A Full Week Of Running

This feels like the first week in the last 9 months that I have put together a week of consistent running. Now I would just like to string together 6-8 more weeks and see where I end up. Nothing to exciting...but it is a start and I am happy to have it.

7/3 Sunday- 7M Treadmill (1:00), 28M (1:43) Bike

7/4 Monday- 7.5M Treadmill (1:02), 30M (1:58) Bike

7/5 Tuesday- 5M Treadmill (42:26), 14M (:56) Bike (to/from work)

7/6 Wednesday- 7+M Treadmill (1:00), 14M (:58) Bike (to/from work)

7/7 Thursday- 7+M Treadmill (1:00)

7/8 Friday- 7+M Treadmill (1:00), 14M (:56) Bike (to/from work)

7/9 Saturday- 8M Treadmill (1:06), 25M (1:32) Bike

Weekly Total:

49 miles (6:50)

125 miles bike (7:53)

A Weekend Of Burning Fat

I am happy to say that this weekend was a good one....filled with lots of calories and skin burned. I spent the long weekend running on the treadmill and riding the road bike out in the sun (hence the burned skin). The weekend was kicked off by Lewis Taylor's "Post-Western States 100 BBQ". Seeing all my friends with their WSER Silver Buckles (except Bili....he had a bronze) and looking fit was great to see and quite motivating.

Congrats to all my friends who ran the 2011 Western States Endurance 100 Miler: (some had great days, some had rough days, but all finished)

3. Nick Clark (15:50)

11. Dan Olmstead (16:45)

F7. Meghan Arbogast (18:50)

31. Joe Uhan (20:01)

32. Lewis Taylor (20:02)

41. Craig Thornley (20:47)

46. Todd Braje (21:11)

47. Scott Jaime (21:19)

-- Jeff Riley (28:34)

As far as my running/activity level goes....I am on another up swing. Hopefully, this one will be long lasting and I can move onward and upward. Below is how my weekend went athletically:

Friday- 3.3 miles (30:00) Treadmill

Saturday- 5 miles (44min) Treadmill, 30min Eliptical, 24.5 miles (1:31) road bike

Sunday- 7 miles (60min) Treadmill, 28 miles (1:43) road bike

Monday- 7.5 miles (62min) Treadmill, 30 miles (1:58) road bike

Tomorrow I will take an easier day and keep moving forward.

8 Months Since Surgery

Progress has been up and down. I will begin short updates going forward. I have had brief bouts (7-10 days) of running of 5-6 miles per day but my foot/lower leg mechanics have caused a 1st Metatarsal Phalangeal Joint sprain that has forced me to shut things down on a few occasions. I continue to try to solve the mystery that is my biomechanics and in the meantime have started riding my road bike to get a bit of sun and attempt to loose the excess weight (178 lbs!!).

Today:

20 minutes (2M) jogging on treadmill

30 minutes Elliptical

1:20 Road Bike (21 miles)

13 Weeks Since Surgery

My hip is actually feeling very good. For 2 weeks, I was doing 1-2 hours of cardio/day in my home gym, made up of elliptical and treadmill walking with short intervals of jogging. Along the way my right knee has started to give me problems. This knee (same leg as hip surgery) was giving me problems prior to surgery and during my second to last race, 2009 Where's Waldo 100k. Prior to hip surgery, I had an MRI to check on the meniscus which came out negative. This was good news but, not any closer to finding out what was wrong. Long story short, I will have to work through this one for a little while and see where it takes me.

After a few days rest, I ventured out onto the track this weekend, thinking that maybe the treadmill was irritating the knee. Yesterday I did 3 miles of 300m jog and 100m walk and today 4 miles of the same. This was very painful but seemed to get better as I went. Ironically, my hip seems ready to go but my knee is not happy. In talking with my PT, we think that the knee issue may have been caused from the abnormal biomechanics of my femoral head in the acetabulum, as a result of the torn labrum. These mechanics most likely were compounded by my week gluteal muscles and overactive illiopsoas and tensor fascia lata. Although, I have been working hard since surgery and improved my weaknesses, I still have issues.

I will continue on and keep working hard, while understanding that there will be bumps along the way to slow me down. Fortunately, I have been through this a few times.

Update

It has been 7 weeks and two days since my surgery (hip labrum repair) and I finally feel a noticeable improvement with what I am able to do. For a while I was using our stationary bike and/or my road bike (on indoor trainer) for 20-40 minutes at a time but it was not working out to well and I basically over did it. After taking 10 days off, I felt less pain and have now been working out daily on my home elliptical machine for almost a week. The last few days have been 45 minute sessions with no real negative consequences.

I have also experienced increased ROM and strength through physical therapy. I hope to be up to 1 hour daily by the end of the month and starting to walk/jog by middle January. Early on the increments of improvement were so small that it was often hard to quantify. Like most runners....I often need numbers (ie- minutes worked), to measure improvement. Must be patient!

In other news, I will not be representing Team Pearl Izumi-Smith for 2011. This is no surprise to me, as I was essentially hurt for most of my stint on the team during 2010, but it still is disappointing. I honestly don't think that I deserve to be on the team until I can show that I am healthy and competing at a high level. I would like to thank Aric Manning (Team Director) and all the people at Pearl Izumi and Smith Optics for the opportunity to have been just a small part of the team. It was great to meet all of you, as well as, the team itself. I will continue to follow your results. I hope we can give it another shot in the future. Good luck in 2011!

