skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Last Sunday, Matt and I hit the backcountry near Crystal Mtn. and learned why ski areas are in such high demand. I wore myself out skinning up Bullion Basin to do my first backcountry turns on the new AT skis. It took us most of the day just to get to the top of the ridge and it took less than an hour to ski back down. If I was a little more cynical I would have to say I didn't get my money's worth on that downhill run! Then again, I didn't pay any money to get to the top and we nearly had the whole hillside to ourselves!!
Last weekend I learned:
1. The kick-turn in my AT gear is even harder than with my tele-gear
2. I have to lock into the bindings in order to step up steep hillsides
3. Skinny skins don't work so well on steep ice!!
4. No matter how hard it is to get to the top and no matter how crappy the conditions are for skiing down, I can still have a fun time!!!
It was awesome to get to the top of the hill and look out over the Cascades, thinking of all that country which is completely neglected in the winter time. How impossible would it be to do a little ski tour to some of my favorite summer destinations, like the Enchantments?? Just dreaming, I guess.
We got some great views of Mt. Rainier. Sure wish I could ski on Rainier this year. Because of the flood damage, I doubt anyone will be doing much skiing on the Mountain. The upper parts of the mountain are normally relatively people-free during the winter. But this winter may be extra special in that respect. I know the mountain doesn't really care, but I like to think about the vastness and coldness of that mountain, all alone. The mountain is a little too large and over-powering for me to take-it all in on a crowded summer day, let alone a frigid cold and completely lonely winter day. It just seems so extremely wild without the people. I want to visit! Sorry for the Rainier rambing, but I just finished reading The Measure of a Mountain: Beauty and Terror on Mount Rainier by Bruce Barcott. This was a very interesting book and I highly recommend it to non-fiction junkies (like myself).
Today I was just doing a little surfing when I stumbled onto the Chuckanut 50k website. I have to admit I haven't even thought about this race since last year when I ran it and dropped out due to an injury. So I was once again surprised to see that the race is already full and I have once again slept through a race start. I know it wasn't a literal race start, but with certain races it is quickly becoming obvious that the race begins long before the gun goes off, or in the case of Chuckanut, someone yells GO!
According to the website the Chuckanut race filled in only 2 weeks and this is for a race that is on the other side of winter, in March. A lot of NW runners I know are starting to enter the slow-down or downtime for the year otherwise known as the bad weather, dark day, holiday busy time of year, December. Not only have I been trying to take it easy so that I don't build up mileage too fast for next spring, I have been trying to soften my enthusiasm so that I don't enter races every weekend. But this approach has just backfired since I missed my chance to enter one of my favorite races. It is even more annoying when I remember that I tried to enter too late for the same race a year before last. At that time I was then offered a wait-listed spot after I had already written off the race and re-arranged my schedule.
Generally I like to think of myself as a fairly organized person who plans ahead. But these sorts of races and lottery type races like the Western States 100 mile are starting to chop my hide. Last spring I made a special effort to gain a highly coveted entry to the McKenzie River Trail Run. In order to gurantee entry I had to schedule my time just to download and entry form on the first day it was posted and mail it on the same day. In the end, my efforts to enter a great and fun race yielded nothing because I became injuried a couple months before the race and had to cancel.
Of course none of my problems have been a result of poor race management or bad race directing. In fact, these races only continue to run so smoothly because of great race directors (thanks RDs). Sometimes it is just so frustrating that I have to not only train for races, I have to put in so much time coming up with a race schedule.
I really should quit my whining. I already know that the answer is just to do what I can to have fun. That is after all, why I run races in the first place! So I will try to mellow out about which races I run and when I run them. In the end it doesn't matter if I get to run Western States in two years or twenty years. Someday I will run it and on that day, or the day after, when I finish, that race will mean no less to me at age 50 than at age 30.
