Pullman Winter Ultra #1 - race report

Nearly 40 humans and a few dogs showed up for the first of two runs of the second annual Pullman Winter Ultra series. Some of us did the full 50k, others 25k or shorter. The weather was great for a December in Pullman -- sunny and temps in the upper-30's to low-40's.

The course is a simple 7.75-mile paved loop around Pullman. Four loops equals 50k. The course is extremely flat minus the double-pointed hill.

Sadie ran the 50k with me. She's seems to be fully recovered from last month's leg issues. She's done great on a couple 20+ mile runs the last couple weeks, so I thought she'd be ready for the 50k.  And she did great -- a little tired on the fourth lap, but so was I!  I ran about what I was expecting too. I probably could have gone a bit harder to beat my best 50k time (I missed it by about 5 minutes), but the goal wasn't to gas it on this run.  (results)

I'm actually feeling in very good shape right now. I think the break from racing as much as I was has allowed me to put in some better quality weekend runs. I think I can break 4hrs on this course if I really wanted to (and if the weather is not like we had at the first event last year.) But it would probably hurt a lot...so I'm not sure how bad I want to.  My main incentive right now is to not injure myself. Last winter I think I overtrained a bit with the growing excitement for my Atacama Crossing attempt and I ended up straining my achilles a couple weeks before that race. My excitement for Scotland is growing a little each day, and the more excited I get about running, the more I want to run, even on "rest" days.

Sadie with one mile to go.

In other news, I'm heading to Texas for the holidays, and I'll be running a marathon with my sister on New Year's Eve near Dallas. Should be fun.

And I received exciting news that in 2012 I'll be a part of the Brooks ID team for a fourth consecutive year.

Keep running!

Scott

My "OMG I Can't Wait!" Race for 2012

I love to run. I love to travel.  And after I ran my first marathon in 2007, I thought it would be a great idea to incorporate the two by traveling to another country for a race each year. So far, so good.

In 2008, I visited spectacular Iceland for the Laugavegur Ultra.

In 2009, I traveled to South Africa to run the famous Comrades Marathon.

In 2010, I drove north to beautiful British Columbia for a low-key 50k in the North Vancouver mountains.

In 2011, I trekked south of the equator again to compete in the epic Atacama Crossing in Chile.

And if everything goes as planned, this summer I'm going to Scotland for the 96-mile West Highland Way Race! I submitted my application five weeks ago and just received confirmation that I've been accepted to participate. This race has been on my bucket list since I first created a race bucket list. I'm stoked.

It's nice to have an exciting event waiting for me on the calendar. I think it makes training so much more enjoyable when there's even a tab bit more motivation attached to my feet each time I step out on the trail. Not that I really need any extra motivation; I'm still riding the running-high I got back when I ran my first marathon in 2007. :)

Keep running!

-Scott