Hip Surgery

For those that visit this blog, I am sure that you have noticed that I have been non-existent in cyberspace for the last 7 months. Wow! I can't believe that much time has gone by since I have done any sort of meaningful running. Like most of you out there when your injured, I was off the grid. For the majority of 2010 I was shut down because of nagging hip/knee injuries. Long story short an Arthrogram revealed that I had a torn labrum in my hip joint.

On Monday October 25th, I headed north to Orthopedics Specialists in Portland where Dr. Mark Wagner performed a hip arthroscopy to repair the labrum and clean up the surrounding cartilage. Dr. Wagner reported that the procedure went well, showed no degeneration of the articular surfaces, and that I should be able return to running.

I felt much better post-op than I thought I would and walked gingerly out of the surgery center. Thanks to Jeff and Ana Soulia, two of my co-workers (PT's) for driving me to/from Portland and generally making sure I made it home "almost" whole. I took the Oxycodone (for pain) as well as, aspirin (to prevent clotting) for three days post-op. However, what has helped the most since surgery (other than my wife Marla) has been the Game Ready cryotherapy/intermittent compression unit. I pretty much lived in this apparatus for the first 2-3 days after surgery.

I am now 5 days after surgery and walking around the house, up/down stairs with less and less pain. Today I spent 15 min on the stationary bike at home with little resistance and will probably progress fairly quickly on the bike. The question of when I will return to running is commonly asked. I will just take it one day at a time and my body will let me know when it is time. As Lewis Taylor tells me often....I have a good read on how my body is doing and what it needs. Please return often to check out my progress.

Training today: 15:00 Bike, Physical Therapy

Training For April 4- April 11

11AM Sunday Apr 4- 12.5 miles (1:36) Headwaters TR- Ridgeline TR- Blanton- Back- Dillard LP w/ Braje and S. Laurie (~1,000 ft. +/-)

5:20AM Monday Apr 5- 12 miles (1:28) Home-Rexius TR- Amazon TR- 24th-Pre Trail LP- Back. Flat trail/road (AV 7:17)

5:20AM Tuesday Apr 6- 12.5 miles (1:34) Home- Rexius TR- Amazon TR- 24th- Hendricks Park LP x3 (~1,000 ft +/-)

10AM Wednesday Apr 7- 11 miles (1:09) Pre Trail/ VR Bike Path- 3M WU, 8x 100m strides, 6x 1Mile w/ 1 min Recovery (5:49, 5:47, 5:46, 5:40, 5:46, 5:42), 1.5M WD

Felt pretty relaxed on this workout....good to be on the hard surface.

5:20AM Thursday Apr 8- 12.5 miles (1:32) Home- Rexius TR- Amazon TR- 24th- Hendricks Park LP x3 w/ DanO (~1,000 ft. +/-)

5:20AM Friday Apr 9- 12 miles (1:38) Home- Rexius TR-Amazon TR- Back- Headwaters TR- Ridgeline TR- Spencer Butte Summit- Back (1,500 ft. +/-) w/DanO (32:33 Up, 24:29 Down). Great views from the summit on a cold and sunny morning.

6:30PM Friday Apr 10- 6 miles (43:15) Pre's Trail (AV 7:12)

2:00PM Saturday Apr 11- 16.5 miles (1:48) Pre's Trail/VR Bike Path- 4M WU, 8x 100m strides, 11M Steady (1:07:28/AV 6:08), 1.5M WD

Weekly Total- 95 miles

11AM Sunday Apr 12- 25.5 miles (3:38) Headwaters TR- Ridgeline TR- Spencer Butte Summit- Back- Headwaters TR- Blanton- Back- Headwaters TR- Ridgeline TR- Spencer Butte Summit (~5,100 ft. +/-) w/ T. Braje

Pretty beat up after the second half of this week....probably will need a recovery week to let a few things heal up.

Shot Gun Creek "50k"

I was originally planning to start the racing season off at the Way Too Cool 50k (Mar 13) but the combination of injury and family commitments changed my plans. With the exception of a few dates per year, my race calender is normally very tenuous. The priority for the first half of 2010 is the Western States 100 and therefore all other races are pretty much in preparation for that event or to provide a fitness/equipment check.

The Shot Gun Blast 50k was a very low key local event held at Shot Gun Creek Recreation Area in Marcola, Oregon (right up the road from my home in Eugene). I anticipated the course being hilly and muddy and that was pretty much all I had to go on. I was happily surprised to see other locals: Tom "Tea Bag" Atkins (2010 WSER entrant), Bob Coll, and Trish Kluge showing up to take part. Although it was a brisk 38 degrees at the 9:00 AM start, the forecast called for temps in the 60's with sun. Sounds like a good day to me!

Almost forgetting to pin on my number....I rushed to the starting line with no warm-up, one Nathan Quick Draw hand held bottle with water, and one 4 oz. First Endurance EFS liquid shot flask. When the gun went off, I casually got out to the front of the small field, where I was joined by three others. I was not expecting an aggressive early pace or much of a lead pack lasting that long. My goal was to get in a hard effort and to see how I was coming along. The course began with a gradual climb on Shotgun Creek Road which would soon turn into a gravel road as the climb progressed to a steeper gradient. The first few miles I ran alongside Jason Hawthorne from Albany, Oregon. As the grade increased, Jason and I pulled away from the other two and as my body warmed up, I pulled away from Jason.

