Monthly Archive for May, 2010

Let’s Clarify….

Published
by
Speedgoat Karl
on May 31, 2010
in Race Updates
. 22 Comments

 ONLY 4 SPOTS LEFT FOR A CHANCE TO RUN THE SPEEDGOAT 50K, register now!

A few questions have been recently asked about my new Hoka runnin’ shoes.

“Why would I buy shoes that Karl crashed in at Zane Grey?”

“Did Karl crash because the Hoka’s have a higher base?”

“Did the shoes make Karl stumble?”

Like everything else these days…speculation comes up.  Some think I supermanned the fall after stumbling, some think the shoes caused me to crash.  Guess what?  wrong again!  I figured I’d clarify the incident to back up my enthusiasm over a simple pair of shoes.

Here it goes:

While running at Zane Grey on April 24, I managed to crash hard and break my left Radius bone.  How did this happen?  While leading the race comfortably and just starting to get into my “autopilot zone” at mile 40ish, I came upon a huge dead tree.  One that had been there for years.  I grabbed two large branches with my left and right hand, proceeded to pull myself over the tree (about chest high), the left branch snapped.  I fell to the ground BACKWARDS on my left arm.  It happened so fast, I still can’t say how I fell on it, all I know now is that my range of motion after almost 6 weeks is about 2cm…..not much…..my hand is wrecked.  Hard to blame shoes when forward motion was 0 MPH.  Speculation explained. :-)  Tim Wagonner fell right in front of me at Jemez wearing Nike Luna Racer’s.  Does that mean it’s the shoes?…..hardly, he stumbled….I wish I would have stumbled, I wouldn’t have a broken wing right now.   I crashed over 100 times on the Appalachian Trail in La Sportivas in 2008.  I crash almost every race….cuz’ I do take some risks.  It’s simply part of the deal….running to win. 

On a more positive note, sort of….I intended to run the Pocatello 50 this past weekend for another 50 mile trainer, only a week after the Jemez 50.  The legs felt good after a slow 50 last week.  The weather forecast wasn’t so good….rain and snow above 6000′.  I decided not to run due to the fact the course would be super slick, and crashing was a big risk.  Turns out the race was shut down at mile 32 because of brutal conditions.  And did I mention the winds were nuking at 50+MPH on the ridges?, blowing markers away and causing many runners to go off course and become hypothermic.  In the end everyone was safe…..and I can’t even count the amount of runners that said I made the right decision.  With age comes wisdom, and I have bigger fish to fry in Silverton in 6 weeks. :-)

I’ll be at the Squaw Peak 50 this coming weekend, manning the aid station at mile 29 with fellow ultrarunner Roch Horton.  If you are running this great course, stop in for a PBJ or some boiled potatoes, I’m sure they’ll be delicious.

My “Red Bull Human Express” project is moving forward, tune in for an entertaining look at what it takes to run 50 miles a day for 37 days…that’s right, 1840 miles from Sacramento, CA, to St.Joseph Missouri.  Set to begin around September 15, 2010.  Daily video, and a comedy act all about running real far!

We’re getting close to filling the Speedgoat 50k, ONLY 21 SPOTS LEFT to get in the toughest 50k on earth. REGISTER HERE NOW!  Don’t miss out!  

Jemez 50 Mile…..training run?

Published
by
Speedgoat Karl
on May 18, 2010
in Race Updates, Speedgoat 50K and Uncategorized
. 23 Comments

Hard to say what’s gonna happen this weekend in regards to me running the Jemez 50 mile.  I’ve been officially cleared to run if I want…that’s pretty cool only 4 weeks after a broken wing at Zane Grey.  Will I “race”?  No, not likely, the risk factor is still there if I crash….I tend to take a few risks running downhill.  It would be safer if I just ran it as a good training run for Hardrock, somewhere in the 10 hour range.  I won’t decide till Friday.  I will be there regardless as my wife Cheryl is running the 50k.  I would love to be in the mix with the large handful of fast kids running, but with age comes wisdom……..and Hardrock is far more important to me.

So I entered the Pocatello 50 one week later, to give the arm an extra week….probably smart.  I’ve been running for two straight weeks now and figure my fitness level will continue to improve…with age comes wisdom. 

However, here’s my picks for Jemez:

#1, the record will not go down, that’s an easy one.

1.   Nick Clark, Ryan Burch, and Dakota Jones are the three out front, you pick’em, it’s gonna be close.  Nick hasn’t run here, the other two have and ran in the mid 9’s.

4.  Tim Waggoner, just as fast as the other three, but a little less experience, also running blind.

5.  Nick Lewis, claims to be nursing a hamstring, saving it for some track meet in California.  He’s quick, and could be sandbagging. :-)

6.  Tom Neilsen, his experience puts him fairly close, but not close enough.

7.  Speedgoat Karl, with a broken wing, he’ll need a little more Red Bull to fly, but his NEW HOKA SHOES create flight, so who knows, if he’s close, the hammer may go down on that last 9 mile descent….then again, he may not even run…..and save it for Pocatello.

