I'm Not Injured; You Are - Celebrating 50 Years of Running

I hit 50 years of running in September 2024. In September 1974 I started running cross country in my freshman year of high school. My first ever training run was a 5-mile run with the team. Since then, I’ve run a few miles. This is a chart of miles run per year since I started keeping track electronically. I rarely wore a watch before then; I used to measure long runs with my car in the 80s, 90s and 2000s.

This year’s mileage was low compared to recent years as I was sick a couple of times. That was exacerbated by, or induced by (not sure which), severe asthma problems that I haven’t had in over 5 years. And finally, I believe my reduced mileage/training coupled with my racing beyond what I trained for left me with a foot issue that became bad by October. Even so, my mileage this year was more than most of the years in my 50s. 2020 and the pandemic changed a lot of things for me. Timewise it allowed me to work from home and have more time for running; I bought an Apple watch for daily runs and a Coros watch for long runs and ultras. In my 60s, I’ve averaged over 1,000 miles per year more than in my 50s. I know that I ran quite a lot of miles in my 40s; likely close to what I’ve been running in my 60s, only much faster back then. I wanted to write more about my 50 years of running but this foot issue has taken the wind out of me. This chart shows my races of a marathon or more by year, further split out by distance for ultras. Note: In 2020 I ran some virtual races and included those in here. For my 60th birthday, I ran a virtual 12 hour race and ended up with 60 miles in a bit over 10 hours.

I’m not sure that my foot problem is considered an injury or a “condition.” My foot is such that either 1) I should never run again for all eternity (if I’m listening to the first Doctor, a podiatrist that I saw), or 2) I should modify some things, maybe a lot of things, and continue to run through it. The choice is easy for me. I’m tired of medical professionals giving me bad advice and was angry leaving the podiatrist office back in October. His diagnosis, metatarsalgia. This is not a reason, in my opinion, to stop running; especially forever as he strongly suggested. He told me that I was running too many miles for someone my age. He kept going on and on; “You could get hammer toe if you continue. And we could do surgery but that doesn’t mean it won’t come back.” Etc., etc. I felt like a horse with a broken leg; just shoot me! I’m not sure if I have metatarsalgia or Morton’s neuroma but the suggested “fixes” for the two are very similar. I’ve researched it extensively over the past couple of months. I won’t go into too much of what I have done because there’s a lot and that’s not the purpose of this post. What I did do is see Anne from AKtive Soles/Body in Balance who performed a gait analysis on me; also, thank you Heidi for the referral. Anne recommended inserts as well as shoes that had a wider toe box. The “cheap” shoes that I had been running in for years, while they did the job for thousands of miles, were squeezing my toes together which likely contributed to the issue. I tried on several pair and ran on a treadmill to test them. For November (175 miles) and December (171 miles), I’ve not run any long runs but am able to get in my normal 6 or 7 days a week of running. With the help of my coach and wife Shawn, I’ve added strength and mobility exercises to help which takes more time than I have; but that I want to continue to do as they definitely have helped. My pain is no worse than it was in October and most of the time I feel much better. Running on the treadmill is painless for the most part which affirms the “overstriding” that my gait analysis showed. I definitely shorten my stride on the treadmill. I can’t, nor do I want to run on the treadmill daily. I need to get outside. That said, I’ve been running a 10 miler on the treadmill at an easy pace about once a week. I had signed up for the Susitna 100 miler back in the summer however, I don’t think that’s going to happen. I may check to see if I can get a spot in the 50K race instead if that’s even possible. I had signed up for another race, a backyard race in Oregon, but now that is just a maybe. The only other race I signed up for is the United 49K. I need to at least give that race a try as I’ve completed all 10 since the race’s inception. I won’t sign up for more races until I see how my foot heals and how it does on long runs. I will try to do a year recap of 2024 races if I can muster up the mental energy. I did have a few good races; some not so good but with good outcome none-the-less. Here's to 2025!

Dizzy Daze 2024

 

Dizzy Daze 12-hr (20 x 3.2-mile loops / 64 miles) 

I went into this race with a goal of running 100K (62.2 miles). The course is a 3.2-mile loop around Greenlake in Seattle. As with most timed events, only full loops count officially. That means I would need to run 20 loops to get over 100K. This should be doable as I can usually run 60 miles in the first 12 hours of a 24-hour race. That said, this is my first spring race of the year. More specifically coming out of the Alaska winter, where I'm running 9:30 - 10:30 mile pace on my daily runs on packed snow and/or ice. 

On the Thursday before the Seattle race, I ran the first time on asphalt since some time in October. We've had quite a mild winter and the bike path I have been doing my long runs on was clear for the first time. I travelled to Seattle on Friday; drove to my hotel and put on my running gear to run to the where the race would be. It was a nice run as the temps were in the mid-50s and was my first-time wearing shorts this year. Saturday's race plan would be to run by feel and hopefully not start out too fast. I wanted to start out at close to 9 or 9:15 pace and settle into a 9:30 to 10 pace; play it by ear after that. You might think, "well that's what you've been running all winter. Should be easy to figure out your pacing." You'd be correct except running on packed snow and dry asphalt is completely different. I'm so slow on snow. 

On Saturday morning I got to the race early, as I generally do, and was able to catch up with friends, some of whom I hadn't seen since the last time I ran this race in 2018 and some even longer than that. It was quite chilly at 38F which was quite nice for me. It was clear out and I hoped for somewhere in the 50s during the day. I was not disappointed.

Jill Hudson / Delores Sentinella

Jim Boyd / Steve Walters

I had mixed 3 x 32 oz bottles with Tailwind for the race. I also brought 2 x 20 oz handheld bottles that I could pick up and run with during the race. I ended up drinking one of the 20 oz bottles before the race as my pre-race hydration. I also brought sliced cheese and pretzels which have been my main stay lately in ultras. Lastly, I brought GUs although I only ate one of those at mile 10 ~ same time I had my first Tailwind during the race. Otherwise, I started fasted and ended up not eating solid foods until after 32 miles. 

Ready to start the race, I dawned my lightweight rain jacket to keep the chill off for a loop or 2. I started at the back of the pack and quickly moved up. The course ran around well-known Greenlake in Seattle. There's an inner loop that is asphalt that we were NOT running on. Then there's an outer loop on crushed gravel and dirt. Outside of that loop is a 2-way bike lane that is 10 feet wide all the way around the lake, with a yellow line for bikes going either way. I mention this as this is an asphalt lane that we were told we could run on as long as we were respectful to bikes and moved out of the way. That would be where I spent the day, wanting to run on asphalt. With the extra distance, the loop for me was close to 3.25 miles. In the end, my watch read 65 miles.

My plan to start out at 9-minute pace fell apart immediately as I was running low 8s from the start. I know it had to do with running on the road after having run on snow all winter. I assumed I would slow eventually and just continued to run comfortably. I mostly don't use my watch in timed (24-hour) events and run by feel but decided to run with a watch this race to see how things went. By 3 loops, 9.6 miles, I was still running fast. I decided I would just go with it and see what kind of 50K time I could run and deal with the consequences of my decision later. It was a beautiful day and I reasoned that I could just walk / jog later in the day. By lap 7, 22.75 miles on my watch, I decided to sit for a few minutes and eat some cheese and pretzels that I had brought. I probably sat 4 minutes then restarted at a slow pace. 

Van Phan

My unofficial marathon split was 3:53; not bad considering I took that break. I still felt great and slowed a bit hitting 10 loops (32.5 miles) in 4:54 (50K split 4:39 ~ an even 9-minute pace). At that point I sat down until the 5-hour mark; reset my watch saving my "fast" 50K time and got ready to start fresh. I knew I would pay for my quick start, but 7 hours should be doable right? Yeah, that should be plenty of time to run another 10 laps. 