At about the 6 mile mark the race course leaves the undulating gravel road and jumped on to a steep and muddy grunt of a hill that would climb 1-1.5 miles of slick terrain. This would bring us to the back portion of the course where we would begin our primarily gradual downhill return to the start line and finish of the first loop. Half way up the muddy climb, I could not see anyone behind me and thought that if I ran solid to the top and rolled down to the start/finish area I would be comfortably in front.

I knew the course was short when I came through lap 1 in 1:37. I was expecting to see maybe 1:50 or so. Oh well, I dropped my gloves and kept going. I was also surprised to see someone new 1 min behind me (Mike Rosling) that I had not seen earlier. Initially I thought he may be competing in one of the other distances, but quickly realized that was not possible. Getting back out on the climbs again, my legs felt great, and my energy levels were solid from the EFS liquid shot. I got a bit nervous when Mike cut the gap in half after I made a pit stop to answer nature's call. However, I again ran the muddy grunt of a hill hard to the top and rolled it out all the way down to the finish. Finishing in 3:17:44, I new the course was short which was confirmed by RD William Wycoff immediately after finishing. He told me that he forgot to mark a small section (.7 miles) at the top of the course resulting in the course being only 29.4 miles. Oh well.....felt good and beat my legs up a bit. It was a good test.

Mike Rosling came 2nd (3:22:06), and William Swint 3rd (3:37:22). The women's race was won by Pam Smith (3:43:14) of Salem, OR. In an unusual twist to the results, the RD adjusted the times to show the actual time, as well as, the predicted time (based on pace) for the full 50k distance. My time was (3:17:44) or (3:28:44). Take your pick...either way it was a course record day and something to build on.

Full Results

Training For March 21-March 27

Sunday Mar 21 1:00PM- 23.5 miles (2:52) Flat/Hilly- Home-Rexius-Amazon-24th Ave-Hendricks Park LP x3- Back- Headwaters TR- Ridgeline TR-to Blanton- Back (~2,500 ft. +/-)

Monday Mar 22 5:20AM- 10.5 miles (1:16) Flat- Home-Rexius-Amazon TR-24th- Camps Cemetary LP- Back

Tuesday Mar 23 5:20AM- 12 miles (1:27) Flat- Home Rexius TR- Amazon-24th Ave-Pre's Trail-Theater LP- Back (AV 7:15) w/Lewis Taylor

Wednesday Mar 24 12:30PM- 11 miles (1:09) Amazon TR- 3M WU (7:24, 7:05, 6:57), 1M w/8x stride (6:09), 3x 2M- 5:59, 5:49 (11:48) 2:34 Rec., 5:45, 5:47 (11:32) 2:42 Rec., 5:49, 5:49 (11:38), 1M Warm Down (6:47). Wore the Pearl Izumi Streak XC with an extra insert....which seemed to work well. Had to cut warm down short and rush to the my massage appointment. Great day with 72 degrees for the workout.

Thursday Mar 25 5:20AM- 9.5 miles (1:08) Home- Rexius TR- Amazon TR-24th Ave- Campus Cemetary LP- Back w/Lewis Taylor. (AV 7:15) Hip Flexor sore/tight

Friday Mar 26- Off (Rest) Decided to give the hip flexor a break and get a bit ahead of it.

Saturday Mar 27- 29.5 miles (3:17:44)- Shot Gun Creek 50k Race- Marcola, Oregon- 1st place CR, Mostly long ups/downs on gravel and paved logging roads with 3-4 miles of steep muddy sections. The RD forgot to mark a section of the course at the top, resulting in a shorten course. (More to come in a race report). Ran hard and trashed the legs. Good effort.

Weekly Total- 96 miles

Training For March 14- March 20

8:30AM Sunday Mar 14- 26 miles Mt. Hardesty Double (4:01)- Felt Great! (1:19 Up, :44 Down, 1:14 Up, :43 Down) 6,900 ft. +/-. Ran with K. Woodke for the first half, where we enjoyed 3-8 inches of snow during the final 1,000 ft. of the climb. Between yesterday's Spencer Butte's double and today's climbing/descending, I achieved my goal of quad muscle breakdown.

5:20AM Monday Mar 15- 12 miles (1:28)- Home, Rexius- Amazon TR- Pre's Trail- Theater LP- Back (AV 7:18). Quads a bit sore.

5:20AM Tuesday Mar 16- 12.5 miles (1:36) Home, Rexius- Amazon TR- Hendricks Park LP x3 w/ Lewis Taylor. ~1,000 ft. +/-

1:30PM Wednesday Mar 17- 14.5 miles (1:46) Amazon TR x9- Rexius TR. 2M Warm Up, 1M w/ 8x strides (6:19), 4x Mile w/400m jog recovery (5:42, 1:45, 5:43, 1:43, 5:37, 1:44, 5:42, 1:47) 5M (29:47) AV 5:57.5 (5:41/1:45), 6.5 mile EZ w/Thornley. Happily surprised but Achilles/Calf did not like it to much.

