Merry Christmas!! Cyclocross nationals 2007

Merry Christmas everyone!!! The year really flew by. Caleb and I went to the cyclocross nationals last week at Wyandotte park(not the lake) to check out the action and to cheer on the locals(and part time trail runners). Cameron got on the podium in the singlespeed race. The mens elite race was exciting as well . The course really got sloppy once it warmed up. Tim Johnson won the stars and stripes. The last time he won was in 2000, which also happens to be the last time the race was in KC. Local stalwart Steve Tilford's race was messed up by double flatting not once, but twice. The first time I know he probably had to ride half the course on two flats. He still finished on the lead lap even after all that.

I'm lazy

First off congrats to Paul Schoenlaub and Dave Wakefield for good runs at Sunmart. Secondly, I think all of the posts about taking some time off finally rubbed off on me. I haven't ran since last Thursday. I had been feeling kind of crappy lately so may be I needed a little break. I am looking forward to Th Cyclocross Nationals this weekend. I'm going to go out and watch Cameron and Joel race the singlespeeds Sun morning and probably watch the pro race later in the day. It will be a lot cooler than watching the Chiefs get their asses handed to them again. Hopefully I can sack up and run tomorrow night and get a decent long run in on Saturday. Also I like eggs.

Clinton Cross country challenge

Well, Jackson and I went out to Clinton Lake for the 2 and 5 mile cross country races last Sunday. I was sick again and for sure would have bailed if I hadn't already signed up. The weather was brisk, but nowhere near as cold as last year. I ran the 2 mile with Jackson in 24:?? . Then I lined up for the 5 mile and ran the first few miles with BadBen. I started to feel a little better toward the end so I picked it up a bit. finished right at 40:00. If nothing else it was a good workout and I didn't make myself sicker...or is it more sick? Steve and Marcia Riley put on some good events. I definitely like the format of two races back2back. It's fun and its something I'd like to see us add to one of our races. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures, so I threw in a shot of my new car. I got in a pretty good run tonight. I did five hard hill repeats of about 1 min. ea. along with a warmup and cooldown. I felt a lot better than I did on Sun. I just need to get out of this funk that I've been stuck in since the time changed and get back to training consistently. Next Sat is the Alternate chili run at Wyco. I heard there were a few crazies out there last Saturday in the rain. Jeez.

Nathaniel's run

I went ahead and did Nathaniel's run. I did 20 laps in about 4:30 , which works out to 26 miles. I had thought about trying to do 50k, but my legs were pretty shot by then and I just didn't feel like going any further to be quite honest. I didn't really ever get bored or anything, even with the loop being only 1.3 miles, my legs just got tired. The turnout was pretty low. It would have been nice to see more people out there. I think that Paul Schoenlaub did 32 laps and Stuart Johnson did 31. Cody did 24 laps. This event was a nice change of pace(and an easy way to get in a long run) and it was for a good cause so I'm glad I did it.

Veteran's Day 4-miler

We had a pretty nice race at Wyandotte County Lake last weekend. The weather was much nicer than last year's race and we even had a little fall color left to enjoy. We ended up with 60 runners, which was a good jump from 37? last year. Jaraj took the victory with a sub 30 minute time. I know that doesn't sound that fast for a 4 mile run, but this course will kick your butt. Rick Mayo put in a strong run for 3rd place and it was good to see Caleb out there mixing it up. My son Jackson, who is 8, ran the race too. It was his first race longer than a 5k so I was very proud of him. At the last few short races I had done I started like a jackrabbit and faded, so I told myself to start a little slower than I have been and it paid off. I ran 34:39, with Stuart Johnson on my heels for the last 2 miles, which was good for 10th. I ran 36:11 last year on the same course so I was happy with that. Here are a few pics that my brother Adam took. Results and more photos HERE. My photos HERE. I also threw in a shot of some nymphs( Hare's ear and Pheasant Tail) that I tied at my class this week.
I almost forgot to mention how bad I scared Caleb (and Kyle) after last Thursday's course marking and run. A few of us ran the course after marking. Caleb and Kyle dropped me so I jogged back on the road from the archery range. When I was almost back I could see their lights in the woods and I had an evil idea. I hid behind a big tree that was right beside the trail. When they got to me I jumped out from behind the tree into the trail while simultaneously screaming and clicking my light on and shining it up at my face!! Caleb didn't seemed to pleased, but Kyle ;aughed a little. I thought it was pretty funny myself, but it was a bit mean.
I'm still undecided about Nathaniel's run on Friday. Not sure I'm up for 6 hours of running. I'm actually thinking of doing the Cranksgiving alleycat race next Sun. I've never done anything like that so it could be fun. I might do Dude, where's the trail. I'm doing the Clinton cross country challenge fer sure though. Then the alternate chili run and after that a short break from races.

