Stanford Invitational

The big, early season distance carnival that is the Stanford Invitational took place last night.  And, we had some good Montana reprsentation.

In the women's steeplechase Alexa Aragon (Billings Senior) of Notre Dame ran 10:25.82 for 3rd place in her section.

In the men's steeplechase:

• Lynn Reynolds (Dillon) of UM ran 8:55.60 for 2nd in his section.
• John Ricardi (Gardiner) of Club Northwest ran 8:59.99 in his section (which was the top seeded section of the night)

In the women's 5K:

•  Lois Ricardi (Gardiner) of Club Northwest ran 16:36.77 in her section.
• And, in the top seeded section, Katrina Drennan of UM ran 16:12.60

And, in the top seeded section of the men's 1,500, Patric Casey (Laurel) (and who switched from MSU to Okalhoma this winter) ran 3:43.17 (about a 4:02 mile).

Some pretty stellar performances for our home-grown, big sky talent.

Full Stanford results can be found at http://www.rtspt.com/events/stanford/invite2012/

Comin' Around

Well, the old Buzzard seems to be coming back around on the running front.  Last week was 25 miles, this week should be 28 (woo hoo - a whole 4 miles per day).  The foot seems to be holding up just fine.  And, the areobic conditioning seems to be progressing pretty well also.  Both pace and heart rate are dropping nicely; and, seem to be getting really quite comfy down to 7:30 pace.  Hope to be getting comfy pace down to 7:teens in the next couple of weeks. 

The big news for the week was venturing out on the roads for the first time.  In my recovery to date, I've been doing everything on the treadmill.  It's a nice forgiving surface that allows for a uniform, consistent foot placement every time.  That really minimizes the risk of a bad foot fall that could tweak the metatarsal. 

But, as with everything, you eventually have to take the first bit of something new.  So, I headed out with my track kids for a short workout on Wednesday.  And..................the foot felt fine.  No twinges, no tweaks, no nothin'.  Felt - well - normal.  And, man, was I happy with that.  I was really quite anxious about how things would feel when I hit the pavement - especially when you condider that I hadn't run on pavement since the 1st of December (4+ months).  But, it looks like I did the right things in coming back from the stress fracture and I think that the foot is pretty solid.

The workout entailed 1.5 miles warm-up, then 1.5 miles at tempo effort.  This meant around 9:00 to 12:00 of hard effort for the kids (but not all out) ------ or, about the time that they are working during the 2-mile.  Wanted them to get used to the longer, sustained effort and to work on their concentration and maintaining a strong pace.

As for me, I ran with our 2nd group of guys at 6:30 pace.  And, it went all right.  I was reasonably comfy until the last 400 meters.  Then, the effort caught up to me a bit.  Still held pace; but, it became a bit of extra work to stay there.  Considering that I hadn't really run at sub-7:00 pace since MT Cup last fall, I was pretty pleased.

Hoping to gradually get back to some level of fitness and strenght over the next couple of months.  While I know I won't and can't be competitive at Wulfman in mid-June, I would like to be able to get through that race with only mild discomfort :-)

See you on the roads, tracks and trails

The Muddy Buzzard.

21

That's right - 21 miles for the week.  3 miles a day for all 7 days this week.  And, with last Saturday included - that's 8 days in a row of running.  First "streak" since last October.

That's right - I've bitch slapped the injury goddess and put her in her place.

Actually - that's not at all true.  I've actually tried to be very smart about recovering from the stress fracture in my 5th Metatarsal.  I was cleared to run beginning February 11th.  That week I ran 2 miles.

My following weeks were 5 miles, 8 miles and 12 miles.

I stared with every 3rd day, then to every other day; and, this week..............every day.  So, that got me to 21 miles.  Next week perhaps 25.  Then in a couple of weeks look to get over 30.

The foot seems to be holding up pretty well.  I've held the pace to a reasonable level and so far have maxed out at 3 miles.  All of my running has been on the soft, steady, consitent surface of the treadmill.

In the interim I did lots of time on the ellliptical and stationary bike.  Plus lots of core & strength work, including plenty of dynamic flexibility and general conditioning.