32.5M time

 

• Marathon: 3:53
• 50K: 4:39

Bathroom break on 5th mile

4-minute break 

Part 2 of my race, as I'm defining it, went as would be expected. I started my watch at noon (the 5-hour mark) to start tracking again. I walked out of the aid station area and eventually started a slow jog. I thought I would start doing a jog walk but I mostly just jogged the loops and instead of walking, took down time at the aid station to sit. 

Jess Mullen ran a lap with me after 45 M

I sat after mile 42 (10), mile 46 (14) and then again at mile 52 (20); parenthetical mileages are from the second Strava entry (see below). On those stops I ate pieces of bananas, pretzels and cheese. After the last long break, I thought I may have to work to get in my last 3 loops. I believe I had 2:05 left so loops would have to be under 42 minutes each. As I was running, I thought, "maybe I'll just get to mile 60.8, 2 more loops, then do a short out and back to get 100K." That loop ended up being in 36 minutes, just over 11-minute pace. So, I knew I could reasonably do 2 more. The next was at 35 and the last at 34. There was no stopping to speak of between these last three loops, but I did take some small walk breaks. I finished 20 loops (64 official miles / 65 on my watch) in 11:40. 

• 50M: 8:32
• 100K: 11:11 (4:39 / 6:32) - so much for pacing 
• 65 miles: 11:40 

Trish Steidl

Matt Haggen

Worrying About Mileage

 I kind of felt like my mileage was dropping off year over year recently but then I thought, "wait a minute, let me check to see what Strava says." I’m in my 50^th year of running and most of that time I would tally a weekly, or two weeks running total in my head. I don’t ever recall “logging” miles for very long, never mind for a year. That said, I do recall a blog post from like 2008 where I mention running a certain milage one year. Anyway, I started using RunKeeper in late 2013 and moved to Strava in 2020 (because of all the virtual runs that year and that’s what everyone uses).  I was using the app on my iPhone which I started carrying on every run at that time. I had long ago given up on watches (back in the mid-80s, so we’re talking digital) as I would focus too much on every training run, making running no fun. In 2020, I decided to get an Apple Watch so that I could receive texts and phone calls during my lunch runs and not have to carry my phone. That worked great; I even sold my last house while on the run, taking calls from my realtor and setting up appointments with her from time to time.

So back to feeling like my mileage was dropping off and, “why does it matter anyway?”

I checked Strava and low and behold, I was pretty much goofing off in my 50s it appears. No wonder I didn’t feel like I was racing well during that time. And while I dropped off a bit in 2023, I'm still well above 3000 miles for the year. I'll take that. And while I’m on a slow start this year, I’ll let tomorrow take care of itself. For me, I never really know what I’m going to run when I head out the door. I have an idea of what I would like to run; Usually I’ll run that mileage. Sometimes I’ll run less but I’m more likely to run more miles than fewer. That’s a good thing in my book as I’m running because I love to run, and I try not to run more or less than I “want” to.  So here are the “official” un-official numbers.

Running mileage in my 60s

2020: 3217

2021: 3779

2022: 3680

2023: 3472

Running mileage in my 50s

pre-November 2013 (not electronically tracking mileage)

2014: 2410

2015: 2087

2016: 2345

2017: 1968

2018: 2777

2019: 2533

 

2023 Recap

Frosty Bottom 26.2 (47.3 miles) [5:13]

Marathon #102

• 20.3 miles from finish to the start; cutting the beginning and end trails. This was run on the sidewalks and bike paths.
• 27.0 miles 

The course was changed a couple of years ago to include some single path trails. This makes the beginning of the race difficult for me. I'm usually in the back of the pack for most of the first 5 miles; slowly picking off people throughout the run/race. I had a decent day, wasn't too cold, and finished with a 5:13 marathon. My goal was to be under 6 so I was well ahead of that. I did bonk a little 20 miles into the marathon (40 miles into the day) but just pushed through at a slower pace. Leaving the house at 3am for a 5:30a early start was tough, but the marathon doesn't start until almost 10a, which makes running the 20 miles before easier to do than after the race. Why do I do the extra mileage? Mostly because I can but also because coordinating a carpool is more stressful to me than just doing the extra mileage; and it's fun.  

Susitna 100M (DNF/DQ) [22 miles-7:06 - missed the 7hr cutoff] - DNF

I've had mixed experience/success in this race. I am not a good snow runner, especially deep snow and when it's snowing hard. If we have those conditions, I'm sure to drop by mile 62. That's an easy evac (catch a ride) so if I drop, that's where it will be. If we have a good weather year; packed snow, I am a runner again. Even though I'm pulling a sled with 50 lbs. of gear, I can still run well. 2022 it was hard packed, and I ran under 24 hours. This year, we had a week of fresh snow dumped on the course. I was barely moving and knew it was going to be tough. We have 7 hours to get to the first check point, which is about 22 miles. No problem. Well, unless you suck in deep snow as I do. I missed the cut off by 6 minutes. It was a blessing in disguise though because had I made it through, I would have been fighting the cutoff for the next check point at mile 33 and the evac would be $300 for a snow machine ride or who knows how much to have a plane fly me out; and the choice is not your own. To date, with about 270 ultra marathon starts, this is only the 2nd time I've missed a cutoff. The other time was in 2011 when, at age 50, I timed out of a 500-mile mountain race. In that race, we had 8 days and I was only able to get 370 miles by that time. For 2024, I've decided to run the Susitna 50K. Even with bad weather I "should" be able to finish, even if it takes 10 hours. Fingers crossed. 

 

PacRim One Day Race (62M or 100K-12:20, 50M in 9:20)

ultra #244

My running suffered the rest of February as mentally it was tough for me to get back into running as consistently as I had been all winter. I used the excuse of shoveling snow during my lunch break and to not run as much. March wasn't going too much better and I had a 24-hour race coming up in May that I really wanted to race. So I made a last minute decision to run a Washington race that I had run 10 times while living there - The PacRim 24-hour. I had no intention of running the entire 24 hours but wanted a friendly course where I could get in a 50-mile training run. I wasn't even sure I could run 30 miles without walking at this point so my goal was to attempt to run to at least 30 miles and then do what I could to 50. As it turned out, I was able to run for most of the 50 miles. I then decided to continue walking to 100K before heading to the hotel for a hot shower. Mission accomplished. It was nice catching up with many who I'd shared miles on this course in the past. We were really lucky with the weather as it didn't really rain much. This race is known for its cold, wind and rain throughout the day and night.

             

Dawn-to-Dusk-to-Dawn 24-hour [112.59 miles - PR - 3rd place OA]