Fly tying

I signed up for a fly tying class at Cabela's. I've always thought it would be cool to know how to tie flies so I'm learning. Here's a shot of the woolly worms and woolly buggers I tied last night. Next week is nymphs!

New Toys!

Well, I've been looking for a deal on a new bike for awhile and I finally found a pretty good one. I bought a Gary Fisher x-caliber 29er. I rode a Surly Karate monkey (rigid with gears) for most of the last two years and finally decided to buy a bike with some suspension. I plan on setting up my KM as a singlespeed. I don't want to get soft in my old age(I turned 33 today!). I think the x-cal is a pretty good setup. It has the same frame as the higher end paragon and it has a RockShox Reba SL fork. I rode it today for the first time and I'm pretty stoked. It's a little heavy, but I'm going to switch out a few things and get some nicer wheels built for it. I'm thinking Chris King hubs with Stan's ZTR 355 29er rims. Should be pretty nice and I'm sold on the 29 inch wheels. They roll!
My other new toy is a kayak. I probably didn't need it, but I've been thinking about getting one for awhile and it was heavily discounted at Cabela's. I figure that It'll be good for training if I get back into the Adventure Racing. I really missed that this year. Anyway, It's an Old Town Cayuga 160. 16 feet long. No rudder, but I can add one if I want. I bought a Pacific Paddles T1 touring paddle to go along with it. 29 oz. for $115. I'm pretty happy with it so far. Now that it gets dark at 6 I should have plenty of time to go out for a paddle, right?
Last weekend I ran the 5k(more like 4+ miles) and rode in the cyclocross race at Wyco park. It was a good time and I was dead tired after getting killed in the cross race. Let's just say my time on the bike has been minimal. They had tons of good food and Boulevard beer!
Next Sunday is the Veteran's Day 4miler. I'm going to try and get out and clean up the course a bit before the race. See ya out there!

heartland 100

Most of you probably know that Cody dropped at mile 64 at Heartland. He reached the turnaround in 10:20, but started having problems around mile 60. Here are a few pics I took out on the course. The one in the dark is at the start. Some big storms went just north of the race course that morning, but it turned out to be a pretty nice day. Paul DeWitt broke the course record with a 14:26! The record was held by Eric Clifton. A nice race, but a hard one mentally I think. You can see a long ways down there in the flint hills...maybe too far.

Riding the Wind

Check out Anton Krupicka's blog. It has his race report from Leadville as well as some interesting training info. I'll post some pics and write about Heartland soon.

