THE RUNNER - CDT 06-07-08

Montrail Team,

We are trail runners, all of us. I have been fortunate to have been able to complete a lot of trails and see MANY special places such as the following trails: Appalachian Trail, Tuscarora Trail, Wonderland Trail, Long Trail, and Pacific Crest Trail. I am sure many of you would like to do one or all of these trails. Please don’t just wish it, DO it. You don’t have to do it for a record like I have, you can do it slow and enjoy it as some would say. Even though I have done all of these fast I have still really enjoyed them and consider myself blessed and fortunate to have seen so many miles of trails.

Starting on June 7, 2008 ( 06-07-08 ), I will be attempting to set the speed record on the Continental Divide Trail ( CDT ). There are three trails that make up the Triple Crown: Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, and the CDT. The CDT is called the King of Trails and is the longest, most difficult, and the least hiked of the three. The southern terminus is in the boot heel of New Mexico at the Mexican border, crosses NM, CO, WY, goes on the border of ID and MT for about 300 miles, crosses MT and goes through Glacier National Park and ends at the Canadian border near the town of Waterton Lakes.

Jonathan Basham will be crewing me for the entire way. I am going to fix up my 1995Toyota pickup and we are going to leave on June 1 and drive to NM in three days, checking out the first couple of days on June 5 and 6 and starting very early on the morning of June 7. JB Benna is going to be there filming the start as well with plans on making a DVD like The Runner.

The present record is 75 days. My plan is to average a little over 42 miles per day completing the 2959 mile long CDT in just under 70 days, finishing on August 1. We will be staying in a tent most of the time. The CDT goes through very few towns. I plan on having one and maybe two satellite phones for communication purposes. I also have plans on checking out the Spot Satellite locator as well. If you know of anyone that could help me with sponsorship with phone companies please let me know.

I feel that the major challenge will be staying on course. There are many alternate routes and much of the trail is not marked. I have bought all kinds of maps and hope that I can figure out the course as we go. I have also purchased a GPS and have not complexly figured it out yet but I think it may be essential.

I will be using the new Continental Divide Trail shoes with Gore-Tex. I think that is very neat using CD shoes on the CDT. I will be calling in and reporting to Paul and Clark Zealand (eco-xsports.com ) on a daily basis so that you can keep up with my progress. Paul will post my progress on this blog.

If you would like to run with me some, please get in touch with me. You would need to be self-sufficient in terms of your food, transportation and lodging. I already know of several runners who are planning on running with me in different sections of the CDT. JB could also use some help so that he does not have to do all the driving and also so that some days he can run with me. There are sections of the CDT where JB will have to hike back in with food and tent and sleeping equipment.

I expect that an average day will be 12 to 13 hours starting at daybreak each day, with no breaks during the day. If you come out, please bring ICE CREAM, I love it and there is no better way to get lots of calories quickly.

How do you train for something like this??? In a way I don’t know and in a way I think that you can’t train for something like this. My basic belief for long multi-day events is that you get in pretty good shape before hand and then you REALLY get in shape once you are out there. In the Trans-AM we were running 315 miles per week. In training I averaged over 160 miles per week. I hope to average around 295 miles per week on the CDT. Will I be averaging 150 miles per week in training for the CDT?? Some weeks I may run that much but not every week.

In the fall of 2007, I tried to take it easy physically and not stress myself too much with training and racing. I started picking it up slowly this spring with plans on really training hard starting in February and continuing through mid May before cutting back. You can guess how I felt in the fall and in January not training hard-----fat and slow and thinking, what in the world I am I doing going after the speed record on the CDT?? Don’t you always feel that way when you are not training hard?? I do.

I am now doing long runs back to back on Friday, Saturday, medium long run on Sunday, and long runs on Monday as well, trying to mimic the stress similar to what I will be exposed to this summer. I have planned some back to back long runs of 50 miles two days in a row. Next month, some other runners and I are going to do 76 hours of H and H ( Horton’s Hell ), starting on Friday at noon, March 14-17, do all four of our ultras in 4 days, HL 50K, MMTR 50 Miler, PL 50K, and Hellgate 100K. Doing these long back to back runs trains your mind as much as it does your body.

I think this will be the most difficult challenge of my life. Am I up to it mentally and physically??? I am not yet, but I think that I will be later. I am not starting to feel my body coming around a little already. I believe that God has given me this ability to run long distances day after day. If the Lord wants me to do this, I have no doubt that it WILL happen. I KNEW during the PCT that the Lord was with me and wanted me to finish the PCT. Do I know that now about the CDT?? Not for sure, YET. Please pray for me as I prepare and as I seek out this challenge.