5:20AM Thursday Mar 18- 12 miles (1:26) Home- Rexius- Amazon TR- 24th Ave-Pre's Trail-Theater LP- Back (AV 7:10) Flat/Easy

5:20AM Friday Mar 19- 12.5 miles (1:33) Home- Rexius- Amazon TR- 24th Ave- Hendricks Park LP x3 w/Lewis Taylor. ~1,000 ft. +/-. Tired today. Achilles sore.

1:00PM Saturday Mar 20- 12 miles (1:31) Home- Rexius TR- Amazon TR- Back- Headwaters TR- Ridgeline TR- Spencer Butte Summit- Home. First half flat/EZ AV 7:00. Second half 1,500 ft. +/- (29:51 Up, 23:18 Down). Felt good with the sunny and warm weather.

Weekly Total- 102 with 10,400 ft. +/-

Training For March 7- March 14

Nearing Mt Hardesty summit (4,300 ft.)

Sunday Mar 7- 11.5 miles (1:20) AV 7:00 Home-Rexius TR- Amazon x2- Campus Cemetary LP- Back--Flat/Easy

5:20 AM Monday Mar 8- 12 miles (1:39) Home- Rexius TR-Amazon TR-Back- Headwaters TR- Ridgeline TR- Spencer Butte Summit- Back (1,500 ft. +/-) (32:59 Up, 25:54 Down)

5:20 AM Tuesday Mar 9- 12 miles (1:28) Home- Rexius- Amazon x1- Hendricks Park LP x2- Back (~700 ft +/-)

5:20 AM Wednesday Mar 10- 13.5 miles (1:32) Home- Rexius TR-Amazon TR- Campus Cemetary LP- Amazon TR x4 w/ 4M Tempo (6:20, 6:14, 6:13, 6:02)

5:20 AM Thursday Mar 11- 12.5 miles (1:30) Home- Rexius TR-Amazon TR- Hendricks Park LP x3 (~1,000 ft. +/-)

5:20 AM Friday Mar 12- 10.5 miles (1:15) Home- Rexius LP-Amazon TR x1-Campus Cemetary- Back (AV 7:12)

2:00 PM Saturday Mar 13- 13 miles (1:49) Headwaters TR- Spencer Butte Summit x2, Felt Great! (30:38 Up, 24:34 Down, 30:37 Up, 23:53 Down) 3,000 ft. +/-

Weekly Total- 85 miles with 6,200 ft. +/-

8:30 AM Sunday Mar 14- 26 miles (4:01) Mt Hardesty Double- Felt Great! (1:19 Up, :44 Down, 1:14 Up, :43 Down) 6,900 ft. +/-. Ran with K. Woodke for the first half where we enjoyed 3-8 inches of snow during the last 1,000 ft. of the climb. Between yesterday's double up Spencer Butte and today's climbing/descending, I achieved my goal of quad muscle breakdown.

Training is coming along......Shot Gun Creek 50k in 2 weeks.

Training For February 28-March 6

Most of my running over the last month or so has been in the Pearl Izumi SyncroXC. This shoe is a great fit for the trail runner needing a high performance training/racing shoe with light weight cushioning, mild pronation control and traction. Its Seamless upper prevents nagging irritation and its SKYDEX forefoot propulsion pad provides ample cushioning up front. I would recommend giving it a try. This shoe and others can be found over at the Pearl Izumi website.

11AM Sunday Feb 28- 21 Miles (2:31) Pre's Trail-Dorris Ranch LP x4-Back- Finger Out & Back (AV 7:15) Flat Trails/Roads. Ran with Sopagna Eap and Todd Braje. Good rythymn...a bit tight at the end.

6AM Monday Mar 1- 9 Miles (1:10) Home-Rexius LP- Headwaters TR- Ridgeline TR Dillard LP x2 (~600 ft. +/-). I thought I would test out the climbing legs and how the achilles would handle it. Not bad.

6AM Tuesday Mar 2- 12.5 Miles (1:28) Home-Rexius TR- Amazon TR x1- Hendricks Park LP x2- Back. (~600 ft. +/-) Trails/Roads with more hills.

6AM Wednesday Mar 3- 10 Miles (1:24) Home- Rexius LP- Headwaters TR- Ridgeline TR- Spencer Butte Summit-Back (1,500 ft. +/-). More of a significant climb/decent. I have been missing this!

6AM Thursday Mar 4- 12 Miles (1:26:18) Home-Rexius TR- Amazon TR- Pre's Trail Theater LP-Back Flat Trails/Roads (AV 7:12)

Friday Mar 5- Off (Rest Achilles)

Saturday Mar 6- 22 Miles (2:58) Thornley's LP Ridgeline TR-Mt Baldy-New Ribbon TR- Hendricks Park-Cemetary-Amazon-Rexius. Lots of climbing. (~2,000 ft. +/-). Another good test for achilles....not bad, tight at the end.

Weekly Total- 86 Miles (~4,700 ft. +/-)

Not a bad week. I am only a few weeks into consistent running so this is a good start to continued building towards Western States 100. Goals are to get/stay healthy and gradually build fitness specific to the course on June 26th.

How is your training going?

Team Pearl Izumi-Smith Summit

Over the weekend I enjoyed an awesome couple of days with the other members of Team Pearl Izumi-Smith. The team arrived in Lousville/Boulder, CO on Thursday afternoon just in time for dinner with a group of employees from the Pearl Izumi corporate headquarters. Bright and early Friday morning we headed out for an easy 50 min run (1,200ft. +) in the snow covered trails with a half dozen PI's best, followed by a photo shoot on the Mesa trail.

