Monday, September 14, 2009

Taper Time and Iroquois Trails 100/50 Ultras





It's about that time...the point in training where you cut back the volume to allow your body to replenish in order to be in the best possible shape come race day. That race day for me is Saturday September 26...which is approaching rather quickly! I had a very strong week consisting of a 32-mile run on the Pacific Crest Trail (Hundred in the Hood course) on Thursday, and an unexpected tough 17-miler yesterday in the Columbia River Gorge (Mt. Defiance) where we climbed 4,500 feet over the course of 8.5 miles and totalled about 75 miles for the week.

I had a great time hooking up with some of the Trail Factor club members for this run and we enjoyed a big lunch afterward to calm our ravenous appetites. Check out some of the video below! (and I apologize in advance for the utter lack of videography skills...the Flip recorder is totally new to me and I have a lot to learn while taping out on the trails ;0)

I know some other folks are antsy and ready to run and hopefully are tapering well for Iroquois Trails 100 <---click here to track people online on race day)...coming up this weekend. This was my first 100-miler last year and it's a great race. I hope to return next year while I also visit family in the beautiful area which was recently named a top trail running town in Trail Runner Magazine. Best wishes to everyone taking part this weekend. I'll be tracking you guys and I am anxiously awaiting to see how it all goes down in it's second year. Favorites for the 100 are Oregonian Jeff Browning and last year's third place overall and 1st woman Kelly Wilson from Vermont. I know for a fact she's raring to go under 24 hours. It's also good to see ultra veteran Greg Loomis signed up...he and Ian thought up this whole thing! Go get em'!

For the 50-miler it looks like my buddy Tim Ingall is back at it and hopefully will stay on course this year. If he does I think he'll be up there along with Ed Housel from the Rochester area. What I am learning with ultramarathons is that it's really anyone's ball game...so good luck everyone! This year RD Ian Golden added a relay which sounds really fun too...and the Young Burgermeisters of Enclave seem to have a pretty solid team.

So this weekend I'm just going to kick back and relax...keep an eye on Iroquois...and let my muscles, tendons, and joints heal so I can do it the following weekend. :0)

Happy Trails!

4 comments:

TonyP said...

I was wondering if you were going to return to IQ100 this year. If you head back next year, I'll drive up and lend you a hand.

Yassine said...

That would be awesome Tony!

Derrick said...

Good luck on the 26th! Don't let the taper madness hit you too hard.

Nancy said...

Here's wishing you a great time and a safe and smart 100 next weekend. Jeff Browning crushed your inaugural IT 100 record (he ran 17:34!), with Kelly Wilson well under 24 on the women's side. For the 50 miler, Aliza LaPierre was first overall in 8:29 (she also slashed more than half an hour off of the longstanding Finger Lakes 50s women's record in 2008). Ed was second and Tim was third in the 50; even on Sunday, Tim was vowing to give up running and take up tiddleywinks instead! I did data entry for this event for all but the overnight hours, and I apologize for not to have been able to keep the relay times up to date in real time, but the splits and overall times are up now. The five members of the Burgermeisters didn't quite hit their combined target of 12 hours for 100 mile relay, but came quite close -- 12:10 -- with Earl crossing the finishing line in leopard print women's panties, so I'm told (the computer was physically isolated from race activities, so I was visually (and socially) out of the loop throughout). Despite what must have been a startling sight(!), it was a beautiful weekend to be in Virgil, and we all missed you there. Hopefully some year soon, Yassine.