The "Official" Runners thread...

congrats! my first sub 2 was 1:59:59!


im trying to force myself back into distance after a reaaaaaally long break due to work. half last saturday (which was the worst EVER! -talk about boring and WINDY in the desert) and a half this sunday in brazil... lets see if i can actually manage to reach 50mi by december

 

Sorry to hear.

I had back to back spartan races last weekend. 9.8 miles on saturday. 4.8 on sunday. I hurt my IT band with about 100 yards to go on sunday...pretty irritating.

This was from Saturday

Im on the right with my wife in the middle

 

I run to eat and I eat to run. This is too funny not to share.

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/running2


Im currently training for my first real half marathon thats the end of august. 3 days of fun for the Hotter n hell hundred: mountain bike race that friday, road bike race on sat and the trail race on sunday.

Last year I did the 10k so I thought I should step up this year and do the half

 

I'm pretty close to 100% now Ran the Pengelly Double Dip two weekends ago- a long (and tough) 1/2 mountain marathon, I was about 14 minutes off of my time last year (about a minute/mile)- my fitness is still behind where it needs to be (but getting better)

last weekend did a 16 mile run in the Gates of the Mountain Wilderness- lots of elevation gain, tough (but very pretty) run

tomorrow headed into the mountains for a 20 mile run (and a boat load of elevation)

few pics from last weekend

 

Holy crap that comic completely describes why I run. It's hysterical. Thanks for sharing.

 

Nice work on the Spartan Race. I have my first of the year coming up in a couple weeks. The Edmonton 'Sprint' Spartan. I'm set to do 4 this summer (possibly a 5th). 2 Sprints (with a possible 3rd), a Super, and Beast. Fun times!!

 

Glad to hear that you are feeling better and running again!

 

My wife and I went up to the wichita mountains in southern oklahoma and ran some of their hiking trails. We had a blast.

 

^ looks nice

our run two weekends ago- 22 miles and over 5000' of gain, we hit quite a bit of snow and there were lots of trees that were over from snow load- made a difficult run, even more difficult

 

^^^^^Some amazing shots!!!


Did the first Spartan for 2014 this past Saturday. It was the Edmonton (Alberta) 'Sprint'. Most mud EVER for a Spartan so far. There was a crazy rain storm the night before - and the course was almost mud from beginning to end (which was a ton of fun). A few of us ran as a group - and caught up to several folks from earlier 'Heats' - but we still managed to finish within the top 20%. A total riot - especially with all the mud.

Here's a shot of me and my friend Chuck (I'm on the left - with my Batman shirt).

 

^right on man. glad you enjoyed it. My next and last mud run will be the dallas beast in November. Im about to start training for an ultra I think


Ill be doing my first night trail run Tuesday night with a group. Should be interesting.

 

be careful, once you get the ultra bug........

from this weekend, 18 miles, 6000' of elevation, major deep snow in the timber, mucho rock scrambling, mountain goats, all good

 

Beautiful scenery as always, Mike!

 

and i thought i had it bad. shit.

hip replacements aint no thang though. youll be up and walking pretty quickly and depending on your age might even find a respectable pace for distance after you heal. good luck!

 

That post was from 2 years ago

 

The Devil's Backbone is what some call the Gallatin Range crest near Bozeman. A stunning route that stays above 9500' for the majority of it. They hold a 50 mile race each year, an out & back of 25 miles w/ thousands of feet of elevation gain (and loss), unsupported and unmarked- touted as one of the toughest 50 milers in the nation. Fortunately for mortals, they offer a relay option where two runners complete 25 miles and have your time added together- this is the route I opted for. My partner for the race was forced to pull out at the last minute, but there was a fellow from TX who originally signed up for the 50 miler, but changed his mind. So we teamed up together.

For most of the runners, the start is in Hyalite Canyon, the turnaround is the Windy Pass cabin (8900')- 25 miles down the trail. For relay runners you can start at either end, we opted for Windy Pass. Starting at Windy Pass adds 2 miles and ~ 2000' of elevation gain, we also volunteered to haul water up to the cabin- it's the only aid station. After climbing those two miles and hauling 16 lbs of water, we were already a little tuckered and we hadn't even started

The run was tougher than I thought (a reoccurring theme w/ me!), but the vistas were well worth the sweat and effort. There were a few dicey sections w/ steep snow and if you weren't paying close attention to the maps, you could easily go off course- a very scary proposition as this is all wilderness as far as the eye can see. I hit a rough patch about 15-ish miles in that Grady helped get me through, as it turns out I was able to help him through a rough go he was having the last 6 miles. Team work!

Anywho I've already decided to enter again next year, despite the pain and suffering, the thrill of being in such beautiful and wild country outweighs a little suffering

Windy Pass cabin (the Forest Service rents the cabin- would be great to base camp out of!)



Grady kicking it down the trail



looking back towards Windy Pass



lots of up and down









Hyalite Peak (just 7 miles to go!)



there were dozens of spectacular waterfalls as we made our way down the Hyalite drainage



a little worse for wear, maybe Grady even a little more than me

 

You're a beast, Mike

 

^^^^^^Such amazing scenery - and great places to train!!

I'll need something like that, as I just signed up for the Ultra-Beast Spartan Race at Sun Peaks, BC. 42k up and down a mountain a few times - along with just under 60 obstacles. Good times!! haha

 

Danke- I'm very fortunate, I've got a lot of great places to run! We're heading into the Crazy Mountains Saturday for a 20-ish mile run, all good training for my Bridger Ridge run coming up in two weeks- it ate me up and spit me out two years, hoping to shave a full hour off of my time this year- we'll see

I'm signed up for the Elkhorn Race on the weekend before the Bridger Ridge- did the 50k last year, will do the 23k this year as a week isn't enough time for me to recoup, 23k should be just about right for a week out

 

Twice throughout the summer our gym does an 'on-site' Spartan Training morning. So instead of the boot-camp style training at the gym, we go out to a friend's farm, and set up a simulated course. Today was the first one of the summer.

Here's a shot of us afterwards. By the way, we're sitting in the mud-pit for this photo - haha. (I'm bottom right - in the red shirt)...