The majority of the day Friday was spent at the Pearl Izumi headquarters with a tour of the building and meetings/discussions with Mike Thompson (Footwear), Lynn Bush (Merchandising), Jason Fryda (Essentials), and others. I was quite impressed with the individuals at PI and the apparel and footwear they work hard to produce. Historically, they have been known as one of the worlds top manufactures of cycling/triathlon apparel. From what we saw over the weekend, Pearl Izumi is putting the same dedication and enthusiasm into trail running. The discussions that went on was the start of a rare relationship between a trail running ultramarathon team and its sponsor.

Prior to our departure on Saturday afternoon we gathered for a run up and around Flagstaff Mt. in Boulder taking us 1:11 with 1,800ft. of elevation gain. It was a good run though the snow with a bit of treacherous descending. It was great to meet the whole team and everyone at Pearl Izumi. I feel fortunate to be a part of such an exciting and progressive endeavor.

Update

As much as I like the Clint Eastwood classic, this post is not really about the movie.

In early December of this past year all was well. I had been hired on as a Licensed Massage Therapist at Physical Therapy Services in Eugene. A great clinic, working with a very knowledgeable and friendly group of therapists and support staff. At the same time, I was selected as a member of Team Pearl Izumi-Smith for 2010. A loaded team of top level athletes with support from industry leading companies. To top off the goodness, I was surprisingly pulled in the lottery to compete in the 2010 Western States 100. It was like I got everything that I had asked for for Christmas.

As quickly as the "good" arrived, however, the "bad" followed.... While training for the Bandera 100k, I ramped it up to fast and caused an irritation to my achilles tendon with accompanying gastrocnemius and soleus tightness. This condition is not new to me and I have been through it a handful of times in the 23 years that I have been running. However, for the first time, I had an added complication. A plantar wart decided to show its "ugly" side and join the party. So while dealing with the achilles issue, I went to the Dr. for two separate treatment sessions consisting of freezing the wart for 90 seconds twice with liquid nitrogen. If anyone has had the pleasure of this bit of fun, I would be curious to know if you thought it was painful. For me it was quite painful. The two treatment sessions were two weeks apart. During this time, I spent the first 5-6 days hardly walking while still working at the PT Clinic. Making the whole situation even worse was that the location of the wart was directly over a previous neuroma removal between my 3rd and 4th metatarsals. As a result, the pain was accompanied with numbness, tingling, and burning in my toes, foot, and lower leg.

After two sessions of nitro, I felt that the wart was mostly gone. Though I probably should have went in for another "freeze", I really needed to get the training going again. This brought me back to the achilles issue. I continued sessions of deep tissue massage , ART, and Chiropractic twice weekly. Like most runners, I would try running short runs for a few days and realize it was not ready yet and resort to more time off. This cycle went on for the last couple of months. Although still getting treatment twice per week and dealing with the issues on a daily basis while running, I am progressing and have been running more and more. This most likely will effect my race schedule in some way. The only concrete race right now is the Western States 100 on June 26-27th. All others I will evaluate and modify as needed.

I am happy that I had 55 miles this past week and just finished my best weekend of running since November-- Saturday- 10M (1:13) and Sunday 15M (1:50). I have learned to take the good with the bad and hopefully learn something along the way.

2010 Team Pearl Izumi-Smith

I am excited to announce that I will representing Team Pearl Izumi-Smith in 2010. Please visit the team website at http://www.teampearlizumi-smith.com for the full press release. I look forward to getting to know my new teammates and putting to good use the support of the team sponsors:

Pearl Izumi

Smith Optics

First Endurance

Nathan

Petzl

Body Glide

Thanks to Team Director Aric Manning for all his work in putting together an outstanding team. I will see you all in Boulder for the team summit in February!

I Need A Date For The Big Dance!

Against the odds, my name was pulled from "the hat" to compete in the 2010 Western States 100 Endurance Run. I was watching the drawing live on web cast and could not believe it when my name came up with only 80 names to go!

Wow!

My only problem now is that I need a date. I am now looking for pacer and crew....any takers?

See you in Squaw Valley.

Matt

Back Training

Since my last race at the Where's Waldo 100k, I have had low levels of running while dealing with muscular issues left over from from that particular effort. However, over the last few weeks I have been able to bump up my mileage and have actually started training again. I realized this after, feeling tired, I looked back over my last 7 days. No wonder why....90 miles in 7 runs with mile repeats, tempo run, and hilly 3 hour long run. It is good to be back at it.

I hope to run a race in January but will decide after a few more weeks. Til then, thanks for checking in on me.

Matt

Where's Waldo 100k Race Report

Finish

(Photo by Richard Bolt)

This year's Where's Waldo 100k, designated the 2009 USA 100k Trail National Championships, also kicked off the revamped 2009/2010 Montrail Ultra Cup. Taking place in the Willamette National Forest in Crescent Lake, Oregon and being only 1 hour and 20 minutes from my front door, it is the closest I have gotten to a "local" ultra marathon.

