Another Word for Winter is (NEVERENDING)

Just when we got used to temperatures in the sixties, mother nature slaps us with another winter storm. This is not quite what I had in mind for weather this week. I just signed up for a fifty miler in two weeks and really need some trail time.

I was lucky enough to have some help scooping snow today. While the Blink clan is basking in the Florida sun with the Bigun family, I get to take care of his meathead dawg and scoop snow. It just doesn't seem right. Have fun and we'll see you in a few.

They Will Let Anyone In a Race Oh Shit!

Oh Crap now what does this say about me. Here I thought I might be part of an elite group. You know the best of the best, and now look Rod Blagojevich is running Marathon's. Well just shake it off and be happy the blond with the speedo AND Blagojevich will never show up at the same race that I am.

Well now we are on the subject I'm about to kick off the season with my first Ultra. Next Saturday, I'm heading down to run in 2009 Phyco Wyco Ultra Marathon. It's a 50K with over 12,000 ft of climb. It's muddy! It's cold! And the RD Bad Ben always says he doesn't allow any Whiners so I better shut up. It's going to be fun.

Camp Corns Weekend

The first weekend in October Aneta and I made a road trip down to Indian Cave State Park in South East Nebraska. I always heard they had a great trail system and the rumors where right. We covered 8 miles of trail and didn't see half the trails. I was really impressed with the elevation gains and variety of scenery.

The following week I made last minutes plans to throw the tent and sleeping bag in the car and went back for two-day trail run.





Let's just call it CampCorns. So there was no entry fee to sign up for CampCorns, and as you can see there where no shirts given out. The attendance this year (at CampCorns) was 100%, but then again I was the only one invited.




The first day.... Saturday, I rolled into Indian Cave and set up camp. That took longer than I hoped so my first day of running was short. Maybe a ten mile run followed up by camp fire meal and a cooler full of beer. The weather was perfect. A cool evening, no bugs and no phones.



Day two was great. I got up early and had a quick backpackers breakfast. I filled up the camelback with H2O and hit the trails for a nice fifteen mile run. Indian Cave had a horse race that morning so I shared the trail with hand full of horseback riders. They were bigger so they had the right of way, plus they were faster, but then again if you've seen me run, that ain't saying much. The trails had some amazing hills with incredible views of the Missouri River, some deep valleys and you could run for 25+ miles without seeing the same trail twice.



After the run I went back to camp. Fried up some eggs and sausage and held the awards ceremony. CampCorns trailrunning series fell on hard times this year with the poor economy so there where no buckles awarded. Maybe next year.













Below.....I added a link to a short film of David Goggins, the US Seal Team member/Ultra runner. Most of the footage was shot at the 2008 McNaughton Park 100/150 mile ultra. I was running the 100 mile distance and the only time I got to see David he pasted me when I was on mile 25. He passed me like I wasn't moving and he already completed 125 miles. It's a great video. When you click on the link there are several video's. Use the tool bar to scroll over to "The Long Run". Enjoy!


http://lstudio.lexus.com/

Bohemian Alps 2008

Three weeks after the Lean Horse 100 mile ultra Nebraska holds it's only Ultra distance race, the Bohemian Alps 50k. I can't say I was fully recovered from the Lean Horse but it's important to support our local races when-ever possible.

Again, the day was a tough one. The forecast was calling for mild temperatures but holy cow it was hot. Upper 80's and when you are a walking oven, that's hot. I think everyone said they had difficulty with the heat. The fastest time was around 5hours. I happened to finish the Alps in 7 hours 11minutes. I'm please with the time and had a blast doing it.

The Bohemian Alps is a 32 mile run in Branard Nebraska. Rolling hills, dirt roads and trails. My GPS says we had 3685 feet of Ascent/Descent. September is the start of harvest season so the occasional grain truck flying by and kicking up road dirt is a factor as well. Sweat + Dirt = a messy dry eyed Greg.

When I first started doing triathlon the race would always give you a photo or drawing of the area.

Since I started doing ultras the RD would give you a satellite photo or county road map for distance and direction. I wish they wouldn't do that. Scars the shit out of me when you see the big picture.




Post race beers and BBQ. I wasn't worth a crap here. Notice I thought this one through. I camped out by the beer cooler. Now if I could just give my dick to someone to go take a piss for me, I'd be happy. I was on my own for that one.

Going down!

The Lean Horse

We made it back from the Lean Horse and back to our normal Life again. The trip to South Dakota is always fun, but this year was another humbling experience again. This was my 2nd attempt at running the Lean Horse and I fell shy of the finish line by 30 miles.

Carhinge was the first stop on our trip to South Dakota. It's a mystical place. Life changing for sure.

I was able to scratch one item from the bucket list. PISS ON CARHINGE. "Who doesn't have that on their list"? It was satisfying.

The next morning we were got checked in....had a quick snack.....stretched and got ready for the race start up.

The race had about 140 runners, some running the 50 miler and about 80 people running the 100 miler. I love the energy at the start. Most people are nervous and jacked up ready to get the race started. I tend to be numb. No emotion, I'm just ready to go.

After we got started I hooked up with the only other person from Nebraska. Scott G. from LaVista Nebraska.. One hell of a good guy. Really......we didn't plan to dress the same.......Scott ended up with at 25 hour finish.......Which I'm proud to say he represented Nebraska well. I hope to do some more running with Scott in the future.

The wild life in South Dakota was incredible. I know most of my friends would look at hind-end as an invitation. Kind of looks like a target. And look.........handle bars......who could say "No" I had to pass on this one.

Big Buck.......What a monster.

After the race gets underway you are really able to relax and just enjoy the run. The Lean Horse is considered one of the easiest 100 mile ultra. Non technical trails, with all smooth surfaces, but I argue that. It's ALL up and down. You are always going through some level of elevation change, and the changes in temperature are challenging too. The start of the race is 40. The mid day is 80 and after the sun goes back down it's back in the lower 40's.

The first 25 miles were smooth. I was running well. I did not have any major problems. I was able to see Aneta a few times at different aid station and was able to cruse into Carrol Creek aid station at mile 30 feeling good. From 30 to 40 miles my body was starting to rebel a little and started getting sick. I was sick of drinking energy drinks, I was sick of gu, my "S" caps were not tasty and that's were I started Blow Chunks. And "No" I don't have a cat named "Chunks" (joke). Now on the up-side of getting sick it was only a minor problem. I just had to slow down. Focus on staying hydrated, and keep moving forward.

Now it started getting late. The sun was down and believe me South Dakota is dark. It's funny but when you are running in the trees. No moon light, and all you have is your head lamp, you tend to see things. Everything moves. Trees take on different shapes. I kept seeing chairs lines up on the side of the trail. I go take a closer look and guess what ......no chairs...just more and more trees.

I ended my run about 1:30am at night. I really had trouble from mile 60 to 70. The last section of my run was a 6 mile stretch from Crazy Horse Monument to Harbach park all up hill. It trashed the quads and with no water in my system.......I just shut down. On the upside.......I did 70miles.......I did about 12 thousand food of ascent/descent, and I ran from 6am and stopped at 1:30am.........On the down side.......I showed up to run a 100 mile race. I only covered 70 miles.

I am disappointed in the end result but overall I'm happy for the opportunity, and to say I ran in tough conditions, and I've gained a ton of experience for the next race.

In short.....The Lean Horse is a great event. Jerry Dunn does a great job putting on a event that is challenging, but do-a-ble for the first time ultra runner.