8.  Nicolas Mermoud, Claims he’s not so fit, but he’ll have the Hoka’s on too, so he’ll be flying.

9.  Brett Rivers, Harry Harcrow, Tim Barnes, Scott Eppleman, and David Coblentz, round out the rest.

Diana Finkel should run away.  I don’t think Anita Ortiz is running and Petra McDowell has dropped to the 50k, Diana all the way.  It would be different if Anita and Petra were running the 50…but they’re not.

HOKA’S ARE NOW AVAILABLE IN THE US IN 4 STORES!!

Wasatch Running Center, Salt Lake City,Utah
Salt Lake Running Company, Salt Lake City, Utah
Boulder Running Company, Boulder, Colorado
Playmakers, Okemos, Michigan  (May 24 ish)

Scarf them up now, they are already selling in SLC!  If they get ordered online, or over the phone, bump up a half size larger….they’re european you know! :-)

The Speedgoat 50k is now 90% full, don’t ask after it’s closed. :-)  ….or it’ll be $200.

266.677 km’s!!!! Jurek is back!

Published
by
Speedgoat Karl
on May 14, 2010
in Award category and Race Updates
. 20 Comments

That’s 165.70 in miles! 

The Jerker finally has rebounded taking “Fat Boy’s” american 24 hour record down, and Rae Clark’s “absolute american record”…whatever that means. :-) !  We’ve been waiting for Scott to do something big….well, he did something big!   Hell of a run Scott!  Congrats on an incredible effort!  Maybe we’ll see you back at UTMB so we can all redeem ourselves there too.

 

I think he’s pretty psyched…well deserved my man!

 

Massannutten 100 this weekend

Published
by
Speedgoat Karl
on May 12, 2010
in Uncategorized
. 14 Comments

One of my favorite 100 milers happens this weekend in Virginia.  The Massanutten 100.  This race is a rocky one and moderately hilly to my standards.  Total climbing in the 18,000′ range.  The course is somewhat different this year, starting at a different location. It should be a real competitive race up front.  Noone reallly sticks out in my mind, but whoever comes out on top, it’ll be close.  My picks:

1.  Todd Walker…..He’s due to win Massanutten, too many times he’s been close.
2.  Dan Barger…..He’s familiar (unfortunately) with 2nd in his last few 100s, I give Todd the nod because of MMT experience.
3.  Sean Andrish…..He could easily sneak away on a good day, he’ll probably lead early.
4.  Harland Peele…..If he’s fresh and ready, he’s my sleeper to win.
5.  Joe Kulak…..He’ll win the race to the keg, but comes up a little short on the win.
6.  Mike Mason…..Another guy who could be close with a good day.
7.  Aaron Schwartzbard…..tough call, but he’ll be in it.
8.  Kieth Knipling…..If he’s fit, he could win, he’s got it in him.
9.  Chris Reed…..He could surprise everyone, he ran pretty well last fall at Grindstone.
10.  Mark Tanaka…..The mystery man from out of town.
11.  Steve Anderson…..trained by a goat.

Doing real “odds” with this field is really tough, as all these guys listed could pull it off.  Although, I don’t see any records going down, only a “new” course record as the route has changed a little.  Follow the race, it should be interesting.

I have no clue as to who will win the women’s race…..maybe Ragan Petrie?

On another note:  

The Pony Express Trail Run is moving forward, my crew is being assembled nicely. More details on that when they come available to me…..I’m just the crazy guy who thinks 1840 miles isn’t that far. 

I’m really psyched on my new shoes, The Hoka’s, for all my races and the Pony Express Trail.  Hopefully in a few weeks, they will be available for purchase.  I do know that Boulder Running Company, Wasatch Running Center, and Salt Lake Running Company will be expecting some soon.  How many?  probably not enough the way it’s looking, so if you are interested in changing your running style to something comfortable, check back periodically as I’m gonna post the day they will be available, and when they’ll be in stores. 

The Speedgoat 50K is still open, only about 50 spots left if you want to endure some pain, it should fill quickly from this point, so keep paying attention. 

In the meantime, today was my 8th run in a row.  The legs are coming back already, so fitness levels are improving.  In 10 days I may or may not run the Jemez 50 Mile.  It all depends on what the x-ray shows next week.  The catch is:   if I do run, it’ll be a fun run and not a “race”.  It would be too risky if I crash on the wrong arm….it’s already happened once a few days ago.  Although all is well, it was a quick wake-up call and reminder to SLOW DOWN on the downhill.  It’s hard to resist running downhill in the Hoka’s, it’s too fun…

That’s it for now—————–  

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