The legendary Dipsea Trail. Photo Glenn Tachiyama

I’ve now had the good fortune of racing in the stunningly picturesque Marin Headlands on two occasions.  Interestingly, both races have been thwarted by freak weather conditions on both ends of the spectrum.  Last December, racers including myself were greeted by some appallingly wet weather that forced last second course changes and, ultimately, a lot of confusion at the front of the TNF 50 mile championship. Ironically, it was the exact opposite kind of weather that stymied our race on Saturday.  The weather was so nice that it was literally dangerous.

I’ve now been a Bay Area local for about three weeks.  Since then, I’ve met a lot of new people who have all had the same words of advice: “Don’t get used to this weather.”   Seriously, It’s been beautiful every single day.  Had I not been at TNF50, I might not have believed that clouds could form over this area of the country.  Unfortunately, this unusually hot and dry weather meant that there was a very real fire danger in the Headlands, which ultimately effected our race.  Thankfully, Tia was able to salvage 60k of runnable course on the trails south of Stinson Beach for us to enjoy.  Being a Coloradan, I fully understand and support the decision of the park.  There is no such thing as too cautious when it comes to wildfires.

After idly killing time in the back of my Jeep, we finally got started at 8am – three hours later than scheduled.  The race was really a blast and the weather was idyllic, if a bit on the warm side.  I ran with Gary Gellin for the first twelve or thirteen miles before building a small gap climbing out of Tennessee Valley the first time.  Luckily, I was able to hold on to win the race in just under 4:50.  Overall, it was a really solid effort and a fun day of running.  From what I’ve heard, the statistics ended up being about 37 miles with roughly 8,000 feet of ascent.  Not bad, but I’m really looking forward to running the full course someday.

Thanks to Harmony, Emily and JBo for the cheers and hugs!  It’s always nice sharing these days with the good people in your life.

Of course, the shortening of the race means that a major wrench has been thrown into my Western States preparation.  I was really banking on an eight or nine hour day at Miwok and now have to figure that into my schedule somehow.  Luckily, there seems to be something developing at the moment.  Turns out, there are a few fast people not running Transvulcania, Quad Rock, or Ice Age this weekend.  It’s not quite official yet, but it seems likely that a speedy contingent of West Coasters will descend upon the Grand Canyon for a double crossing this Sunday.  I’ve yet to run the route, so I’m obviously jazzed about the opportunity.  The climb back to the south rim will be a good place to gauge the benefits of sleeping at altitude so far.  Should be a great time.

Gear/nutrition used at Miwok:

Pearl Izumi Trial N2 Shoes – The best shoes in history.  In the “sweet spot” between minimal and maximal.

Pearl Izumi Ultra Split Shorts – The best shorts in history.  You can seriously carry 15 gels or 3 flasks sans bounce in these puppies.

Pearl Izumi ELITE Tall Wool Sock – Crew length all day, baby.

Pearl Izumi Fly Visor – One of my favorite pieces.  Wear it every single day.

Smith Pivlock Sunglasses – Also an everyday accessory.

UltrAspire Nerve/Atom Waist Pack – Got this in the mail on Monday.  Loved it.  Becoming more of a waist pack guy.  Definitely using this at WS.

First Endurance EFS Liquid Shot - I had probably 10-12 ounces of the Kona Mocha.  Solid energy all day.  Smashed some Ultragen after the race as well.  My full First Endurance nutritional plan can be viewed here.

Since the last time I posted, life has been a whirlwind.  I mean that in the best way possible.  My time in Aspen came to a close the way it started – with a raucous party and a glaring absence of moderation.  With a heavy heart and an intense enthusiasm, I travelled to New York City to begin the next chapter of my professional career with Hypoxico Altitude Training Systems.  The three day training that ensued was a pleasure on all fronts.  The employees were eager to teach and accommodated my ignorance with patience and competence.  For them, it was probably an exercise in endurance but, for me, it was stimulating and inspiring.  I left with a renewed fervor to work and am very excited to be associated with such a pioneering and innovative company.

