For me that is! Performances continue to be stellar!
My 20 day hiatus from running in December had done me good! My legs turned fresh again, and I was ready to roll. I started back up and in two weeks, I was up to speed, feeling good and ready to have a decent run at the Moab 50k+ on February 13th. I am still running Moab, but it’s starting to look like I’ll be in for just the fun of it, as the past week I’ve logged a big 0 for miles. Why?…You’ll have to ask me on the side, but things are improving and I should be back running in a few more days.
The real question is: Do I have that “autopilot” mode I know all too well?, or am I actually out of shape? No Joe, I’m not sandbagging. I’m by no means out of shape, but it’ll be interesting to see how I do with essentially very little miles under my belt over the past 6-7 weeks. Good thing it’s February.
On March 6th, the real test will come with the “autopilot” mode as I’ll be back at the big party in Ojai, California. Something they call Dos Lunas. A little bowling and some other entertaining events should make it fun no matter what happens.
The cash has now been sent to Chamonix, so I’m committed to flying for 9 hours straight. I’m not looking forward to flying for 9 hours to Geneva, but this one is worth every minute on that damn plane. Geoff Roes and I plan on showing the great european runners that the US still has a couple fast 100 mile guys on the planet. This time I’ll get my “unfinished business” in Chamonix taken care of.
No doubt the fast guys on the start line will be eyeing us this time…just like 2007.
Enough about me……
This coming weekend the Rocky Raccoon 100 happens down in Texas. It’s been snowing in northern Texas. Although it’ll probably melt quick, who knows, maybe it’ll snow on them this year. It’s been quite a year in the weather department. Here’s how I see the race panning out:
The Ladies:
1. Jamie Donaldson….becoming a 100 mile legend 2. Connie Gardner….her type of terrain 3. Anita Ortiz….she’s a mountain girl, but who knows 4. Jenny Chow….not as fast, but she ran a bunch of 100s last year too, and pretty quickThe Men:
1. Greg Crowther….fastest guy, somewhat of a rookie, but hey, 5:50 at JFK puts him on top 2. Nick Coury….he’ll team up with his bro 3. Jamil Coury….ditto 4. Dink Taylor…..he told me he’d never run 100 after Leadville? he’s addicted 5. Scott Eppelman….his neck of the woods 6. Paul Hopwood….just ran HURT, so we’ll see how he recovers 7. John Allen….Utah boy tapping into 100s. He’s got some speed. 8. Jimmy Dean Freeman….if he eats enough sausage, he’ll have a great daySpeedgoat 50k filling fast, time to enter now and commit!
Backcountry.com still makes deals even this time of year. Check em’ out here, or pay full price somewhere else.
Check out what I’ve been shoveling over the past 7 weeks here….real live fun…kid style!
Thanks for the ink, Karl. I’m afraid my first 100 will be more about pain management than speed, though, due to a recent injury and lack of running. I’m just hoping to survive. Maybe I’ll be in better shape in the future.
Just wondering, how do you come up with your lists? Is it just name recognition, or do you have some database you compare all the names against? Either way, I enjoy reading your predictions each time.
thank goodness. it is so good to hear that energy in ur posts again. i too like to read the line on the races u come up with. karl u r as old as u feel. the greats in my family told me the same thing when i entered adulthood and they added they did not start to live until they were 50. i still consider myself a rebellious junior higher in mind and stature. u are just entering ur prime and u r just a teen by that theory in mcdougslls book. hey man good luck this year in all ur races and do what u do best at mont-blanc–WIN–i will be happy with a last last finish at old goat 50mi– hel
Purely off the cuff John, no database here, othere than what’s between my two ears. I just look at the list of runners and recognize most…from past results or recognition.
Thanks Helen for the good words. A new season has almost begun for this 42 year old kid.
yo karl…..what up. mt. blanc should be good. i’m glad to see you going back so settle the score. looking forward to the summer and some racing in the wide open west. it’s all mud down south right now. freeze, thaw, freeze, thaw. see you at HR or sooner….
