“Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.”
– Goethe

The Quad Rock is getting closer and training is coming along slowly. Too slow for my likes but what are you going to do about it? Now that I am a few years over the age of 50 I find that recovery takes a lot longer than when I was younger. Doing heavy workouts day after day can take a toll when you are 25 to say the least but when you are 53 it can be a recipe for injury. Last year was an OK year but could have been better. I did remain injury free until about the middle of August, but then I suffered an insult to my left knee. I believe it was due to over training and not enough rest. This year I am trying to train a lot smarter.

Last year’s late season injury started after a successful run at the Silver Rush 50 in Leadville. There I had improved my time by one and half hours in the 50 mile distance. For me that was huge. Riding on the euphoria from this race, I was really looking forward to another successful run at the Run Rabbit Run in September at Steamboat Spring. I took about 10 days off after the Silver Rush and was feeling pretty good when I started back training. This was around the first of August. After the personnel best at the Silver Rush, I really wanted to nail the RRR. So I had it in my mind that more training equals better performance and maybe that might have been true when I was 25. The reality was that I needed to train smarter, not harder.

While finishing a great trail run behind Fort Collins, I decided to push the last few miles a little harder than usual. And it was that decision coupled with a lot of running the weeks before that started the cascade. After the run my left knee hurt a little but nothing too painful. That should have been the first warning sign to back off. But did I listen to my body, nope, told myself that I needed to run the next day and besides the weather was beautiful. That next morning my knee was still hurting, so I told myself that I would still get out and run – but just make it an easy one. I told myself the same thing the next day and the next. Just do an easy run when what I really needed was rest for a few days. Not only did I not listen to the continued soreness in my knee, I was not getting a lot of sleep – telling myself that I would make it up later. The interesting thing was the knee soreness never really got any worse it just persisted – until about a week later. Well you can probably fill in the rest of the story. Sad to say but it took a good month and a half for it to heal.

So when I started training this year I wanted to do it smarter and just by chance one morning my wife told me about a new book that had just come out, called “FAST AFTER 50” by Joe Friel. Joe used to write an exercise column for the Fort Collins Coloradoan years ago when we first moved to Colorado and being an enthusiastic reader of the column back then – I immediately looked it up on Amazon. Man am I glad that I did. Since his early days in Fort Collins Joe has written and coauthored several books on training and nutrition for the endurance athlete. This new book shows that experience and the research that has taken place in the last 20 years on the older athlete. I am now into my second reading of the book and that is saying a lot. I cannot recommend this book enough. Especially if you are over the age of 50. I would even go as far as to say if you are over 30 then this book can help you. It is for all endurance athletes. Easy to read and easy to apply the principles in training.

Funny – I am not a religious man or even what you would consider a spiritual one but sometimes the “Universe” moves in strange ways. I wasn’t even looking for a new book on training, especially one for the older athlete – denial has always been one of my go to defenses against getting older. I just figured I would look through some of my older books and magazines on running, and see what I could learn and relearn about proper training. But there it was – the door opened – and just what I needed was offered up by the “Universe.” Crazy! I will keep everyone updated with how the training is going over the next several months. This year’s races are: Quad Rock in May, the Leadville 100 in August and the Run Rabbit Run September. Depending on how my training is going and how I feel I might add the Silver Rush 50 in July. But that might just be wishful thinking…. My mother had a saying when she was in her elder years: “Old age is not for Sissies” and she was right.

Well that is all for me this week. The pictures are from running the last few days. The top one is in the Running Deer Open Space looking west towards Long’s Peak, the second one is the Pelican Marsh Open Space and the third one with the Mule Deer is off of the Poudre River trail – all in the city limits of Fort Collins. Hope to see you out there!!

