A Wandering Year of Running in Review

I've been given signs throughout December to take it easy.  Even today I was planning on running a 50k at Rodeo Beach but came down with a gnarly fever last night that left me curled up in bed fully clothed with a coat on, even.  Fever broke and with just one day left in 2012, I'm ready to reflect on this year as it is about to click over into 2013

The year was definitely a wacky one, even by free-spirited Footfeathers standards (yes, speaking of oneself in the third person just happened.  Live with it.) and I was forced to roll with some large changes (as per usual, self-inflicted).  Along with the typical craziness of daily life, I had running and racing to keep me sane (arguable, yes).  It was my second biggest year of racing in terms of mileage with over 800 miles raced and paced.

Instead of rehashing every race (19 races and 3 pacing gigs), which I've already written about within the "pages" of this site, I'll just touch on a few of the highlights and low points.

Bouncing back and forth between Colorado and California, enabled me to race a nice variety of events and I also mixed it up with several half marathons.  I feel the halfs added a nice pop to my high end endurance for longer races, which I saw at San Diego 100 in June.  I was able to run comfortably, covering the first 50k of the race in 4:31, pull away from a strong Fabrice Hardel and hold on to 3rd place for the next 65 miles to the finish.  Shortly after that, I paced Brandon Fuller in a solid sub 24 hr effort at Western States, which became an installment of my How To Be An Ultra Pacer.

I carried that confidence into the Hardrock 100 a few weeks later with the goal of a top 10 finish.  Hardrock doesn't care about personal goals, pain, happiness, loneliness, or anything human.  It simply exists in mind numbing size, harshness, and beauty.  So, with that, I was happy with my 35:49 and 34th place finish, finishing my second year in a row and thus becoming a "True Hardrocker" (finishing the race in both directions).  I look forward to that race in 2014.

San Diego 100

Hardrock 100.  Happy to be finished.

Hardrock took a lot out of me and I suffered through a fatigued, mediocre month of running.  That was fine.  I had already accomplished my goals for 2012 and it was only July!  My new focus was on my friend Tim (Lucho) Waggoner's bid to win Leadman.  In a wickedly exciting series, trading the lead with ultra-great Troy Howard, Lucho had a scant 3 min lead going into the last race, the Leadville 100 mile run.  It was once again my job and privilege to pace Lucho from mile 50 to the finish.  An exciting and incredibly satisfying day unfolded.  Read about it here.  That special day of pacing was the final nail in the coffin securing my need to race the Leadman Series in 2013.

Pacing Lucho at mile 60

I felt as though the 50 miles pacing was the test I needed to do well at Pine to Palm.  I (usually) have this weird sense before races and can tell when I'm going to do well or suffer.  Pine to Palm was one of them.  I simply went through the motions of preparation and proceded to fall apart with the worse cramping I've ever experienced, dropping at mile 60.  It was definitely the lowest point of the year, in terms of racing anyway.

Pine to Palm about two hours before dropping.

I bounced back to some degree and ran a decent 4:18 50k in Colorado but, for the most part, my passion for racing was turning into a small flickering flame.  My last decent race was two weeks later at Dick Collins Firetrails 50 mile where I finished 10th on a negative split effort (mostly due to lacking confidence and going out easier than I should have).  I had one last big pacing gig at the North Face 50 mile championships in San Fran.  Tina Lewis, whom I met briefly over the summer, asked whether I'd be interested in pacing her.  She liked that I picked her (a virtual unknown who nobody even considered a threat) to win Leadville this year, which she did in the second fasteset time ever run at that 30 year old event.  She had a tough race at NF but we turned it around to be what we both considered a success under the circumstances.  Pacing report here.

Me and Tina at NF.

The last two months have been about building up my cycling to get me to a base starting point for Leadman training and I've re-fallen into love with the bike.  I love running but it pales in comparison to the speed, excitement, and sheer fun of mountain biking.  I'm simply grateful that I enjoy both sports so much.

Training ride up Mt. Tamalpais

Yeah, the Leadman series is probably the biggest, most important sports challenge I've taken on, at least in terms of focus and excitement.  Hardrock will always be the most important and special race in my heart but I have to admit that I'm near giddy thinking about the process of training and competing that I'll be tackling over the next seven months (and 19 days...).  The bonus in preparing for Leadman is that I get to race MTB events, starting with the 12 hrs of Temecula in three weeks!  Thanks so much to my sponsor, Vi Fuel for making Leadman a possibility for me.  A great product and great people.