Sand Rat Trail Race

The Sand Rat trail race was not what I wanted to do this morning. I've been sick the last couple of days so I just ran a steady pace and finished without trying to hurt myself. Even though I was a bit under the weather, I wanted to be able to wear my T-shirt. The victory was taken by Juraj (pronounced Euro) who runs with the trail nerds occasionally. Kyle Amos ran a good time. Our good buddy Caleb even got a rat!
I just checked the results from Arkansas Traveller 100 and it looks like all of our local runners finished! Congrats Rick, Gabe and Willie. Carey Smith of St. Louis also finished comfortably. Kyle and I were talking today about how weird it is when you know someone is running a 100 miler and you keep thinking about them throughout the day and into the night and when you wake up the next morning you hope they finished. My brother Cody's first 100 is next week at Heartland, where I'll be pacing and crewing along with Keith and Caleb. The last time I was at a 100 miler was Arkansas 2003 when I paced and crewed for Kyle along with his wife Stacey. I don't know when or if I'll ever do one myself , but I'm looking forward to the atmosphere of the 100 miler.

PsycoWyco Run Toto Run 2007

I don't know if everyone who wants to see this has seen it yet, but Mark K. has put a lot of work into it. Check it out. It makes me yearn for an icy trail. By the way, I went running by myself at Wyco last night and I ran into about 500 spiderwebs. I also found the seed ticks and chiggers. Gosh I love chiggers!

P.S. Congrats to Lou Joline for finishing the Lean Horse 100!!! and to Pat Perry for Cascade Crest 100!!!

Recent happenings

It's been awhile since I last posted so this might be a long one. After Psycho Psummer was in the books we went to Florida for a family vacation along with Kyle and his family. I hadn't been to the beach in a long time so I was excited to get out of town and turn into a beach bum. We rented a house right on the beach for a week. It was pretty sweet. Did a few barefoot runs on the beach(are you listening Barefoot Rick?), cruised around on the longboards(Kyle can even ride with a 12 pack on his board),we also tried to skimboard, which was pretty fun. I managed to avoid the jellyfish unlike some other people in our group. Oh, I almost forgot about the drinking. I only drank too much one night. The tough part has been trying to return to normal. No shirt and flip-flops is my new attire. I almost forgot how to use a computer while we were gone too. Since we got back to good ol' Kansas I've done two races. The Grass kickin 5k and the Psycho night 10k. The 5k wasn't really the big of a deal, I ran like 21 min., but I think that race format could catch on. I did have an idea related to that race though. I think it would be cool to do a 5k trail series during the summer. Something like a race every week for 4 or 5 weeks. with a points system and a low entry fee for the whole series. Just a thought. Last friday was the 2nd annual Psycho night 1ok and we had 58 starters I believe . It was as hot as and I'm sure more than humid than hell. I ran a little faster than last year, but the conditions were just horrid for trying to run fast. We did have a night little after party at my house though. I really enjoy the group gatherings after a race. Saturday night we went to a going away/baby shower for Good Ben and Allison at Raul's place. They're moving to Denver next week. We'll miss you guys, although I do look forward to visiting . I'm also coaching a fall baseball league and our first game is this Saturday. Whew! Oh yeah, one more thing -Greg Burger is running the Leadville 100 this Sat. so keep him in your thoughts and prayers. Good Luck Greg! P.S. Did anyone notice the Floyd Landis finished second to Dave Weins in the Leadville 100 mtb last Sat. I heard that he had an early crash and got a flat late in the race.
I would also like to mention that I'm a big fan of professional cycling and the current state of things just boggles my mind. There's a new positive test about every day it seems. Vino, Mayo, Katche-howver the hell you spell your name-kin. Seriously, why would you do a blood transfusion of take EPO when those things are easily detectable. Contador is probably a doper too and now that Discovery is disbanding who knows if he'll even be able to get a contract for next season. I am excited about team Slipstream for next year though.

Psycho Psummer is done!

