From Sea to Sky

“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”

-       Hebrews 11:1 (NIV)

“You are better than you think you are, and you can do more than you think you can.”

-       Ken Chlouber, Leadville 100 founder

Thursday morning, I’ll wake up very close to here:

That would be the Monterey Bay, elevation zero.  It won’t look exactly like that, because when I’m racing by to make my 5:30AM flight, it’s bound to be pretty much dark.  But you get the idea.

Thursday evening, I’ll go to sleep in the vicinity of here:

The mountains surrounding Vail, Colorado, elevation 8,150 feet.  I guess you can say I’m moving on up.

While Vail may be a lofty elevation to a beachcomber like me, do you know what residents of Leadville call it?  “The Lowlands.”  At least, I’m presuming they would, since the town of Leadville sits at 10,100’, making it the highest incorporated town in North America.

These numbers may seem like mere geographic curiosities, unless you happen to be in town for a 100-mile run.  And if you haven’t done any elevation training at all in your preparation for the race, those numbers just might terrify you.

So that’s where faith and trust come in.

Strategically, showing up in Leadville two days before the race doesn’t appear to make any sense - but logistically, it was the best I could do.  And there’s a chance that it may not be quite as foolish as it sounds: from an exercise physiology standpoint, it takes at least 2 weeks for the body to make cardiovascular adaptations to high altitude.  During those two weeks, your body is making hundreds of thousands of changes on a cellular level, and the transition period can limit maximal aerobic output, thereby causing athletic performance to suffer.

Accordingly, if you can’t be in the thin air for 2 weeks or more, your next best option may be to just show up as close to the race as possible in your best shape possible, and limit your expectations while hoping that your body can function sufficiently well on 50% of the oxygen it's accustomed to processing.  Modern technology can remedy this somewhat, and I have to say that I was very tempted when I received a product review offer from an altitude simulator company to use their equipment prior to running at Leadville.  Ultimately, I turned it down – in no small part because I’m curious to see how the proposition of going from sea to sky might turn out.

Taken altogether, the numbers are kind of scary: 100 miles between 10,000 and 12,600’, especially when my training at sea level hasn’t been nearly what I’d like.  Some people have reassured me that altitude is just a number – but then again, that's the same thing some people say about age, and there’s a reason you don’t see any 90-year-olds running 100-milers.  Beyond a certain point - there's no way to tell precisely where, and it differs for everyone - the numbers become insurmountable; the same concept holds true for altitude as well as age.  The best I can hope is that my insurmountable altitude number lies somewhere north of 12-6.  (I think I'm still safe on the age front, for a few more years at least.)

12,600' Hope Pass; photo from Leadville 100 website 

Despite the numbers and my underlying anxiety about them, I do feel reasonably confident in my ability to finish at Leadville, for reasons that make no rational sense: the faith and trust I mentioned earlier.  I have faith that there’s a rewarding, remarkable experience in store for me in the Rocky Mountains, and I truly believe Ken Chlouber’s race creed.  Amazing, crazy, and incredible things happen over the course of a 100-miler; truthfully, the entire prospect of such an event defies logical explanation, so there’s no sense in trying to contemplate these things in a reasonable manner anyhow.

I’ll slap up one final post up here sometime on Friday once I learn my race number, with a link to the race webcast for anyone who’s interested in following along.  Until then, it’s time for me to fly.

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One Minute of Greatness

With the Leadville 100 now less than one week away, I find myself somewhat paralyzed when it comes to stringing words together coherently to resemble anything remotely sensible.  If all goes well, I’ll plunk out one more post before heading to Colorado later this week.

Instead of writing, I’ve spent the better part of my time over the past couple of weeks looking for inspiration.  Obviously, the Olympics have been very timely in that regard, as it’s hard to watch athletes accomplishing their dreams – especially in extraordinary circumstances like Oscar Pistorius - without feeling that absolutely anything is possible. 

