Race Report: Champoeg 30K
I've been amazingly lucky with the weather for my rainy-season races here in the land of the perpetual drip, drip, drip. Since the Blue Lake 15K misery last October, I've enjoyed: Autumn Leaves, where it was dry, cool and sunny; the Cascade half, where it was foggy and mid-30s but the air was utterly calm and, going hard, couldn't have been more comfortable; Hagg Lake, all bright and gorgeous, spring nosing its way into winter; and, today, the Champoeg 30K, where overnight rain gave way to patchy low clouds, a bit of sun and mild temps.

What’s that? Mmm, yes, I should have been swimming laps this morning, what with ICDA barely more than three months away and my swim absolutely nowhere. But before that is Boston, and a good hard 30K (18.6 miles) seemed just the ticket for assessing my fitness for that race.

The plan: I told myself to go out at an aggressive marathon pace, which for me would be in the 7:30 to 7:40 per mile range, given that my PR was run at a 7:48 pace. But I was really more interested in gauging my effort by how it felt. I wanted to run hard, not on the edge but close to it.

The course was a lot like what we did at Champoeg for Autumn Leaves, 3.1 miles out to the turnaround, then back to the start, and repeat that three times. I’d guess 150 or so people were massed at the line when the folks up front got going, hearing a signal those of us even 10 yards back didn’t pick up. So we were off. As usual, I was irked to find walkers and slow joggers placing themselves up front, an especially obnoxious practice when the track is fairly narrow. But I wiggled my way around and through and pretty soon things opened enough where I could run comfortably. A fit woman in a pink top and black shorts provided excellent pacing (not to mention distraction) to the turnaround and a bit beyond. My miles were coming in around 7:10 and though faster than I had anticipated, it didn’t feel bad. So I stuck with that and finished the first lap (10K) in 44:28.

The second lap was my favorite part of the race. I was loose and cruising. My pace was just a little faster, the miles coming in generally well under 7:10, and I felt great, completely comfortable. I stayed tucked behind the three guys I’d latched onto late in the first lap for a couple more miles and thought I’d keep working to stay with them. But I had a little more pace than them and gradually pulled away. That left a guy in yellow in sight ahead, and I tried to stay five or 10 yards behind him. I thought that wouldn’t last, and it didn’t – but again, I was the guy doing the passing.

Heading out for the last lap, I wasn’t sure what would happen. I thought it quite possible my miles might slow to 7:30, maybe 7:45. It sure felt like that was happening. Everything was coming harder now. My stride, so easy and free three or four miles ago, now felt tight, labored. Fighting hard against that, I actually started the last lap with my fastest mile of the day, right at 7 minutes. But that didn’t last and I struggled not to fade over the next three miles. Finally, when I hit the four-mile marker on the last lap, and knew there was only 2.2 to go, I stopped worrying and just ran. A guy in black had passed me a mile earlier and was now about 20 yards out front. I vowed not to let him put any more distance between us – and he didn’t. I closed strong and on my clock completed the 30 kilometers in 2 hours, 12 minutes and 38 seconds, a pace of 7:07 per mile.

Going that hard was pretty stressful on my body; I was aching afterward. But I didn’t feel wrecked. As I mentioned in my Hagg report, doing longer races – like the 50 miles of Autumn Leaves, or the 50K at Hagg – had helped make me stronger both physically and mentally. Running for two-plus hours, even running very hard, just isn’t a big deal anymore.

What’s interesting to me now is what this says about my Boston plan. I tell myself it isn’t my A race, that I should just run it and have fun not damage myself for ICDA. But Boston is a great race that for that reason alone deserves my best effort. Plus, I may never cross the continent to do it again. So, assuming I won't be able to resist aiming for my best time at Boston, what can I do, using this 30K effort as a guide?

Well, I can’t maintain a 7:07 pace for an additional 7.6 miles. But what about going 7:25 the whole way? That would bring me home in 3:14:27 – a PR by 10 minutes. Hmm.

Here are the miles splits from today, with 6, 12 and 18 each 1.2 miles to complete the 10K laps:
1---7:07.2
2---7:18.4
3---7:11.1
4---7:12.4
5---7:04.3
6---8:33.4 (44:26 10K)
7---7:03.2
8---7:10.6
9---7:05.8
10--7:09.3
11--7:07.1
12--8:24.4 (43:56 10K)
13--6:59.9
14--7:15.1
15--7:11.1
16--7:18.6
17--7:05.6
18--8:21.7 (44:16 10K)
18.6--2:12:38

UPDATE: Officially, my time was 2:12:40, a 7:08 pace. That put me 20th out of 110 finishers, 16th out of 75 men, and 2nd out of 11 men aged 45-49.

