Viva Las Vegas!!

Well I made it back from Vegas in one piece!! As a matter of fact the mountain climbing and altitude training around Vegas made my hip feel much better. I got in 75 miles last week. The week started out with an easy 8 mile run on the city streets of North Las Vegas in the morning then a nice 6 mile hike up Gass Peak (the highest peak north of Las Vegas). On Tuesday Brian took me out to Red Rock Canyon for a spin on his 19 mile course. Ran it in just over 3 hours and felt great doing it. Wednesday was a rest day--we headed out for a nice easy hike to the Liberty Arch out by Hoover Dam and Lake Mead (5.5 miles). Thursday 10 miles on the city streets again--actually one of my best runs in a long time. And then on Friday--18 mile hike up and down Mt. Charleston west of Las Vegas. Took Saturday off to travel back to the Kansas heat. Sunday was a hard 9 miler in the heat of the day--man if that doesn't get me in shape for Leadville I don't know what will. So where does this put me mileage wise?? 295 miles from Lecompton. 364 miles to go to Leadville. This puts me near Grinnell Kansas. With another big week this week I will be half way to Leadville next week. Still 9 weeks to go. Not counting my 2 weeks of taper that means I need to average 52 miles a week. My next race is Psycho Summer 50k so I will probably ease up on training the week before that to be ready to go.

Rolling the Dice

Yippy....I am on vacation!!! Pretty much for the rest of the month too!!! Sweet!!! Time for some real mileage. Last week my hip was killing me so I dropped the mileage down and did only 41 miles for the week. The hip had me worried. Should I drop the mileage now for 2-3 weeks and try to see if it gets better or should I push thru it and hope that it doesn't get any worse? Maybe I can make it to my taper time August 1st and hopefully recover enough to make it through Leadville? So many serious questions/concerns. Well the lower mileage must have helped at least a little as I felt better as the weekend closed out. So with the 41 miles for the week that puts me down to 439 miles to Leadville with just under 10 weeks to go. 659 minus 439=220 miles run from Lecompton. This puts me 4 miles outside of Hays America!!! Not bad.

So why did I title my blog Rolling the Dice?? Well I am in Las Vegas this week visiting one of my favorite friends in the world Brian Pawley and his wife Dawn. When ever I come out here to visit it always is a great time. Brian and me usually hit the area trails and hit them hard!!! So much for the easy training on the hip!!! So I am Rolling the Dice this week and I will see what the hip feels like when I get back to Kansas next week. In the 2 days that I have been out here so far we have got in over 33 miles!!! This will definitely will be a big week for me. Tune in next Monday for the details of my adventure in the Western Desert!!!

Wilson!!!

No I am not talking about the volleyball that co-stared with Tom Hanks in the movie Castaway. I am talking about Wilson Kansas....My next stop on my tour to Leadville Colorado. I put in 70 miles this week....a great week training wise and that puts me 70 miles west of Abilene or Wilson Kansas. Now I don't know a lot about the town of Wilson but what I can tell you about is Wilson Lake. Wilson lake is one of the most beautiful lakes in Kansas. It also is the clearest lake in Kansas. Why you may ask? This is because of its grassland drainage basin unlike farmland drainage basins with other lakes in Kansas.
Also, I can tell you that it has some really nice trails. I have been on them a few times and the views are incredible. The only draw back is that there is not many trees around for sun protection. Probably the best time to enjoy the trails there would be in the fall when the temps are cooler. I love the trails out there!!!
The following is info from the "Kansas Outdoorsman Guide" website:
"For those who enjoy hiking and biking, the Dakota Trail gives you one of the most spectacular views of the prairie and the lake. The Cedar Trail in Otoe is handicap-accessible. It is about a mile long and has an asphalt surface. The Rocktown Hiking Trail is found in nearby Lucas Park. This 3 mile loop is full of rolling hills and massive sandstone rock formations that rise up to 30 feet above the ground. The name comes from the formations, which give an impression of a city skyline. The Bur Oak Nature Trail is located in Sylvan Park. This short nature walk has many stops along the way and is self-guided. For bicyclists, the Switchgrass Bike Trail is an excellent adventure. Approximately 20 miles long, this popular trail is enjoyed by many year round."
Hopefully you will get a chance to enjoy the trails of Wilson Lake someday....it is worth the trip!!