Speaking of sponsors, I'll finally be officially racing on the La Sportiva Mountain Running Team for 2013.  Very excited about that, since I've loved their shoes for a few years now.  I'll also be supported by Rudy Project again and Udo's Oil for 2013.

On the personal side, it's been a yo-yo year, like it is for most people.  After coaching on a part-time basis for 9 years, I decided to go full-time with it.  Along with the coaching, I started organizing running clinics, which have been hugely fun and popular.  It's the first time in a VERY long time that I can say I'm truly satisfied and excited to be doing what I do for a living.  I've met so many diverse and exceptional people this year and appreciate every minute I've spent working with these folks.  In the works currently are more running clinics, running camps, and a new podcast that will debut in late January (sure to ignite some fires and hopefully douse them with humble humor).

Here's to a New Year filled with whatever the hell makes you happy.

Custom Training Plans for Goal Races

Descending Grant Swamp Pass - Hardrock 100 2012  Photo: Evan Honeyfield

Now that we're through most of the holiday stuff and are registering for our goal events in 2013, it's time to think about training.

I'm developing custom personal training programs for the following events:

Way Too Cool 50k
American River 50 mile
Bull Run Run 50 mile
Ice Age 50 mile
Miwok 100k
Western States 100 mile
San Diego 100 mile
Silver Rush 50 mile
Hardrock 100 mile
Leadville 100 mile
Bear 100 mile

(if you have a goal event not listed and want a custom training program, contact me)

The programs aren't personal coaching; they're training schedules tailored specifically to each individual based on experience, ability, available time, goals, and the athlete's location.

We'll start with a detailed questionnaire and a couple phone conversations, then I'll put the schedule together leading right up to your goal event start time, including the taper.  You'll know what to do every day to prepare you for the race.

I've run all but two of these and know all of them intimately, the aid stations, terrain, elevation, organization, typical weather conditions, common pitfalls, etc.  If you want to finish your big event and even run it well, then an experienced plan that is followed is the key to success.

Pricing varies based on the event and it's reasonable.  You drop a lot of money on events with entry fees, travel, accommodations, gear, and, of course, personal time invested.  Why not give yourself the best possible chance of accomplishing your goal?

Contact me at tim[at]footfeathers.com or via Facebook http://www.facebook.com/Footfeathers

Mt Tam Ride

How To Be An Ultrarunner

Before the first idiot scoots excitedly to the edge of his Aeron chair and amazes us with his power of observation that you merely need to run one step further than a marathon to be an ultrarunner, I'll point out that being an ultrarunner is much more than simply running 26.3 miles.  It's a culture, and a humorous culture at that.  There's the terminology, the clothing, the technical gear, the shoes, the realization that you're slow as a banana slug, the failing marriage (and/or relationship), the addictive personality, the disdain for humanity (or the pseudo dark aloofness for humanity that you saw in a James Dean poster image once, that you now covet while sitting at a grey conference table during Friday afternoon meetings in your going-nowhere job).  You look through the running magazines and lust after the 23 year old men and women with glowing, elastic skin and flowing black hair.  You're 40, pasty, a little chubby and have ear hair that would scare a child.  But you transcend your reality through ultrarunning because it's going to be your culture.  You will be in the tribe (whether the tribe has a say in it or not).

You've run a marathon and maybe even broke 4 hours once, so why not give longer distances a shot?  I mean, the cut off times in ultras are more lenient than a stoned 10th grade sociology teacher.  You could actually place in your age group, since most ultra events have more age group categories than participants; it's like a little kids' birthday party - everyone goes home with a treat.  Then you can finally start balancing out that stupid medal rack you bought that has the Dunkin Donuts Suffolk County 6k 3rd place age group medal dangling from one end.  Sadly, as you'll learn, many ultras retain the "old school" mindset, which is just another way to say they're cheap bastards who think flour on the ground is an acceptable finish line and a jug of water next to the trail is an aid station.  The only way you'll take anything good home from those races is by grabbing a slower competitor's finish line bag before he finishes.  Of course, the upside of these cheap ass races is that, well, they're usually cheap.  Per mile the cost is often about 1/5 that of a boring 5k in your town (if you're bad at math like most Americans, that means a $30 5k equates to just $90-$100 for a 50 mile race).

Ultrarunning is so much more than simply running the events.  There are huge numbers of people who run ultras but are cluelessly outside of the culture of the tribe, ostracized like a greasy pimple faced kid at a school pep rally.  So, how do you wedge yourself into the grimy, sinewy circle of ultrarunning?