Checking In
Oh, Brett Favre was great. How could you not appreciate Brett Favre? Talented, gutsy, charismatic, swashbuckling (there’s a word)… all of that. Nevertheless, the Old Blue in me is happy that Aaron Rodgers is finally going to get his chance – his chance to shine, and his chance to demonstrate just exactly how absurd was the 49ers’ choice of Alex Smith over him way back when. So I don’t share Emily's dismay, but I do commend you to read her blog, which is full of all kinds of interesting and exquisitely told travails and triumphs, if you are into that kind of thing. And that is really the point this morning – to mention some personal blogs that are cool. In addition to Emily’s, there is Olga’s, which featured, recently, the most remarkable race report I’ve ever read. And there is Infospigot, who writes so well and from whom I learn tons. And lastly, for now, there is curmudgeonly Jack Bog. I often find myself disagreeing with Jack, but his voice is, ultimately, so very good for Portland, and he, too, is a fine writer.

Daylight Costing?
The "longer day" seems to lead to increased energy use. (This year the switch happens March 9.)

More of the Same

Clinton said Monday that if elected, ``I will not be penciling in the leaders of Iran or NorthKorea or Venezuela or Cuba on the presidential calendar without preconditions, until we have assessed through lower-level diplomacy the motivations and intentions of these dictators.
''Raul Castro, for example,'' she said, ``has a stark choice. He can continue to stifle human rights and economic freedom in Cuba or he can chart a new course toward democratic reform.''

My guess is, offering Castro II that choice will result in him continuing to stifle human rights and economic freedom. Which gets us—and, more importantly, the Cuban people—nowhere.

Hagg Lake 50K: The Report
Last fall I ran a 50-mile race, and that’s an ultra. But yesterday’s 50K at Hagg Lake, though shorter by 19 miles, felt more like the real thing. The difference: We ran on narrow dirt trails, not asphalt, and trails are the soul of ultra running.

Henry Hagg Lake is in Washington County, maybe 25 miles as the crows flies southwest of downtown Portland. The lake was formed by the damming of Scoggins Creek, a Bureau of Reclamation project completed in 1978. Traditionally, the Hagg Lake Ultra, which circumnavigates the lake twice, is a mudfest – last year the muck was legendary, as it rained leading up to and on the event. This year, we couldn’t have asked for better conditions. It was dry all week, pretty much, and while race day dawned around freezing, with patchy fog, by 9 a.m. skies were blue, sunshine was bright and temperatures were heading to 50 and beyond.



Originally, I had signed up for the concurrent 25K, thinking 50K would be too much with Boston less than two months away. But hanging around ultra people has changed (warped?) my perspective on how far and often I can run. Yeah, it took me six weeks to recover from the Autumn Leaves 50-miler, but I wasn’t prepared for that run. With a lot more miles under my belt now, I began to believe that going 31 not only wouldn’t hurt me, but would help build muscle endurance.

So there I was at the line at 8 a.m. I guess there were about 150 of us, including four or five guys in skirts, a tradition for the race. By the way, it seems that skirts are becoming the norm for ultra women, a trend to which I’ll raise no objections.

Looking back now, what strikes me most about the race is how quickly it seemed to go by. When I first started running long races – marathons – the greatest challenge was psychological. I would constantly be assessing and coming to terms with the distance that remained. That thinking never entered my mind at Hagg Lake. I just ran, and enjoyed the running, the entire time. I have three theories on why, and I’ll work my way up from least important to most important:

1. As with my thinking on training and racing volume, Autumn Leaves recalibrated my view as to what is a long race. Having run for nearly 10 hours, a race not much more than half that time doesn’t seem nearly so daunting.

2. I ran with music (see previous post), which was a revelation. My playlist wasn’t perfect – I threw it together the night before while fretting that I should already have been in bed sleeping – but it was more than good enough and I loved being able to leave the running and sink into the music.

3. It was a trail run. Though veterans agreed it was the driest Hagg ever, there were still some stretches with slick inclines and mud puddles to negotiate – and always there were twists and turns, short inclines and declines, ruts, rocks, tree limbs and branches to occupy the mind. There was no space for consideration of how far I’d gone and how much I had to do. My focus to an overwhelming degree was on the several yards in front of me. Should I step there or there; should I walk this pitch or jog it; woops, watch that switchback on the downhill!

I ran a pretty steady race. I went out thinking I’d try to hit a pace between 10 and 11 minutes per mile and maintain it throughout, if I could. But early on that pace settled right at 10, and there I stayed for the first two-thirds of the race. Over the final 10 miles, fatigue began to hold me back – not on climbs or flats, but on descents. My muscles and joints were tired and I lost my confidence that I could plunge down hill without risking a bad fall. So the pace slipped a bit, but not too much. My official time was 5:13:33, a 10:07 pace for the 31 miles. That put me 48th out of 123 finishers, 43rd out of 95 men.

