When I started blogging about my Ironman Adventure I talked about there being several friends who would call up randomly and convince me (and others) to do random events. Well this years random call was from Dave and he wanted to run the 23k trail run at the Elkhorn HURL (Helena Ultra Runner's League). I didn't really want to but Dave insisted and I caved. I signed up about two weeks prior to the event even though I was pretty uncertain whether I should be throwing in so much elevation gain and loss. I have lost a lot of weight but I am still a pretty good sized person to be running up and down the hills. Oh well, Dave promised we would run together and that would make everything alright.
Well not really....Dave had to pull out due to some dog club obligations and I showed up and ran the 23k without Dave. I actually really enjoyed it even though it tore my quads up on the downhill. The run was really scenic and surprisingly (too me anyway) was too technical in many areas to actually run. By too technical, I mean too many large and loose boulders. Anyway, I walked several sections that were either too steep to run up or too technical and had bad footing. My only real motivation was to do as well as my brother-in-law (Tom) had done the year prior. (Yes, I have two brother-in-laws who both run long trail runs, and they are on opposite ends of the brother-in-law scales, one is my wife's, sister's husband, and the other is my sister's husband). Well I ended up running mostly alone until the long downhill through the switchbacks of Teepee Creek. At this point two guys passed me and I decided to run with them rather than take it easy on the downhill. At the Teepee Creek aid station (which we all ran right by) we picked up a gal who jumped in with us. Well within a couple hundred yards the two guys both pulled up with cramps and the gal and I kept cruising down the trail. She was in front and running a faster pace than I would normally run, but she was pulling me along and it was fun to run with someone else. Plus, I thought she looked familiar. Turns out her mother worked at my office and had introduced us at the Queen City Triathlon. Of course I didn't figure this out until several days later when I saw the results from the run and saw her name right next to mine.
The following week my other brother-in-law (Eric) was home from New Jersey and wanted to run part of the 50 miler course as he was interested in signing up. I thought about running with him but being as stairs were still an issue I realized it better I not go with. Eric has since competed a 50k and has signed up for the Elkhorn 50 miler next year (as well as another 50 miler earlier in the year). I am hoping that if my recovery from IM goes well I may be able to pace him for a portion of the race next year.
Well not really....Dave had to pull out due to some dog club obligations and I showed up and ran the 23k without Dave. I actually really enjoyed it even though it tore my quads up on the downhill. The run was really scenic and surprisingly (too me anyway) was too technical in many areas to actually run. By too technical, I mean too many large and loose boulders. Anyway, I walked several sections that were either too steep to run up or too technical and had bad footing. My only real motivation was to do as well as my brother-in-law (Tom) had done the year prior. (Yes, I have two brother-in-laws who both run long trail runs, and they are on opposite ends of the brother-in-law scales, one is my wife's, sister's husband, and the other is my sister's husband). Well I ended up running mostly alone until the long downhill through the switchbacks of Teepee Creek. At this point two guys passed me and I decided to run with them rather than take it easy on the downhill. At the Teepee Creek aid station (which we all ran right by) we picked up a gal who jumped in with us. Well within a couple hundred yards the two guys both pulled up with cramps and the gal and I kept cruising down the trail. She was in front and running a faster pace than I would normally run, but she was pulling me along and it was fun to run with someone else. Plus, I thought she looked familiar. Turns out her mother worked at my office and had introduced us at the Queen City Triathlon. Of course I didn't figure this out until several days later when I saw the results from the run and saw her name right next to mine.
The following week my other brother-in-law (Eric) was home from New Jersey and wanted to run part of the 50 miler course as he was interested in signing up. I thought about running with him but being as stairs were still an issue I realized it better I not go with. Eric has since competed a 50k and has signed up for the Elkhorn 50 miler next year (as well as another 50 miler earlier in the year). I am hoping that if my recovery from IM goes well I may be able to pace him for a portion of the race next year.