2010 Snake Run

190 runners signed up.... 130 runners show up... 60 smart people stayed cozy indoors.

Conditions for 2010 Snake Run was cold (upper 20s), started with rain, then sleet, snow, wind gust up to 30mph (mainly from the north). Trails were small puddles, then deep mud, then cold, freezing muddy water that deepen throughout the day.

6 hours of trekking in miserable conditions. The course was a 2 mile out, 2 mile back, repeat for 6 hours to get in as many miles as possible. I started out great with 9:30 min/mile for first 4 miles. My plan was to do 10 min/mile for the day. I was going abit fast.

Beginning the 3rd loop, I slowed it down to conserve some energy. Believe it or not, I was getting hot so I dropped off my jacket and stocking cap. Around mile 9, I turned a corner, slipped, and went down hard on my right leg. And of course, I was now soaking wet. The wettness didn't bother me, but at about mile 11, my leg was beginning to feel some pain from the fall. From there on, the fun was diminishing fast. I was beginning to walk alot.

I finally made it to mile 16. I was seriously thinking about calling it quits. But I thought...I'll drink some hot soup and see if I can make one more loop, then call it quits. My 5th loop was very slow...doing about 14 min./mile (walking alot).

I made it thru the 5th loop (finished 20 miles now). I was thinking...I still have over 2 hours left...I'll make another loop. So, I went out again. Conditions were still miserable... but that didn't matter, as I was all soaked, toes freezing, face and fingers were pretty much all numb. Finished 6th loop (24 miles) and I still had an hour to go. So I grabbed a cup of soup, and off I went again. I pushed it abit this time. I knew I can make another 4 miles... and maybe some more. I made it to 28 miles in 5 hrs, 50 minutes. I still had 10 minutes left. But I left it at that.

28 miles in miserable conditions, and with right leg giving me fits.... I was OK with it... not too happy, but good outing. Hopefully next year, weather won't be soo crazy so I can hit my 35 miles in 6 hours.

Congratulation to everyone who went out and ran in this crazy weather. I just love trail running...weather is never (except for lightning) a cause for cancellation.

A big thanks to Brian Hoover, Ken & Dana Childress, and some great volunteers to put on this show.



My toes...only the middle toe didn't get punished. Not even close to Badwater damage.

Snake Run 2010

6-hour Snake Run coming up this weekend at Turkey mountain. This run is on some of the easier trails on Turkey mtn. It's basically a 4 mile loop. The object is to run as many miles as you can in 6 hours. My goal is around 35 miles. But I'll be happy with 30+ miles.

Come out and run some smooth dirt trails. Run a mile..5...10...or 15. You never know how far you can go til you try. Let's hope the rain holds off.

Good Luck runners.

A-OK 25/50K

A-OK 50K, Atoka, OK, March 7th
Above is the course layout for 25K...out-n-bak... a repeat for 50K. Coming into this race, my training has been pretty much non-existance. It's been around 10/15 miles per week. So I was just looking at this race as a 6-hr training run. 50K... a training run??? It's crazy. But really... I was doing this only to cover 30+ miles. I was in bad need of a long run.

This is the 3rd or 4th time I'm running this course. This is a great course if you're just out for a long, slow run, and not very technical. Most of it is jeep trails or logging roads...very few rocky sections.

This year the weather forecast was pretty good chance for rain. In previous years, it's been cold (mid-20s to 30 deg) at start. Sunday, start temp. was around mid-40s, and overcast. I was thinking... it's going to be hot today. I do prefer cold temps though. And sure enough, temps probably hit mid-50s.

My plan was to start out slow, do the first loop (25K), and then see if I feel up for another 25K. I was estimating my time to be around 6 or 6.5 hrs... worst case, a 7 hr finish would be OK too... but that would mean my body is really needing some serious workout.

At 8am, RD Mary Ann yells out... "GO!"...and we're off. This race has been a very low key race, with 50 entry limit. But this year, there were 70+ runners all together. I think word is getting out about this little race in the woods.