ultra #245 - the 1st race that I actually raced this year

This is another race where weather can be the difference between making it to 100 miles or not. My goal when racing 24-hours is first to see if I can get to 100 miles. Then to do whatever I can after if so. It was hot and raining during the day. The cool thing about some of these races is that you're competing amongst elite runners. They don't get lane priority and have to go around you if they want to pass. I try to stay near the line between lanes one and two so that the speedsters can go by. It's interesting to watch as they all have their crew feeding them; handing them gels; making soup; making sure they're hydrated; etc. Me and my buddy Dave, we have our chairs on the outside of the track; have to go over there to get food or drink; and so on. So it's a whole different race. There were some very fast women in the race and one guy in particular (Harvey Lewis of Big's Backyard fame) who were running 8-8:30 or so miles. As for myself, I generally start at whatever's comfortable and that's usually 9:30-10 pace for the first 30 miles or so. With stopping for potty breaks; food and drink breaks; gear change if necessary included, my pace for 30 miles was just about 10 minute per mile or 5 hours. I generally slow and have a mini slump between miles 40-50, sometimes longer, and this time was no exception. I hit 50 at 9:05 and was on track to hit 100K under 12 hours until my back started acting up. This happens in almost every race at some point over 50 miles. It's not weak back but tight quads; so I know what the issue is. The quads get tight because of weak glutes; If I would just spend time working on those instead of just running, I could take care of this - but I don't. Anyway, I got to 57 miles and decided to lay on my back on the edge of the wet track. I stretched for a while; got some fuel; then started running again. I got to 100K just over 12 hours. I was doing well most of the evening and night yet felt bad seeing the elite women struggle with puking and not being able to move like they wanted to. Harvey even had issues and his goal (to keep his spot on the US 24-hour team) was slipping away. As this was happening, I continued to do well and just kept plugging away. I was easily on pace to run under 20 hours for the 100 but, once again, had to stop at mile 97 to stretch my back. I sat in my chair this time and took a 20 minute break. I struggled to make myself stop and rest my back because I knew I could have pushed myself to get under 20 hours for 100, which would have been a PR. But I wanted to see what I could do beyond that and made the decision to take a break. I was about 20:30 for 100M. I was really hoping I could keep the walking to a minimum in order to get beyond 110 miles. The top elite woman had dropped at 110 so I was targeting that number just to give me something to keep me moving. Another elite woman was struggling to get to 100 and I barely got there before her. And yet another elite woman spent an hour on her hands and knees in the middle of the infield alternating between puking and laying down. Harvey (age 47) spent time off the track in a chair while his crew took care of him and let him rest. He was the eventual winner with 137.24 miles. Second was another 47 year old with 116.86; I got to 112.59 and stopped with 30 minutes to go. I was just staggering too much on the track, trying not to fall on the turns. That was good enough for 3rd place overall and a new lifetime PR for me. My previous PR was 111 miles back in 2001 that I had set at age 40. 22 years later at age 62, I was super happy with that result. Even though I told myself after I could have walked the last 30 minutes, that's just the forgetful brain. In the moment I did try to continue, I stopped in the middle of the track at one point and sat on a bench. I was shaking, probably from dehydration and not enough calories, and mentally all I could think of was, "How the heck am I going to get my gear to the car after the race." So I walked around the track to my chair and put on extra clothes and packed my gear. I made my buddy Dave drive to the friend's house we were staying at, an hour away. I did my best to keep him awake and we didn't die. That's all I can say - ha! 

     

6/2: Alask Endurance Trail Race 24-hour - 55 miles (8pm start - 6 hour drive to Fairbanks, AK)

ultra #246

First trail run of the year. I don't know why I signed up for this race. I don't like trail running and this is a 6-mile loop with plenty of elevation gain and loss each loop. I determined to go 50 miles, sat and ate some food, then drove 300 miles south back home. My body was in more pain than it should have been the following week. I also felt like I was coming down with something the following Monday/Tuesday and didn't commit to head to my next race until Wednesday. Again, I should have skipped this race but really miss running with friends. Living so far from everyone now, I use every opportunity to race and hang out with other runners.

6/9: Tsalteshi Backyard [4.1667 mile loops] - 50 miles (5pm start - 6 hours drive to Soldotna, AK)

ultra #n/a - back yards considered DNF unless you win

This is the second weekend / race in a row where I had to drive 300 miles and start the race soon after getting there. It's tough to get out of the car and then start moving. Since my first meal is always after my noon run daily (usually around 2pm) I do the same thing for races no matter when they start. I stopped in Anchorage on the way south to get a teriyaki and rice bowl for my pre-race meal. That worked out well as I felt good before the race. I set up a pop-up tent, card table and chair. Then ran I a 1-mile bathroom loop and chilled before the race start. The course was a flat route, mostly on gravel roads. After realizing earlier in the year that this race was being put on, I wished that I had skipped the trail race the week before. I feel like I could have done well as this is right in my wheelhouse. Instead, I cruised along until 50 miles and stopped so as not to hurt myself for future races. Backyard races, if you're not familiar, are races that continue until there is a "last person standing." You run a 4.1667 mile loop within an hour. The idea behind the exact distance is that if you can continue for 24 hours, you will hit 100 miles. You can use the time between when you finish a loop (or yard) and the top of the next hour to sit, sleep, eat, drink or whatever you want or need to do. You must be in the starting corral before the top of the hour. This continues on loop after loop, hour after hour, for as long as someone is out there. Once the 2nd to the last person cannot continue or misses the cutoff, the last person has to complete one last loop to be the winner. I was consistently completing my loops in under 50 minutes and was never close to missing a cutoff. I may have continued but really wanted to be able to run the Mayor's marathon the following week. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. Recovery was pretty easy this week. 

I hope to be ready for this race in 2024 and shooting for the win if I'm healthy.

6/17: Mayor's Marathon- 26.2 [3:52]

marathon #103

I wasn't sure how I had recovered from the week before but my body seemed ok. I ran a 2-mile poop loop to get my body ready. I started way back of the pack so that I wouldn't go out too fast. That was a mistake as the crowd funneled onto an 8 foot wide bike path and folks were walking. Instead of easing into it I was now anxious and started running on the grass outside the path in order to pass people. I continued to pass people for miles, eventually getting to a place where I was going at a comfortable pace with those around me. I felt good, running 8:30s to at least mile 15. At this point, we took a dirt/rock trail for a couple of miles. That slowed me down a bit though I was passing more people again. We went off the trail before mile 18 and onto a slight down hill on the road. I crossed over an overpass and got close to mile 20 where I started tightening up. Mile 20 was my first 9 minute mile and I didn't want to push through the tightness so I walked for 10 yards to adjust my pace. That works for me as I'm used to doing that in ultras. I started up again at 9:30s and continued on. I think I was running close to 10 minute pace by the end but I didn't care. My primary goal was to finish and if all went well, to see if I could break 4 hours. I was easily under 4 so I just slogged in at a comfortable pace. Recovery was even easier this week and now I had a 3 week break until my next not-race race.

7/8: AKtive Backyard    [4.1667 mile loops] - 50 miles

ultra #n/a - back yards considered DNF unless you win

Hilly trail loop mostly on grass and second trail run of the year. Not really my cup of tea but I needed something to run so I entered the race. It was mostly a non-eventful run up to mile 30. "Pride preceedeth the fall," as the Bible says. Looking up on the 8th lap I saw one person ahead of me. Each loop is NOT the race; there's no prize for finishing them first but you must complete each loop under an hour to continue on. But I thought, "I can catch that guy in front of me. He's in the lead." Then BOOM! I hit the trail hard before I knew what was happening. I lay there for a bit to gather myself and the aforementioned verse came to mind. I got up and must have looked horrible because the guy behind me was worried about me limping along. I shook it off and started running again. Now I knew that I wouldn't be going farther than 50 miles. As I approached 50, and even though it was summer time in Alaska, there is a bit of a dusk at 7p. I didn't want to risk getting hurt from falling so I stopped at the end of the 12th loop feeling strong. Recovery went well the week following. Next race would be 4 weeks away.

                          

8/5: Hatcher Pass 50 [double marathon] - 52.5 miles [9:17:53, 2nd overall and 1st place dude]

