1. Cheering Bethany on to win another epic race, finishing the San Juan Solstice 50m in 9:58, just off the course record.
2. Running above 12,000 feet on a daily basis.
3. Tetherball with Ada.
4. Time with the Eldridges in Montrose and at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival.
5. Family camping.
Running in the San Juans is humbling. The sheer vertical relief, the scale, the elevation: all of these combine to make one feel pretty small. Mountain travel above 12,000 feet is a different beast: grades that are eminently runnable on lower elevation trail become hypoxia-inducing, vision-constricting stumble-fests. After a week of camping and running in Ouray, Silverton, and Telluride I felt pretty spent- and only partly due to the limited sleep afforded by a 21-month old completely out of her routine. Spent yes, but also inspired: It will be exciting to come back out here in only a few weeks to pace Jared Campbell at Hardrock and have a rare inside glimpse of the front end of this epic race.
Running at elevation is a good test of Noakes' Central Governor Hypothesis of fatigue in endurance sport. In a nutshell, this is the notion that exercise capacity is limited not by mechanical properties of muscle and tendon, nor by the pure efficiency of aerobic metabolism, but is regulated in top-down fashion by the brain which dictates how much muscle is devoted to the task at hand so as to preserve the integrity of the organism in extremis. Monitoring my heart rates while climbing I was surprised to see numbers only in the 150s when my perceived effort level was much higher. Presumably my brain sensed less available oxygen and correspondingly downregulated muscle recruitment patterns so as to avoid the possibility of bodily damage. The old adage that running is 99% mental is true in more ways than one...
Goblin Valley
Island Lake
Tetherball!
Ice Lake, Fuller Lake
Sleepless camping
The precipitous Bear Creek trail
Engineer Pass
Bethany, mile 16 of SJS en route to a convincing victory.
Over Memorial Day Weekend I travelled to Pocatello for the Pocatello 50: this year as an aid station volunteer rather than a competitor. This race- put on by Jared Campbell, Ryan McDermott, and this year Luke Nelson- has been on the calendar over the last several years for its combination of spectacular and gnarly terrain, festive and laid back atmosphere, and proximity to SLC. The four years since its inception have showcased a wide range of conditions, from the hypothermia-inducing white-out of 2 years ago to a record snowfall year last year forcing a course re-route, to the mid 80 degree temps this year. The Pocatello 50 is truly a classy event- this will surely continue next year as Luke Nelson takes the reins of race-directorship.
I had a great time taking in the scene from the Mink Creek Aid Station (mile 34) where courage and carnage were present in equal measure as the day heated up. There were some inspiring performances by a crew of local athletes, including but not limited to Greg Norrander's and Matt Hart's impressive runs, Andy Dorais' 50 mile debut, Karl Meltzer and Jay Aldous in a sprint finish, Mindy Campbell taking home 3rd place for women, Jason Berry heading out for leg 3 despite clearly being in the early stages of heat exhaustion (he survived), and Peter Lindgren practicing the tenets of good friendship and good medicine in shepherding in a delirious Christian Johnson. Nice to be a part of this.
Here's some photos as well as video footage I compiled from the last 6 months of running:
Mink Creek Aid Station, prior to the deluge of runners.