Back to my mileage. I was in Abilene 550 miles away from Leadville. Now with 70 more down I am at 480 miles to go with 11 weeks left!!! My total training mileage from the start of this adventure? 659-480 = 179 miles.

The last thing I want to mention this week is about the Wyco Trails Makeover on Saturday. What a wonderful event. I want to thank Sam and Jim for making it happen!! It was good to see hikers, mountain bikers, trail runners, and horse riders all working together to make the trail system a better place to enjoy!! I look forward to another event soon!!!

I LIKE IKE!!!

Well time to update the blog again. As the title indicates, I have made it to Abilene Kansas on my virtual tour to Leadville. Lecompton to Leadville (L to L). Did 9 miles on the river trails last Tuesday then in an effort to try to cure my hip pain I took two days off. Friday I decided to hit the Clinton North Shore trails so I hammered out a 16 miler out there on Friday morning. Then on Saturday I went for another 13 miler on the river roads. That makes a total of 38 to add to my totals (47 miles for the week total when you add in last Mondays 9 mile run). So 38 onto the 71 miles puts me 109 miles down the road and in Abilene Kansas former home of Dwight D. Eisenhower our 34th president from 1953 to 1961. Abilene Kansas is also home to The Greyhound Hall of Fame. I wish I could run as fast as a Greyhound!!!! (they can reach speed of 43 miles an hour!!!!)

Nothing more to say today. 550 miles to Leadville (11.5 weeks to go). Hip still pretty sore. Trying to do some stretching to help stretch it out. For now I am going to just tough it out and see what happens. Also it is time to pick up my mileage...would like to be doing 60-70 mile weeks thru the month of June and then back down for a few weeks in July. At the middle to end of July I will make my final push of 70-80 miles a week...and then it will be taper time. Will just keep moving along.

So where is Burger now???

Ok...time to catch you up on my running....Tried to take it easy this week...as I said I needed to get my legs back under me...after about 6 weeks of hard running (Rockin K 50 miler, Free State 100K, Rock Creek 1/2 marathon, and going to Berryman last weekend to do 25 miles with Katie) I felt pretty beat up....as a matter of fact....my hip pain that froze me in my tracks 10 years ago has started to come back....when did this happen?? Right after my hard 1/2 marathon at Perry Lake. I am hopeful that I will be able to run thru it and it will get better on its own...kind of feels like a strain...but since it is bothering me I tried to back off....well if you call a 46 mile week backing off!!!
Last Wednesday I did a 11 mile run on the Sandrat trails with my Trailnerd Friends...we had a blast....Friday...I did a 10 miler at my house on my favorite river road run...Saturday...I drove to Rocheport Missouri outside of Columbia, Mo...This was my favorite day of the week running wise....I got to spend the day running 16 miles on the Katy Trail with Kristen....You will hear more about Kristen on this blog as I progress toward Leadville...Kristen is someone that is really, really special to me. We met only about a month ago but it seems like we have known each other for years. Again as I said more about us later!!! Kristen biked with me as I ran and was my roving water station. It was warm on the Katy Trail but we had a blast!!! Got in 16 miles in a little over 2 hours with rest stops too. It felt good to just fly down a flat path. Today....9 miles on the river road...hip feeling a little better today but still bothering me...I hope it goes away soon!!!
So what does that weekly mileage make?? 11, 10, 9, 16=46 miles since last monday. I was at 634 miles to go to Leadville.....13 weeks now left to go...leaving 588 left to Leadville!!!
That puts me 71 miles from my starting point here in Rural Lecompton....This puts my right outside of Manhattan Kansas....home of the Wildcats....Being a Jayhawk I hope to get to moving down the road a little further and not stay around here too long....Rock Chalk!!