ultra #247 - the 2nd race that I actually raced this year

The Hatcher Pass marathon was created by a my friend David Johnston and his wife Andrea Hambach in 2012. It's a point-to-point uphill race on a mostly dirt road. It's 25 miles up then a steep down hill the the finish. When Dave and Andrea gave up the race to another team (my wife and me), Dave decided to do the race both ways. He'd start early and do the downhill; get to the start with time to rest for a bit; then do the marathon. A couple years later, we turned over the race to someone else and I started doing the double with Dave. He and his wife moved in 2020 so I was left to do it alone in the years following. One year, a couple other folks ran the double with me. After doing the double informally for 4 years; along with doing the reverse double 1 year; the newest RD decided to create the HP50. I felt a bit of pressure knowing my name was attached to the double. To be sure, I let all know that Dave invented the idea and I just popularized it. Just as the moon walk is attributed to Michael Jackson even though others were doing it decades before him. Anyway, the race started at 5a with the traditional uphill marathon starting at 9a. Of course, I couldn't help thinking of the idea of trying to get to the turn around under 4 hours so that I could start the uphill race with everyone else like I did in years past. In the past I had left way earlier than 5a to have a 30-45 minutes rest. On this day, I got to the marathon start/turn-around about 3 minutes under 4; grabbed some water; and headed out while the RD was giving the marathon race briefing. But before getting to the turn around, 2 runners were at mile 27-ish, while passing me the other way, with me at mile 25. I was happy about hitting the marathon under 4 but soon found out that was a huge mistake. I knew that I wouldn't catch the female ahead of me because she is strong and would not be slowing down enough for me to catch her but I didn't know the guy who was with her. I soon forgot about them both and struggled to keep up with the back of the pack marathoners on the climb. I stopped and sat in a chair at the 9 mile mark (35 miles for me) and ate some gummy bears. I slogged along until reaching the mile 17.5 aid station (43.7 for me) and took another sit down break. I topped a switch back at close to mile 45 and saw someone walking ahead. I thought, "is that the guy? No probably not." I caught up with the guy just beyond mile 46 where we were going into increasing uphill climb. He saw me and said, "Hey, another 50 mile runner. We can run it in together." There was no way I was going to stay with him. This is my strong suit in this race and I wasn't going to wait - it's a race afterall. He tried to run/walk with me until I put together a long stretch of running before hitting the steep switch backs. He soon gave up saying, "I can't keep up!" With him behind me, I pushed at the pace I knew I could run over the pass. I struggled with leg cramps on the way down the steep downhill but wanted to keep moving until the finish. Kamie, the overall winner with a time of 8:49 had already left for home. I finished in 9:17 and the second dude came in over 16 minutes behind me at 9:34. Second lady, and fellow 60+ runner, came in at 10:27. This is a tough race and I was lucky because my base mileage and experience, especially on this course, helped me significantly. Recovery would be slow and I wasn't sure how I'd be able to race the 49K in two weeks. That's my number 1 target race each year. 

             

 

8/20: United Physical Therapy 49K (30.44 miles) [4:18]

ultra #248 - the 3rd race that I actually raced this year.

This race has been run since 2014. I've run it each year that it's been held. In 2020, the race was not held because of COVID concerns. However, by request from the local running community I suppose, they put together an alternate race; a marathon that was certified so that Alaskans had a chance to qualify for Boston. It was limited in number but I got in and, though Boston is not my thing, I was one of the few who ran a BQ. All that to say, I've run this race every year and as of a couple of years ago, I'm the last person to maintain the race streak. This year was year nine (9) and in 2022, I finally got a best time on the course by about 30 seconds. But I still wasn't able to get under that 4:20 barrier. This year I really wanted to get under 4:20 and was hoping that I didn't ruin my chances by running so hard two weeks prior. Having to leave quite early from home to get into town well before race start, I had plenty of time to process coffee and water along the way. I try to get to these shorter races an hour early in order to get my porta-potty stop out of the way. For me, that requires running a mile or two before hand. One year, I ended up with almost 4 pre-race miles. This year, I was fortunate to get things moving within a mile. Now free to banter about with like minded runners, I discussed strategies with a few. A friend, who is coming back this year from a long injury (2021 and 2022 I believe) was getting stronger with each race. He was a sub 3:20 marathoner a couple of years ago so is much faster than me. I told him that I would try to keep my early miles "over" 8:15 pace. In order to get comfortably under 4:20, I needed only to run 8:30 pace. The issue for me is going out too fast for the first 20 miles. I've done this a few times in the past and the last 10+ miles end up being a struggle. My friend told me he didn't want to go out faster than that either. I didn't believe him, and told him so - ha! I pointed out the lady who ran close to 4 hours last year. I warned him not to be tempted to go with her. The first 3 miles were quicker than I wanted but at least not sub-8s. I purposely pulled back as I felt my friend, Matt, charging towards the aforementioned lady. While Matt forged ahead, I seemed to be pulling the another guy along. There's a small hill at about 4.5 miles that I usually use to "get away" from others around me. I tried not to be too aggressive on this hill but still was able to pull away. I love this out section of the course as it has rolling hills with a "giant" hill at about mile 10, which is also the first turn around. Well before the hill, a mile or so out, I started seeing the leaders. These guys will be running somewhere in the neighborhood of 3:15-3:20 for the distance. Then I start counting runners coming back. This is a small race so I'm usually between 5th and 10th place. This year I was in 7th overall by the turn around. Matt seemed so far ahead of me so I assumed he must be feeling pretty confident. I did a gut check after the turn around; "am I running too fast?" I felt good and held myself back as I saw those behind be coming the other way. When you get to mile 13-ish on the course, you pass the marathon turn around - mile 9 for them. Here I start merging with marathoners and feel tempting to pick up the pace. It's tough to not catch the next person in front of me but I tried to temper it as much as possible. Mile 15 I'm running over a decent hill which will kill me if I push too hard. Felt good at the top and still good at mile 17. Soon I'm cruising by the 3:40 marathon pacer who I was looking for to hang with. He has too many people around him so I pass by slowly and move on. Mile 20 is where I guage whether I went out too fast or if I'm able to put it in cruise control. I didn't get the bonk feeling so closer to the cruise control for now. Im cautiously optimistic. Between miles 21/22 I see a guy who looks like it might be Matt; he's walking. I catch him by 22 and urge him on. Going over an overpass beyond mile 23 and I'm feeling the burn. I don't want to slow as this causes me to lock up and my pace tends to plumit. Heading to the 24 mile turn around, I actually walk to grab something to drink; I'm feeling dehydrated and crampy. I hand the guy the cup as I don't see a trash can near by, and I turn around to head back when he yells at me, "Hey, the turn is over there." Another guy says, "That's ok. Close enough." I turn around and don't see anything that indicates where to turn and had assumed I should turn where they were standing. Not wanting to cheat, I turn back around and when I got to the guys I asked where to turn. They point to an invisible spot on the ground that was maybe a couple feet beyond where I turned the first time. I became quietly annoyed at this point as I was risking missing my sub-4:20 goal. I walked to the where they were pointing at and asked, "turn now?" No response. I turned and tried to get back into a groove. I see the 3:40 guy coming and knew he would be passing me soon. He had dropped all his followers by this point. A little bit later I start cramping in my feet. I try to adjust my form to aleviate the cramping (basically, run  flat footed as much as possible) and to not cramp in my calves, which complained as soon as I changed form. I'm now doing the "duct tape and baling wire," shuffle routine hoping not to trip on a crack on the bike path, and maintain a reasonable pace. I definitely had enough energy and felt strong leg wise so I pushed through as much as possible. By mile 25 I had passed another ultra runner and was now in 5th place. I attempted to check my watch at the marathon point but it was locked and I was too uncoordinated to unlock it. (After the race, using my official split time at mile 24.5 and the average pace from there to the finish, I estimate that I was close to 3:37:30. I'm very happy with that time as I don't race the marathon very often and I wonder if I can still run under 3:30). Back to the race ... I move as well as I could and hit the final hill just before mile 30. Mile 30 split read 4:15:xx so I mustered up all I had to push it to the finish. My "sprint" after the last turn I'm sure looked rediculous. Still, I was happy to see the clock showing 4:18:xx. final time,4:18:54.

 

9/10: Trails 50K - 30 miles

ultra #249

Silly trail run (3rd trail run this year). I was a bit nervous about doing this race as it's very rooty and I was worried about falling and breaking something; or worse yet, pulling a muscle trying not to fall by tripping. The urge to meet with like-minded folks for a "supported training run" outweighed my fear of falling. And fall I did. This was a two (2) loop course which I ran cautiously slow. With most of the faster trail runners heading to Fairbanks the following week to race the Equinox trail marathon, this race was mostly a small group of locals. I came into the first loop unscathed and feeling great; grabbed a baggie of pretzels I had brought and filled my bottle with Tailwind. Heading out on the 2nd loop, I passed by another runner finishing his first just before I made a right turn onto another trail. As I started to eat, BOOM! I hit the ground hard; smashing my pretzels and landing on my right forearm pretty hard. I walked some as my forearm was stinging with pain. Scraped in a few places but no blood and no broken bones. It's a, um, comforting feeling to know that at 63 my bone density is good. I fell another 6 or 7 times on this loop and hard a few times. So much for slogging slow miles like I do on roads. You actually have to pick your feet up and not get tripped by roots. I fell so hard one time, using my water bottle to break the fall. My bottle split so it no longer held water without sloshing all over me. At two of the aid stations, I just filled the bottle and drank it down before I headed back out. I finished strong moving from 3rd to 2nd place by the end. The guy who won was 31, exactly half my age. I hung around for a few hours sharing running stories as more and more racers came in. By the time I left, nearly all were done. Though I fell a lot, I still had fun running the whole way; stopping only to refill water and pick myself off the ground when I fell.