All in all, I'm cautioulsy optimistic.  Probably another week on the 'mill.  Then next week I'll try a couple of times out on the road.

And, need to start dropping the pace of my efforts from 8:30 pace to sub-8:00 and a bit lower.

Looking forward to being back out on the roads and enjoying the northwest outdoors during the spring.

As a resut, I expec to see you out on the roads, tracks and trails

The Muddy Buzzard

Still Seeing Green

So, being raised in Butte - one week after St. Paddy's day I'd normally still be seeing green as an after-effect of so much green beer from the "holiday" falling on a Saturday.  But, being older and much, much, much wiser - that's not the case any longer.  Rather, I'm still seeing the glorious green results of two consecutive weekends of early season road racing.

The weekend of March 10th brought about the kick off to the 2012 road racing season kicked off with events in Missoula, Anaconda and Polson.  All had big turnouts with almost 700 in Missoula, 600+ in Anaconda and 200+ in Polson. 

In Missoula - a new 7-Miler was added to the Run For The Luck Of It race ticket (in addition to the 5K that had been part of the 2010 and 2011 events); and, that brought out a couple of the Western MT big guns.  Jimmy Grant (the 5K course record holder) cranked out a super fast 36:01 for a 3-minute win over Caleb Deitz.  On the women's side, marathoner Trisha Miller dropped down in distance and showed that she hasn't lost a step since her big win at the PF Chang's Marathon (Phoenix) in January.  Her 42:21 gave her a comfortable 2 minute + win over former UM runner Brooke Andrus.  One of the more impressive performances in the 7-mile was from 51-year old Steve Brown who placed 5th overall and 1st master's at 45:02.

In the 5-K one of Montana's female master's stars took the women's title.  That would be ageless speedster Mary Thane.  With a new master's record and equalling the course record, Mary hit the line at 18:55 for a narrow 6-second win over Darr Tucknott.  On the men's side, Mark Handleman (a newer Missoula resident) got a 30 second win at 16:22.  But, most impressive was Jim Murphy (41) with a 3rd-place overall in an impressive 17:00 - a serious master's effort.

The March Meltdown in Polson had a good turnout (it was quite a nice day in NW Montana) for the Polson Running Club event; but, the race times weren't super fast or super deep (with a couple of exceptions).  Matt Seely (who appears to now have joined the master's age brackets) was the overall 10K winner at 37:13.  Winning the women's race and getting second overall was Jessica Johnson at 39:18.  And,, how about 63 year old Larry Richards hitting 46:14 - 5th overall and 2nd masters.

But, the granddaddy of the first weekend was the AOH (Ancient Order of the Hibernians) St. Patty's race in Anaconda.  Being the oldest race of the weekend (31st Annual), it has a long competitive history.  (The Buzzard can remember racing in the 2nd annual event back in 1983)  This year had a nice mix of "old" faces and new in the winner's columns.  Winning the women's 6-mile was rising star Lisa Minnehan of Billings at 38:44.  That gave her a 2 minute win over 50-year old (and master's champ) Mary Dean of Butte (Mary has been running and racing about as long as The Buzzard and is a great person - I'm so happy to see her still competing strongly after all these years.  [In fact, she ran in that 1983 race with me!!])  The men's 6-mile went to resurgent master's ace Kyle Strode of Helena.  His 32:03 gave him a solid 90 second win over Clint Choquette of Butte, with Rob Walker of Bozeman 3rd overall (and 2nd Master) at 34:12.  It appears as though Kyle's time is the #2 masters performance all time at this event.

On the 3-mile side - confusion reigned at the start.  Due to some problems with transportation logistics (which seems to happen just about every year in Anaconda), the start was just a bit of mayhem.  For a good description, read Ray Hunt's account of the race here - http://www.buttespissandmoanrunners.com/Butte%20Races/AOH%20Run/Results/2012%20Results.pdf.  But, the race did get off and underway and then it was all about race.  And, how about the racing of Nicole Hunt!!!!!  Coming back from delivering twins Roam and Ember last fall, she's back and she's still fast.  How about 17:09 fast - #6 all time and new master's course record.  That gave her a clear 1:00 win over high schooler Olivia Wood of Anaconda.  And, another ageless wonder is Suzie Kaluza who placed 5th overall at 50 in 19:27.  Wow - that's some smoking hot running on the women's side.