I just finished reading all of the emails and posts from the race last Saturday. Thanks to everyone who came out for the inaugural PsychoPsummer 50k/15mile. We had a lot of out- of- towners for this race. I feel like this race could really catch on in the ultrarunning community and become something special. Congrats to Wynn Davis on taking the overall win on a brutal course in hot and humid conditions. I'm also proud of my brother Cody , who came in fifth in 5:21 (Cody also won the style competition. I think you can read his shirt in the photo). Personally, I ran slower than I wanted to, but I made it through without puking or overheating so it was a mild success. The thing that surprised me was how tough that second loop was and looking at the split times confirms it. Those hills got really big the second time around. Check out these stats from a garmin 305 that was worn during the race. When we first decided to do this race we decided that we wanted to change the course from the winter Psycho and also reduce the # of loops from 3 to 2. Kyle, Ben and I had discussed numerous course options before settling on the final product. I'd say that we came out with a keeper. We were all very lucky there was no mud. While I'm rambling I'd like to thank Bad Ben, Raul and all of the volunteers who ran the aid stations all day. One of these days I'm going to have to sit out a race and help out (hopefully not a forced sit out due to injury or what not). Everyone who finished either distance should be proud of themselves. I'd say it's another successful KC Trail Nerd race in the books. See you at the Psycho night 10k.

While we were enjoying ourselves Sat. some of the big guns were duking it out at the Hardrock 100 in Colorado. Scott Jurek set a new course record of 26:08. Our very own Paul Schoenlaub finished in 37:09. I also noticed Mike Dobies there in 35th place. Kyle ran the Arkansas traveller 100 in 2003 and he and Mike pretty much ran the whole thing together. So I kind of paced them both for 26 miles. Cool.

Psycho Psummer is Psoon!

Well, I missed out on the Leadville marathon this year. The picture is from last year when Good Ben and I ran it. Cody, Greg and Ben ran it though and Caleb and Sarah did the Heavy half. It's a nice course. The altitude makes it tough though. Just been gettin ready for the Psycho Psummer 50k. We ran a 10 mile loop at Wyco last Sunday and then a bunch af us stayed for a couple more hours to do some course work. We got the spillway trail cleaned up nicely. I think its a good addition to the course. Tom, Adam and I also cleaned up the hill from the spillway parking lot down to the grass below the dam. I haven't thought of a name for that section yet. I'm planning on going out Wed or Thurs. with the DR mower and mowing some connectors trails through the grassy areas. The course was in fairly good condition last Sun so hopefully the rains will hold off for another week or so. I'd rather not have to slog through 31 miles of slop. I'm also excited to find out who this ultra-god trailrunner person is. See you out there.

Summer intro 5k smp

Why should I practice running slow? I already know how to run slow. I want to learn to run fast.
Emil Zatopek

The photo is of Matt Riley, who won last weekends summer intro 10k in 44: something-that's fast!

Western States

It's been a pretty eventful week. On Tuesday I went out to Shawnee Mission Park to run. I decided to take my mountainbike and do a little riding before the group run. I ended up having one of the worst crashes I remember having. I was going pretty fast on a downhill stretch of trail. I misjudged my takeoff for a bunnyhop over a log. I fell on my left side, cracked my helmet and bruised my hip area pretty heavily. Nice. I bailed on the run after that. For a little while I thought I might need a hospital visit. Yesterday we had our summer intro race at SM park. Amid concerns that the trail gates would be closed due to overnight rains, we had over 100 runners show up! What a turnout. I was disappointed with my own performance, but Kyle did a great job directing and everyone had a good time. Matt Riley from Lawrence took the win. Nice job. Bad Ben is in California pacing Patrick Perry on his attempt at the Western States 100. I just checked the webcast and Pat finished. Great Job Patrick! I can't wait to hear their race reports. Later.
cool link!

Double rainbow

This is a picture from Memorial Day weekend. Nice double rainbow. I haven't been able to read Kyle's race report yet( I do know he finished in 19:23), but if you haven't already check out Gabe's report from Kettle Moraine 100.

