Friday, November 7, 2008

Lingering Autumn

We've had a bit of snow up here in Idaho but the daytime temps have melted most of it to keep the trails open a bit longer. While all the skiers are gearing up for the season I am frantically enjoying every day I can of running on the dirt. It's funny, but something about the urgency of the coming of winter is making me run faster. Just this past week I've logged 86 miles and most of it has been at tempo pace. I even did an 8 mile hilly trail loop this morning in 53 minutes. The only time I've run that loop that fast was on the week before WS this year. I'm a bit miffed because there is no real reason for this other than the fact that I am excited to be on dirt. Before too long, the snow will be here in force, my cross-country skis will be taken out of the garage, and it'll be time to switch gears. In the meantime, I'll take all the hard running I can get.

On another topic, I received some great comments on my "plea from the mountains" post and it looks like the Moab 50K in February would be a good mid-winter option. Does anyone know if the race organizers would be willing to move the race to Sunday?

And, how about something for MLK weekend? Anybody out there in dirt land willing to put on a late fatass on that Sunday?

I know, I'm sounding desperate, but the winter is loooong around here.

Hope everyone is doing well. Good luck to all of you doing Javelina. Wish I could be there.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wish I could see you out there at Javelina AJW....!!

Anonymous said...

JizzleWizzle,

We have a FatAss on MLK saturday on Ridgeline Trail in Eugene.

LB

AJW said...

LB,

That's great. Any interest in moving it to Sunday?

Unknown said...

Hands down the best time of the year to run! Nice 80+ mile week!

Red Hot 50K is a must in February - Moab is a very romantic place to take your wife.... that's how I sold it anyways...

Why Sunday for these races? If Sunday is a must then Calico 50K in Barstow on January 18th. Nice low key desert run - well organized

Hone said...

80 mile weeks fast and hard are better than sloshing through 120 mile weeks anytime in my opinion.

AJW said...

FastEd,

The reason for the Sundays is so I don't have to miss any work on the weekends I have Monday off. I know, totally selfish on my part, but since it's 8-10 hours of driving to get to Moab, Bay Area, Oregon etc...the Saturday races make it tough. I may try to get to Moab anyway.

AJE

Anonymous said...

The Moab Red Hot had something like 350 entrants last year, between the 25K and 50K options. Moving it to Sunday would take some serious doing, and I can't imagine that they'd do it because Saturday is more convenient for just about everybody. But that's just my guess.

Rod Bien said...

Hey, how come we never see this unbridled speed at Way too Cool? That's right, I'm calling you out, Mr. 100 miler. Bring some of that 6 minute pace to WTC so you don't have to buy so many beers afterwards.

AJW said...

Rod,

I can't run that fast for 31 miles, you kiddin' me! Plus, it's more fun to run slow. I will say I'd like to go under four hours at WTC this time around so, we'll see.

Anonymous said...

Ask Bronco Billy how to break 4 hours at WTC.

brent boyle said...

andy,
the GUTS (Georgia Ultra running and Trail running Society) FA50k will be on Sunday January 4th. not sure if that fits into your schedule but it would be great to see you in Atlanta.

brent

brente73@gmail.com