Throw that shit right in the garbage.  (dude might want to look into a refund for his community college graphic arts degree)

Before you even run a step go to your bedroom with a garbage bag and throw away every t-shirt (and/or cheap road running hat) from every event shorter than a marathon that you've ever saved.  You don't want to be caught dead in a Whirlaway 10k shirt (well, maybe hang onto that one, since it gives a little street cred [look it up] but don't wear it).  The only way it's cool showing up to an ultra run in a short distance shirt is if you're the fastest one of the group (not likely).  Next, pitch all your road running shoes.  This is critical if you're one of those hypochondriacs who wears super heavy motion control shoes with more posting support than the Bay Bridge and resemble white bricks.  And, God help us, if you use $200 orthopedic inserts, wrap those up in newspaper (so even the garbage man doesn't see them) and toss them out.  The goal here is to completely scrape everything having to do with road running from your existence, a cleansing, if you will (which you damn well better).

Resemblance a coincidence or a metaphor (running, weakness, collapsing, support, support group...)

If you're feeling rather naked and exposed after stripping away all remnants of your road running life, good.  Minimalism (or at least the proclamation that you are in fact minimalist) is one of the cornerstones of your ultrarunning foundation (visage).  Don't fret, shortly, you'll be wearing and using more gear in ultrarunning than a Navy Seal Diver who golfs on the weekends.  We'll get to that later.

While you're at it, erase the history on your web browser and wipe letsrun.com from your memory.  The forum is loaded with the upper echelon of mediocrity in the road running world.  And, like most groups who feel a sense of inferiority, they find and pick on groups they deem lessor than themselves.  It's like the stone-dumb hillbilly whities in the South who have ingrained racist hatred for black folks.  They think they've found an inferior group, so they automatically hate them in the hope that it will raise their own sad social status (but I digress... wildly).  Letsrun seems to feel that ultrarunning is where slow road runners go to die.  Granted, paces are obviously slower in many ultras.  You're running 40 times further and over mountains. 

Ultrarunners, of course, counter this attack with uplifting quotes and sayings, albeit sometimes barbs and "witty" (intended strength of quotes around "witty" are off the charts and cannot be measured on the Long-Scale of sarcasm) comebacks.  Some of the more common gems:

"So, you ran a marathon?  How cute." - This is an attempt to belittle road marathon runners, even though they may likely run marathons in 2:30, nearly twice as fast as your plodding ass.

"It never always gets worse." - Yes.  Yes it does in fact get worse.  Right up until you cross the finish line of a 100 miler, each step is a new definition of pain.  Don't kid yourself.

"Any idiot can run a marathon.  It takes a special kind of idiot to run an ultramarathon." - A faint attempt to illustrate and acknowledge ultrarunners have humor and self deprecation.  It's still saying ultras are superior.

I'll leave you to ponder Part 1 of How To Be An Ultrarunner while I fight off death threats and trolling sludge from Letsrun.com

In Part 2 of How To Be An Ultrarunner we will take a look at the dichotomy of minimalistic footwear matched with $900 of gear and attire, pride in otherwise personal hygiene, relieving oneself, and body parts falling off.  And so much more (if I think of anything).  

Rolling Along

Caution: rambling ahead.

Time flies when you're not racing.  After a nice streak (for me) of days training, I hit a couple of blips with really bad weather (yeah, I know, meow) and an injured calf after pacing at NF50.  I'm grateful I could still ride the bike.

From a ride with Gary Gellin last week:


I'm still plodding along in a sort of base phase, keeping the effort and duration of workouts fairly mundane.  It seems to be doing what I had hoped, keeping me at a decent base fitness level and allowing me to recharge my lust for racing.  I catch myself lingering on event websites, looking forward to spring.  The most difficult thing about my complete commitment to Leadman is holding back from racing early in the year.  I pulled my lottery spot from Miwok and haven't committed to any running race before the Leadman series kicks off with the marathon on June 29th.  I have, however registered for MTB races, with the 12 hours of Temecula being the first one next month.  No specific goals there, other than to ride further than 100 miles.  Definitely looking forward to hanging out with Matt a bit and maybe get together with James Walsh for some beers and ultra talk.

In terms of training races, I'm looking at a 50k in Feb and Lake Sonoma 50 mile in April.  Not certain I'll do either and will have to see how and if they fit into the training at that time.