For the men - it was fast and it was tight.  Matt Choquette of Butte led the parade with a super speedy 14:54.  He just held off Butte High's Josh Panasuk's 14:55.  And, they were just 16 seconds clear of Adraim Little.  Then came the master's runners - Ray Hunt at 15:40 followed by Pat Judge of Helena in 16:08 followed by 50- year old Marvin Speece (Butte) in 16:37.  I think that the pavement has now cooled enough to be safe for vehicular travel!!!!!

That then brings us to the true St. Patty's weekend (March 17th & 18th).  And the weekend kicked off in grand style with the big and fast 5th Annual Run To The Pub 10K and 1/2-Marathon races in Bozeman.  For the big - how aobut 1,424 finishers (with 1064 in the 10K and 360 in the Half)!!!!  Bozeman knows how to bring in the masses for their local runniing scene.

And the fast - how about 29:45 10K fast.  Yes - you read that right - 29:45.   That was the time for MSU alum, Dillon native and current MSU assistant coach Lyle WeeseRaunig, Rothermel, Brist and Bishop.

Following Lyle was Kyle Strode (as first master) in 32:42.  That's one week removed from his overall win at the AOH 6-mile and show that Strode at 48 still has some serious wheels.  Then Clint Choquette (the AOH 3-mile winner) was in at 33:28.  One notable master's performance was the return of Kirk Keller to racing - and, at 53 he was 7th overall and 2nd master at 37:02. 

On the women's side, Lindsey Hintz of Bozeman was 5th overall with her 35:03 - a sub-36:00 by a women in MT is another rarity.  Again - good to see some young wheels hitting the roads.  Katherine Aune of Missoula was 2nd in 38:50 and Holly Waler of Bozeman was thrid in 39:32.

In the Half Marathon, Chad Wallin of Minot, ND took the win in a respectable 75:20.  He was followed by Ethan Willhelm in 75:41 and in 3rd was Scott Sneddon of Billings in 76:24.  Of note, Sneddon at 49 took the measure of fellow master Scott Creel (Creel 5th overall at 76:59).  Now, the half marathon is outside of Creel's usual race range; but, still - it's unusual to see Creel get beaten by a fellow MT master.

For the women, Hilary Smith ran 86:42 for a 90-second win over Margaret Landberg.  8th overall and 1st master was Nikki Kimball in 93:27.

The Shamrock Run in Billings was held on Sunday the 18th and once again represented the Yellowstone Rim Runners annual membership kickoff event.  As expected, Alan King led the field of 417 runners with his 16:43 5K.  Next in was Zach Hunter at 16:59 and Joel Harris in 17:08.  Ian Blair in 4th was the overall master's winner at 18:25.

For the women, Billings Senior's Dani Aragon took the win in 19:30.  This was good preparation for her final high school track season.  Then, she'll be taking her talents to Notre Dame to join sister Alexa as part of the Fighting Irish track and XC squads.  She was followed by Nicole Lair in 19:42 and Jen Reiter at 20:17.

The Great Falls community had a small (< 100 runners) event on the 17th hosted by the UGF track and XC teams; but, no times seem to available for the event.

What a great couple of weekends.  Now, everybody gets a few weeks to recover before we get into some of the spring racing like the Summit Classic (Kalispell), Ice Breaker (Great Falls) and River Bank Runs (Missoula).

See you on the roads, tracks and trails

The Muddy Buzzard.

Big Sky Boys Show Their Nuggets At Chuckanut

Last weekend was the 20th annual Chuckanut 50K in Bellingham, Washington.  And, in 2012 race director Krissy Moehl lined up an unbelievable field - especially for such an early season race.  Some of the biggest stars of American men's ultra/trail racing were in the field and a great race was in the works. 

Included in the field - and, ranked amongst race favorites - were some of our very own Big Sky talent.  Mike Wolfe of Helena, Mike Foote and Chris Kollar of Missoula, and Jason Schlarb of Boulder, CO (but an Montana State alum).

