I’ve run three marathons since my last post: the Teton Dam Marathon (again), the North Country Trail Marathon (Manistee, Michigan), and the Golden Hills Trail Marathon, (Berkeley, CA). The month before the Teton Dam Marathon, I was travelling through Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize with a group of students so it was difficult to train regularly, and the heat and humidity were killers, but the scenery made up for it—rain forests, pristine beaches, volcanoes, Maya villages, and Mexico City’s Chapultapec Park.
My last marathon of the year was my hardest yet: The Golden Hills Trail Marathon. I knew it was hilly, so I trained on hills, but even that was not enough to prepare me for the difficulty of this course. It is literally up and down the whole way on a rugged trail, some hills so steep you have to walk them. But the redwoods were inspiring and the views of the bay. Still, I pooped out by the end and had to walk off-and-on for the last few miles to keep from cramping. I finished 15th overall in 4:25, my slowest marathon time yet. I stayed with my sister, and her hubby took me to the wharf and Golden Gate Bridge after the race. I also won a small four wheeler at a raffle. I ended up renting a pickup and driving back instead of flying. The kids were excited about the four wheeler and had a good time driving it around the back yard for the next few weeks before the snow came.
The Golden Hills Trail race was good preparation for hunting season. I hiked all over Idaho with my boys trying to fill a general deer tag, but had no luck. On a whim, I bought my first spike elk tag and harvested this beauty the same week.
After the Mesoamerica Tour in the spring, two fall marathon weekends, hunting season, and a work-related trip to Egypt and Israel for two weeks right before Christmas, I decided to take a break from travelling during the winter (i.e., I was in the doghouse). Maybe towards the end of the summer or this fall I’ll try to run a few new states. In the mean time, I’ve been training to run the SLC marathon with my brother (it’s his first, and he’s lost like 30 pounds training!) And then I’ll run the Teton Dam again. My “barefoot form” is going great. I’ve been training hard in my crappy old shoes with no injuries and quick recoveries. If I could only eat right consistently I’d be lighter and faster, but have you tried those new Reese’s Peanut-Butter Cup Minis? Yum.
As soon as I returned from the trip, I put in a 20 miler and trained consistently until the race. Race day came with a terrible wind, but mostly at our backs, which helped push me up Summer’s Hill and finish in 10th place overall with a PR for that course (3:27). The new race directors changed the course (again) which eliminated some of the hills at the beginning and made it easier than any of the previous versions of the course.
In July I cracked some ribs while I was waterskiing and ended up not running for about a month (not waterskiing either which was a bummer). But gradually my ability to breathe deeply without pain returned and I returned to running. I prepared for the North Country Trail Marathon. It was the first time I went to run a marathon solely for the sake of checking it off my 50 states list; what I mean is that the only thing that took me to Michigan was the race since I have no friends or family there and my wife didn’t go with me. I simply caught a plane on Friday morning, rented a car at the airport, drove to the Manistee National Forest, checked in for the race, set up my tent, went to town for some dinner and site seeing (I’d never seen any of the Great Lakes before), and then returned to my camp and slept in my tent. In the morning, I ran the race, which was a beautiful, winding, leaf-covered trail through the woods. My Garmin couldn’t get reception for most of the race, which created a nice primitive feel of simply running through the trees. At about mile 20 I tripped on a root and landed face first. A little delirious after my fall, I took a wrong turn for about .5 miles, but realized my error and returned to the course. I finished in 3:56 and took first in my division. Due to some complications, we waited forEVER for the results, and then I started another race: rental car race to the airport to catch my flight. After some insane driving, I arrived about 20 minutes before my flight was scheduled to leave only to find out it had been delayed an hour. Whew. Too much racing in one day. But it was nothing compared to the people who did the same course TWICE (North Country Trail Ultra 50 Miler) and sprinted to a photo finish. Insane.
In July I cracked some ribs while I was waterskiing and ended up not running for about a month (not waterskiing either which was a bummer). But gradually my ability to breathe deeply without pain returned and I returned to running. I prepared for the North Country Trail Marathon. It was the first time I went to run a marathon solely for the sake of checking it off my 50 states list; what I mean is that the only thing that took me to Michigan was the race since I have no friends or family there and my wife didn’t go with me. I simply caught a plane on Friday morning, rented a car at the airport, drove to the Manistee National Forest, checked in for the race, set up my tent, went to town for some dinner and site seeing (I’d never seen any of the Great Lakes before), and then returned to my camp and slept in my tent. In the morning, I ran the race, which was a beautiful, winding, leaf-covered trail through the woods. My Garmin couldn’t get reception for most of the race, which created a nice primitive feel of simply running through the trees. At about mile 20 I tripped on a root and landed face first. A little delirious after my fall, I took a wrong turn for about .5 miles, but realized my error and returned to the course. I finished in 3:56 and took first in my division. Due to some complications, we waited forEVER for the results, and then I started another race: rental car race to the airport to catch my flight. After some insane driving, I arrived about 20 minutes before my flight was scheduled to leave only to find out it had been delayed an hour. Whew. Too much racing in one day. But it was nothing compared to the people who did the same course TWICE (North Country Trail Ultra 50 Miler) and sprinted to a photo finish. Insane.
My last marathon of the year was my hardest yet: The Golden Hills Trail Marathon. I knew it was hilly, so I trained on hills, but even that was not enough to prepare me for the difficulty of this course. It is literally up and down the whole way on a rugged trail, some hills so steep you have to walk them. But the redwoods were inspiring and the views of the bay. Still, I pooped out by the end and had to walk off-and-on for the last few miles to keep from cramping. I finished 15th overall in 4:25, my slowest marathon time yet. I stayed with my sister, and her hubby took me to the wharf and Golden Gate Bridge after the race. I also won a small four wheeler at a raffle. I ended up renting a pickup and driving back instead of flying. The kids were excited about the four wheeler and had a good time driving it around the back yard for the next few weeks before the snow came.
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| Golden Gate Bridge |
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| San Fran Bay |
After the Mesoamerica Tour in the spring, two fall marathon weekends, hunting season, and a work-related trip to Egypt and Israel for two weeks right before Christmas, I decided to take a break from travelling during the winter (i.e., I was in the doghouse). Maybe towards the end of the summer or this fall I’ll try to run a few new states. In the mean time, I’ve been training to run the SLC marathon with my brother (it’s his first, and he’s lost like 30 pounds training!) And then I’ll run the Teton Dam again. My “barefoot form” is going great. I’ve been training hard in my crappy old shoes with no injuries and quick recoveries. If I could only eat right consistently I’d be lighter and faster, but have you tried those new Reese’s Peanut-Butter Cup Minis? Yum.