ONLY THOSE WHO RISK GOING TO FAR CAN POSSIBLY FIND OUT HOW FAR THEY CAN GO.
– T.S. Eliot

Why do I run Ultras? That is a good question to ask. I mean why spend hours upon hours in training, so you can run 50 to 100 miles in a single race. To be so sore the next day that you sometimes need help just getting around. What is that about? Really? Have I gone crazy? Hmmm. I came late, so to speak to the Ultra Running scene. But from about age 25 I have always had the idea to do one but never had the time. Thinking back, it might have been related to age and a single button that changed it all. The big 5-0 transformed me – there are things that you tell yourself you will get around to, but getting around to them might not ever come if you wait too long.

When I hit the half century mark I was working at a Management Job in Health Care – it was not good for me. Very long hours in a position that has been likened to: “Trying to Herd Cats.” In the process of doing this job I gained 30 pounds in two years. The eye opener came one morning when I went to button an extra-large shirt and it did not fit. I am not a large man – 5’5″. So to be wearing an extra-large shirt in the first place should have been a warning sign. But we have a tendency to rationalize things. Luckily it was that one single button, midway between the abdomen and chest that got me to pay attention. So that was it – no more “feeling like a dog chasing its tail.” Made a plan to quit the management job, revaluated priorities, decided I was going to do an Ultra. Just that simple? Of course it is never just that simple but that can wait for another story.

My first Ultra was the Run Rabbit Run at Steamboat Springs in September 2013 – the 50 miler. I was 51 years old and scared to death. I had read several books on running Ultras, surfed the web for information, and subscribed to Ultra Running Magazine. AND I had trained. But the mind wanders into dark corners. I was nervous enough that I did not sleep the night before, almost talked myself out of showing up. The only way I got myself to the starting line was taking it one small step at a time: Just get dressed, make and drink some coffee, eat a muffin, just get in the car, drive, etc…. I eventually made the start. I was actually early.

Because it is September the 50 mile race starts in the dark. And if you are slow enough like me, it finishes in the dark. The day before the event – the race director Fred Abramowitz had a pre-race briefing. The one thing he said that stuck in my mind was “For you first timers, at about the 30 mile mark you are going to look down at your running shoes, which may be covered in vomit, and say to yourself why the hell am I doing this? That is the moment you must not quit. If you can get through this point you will make it.” This point or moment came for me at the Rabbit Ears turn around. I so wanted to quit. I had just run 25 miles and the realization that I had another 25 to go made me nauseated. But I remembered Fred’s words and continued – believe it or not – in a few miles things actually got better.

By the time I got to the top of the ski hill (Mt. Werner) it was dark and I was exhausted but there was only about 7.5 miles to go and all of it downhill – about 3000 feet of downhill. At this naive point I felt that I could finish this. That it was actually going to be a reality. That was until I started running downhill. In the back of my mind I remembered someone telling me that the downhill parts in the last stages of an Ultra can be the hardest. They were not kidding. Wow – I would run a little ways, walk a little ways, and run a little ways. There was pain in this descent, intense pain, but not pain like an injury. It could be more described as a “powerful soreness.” A soreness that you have to experience because words fail to describe it. When that finish line came into view, I became what can only be described as jubilant, euphoric, enraptured, and ecstatic. I have never felt this way with any other activity, except well, maybe a cardinal one? In Ultra’s there is a boundary you cross that you do not realize is there. When you successfully cross it your world changes. I wanted to dance, to sing, to shout out to the world that I did this and I am invincible! I felt on top of the world, nothing else mattered! Civilization could end tomorrow and I did not care. After that experience I was hooked on doing Ultras.

Of course, all of this only lasted for about 30 minutes and then I needed my daughter’s help to get back to the car and for her to drive me back to the motel. The picture below shows me at the end of the race in 2013. I was second to last in finishing and it did not matter. I had crossed the boundary!

Well, that is about all for this week – hope to see you out there!!