Hypoxico is headed up by a young and talented over-achiever named Brian Oestrike.  At just 33, the man’s accomplishments are nothing short of spectacular.  A former competitive mountain bike racer, Brian’s focus shifted to Mountaineering after college and has seen him atop some of the world’s most iconic peaks, including Everest, which he conquered in 2007.  Recently, Brian has taken to Ultrarunning and managed to secure an “off the couch” finish at last year’s Leadville 100 – his first attempt at the distance.  This year Brian has posted a strong run at Rocky Racoon and has his sights set on the uber epic Leadman Series in the high mountains of Colorado – all while living and training New York City.  Obviously Brian uses the Hypoxico products in his own training and is, thus, personally invested in their quality and effectiveness.  This is a major reason why the company stands head and shoulders above the competition.

Maybe, the most memorable event of the trip East was listening in on a conversation Brian had with a client who had just returned from Africa’s mighty Mount Kilimanjaro.  A virtual non-athlete before the trip, the woman did not expect great things from herself.  She slept at altitude in the weeks leading up to her trip, but did not anticipate keeping pace with her companions when the rigors of altitude and effort began to take their toll.  To her surprise, she hung tough and was able to accomplish her goal with relative ease.  She reported almost feeling bad for her partners who suffered mightily despite being superior athletes on paper.  The joy in the client’s voice convinced me of the quality of the Hypoxico systems and gave everyone in the office a genuine satisfaction.  This stuff is the truth.

First day at the office. Casual jog at 10,000 feet. So cool.

So now I’m here on the West Coast, getting settled in the Bay Area.  This place is amazing.  My Hypoxico System arrived last week and, since then, I’ve been sleeping like a baby at 9,000 feet.  They say you shouldn’t feel the positive gains for as many as three weeks but I feel stronger already.  Maybe it’s just a placebo effect or my previous experience living at altitude but, either way, I’m 100% confident that using the product will give me a performance boost and make me a better athlete.  The more I research the Live High, Train Low philosophy, the more it seems like a good strategy and the more comfortable I become in my new home.

I’ll be supplementing my sleep training with altitude exercising and intemittent hypoxic training in the coming weeks as I prepare for an exciting season of racing.  I’ll use my blog a platform to communicate my experiences and am happy to answer any questions people might have about hypoxic training for endurance sport.  Should you have questions or want more information on Hypoxico services and products, please don’t hesitate to email me directly at dbowman@hypoxico.com.

Miwok 100k this weekend!  Fire it up!

Rustic home, high tech bed.

I’ve been a Colorado boy my entire life.  One year ago, if you would have told me I would ever leave Aspen, I would have said you were crazy.  If you told me I would leave to chase a girl to a major metropolitan area, I would have laughed in your face.  It’s amazing how quickly things can change.

I’m moving to the Bay Area next month, not only to chase girl, but also to chase a dream.  For the last three years I’ve been a proud employee of The Little Nell Hotel and the Aspen Skiing Company.  The opportunities, experiences, and friendships I’ve gained during my tenure are truly invaluable and will survive long after my final day at the office.  Last Thursday I quit my job in order to focus full time on running.  I realize I only have one chance to make this work, so I intend to take full advantage of the opportunity.

While I’m obviously very excited about the direction my life is heading, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t also very nervous.  I turn 27 later this month and I’ve never lived more than a four hour drive from my mom and dad.  I’m leaving behind a very comfortable, career oriented job that pays me well and supports my passions.  I’m leaving a small town with many friends, in favor of a big city of strangers.  I’m leaving elevation, I’m leaving familiarity and I’m leaving home. All these things have weighed heavily on me, but my current emotion is one of overwhelming stoke.  Change, like Ultrarunning, is inherently uncomfortable.  Maybe this discomfort is exactly what I need.

