Grand Teton 50-mile ultramarathon: 10 days to go!

Sorry about having another Rizzo photo - but that tooth won't be missing forever, and I want to get my laughs while I can!


Right now is Tuesday afternoon. On Friday Morning, I'll be boarding a flight for Denver, Colorado - and then making my way over the next week to the Jackson area in Wyoming to compete in the Grand Teton 50 miler..

Holy crap!

I'm a lot of excited and nervous right now.

The main thing to me.. is how much "new" there will be. Think about it: about 10,000 feet of climbing in a day. The most I've ever done is about 4500. Also, 50 miles in a day. The most I've done is 31. Either one I'm sure I can handle. Both on the same day? oh boy.. And the other thing - are my trail runs around Harriman really sufficient for this kind of task? I don't know..

On the other hand...

I don't have to go fast. Because the race coincides with a 100-mile ultra (competitors run 4 laps), the time limit is very generous on my measly two laps, and as long as I keep going, I can finish no matter how slow I go. So this really is a test for myself.. No matter how sore I get, no matter how tired I get, no matter how much pain I go through with each excruciating step, I know I can keep going. The only thing that would stop me is an actual acute injury.. Sherpa John wrote to me once. He said, "Mental Toughness... through this you WILL accomplish ANYTHING." Am I as mentally tough as I like to think I am? Well.. I'm going to find out..

Cut the sappy crap, steve. What's the deal with your training?

I know I'm ready for very technically rocky terrain - which I don't think is an issue there, judging from people's photographs. Rolling hills, I've got covered. I've surprised myself lately at how well I handle them. My daily mileage is pretty pathetic - almost non-existent - but I'm very pleased with my long runs. Two days ago I went 22 miles, super slow, hit some hills late in the run, and felt great. It was my longest "training run" ever. I felt even better the next day - it was the first time ever I felt somewhat "normal" the day after going more than 15 miles.

Then again, I hold no delusions. 22 miles on asphalt with 1300' of climbing is a lot different than 50 miles on trails with 10,000'. But, as I said above, it's all about being very conservative, taking advantage of the generous time limit. With that in mind, I know for a fact that I'm going to LOVE this race. Looking over the competitor list, I saw a couple of names that I recognized - some from personal correspondence, others from being famous names in ultrarunning. Plus - it's the Grand Teton area! How awesome is that?? I can't wait!

Stuff
Provided that I have a signal (I think I will), I will try to send short updates on my condition during the race via Twitter. You can follow that at this URL: http://twitter.com/stevetursi (this also updates my facebook status.)

Also, if you're ever curious as to where I am while I wander around the rocky mountains for the week before (and after) the race, you can sometimes get updated information here: http://tursi.com/w/.

I might climb mount elbert (highpoint of colorado) on Sunday or Monday. I don't know. On one hand, I think it'll really help with my hill training, especially at altitude. On the other, will I have enough recovery time? dunno.. it's only 9 miles round trip.. but with something like 4500-5000 feet of climbing, it's hard to judge. I tend to recover from that kind of workout quickly, but it's impossible to know if I'll be regretting it at mile 27, 5 days later..

That's it for now. I'll post again before the race.

t-minus 3 weeks till the Grand Teton 50 miler

Seen on the LIE in Queens. This bumper sticker normally says "this car climbed..", I love this modification & wish there were more like it.

There I was, somewhere on the Kakiat Trail, just starting what would probably be my longest *trail* run before the grand teton 50 miler, about a half-mile from the parking lot where my wife dropped me off, right above an exposed rocky area & right below an exposed rocky area, when a severe thunderstorm paid a visit. It scared the living daylights out of me. It pinned me in place, crouched on a small rock, for about a half-hour before I felt like I could resume the run.

Calling it a "run" is a little bit of a stretch, because most of the trail was a sprained-ankle-mine field of wet rocks everywhere - too technical to run safely. So I powerwalked hills with reckless abandon, racking up about 3500 vertical feet of climbing (and about that much descending) over twelve miles or so. My moving time was 4 hours, and that 20/minute pace is about what I'll need in three weeks to finish the Grand Teton 50-mile ultramarathon under the 17-hour cutoff. The good news is that I finished with a TON of energy, the course is not nearly as technical as Harriman, and there won't be as much climbing per mile. Bad news is that it was only 12 miles, and my legs are going to be hatin' me in three weeks at about mile 40. This weekend will be my last opportunity for a super-long run before the race, and I am planning on waking up early tomorrow and going at least 12 miles, but I'm secretly hoping to do 18 or maybe even 21.