When it rains, it pours

Here are a few photos from last weekend. I did some biking, some running and went camping too. I even caught a nice snake. I think it was a Northern Water snake. Cody and I ran a super soggy loop at Wyco last Sunday. It was so wet that the mud didn't even stick. Nice. On a sad note, my Grandma passed away last Friday, May 25. She was 85 years old. Her funeral was yesterday. There is a lot of grief and it was hard for the whole family, but her quality of life had really gone downhill in the last year or two. It's hard to watch a loved one wither away like she did. She's in a better place now. A couple of local runners are doing the Kettle Moraine 100 on Saturday. I'm anxious to see how they do. I'm going to be spending more time out at Wyandotte County Lake, both for training and working on the course for Psummer Psycho. I'm hoping to get some long runs in out there. It looks like I'm headed to the Leadville Marathon again in July against my better judgement, so I better get my ass in shape.

Shawnee Mission Park Trails!

Last night I finally got a chance to check out the new trails at SM Park. My tubeless setup on my mountain bike was jacked up so I didn't get to ride them, but I ran a loop with a small pack of Trail Nerds including one new recruit(Phil).It's also good to see James back out on the trails. One word comes to mind-SWEET. I would like to thank everyone who worked on these trails and made them a reality. They really are nice and if the planning meetings go well and there is room for more trail, this trail system will be stellar. All of the old jacked up, eroded rock pile crap is gone and in it's place is a 4 mile loop of sweet singletrack. I think my favorite part is where the trail crosses the powerline for a short stretch. I I love the figure-eight format as well. I look forward to a summer of running and riding out there. Hopefully we can get everything lined out and have our Summer intro trail race out there.

I don't like the price of gas.

I ended up wussing out on my plan of not driving my car at all last week. I rode one way of my commute every day and drove the other half. I filled my Beetle back up on Sunday for $21.00. Not too bad considering the price of GAS. It really is getting ridiculous. I'm giving some serious thought to selling my Jeep. I ran on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday, so I ended up riding about 50-60 miles, running around 20 miles, going to two baseball practices, two baseball games, and working like a dog all week. I was plenty tired, so I took today off except for Jackson's baseball practice. He wanted to stay after and catch some fly balls. He ended up getting hit right on top of the head with one. From the sound of it, I thought his head was going to be split wide open, but he was pretty much ok except for a knot. He even wanted to keep playing. On Sunday we had a small group out at Wyco park to check out course options for a possible Psummer race. It was a nice day-not too hot. We've pretty much got a 15 mile loop dialed in. Some of the additional mileage will come from gravel and dirt roads and it looks like we will have a 2 mile out and back comprised of new singletrack. Should be pretty COOL. I almost forgot to mention that the maintenance dorks are still "helping" us out by cutting big logs out of the trail. They just don't have an effing clue. DOH! Sidenote- The Floyd Landis hearings have really taken a turn for the weird.

Ride you bike to work!

I filled up my beetle tonight at $3.19/gal-SWEET! May 14-18 is Ride your bike to work week. Do it! Save some gas and some money. Oh Yeah, Happy Mother's Day too! The photo is the summit of Mt. Bross in Colorado.

MUD!

Ive been pretty busy lately. Jackson's baseball team started practice and the twins had their first communion last Sunday. I can't believe how fast they're growing up. On the running front, I went for my first real run tonight since my level 9 meltdown at Free State. I did a fartlek type run on the trails behind the nursery. I felt pretty decent actually. It's nice and muddy with the torrential rains we've had lately. I guess we're going to check out some stuff this weekend at Wyco lake to extend the Psycho course enough to make a 2 loop 50k course! Sweet. I've been checking out trail info, both for mountain biking and running. So many trails..so little time. I've added some links on the right-check em out.