Slow is better than not at all! I can’t wait too hear how you and geoff do mt blanc. You guys will rock up that race, I’m shure of that.
I say you take your sled to Chamonix and show those Euro guys how to get down a hill. Shaping up to be a great year! Looking forward to running some dirt in Moab.
Ahem — that was 5:50:13 at JFK! Anyway, I appreciate the vote of confidence.
Hey Greg, what’s 4 minutes. At 50 miles, that’s only a few seconds per mile, how come not 5:45?
Good luck at RR, time to throw down another top performance for 2010.
We’ll be dropping off the Agui du Midi on sleds once we arrive, unless we get stopped at customs if the sleds are considered dangerous.
BAg Of sAnD u r!
Dink Taylor in the top five? Surely you can’t be serious (and stop calling my Shirley)! He hasn’t run a quality 100 miler since the 1996 Arkansas Traveler 100: 18h 44m for T-5th. I have mad respect for Dink at any distance 100k or less, but the 100 miler has been his nemesis forever! But who knows? Perhaps he’s just overdue to pop off a good one? Good luck to Dink and all the other runners this weekend!
Hey Rob, yah I know. I just think the man is very due to get it done. We’ll see.
Watch out for local (San Antonio) runner Elizabeth (Liza) Howard at Rocky Raccoon this weekend. She is coming off a great run at Cactus Rose 100 miler in Bandera (she won the overall race) and is in prime condition to finish in the top 3.
Elizabeth Howard will challenge Jamie. She is local and fast.
We will see, always a mystery women or man out there. Maybe someone will challenge Greg Crowther too! Should be a fun one to watch. I’ll try and post results as quick as I know.
Liza Howard took the women’s crown (2nd or 3rd overall behind Crowther and maybe one other) in 15:41, 2nd fastest time ever for women at Rocky. Coming off 2 straight 100 mile wins, watch out for her at Western Sates in June.
told ya so:) and she smiled the whole way!!!
Liza beat Jamie by over an hour. Great race for her. And she is always smiling, even on a bad day.
Good to see that US Ultrarunners will be represented !
Looking forward to meeting you in Chamonix this summer.
Best,
Mikaël Turchetti
ULTRAFONDUS MAGAZINE
p: +33 6.8517.2533
e: m.turchetti@ultrafondus.com
w: ultrafondus.com
Hay Karl, what do you thick about the line up of the hardrock 100?
The lineup at Hardrock is standard procedure. Not super competitive, but it’ll be a good race. Troy, Darcy, Anita, and Scott will get in. I do know that it’s the nicest and best course in town….that’s why I’m going. Nothing compares to Hardrock…nothing.
Yah, some faster guys are missing, but welcome to the lottery system. That’s how it works. Just like Western. Sure glad I don’t have to deal with the lottery. I guess that’s the benefit of being old. You finish these things enough times and you get in automatically.
Ya old, you still run a great race. I will get to hardrock in one of the future years. I want to be a little more ready for such a big 100.
I haven’t run either WS or Hardrock but I am a big fan of the sport. Yes I like to see the top runners get into HR from a fan perspective but HR has such limited spots and I know a lot of non-elite runners whose sole goal is to get into HR and reserving spots for elites would really reduce their chance.
Plus HR really doesn’t bill itself as a championship which WS does. Because WS is considered to be the “de facto” 100 mile trail championship I think its more imperative that the top runners are afforded a greater probability of getting into WS.
Chris. Great points. Brings me back to a few years ago when I mentioned that if WS wants to call themselves the “world championship” then they need a policy to have elites bypass the lottery. At least a few spots (maybe 5) for some that don’t make it thru the 50 mile qualifiers (or Miwok 100k).
Hardrock is considered a “run” meaning it’s more about the sick adventure than competing for a time. Finishing HR is the challenge for most. Yah, I am in to race it and win, but it’s for a good time, and to see a course like no other.
HR and the WS course are very different. Hardrock wouldn’t be the best for a championship because of altitude and the fact that it’s not a fast race per se. WS is a great venue for it, the politics just stink is all.
It is what it is.