Next weekend, with only two weeks to go, I probably won't do as much, but I do want to run at least a mile every day during the next two weeks because that kind of streak seems to do wonders for my fitness in general. I also intend to lose about 15 lbs in the next three weeks, getting to 275 and making the GT50 as easy as possible (I've already lost 10 in the last week.)

My flight, by the way, leaves on August 22 and I'll be arriving in Denver. We'll be spending two weeks in the area. There is no itinerary except for the race itself, but I do know that I'd like to spend most of that time in the outside of cities. Si I'll probably hike Mt. Elbert (highpoint of Colorado) early in the week (Sunday?) to acclimatize a little and to get a last-minute hill workout, then kind of meander around the rockies, gradually working our way back north, until we get to the Jackson area to do the race. After that, it's completely up in the air. We may go west towards Utah, Arizona & Nevada, or maybe east towards the Dakotas and Mount Rushmore. I like the idea of having no itinerary - this is going to be a stress-free vacation and if I spend a lot of time lying on an easy chair outside a swimming pool with a view of the rockies, I won't be that disappointed.

If you're interested, I plan to use twitter to send status updates from the race as it happens, and you'll also be able to follow my progress here: http://www.grandtetonraces.com/

two random unrelated thoughts..

... shamelessly stolen off the interwebs today

(but first, a picture)


Rizzo ran his first organized race this past weekend, a 5K. I was there. More on that later..

"I haven't been back in 8 months, but things haven't changed. It's New Jersey, it's the summer, it's full of guidos and orange-skinned women with large flotation devices, it's hot as fuck, and you sweat while taking the coldest shower possible. But at least when I order a pastrami sandwich, I don't get turkey with pink food dye on it."
source: http://www.52weeksindenver.com/2008/07/week-63-in-new-jersey.html

"i applaud you for the effort to reach your limits.
i dont find aspirations to mediocrity inspiring.
it really bugs me when people are coached, coaxed, and encouraged
to settle for less than their capabilities."
source: "lazarus lake" on the ultrarunning listserv 2008/07/21

And now, in the next section of the most disorganized blogpost to pollute the internets:
Race Report: Teterboro Airport 5K: My worst race evar!!

I really really really wanted very badly to break 30 minutes on this race, and I didn't even come close.
It may have been the heat that caused me to take 3 walk breaks and finish in a deplorable 31:50, but I think the real reason is I ate at a chinese buffet the night before. And I stuffed myself silly. And I wasn't hungry the next morning so I didn't eat my traditional pre-race bagel with fresh lox and cream cheese (yum.)

By the way, this silly 5k which shuts down a respectable airport for an hour is what I did in lieu of the VERMONT 100 WHICH I MISSED (for completely different reasons) and I'm actually kind of bummed about it. I really wanted very badly to volunteer at the race and pace a slow runner to the finish. It didn't work out. Instead, I ran 3.1 miles on an exposed asphalt runway in 90º heat and then went to long island to eat a soft shell crab (yum.)

I also missed the duathlon in May (boy it's been a while since I've blogged) but I actually had a good reason: I was sick with bronchitis. (yum.)

By the way, that freakin bronchitis.. knocked me out for well over a month and my running has NOT BEEN THE SAME SINCE! i am weak and worthless. that is all.


In 1.5 months (!!!) I am travelling to Wyoming to do the Grand Teton 50-mile ultra. that should be.. entertaining. actually, i can't wait.

That is all. Looking back at this post, it's amazing that anybody at all bothers to read this mindless drivel. But who knows? Perhaps someone somewhere out there gets a perverse pleasure out of reading the incoherent rambling of a sleep-deprived idiot addicted to running over old ladies with your stolen hummer in grand theft auto. (don't knock it until you tried it.)