On the road to Leadville

Well, I started the count down on Saturday....I drove down to Berryman on Friday night trying to stay in front of the storms. Went down to help Katie Spaeth run her first 50 miler. Paced her the second 25 miles of it. It was a blast and the bonus was getting to see Katie reach her goal of under 10 hours for 50 miles...she did it in 9:59 something....I told her that I promised her an under 10 hour run and thought she would think it would be a little more interesting if we just squeaked in under the wire!!!

With that I am 25 miles down the road to Leadville. That puts me virtually in west Topeka!!! Just 634 miles to go to Leadville....Going to rest up over the next few days so I can get my feet back under me...and then begin to ramp it up.

Where did it all begin?

"Dig Deep"....that is what the wristband I am wearing says. That is one of the many themes of Leadville. My good friend Gary gave me this wristband when he was training to finish Leadville a few years back. Now I wear it to remind me daily of the task at hand. Gary Henry and Ed Payne got me into ultras and I am hooked. But why 100 miles?? I don't know...maybe just because it is there...not everyone can do it....but I will!!! Will I be hooked on 100 milers after this?....well, that remains to be seen right? I think I am much better at 50k's to 50 miles.

So where did it all begin?? Well I will have to dig deep to tell you!!!! I guess it all started back in 1980...I was just a 8th grader at the time....didn't know much about anything back then....all I knew was that I needed to get off the farm when I grew up. Yep, I was a farm boy...grew up a stone throw away from the Nebraska border (thank God on the Kansas side). I wasn't your typical farm boy....I had allergies to everything...every time I went to help Dad feed the cattle or work in the fields it seemed I would have a severe asthma attack. These attacks would scare the hell out of Dad and over time he became quite protective of me...so much so that I didn't do a whole heck of a lot of work around the farm....instead I became Dad's repair person....if the tractor broke down...I was the one to go get the parts. Growing up on the farm and not being active working it made me feel inadequate....I needed to find something I was good at....that something was running.

My 8th grade year I met my mentor in running by the name of Tom Noonan....he was my PE teacher in 8th grade and my cross country and track coach in high school. Tom inspired me. Even though I was slow at first he saw my potential and helped train me over the next 5 years to become one of the top runners in Class 1a in the state of Kansas. This inspiration lead to my final race my senior year in track...the 2 mile run at the State meet. I finished 2nd with a school and league record time of 9:57.

College came and I decided to go to Emporia State University for Pre-Pharmacy training (2 years of general education prior to pharmacy school). Emporia State also recruited me to run for them. So I did...and although there was some success (went to 2 NAIA Cross Country National Championships) I got burnt out on running my sophomore year and quite track. 7 years passed before I started running again. I used to think running out to clinton lake was too far from Kasold drive!!

Fast forward to 1994.....I got a flyer on Team in Training....The Leukemia Society would train you to run a marathon if you raised money for them....I always wanted to run a marathon!!! So off I went and I did it and was hooked on running once again. My competitiveness that I had from high school came back...every marathon I ran I wanted to do faster. Between 1994 and 1998 I racked up multiple marathons (between 15-20)...I had lowered my time to where I felt I had a shot at finishing in the top 100 at Boston....my goal was to run a marathon under 6 minute mile pace (2:36)....I upped my mileage. I got injured. My best was a 2:42 and 33rd place finish out of 20,000 people in the first Rock and Roll Marathon in San Diego in 1998.

Out on the trail....from 1998 to 2003 I fought various injuries as I tried and tried again to regain my road skills. After knee surgery in 2004 I decided it was time to come back again. But this time I was going to do it differently....I started trail running. The rest is history and after 5 years of being relatively injury free (cross fingers and toes here) I am now finally starting to get a pretty good handle on this ultra stuff.

So here I am....getting ready to embark on this great adventure. It is going to be an interesting ride....one that I can hopefully can add to my running history above. Let the journey begin! Let the journey begin.