mount Rainier is now officially on the schedule.  We put in for a permit to summit on Wednesday, July 25.  That gives us time to drive up there, maybe learn a thing or two about mountaineering (I've never done the roped-up, crampon thing before), climb the mountain, and then have a couple of days to drink beer and wind our way back home.  Looks like I'll be putting in some weekend hours to make up for that week.  Oh well.  Worth it.


This is a pretty quick little update.  It's difficult to keep a training blog when one hasn't been training.  I've been flirting with expanding my horizons.  Running is my absolute first love, and always will be, but there are so many other things and adventures out there.  The mountaineering thing in particular really fascinates me.  I can see myself really getting into bagging peaks.  I've also been enjoying the biking; while it doesn't give me quite the same euphoric feeling as running, it's pretty dang fun to bomb down trails and try to stay upright.  I also just read Anton's blog about skyrunning in Europe.  That seems like something I can get behind.


As for the running thing, I have added the Happy Jack Endurance Races to my schedule July 7-8.  Alec (aka Journeyman Adventures) has an old school ultra party planned for the event.  Come out and join for any of the following: 24 hour run, 12 hour run, 6 hour run, or straight up 100M.  I'll be manning the aid station with Party Captain Sandra, who is beside herself with excitement to provide participants with a kick-ass aid station atmosphere.  She's got big ideas!  I hope to partake in the 6-hour event between my shifts at the aid station.  What's better than running through the mountains for six hours in the middle of the night?  Nothing, that's what.


I still have Pikes Peak on the schedule.  I'll try to get in what shape I can for it, and then just do it.  I'm going to try to shelve the competitiveness for the time being.  It's what caused this whole injury mess in the first place.  And while I would be lying if I said I didn't want to run fast and do well in races, I also have figured out that killing myself, injuring myself to do so isn't worth all this time being unable to run.  I'd rather be up running trails conservatively than running a decent half-marathon and then not being able to run for six weeks.  I've got to get past that old mentality.  See if this old dog can learn a new trick or two.


There are many things to do and see.  Hopefully some time outside will help me relax and be less anxious.  I have another calming influence that has come into my life.  I don't know, when I'm around her, I just feel better.  About everything.  That's a heck of nice feeling.


I'll bring some monthly mileage figures into this post later this week.  I haven't done much, but I have done something.

Injury Re-evaluations

To get to the point, I was dumb and hurt myself.  Apparently a week consisting of thrashing myself at Horsetooth, being too sore to run for a couple of days, and then deciding to hop in a 5K that following weekend was too much for my right hip flexor to handle.  Whatever I did to it (I don't know definitively since an MRI is not an option), I messed it up pretty good.  Two weeks ago, I tried running on it but could only get about thirty minutes out of it before I couldn't lift the leg.  I finally went to the doctor last week and was told that I strained and possibly tore the muscle.  It was recommended that I lay off for 4-6 weeks and try to do some physical therapy.  PT is something I'm not sure my insurance would cover so I'm not sure I will pursue that route.  


The big issue here is that this pretty much takes me out of Bighorn.  Pilot Hill is off the schedule as well.  I'm trying to get outside and at least hike, but even that aggravates my hip after a couple of hours.  I've been commuting on my bike now that the weather is finally decent again, and so far that doesn't seem to bug me too bad.  So, I am going to head up to the trails and see if I remember how to mountain bike.  It's been a few years since I was last in the saddle, but I need to do something.  I have this over-abundance of energy that's driving me crazy.


As for Bighorn, I'm going to try to do it, but if I can't get many miles in before then, I'll have to do something else.  I still want to make the trip.  Maybe I can go up, hang out, cheer, maybe crew some of the other guys.  Maybe, if I feel decent, I can pace Fuller at some point during the hundred.  I don't know.


I'm trying to remain optimistic, but it's hard.  Especially with the weather being great lately, all I want to do is go run trails.  This has lead me to make an choice: no more fucking road races.  I'm blaming Horsetooth and Jackalope Loop 5K for this (as well as my own stupidity).  I spent a few months training for a trail ultra just to get hurt pounding myself on the pavement.  That's pretty stupid.  I had a good race at Horsetooth and got excited about it.  My old competitive self took over and now I get to sit on my ass.  From now on, it's trails, man.  No more pavement.


Here's what I did before I got hurt:


April 23-April 29: 37 miles in 5 runs in 4:37.


April 30-May 6: 24 miles in 4 runs in 2:59.


January: 205 (24:42)
February: 190 (22:28)
March: 133 (18:49)
April: 197 (23:53)
Year to Date: 725 (79:52)


I do still have a busy summer planned, and I may sacrifice some running to focus on other things.  Part of my hike last Wednesday was spent bouldering around Turtle Rock.  I haven't climbed rocks in many years.  It's something Kevin and I used to do quite a bit.  I guess that's one of the things I stopped doing because it reminded me of him (like how Jason doesn't go bowling because it reminds him of bowling with the guys in college).  I had fun doing it.  It's fun and challenging to pick your routes and adapt on the fly.  And also trying not to fall.  That's pretty important.

Lovely afternoon on Turtle Rock.

I also put in an hour on Thursday on The Bitch.  I hiked most of it but put in about 15 minutes of light jogging throughout.  Saturday, Elizabeth and I went on a two hour hike on the Little Laramie trails in the Snowys.  The last half hour of that saw my speed decrease thanks to my leg crapping out.  That was made better with the obligatory pizza and PBR at the Bear Tree in Centennial.


The biking is something else I used to do often.  I grew up on the bike, doing 100 mile races in my early teens.  Then I got into running and moved away from the bike.  It's still fun, though, and I figure some cross training once in awhile wouldn't hurt.


Hiking and backpacking are making a comeback as well.  Elizabeth and I are finalizing plans the second or third week of July to summit Mt. Rainier.  I'm really looking forward to that, but I feel like I have some work to do.  Running fitness doesn't necessarily translate to hiking/climbing/biking fitness, so I need to get out with the pack and do some work.  Luckily, I have a great partner for this.


Other things coming up: Bret's bachelor party is in Durango the weekend of June 9 and 10.  I'm going to try to make it down, but it's a long drive, and with Bighorn the following weekend and the actual wedding in the Grand Canyon on the 30th, I may be at a premium when it comes to a) how much work I can actually miss, and b) money (which is directly tied to a).  Particularly since the Rainier trip will comsume the better part of a whole week, I may need to be more conservative.  Looks like it's a Pabst Blue Ribbon diet from here on out.  HAHA!


Also, Murder By Death make their return to the region at the Bluebird Theater on August 16.  Picked up my tickets yesterday.  Seventh time seeing them, and I plan to continue catching their shows in the area as long as they keep playing them.