All in, it was a great day. Running in shorts and just two layers of light technical shirts in February can’t be beat. The terrain was beautiful: we went through forests and meadows and almost always had the lake, surrounded by hills, in view. Fellow runners were totally cool; they stopped to let me by and gently alerted me that they were coming up, and they chatted amiably and delivered encouragement, but never in a cloying way. The aid stations were well-stocked with sweet things, salty things and various forms of liquid refreshment. The vibe was all good. As always, profound and heartfelt thanks to the volunteers and organizers!

Hagg Lake 50K: The Soundtrack
Five hours, 13 minutes and 33 seconds of tunes.

Thank You for Sending Me an Angel (Live) – Talking Heads
Here Comes the Sun – Peter Tosh
American Baby – Dave Matthews Band
American Idiot – Green Day
Mr. Jones – Counting Crows
Rain King – Counting Crows
Once in a Lifetime – Talking Heads
And She Was – Talking Heads
Human Behaviour – Bjork
Crash Into Me – Dave Matthews Band
O Velancia! – The Decembrists
Here Comes My Girl – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Even the Losers – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Century City - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Bird on a Wire – Rogue Wave
Publish My Love – Rogue Wave
Block Rockin’ Beats – The Chemical Brothers
Basket Case – Green Day
Rosalita – Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band
Thunder Road - Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band
Born to Run – Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band
Dancing in the Dark – Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band
Glory Days – Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band
Streets of Philadelphia– Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band
It’s the Sun (Live) – Polyphonic Spree
Rip This Joint – Rolling Stones
Happy – Rolling Stones
Wake Up – Arcade Fire
Sugar Sugar – Bob Marley and the Wailers
California Uber Alles – Dead Kennedys
Is It Too Late – World Party
Way Down Now – World Party
When the Rainbow Comes – World Party
Put the Message in a Bottle – World Party
Take It Up – World Party
Show Me to the Top – World Party
Graceland – Paul Simon
American Girls – Counting Crows
Autumn Sweater – Yo La Tengo
What’s the Matter Here? – 10,000 Maniacs
Mr. Tambourine Man – Gregory Isaacs
Best of You – Foo Fighters
Fool in the Rain – Led Zeppelin
One Tree Hill – U2
All I Want Is You – Barry Louis Polisar
Dearest – Buddy Holly
Piazza, New York Catcher – Belle & Sebastian
Superstar – Sonic Youth
I’m Sticking with You – Velvet Underground
Cold Comfort – Michelle Shocked
Misty Mountain Hop – Led Zeppelin
Going to California – Led Zeppelin
Instant Karma – John Lennon
Nobody Told Me – John Lennon
You Get What You Give – New Radicals
Into the Mystic – Van Morrison
Come Running – Van Morrison
These Dreams of You – Van Morrison
The Good Thing – Talking Heads
Whole Lotta Love – Led Zeppelin
Rock and Roll – Led Zeppelin
Red Shoes – Elvis Costello
Watching the Detectives – Elvis Costello
Flowers – Talking Heads
Black Mirror – Arcade Fire
Keep the Car Running – Arcade Fire
Smells Like Teen Spirit – Nirvana
Losing My Religion – R.E.M.
I Will Follow You into the Dark – Death Cab for Cutie
Love Rescue Me – U2
Daylight Fading – Counting Crows
Recovering the Satellites – Counting Crows
The Obvious Child – Paul Simon
Can’t Run But – Paul Simon
No Such Thing – John Mayer
The Scientist – Cold Play

Consider
Sandy Koufax went 27-9 with a 1.73 ERA and 317 strikeouts in 1966. It was his final season.

Yes We Can (Win the Coin Flip)
A Washington caucus breaks a tie.

Saturday Run
The legs were a little sore after Thursday’s 12.5 miles of up-and-down in the Berkeley Hills, but the siren call of temperatures edging past 50—actually, we gave 60 a run for its money—could not be resisted. It was the usual shenanigans: through the east side neighborhoods (Center, Mt. Tabor, Laurelhurst, Hawthorne and Buckman) to the river, then three loops along the waterfront, crossing the Steel Bridge westbound and the Hawthorne eastbound. Gazillions of walkers, cyclists, joggers and dogs were out, crowding the esplanade, but everyone got along so far as I could see. Clearly, the weather had the populace in a friendly mood. Not that it was gloriously sunny, though the sun did shine now and again. Mostly, it was a day to be cherished for what it wasn’t: gray, drippy and chilly. The run: 2 hours, 24 minutes; 16.3 miles (just under 9 minute/mile pace).

Hey, Google, Notice This
One of the wineries I work with, Rochioli, has a website. Maybe a few links to it will get it onto the front page in a Rochioli search?