             

09/29: tc Birthday run - 63K (39.2 miles) for my 63rd birthday.

unofficial run

I was hoping to be able to run 63 miles for my 63rd birthday (actually Oct 1st) but having to figure logistics in the small town where I live, and running alone, makes for a difficult mental run. Though my birthday was on Sunday, I didn't want to miss church. I also didn't want to be stressed on Saturday in anticipation of a very long solo run Sunday. I decided to take off from work on Friday and do my run. I settled on doing kilometers versus miles the week of the run, based on my mental state of mind. I planted water so that I wouldn't have more than 6 miles without water later in my run. I also didn't drink any water or eat anything until I got beyond 16 miles. With the cool weather and non-race speed, I can get away with not drinking water for up to 20 miles. I don't like to hold off that long though because then I get behind. To that point, I was running under 9:15 pace; this was noted in retrospect as I wasn't really paying attention to my pace and went back to Strava to see what I was running. I also noted that I slowed to 9:30 until about mile 30. By mile 25, I had picked up one of my planted water bottles and my wife texted me soon after to say she was heading to a nearby trail for a short run. I stopped at my car at mile 30 for a few minutes to eat and drink some Tailwind. I had made plans during my earlier texting to meet my wife at the trailhead where she was running as it was a little over 9 miles from my car. So instead of doing an out and back from mile 30, it worked out perfectly to just meet up with her and hitch a ride back to my car. Miles 30-39 was a struggle bus as I was only able to maintain a 10:15 pace. I must have looked worse than I felt as the pastor's daughter told me as she passed by me returning from an errand that I looked aweful. I felt ok but knew my form was waning as I struggled to finish without walking. The cool thing about this distance is that it's a marathon + a half marathon. Or 3 half marathons. My moving pace was 9:43 pace (6:20). And still under 10:00 pace overall (6:28) with 5 minutes at mile 30 and 3 minutes for combined water stops. I hope I can have better planning and better weather for my 64th so that I can attempt to run 64 miles. On the track in a 24-hour last year I hit 65 miles in 12-hours so I think I can do it with the right mental state of mind. I think in order for that to happen, I need to allow myself to walk - I tend to not do that when doing my birthday runs. I'm trying not to get old as I age.

11/11: Stinger all comers track 24-hour (50.75 offically) (9:48) ~ 50 mile split 9:19:41

ultra #250

I was hoping for another good 24 hour. Unfortunately, I failed mentally on this one. To be fair, I did start out travelling on the day of the record setting snow fall for Anchorage. As I normally do, I purchased my airline tickets months beforehand. I thought I'd be smart and leave on Thursday in the morning (rather than a red eye as I normally do). Well we got so much snow that, even though I left way early to make the flight, the flight of course was delayed. I knew that we would get out of Anchorage because they don't shut down that airport for anything. They just delay and wait for openings in the weather pattern. I'm having trouble trying to recall the details as I don't really want to relive this experience ~ too depressing. We left over an hour late which meant that I would miss my connection in Seattle. No problem, there was another flight leaving at midnight to ATL; WRONG! That one was full so I got booked on the next available flight to ATL a 6am on Friday. Also, I was told that if I wanted my luggage, it would take up to 4 hours. That meant that I would be staying in the SEATAC airport for 13 hours. Oh, I could have gotten a hotel close to the airport without my luggage, but I just didn't think it was worth the back and forth stress. Long story short, I spent the night sleeping on the floor near the gate I was to leave at in the AM. I got maybe 4 hours of poor-interupted sleep and could not sleep on the flight. I met my buddy Dave at the airport and we were able to get our rental car pretty quickly. Hotel 90 minutes away (Friday night traffic); we had time enough to go to the local WalMart to get some cheap lawn chairs, food, and other supplies we might need for the race. Then we changed and headed out to the pizza place where a few other racers would meet us. Since I normally fast and don't eat airplane food, the evening meal was my breakfast. I pretty much swallowed whole my pepperoni calzone. Good meal and good discussion then back to the hotel to get a good night's sleep - finaly! I told Dave I was thinking of switching to the 12 hour race; which you can do before you start. He talked me into staying in the 24-hour race which was a mistake. I think I would have stuck with the run for 12 hours and tried to hit 100K if I had gone with my instincts. Anyway, good sleep and we headed to the start of the race which was only about 2 miles from the hotel. It was raining when we got there and raining the entire time. Dave and I found a place away from the track to put our chairs and gear out of the rain. It wasn't ideal as we would do extra mileage each time we had to get food or gear. I started out at my normal 9:30-10 pace and actually felt quite good. I was cruising through 50K and didn't start having trouble until 40 miles or so. That was a bit early for my usual low point in a 100/24-hour race but not out of the norm. The weather was not improving and my back started bothering me so I spent the next 10 miles rationalizing in my head why I should be out there (or rather, why I should call 50 miles good). I went off the track a little beyond 50 miles and took a nap in a heated building close by. I would decide after that what to do. I was unable to sleep and my back was not improving; probably because I couldn't relax. After a couple hours of fighting it, and seeing that the rain had not abated, I decided I was done with this race. I went back to the hotel and told Dave I'd pick him up in the AM. While my race was a shamble, the 50 miles didn't hurt me physically but mentally it was worse than my DNF at the Susitna 100M in February. I go to these races, as I've stated, to do what I love "run" and be social with like minded folks. I tried to call this a win in the 2nd category as I did spend a lot of quality time with my "timed races" running friends. I'm likely going to skip this race next year. It's beginning to get too tough for me to travel to the east coast in such a quick turn around. My way of saying I'm getting too old for this stuff.

             

2022 Susitna 100M Race Report

 

Wow so Susitna 100M! I have not been successful in getting past mile 62 (Eagle Quest) in my last two attempts at this race (2017 and 2020). The location of Eagle Quest makes it easy to drop. This year, EQ was not available and an alternate check point at the Willow Community Center (mile 68) would be the point to get past mentally. I didn't feel trained as well as I was hoping for coming into winter racing. There were a few planned training runs that didn't happen for various reasons. The last one coming in the form of a COVID interruption 3 weeks out. 

COVID Note/Healthy Practices

I care very much about my physical health; maybe too much. I have worked most of my life to keep in shape, running my first marathon at age 15 and continuing to run and workout since then. I quit drinking alcohol 30 years ago and have been blessed to not have gotten hooked on tobacco or any drugs. In the last 10 years I've worked a lot on improving my diet; especially in the past 4 years where I have given up diet sodas, sugar substitutes and now sugar as much as possible. I am now on a low carb, high protein and good fat diet. Lastly, at the beginning of COVID I started doing intermittent fasting in the form of Time Restricted Eating daily (first meal at 2pm, last meal at 7pm for a 19 hour fast). I feel like I am as healthy as I can be and have enjoyed great results racing using this technique. See this link if you are interested in autophagy:  Autophagy

I'm taking a digression here to note that I have not gotten a shot for COVID. I'm not judging anyone who has nor giving an opinion on whether anyone should or should not get the shot. Nor am I asking for advice on the same. I'm noting this to keep the record straight as most of us like to use anecdotes. I want people to know that I made a very educated and heavily researched decision not to take the shot at this time. My health risk to an adverse reaction to COVID is extremely low in my estimation so I am taking the wait and see approach for now.  

