Marathons/Ultras

Mercedes Marathon

Published February 11, 2018

Level Qualifications:

30 marathons in 30 US states, countries, or Canadian Provinces (any combination) within 365 days.

In 2015, I achieved 10-stars/Platinum Level as a Marathon Maniac.

Coming into 2018 not as fit as Ironman Year [2014]. Starting off a bit heavier too. AND of course I’m 3 years older.

First week of strong consistent training – 50 miles/week, every week ‘til Bighorn. BIGHORN’s been the focus. Platinum x2 is the GOAL…along with 50 States x2, 10 Canadian provinces AND all 7 continents. Can’t fail if you don’t try 🙂

Birmingham, Baltimore, Phoenix, Louisiana. First 4-week marathon stretch in 2 years.

545am flight Saturday. One of the few destinations, where a direct flight from Denver just isn’t possible. Easy connection in Dallas – learned my lesson years ago…avoid Chicago in winter. Not my first Rodeo.

Alabama touchdown. Light rain in Birmingham, tomorrow’s run forecast: more rain.

Fancy hotel digs. Sprung for the Westin, event’s host hotel – ‘cross the street from the Expo, 2 blocks from Sunday’s Start/Finish. ALSO, free airport shuttle & an onsite restaurant. Economically, a mighty good deal – with a late 3pm check-out.

Only GREAT things to say ‘bout the Westin. Nice to indulge. Thanks, fancy hotel digs ❤

7am marathon Start. No rain, no early check-out, no rush. Humid though, 93% humidity. Weather app predicted 2-3 hours before the overcast skies would leak: 100% chance of rain. FULL/Half shared Start – whole lotta runners.

Ran 4 miles without tunes (headphones are a crutch but dull the negative voices in my head). Settled on a compromise this journey – downloaded 4 podcasts, SE TrailRunner. Learned lotta ‘bout trail running in Kentucky. Who knew? HA!

Halfers peeled right at mile 12, Marathoners to the left. Another loop.

Streams of salt, sides of my face/forehead. 14 mile sweat fest. No wonder I finish dehydrated. Kept sucking down water. Forgot my electrolytes, refused Powerade this trek. Once I start heaving, I’m no good 2^nd Half. Break down mentally.

RAIN.

Mile 21, SHEETS of rain. Rolling water. More trail than road conditions. Body drenched, shoes soaked. iPhone got wet. Podcast randomly restarted 4 or 5 times. Voices slowed, then chipmunk-fast. Chipmunk talk ‘til the Finish – ARGH. Rain too hard to stop, locate & shut off my Phone (under my shirt, under a jacket, inside a waterproof pouch – money back please 🙁 ).

Slow & steady but another FINISH. Really, really wet. First week done, happy with the progress. 50-mile training week, marathon finish. At this pace, expect to break my PR in about 12 years. LOL> Gotta start somewhere.

RESULTS

2018 Mercedes Marathon

Birmingham, AL February 11, 2018

Name Chip time City State Bib#

K R Haga 5:09:37 Louisville CO 278

: 4-week stretch: Birmingham, Baltimore, Phoenix, Louisiana

: Coach ‘Bear’ Bryant

: hood-ornament FINISHER medal (Daimler’s three-pointed star)

: SHEETS of rain

: Marathon #108, Alabama x2

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Town of Celebration Marathon

Published January 28, 2018

EPCOT, is an acronym for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, a utopian city of the future planned by Walt Disney, often interchanging “city” and “community.”

The model community of Celebration, Florida has been mentioned as a realization of Disney’s original vision, but Celebration is based on concepts of new urbanism — radically different from Disney’s modernist & futurist visions.

Early start Sunday, missed bib pick-up the day before (EPCOT day 🙂 ). 5:30am meet-up in Celebration Park, race start an hour-half later. Humid Florida morning – expecting showers Sunday 2^nd half. Magic Kingdom ‘Poncho’ day.