The race was won by Adam Campbell of Canada in 3:48:55 (see a good race report by Adam here:  http://www.irunfar.com/2012/03/adam-campbell-2012-chuckanut-50k-race-report.html ).  Next in was marathoner (and Hansons-Brooks runner) turned ultra runner Saga Canady in 3:49:28 (31 miles and only 33 seconds separating the first two places).  Then, just another 31 seconds later (3:49:59) came Schalrb.  The first of the Big Sky Boys.

In 4th at 3:51:07 was Chris Kollar (the winner of the 2011 MT Cup) with the Footer (more of a long distance ultra-trail man) in 8th at 3:55:27.  Wolfie had a bit of an off day for him and was 13th in 4:00:53.  Pretty impressive indeed with 4 of our boys in the top 15.

That's some good stuff.

See you on the roads, tracks and trails

The Muddy Buzzard.

Buzzard Update

So, in mid-Feburary I was cleared to run again - but, with the admonition to "be careful and don't push it".  Well, I've really taken that to heart.

I started out with 5:00 of easy running (10:00 pace) every 3rd day.  And, have been gradually building up from there.  This week, I'll run 4 days - 3 miles at a pop (for a whopping weekly total of 12 miles!!!!).  I've been getting the pace down to sub-7:30; and, things seem to be feeling okay with the foot.  [And, all of the time on the stationary bike and elliptical seem to be paying off.  My cardiovascular seems to be holding up pretty well to the pace and effort.]  I've really been trying to be smart (all of my miles have been on the soft, forgiving surface of the treadmill so far); and, I'm hopeful that this has all paid off.

Next week I'll try running at least 5 days (if not all 7) (all still on the treadmill).  And, the goal is to be able to run with my track kids by the week after (not on track or hard days; but, at least on easy days and for warm ups and cool downs). 

As I transition back into regular running, my good friend Anders Brooker sent me a FloTrack video that took me right back to the scene of the crime.............................

My foot had been hurting off and on over the last couple of weeks of cross country season. But, I kept on pushing through in order to help one of my boys get ready for some post season racing.  It had a been a bit tender before heading to Boise of the Nike Cross Regionals in mid November; but, felt okay on the course preview on Friday.

So, Saturday morning - bright an early, I headed out on a run in the Boise Foothills with Mike Foote, Anders Brooker and Julie Gilchrist.  We were on some great trails, the sun was just coming up, the view of the City was fantastic, the company was great and the foot felt okay as we made some uphill climbs.  Then, it was time for the downhill.  Since I was feeling good, I decided to open up a bit and cruise down the trails.  Big mistake.  About halfway down things got real sore and I was limping pretty badly by the time we hit the finish.  And, that was my last run until mid-February.

In any event, here is a FloTrack video of a group of runners out for a run on the very trail that we were on.  Enjoy the video; and, if and when you are in Boise - trust me - this is a don't miss run.  The foothill trails are impressive -especially considering that they literally take off right from the edge of town.

http://www.flotrack.org/coverage/248390-NCAA-Indoor-Track-Field-Championships-2012/video/620928-runboise2

See you on the roads, tracks and trails

The Muddy Buzzard

The Green Keeps on Comin'

Weekend # 2 of the St. Patrick's festival is coming up.

Races in Bozeman (Run To The Pub), Billings (Shamrock Run) and Great Falls (St. Patty's Dash) this Saturday and Sunday.  These will top off the races in Missoula (Run For The Luck Of It), Anaconda (AOH St. Patricks Day Run) and Polson (March Meltdown) from last weekend.

The Buzzard hopes to do a compilation report on all of the spring kick-off of the 2012 racing season after this weekend's events.

In the meantime - be sure to check out the results of this weekends Chuckanut 50K near Bellingham, WA.  It's a super competitive trail 50K; and, will include the likes of Montana's very own Mike Wolfe and Mike Foote.  [Jason Schlarb is also competing - Schlarb is an MSU Bobcat alum - so, we still like to think of him as one of our own.]

See you on the roads, tracks and trails.

The Muddy Buzzard