I’ve also found myself curiously drawn to one 60-second commercial that’s part of the “Find Your Greatness” campaign recently launched by Nike.  It celebrates not the Olympians – although it uses the London theme rather brilliantly throughout the piece - but everyday athletes looking to push their own boundaries.  It finishes with the profession that greatness isn’t reserved for a select few on the world’s grandest stages, but rather that “Greatness is wherever somebody is trying to find it.”

I’ll certainly be looking for it in the Rocky Mountains about six days from now … and I can only hope that a little bit will be there for me to find.

“Find Your Greatness – London 2012” by Nike (click to play):

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Running on Faith; Every Body Welcome

Before today’s official post, a few odds and ends that are somewhat related to recent subjects around here, and that will potentially keep you reading for a very long time.

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In my last post I described how running has become an increasingly spiritual activity for me over the past several years.  Coincidentally, last month the New York Times published a feature length article about U.S. Olympic marathoner Ryan Hall – among other things, it details how he uses Biblical tenets to guide his training program, how he feels more connected to God through his workouts, and how he uses his considerable talent as a platform to demonstrate his faith to others.  Even if you’re not the religious type, it’s a fascinating depiction of the mindset of one of America’s best marathoners. 

Ryan Hall; photo from New York Times

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If I told you that Malcolm Gladwell wrote a piece about distance running that is framed around an extended profile of Alberto Salazar, would you be interested?  And if the piece also included Gladwell’s remembrance of his own distance running days, or details about how Salazar’s faith influenced his training regimen (are you sensing a theme here?), would that pique your interest further?  And finally, how about if the piece were called “Slackers”?

Alberto Salazar; photo from The New Yorker

I may have mentioned once or twice before that I’m a stark raving Gladwell fan – not to mention an almost religiously-dedicated slacker – so needless to say, this New Yorker piece doesn’t do anything to dissuade me of that opinion.  Do yourself a favor and check it out; my own mediocre scribbling will be here when you get back.

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One more item on the subject: lest you think that either Ryan Hall, Malcolm Gladwell, or I were the first people to delve into the communion of running and spirituality, check out this Amazon.com page of books on the topic.  Most curiously of all on that list is a book called Running Barefoot, which, based on the synopsis, has absolutely nothing to do specifically with either running or being barefoot.  I suppose sometimes the ways of the spirit are quite convoluted.

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My offering for today was inspired by watching the Olympics: more specifically, the large degree that one’s physical stature predisposes him or her to excellence in certain sports – with the curious exception of running.  I’ve always bought into the conventional notion that I was too tall to be an elite runner, but when I started paying attention to the stats on some world class runners, the numbers revealed a different story - one which is told in the Monterey Herald piece which follows below.

As an entertaining aside, if you want to see what Olympic sport your own body is best suited for, take a look at this Olympic Body Type Match site created by the BBC.  Although it’s a cool little game, I kind of regret that I did it myself; when I plugged in my height and weight, the closest match it could find for me was a Turkish Greco-Roman wrestler.  That’s not exactly the comparison that a guy who’s getting ready to run 100 miles is looking to hear - but at this point there’s really nothing I can do about it, so this is just another one of those things I have to learn to let go.

Running Life 8/9/12                                           “Every Body Welcome”

A frequently-played VISA spot during this year’s Olympic Games features world-class pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva; it describes how she “grew up dreaming of hearing the roar of the crowd as a gymnast … but she grew too tall.”

Apparently once Isinbayeva crested 5 feet, her chances of becoming an Olympic gymnast became rather slim.  Indeed, female all-around champion Gabby Douglas stands a mere 4’11” – and she’s actually tall in comparison to the 4’9” average height of the Chinese women’s team.

Chinese women (girls?) in 2008; photo from Reuters

Other sports are exclusive on the opposite extreme.  Imagine being a swimmer trying to reach the wall ahead of 6’1” Missy Franklin or Michael Phelps’s 6’7” wingspan.  Basketball players, volleyball players, rowers, and countless other sports filter out hopeful participants through prohibitive size and strength requirements.

And then there’s distance running, which is pretty much open to anyone who wants to try it.

This may sound odd at first, as conventional wisdom usually holds that runners should be small and skinny, but a closer look at world class athletes tells a different story.  Just like recreational plodders, elite runners come in a wide variety of heights, and it’s unlikely that someone’s stature should ever disqualify him or her from competing.