Flat 2-lap course. Crowded start, 80% of participants running the Half. National Anthem. Ready ready to run.

Bunched around the 4:30 pace group. I always go out fast, then nothing in the tank later. Maybe if I force myself slow, I’ll finish with a smile. Worth a try. Short on my miles past 2 weeks, I’ll take a slower/happy finish – FAMILY in Magic Kingdom later.

Work/life struggle all month, no consistency since Hawaii. Lotta livin’ 1^st Half, lotta workin’ 2^nd Half. Notta lotta balance.

Digged hangin’ with a Pace Group. Easy 8 miles. Ran ahead of Pacer Dave, hit miles 12 & 13 hard, 2:02 first Half. “Made haste for the waste“, a much-needed porta-potty stop. 10 minutes ahead: expected to see my clique soon after.

Miles 14, 15, 16: no familiar faces. Ho, hum. Started to drag, put on some tunes. Mile 18. Still no rain, hyper-sweating in the tropics. Saw three folks from my 4:30 group dragging the sign. Pacer Dave had dropped. How often does that happen?

Wiped, lack of energy. Stopped to snap shots of my Florida journey. Drop, drop, drop – more sweat. Ran into my eyes, burned.

Thick muggy air, warm drizzle, high HUMIDITY. Slow-walked, just didn’t have it in me. Combination of hearty ‘Disney Plan’ meals & yesterday’s EPCOT walkathon. Heard the announcer. Day’s Finish across the Lake, 2 more miles. Felt like it’d never end 🙁

Blood pressure: 80 over 50. Spent my post-Finish with EMTs in the medic tent. Dehydrated (puking since mile 22).

Car, shower, shuttle bus, amusement park. Quick turnaround. Arrived 20 minutes before our all-American Liberty Tree Tavern lunch reservation. Would rain the remainder of my last Disney day. Spent 3 hours shuffling between indoor venues: the Hall of Presidents, Mickey’s PhilharMagic, Pirates of Caribbean, Under the Sea (Little Mermaid) & the Haunted Mansion.

Monday morning: Orlando, Florida. Work afternoon: Boulder, Colorado. Crazy fast-paced world. #noregretlife

CELEBRATION MARATHON & HALF MARATHON

Celebration, Florida

Sunday, January 28, 2018

MARATHON RESULTS

238 K R Haga Louisville CO 5:15:34

: Celebration Park 5:30am

: CROWDED start

: hyper sweating

: celebrating CELEBRATION

Magic Kingdom 2018

: LOVE LOVE these 2 ❤

: new President in the Hall

: last Disney DAY

: Dave’s fave

Posted in Family, Marathons/Ultras, South | Tagged disney | Leave a comment

Hilo to Volcano 50K

Published January 6, 2018

6am Start in Hilo, 2 hour drive from Kona, 30 minutes prep. Mighty early Saturday a.m. Luckily, Sis’ husband drove (knocked off a half-hour in the backseat). Balmy dark morning in Hilo. Biggest pre-race dilemma: locating a working bathroom. Might sound like a small thing but being roadside, on a self-support course, for the next 7 hours – not starting this journey without an empty bladder 🙂

[Sibling rivalry? Sis wore Bib 49, her age. My Bib #? 65. Not so funny Sis.]

4 of us running today. Sis & I on foot, Paul & Stephen crewing. Telling ya upfront – could not have finished an all UPHILL 31-mile course without the world’s most amazing crew. Mile 8, 12 & every 2 miles thereafter. SUV parked, trunk open, water/electrolytes awaiting plus a variety of stomach-friendly foods for 2 of the pickiest stomachs on course.

Sis fueled on gluten-free sweets & solids; Kombucha & pickles for me. BEST my stomach has reacted in 3 years.