Free State Trail Run

I don't know what was wrong with me last Saturday, but I hit the wall big time. I was signed up for the 40-mile version. I missed the Rockin K marathon earlier this month with a bum foot, so I was a little worried about the distance. The first 21 mile loop went fine. Lance, Cody and I ran together for most of the loop and we finished it in about 3 1/2 hrs. We were on a pretty good pace for a sub 8 hr time. The second loop turned into a death march for me. By the time I got to the Land's End aid station I had stopped looking at my watch. I felt terrible. I finally stumbled onward and made it into the KUS aid station. I found Lance and Gabe there and I ate some watermelon and drank some water. The three of us left together and made decent progress for a couple of miles. I stopped because I thought I was going to puke. I sat there for a couple of minutes and then I decided to lay down and rest for awhile. A few runners went by (Thanks Stuart and Willie) and said they would tell the land's end aid station that there was a man down. A little while later Sarah came by and asked me what I was doing. I informed her that I was tired and was taking a rest. She was having knee problems so she decided to keep me company for a bit. We finally decided to try and make to the aid station so we both started walking. We had only been going a few minutes when BadBen and Jesse came running down the trail. They both looked a little worried. I asked Ben if he thought I should try to finish. After he told me NO! I was okay with dropping out. I'm kind of disappointed, but at what point does it become pointless to continue. Would it have been worth risking further damage to keep going or was I just being a wuss? I always ask myself questions like these after a DNF. I just look at it this way. I got in a nice 32 mile training run and I got to get sick and puke in a trashbag in the car on the way home. The weird part was that my legs felt fine during the race, no cramping or any other problems. My stomach just went sour. I guess that's what I get for underestimating the heat and humidity.
Kyle put in another strong run, almost breaking 10 hrs for the 100k!!! Cody decided to drop down to the 40 mile and finished in 8:15( He really looks like he's enjoying his run in the top photo, doesn't he). Lots of other local trail runners had good races as well( http://www.psychowyco.com/id1.html ). Our Vasque shoe rep Dan Dehlin smoked the marathon in 2:40 and fellow trail nerd Mike Swords ran a 3:12! Great job on the 1st annual and a big thanks to everyone who helped out!

Shrooms

I've been hoping to find me a mess ov shrooms, but I don't know if I'm gonna have much luck with this cold weather. One other thing-Many of you may have read my older post about how to give yourself a self-exam for gayness. I am working on some new additions for the list but here's a tidbit. If you choose the VEGAN dish after Brew to Brew---you are an extreme flamer!

The most scenic trails?

The question recently posed on the KC trailrunning group site was this- Where are the most scenic places to run in the KC area? I would have to say that the North Shore trails at Clinton lake in Lawrence have the most to offer. I am a bit partial to the Wyandotte County Lake bridle trail(also the Psycho Wyco race course), but the Clinton trails have a little more to offer in my opinion. Where else around here can you run ( or ride) a 20+ mile loop without seeing the same terrain twice? Lake views, rocks, roots, water crossings, fast sections, and just enough climbing to keep things interesting. These trails pretty much have it all. Try them out for yourself on April 28- http://www.psychowyco.com/id1.html You've been training, right?

Brew2Brew part 2

Last weekend I crewed at Brew to Brew for my brother Cody, who was doing it solo. I thought he did pretty well considering his training program has been pretty mellow since Psycho Wyco. He ran the first half of the race with Gabe. He struggled a little in the middle of the race, but he recovered and finished in 7:56 for 15th place out of 39 male finishers. I ended up running part of leg 7 and legs 9 & 10 with him. Gabe ran strong. Jacque Jackson ran strong too-she won the female solo. I looked for Markos out on the course. He ran the Olathe marathon the day before and was attempting a solo brew2brew. I found out later he dropped midway through-I can't say I blame him. It turned out to be a pretty fun day. Cody's friend Keith (mine too I guess) came out to Lawrence after the race. We chowed down and had a few beers at Free State Brewery afterwards. They do need to cap the race next year though, there were just too many cars and people (www.brewtobrew.com). On the way home traffic was moving pretty fast. I'd say I averaged about 95. At the toll booth on I-70 I raced a rice burner(fartpipe racer) honda. I got the ol' Ford freestyle up to 115 mph before we got into traffic. Yes, I won! I'm sitting out Rockin K with a bum foot. I have gout...again! I'm pretty disappointed. I really felt like I was ready to run a good race out there.