Consider female marathoners.  In the 2000’s the sport was dominated by Kenyan Tegla Loroupe, who stands barely five feet tall and might weigh 90 pounds dripping wet.  However, Loroupe isn’t the world record holder; that honor goes to 5’8” Paula Radcliffe, an indomitable force who represented Great Britain at four Olympic Games.

Paula Radcliffe; photo from The Guardian

The men’s marathon record is held by 5’5” Patrick Makau, but for many years it was the property of 6’ Paul Tergat.  The record books of most major marathons will show an even wider range: the shortest champion in the 116-year history of the Boston Marathon is 5’1” Yun Bok Soh of South Korea, who is more than a full foot shorter than the tallest winner, 6’3” Kenyan Robert Cheruiyot, who won the race four times in the last decade.

Last weekend’s men’s 10K gold and silver medals weren’t won by tiny African runners, but by 5’9” Mo Farah of England and 5’11” American Galen Rupp.  As impressive as Rupp is, he only recently became the US 10K record holder; until last year it belonged to 6’1” Chris Solinsky, whose best 5K time is slower than 6’3” Craig “Buster” Mottram of Australia.  And if Buster ever lined up against America’s best 1500m runners, he’d be two inches shorter than 6’5” Andrew Wheating.  Incidentally, one of Wheating’s 1500m teammates in London is 5’5” Leo Manzano.  Do you still think height makes a difference for speed?

Andrew Wheating, Matt Centrowitz, and Leo Manzano; photo from Runner's World

Even over extreme distances, smaller isn’t necessarily better.  One of the brightest talents in ultrarunning is 5’7” Kilian Jornet, but his accomplishments pale in comparison to 6’3” Scott Jurek, who won the brutal Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run a record seven times.

Granted, many world-class distance runners are remarkably skinny: Buster Mottram carries only 160 pounds on his 6’3” frame, and Cheruiyot is even more slender at 150lbs.  Galen Rupp looks like he might snap in half if you hug him forcefully.  However, this is one of those chicken-and-egg scenarios that’s difficult to quantify.  Are they elite runners because they are naturally skinny, or are they skinny because of all the miles they’ve logged to become elite runners?

The answer isn’t that important; what’s more critical to realize is that there’s virtually no body type that’s unsuitable for running.  In other words, don’t worry about what you look like – just get out there and do it!

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Falling in a Good Way

*Admin note: And here we go: with less than two weeks until Leadville, I’m finally entering that strange introspective, philosophical territory that always seems to precede my epic adventures.  Apologies if you don’t feel like wading through 1300 words of psychoanalysis … but on the plus side, there’s a nifty little rock tune waiting for you at the end.

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“Life goes south when pretty goes away -

The best that you can get is when you're falling in a good way”

-      Everclear, “Falling in a Good Way” (video after post)

Even as I’ve been forging myself into a better 100-mile runner this year, I’ve also let myself become undeniably worse.

Truthfully, no ultrarunner is ever completely happy with the training he or she has done in the buildup to a major race; we’d always like to run more weekly mileage, do more high-quality workouts, or supplement our efforts with cross training or massage for injury prevention.

Normally I don’t complain about the training I’m able to do, because for the most part I’m consistently able to wake up early, log miles by myself, and listen to my body when it’s time to back away from the brink of injury.  I’m thankful for every day I get to run, and with each passing year I’m more grateful for the wondrous places the simple activity of running has led me.

A spare shot from the TRT 50

Having said that, I’m going into Leadville having completed less overall training than before any other 100-miler I’ve done – and for that matter, before a lot of 50-milers I’ve done in the past as well.  Where I used to have a base of 70-80 weekly miles with frequent spikes to 100+ miles per week, this year most of my weeks have been in the 30 to 40-mile range, with peaks in the 70s or 80s.  Where I used to lead into a tune-up 50-miler with 50 or 60 additional miles the week of the race, I’ve done as little as 10 miles in advance of race day.