Hilo to Volcano 50K ultra is a challenging 31 mile route which begins at Moku Ola (Coconut Island) parking area in Hilo (sea level) and ends at Cooper Center in Volcano (almost 4,000 ft.) Runners choosing to run the solo event will need to provide their own support vehicles and return ride. The run is entirely on paved roads, primarily Highway 11. There is a 7 hour and 30 minute cut-off time to finish the run.

Each runner must provide his or her own vehicle escort and be responsible for food, water and supplies. Reflective vest and blinking lights are highly recommended for the first hour. Be prepared for a variety of weather and running conditions. Temperatures range from 40 to 80 degrees.

SUMMER. Just like EVERYTHING in Hawaii, super laid-back Start. Guy in a parking lot told us to start running. Followed a line of bobbing headlamps thru town, turned left at the House of Pancakes, Highway 11 the next 30 miles. Maintained a steady 10-minute pace, lost our crew at the Pancake House. We’d see them again near mile 9.

Cool comfortable start. No breeze, but no sunshine for another hour either. Balmy humid Hilo. Kept reminding ourselves, it could be worse. 6 miles in, not straight UP but a steady grade nonetheless. ‘Nough incline to labour breathing. Smells of morning breakfast in Hilo – Sis corrected me: it’s hash browns not fries, as we passed Micky D’s on the right.

Light rain. Didn’t hit our first ‘walking’ hill ‘til mile 8. Crew break. Aloha ’til mile 12.

SPRING. Rain, stank air/humidity. More rain, another pocket of thick/still humidity. Gaps between island neighborhoods widened, enjoyed our first breeze. Kinda diggin’ the day – course itself though, running alongside Highway 11, not super scenic. Considering we were running in H-A-W-A-I-I, folks could’ve thrown us some landscape.

Soaking sideways rain. Cold & wet. US’ only rainforest. Super happy to see the guys at mile 12. Day’s second costume change: long-sleeved tech shirt & a light jacket. Mile 14: precip reduced to a drizzle, dropped the jacket, elevation: 1000ft.

Solved lotta world problems next 4 miles. Discussed how isolated we were in Hawaii. In case of invasion, no mountaineering escape to the Rockies. No swimming either – 5 hour flight just to the Mainland. Small dot in the Pacific, island only 2 hours wide by car.

Think THAT was dark? Sis went all in. Snipers & feral pig attacks. Both scenarios, she got to stop running. I however had to find help AND drag her body along. Hard to be a Pollyanna, 31 miles along an all uphill highway – elevation: 2000ft.

Straight UP next 3 miles. Walked, pushing with our arms. Goal to maintain a 15-minute mile. Started doing the math. Definitely pushing 7 hours now, maybe 20 minutes at best ahead of cut-off. ARGH.

FALL. Clouds parted, intermittent sun, cool breeze returned. Mile of straight highway at 24. Straight-stretch of road is the new downhill, haven’t ya heard? Sub-13 minute jog – making up ground BUT would have to limit our crew stops going forward.

Mixed it up miles 25 thru 28. Asked Paul & Stephen to take turns walking or jogging alongside. New conversation, new blood. Crew took turns leap-frogging the SUV forward & passing the jog baton. Like I said earlier, BEST CREW EVER!

Ash & Tom drove by at marker 27. FAMILY vacation ❤ Flew in the night before, cost-sharing the condo, overlapped 4 days in paradise (I leave next Wednesday, they’d stay ‘til Friday). Elevation: 3000ft.

Almost missed the hand-painted sign. BIRR [Big Island Road Runners] arrow right.

Volunteer motioned: “2 miles to the turnaround”. UGH – an out-n-back, 4 more miles. Sadly joined the outdoor pooping club – thought this was something Hawaii-exclusive to Sis. Thankful for the large banana leaves 🙂

Mile 29: turn-around pole. Time check. Cutting this REALLY REALLY close. Last half-mile, all downhill. DOWNHILL RAN>

Sis FINISHED her first ultra-marathon. Check, done – officially on Hawaiian time: VACATION. Happy Hawaii 5-0!