In Christ
David Horton
The Runner
Phil 4:13 and 19
100 Days from Feb. 27, the GREAT CDT ADVENTURE BEGINS

Ask me and I'll email you my tentative schedule.

Orcas Island 50km Ultra

what an awesome place, what an awesome race...
(all photos by glenn tachiyama ~ results)

saturday my friend ellen parker and i headed out to orcas island for james varner's orcas island 50km. from what i know of james he likes good tough courses and this one did not dissapoint. even though he had to alter the course because of the snow up high.. it meassured out at 31.7 miles (i probably ran more than 32 miles) and 6,660 feet of gain and some very tough patches of hands on knees (or ground), head down, crazy steep uphills. see the map here.

as an early season 50km we were all there running this as a "training race". in my previous 7 days before friday i had put in 91 miles. so i figured running on tired"ish" legs would be a great barometer for my training and general fitness... but without a real taper i knew it wouldn't be my finest work. i also knew with the talented field showing up would be perfect for pushing my pace. the idea of fast guys making me move faster was very exciting.

it's pretty crazy how the rumor mill gets going at these races. by race start i was told multiple times that brian morrison, justin angle, scott jurek, brandon sybrowsky and scott mccoubrey were all lining up to race. i had only seen a few of said top runners and this ended up only being partially true. unfortunetaly justin and scott never made it out. the woman's race seemed to be stacked too. my adv race teammate jen segger had come down from bc to race. super fast devon crosby-helms and kendra borgmann were also in attendance. i was excited to see how the woman's race would shake out. i had seen devon running on the burke earlier in the week and she had said it was a training run but mentioned "i still want to win it" with a smile - nice.

my plans to test out the top end were almost derailed the night before the race. i forgot my quinoa, salmon, asparagus dinner in the fridge.. in seattle. ellen was kind enough to share her dinner. only problem was it wasn't obvious that there was lots of cheese melted into the sauce. let's just say i'm lactose intolerant and that caused "stomach issues" through the night. that and the fact that we were sleeping in the back of flat bed truck meant ellen and i probably only got about 3 hours total of very broken uncomfortable sleep. i try not to let these things worry me however, they are bound to happen... no sense stressing out about it. plus this was to be a hard "training run" anyway right (notice how i added hard?)

over 200 runners lined up for the 25km and 50km race start. at 8:30am we started running across the open field of moran state park. the course was two times around an awesome 25km that looped both mountain and cascade lakes. my plan was to run with the front runners of the 25km for the first loop as long as that felt ok. the beginning felt kind of frantic, but it was cool to have seegs running in the front pack with me.

during the first real climb i became inpatient behind the first two runners and passed them on the super steep, mossy rock climb. now in front i put on a little space from the pack until i hit the downhill. on the downhill the flagging lead me into the woods to an overgrown trail. as i searched a few runners with more local knowlegde charged downhill. this wasn't good.. back onto the mega-steep dirt road i set off to catch the first guy, which i was able to do in 1/2 mile or so.

back down by the lake seeg's friend norm was there cheering us on. norm was an awesome help for both jen and my effort at the race. thanks for the help norm, much appreciated!

the first and only aid station was at 6.7 miles on mountain lake. i had run from here on my 30th birthday (years ago) with my friend jenny so i knew the trails around the lake were flat. not good for me. let's just say i don't have the leg speed of a real runner so flats aren't my thing. i drank my new bottle, pleasantly suprised it was lemon lime nuun and tried to focus on quick turn over. by the time i got to the next climb i had two guys biting at my heals. the climb couldn't have come at a better time! as we passed each other on the switchbacks i gave the guy a "whoot! nice running!" and started to pick it up. the secret loop was a super steep climb to the high point and was the highlight of the course. at the top we were greated with amazing views of the islands of the puget sound and soft moss covered rock to run down. with the sun out the views were "stop you in your tracks" good. i slowed a bit to make sure i took it in.

i came through the first lap of 25km in 2:15 and hadn't seen anyone in a while so i figured i was in good shape. i was feeling great but had started to lull myself into running easy. however by the road i heard that i was just 2 minutes up on 2nd place. rob and big's favorite saying "do work son" rang in my head as i, well, put in work to try and put this one out of reach.

it seemed to pay off and by the aid station at mile 22 i now had 9 minutes on 2nd. but of course then came the very flat section around the lake where i knew the entire race would put in time on me! i managed to hold them off and once again the secret loop view was amazing. the last big climb i started to feel a bit bonky. at the time it seemd like a pain to eat a clif shot so i didn't bother and really started to bonk as i approached the finishline. i managed the last few miles and came in first in 4:42. my teammate jen segger ended up winning the woman's race shortly after! nuun ultrarunners devon crosby-helms took 2nd and kendra borgmann came in 3rd looking and feeling sick. my friend ellen won the woman's 25km race! awesome day. james and alison sure put on a great event. thank you guys!