Here’s how significant my training dropoff has been: my wife, who is usually happy to have me in bed when she wakes up in the morning and awake when we’re watching TV at night, has told me on several occasions that I should be training more.  Or, as she once put it: Let me get this straight … you’re preparing for the hardest race you’ve ever done my training the least that you’ve ever done?  She’s nothing if not logical, that one.

Of course, she’s absolutely correct: my training has fallen almost completely off the map.  But here’s the thing: I happen to think it’s fallen in a good way.

I went through an obsessive phase with my running that lasted for many years – perhaps coincidentally, most of it took place in my 20s and early 30s, when I was still grappling with my adult identity, full of questions about the person I was becoming and what life had in store for me.  Many of the qualities I admired about hardcore training were ones that I wanted to instill in myself: toughness, passion, discipline, intensity, ambition, and reveling in all the physical pleasures of the healthy body running provided me.  

These days, I’m still passionate about running, but for completely different reasons.  I don’t race for age group awards, or personal best times, or for people to recognize me as the Runner Dude - which, ironically, seems to happen more and more nowadays thanks to this little blog of mine.  And I certainly don’t stress out about how many miles I’m running.

Getting my Zen on at 7000'

Today I run as a ritual to keep my mind at peace, and to keep me grounded in humility.  I run to enter a restorative niche* where I can sort out my thoughts and connect with my true self.  And with increasing frequency, I run as a means of meditation and worship, reveling in the spiritual outlet that the activity provides me. 

(*A term taken from Susan Cain’s Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking, a brilliant book that should be required reading for introverts who struggle with conforming to the increasingly noisy world around them.)

No matter where I look or what other means of devotion I try, there’s no better way for me to feel close to God than to set foot down a trail somewhere to immerse myself in His wondrous creation.  At the same time my own exterior is stripped bare, the presence of the Creator becomes more prominent, and it’s almost undoubtedly the closest I’ll come to encountering the divine while here on Earth.

Also, remember how I described being concerned about how I’d turn out as a grown up?  Well, I’m in pretty much in the place I was headed to now (although I’m exceedingly reluctant to use the term grown-up, which implies some level of maturity or responsibility – neither of which I particularly excel at), and it turns out to be a pretty good spot.

Perhaps not exactly a grown-up ...

In nearly every way you can imagine, I’m overjoyed with how my life has turned out thus far.  I have more blessings than I can count, and I have no desire to identify myself by activities I do, or to get any external recognition of this crazy ultrarunning thing I love.  And I certainly don’t obsess over workouts and mileage anymore.  While running is still a passion, it has long ceased to be a priority – and when life pulls me in other directions, I have no qualms about letting it go.

That’s more or less the situation that has taken place this year: other things have become more important than training, so I run when I can, and bag it when I don’t feel like it.  Consequently, my overall mileage has decreased, my speed has dropped off considerably, my race times are slower than usual (this is hard to quantify on courses that change from one year to the next, but I can tell), and ultras are more of a physical struggle than I’ve experienced in the past.  Lots of people I used to outrun now finish well ahead of me; at first this was brutal to the ego, but I’ve learned to let this go as well.  Come to think of it, I really didn’t have a choice.

The good news in all of this is that none of it really bothers me – because I’ve definitely fallen in a good way.  And I’d much rather be the content, peaceful guy muddling around the middle of the pack than the intense, misguided dude who has structured his whole life around breaking some arbitrary time goal or earning some physical trinket that recognizes an accomplishment.   There’s so much more to life than that, and so much more to the experience of running 100 miles than who you beat while doing it.*

(*However, there’s still the matter of cutoff times, which of course are extremely important to beat – and which at Leadville aren’t exactly generous.  I’m choosing not to dwell on this too much.)

So what does any of this mean for me at Leadville?  Your guess is as good as mine.  I’m relatively optimistic in my ability to finish – but there’s a very strong chance that it’s not going to be pretty.   I fully anticipate that it will be the hardest challenge I’ve ever encountered, and there will be many moments of anguish and depression and emptiness along the way.  But I also believe that I have the right mindset to rally through them, and I have faith that the entire journey is going to be one of the most glorious experiences of my life.