Continuing...I had planned to run a 40 miler with B. Wood that Saturday (Jan 29th, his 40th birthday) but spent most of Friday night coughing and not sleeping much. It felt like I had allergies with tons of drainage. I ended up sleeping-in and then running a slow 15 miler later in the day followed by 10 miles on Sunday. I continued to run daily while monitoring my oxygen level and temperature multiple times a day. Oxygen because I have asthma and then my temperature as another check to ensure that it was ok for me to run. They both were pretty steady at 98 (98% and 98F) so I treated it like I would if I had the flu. That is,  if I don't have a fever, ok to run. The following Thursday while working (I sit in front of a computer screen all day), I started getting progressively more nauseous. It finally got so bad that I couldn't look at the screen without feeling like I was going to vomit. I did vomit profusely three times that afternoon and evening. In retrospect, I had something that felt like vertigo. I rested that evening, no run, and tried to work again Friday morning. That failed after a couple of hours, so I took the rest of the day off from work; and no running again. Saturday I was slightly nauseous but able to run a slow 15 miler after eating a few saltines before I started. I took Sunday off for more rest then got back to my normal running by Monday. I'll also not that I did need more sleep to recover than normal this week. The next weekend was the last Saturday before race weekend. I ran 18.5 miles in 4-6" of snow, pulling sled, at Knik. That went well so I ran a 10 miler on Sunday. I ran every day until Friday when I opted for Quinn's Massage instead of a run. My hips were tight which affect my quads. That was a good decision as I had no troubles on race day.

The last week before the race the weather went to heck. It got warm and with so much snow that we had in January and February so far, the slush that was left behind and overflow on the course prompted the SU100 race directors to revise the course. On Thursday night, the course was set to be a double out and back on flat and packed trails. Then late on Friday, it was determined that the course needed to change again due to the overflow. It was changed to a double out and back (40 miles each out and back) plus another 20 mile out and back for 100 miles. 

The Race

Happy Trails Kennel ~ race start

Since we now were going to do two out-n-back 40 milers and one out-n-back 20 miler, on a purported "flat hard packed course," I was very hopeful. Note that in retrospect, the race course was short so 20 miles, 40 miles and 10 miles were the given mileages and I'll use those to make the reporting easier. I'm estimating that the 20 miles was actually 18.5 miles, so the 40 mile loops were actually 37, 10 was actually 9, so the 20 mile loop was actually 18. So with 2 out and back 40s (74 miles), and 1 out and back 20 (18 miles), the race was like 92 miles in total. 

My original plan was to wait in the back of the pack for the race to start and go out easy. I would either stay there or slowly move up depending on the trail conditions and my actual fitness. I went into the race fasted and had no intention of eating before I got hungry; likely some time in the afternoon. For shoes, I ended up putting on my Icebugs for the race since it was warm and the part of the course I could see was hard packed; even ice in places. So by the time I changed my shoes the race had started. I slowly caught folks and talked with some as I eased into the race. I tried to slow and talk with other racers because I really needed to catch up with a lot of people, having not seen some in 2 years. That also kept me at a reasonable pace. I continued on passing people until I was alone in front of a group and could see more runners way off in the distance. That of course caused me to want to catch up to the next group. I still was not running too hard and took quite a while to gain on others. Eventually I could see Marty Lindeke who has a tremendous walking pace; he has such long legs. He said he thought we were just beyond the old Hunter CP which was normally the last CP in the course; so maybe 9-10 miles out. We continued on together for a while and chatted though it was difficult to keep up with him at his walking pace. I had to run, which was faster than his walk; so we eventually separated. I'd estimate that I was at about mile 12 by this point. I mostly ran solo from here until the 20 mile turn around. Heading towards the first CP I saw Allen Spangler leading. He was followed by Joe Davis then Jacob Berra and another guy I did not recognize. I also never saw this guy again so I think he dropped at 40. About a mile ahead of me were Laura and Teri Buck. There was another woman ahead of me but I didn't see her on the turn. I knew Brandon was ahead of me and sure enough he was in the CP when I got there. I gave the volunteers my number and left with Brandon. We ran together for about 8-9 miles from there. 

With Brandon @ mile 29

wearing Icebugs

photo credit: Kari Konrath-Berra

The heat caught up to him and he began to slow. I figured he would catch up to me later as it cooled off. At this point I was in 6th place. The aforementioned woman caught me before mile 30 and we went back and forth for a couple of miles. Heading from 35 to 40 miles, I went by many 50K runners (mostly they were passing me) and lost track of the lady behind me.  I saw Joe first then Laura coming back towards me and I'd estimate I was 3 miles back. At the 40 CP (HTK) I took time to change out of my Icebugs and into my Mountrail trail shoes. I also changed my wet socks (not normal for me but it was convenient so why not). I left and saw Brandon coming in as I was leaving. 

@ Mile 45

wearing Montrails

photo credit: Kari Konrath-Berra 

At about mile 45 I ate my first solid food; 3 sausages. Yum! They tasted great but soon I was regretting the greasy choice while pushing so hard. I had anticipated running slower, or more likely walking by this point, and didn't figure the sausages would be an issue. It wasn't too bad so I just pushed through it the best I could. I moved fast from here and caught Teri before mile 50. We left the 50 mile CP called YOLO together and I ran in front, then behind Teri all the way to Sue's CP, mile 60. We saw Laura then Joe come around a bend towards us at about 2 miles ahead of us. At the CP I saw that they had Mountain Dew. YES! I drank a couple half cups then Sue fill up a full cup for me. I saw a skier come out of the tent and while he was exiting, I saw Jacob Berra sitting in a chair; an opportunity for me to get ahead of him. I quickly filled my small water bottle and took off out of there, leaving Teri behind. Now in 4TH place, I worked to catch up to Joe and Laura. I was moving fast and felt strong. Stopped at the 70 YOLO CP but didn't see anything that looked good; settled for a chunk of dark chocolate. I continued on as best I could. At maybe 75 miles, I felt a bit hungry so I ate a GU and some salami discs, not wanting to have stomach issues from the sausages. I walked a bit so that I could eat more. Feeling good I started running again. I kept expecting to see either Laura and/or Joe coming back to me but never did. As I started up the hill before the HTK CP (mile 80) I saw a yellow headlamp. That was Laura coming down; I had almost caught up to her. I headed into the CP, grabbed water and headed out immediately. I assumed that Joe was inside. I was now in 3rd place and was going after Laura. This lasted maybe a mile where I started a slow crash and burn. I wasn't bonking nor were my legs giving out. And my back was still good (I was worried about having back issues late in the race as with my last 2, 100 milers). Instead, my neck was getting sore. The pain from my neck made it difficult to run. I tried to run then when I couldn't handle it anymore, I would walk as fast as possible. I would continued this to the YOLO CP, and final turn around. Laura had put some distance on me but not a whole lot. As she passed by she said, "Pick it up Tony." I was confused for a second until I turned and saw a headlamp behind me. "That's got to be Brandon!" It was. He passed by quickly. He was working on a sled malfunction at the CP when I got there. We both left but there was no keeping up with him. Now back in 4th, I was determined to walk as fast as I could to stay ahead of Jacob as well as to try to stay under 24 hours. As I passed Jacob heading out, Joe was right behind him. So now, I need to stay even more focused, maybe try to run some, to stay ahead of them both. Teri followed soon after and I tried not to let that get to me mentally. I tried to run but could not. My neck was so sore from craning (shining my headlamp and looking down at my feet so I wouldn't fall) and my neck muscles just gave out. This was a first for me. Even so, I wasn't going to let it get the best of me. I had plenty of energy; my legs were still strong; and could walk fast as the trail was hard packed. The pain was hard to ignore so I tried different things. First I put my fist under my chin to prop up my head. That felt really good but I couldn't walk as fast and definitely could not run. So those "head lifts" were short lived. I continued to throw some in to give me relief which helped a lot. Next I thought I could pull my head up from the back using my pony tail. That felt even better but slowed me even more. I switched between head lifts, pony pulls and just letting my head hang, the rest of the way back. I couldn't believe how long it took for Jacob to catch me but catch me he did, about 4 miles out from the finish. Now, just keep doing what I'm doing. I can't really react to anyone passing me so I would have to do the best I could. FINALLY heading up the last hill into the finish, I tried to put in a jog on the last stretch but it was futile. Then in a moment I was done! And in 23:15. I did it. Granted, it was probably 92 miles at most but I think I could have done 8-10 miles more and finished under 26 hours. I'll call that a PR as my old Susitna PR was about 32 hours. I'm super happy with my performance and willingness not to give up. I am also glad that COVID didn't get the best of me. I have heard differing experiences from other healthy runners (good and bad) and wasn't sure how my body would react. The only thing I noticed during the race was some coughing from drainage that I sometimes get from my asthma, so I'm not sure that was left over from COVID or not. 