Three weeks prior to the race I had a great 50K training run on the the course, including solid climbs up Mt Fuji and Maiden Peak done in 5:03. From that point on I had a sketchy hip flexor/knee injury that had me in serious doubt for finishing the WW100k. Race week I took three days off and had a massage and two Active Release/Chiropractic treatments in hopes of maximizing my chances of finishing.

Lewis Taylor and I arrived early evening the night before the race, just in time to attend the pre-race meeting/instructions. After that I hit up the pasta dinner (which would come back to haunt me) prior to settling down for a short night of sleep in the back of my truck. The alarm went off at 2:30AM and I was up for my pre-race coffee. We lined up behind the Willamette Pass Ski Lodge (5,100 ft. ASL) and at 5AM we we headed up the slop by the light of headlamps.

I immediately settled in to a very conservative pace, monitoring my body and not even thinking about racing. For the first time, I went to the start line not knowing if I could finish, never mind finish in the top 5. So it went, following the glow sticks on our way to the Gold Lake Aid Station (7M).

Casual Start

(Photo by Richard Bolt)

Within a few miles of the start I made my first bathroom stop. I jumped out of the bushes, back onto the trail and caught up to a small group, including Joell Vaught of Boise and Brian Schmidt of Virginia. Before long I was back in the bushes for stop number 2. Back on the trail...no worries its a 10 hour race. Right. Hold on...upon arriving at Gold Lake, I was in the real bathroom maintained by the park service for stop number 3. No problem...only down a few minutes at the first aid station arriving there in (1:07). Normally this is where everyone drops off their headlamps prior to the 2,300 ft. climb up to the summit of Mt. Fuji (7,300 ft.), but I ran through and forgot until I was well passed.

Crossing over Rd. 4290 (Waldo Lake Road) for the first time, I moved passed Bev Anderson-Abbs. At this point I was still sorting through my stomach issues, while trying to stay comfortable. From here to Fuji Mt. 1 aid station (1:58), I would make pit stops 4 and 5. The climb up to the summit of Mt. Fuji was uneventful. It was my first look at who was actually up ahead of me. As the leaders were coming down from the summit I recognized most (Skaggs, Miller, Bryant, Andrish, Olsen, Lantz, Anderson-Abbs, Vought) and arrived arrived at the top with William Emerson. At this point, I was quite happy that my hip was not an issue at all and I told RD Craig Thornley as much when I saw him. I was also ok with my 13th place overall after the first peak. Normally I would have liked to have been closer to the top 5 but with my pre-race concerns, I was very happy. If my GI tract would only finish what is was dealing with, I would be on my way to moving closer to the front of the field. Just prior to Fuji Mtn 2 AS (2:28), I hit the bushes for pit stop 6. Once that was through, I passed my headlamp to Gary Stott (who was working the AS), grabbed my re-filled bottles from the super volunteers and headed down the South Waldo Trail in search of those ahead of me.

Mt Fuji Summit

(Photo by Laurie Monico)

From Fuji Mt 2 AS (14.9M) to Twins 1 AS (27.1M), I would finally finish my business in the bushes with 5 more pit stops. En route to the to Twins 1, I moved from 13th overall to 9th by passing Bev Anderson Abbs, William Emerson, Brett Rivers, and Brian Schmidt arriving at (4:18) into the race. I felt like I was finally moving forward and was actually having alot of fun being able to compete. This is the point in the race where I just tried to pass the time and let the miles go by. Arriving at Charlton Lake AS (32M) in 5:02, it was great to see RD and local guy Craig Thornley again. As usual I tried to move through as quick as possible.

It was at this point that I actually gained serious time on those ahead of me. Heading into Rd4290 AS (5:47) at 37M, I would catch and go back and forth with Women's Leader Joelle Vaught. She was running very tough and was a great steady climber. We would continue to run close to each other until the climb up the Twins. Her and I would both catch up with Mark Lantz and then Mark and I would climb up The Twins (7,100 ft.) together. Arriving at The Twins 2 AS (7:09) at 44.5 miles, I had moved into 7th place and was feeling very good about my chances of moving into the top 5. Ever since I got rid of my small waist pack at 21 miles, I had started a great routine of taking gels and S-Caps at the aid stations. This was the first time in 8 ultras that I have not carried all my own gels and S-Caps. This worked quite well. I think I may have found a new routine!

Soon after the Twins 2 AS, I got a visual up ahead of Yassine Diboun and he looked to be cramping up. I knew that Mark Lantz was right behind me and thought that this was where the race would really start to heat up. After moving past Yassine (into 6th place), I felt a stabbing pain on the medial side of my knee. This was one of those pains where you think to yourself "this is not good". The downhill stretches were excruciating and I knew I would pay for it after the race. There was not much else to do but push through it and move forward as quick as possible. I often took brief stops to massage the area, knowing that it was not doing a dam thing. My only respite was the dreaded climb up Maiden Peak, which involved a solid amount of hiking. This was the one action that would not elicit the pain.

Maintaining my 6th place, I arrived at the Maiden Peak AS (50 miles) in 7:55. After filling bottles, grabbing 2 gels, and swallowing 2 S-Caps, I started the steep 3 mile climb up to the Maiden Peak Summit (7,800 ft.). Just behind me, I could here someone else arriving, most likely Mark Lantz. Sure enough Mark and I were together 1/3 of the way up. He relayed to me that Yassine was in trouble with cramps behind us. I knew that everyone had a problem or two. Halfway up, the climb started to get on Mark and I moved ahead to try and put some ground between us.