I’ve always admired my older brother, Jason, who makes his living as a yoga instructor.  He spends his life practicing his passion and makes a good living in the process.  He’s worked hard to get to where he is, but it’s always been a labor of love – something which, I’m sure, doesn’t really feel like work.  Meanwhile, I’ve been sweating at the Hotel, working fifty hour weeks, while simultaneously trying to train to race at a high level.  When I started at The Little Nell, running was simply a hobby that absolutely took a backseat to my career.  Over the last few years though, the power of my experiences on the trail has transformed this hobby into a devoted lifestyle that can no longer take a backseat to anything.  Like Jason, I want my passion to be the focal point of my life.  I must do this now or I’ll regret it forever.

It just so happened that Jason was experiencing his own restlessness, and was compelled to move to the Bay Area himself just couple weeks ago.  He arrived just in time to drop all his belongings at the house we’ll share, and drive to Yosemite for a ten day silent Vipassana meditation, which he completed on Sunday.  It will be great to have him out there, and to share this transitional period of our lives together.

One of the things I’m most looking forward to is the chance to fall in with the vibrant San Francisco running community.  I look forward to training with all my talented friends that call the area home, and to meeting many new friends along the way.  I’m really looking forward to racing the Miwok 100k in May as my official baptism to the local trail system that will be my training grounds for the foreseeable future.  I also intend to get out to the Sierras for many long days, including a heavy training camp, in preparation for the Big Dance.   In short, I’m just very excited to explore a lot Northern California on foot.  It is truly a hotbed of running talent and opportunity.

Finally, I’d just like to say that, without the unbelievable support I receive from Pearl Izumi, this endeavor would be a complete impossibility.  The confidence they have in me is truly humbling and inspires me to be the best athlete and person I possibly can.  I can’t believe how fortunate I am.

I guess I should mention that I won’t be a total gypsy though.  While training will be my focus, I will also have a job that I’m equally excited about.  It just became official so I’ll address it further in a future post.  For now its time to tie up loose ends, work my notice, and train like a machine.  Change is good.  Life is good.  Fire it up.

Photo: Jack Rosenfeld

The sun seems to shine on me in Southern California.  Although we had cloud cover all day, it certainly felt like last Saturday was no different.  The Ray Miller 50 had been on my radar since last year when I heard about the inaugural event via various internet outlets.  Unfortunately, I was unable to make the trip last year and instead opted to race Leona Divide (another Keira Henninger production) a couple months later.  Obviously, that race turned out to be a major success for me so I was eager to get back to SoCal for some more racing at my next opportunity.  My schedule somehow opened up just a few weeks ago, just as this year’s Ray Miller sold out online.  Luckily Keira let me in the back door and work let me off the hook during an especially busy time.  Just like that, flights were booked and the 2013 racing stoke returned with a vengence.

Training had been pretty good leading up to the race but, honestly, I was viewing my travels to California more as a vacation than a business trip.  More than anything, I was looking forward to seeing Harmony and running on dirt again after a few months being snowbound.  I still liked my chances especially when last year’s champion and good buddy Jorge Maravilla told me in no uncertain terms that he thought his record (6:45) was soft.  I felt my fitness was in a good place so I took him at his word, hoping that 6:30 would be in the cards.  Now I know Jorge is a prolific sandbagger.  He won’t fool me again.

The race started in the dark and we spent the first 20 or 30 minutes pretty much running blind, waiting for the sun to rise.  When it finally did, we were treated to a beautiful vista and an amazing technicolor sky over the ocean.  It was truly amazing.  Soon after the first aid station, Tim and I built a bit of separation on the field, with Hal just a couple seconds back.  This was the point where Tim and I began chit chatting for a really long time.  It was good to catch up with him and hear about the fantastic trajectory his racing career is taking.  What an honor it was to spend so much time running together last weekend.

Tim is unbelievably strong on the uphills.  I have been working hard to improve my own skills in this department but could not hang whenever the grade increased beyond “douche.”  Still I was able to make up lost ground rather quick on the flats or downhills so we were really never separated by more than a couple seconds for the first 35 miles.