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my gear:
my hot shoes: montrail highlanders with teko ecopoly socks (no blisters)
electrolytes: nuun
fuel: clif shots
jersey: retro montrail jersey - courtesy of ty draney!

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photos by glenn tachiyama (all photos):

Going Back To Badwater!

It is true! I found out officially last week that I am going back to Badwater! I love running on trails, getting dirty, and running through water---none of which Badwater has. I love Badwater in a different way. To me, it is all about pushing yourself to the edge, in conditions you can't control, and seeing where it takes you. Last year, as a rookie, I made some rookie mistakes. I went out too fast and drank too much which caused some major issues with water retention. During the last several hours of the race, I remember telling myself that I was never going to do this again. The second I crossed the finish line, I changed my mind. I knew I could do things differently and have thought about that race everyday since. There is something about it that keeps eating at me telling me not to settle. So, I'll be back in July ready to do this thing right! I think probably everyone has that one race that has had such a life-changing impact on them. Mine just happens to be in the desert in 120+ degrees!

Torre GTX gets it done!

"I purchased a pair of your Torre GTX boots which fit perfectly. Two weeks later I left for a five week trek in the Upper Dolpo region of Nepal. The boots were superb under the conditions. We had 10 days of rain, 6 days of snow, two 14,000+ foot, three 16,000 foot and one 18,000+ foot passes. In addition, there were 18 inch wide trails with sheer 500-1000 foot drop offs, two 5,000 and one 7,000 foot descents that took less than 6 hours on mud and very rough terrain. Throught the trek, my feet remained dry and I felt secure in my footing. This is a great boot that I would recommend to anyone. No compensation for this testimonial is requested or required. Just keep making great boots." - Montrail consumer

Way Too Cool

Hello Team,

Please reply to this post if you're racing Way Too Cool this year!

Thanks, -PC

Reflections on Mount Mitchell Challenge and Black Mountain Marathon 2008

Jason Bryant, Annette Bednosky, Anne Lundblad and Kevin Lane at Saturday's start in downtown Black Mountain.

Photos by Steve Dixon of Asheville Citizen-Times

I know many amazing women, yet at the moment I am going to enthusiastically rant about one in particular! Anne Lundblad! She had a great run up and down Mt Mitchell yesterday. She smashed her previous PR and course record (CR was held since 2005-5:50:19- by “yours truly”) with a time of 5:38:55. What a run! I know Anne is a hard working runner and strong competitor and woman-yet what I personally are 2 things I am presently most impressed/influenced by:
1) she is 41 and
2) she has a positive, future seeking attitude! When I saw Anne yesterday on the trail for all of 2 minutes (we chatted briefly as she scampered past me in Montreat just before meeting the dirt “toll road”, and I saw her round the lake during the last ¼ mile of her run) she was friendly, focused and seemed to float up the hill with a seemingly effortless gait so characteristic of Anne. Anne seemed happy and humble at the awards dinner last night. I felt so proud! Why proud you may ask? Don’t you sometimes try and race her? Doesn’t she make you come in second a bunch? Doesn’t she continue to hold course records that you might have if she didn’t? Yes and YES and YES! is my answer! (I don’t know of all of Anne’s CR’s during the last many years, yet I know the JFK record (and masters) is hers and Mt. Mitchell Challenge record (and masters) and Frosty Fifty (and master’s) etc, etc…I love it that she as a 40+ year old sets a great challenge for young women and more seasoned alike. Fabulous! And she helps me push myself and call upon my strengths and work on my weaknesses! And she inspires me and reminds me as a “sister” (somehow saying fellow runner sounds silly) 41 year old runner-I still have many good races left and my smartest/fastest events aren’t necessarily behind me! I hope 41 year old Anne has a great season and mushes my 2005 CR at Bull Run this coming April! Last night, leaving the awards presentation as she and I briefly chatted about being “41” she commented, “Look at Anne Heaslett, Bev Abbs (she mentioned at least 1 other name also, yet I can’t remember)- 40 is the “new” 30! I love that attitude and will remember that for sure! Forty-something does have different concerns and added benefits-so the challenge as always is to seek to balance the two!