My last long run 3 weeks earlier I had climbed this stretch in the middle of 31 miles in 44 minutes. Today, I thought 60-65. Nearing the summit and going through the rocky final 300 meters I came across last years' winner Neil Olsen coming down. I was surprised that 5th was so close! I pushed on to the summit, arriving in 55 minutes from the AS. However, I knew I was going to have to pay the piper on the steepest decent of the course...."The Leap of Faith Trail". Just before this trail head I saw Lantz and "alive again" Diboun approaching the summit together with Joelle just behind them. The race was on over the final 9 miles.

Just as I thought, Lantz and Diboun closed the gap on me on the downhill, as my knee was screaming at me. We arrived pretty much together at the final Maiden Lakes AS (55 miles) in 9:10. I was back in 8th place, hoping to stay in the race. I often caught myself looking over my shoulder, hoping not to see anyone behind me. There were times on the final 7 mile stretch were I thought I was still moving well and was close to a finish of 10:20. Somewhere, a couple miles from the finish, I saw Yassine up ahead and thought maybe I still had a shot at him. Before I knew it, I came across Sean Meissner at the final turn of the course telling me I had only 400m to the finish. Once on the final straight away, I could see that I was very close to both Yassine and Mark Lantz. Pushing hard to the finish, I ran out of trail finishing in 8th place (10:16:36).

At the finish...I had never been as fresh and as full of energy after 50M+ as I was on this day. I guess I attribute this to not being able to go to the well like I normally would because of the stomach and then the knee. This gives me hope for the future at races of 60-100 miles. All in all, this was a great experience and a confidence booster. I look forward to coming back to Waldo and really getting after it. WW100k was the best organized trail race that I have yet to take part in! The trail markings were unbelievable, the volunteers on top of everything, and the course was awesome! Thanks Craig and Curt and everyone else for putting on a top notch event.

Top 10 Overall

1. Erik Skaggs, OR (9:11:05) CR

2. Zach Miller, MT (9:39:35)

3. Jason Bryant, NC (9:49:08)

4. Neil Olsen, OR (10:02:39)

5. Sean Andrish, VA (10:03:36)

6. Mark Lantz, CA (10:15:49)

7. Yassine Diboun, OR (10:16:16)

8. Matt Lonergan, OR (10:16:34)

9. Joelle Vaught, ID (10:23:32) CR

10. Jace Ives, OR (10:55:54)

Full Results

IAU World Trail Challenge Race Report

Brutal.  That would be the one word summation of the Trail de Cerces of Serre Chevalier, France.  Although I am relatively new to ultramarathons, I can clearly state that the 2009 Merrell Sky Race/IAU World Trail Challenge was the most difficult endeavor I have ever gone through.   I knew going in that it would be very hard and  have many unknowns.  My biggest concern was the altitude that we were to be climbing to.  I know to those who live in Colorado it may not be that high, but to a native of Brockton, MA it was very high.  The fact that I was to reach more than two times the altitude I would reach in training should have told me that it would be problem.  

Upon arriving in Turin, Italy and being driven south into northern France and the valley of Serre Chevalier, I was feeling very nauseous, dehydrated, and sleep deprived from the 30 hour trip from Oregon.  This was to morph into general gastro intestinal distress for the two days prior to the start of the race and kept me in out of the bathroom day and night.  Needless to stay I would start the race dehydrated....never a good thing.  However, it was great to meet the only other person representing Team USA...Ben Nephew who was there with his wife and son.  It often helps to have someone to talk to leading up to an unknown event such as this.  Ben and I managed to run (in reverse) the last couple miles of the course by climbing up part of the final decent.

The alarm went off on race morning at 2:30AM but I was already awake having just gone to the bathroom (again).  With the race start at 5:00, I wanted to make sure I was up and around and fully awake.  The IAU World Trail Challenge competitors assembled at the front of the 1000 plus open field competing in the Merrell Race Across The Sky, one of the largest in all of Europe.

Almost immediately after the race start

ed, I was nearly impaled by the ski poles of a French women that were falling off her pack (poles must be attached to pack for the first 11k).  Upon clearing that obstacle I was off near the front.  After a short stint on the road, we entered a trail head that snaked through to the outskirts of town.  It was dark and hard to see where you were going, so I initially stayed close to the one guy who had a headlamp.  After a couple of minutes, I found my self in the lead and was fine to just run in the the front.  Once we got out of town and up into the hills there was quite a large lead pack of 20-30.  I settled into the pack and tried to find a sustainable rythym, but the pack quickly spread out.  I took my first Powergel at 45 minutes and started the first major climb of the day up to the Col de Galibier.  Almost immediately my heart rate went through the roof and shortly after I realized that I had to pay attention to it.  This meant that I had to start my walk/run much earlier than expected.  This is not a problem because I trained this way and knew it was to be long day of climbing.  What shocked me was how many people kept running at that sort of effort and how many people were going by me.  What ran though my mind was..."there is no way I am gonna run all the way up the Galibier, so why not listen to my heart rate and run efficiently".  Little did I know that the fun was just beginning and would continue all day.