The aid station at mile 35 seemed to be a bit of a turning point though.  I think we both sensed that, after spending all morning together, one of us was going to have to make a move soon.  The trail trends upward rather abruptly out of that aid station with some pretty technical footing.  This meant that I was really fighting to keep up.  I must have been slightly behind on calories because I hit a pretty severe energy lull not too far into the climb.  Before I knew it, Tim was way out of sight.  By the top of the climb, he had two minutes on me (after only ~2 miles) and I felt pretty terrible.  I honestly thought the race was over.  I ate two gels simultaneously and hoped I could turn things around.

I could almost feel the glucose hit my blood and, soon enough, I was charging down a sweet piece of single track, totally in my element.  As they say in these races, “things never always get worse.”  The reports from outbound runners soon went from two minutes to one minute and I could sense that I was back in the race.  I finally caught a glimpse of Tim when we popped into a clearing and could tell he wasn’t feeling too hot.  I was able to sneak up on him make the pass with authority, hitting the gas hard as I went.

In retrospect, I caught Tim at the perfect time.  There was still another 1.5 miles of down hilling until the next aid station and I was on fire.  The other advantage I had was that I was carrying almost double the water he was and we’d just gone 12 miles without aid.  I had maybe 5 ounces of water left which meant he had to be empty.  With one more ~1,000 foot climb remaining, it was clear that I needed to increase my cushion to give myself an opportunity to hold him off.  I made the decision to blaze through the last aid station, sucking down a gel and drinking the last of my water in the process, in hopes that it might gain me a few extra seconds of breathing room.

I poured everything I had into the last climb, wheezing and cursing the whole way.  I could see Tim behind me which meant I never felt safe for a second.  I saw Tim’s wife Krista, who was running the 50k, at the top of the hill and knew her presence would either give him a jolt of competitive energy or encourage him to slow down and enjoy some quality trail time with his wife.  I hoped for the latter but, after seeing the insane kamikaze downhill he pulled at Leona last year, I wasn’t going to wait around to find out.  Fortunately the last 2.5 miles are on the super buffed out Ray Miller Trail with insane views out towards the Pacific, which made the decent slightly less agonizing.  I crossed the line in 6:47 just a couple minutes back of Jorge’s stout record.

Photo: Chandra Farnham

I’m definitely happy with my race and proud to have won.  Sharing the experience with Harmony and my Aunt Kim made it all the more special.  Harm and I stuck around at the finish and socialized for a couple hours before heading up to Santa Barbara for another two beautiful days basking in the SoCal sunshine.  It was truly a perfect little vacation.

Thanks to Keira, Jesse, and the volunteers for putting on such a great race!  This one definitely deserves a spot on the bucket list and is quickly becoming a winter classic on the circuit.  Thanks, as always, to Pearl Izumi for all the love and support they lend my cause.  I wore the new Trail N2 shoes due out this Spring which will probably be my go to racing kicks for 2013.  Also, the new Ultra Shorts are the best I’ve ever worn.  Thanks Ultraspire for the cutting edge hydration systems.  Starting the race with a 20 ounce Isometric Handheld and my 16 ounce Twitch Waist Pack may have won me the race.  Thanks to Smith for the super stylish and performance oriented shades and to First Endurance for the best nutrition supplements on the planet.  I am indebted to you all.

I’m proud to say that Ray Miller was the 20th ultra of my career and that I’ve successfully completed every race I’ve started.  It’s a small milestone but one I look forward to building on in the years ahead.  Here’s to healthy and successful 2013!  Fire it up.

Photo: Brett Rivers

By now everyone has heard all about the atrocious conditions that greeted us in the Bay Area this weekend.  We’ve had a disturbingly warm Indian summer here in Aspen and, by all accounts, fall has been extremely pleasant on the West Coast as well.  My girlfriend, who has recently moved to San Francisco, along with many friends in the area, billed this past weekend as the “storm of the year.”  Perfect timing.   Thoroughly in need of a vacation and long run, I tried to ignore the foreboding weather forecasts and stay positive and appreciative about my opportunity to take part in this race.  I felt like my preparation was strong and that the heinous weather might just work to my advantage.  Either way it was going to be another fun day, racing in a new place with many great friends and amazing athletes.