It was fun doing the out and backs. I enjoy these kinds of races where I can not only see my competition but everyone on the course. I never see the bikes outside the start as the are just gone in a flash. This time I saw most of them 5 times. While we got in each others' way a bit, I loved it and was happy to slow, stop and even step off the trail if I had to. The skiers were great too. Everyone was so encouraging, shouting "Good job," or "Nice work," all day. I'm likely in the minority here but I would love to have the course be multiple out an backs. The experience for me is much, much better. Barring that, I would love to return to running on the SU and Yentna rivers rather than on snow machine trails. Those are too difficult for me.

Relaxing Monday morning

Bedtime Sunday night

Wakey-wakey

A day of rest and back at it today (2/22/22) running, albeit slowly, a 4 miler at lunch. Next up: 100 miles over 4 days next weekend as I travel from Deshka Landing on the SU to the Yentna. I will be joining the "Men' Fellowship Ride" to Northwoods Lodge. This is a group of men from Church who will be snow machining out to Northwoods. I'll leave mid-day Friday and head to Yentna Station for the night; then continue on Saturday morning to Northwoods lodge. I'm really looking forward to the trip to both fellowship with other men but also as I have never been to Northwoods. 

2021 Running, Racing and TRE Induced Autophagy

 As I continue running in my "old age," I am becoming more and more content just running. Whereas I still love to race, I have fun with my ultra distance training runs. I especially love runs with my wife which usually occur during the winter months; and we are usually pulling our sleds behind us in the snow of the Alaska wilderness. This year was no different as we went on a trip to Yentna (Jan 1st) from Deshka Landing and back (Jan 2nd), running a 50K each way, celebrating our 11th anniversary on the return trip. We took another trip in February from Deshka to Yentna and on to Skwentna, then back, running a 50K each day for 4 days. No winter racing this year however. Hopefully that will change in 2022. 

In March I ran my first road 50K training run. When I was about 20 miles in, my wife called and said that the river near our home looked like it might be frozen enough to travel on. We've lived in our home near the Knik River for 8 years and have been wanting to go to the Knik Glacier from our front door (a 50 mile round trip). She wanted to go the next day. "Sure," says I, "I still want to finish my 50K though." "Well of course," says she. That was a cool adventure; a bit dodgy at times with open leads here and there. But the sun was out later in the morning and through the afternoon and evening when we finished. A few weeks later, I had planned on running another 50K training run but we had gotten hit with 8" of fresh snow over night. I really didn't want to run in soft snow at this point of the year and ended up running my first ultra on a treadmill (50K @9:02 pace).

My training for summer races started in earnest at the end of March. I was back to my "faster" daily and long runs, gaining my confidence and speed after trudging slowly in the snow all winter. I also noted that I started with 2 pairs of new road shoes starting on May 1st and had put close to 2,000 miles on them over the next 6 months. They're certainly broken in by now. I ran several 50K-ish training runs between March and end of May, hitting the marathon split on 7 of those at just under 4 hours. I also ran a 50K at 8:56 pace on June 5th. 2 weeks later, I ran my first race of the year. I don't do taper. 

This year I raced 3 marathons and 3 ultras. All of these duirng the summer months. Even so, I was able to average a ton of miles from January through July, finally turning down the volume in August. Last year after bumping up my mileage to 300 per month starting in May, and being able to keep that through the end of the year, I decided to give myself a goal of averaging 300 per month for 2021. If I could accomplish that, this would be the most miles for a year in my entire life. I didn't really start tracking my miles electronically until I embraced Run Keeper on my iPhone late in 2013. I mostly hadn't worn a watch at all since the mid-1980s. I did try a few watches for a very short period of time but got frustrated with their inaccuracies, settling for marking my routes with my car and looking at the clock when I started/finished. I finally settled this year on an Apple watch. While it's not super accurate, it's good enough for my daily runs. I mostly got that watch so that I didn't have to carry my phone during my daily runs. I also purchased a COROS watch which I like but have only used for ultra races. It worked well for my one trail 100 miler and sufficient battery life for my 2 double-marathons.  

Another aspect of my 2021 running has been my diet. Last year I started practicing intermittent fasting or time restricted eating (TRE) without knowing what it was called. I spent a lot of this year doing research on it to better understand the effects of autophagy and the benefits of the same. I have been pretty consistently on a 19/5 fast/eat schedule since BOC (beginning of COVID). And although I've not spent any time researching keto diets, I am tending towards a high protein, high fat, low carb diet (aka keto). See below where I've outline the benefits of autophagy. I also monitored my racing with this diet to see if there were any adverse affects or reduced performance. 

Here is a summary of my 2021 running 

Mileage - 3,600 mile goal hit 12/10/2021 

Peak Mileage before finally going under 300 miles per month for 15 months 

• May     - 417.7
• June    - 371.5
• July    - 438.5
• Aug    - 268.6 

Training Mileage (long runs ~ anything over 25 miles)

• 30-ish milers - 16 
• 37-ish milers - 2 
• 50-ish milers - 2
• 26.2 milers - 2 and both run with a real marathon (aka double-marathon)

Races (all started in a fasted state. Black coffee and water only)

• June 19th - 24 hours in the Dome (103.7 miles)
•  Ran with Dave. Flew to St Louis then drove to Milwaukee with Andrea and Miles.
• ace was pretty good through 50 miles. Started to slow badly at 70+. Relegated to walk after about 75 miles. 
• July 10th - Hatcher Pass Marathon 4:48 (after 4:15 downhill marathon before the race) DOUBLE marathon
• Started pre-race marathon at 1:30am. 1 hour 15 minutes rest before the start
• July 30th - ResPass 100M 25:54 
• Was on 22 hour pace through 70+ miles. Slowed to a walk due to back pain after 80 miles or so where I relinquished the lead. Came into the finish with Teri Buck to tie for 2nd OA and first dude. 
• August 6th - Arc Angel Marathon 4:19 (after 5:20 uphill marathon before the race) DOUBLE marathon
• One week after the 100M, started pre-race marathon at 12:30am. Ate food, changed to dry clothes, slept 45 minutes. Woke up 15 minutes before the race.
• August 22nd - United 49K (30.4M) 4:23, 8:40 pace (first place super old guy) 
• Two weeks after last double marathon, pre-race 4 mile run to warm up. Legs had no umpf after 18 miles (probably could have used more pre-race carbs for this race)
• September 26th - Kenai Marathon 3:59 (still overcoming back issues)
• Back issues for most of September continued through this marathon. Started out quick then really slowed after about 18 miles. Energy was good but back restricted my stride.

Races Details

I ran the 24 hour event of the 6 days in the Dome race held in Milwaukee, WI on June 19th. It was a fun trip to visit Dave, Andrea and Miles in Missouri. Since I could, I brought plenty of clothes to go from short sleeve shirt to super warm clothes during the race. I tend to get cold in the last stages of this type of race. My race was a bit disappointing to me. My main goal was to be out on the track the entire 24 hours and hit 100 miles. I thought I was in shape to run between 115 and 120 miles but that wasn't to be. I was able to run for about 75 miles before my tight legs, and in-turn my back started giving me issues. So I stuck to walking the rest of the race in order to get over 100 miles. All in all the experience was good. The race was put on well; I just didn't perform as hoped. It was fun hanging out with Mr. Miles, and his mom and dad. They're ok too. 3 weeks until next race.