Speaking of Leadman (again), my crew for the big races (100 mtb and 100 run) is coming together.  I seem to have poached part of Brandon Fuller's crew, whom I've hung out with a couple times (WS100 and Leadville this year).  Simplifying things, as I like to do, I'm hoping they can keep me from wasting 90 mins in aid stations like I did last year at Leadville.  That would put my run last year at 19:30 without the dead air of mismanaged time.

Killer Leadman vid:



The riding is coming along really well.  A month ago, my legs would burn out before I could even get my cardio rolling.  They seem to have evened out somewhat now and certain times on certain climbs are getting faster under the same efforts.  Climbing is (thankfully) my favorite thing currently.  We hit trails in Santa Cruz on Sunday.  Long drive but worth it.

God, this post is boring as shit.

The two running clinics on Jan 5th and 13th are filling in nicely.  I can have up to 45 people for the Training for Ultra Distance Racing clinic at Sports Basement. The Hill Running clinic is a little more flexible but I like to keep it manageable, which seems to be around 30 people.  Might want to register if you want in.

Borrowing a Go Pro cam from one of my athletes.  You've been warned.

Some pics from the last week:

Mill Valley as seen from half way up Mt Tam

Tanford on Tam

"There's deer poo in that water."  -Tanford.

Next Running Clinics Open for Registration

Footfeathers Running Clinics
If you are interested in bringing a clinic to your area, contact us!

Our next Running Clinics in the Bay Area are:

Saturday, January 5th and Sunday, January 13th

January 5th, 2013
9:00AM

Training for Ultra Distance Running and Racing
At Sports Basement - Presidio
610 Old Mason St.
San Francisco, CA (Map)

So, you've decided to enter into the world of ultrarunning or you want to move up in distance or improve your results in long distance events.  Simply running consistently will probably get you across the finish line at some point but to reach the potential you know you have, you'll need to be a little more focused in your training.  That's where this clinic comes in to help you.  

How to get started training for longer distances

How to use periodization in training

How to plan your race schedule

How to cycle your training between races

How to use races to train for goal races

How to recognize when you're overtrained or burned out

How to recover and for how long after a race

How to peak for a goal event

How to taper so you're not flat but still rested

Of course, we'll have our normal format where questions during the talk are encouraged, so come prepared for an open forum!

Clinic is just $35 and will include giveaways from Vi Fuel (best gels in the world) and some nice running gear, like arm warmers, calf compression sleeves, and maybe even some running shirts.

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January 13th, 2013
9:00AM

Hill Running Clinic

Tennessee Valley (Mill Valley, CA)

Seems like everyone hates hills. Some think the uphills are too hard and everyone passes them in races. Others are timid on the descents and don't take advantage of our friend, gravity. Putting in the practice and training obviously helps, but knowing certain techniques and practicing them will chop huge chunks of time off your finish results and leave your competitors wondering how you got so fast on hills, especially over technical terrain.

This has become the most popular clinic with a number of repeat participants.  You won't want to miss it!

Topics covered:

• Hill running technique on technical climbs and descents.
• Climbing efficiently (when to walk vs run, arm position, etc), transitioning from walk to run
while maintaining pace
• Descending (low center of gravity, arm position, foot placement, etc)

• How to run various hill workouts for best conditioning results.

• Includes 3 x 3 min hill workout with warm up and cool down.



Clinic is just $35 and will include giveaways from Vi Fuel (best gels in the world) and some nice running gear, like arm warmers, calf compression sleeves, and maybe even some running shirts.

Register by contacting me via email - tim (AT) footfeathers.com


Also, feel free to contact me for more details about coaching services too.  I work with all levels and distances from 5k to 100 miles with custom, personal daily training schedules.

Check out the re-cap of our past clinics HERE!

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Photo Evan Honeyfield

Clinics we offer and will be scheduled regionally
Hill running
Aid station efficiency
Nutrition
Race strategy
Crewing
Pacing
Shoe choices and selection
and more…

Personal race services offered, include:
Specific race planning - get truly ready for your big race
Fueling, hydration, electrolyte balance
Determining your optimal training paces
Mental preparedness, know how to respond to pain and adversity
Understand your competition before and during the race and know how to win

Running Camps
Info coming soon

Pacing Tina Lewis at the North Face 50 Mile Championship

Tina and I barreling down Old Springs trail into Tennessee Valley.  Photo: Brett Rivers San Francisco Running Company

I was sore after the pounding of the Quad Dipsea last Saturday.  It was like a smack in the face after drinking all day.  A long season of racing that literally began on Jan 1st with the Brazen New Year's Half Marathon and racked up 800 miles on race courses, left me dull and disinterested but committed to the Quad.  I paid the price with rocked quad muscles and diluted motivation to the point of utter disinterest in running at all.