Being that the weather has finally improved, I decided to go ahead with the Birthday Challenge and test out the 34 year old body. Amazingly I finished my self-imposed challenge, but not without quite a bit of pain. Most of that pain was in my hands, feet and butt (of all places) due to the cold temperatures. Fortunately, I am suffering no long-term effects. Didn't loose any fingers or toes, but my but is still a little sore, two days afterward!
The temperature at the beginning of the day was somewhere south of 40 degrees and by the end of the challenge my car thermometer read a balmy 35 degrees. Other than that the weather was near perfect, with only a slight breeze on the lake and sunny skies after morning fog.
I started out by biking counter-clockwise around Lake Washington (maybe 50 miles?). Due to the cold conditions I wore just about all of my bike gear and even wore two pairs of socks. I was in full bike nerd regalia! The biking went well except for the bitingly cold wind on my face and the associated numb fingers and toes. Obviously, I need some more gear! A face mask, shoe covers and chemical hand warmers would have made the ride far more comfortable. Time: 3:18
Transition/Aid Time: 29 minutes
Next, I unloaded the kayak from the car, reloaded the bike and paddled off into Lake Washington. The plan was to paddle around Mercer Island, taking the shortest route possible. This is the stage which most worried me since I have never paddled around Mercer Island and have never paddled the assumed distance of 14-15 miles. Just as I launched, a small fleet of sailboats sailed by which further unnerved me. If sailboats are going sailing it usually means there is going to be some wind on the water! Amazingly, the paddle went smoothly until the last hour or so when my but went numb and I had to negotiate some choppy water with a slight headwind. The real kicker came when I landed and went to stand up. My butt muscles, gluteus maximus and/or minimus, were so tight that I could hardly stand straight and bending over was extremely difficult. I can only guess that the cold weather in conjunction with the tired butt muscles (from biking) and the long sit had contributed to a major case of BUTTFREEZE!! Due to the buttfreeze and due to the fact that I had a case of uncontrollable shivers, I took my time re-hydrating and re-fueling before the next stage. Time 3:26
Transition/Aid Time: 59 minutes
The final stage: the glorious run which never became glorious was to be a roughly 12 or 13 mile counter-clockwise circling of the perimeter of Mercer Island. Before the challenge I was excited to do the run as it was the only stage which I felt semi-prepared. I have run around the perimeter of Mercer Island on many occassions and felt prepared to weather whatever mental anguish I would have from the day's trials and tribulations. I was however, not at all prepared for the BUTTFREEZE. As I started out running in the cold and the dark (it was after 5:30 PM - that is the beginning of night, around these parts) I quickly realized I couldn't stride normally. My glutes were tight and wouldn't allow me to actually run. My stride was more like a shuffle, the shuffle of an old and worn-out man! Thank goodness, after about a half-hour of shuffling along my glutes warmed up and I was able to really start running. I started enjoying the run as I jogged relatively slowly, south along the western side of Mercer Island. Unfortunately, the run quickly degenerated into a fast walk on the eastern side of Mercer Island as I was afflicted with a serious case of runner's trots. Due to the lack of facilities available I ended up quickly, and sometimes painfully, walking the last 4 or 5 miles to the closest portable toilet.
Time: 2:37
Total Time: 10:52
Total Time Moving: 9:24
To most people this sort of pain and suffering may sound absolutely unnecessary and probably a bit ridiculous, but at least to me and at least on this day, I am glad I did the birthday challenge. Not just because I am the type of individual who gets off on setting goals and accomplishing them. But, rather because sometimes, at least for me, it takes a test of my own physical limits before I truly feel ALIVE. Maybe I am just a superfeeler? This is just a theory I have which originates from something I heard about supertasters. I will not go into it here and now. Maybe later.
Based upon the Birthday Challenge I have concluded the following:
1. I am definately getting older. To truly test this theory I will need to do the same challenge again, sometime in the future. This probably won't happen as I have too many other challenges I would like to do, instead!
2. I would much rather do my birthday challenge during the summer! I might have to do next year's challenge a month or two before my birthday!
