2012 SCHEDULE (*key event)
Cheyenne Mountain 50K, Colorado Springs, Colorado (4/28)
Goal: Race!
Actual: 5th overall with a 4:50 (Report)
Story of the Race: Improved by 35 minutes over last year's time. Strong on the descents. Good turnover. Efficient and strong on the climbs. My best race since the 2010 Greenland Trail 50K.
Golden Gate Dirty Thirty (6/2)
Goal: Training run
Mount Evans Ascent (6/16)
Goal: Sub-2:30
Leadville Trail Marathon (6/30)*
Goal: Race! Sub-4:20
Leadville Trail 100-Mile, Leadville, Colorado (8/18)*
Goal: Sub-20 hours
Rock 'n Roll Phoenix Marathon (1/20/2013)*
Goal: New marathon PR
2011 SCHEDULE (*=key event)
Eisenhower Marathon, Abilene, Kansas (4/9)*
Goal: Sub-2:55
Actual: 5th overall, 1st age group, 3:10:22 (Report)
Story of the race: Heat, humidity, wind and an overall bad day.
Cheyenne Mountain 50K, Colorado Springs, Colorado (4/23)
Goal: Good, solid effort to build confidence and sharpen my trail skills going into Jemez.
Actual: 15th overall, 5:25:04 (Report)
Story of the race: Actually 32 miles! More climb than I anticipated, but I was strong and ran my second-fastest mile the last mile of the race. Last 7 days 101.54 miles of training. Finished strong and had a good day at "the office."
Jemez Mountain 50-Mile, Los Alamos, New Mexico (5/21)
Goal: Quality training run in one of the nation's three most difficult 50-mile races, featuring steep ascents and descents, scree fields, high altitude and other obstacles.
Actual: 33rd overall, 11:57 (Report)
Story of the race: Discovered I haven't been spending enough time in the mountains. This was a terrible result for me.
Mount Evans Ascent, Mount Evans, Colorado (6/18)
Goal: Quality training run up one of Colorado's great 14,000-foot mountains. I have registered but am tentative due to scheduling conflict.
Actual: 41st overall, 2:41:40 (Report)
Story of the race: Winds 30-50 mph with stiff headwinds in more than a few areas. Struggled above 13,000 feet. It really hit me in this race that no matter how hard I train and how "tough" and "fast" I may be, it's going to take time for me to be able to truly race at altitude. I'm now at peace with that and will be patient throughout my training and racing.
Leadville Trail Marathon, Leadville, Colorado (7/2)*
Goal: Sub 4:30. Ran a disappointing 4:55 and finished 28th overall in 2010. Race is run at 10,000+ feet in the Rocky Mountains, turning around on 13,185-foot Mosquito Pass.
Actual: 13th overall, 4:39:29 (Report)
Story of the race: After a disappointing start to the 2011 racing season, finally I feel good about a result. I cut 16 minutes of my 2010 time and climbed 15 spots, too. I went out a tad fast and suffered a bit toward the end, but all in all a good result and confidence booster for me.
Leadville Trail 100 Mile, Leadville, Colorado (8/20)*
Goal: My big event of the year. I want to finish top 10. In 2010, I finished with a 24:47. One of America's most demanding 100-milers, Leadville is run in the Rocky Mountains between 9,200-12,600 feet, with four mountain crossings.
Actual: 29th overall, 22:35 (Report)
Story of the race: Fantastic first half (9:15) but struggled in the second half. Significant improvement over last year's Leadville, where I finished 92nd overall with a 24:47.
Trot for Our Troops 5K, Parker, Colorado (9/18)
Goal: Sub 18:30. This is a trail and cross-country race (5K PR is 17:39 but that was at sea level).
Actual: 2nd overall, 18:29 (Report)
Story of the race: Felt good. Achieved goal. Perfect weather. Barely held off a ~16-year-old kid who made a charge with about 100 meters to go. A reminder of how fun 5Ks can be. They're a lot of hard work and super painful, but it's just 18 minutes of agony :-).
The Health Plan/Oglebayfest 5K in the Park, Wheeling, WV (10/9)
Goal: Sub 18:00...unless the course is super hilly, which it might be given the location (Oglebay Park).
Actual: 2nd overall, 16:34* (Why the asterisks? Read below)
Story of the race: This was a very tough 5K course. The course has about 300 feet of climbing, which is a lot over just 3.1 miles, and is held on the paved paths of Oglebay Park in hilly Wheeling, WV. Sadly, the organizes failed to man a crucial turn right before the finish line, forcing every one of us to run a short course. My watch had the course .5 miles short, while others reported .4 and .6 miles short. If you can break 19 minutes on the full course, you're a stud. This is so not a PR course. I'm glad I finished so high up. What can I say about getting beaten by a fast kid half my age?
2010 RESULTS
Greenland Trail 50K, Greenland, Colorado, (5/1)*
4:14/5th overall/PR / Report
Leadville Trail Marathon, Leadville, Colorado (7/3)
4:55/28th overall (10,000-13,200 feet in the mountains) / Report
Barr Trail Mountain Race, Manitou Springs, Colorado (7/18)
2:03 (poor performance) / Report
Leadville Trail 100-Mile Run, Leadville Colorado (8/21)*
24:47/93rd overall (El Plato Grande Buckle) / Report (click on that link to start a 4-part report)
2009 RESULTS
Lt. JC Stone 50K, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania*
3:46/5th overall/PR / Report
Forget the PR, Mohican 50K, Loudonville, Ohio
4:49/5th overall / Report
Cleveland Marathon, Cleveland, Ohio
2:59/34th overall / Report
Blossom Time Run (5.25 Miles), Chagrin Falls, Ohio
33:31/Fun Run / Report
Mohican Trail 100-Mile Run, Loudonville, Ohio
19:52/1st overall, automatic bid into The North Face Championship / Report
Perfect 10 Miler, Lyndhurst, Ohio
1:03:23/27th overall / Report
Aurora Labor Day Classic 5K, Aurora, Ohio
17:39/4th overall, PR / Report
North Coast 24-Hour Endurance Run/24-Hour National Championship, Cleveland, Ohio
130.67 miles/9th overall / Report
2008 RESULTS
Winter Buckeye Trail 50K, Peninsula, Ohio
4:36:1/1st overall / Report
Mill Creek Distance Classic (AKA, Youngstown, Ohio 1/2 Marathon), Youngstown, Ohio
1:29:14/18th overall / Report
Spring Classic Half Marathon, Strongsville, Ohio
1:22:48/8th overall / Report
Cleveland Marathon, Cleveland, Ohio
2:58:28/33rd overall / Report
Blossom Time Run (5.25 miles), Chagrin Falls, Ohio
31:35 / Report
Mohican Trail 100-Mile Run, Loudonville, Ohio
19:22/4th overall / Report
Aurora Labor Day Classic 5K, Aurora, Ohio
17:45/2nd overall / Report
Columbus Marathon, Columbus, Ohio
2:59:04 / Report
COLORADO 14'ERS PROJECT
Pikes Peak, 14,115 ft. (Summits on 6/6/2010 and 10/9/2010)
Mt. Evans, 14,265 ft. (Summit on 6/18/2011 - Mount Evans Ascent Road Race)
Mt. Bierstadt, 14,060 ft. (Summit on 5/28/2012)
