The Best and Worst of 2007

                2007 was a great year for me personally.  However in keeping up with the National Inquirer and other such “need to know” type of periodicals I’ve decided to share some of the best and worst moments that I experienced on the AR field.    

                Getting lost for 57 hours on the mountains of Haida Gwaii at Raid the North Extreme without food or dry socks was a bummer.  Having the team (Melissa, Will and Brian) pull together and keep their wits about them was not only a high point but assured our survival.                  

                Watching Melissa and then Brian lose their balance and start flying down an ice packed couloir at RNTX was one of the scariest moments I’ve ever experienced.  Walking away from that with relatively minor injuries was a

                Also at RTNX, having my feet get destroyed on the second trek causing me to decide to quit AR and sell all of my gear on Ebay was my lowest point in AR.  Having my teammates talk me into going forward so we could do the 8 hour portage was, in a very sick AR way, a

              Finally jogging down the road to finish in front of the cheering crowds in Prince Ruppert was the best.  There really were cheering crowds.

                Melissa falling and hitting her head (hard) at Big Blue Oakridge was a low point.  I’m pretty sure she had a concussion.  Doing the midnight paddle on a perfectly clear night with the Milky Way and shooting stars over head was a real highlight for me. 

                Doing an endo 15 minutes into the 1^st bike leg at Oakridge, breaking my seat and shifter was a low point.  Having zip ties to fix the seat and  being use to riding a single speed was cool. 

                Covering 187 miles and finishing 5^th in the single speed division of the 24 hours of Cool was great.  Finding out that if I had entered my age group I would have won by 2 laps and been awarded a new bike was a drag. 

                Mistaking a road for a contour line at the Tahoe Big Blue, thus making a huge Nav error was the low point of that race.  Smoking through the O course, passing BAARBD and finishing a strong 4^th was a real high.   

                Getting signed up for Primal Quest and signing on Susan Bower as a new teammate has been a real high.  Forking over a $3125 to sign up for PQ was a bummer. 

                Associating with the Make-A-Wish foundation has been a real high.  Working through all of the legalities has been a drag. 

                Pulling in to the last transition in first place at Gold Rush was a real high.  Getting passed in the TA (by BAARBD) as we tried to overcome hypothermia to finish 2^nd by 12 minutes was a bummer.  It’s nice that we got to the point where finishing 2^nd can be a low point. 

                Above and beyond everything, becoming a confirmed member of the Dirty Avocados’ with all of the great people on that team has been the real

On Saturday December 15, 2007 I entered my first Ultra marathon, the Muir Beach 50K put on by Pacific Coast Trail Runs.

Race Summary:  I managed to finish the 50K in 6:56:35, just inside my goal of between 6 1/2 and 7 hours.  The 50K course gained about 7400 feet of elevation.  I managed to keep moving pretty well throughout the event.  At 33K we crossed the start/finish and went back out for 17K.  I did the first 33K with 4280 ft of elevation gain in 4:14 which seemed pretty close to the pace I’d predicted for myself.  As I left I was still moving okay but my legs were getting sore.  I then decided that when I do another ultra I should probably train for it, something I really didn’t do for this one.  On the latter part of the course my hamstrings were hurting and felt like they were much too short..  When I’d reach the top of a climb I had trouble lengthening my stride and would get dropped at the top of the downhill by people I passed on he way up.  I am still pretty sore on Monday and if I’d been on duty Sunday I would probably have had to call in sick.  I think if I was at all prepared I would not be so sore. (more…)