Try for Others - Western States Project

As most people know I love to be up at the crack of dawn running and often take my camera with me.  I saw this sunrise picture on the Try for Others - Western States facebook page and just had to share.  It said it was taken at the Bishop 100K in California in May.

Chris Waters is running the Western States 100 in two weeks and as part of his run he is raising money for an organization called Try for Others.

...from the TFO website

"Team TFO (Try For Others) encourages both able-bodied and disabled individuals to defy stereotypes, challenge their limitations, and inspire humanity. As a member of Team TFO, individuals identify an athletic challenge to overcome (marathon, triathlon, hike, race, etc.) and give meaning to their pursuit by raising funds so that TFO can help disabled persons overcome their own challenges."

Take moment to check it out.  There is a nice video on the FB page giving Chris's background and connection to TFO. 

Final thoughts before Silver City

The Silver City 100K is next Saturday and the days are winding down fast!  I have been working on lots of endurance miles at a moderate pace to help build the aerobic engine up a bit.  I have also been working on training in such a way that I develop my fat burning ability.  We all have enough fat to fuel us for a LONG time, but preparing your body to burn it that way is another story. 

Today was a good run that kind of surprised me.  My average HR was 118 for nearly 8 miles in the Boise foothills.  This wasn't a particularly tough route but it did still have over 900 feet of elevation gain.   I noticed two interesting things right away.  The first mile and last mile have about the same gain but I ran all the uphill at the end and my HR was 23 points higher while my speed was just over two minutes faster. This is a good trade off on an 8 miler, not during a 100K.  The other is I ran a 7:56 mile at a 116 HR.  I know it was downhill but still surprising.  The key takeaway for me is to save the legs and the effort for the end!

Anyway, I am planning on using my race plan from Antelope:

A) Don’t be STUPID


B) Repeat step A as many times as necessary to reach your goal

At this race, that means being smart on the uphills because there will be plenty of them! The elevation profile says somewhere around 14,000 and since I did this last year I can attest to how tough the course is.

It's Friday morning and I had done 50 miles this week.  Not ideal training the week prior to a race for me.  10 miles of that was hiking the foothills with Michelle while the kids were at VBS which always seems beneficial.  When I trained for St. George I always did my training each week and then joined Michelle for her long run the on Sunday.  I think that extra bit of mileage at a lower intensity was perfect for me.

COLOR ME RAD 5K - Boise June 22nd

The Color Me Rad 5K is coming to Boise June 22nd at the Western Idaho Fairgrounds. I know that day will be super busy for lots of us but if you are around and would like to go, check it out. I have two free entries to give away too! Just like and share this link on Facebook and I'll draw one name for both of the free entries Tuesday at noon!  If you don't share the one on my page send me a message so I know that you shared it!

BOISE | JUNE 22, 2013

► ADA COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS 

   5610 GLENWOOD BOISE, ID 83714

If you're allergic to the metric system, corn starch, or unbridled joy, you'd probably be more comfortable watching Matlock than at the starting blocks of this color-filled 5k. 

But if you're itching for a great time and not from a bad case of diaper rash, Color Me Rad Boise is the run for you.

By intelligent design or evolution, man was meant to run for one thing and one thing only: to stay alive. Pamplona was the first real race organized for what running should be: running from stuff that's going to kill, gore, or maim you.

Luckily, we've evolved to where we only hunt for attractive potential mates, we only gather for extreme couponing, and we only run to benefit charities and our cardiovascular system.

Race Details

Color Me Rad Boise takes place on June 22nd at the Ada County Fairgrounds and a portion of the proceeds benefit the Special Olympics Idaho.The Color Bombs start flying at 9am with waves of runners getting plastered with paint every 5 minutes after. You'll end up looking like a kindergarten art class gone wrong... but the Art of Running will make you feel oh so right.

...keep running

Thanks for sharing this Lynette.

Fat Tire FKT

This is my favorite loop in the foothills. I was a bum and didn't get out the door on time so I started just after 6. I wasn't feeling wonderful but the temperature was wonderful and the foothills are gorgeous with spring flowers. In the first 2 minutes my right knee was feeling a bit creaky. I almost stopped and just turned around. Then I thought I would keep going and if things worsened I would just powerhike and enjoy the morning.

I felt pretty good after the first mile and just kept going. The result was I cut nearly five and half minutes off of my fastest time ever! I walked several key uphill spots that always kick my butt and just stayed steady on the downhill. I looked at my watch when the mile splits popped up and didn't have the HR monitor this morning.

One key difference was I took an MP3 player with me which I never do. This was just supposed to be a casual run so I took it with me. I noticed, believe it or not that I was able to pay closer attention to how I FELT as opposed to how my breathing was. I think I hold back a lot based on my breathing without regard to how my body feels. Since I couldn't hear my breathing I tuned into my legs and the music was really just background noise.

I did have a gel around mile 4 which I rarely do too. It was in the zippered pocket of the handheld I was carrying so it just worked out. I didn't have any breakfast before this run so going this fast seemed even more amazing to me.



Anyway, I followed it up with a 2.5 mile cool down lap in the lower military reserve which was wonderful.
My guess on the HR is about 155. Pushing but not race pace OMG I am going to die....

Here are a few other times I have tried it. By myself, with others, in the snow, you name it so they aren't all comparable.

South Cole

Yesterday I ran on the treadmill for the first time in a long time.  It was also the most miles I have logged at one time since I can't remember when, EIGHT!  Crazy, because I used to pound out 8 a day 5 days a week when I didn't know how wonderful being outside was.  That was probably a product of being overweight and not being comfortable with how I looked in public.

Someone posted this article entitled 10 Commandments of Sincerely Unapologetic Runners on the Boise Trail Runners page over the weekend and I got to thinking about #6?  I have wanted to go without a shirt many times but even after 4 years of weight loss maintenance I still haven't found my comfort zone.  Well, I have decided, as pointed out in the article, if it offends someone that is their problemo!

I can't honestly tell you how many inches I lost around the middle but it's somewhere in the range of 20.  The fact that I only have as much saggy skin as I do is actually quite amazing.  So when I ran outside over the weekend I shed the shirt and was comfortable in my own skin.  My kids like to tell me I have a 2 pack with a sag pack, or a flab pack, or a number of other encouraging uplifting names.  But for me it is constant reminder of where I was.

As I was running down Cole Road into the wind at around a 7 minute mile I passed another runner.  It reminded me of running the same stretch of road back in 2009 and regularly getting passed by a 60 year old woman.  The first few times I saw here I thought how cool it was that she was still getting out and running.  Until I realized she was faster than me!  Then I made it one of my mini-goals to someday be faster than her.  It would be fun to see her again and tell her thank you for motivating me when I was still at the, 'this sucks why do people do this' stage of running.  I think every runner was at the stage at some point and I was no exception.