And it’s now less than two weeks before we’ll all find out for sure.

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Everclear, “Falling in a Good Way” (click to play):

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Honey Stinger Contest Winners; Leadville Trail Video Mojo

Well, that was entertaining.

Thanks very much to everyone who entered the Honey Stinger contest and suggested sports for future consideration into the Olympic Games.  As the entries came in and I returned to scroll through the list a few times, the suggestions naturally segregated into a few distinct categories.

The first category is legitimate and/or somewhat mainstream sports that really do make you wonder: If sports like golf, water polo, and beach volleyball are included, why shouldn’t these other ones be?  If there’s any argument to be made against sports like lacrosse, baseball /softball (which were once there, but now are not), cross country, and even roller derby, I’d love to hear it.

In the middle lies the fringe category of activities that initially seem more like hobbies or niche skill sets than real sports … but considering that shooting, fencing, and table tennis are included, maybe they’re not so far-fetched.  Are events like kickball, skateboarding, dodge ball, hopscotch, pogo sticking, boomerang throwing, Frisbee golf or ultimate Frisbee really that different than the ones already included?  Their case for inclusion is strengthened even further (among Americans, at least) when you consider that most of these are playground games that American kids are still playing long after their Russian or Chinese counterparts have been sent away to gymnastics or diving academies, so maybe this is one way for the US to increase its medal haul.  Then again, maybe that’s precisely the reason they haven’t been included yet.

And then we had the purely “no way in heck” list of games that were completely preposterous, but made me smile just at the thought of them.  Cup stacking, milk chugging, catfish noodling (for the uninitiated, that means catching them with your bare hands), thumb wrestling, slip ‘n’ slide, staring, synchronized bowling … any of these would be surreal to watch.

Having said all that, we need to announce our winners.  BE, Steven Peterson, and Yo Momma Runs, e-mail me your contact info – you’ve won the sampler packs.  As previously mentioned, thanks very much to everyone else who entered, and especially to Honey Stinger for sponsoring the contest.

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I indicated yesterday that with less than two weeks remaining until I'm on the start line at Leadville, it’s probably time for me to start collecting my thoughts about the race.  I’m not quite there yet, but one thing I have been doing to build my mojo is browsing some YouTube videos that feature the race – and the one that follows is clearly one of the best. 

The clip was made by Salomon Running, who have also produced the brilliant Kilian’s Quest video series for the past couple of years.  This piece profiles Ryan Sandes, the Salomon runner who won Leadville in 2011, but also does a great job of capturing both the challenge and the allure of the event.  (In a sad side note, it also features a cameo from the late Micah True, AKA Caballo Blanco.)  I dare you to watch it and tell me you're not compelled to take part in some aspect of the Leadville race, or at least a little more appreciative of the metaphysical appeal of this crazy sport of ultrarunning.  

“Salomon Team – Leadville Trail 100 Miles” (click to play):

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Random Shots of Beauty (Extended Salinas Valley Edition)

I keep meaning to write something about my upcoming Leadville race – it seems like kind of a big deal, after all - but there’s something about the prospect of doing something that simultaneously inspires and terrifies me that’s temporarily leaving me at a loss for words.  I’m working on it, I promose.

In the meantime, let’s do an extended Random Shots of Beauty post, featuring scenes from my warmup run prior to this morning’s Salinas Valley Half Marathon.  Basically, I did this again plus a few extra miles – but the difference this summer was that this morning’s run was the first time I’ve toured the Salinas Valley on foot in several weeks.  That’s another long story as well – one I may revisit at some point here.  For now, enjoy some photos (and click to enlarge any of these):

A long glance down the valley from a high point at around mile 7 on the course …

A pair of dilapidated farm buildings …

A gradual descent and climb that leads to …

… another cool abandoned structure on the fringe of a vineyard.

A little farther down the road, a nice reminder of just how inconsequential a morning run is in the grand scheme of things, and how fortunate I am to be able to enjoy it.  Count your blessings, people.

And finally, some big ol’ bird - maybe a hawk, maybe just a turkey vulture; I honestly have no idea - flying above another winery when I eventually made it back to my car about six hours after leaving.  After today’s run, it’s time for me to take flight into full-on taper mode.