Congratulations to Anne and Jason Bryant (male Challenge winner) and all the Mt. Mitchell Challenge and Black Mountain Marathon runners!

On another note, yet equally as celebratory, I ran the Black Mountain Marathon yesterday. For days I went back and forth about staying with The Challenge, yet on the Wednesday before the race thought it best not to participate in 40 mile event since by my standards I am pretty out of shape after sitting on the shelf until 2 weeks ago. That combined with Way Too Cool coming up in 2 weeks I asked to be transferred to the Marathon, a distance and terrain I felt realistically prepared for.

I must admit, withdrawing from the Challenge was hard. It is a grand adventure. It holds a certain mystique that the marathon doesn’t. It is beautiful. It is tough and it’s a great ultra marathon in NC! I felt disappointed I may not be running an ultra in NC this year. And part of me felt I had “demoted” myself to the “fun run” …I so didn’t want to miss out on the good stuff up the mountain! Then the day unfolded…

I did have a great day! I didn’t run to race at first. I was trying to sort out how to pace myself for such an unfamiliar distance. I ran according to my strengths and limitations. (Faster on flat, huffing and puffing on uphill-hence really feeling the time “on the shelf” and loving the leaning in and feeling strong on the descents). At first I was scared of falling and getting hurt-yet as long as I didn’t socialize when rock/root hopping I did fine and the one stumble I did take (right in front of Sourwood aid station on the way down as some folks at the aid station and I bantered about BEER of all things!) was just the sloppy harmless “splat” I can be soo good at!

At the turn around for the marathon I had twinges of envy of the strong runners go for the summit of Mt Mitchell. I did feel a little left out at a tiny bit like a wussy. But only a tiny bit. I was also unexpectedly RELIEVED to be able to turn around and frolic down the hill! At this point I was in 1st place and vowed not to relinquish my position. It would be very cool to win this marathon. Now I had my dorsal fin out as I moved back down the rocks of the toll road. Backtracking was super fun as I passed other runners on the way up. EVERYONE was amazingly encouraging and supportive-I hope I was able to return even a small portion of the enthusiastic cheerleading I received!

I worked hard getting down the mountain staying focused, breathing, positive self talk. This marathon was hard for me. I did not demote myself. I kept on and didn’t look behind me. Once passing through the last aid station in Montreat I cried a little (thankfully not too much ‘cause when I cry and run I can’t breathe and that is not a good way to go into the last few miles of a race!) I cried because I was working hard and felt both frustrated at having soo many more miles to go (3.4!) and because I was eternally grateful that my body is healing from the bruised bone/micro fractures that I can run hard! I thought about knowing I could get back in shape given regular training. I felt grateful for the ability to heal and kept being so thankful for all the generous humans along the route who helped me along by shouting “good job” or “keep it up!” There seemed to be random amazing cheerleaders on their bikes on the Montreat trails, standing in parking lots on Hwy 9- and in front yards. Thank you to all of you who kept my focus forward thinking and happy. As I ascended the last hill on the course-just before dropping into the park/lake area, a young teenage boy on a bike with a Cross Country sweatshirt passed and called out kindness. Ahhh-if only we knew the power of our own effect on others. His enthusiasm was a wonderful fuel! I am reminded of what generosity of spirit can do to help others. Many generous folks helped me yesterday and made an impact that I will remember to take with me into the crazy world of life outside of trail running! Thank you!
I also celebrate being back to being a runner again! My whole body hurt during those last few miles-my knee-somewhat sore today (like the rest of me) yet I know it is on its way to being well. I did place first in the marathon (as a 41 year old!) with a time of 3:54:58. Not fast but not slow and I was thrilled with the ability to be back on the trails and looking forward to training hard and getting back in shape! Thanks again to all my friends and fellow participants-I just can’t say enough how contagious the positive attitudes and encouragement felt yesterday!

The Physiology of Getting in Shape

Question: when you have been out of shape and run enough to get in shape, what exactly has changed?

You certainly feel fitter. What had been a slog a couple weeks ago is now a skip in the woods. But what is different about the tissues that actually do the heavy lifting?

Whatever it is, it wears off. Weeks of high intensity training and several races can wear you down. What is going on there -- deep in the mitochondria -- I wonder.

The melting snow has corresponded with the sloughing off of winter laziness. Running the rails-to-trails Virginia Creeper is as it should be -- unstoppable, with the momentum of a train. Mountains flatten out beneath a steady gait.

It won't last, so I'll enjoy the feeling while I have it.