Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Wednesday Run Reminder 9.1.10

The morning weather is getting nice! Reminder: Group trail run in the Phoenix Mountains Preserve Wednesday morning 5:16 AM. Meet at the very top lot of Squaw Peak Drive north of Glendale / Lincoln Dr. Plan on a little over one hour at a slow to moderate pace.

Check out Paulette Zillmer's Leadville Race Report. Great job Paulette!

Monday, August 23, 2010

Bulldog recovery run 8.25.10

Reminder: Group trail run this Wednesday Morning 5:15 AM in the Phoenix Mountains Preserve. Meet at the very top parking lot on Squaw Peak Drive north of Glendale / Lincoln Drive. Plan on a little over one hour at a slow to moderate pace.

Runner of the Week: Congratulations to Dave westhoff who ran and completed his first Ultra Marathon the Bulldog 50K near Malibu California. Chris Harrison, who also ran the race, reports that Westy ran a great race with very few challenges - strong and steady was the theme of the day as he powered up the hills to finish in 6:29. Great job Westy and Hos!

Kudos also go to Liz Everly and Laura Nagy who ran the Where's Waldo 100K in Oregon. Laura finished in 15:13 with Liz just 5 min back.

Pacing Duty of the weekend: Art Bourque was spotted sporting his WMRC shirt at the Leadville 100 Trail Run this past weekend. Bourque paced Neil Blake to a 27:11 finish. The picture below is the calm before the storm. 6 hours later the smiles turning into puking and staggering in the night. Good job Blake and Bourque.

Nice write-up in the Trail Runner's Magazine news letter on Jeff Jones TPC slam. Check it out.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Leadville Taper Run 8.18.10

Reminder: Group trail run tomorrow morning in the Phoenix Mountains Preserve. Meet at 5:16 AM at the very top parking lot of squaw peak drive north of Glendale / Lincoln Drive. Plan on a little over one hour at a slow to moderate pace. B-team hung til the end last Week. Will he / they do it again?

ROW: The streak is broken...Cosmas has failed to submit his weekly exploit to the Board of Directors thus he will not be awarded a fifth Runner of the Week in a row. Congrats to Donovan Sarka for his completion of the El Vaquero 50K in Wyoming. Looks like a very pretty run.

Leadville 100: Good luck to WMRC runner Paulette Zillmer who is running the Leadville Trail 100 mile run starting early Saturday morning. We know she is going to do really well. Have fun. Stay safe.

Late addition: this administrator is asleep at the wheel. How could we forget two other big events this weekend? Good luck to Liz Everly and Laura Nagy in Where's Waldo 100K in Oregon and Dave Westhoff and Chris Harrison running the Bulldog 50K in Malibu. This will be Westy's 1st ultra marathon!!

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Back To School Morning Run 8.11.10

School is now in session! Time to hit the trails with new energy. Reminder: Group trail run tomorrow morning. 5:15 AM. Top parking lot squaw peak drive in the Phoenix Mountains Preserve. Group A Plan on a little over one hour at a slow to moderate pace. Group B join Higgy on a stroll with no apparent aim.

Is it possible that someone can win Runner of the Week four weeks in a row? Apparently yes. After completing the world's hardest 50K in Utah just 3 days prior, Cosmas competes in the prestigious Trail Runner Magazine's Treadmill Uphill Challenge. Cos held his own against the likes of Timmy Parr, Kurpicka, and Max King Finishing 18th overall!!....out of a field of 18... No photography was allowed so we hired a courtroom artist to give us a rendering. We didn't have much in the budget to pay anyone with actual experience. Went with a laid off cartoonist. Nice job Cos!!!

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Ultra Marathon Study / Participants Needed

Fat Use and Optimal Running Speed Study for Ultramarathons

This study, led by Christos Katsanos, PhD from Arizona State University, along with honors Kinesiology students Nathan Coury and John Kline (serving as their honors theses), aims to determine 1) If there is an optimal running speed where fat is the primary substrate used for energy and 2) If this optimal running speed is a better predictor of performance than VO2max. By measuring the ratio of fat versus carbohydrates used at a given speed either running or walking, we hope to determine the highest speed that a runner can travel at over a given distance while still using primarily fat as his or her main fuel source. We would like to recruit 15 male runners for this study, mainly to avoid complications with menstrual cycles, but future studies may include female subjects as well. Potential participants must also have completed a 50 mile or longer run in the past 5 years and be in a healthy condition.

The study will be conducted both in the lab and in the field. For the lab portion, subjects will be asked to come in on 4 separate occasions to the Clinical Research Unit exercise laboratory at Arizona State University Tempe campus. One session will be used to determine optimal walking speed (a sub-maximal test) and VO2max (a maximal test), and the other three days will be used to determine optimal running speed (a sub-maximal test), all performed on the treadmill. Lab tests will all be completed in the mornings, save special circumstances, but definitely between the hours of 8am-5pm Monday through Friday. For the field portion, subjects will participate in a 50 mile race on a flat 500-meter dirt track as a test of performance to validate lab findings. The race will take place in Buckeye, Arizona on November 20th starting at 7am. Free race entry will be given to all study participants. During both the lab and field tests, participants will eat an individually-determined standardized breakfast before each lab session and on race morning, use a heart rate monitor, use an accelerometer, a Rate of Perceived Exertion scale, and a non-invasive scale used to measure Body Mass Index (BMI). We will be taking an inventory of all food and fluid intake during the race, as well as assessing each subjects medical condition and rate of perceived exertion in 5 mile intervals.

Participation is voluntary and each subject is free to withdraw from the study at any time. There are no costs associated with participation. The risks associated with participation in this trial do not exceed the risks normally associated with participating in a 50 mile ultramarathon race. Your participation will help the ultra endurance running community at large by determining what the optimal speed to run ultramarathon races in order to maximize fat use and thus help runners to achieve their personal best performances, and to minimize problems associated with incorrect pacing. If we find that this optimal running speed is also a better indicator of performance in ultramarathon races than VO2max, this could mean hope for those who do not perform as well in shorter races because they may still be able to do well in longer ultramarathon events.

If you are interested in a chance to become a participant in this study, please send an email with “Ultramarathon Study” in the subject line to Nathan.Coury@asu.edu to receive more information.

Monday, August 2, 2010

Speed Goat Recovery Run 8.4.10

Reminder: Group Trail Run in the Phoenix Mountains Preserve Wednesday Morning 5:17 AM. Meet at the very top lot of Squaw Peak Drive. Plan on a little over one hour at a slow to moderate pace (unless Kirk is leading). First timers are always welcome. Are we forgetting anything?? ...
Runner of the week: Congrats to Mark Cosmas who ran the Speedgoat 50K last Saturday. 9:56. This is the race that Karl Meltzer is the director of. Its touted at the hardest 50K in the world. A mini Hardrock. 12K in 32 miles! Mark said its buy far the hardest 50K even harder than some 50 mile races. Mark has promised to enlighten us with a race report after he catches his breath and finishes his travels.
Check out Jamil's Grand Mesa 100 race report. As noted last week Jamil finished 3rd overall. Just 4 weeks out from his Western States finish. Photo above courtesy of Duncan Callahan.
Group Memo: As always let us know about your adventures. We all can use some motivation to get out and run!