“WHAT LIES BEHIND US AND WHAT LIES BEFORE US ARE TINY MATTERS COMPARED TO WHAT LIES WITHIN US.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

My youngest daughter has been on Spring Break this week and we have been doing a little downhill skiing. On Monday we were up at A-Basin. Beautiful spring conditions, temperatures between 30 to 40 degrees, mild wind and brilliant sunshine. The resort was a little crowded but not too bad. The lower lift line was only about a 5 to 10 minute wait at the most, the upper lift was 5 minutes or less. Really could not have asked for more – well I guess you could have asked for a powder day. But, oh well you cannot have everything. The other nice thing about this type of spring skiing is that you do not need to be up at the crack of dawn to get first chair, you can sleep in a little bit. And actually getting there early can be detrimental due to the freeze / thaw cycle that occurs. In the AM the ski slopes are usually icy and as hard as concrete. But wait a few hours and they have softened up to a hard butter like consistency. Perfect for making beautiful sweeping turns. The picture above is at the top. The elevation at this point is about 13,000 feet. On Monday when this picture was taken, there was no wind for several hours and temps in the 30s. Hard to believe. In Fort Collins this same day, the temp was close to 80.

March in Colorado can always be a little unpredictable on the Front Range. One day you can have snow and temps below 30 degrees and the next day it can be sunny and 70 out. It can make life a little interesting at times. Fortunately that has not been the case this week. The Front Range has seen mild temperatures, cold in the morning (30s) and warm in the afternoon (60 to 80 degrees). Add in a little sun, clouds and some much needed rain and you have beautiful running weather. So when we were not out skiing, it was back to training for the Quad Rock in May. It was nice to not have to use the running tights or a jacket this week. The picture above is part of a trail run right behind Fort Collins in the start of the foothills. There is an initial elevation change of about 500 feet. You run up one hog-back and down the other side to Horsetooth Reservoir and along a trail that goes down to the East side of the lake. There are multiple trails in the area and you can make this a 5 to 20 mile plus run if you want. I am looking North to Northwest in the above picture. In the one below I am in the same position but look East out over Fort Collins. These pictures were taken yesterday on Thursday – the temperature was about 60 degrees, with clouds and sun in the area. And strangely enough – no wind. Simply just beautiful. I feel very fortunate to have this resource right in my backyard.

Well that is it for me this week. HAPPY VERNAL EQUINOX!! And have a great weekend – hope to see you out there!!

I felt sorry for the commuter traffic this morning. I am sure that it was a mess getting around the tri – city area of Fort Collins, Greeley and Loveland. I have had those days. Stuck in stop and go traffic – snow pouring down, stressed because I am going to be late to work and worried because I am afraid of being hit by the crazy person speeding on ice covered roads. There is always someone going too fast. Not sure what that is about? I want to shout “slow down” you are only going to be early for your own funeral!! (And maybe mine as well) My words if they could be heard would probably be wasted on deaf ears. Oh well – today was not one of those days.

It was not my turn to be at the day job. Got to stay home and savor the snow coming down. Did not have to worry about it. A good day to read, to write, to meditate and exercise. But I believe that the cat had the best idea for the day. The cat’s business for most of the day, every day, is just doing nothing – three hundred and sixty five days of the year. And true to her style that is what she did. There is something to be said for just laying around a hot wood stove savoring the heat and doing nothing. So I followed her example. Well if truth be told, for just part of the day. It was a nice snow day in Fort Collins.

After a little reading and writing the next order of business was “Exercise.” And on today’s menu: Running and walking the bike trail. The route that I took today included parts of the Power line, Spring Creek and the Poudre Trail for a total of about 8 miles. Very nice temperature of about 30 degrees, setting sun with broken clouds and no wind. It is days like today that remind me of how lucky I am to live in Fort Collins. In my opinion the trail and open space program in Fort Collins and Larimer County is second only to Boulders. I grew up in Wichita Falls, Texas. A city that for all of my youth did not have any bike or running trails except around the high school track. I have a great appreciation for what we have after coming from a place that had nothing. Just a note: Wichita Falls does have a limited bike and running trail now but plan to add more in the future.

Well this is my first Blog Post – I really do not have a plan at the moment to where this will lead – if anywhere? My feeling at the moment is that we all have a need to be acknowledged by the wider world in general. So this is my shout from the darkness so to speak. I hope that you the reader find the content interesting and feedback is welcome. This has been something that I wanted to do for a while – to tell a story about my life, where I live and the events that take place around me.