The pace was unsurprisingly fast from the outset.  I settled in with a large pack of dudes behind a few rabbits who chose set the pace early.   I wouldn’t know until hours later, but the pacesetters would make an unfortunate early wrong turn that would eventually mire this edition of the 50 Mile Championship in a bit of controversy.  My body felt good and my mood was much brighter than the weather.  I ran near or with Sylvan Court (a Frenchman) and Shaun Martin for much of the first half, thinking I was somewhere in the top 10.  When I reached the turn around at about halfway, I was surprised to see that I was in fifth place not far back from Miguel Heras who had taken the lead.  Obviously some guys had missed a turn.  Bummer for them but good for me, I thought.

I began the second lap of the altered course in a very good frame of mind staying very disciplined in my eating and pacing.  Coming into Tennessee Valley the third time (mile 33ish?), I was riding one of those precious waves of euphoria brought on by a combination of good running and several ounces of gel.  I was still running with Shaun a minute or two in front of Sylvan but I could tell he was fading ever so slightly.  This became more evident when he bummed salt off me as we made our way to Muir Beach aid.  When I arrived, Meghan Hicks informed me that the front runners had indeed made an error and that I was running in fifth place of the people still on course.  It was a little confusing but I was confident in my ability to at least maintain my position to the finish.  I left the aid alone, finally separating from Shaun, who’d been a great partner all morning, and eagerly looked forward to getting this one done.

Alex Nichols passed me on the ensuing climb in convincing and impressive fashion.  He had his game face on and I was sure he’d pick off a few more before it was all said and done.  I passed Greg Vollet a short time later, so I was still under the impression that I was in fifth place when I went through Tennessee Valley for the fourth and final time (mile 41ish?).  On the way out though, I noticed Jason Wolfe a short distance up the hill, looking over his shoulder at me.  Knowing he had been in the group who’d been lost, I thought surely he’d been DQed.  ”Why does he keep looking at me?” I thought.  It had never even entered my mind that runners would be allowed to make up distance they’d cut later in the day, as was the case.  I figured we’d all be running the same version of the same course.

I crossed the finish line just behind Jason Wolfe in about 6:03, happy but thoroughly confused.  I asked Bryon Powell what place I got and was informed that I’d finished seventh, not fifth.  Oh well.  Still a pretty good result in that field, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit put off.  I don’t begrudge the the guys who got lost or the race organizers for allowing them to make it up, I just wish the rest of us knew what was happening.  It wouldn’t have changed my result, but it would have been nice to know.

Photo: Brett Rivers

I will say that it’s usually me who gets lost in these races, and I thought the course marking and marshaling was spot on.  I was never confused for a second but can easily understand how that early mistake happened.   If it would have been me, I would have wanted to make up the distance and have a result to show for it, so I applaude TNF for allowing that.  The only critique I’d make is that no one informed the rest of us (or at least me) what was going on.  Under the circumstances of the weather and the course changes though, I give a lot of credit to TNF for even putting the event on.  I had a ton of fun and look forward to coming back for a go on the original course.

I am absolutely in awe of Miguel Heras!  What an insane run!  Dude is an absolute freak.  It seems like he is always grimacing in agony which may indicate just how hard he is willing to push himself.  INSPIRING.

Thanks to all the volunteers for braving those apocalyptic conditions and to Meghan Hicks and Bryon Powell for again proving how important they are to our sport and our community.  Thanks to Harmony and my dear Aunt Kim for taking care of me before, during, and after the race.  Finally, I’d be remiss to not thank Pearl Izumi for the never ending support and love they lend to my cause.  The new shoes and apparel are going to take the ultra world by storm in 2013. I am truly a very lucky guy.

We spent all day on Sunday drinking beer and watching football which was a perfect end to near perfect weekend.  Home now, and preparing for another insane Winter season at the Hotel, it’s hard to really enter offseason training mode.  Lotteries abound in the coming weeks.  Time to start thinking about 2013! Fire it up.