Photo credit: Mark Mccaslin

Los Dudes

As has become tradition, I ran the Hatcher Pass marathon in the reverse direction, finish to start line, before running the race. I had planned to start at 1am but left later than planned. Kate Evans was already running over the pass as I was driving in the other direction. Stephen Peterson was patiently waiting for me at the finish line to start. I ended up running about 10 miles with Steve before deciding to try and catch up to Kate. I was moving too fast for Steve for his first long run in a while so I wasn't being helpful. I pushed myself pretty hard the rest of the way, finally catching up to Kate right before reaching the race start. Thankfully I had over an hour to eat and rest as 4:15 was a bit fast for a pre-marathon marathon. The weather was good so I figured I could walk a lot of the uphill anyway if I needed to, and just enjoy the day. As it turned out, I had a pretty good uphill race too. Expecting to run it in about 5:30-6 hours, I was surprised to be able to run under 4:50. Fun day! . 2 weeks until next race.

Triple-Double

(Kate Evans, tc, Stephen Peterson)

 

ResPass 100M - see post  ResPass100M

For Arc Angel (the reverse of Hatcher Pass), I again ran a double. I wasn't sure what I was going to run as the 100 miler was just the week prior. But my recovery went pretty good and I made the final decision Friday afternoon that I would run the double. This time I would be alone and it would be dark for most of the first marathon. Pitch black and cold I started up the Hatcher Pass road having started by 12:30am. I had hoped that starting at that time would give me enough time to get there and change clothes before the race start. My legs were good for the most part; not spunky but also not tired or achy. By 16 miles or so I was hating life. It was cold and rainy and I could see that it was foggy on the pass. As I approached the pass (mile 19-20) I had mentally decided to DNS (not start) the race. I would just climb into someone's car and catch a ride back down the road to my car. It was a bit scary going over the pass in the fog as there were some cars heading my way and I wasn't sure if they could see me. I clung to the mountain side edge of the road and picked up the paced as much as I could; partly to get warm and partly to get through the fog without getting hit. I made it over the top and had to run down some before I could actually see that parking lot where the start would be. As planned, I went through the start and then behind a building where I had stashed a garbage bag with my clothes. I came back and race director Natalie Bickers offered her warm car to me. The heat was on so I changed my shirt and ate my food quickly. Natalie brought me a blanket and I immediately fell asleep. I don't recall how I woke up but the 45 minute or so nap felt good and I was ready to get back out for the race. I was still a bit tentative because it could be a long day of slow running and walking on a miserable weather day. As it turned out, I ran well over the pass and down the road and the day turn out to be not so bad after all. I started passing people after the half way point and finished with a decent marathon (about 4:19, just under 10 minute pace). Super happy to have started, then finish the race feeling healthy (no tweekiness). 2 weeks until next race. 

Teri Buck can't wait to start!

My last goal race on my schedule was the 49K (30.4 miles) that was 2 weeks after Arc Angel. I was hoping to be rested enough to be able to actually race this event (as opposed for just going for the finish). Half way through my commute to the race I realized that I had forgotten a watch. Annoyed but realizing I had been watch-less for years, I convinced myself it didn't matter. It was actually probably a good thing because I do well to run by feel and I wouldn't be tempted to look at my pace during the race. I started out what felt to me like a slow pace; in retrospect, I had started out at about an 8:20 pace. It was a comfortable pace yet at about 17/18 miles into it I had no energy or bounciness in my legs. I had taken my second GU by then but it didn't seem to be having any affect ~ DAMN YOU CARBS. This was the race where I should have done some carb loading; it was too late to do anything about it. I focused on moving forward, backing the pace off a bit. I wasn't hurting and just felt like my legs were numb. My primary goal was to win my age division (over 60) and my secondary goal was to run under 4:30 (sub-9:00 minute pace). The marathoners started 30 minutes after the ultra did so I looked for the 4 hour pace group on the out and back sections. All I needed to do was to stay ahead of them to be under 4:30. As it turned out, I was quite a bit ahead on that last out and back. I started to feel better after 22 or so miles. As I passed by what I figured was the marathon point I asked another runner I was passing what time it was. From that I figured I ran about a 3:48 marathon split. I picked it up at that point and ran pretty well to the finish. My time of 4:23 (8:40 pace overall) was within 90 seconds of my best time on the course so I was very pleased. That earned me 1st place in my age group (60-64) and Grand Master Champion (over 60). 

Grand Master t

Not really excited about it, I had signed up for the Kenai Marathon which is held the last Sunday of September every year. I had hurt my back pretty badly at the beginning of the month; tight legs as always, self-induced stress (worrying about something I had no control over), topped off with moving some heavy boxes put me in an uncomfortable situation. I wasn't able to sit, stand or lay down comfortably and ended up in the emergency room on Labor Day to get some muscle relaxers. I took off 5 days from running which was the most I had done in a bunch of years. Probably since my injury after a 100 miler in 2012. Anyway, I started up running again the next week and really hadn't trained well before the race. I almost didn't go but had made arrangements with a friend (Rob Deadmond) to share a ride. It would also be my 100th road marathon finish; that is, if I could get to the finish line. Ironically, it took me from January 1976 when I ran my first marathon at age 15 to September of this year, a week before my 61st birthday to reach 100. Whereas, I have run 239 official ultra marathons in just over 23 years. Guess I found my niche. It was pretty cold on the day of the race. I got up early and ran 4 miles before the race to get my bowels working. No dice! I'd have to hit the porta-potty at mile 6 in the race. The start was quick which was weather aided (we all needed to warm up). I started out fast again, 8:20s and was feeling pretty good through about 10 miles. Nothing really hurt but I could feel my stride shortening and knew I would just have to do the best I could to finish. I did pass one running before the 12 mile mark and was hoping to hit that port-potty as the 6 mile didn't happen. The guy right ahead of me ducked in and I didn't want to wait. As luck would have it, there I spotted a porta-potty in a park just a half mile later. I stopped there and all was well. The person I had passed was now ahead of me again but I caught her pretty quickly. On the 17 mile hill (not much of a hill but the only one on this flat course) I could see the next guy. I caught him at the top of the hill and easily went by him. I had caught another before mile 20 walking a small hill. Even though I was slowing, I was not being passed by anyone and the next person ahead of me was miles ahead. Another couple of miles later another lady passed by me. No one else behind me at this point, I struggled to finish under the 4 hour mark. I felt silly since I had run several training run of 30 miles or more hitting the marathon split under 4 hours. Not a pretty race but fun none the less. It was a cool but sunny day and I loved every minute of it. The drive back with Rob was fantastic as we talked most of the way, getting to know one another. 

Diet Stuff

Health Benefits of Autophagy 1. Supports youth 2. Fights age-related diseases 3. Promotes heart health 4. Promotes smoother, healthier skin 5. Boosts metabolism 6. Offers protection against neurodegenerative diseases (dementia for example) 7. Improves muscle performance 8. Fights inflammation (this is a huge benefit) 9. Promotes brain health 10. Supports weight-loss 11. Helps defend against cancer 12. Helps increase energy (energy is high and don't get hungry) 13. Protects against mental disease 14. Offers anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties 15. Supports healthy aging Induce autophagy by 1. Ketogenic - to restrict glucose. Become metabolically flexible (burn fat when no glucose is present; AND be able to burn glucose as necessary) 2. Intermittent Fasting (16/8) - I go 19/5 (fast 7pm-2pm/eat 2-7pm) - sleep 9:30pm-5:30a (between 7-8 hours) 3. Moderate Exercise - 2.5 hours a week. I do about 12-15 hours of running a week 4. Autophagy Foods - high quality natural fats instead of carbs Modulate aging via autophagy