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Also, check back for the Honey Stinger contest winners tomorrow night.

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Honey Stinger Lemon Waffle and Organic Gel Review and Giveaway (With an Olympic Twist)

When I had the chance to introduce Honey Stinger energy products here about 6 months ago, I pointed out that of the four products I sampled, only three of them were worth recommending. 

One of them in particular – the stroopwafel-inspired Stinger Waffle – was through the roof awesome, both from a taste standpoint, and for being unlike pretty much any other energy product on the market. They came in three flavors, and they were clearly the favorite of my family on a long day of hiking and taste testing.   

At the other end of the spectrum was the company’s energy gels, which were so bad that I couldn’t even finish a single pack: every flavor that I tested ended up squeezed out onto the ground.  Needless to say, it wasn’t exactly a high point of my product testing career.

On that note, this summer I have a few points of good news.  The first is that Honey Stinger has reinvented its gel formula to debut a product line of organic energy gels in three new flavors.  The better news is that they’ve recently introduced a new flavor of the delicious waffles that my kids and I got to sample.

And the best news is that a few readers will get to try each of these new products for themselves.  That’s right – it’s giveaway time again!  But before we get to that, we should probably promote the products a little more.

Like last time, the standout in this product bunch is the Stinger Waffle, this time in a new lemon flavor.  In my previous review post I explained how the classic stroopwafel originated in the Netherlands over 200 years ago, and are popular with European cyclists looking for a quick burst of energy on long bike rides.

It even looks like a waffle

The old-school version is made with syrup filling between two layers of baked batter, but Honey Stinger’s version is a certified USADA organic product, using organic honey and other organic ingredients for a 160-calorie energy shot that’s easy to carry with you for a long day on the road or trail. 

The new lemon flavor is quite mild, and not nearly as tart as I anticipated.  It joins the existing Honey Stinger lineup of original (honey), vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate – and from a taste standpoint, I’d rank them somewhere in the middle: just behind strawberry and vanilla, and better than the original or chocolate.  Of course, that’s my personal preference, and yours may vary – which is why it would be cool to try them, right?

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Our other giveaway product represents something of an improvement, but I have to say I’m not completely fired up about them yet.  Honey Stinger’s new organic energy gels are certainly better tasting than the previous gel products – which, incidentally, are still available if you’re one who happened to like them – but to my liking, they’re not quite on par with my favorites from GU and CLIF Shot.

The new gels are each USADA certified organic (as are CLIF’s), and are available in Vanilla, Fruit Smoothie and Acai Pomegranate flavors.  They combine organic tapioca syrup, organic honey and electrolytes, and each packet provides 100 calories of quick energy. 

Honey Stinger’s gels have a very thin consistency to begin with, and the new organic varieties seem even thinner than the others – they’re so thin as to drip out of the pack almost like a liquid.  My favorite flavor of this bunch is the acai pomegranate, possibly because it’s such a unique offering in the gel category.  The vanilla flavor is extremely sweet, and I didn’t enjoy it nearly as much as the vanilla flavors from … honestly, from pretty much everybody else.   

When I complained about the taste of honey-based gels last time, a number of readers responded with comments about how much they like them, so I’m open to the possibility that this is just an individual aversion of mine.  Which is yet another reason that it’s good to have other opinions involved … and have I mentioned that we’re doing a giveaway? 

So here we go: three winners selected at random below will receive the same sample packet of lemon waffles and organic energy gels that I tested.  But since I’m in the midst of Olympic mania, I’m adding an additional twist to earn extra entries.

Remember yesterday when I suggested that slacklining might be considered an Olympic sport someday?  If you come up with another suggested sport, you get an additional entry in the hat.  Be creative.  Be funny.  And who knows, you may prove to be clairvoyant someday.  However, you can’t use a sport that someone else has suggested, so enter early, or scroll through the previous entries so you don’t disqualify yourself.

Winners will be announced this Sunday night, August 5^th.  Special thanks to Honey Stinger for sponsoring this contest, and good luck to everybody!

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