Pikes Pique

There's no denying that I'm now officially nervous.  In three days, I'll be somewhere on Pikes Peak--hopefully at or near the summit.  Otherwise, I will have been right to be nervous.   I can't fathom what possessed me to sign up for a race up a 14,110 ft. mountain.  Trees won't even grow above 12,000 ft.  That might lead one to ask if I'm smarter than a tree.  Actually, I'm asking that right about now.

That said, I've trained hard this summer, and if it weren't for the rarefied air and the 8000+ feet of elevation gain over 13.3 uphill miles, I would be looking forward to this race.  But, I've spent the summer running among the corn fields here in Hog Heaven, not where the trees don't grow.  So, I'm naturally a bit apprehensive.  But, we'll know soon enough.

The Ascent is Saturday, August 18.  I'll be staying in Colorado for a few days of hiking following the race.  So, I won't be home to post my post-mortem until the middle of next week.  Stay tuned.

I'll actually be peaking/tapering for two goal races in the next month (the Ascent  and the North Face Endurance Challenge on September 15), so I'm paying particular attention to tapering strategies.  Here's one that's interesting:  http://running.competitor.com/2012/08/training/the-art-of-peaking-for-a-goal-race_7837/1


In the last major track & field competition at the London Olympics, Ugandan Stephen Kiprotich captured the marathon Gold in 2:08:01.  American Meb Keflezighi finished just off the medal stand in fourth.  The other Americans, Ryan Hall and Abdi Abdirahmen dropped out with injuries.  For an account see here: 
http://msn.foxsports.com/olympics/track/story/stephen-kiprotich-uganda-wins-mens-marathon-gold-medal-081212

And, finally, here's one last look back at the 2012 Olympics as Runners World picks its top ten track & field moments: http://www.runnersworld.com/olympics/top10/

Pinball wizard

I ran 7 miles on local trails this morning as I continue to taper for next Saturday's (August 18) Pikes Peak Ascent.  I have three short runs (4, 4, & 3 miles) planned for next week.  We'll drive to Colorado Springs on Friday, and the race is Saturday morning.  I think that I'm ready, but you never know.

It's hard to believe that the Olympics end tomorrow.  It's been an entertaining, and often inspiring, two weeks.  Despite my bias for track & field, my favorite moment of these Olympics was the gold medal match for women's beach volleyball.  Won, of course, by Americans Misty May Treanor and Kerri Walsh.  It was their third--and final--Olympic Gold.  Misty May retired after the match.  So, I guess that made it a bitter-sweet moment.  

Yesterday's women's 1500 meters was another American middle distance/distance disappointment.  The race was won by Turkey's Asli Cakir Alptekin in 4:10.23.  Shannon Rowbury was the only U.S. qualifier to make it to the finish line.  Well back in 6th place.  Morgan Uceny tripped on the final lap and did not finish.  Jenny Simpson failed to make the final. 

Runners' World columnist Amby Burfoot handicaps Sunday's men's marathon here:  http://olympics.runnersworld.com/2012/mens-marathon-kenyans-ethiopians-super-strong/

Kenya's David Rudisha notched a world record and became the first man to run a sub-1:40 800 meters in the finals of the Olympic 800 on Thursday:  http://running.competitor.com/2012/08/news/david-rudisha-wins-800m-gold-in-world-record-time_56732


One of my favorite bands of all time, the Who, will appear in the closing ceremony Sunday evening.  Maybe the IOC will add pinball for the 2016 Games!

At long last, rain

At long last, rain.  We had our first honest-to-goodness thunderstorm of the summer on Saturday afternoon here in Hog Heaven.  Although amounts varied around the area, we received a welcome 1.90 inches here in northeast Bettendorf.   Along with the rain, a cold front dropped through bringing us a couple of delightful mornings.  It was 55 degrees when I headed out for my hill workout at 5:30 this morning.  Nice.  The forecast is for warmer temps for the remainder of the week but nothing like the unseasonal heat that we've had most of the summer.  Anyway, I'll be tapering (somewhat) this week and next in preparation for the August 18th Pikes Peak Ascent.  That means no long run this week and no more hard workouts after today.  I just hope that I've done enough.

Okay, so I was wrong.  American Shalane Flanagan didn't medal in Sunday's women's marathon at the Olympics.  But, she didn't do badly either.  Neither did her training partner Kara Goucher.  Running in a downpour, Gelana Tiki of Ethiopia won the marathon in an Olympic record 2:23:07.  In the most competitive women's marathon ever, Shalane finished only a couple of minutes back in tenth place.  Kara was eleventh.  Not a bad performance by the American women.  For a full re-cap, see here:  http://espn.go.com/olympics/summer/2012/espnw/story/_/id/8237764/2012-summer-olympics-marathon-misfire-trio-us-women

Britain's Mo Farah won the men's 10,000 meters over the weekend with American Galen Rupp in second.  And, in Sunday's 100 meters final, Jamaican Insane Bolt defended his title from Beijing in an Olympic record 9.63.  Silver went to fellow Jamaican Yohan Blake and American Justin Gatlin took Bronze.  (Okay, so it's Usain.  But, what he does on the track is without question insane!)

This week brings an orgy of track & field competition.  I'm especially looking forward to the men's marathon (Sunday), men's 5000 meters (Saturday), women's 5000 meters and 1500 meters (Friday), and the men's 1500 meters (Tuesday).  My favorite athlete among the remaining competitors is Monument, Colorado's Jenny Simpson.  Jenny will line up in the 1500 meters.

At long last, track

It's been another week of hot, dry weather and decent training here in Hog Heaven.  We finished July with 5 days of 100+ degree heat and less than .50 inches of rain.  Not good.  August has started the same.  My big run this week was a 24 mile effort on Wednesday morning for which I rose at 3:30 a.m. and was out the door and into the darkness by 4:00.  It's the last long run I'll do before the August 18 Pikes Peak Ascent.  With the North Face Endurance Challenge at Madison, Wisc. coming up one month after Pikes Peak, I'll likely do only an abbreviated taper over the next two weeks.   We'll see how that works.

Hooray!  Olympic track & field starts today.  Don't get me wrong.  I've enjoyed the swimming, gymnastics, and assorted other endeavors, but it's time for the meat and potatoes of Olympic competition.  All the way back to ancient Greece, running and jumping and throwing have been the centerpiece of Olympic competition.

Today's premier event on the track is the women's 10,000 meters.  Everyone seems to expect the Ethiopians and Kenyans to dominate the race.  The American trio of Amy Hastings, Lisa Uhl, and Janet Bawcom are given little chance to medal.   On the other hand, nobody was supposed to beat the Soviet ice hockey team in 1980!

The weekend brings lots more including the men's 10,000 meter final on Saturday, and the long-anticipated women's marathon on Sunday.  Stay tuned!

To get everyone in the right mood for Sunday's women's marathon, here's a pre-Olympics interview with U.S. marathoner Shalane Flanagan: http://www.irunfar.com/2012/07/shalane-flanagan-interview.html

And another with U.S. marathoner Kara Goucher:  http://www.irunfar.com/2012/07/kara-goucher-interview.html

Besides being rivals, Shalane and Kara are friends and training mates.  I'll be rooting for both at London.