My legs were shot for a few days but I got out for short jogs each day to get them ready for pacing duties at the North Face 50 miler.  I felt it would be a tall order pacing Tina Lewis.  She stomped the field at the one-off rerouted tough course of Miwok 100k in May and followed it up with a blazing inferno run to win the Leadville 100 mile in 19:33, a time only surpassed by the surgical racing of the great Ann Trason.  With money on the line and an international field of women so deep in talent top ten at the NF would be a foggy dream for most.

The weather was the biggest story of the day with a three day deluge of flood warning rain and winds that would create trails that would either suck shoes off the feet or send bodies flipping up in the air from an unfortunate foot placement begging for purchase which didn't exist.  I laughed out loud on several occasions.  It's difficult to keep a straight face when someone stands up like a newborn fawn and has mud in her ears.

At the first pass of Tennessee Valley for the runners, I saw Tina and she wasn't doing well.  Her only comment while I jogged beside her to offer any aid was, "My legs feel seized."  I told her it'd be light soon (we were already 8 miles into the race and it was still pitch black with sideways rain/wind by the coast) and that she'd loosen up and to just stay positive.  She also blurted out that she may drop.  I ignored that comment and told her I'd see her soon.

On her second pass I grabbed her headlamp and she was still in rough shape.  I would start pacing her in a few miles and told her just to hang on the best she could.  Her disappointment was thick.  She (and I) felt she would be a contender for podium and here she was in 12th place.

I changed into my running gear and scrambled over to the half way point (the start/finish area) to pick her up and turn this thing around with her.  Her mood was a little better, if only because she seemed to have given up on competing.  We joked a bit and settled into the meshing that takes place between a good pacer and good runner.  Soon we were stride for stride and making good time up the climb out of Fort Mason's aid station.

I brought 6 Vi Gels with me and hoped to get her to try one.  She doesn't eat gels, but I had hope we could get one down later.  In the meantime I coaxed her to eat her other nutrition and talked about pace, strategy, mileage, and some non running things.  By the time we came through Tennessee Valley I felt we were definitely running faster and soon I spotted Krissy Moehl just up ahead with her pacer, Jen Benna.  We caught a couple ladies (Bethany Lewis was one) before reaching her and finally rolled by Krissy on the slick, steep descent into Pirates Cove.  Tina bursted past and kept up a solid pace, while I retrieved her lost visor hat and chatted with Krissy and Jen for a minute before giving chase to Tina.  I caught back up and saw Brandy Erholtz and Joelle Vaught and they represented 9th and 8th place.  We blew by them and dropped down to Muir Beach.  On the climb back out we passed Lizzy Hawker and Megan Kimmel and we were now in 6th and Tina's competitiveness was in line and fiery.

Brandy, the strong mountain runner that she is, passed us back on the long climb but we kept her in sight, only allowing a gap of 100-300 meters.  When we cruised into Tenn Valley again, we rolled right passed the aid station and were on Brandy's heels for the final large climb on Marincello.  Brandy didn't walk a step and was moving steadily but slowly.  We adopted more of a walk/run approach but Tina's walk was slow.  I begged her every time to "fast walk" but there wasn't much there.  Her run was great, though, so we yo-yo'd behind Brandy for the entire climb.  Once nearing the peak of the climb I told Tina that Brandy looked like she was slowing a little and that we were going to catch her and then burn the descent to get away for good.  It worked perfectly.  We passed, stayed steady for a minute, and then picked up the pace until we reached a right hand curve where we began the kick and ran a 6:22 mile to put a large distance on Brandy.  Once reaching the road to the finish, we eased into a solid pace and Tina crossed the finish in 7:13 and 6th place.

I've run a lot of races and believe I have a good, intuitive feel for racing now.  Observing Tina's full throttle approach to racing through every obstacle was inspiring.  She can wring every drop of energy from her petite body and push the limits to the edge like few people I've seen.  Though I know she's disappointed in her result, her move from 12th to 6th place over the last half of the race was something she should be proud of.  I'm proud of her and honored to be a witness to so exciting and gutsy racing.