I honestly don't remember much about the climb up the Galibier.  I remember my heart rate being at its max and trying to run when ever possible.  The wind had also kicked up, so I threw on my light jacket to stay warm.  Prior to reaching the summit we hit the "Refuge de Galibier" or Aid Station 1 at 19k and 8,366 ft.  

I topped off my Nathan Hydration Bladder....adding water to the orange Gatorade that I started with and noticed that I had not taken in that much fluid.  Not good!  Once leaving the AS, we still had to get to the peak by way of another steeper 500 ft. climb.  The summit of the Galibier (8,789 ft.) was by far the highest I had ever been in a race.  The grade of the climb was also the steepest I had yet to experience....atleast until later in the day.  Needless to say it was great to reach the top of this famous peak (a la Toure de France). At this point I welcomed the downhill...and it dropped quickly.  The technical nature of the course become evident while making my way down this first decent.  I felt I was moving ok but was still getting passed regularly.  Among those going by was a young Swede I got to know Rickard Seger, who would finish 16th (good run Rickard!).  The terrane was made up of many steep descents  with large loose rocks on uneven surfaces.  Don't get me wrong, I like rough downhill but this just seemed a bit more than I was used to.  

The next climb began at 28k and would take us up to the Col de Rochilles (8,188 ft.).  I would have to say that from this point until 50k of the course is the hardest part... where all of the difficult factors of the race really come into play.  The altitude, the climbing, the descending technical terrane, and the lack of Aid.  I also realized, after climbing to the Rochilles Summit, descending to the "Chalets de Laval" 39k Aid Station (6,692 ft.), that I was very dehydrated.  I was not drinking hardly any of the Gatorade in my hydration bladder.  I needed water! I opened and emptied the 3/4 full 2L bladder, filled it with just water, drank two cups of Coke and headed out. On to the beast that is the Col des Beraudes (9,498 ft.)

The epic climb to the highest peak of the course was a steep ~2,800 ft. ascent in less than 2 miles.  This alone would have been hard enough but there were times when the trail either did not exist or was 6 inches in diameter, was on patches of snow, and/or was one step away from a shear drop of hundreds of feet down the mountain.  Now being days removed from this, as usual, the difficulty becomes diminished.  However, the fact that time seemed to move in slow motion, I will never forget.  My neck became very sore from keeping my head down to follow the pick dots painted on rocks to indicate the trail to follow.  Looking up was something I did sparingly, as taking your eyes off the trail seemed to be very dangerous and catching a view of where I was headed seemed to be cruel and unusual treatment of myself.

Mentally I told myself if I could get to the top of this climb, I could finish this course.  Approaching the summit the runners were pushed upward by the music of a Frenchman playing an accordian at the summit.  Going over the summit of the Col des Beraudes I realized why this event is called a "Sky Race".  As the term goes.. I felt like I was at the top of the world.  After being directed across the brief ridge top by 5-6 volunteers I was welcomed by a man pointing toward a rope attached to the mountain.  This rope dropped over the edge and down into a crevas of sorts made up of a sharp rock face with a rope descending down 20 meters.  Holding on to the rope and walking backwards prove to be quite easy.  After a super steep 1k decent we turned back up running on a bed of rocks, both large and sharp, to the Col du Chardonnet (8,654 ft.).  

Finally at 45k, began the 8k (~1,900 ft.) decent down to the last aid station.  By this time, I had been able to consume a good amount of water along with my regular schedule of gels (one every 30 min).  There were stretches of good technical running on this section and I was able to catch a few people.  At the same time, I was also getting lower back and abdominal pains (muscular) most likely caused by the nature of the course and breathing so hard/long at altitude.  I would 

periodically take 2 S! Caps which seemed to help with this.  Arriving at the 53k "Refuge de Buffere (6,811 ft.) Aid Station, I was in a better place mentally.  For the first time a volunteer grabbed my Hydration Unit and filled it with water for me, while I threw down 2 cups of Coke and emptied my trash.  Noticing runners strewn about on the ground (dropouts), I headed out for the final 15k waving and thanking the large crowd that had gathered to cheer.  On this 3k flat section, I quickly caught and passed a runner and closed in on another with poles whom I had been going back and forth with all day.  At 56k, we began the final ascent of the day through forested trails, then alpine meadows, and finally barren ridge top.  Reaching the top of the Col de Buffere (7,962 ft.) at just over 8 hours into the event, I realized I had not gone the bathroom all day.  Definitely dehydrated!  Soon after I was again out of water.

The final decent back into the valley of Serre Chavelier was one of the fastest parts of the course. Unfortunately, my left tibialis anterior tendon at the ankle was not allowing me to run that well down hill.  This final 8k would take more than an hour and without water.  The good news is that I finished without a fall or getting lost.

What an experience!  Sometimes the most difficult experiences can be the most rewarding and educational.  I finished 21st (9:08:53) in the IAU World Trail Challenge Competition and 66th when including the open field.  Thanks to Team Canada for allowing me to hang out with them in Turin, Italy...we had a great time!

LIVE Updates For IAU World Trail Challenge

Race organizers of the 2nd IAU World Trail Challenge have announced that live updates will be provided along with pre and post race interviews.  Due to remote sections of the course, organizers will often rely on race volunteers to provide updates by way of radio contact.  Feel free to follow along by using the following link:

http://www.iau-ultramarathon.org/mediacenter.php

I will also try to provide pre and post race blog updates when possible.  Thanks for following.