Big Weekend of Racing (by other folks)

All day today I've been thinking about the Cascade Crest Classic 100-mile race. It's being held today and tomorrow, up north in Washington state. It's another one of those big, bad, hard, hilly 100 milers. This one is mountain running without the high elevation, great for sea level folks like myself. The trails are technical, the course a bit on the gnarly side. I remember 4 "What the?!" sections. 1) The old unused trail that was so overgrown with vegetation there's almost no trail left. To find your way you have to shine your light up into the trees, find the pink ribbon, make your way to it and repeat the process. 2) The rope course section. A steep, sandy section where you need ropes to descend. Without the ropes you can fall on your butt repeatedly. 3) The dark unlit service tunnel that was a little over two miles long. Your lights will never be bright enough. If you are claustrophobic, easily spooked you will suffer here. Lastly the "trail from hell", most do it in the dark. A gnarly twisted trail by the lake that is only 5 miles long but takes 2 or more hours to traverse, complete with log over creek crossing. It is then followed by a 5/6 mile climb on a fireroad. It was past 3AM when I approached this section and I remember having to crawl under a fallen tree because I was too short to climb over. Haha this is one great race. It was my second 100 back in 2005. It's been on my mind because Olga is running it, she's out there right now and Rob is pacing her. Hart has been trying to give us updates through his blog using his cellphone but reception is probably spotty. She said she was going to go easy because she also has the Grand Teton 100 miler next weekend and the Bear 100 at the end of September. I hope she completes them all and still manages to come out for the Dick Collins 50-miler in October.

Three other friends are ready to start their Iroman races. Our bike director D'Anza is toeing the line at Ironman Canada. She was supposed to do Ironman Coeur d'Alene with her then fiance now husband Mark but had to cancel because of work commitments. Go D! Another good friend, Pablo is also racing Canada. He earned his spot earlier this year at San Diego's Oceanside Half-Ironman race. It's the 25th anniversary of the race. Lastly Jason Hable is doing Ironman Louisville. Super nice guy and humble. Both he and Pablo came from the triathlon beginner groups from last year. They've come a long way.

I'll think about these guys tomorrow while I try to get my butt out of bed. What did I do today? I'll tell ya'll about it in another post, nothing as exciting though. Here's a preview: Late start > talking to too many friends while training > extending workout because of all the lollygagging > late return > not enough dinner > 40th b-day party > mistakenly eating crab cake (I'm allergic) washed down with wine > small talk > vandalized birthday cake > ate two servings > crapped out before 10.

Nose Cake.