First 2.25 miles is steady climb...darn me...I went out little faster than I wanted too. I should've just walk it. This will come back to haunt me in a big way. After reaching top, it's easy going on some nice dirt roads to the turn-a-round. I slowed it down just to save some for the second half. I got back to start/finish line in 2:43.

Coming back on the last mile or so, I was beginning to feel some leg muscle titching... not a good sign. I kept drinking more and more water, and taking in some Endurolytes. At half-way, I took a break, took in some salty food. The body was telling me to call it a day...but my mind was telling me to go back out again. I thought... that's weird. It's usually the mind that screams... stop. So, I thought, let's see how far I can go on the second loop... anything is just bonus.

The 2.25 miles back out was definitely hard... I struggled to reach the top... 18 min/mile. I had to stop a few times to massage my legs... it was cramping bad. I almost quit at that point. I seriously thought about just crawling back...but the next AS was a mile away... I'll stop there and get a ride back. I managed to get back into a slow shuffle, made it to the AS, took a short break, drank some broth... a big thanks to Dora Bray for being out there all day at the AS. She practically saved the day for me. I kept on going. I finally made it to the finish in 6 hrs, 16 min. I had hit my estimated time, but I didn't think I would have problems with my legs cramping.

Overall this was a great outing. I really needed to cover 31 miles. Now I hope to add more and more in the coming weeks.

Thanks to Mary Ann Miller, Dora Bray, and all the nice people for putting on a great race. Great chili too.

A-OK 25/50K

Wow!!! It's been forever since I posted anything here. Basketball is finally over. Now the fun can begin. I'm ready for some needed trail running. While my running has been less than par, I'll be out and about this weekend at A-OK 25/50K in backwoods of Atoka. I'm thinking my time may not be fast, but at least I'll be out on the trails. We'll give it a shot and see how far I can go on very little training runs.

I can't wait to get in some serious long runs. After Atoka, I'll be looking at 6 hour Snake Run on Turkey mtn. That should be a blast.

Let's Go!!!

First Run of 2010

Happy New Year!!!

Jan. 1, 2010... I started the new year with a short 5 mile run at Turkey mtn. There was quite abit of snow still left from christmas eve blizzard. The temp. was somewhere around 20 deg. F, but no wind. Just perfect weather for trail run.

The trail still had lot of icy spot. But for the most part, it was running...but running with caution.

Today, it was just great to hit the trails. I was going at it about 13 min. miles...simply just enjoying the quietness.

I hit the north end of the power line about 30 min. The open spot was somewhat cold. I didn't stay there for long. I turned around and headed back into the woods. As I was coming back on the ridge, I managed to work up a sweat.

What a great way to start off a new year... a trail run in the snow at 20 deg. Life is grand.

Silver Spuds

The "Silver Spud" Awards were given out during the annual TATUR Christmas party last night. Yours truly received the coveted Tatur of the Year for 2009. It was with great pride to have this honor bestowed upon me. A big Thanks goes out to Head Tatur (Brian), TZ (Ken), and Kathy, an outstanding ultrarunner and coach, for making TATURs the group that it is today.

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And to the many others in the Tatur group who also deserve to be Spuds of the year.

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TATUR's rock! Yeah!!

A week after Route 66 marathon, I was rapidly going downhill with flu-like symtoms. I was down and out for about a month. There was absolutely no running. Finally, today, I went out for a nice slow run. I knew it wasn't going to be easy, but I thought..if I keep it slow,,,I might cover 8 or 9 miles.

The first 3 miles went great. I was at about 9:30 pace. Dangit.. I was aimming at 10 to 11 min. pace. But the next 3 miles, I was beginning to feel it. I was slowing down more. My pace was falling to 10 min. pace. I finally reached the 6 mile mark. I thought... OK.. enough punishment for today. I was exhausted.

Soon enough, I'll get back to my normal workout. But for this week and maybe next week, I'm keeping it around 5 to 7 mile workouts. Holy cow!!! I hate the crud that goes around this time of year.