1,500 miles on foot

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With the new year here, I thought it would be interesting to take a look back at the ground I covered running with my GPS in the past 12 months. The map above is the result.

I ran 1,508.58 miles with my GPS in 2010. My total mileage was a bit higher, due to setting out without the device a handful of times. More stats?

• Number of runs: 196
• Time: 211 hours, 28 minutes, 43 seconds
• Elevation gain: 60,963 feet
• Average speed: 7.1 mph
• Calories burned: 195,678

I didn't really have a goal for the year, but as a member of Run Wild Missoula logged my miles for the 1,200 Mile Club. One hundred miles a month didn't seem like much, and I surpassed it.

As you can see from the map, I both pounded the pavement and hit the trail. Click here to view individual runs, or zoom out to see runs that weren't in the Missoula area. Everything from 5Ks to half-marathons to a full is in there.

Next year? No goal again, but I'd like to improve my long-distance pace and endurance, and do more trail runs.

The finish

That's me in the white shirt, gray shorts and hat, starting on the right and cutting to the left around two people. Thanks to the Missoula Marathon, KECI-TV and FinishCam.com for providing video of the runners.

Off my mark

Last weekend's Missoula Marathon didn't go quite as planned.

After months of training with the goal of finishing in 3 hours, 40 minutes, I came in at 4:10:12. Slightly disappointing considering all of the improvement I've made in the last year in training and shorter races - all of my 20- and 22-mile training runs were at a faster pace than last year's 4:01 marathon finish, and last winter and spring I ran my best half-marathon and 5K.

Ultimately, a few things did me in. I choked down a cup of water around mile 17 and promptly coughed it back up. As a result, I fell back from my pace group and never caught up again. This year's race also was considerably warmer than last year's, and I've found in training that heat can quickly drain me. I also have noticed that my body doesn't seem to like energy drinks. I usually hydrate with water, and could feel myself getting sluggish as the cups of energy drink began to add up. Toward the end of the race, I switched back to water and soon felt better. (I suppose some of these could be mental, but I don't feel like I ever hit "the wall.")

All is not bad though - I finished another marathon and feel good today. While I like to see improvement in my running, to me it's more about being outside, being active and clearing my head of everything but the rhythm of my feet. Tomorrow, I'm going for a run.

On my mark

The Missoula Marathon is nearly here, and I've got just one more short run before race day.

Training went well, and the taper felt great - the short distances are easy and speedy. Now, it's all down to a little visualization and rest.

If my work pays off, I'll be crossing the finish line downtown on Higgins Avenue at about 9:40 a.m. Sunday. If you're in town, come on out and cheer!

Marathon run-up

Training for this year's Missoula Marathon is well under way, and so far, so good.

The goal this year is to finish with the 3-hour, 40-minute group that I started my first marathon with last year, but fell back from. I finished that race at about 4:01.

Pace-wise, 3:40 works out to about 8 minutes, 20 seconds per mile. In training, I've maintained that speed up through my 16-mile workouts, and all of my runs have been under last year's marathon pace of 9:16. I've got a couple of 20-milers under my belt that I ran at about 9 minutes per mile, but with those I also introduced some hills - 1,400-plus feet of elevation gain on the North Loop Trail at Mount Jumbo.

Those hills were part of a run-up to last weekend's Pengelly Double Dip, a fairly grueling half-marathon here from the valley floor up University Mountain and Mount Sentinel, then back down. It's billed as having 2,700 feet of elevation gain, but my GPS reported about that in elevation change from base to summit and nearly 3,300 feet of total gain.

Up until a few weeks ago, I had never really run anything like that. I've done the smaller Mount Jumbo a few times and some short segments of the Double Dip, and have hiked almost the entire course in the past, so am familiar with it.

Fresh back from a recent vacation, I ran the lower part of the course - up through the saddle but omitting the two summits for about 1,800 feet of gain - and felt good, so I decided to enter. Based on that training run, I figured I'd finish the Double Dip in about 2:30, which turned out to be fairly accurate as I came in at 2:34:41.

What I forgot about was how steep the upper part of the course is, particularly on University Mountain. In a couple of places, I don't know that anybody ran - all you could see was a line of single-file walkers. The downhill was much faster, but it was clear that many people fell from all the bloody knees and shins at the finish.

Below, you can see the basic details from my GPS; click through to the player and you can watch my run.


While rather difficult, the Double Dip was fun and rewarded with plenty of beautiful scenery, so I could see myself doing it again.

As for the Missoula Marathon, I've got a couple of weeks of long training runs left - including a 22-miler next week - before tapering off to conserve my energy for July 11. There may even be one more race in the lineup: the Mountain-to-Meadow half-marathon, a beautiful run through the forested mountains near Lolo Pass on the Montana-Idaho border.

Missoula Marathon time

It's that time again - I've got my Missoula Marathon training plan in hand, and 8:20 is the magic number.

Last year, the goal was simply to finish my first marathon. After training all spring and starting the race with the 3-hour, 40-minute group, a sore IT band on the course resulted in a 4:01 finish.

This year, it's about the time - that 3:40, to be specific. A pace of 8 minutes, 20 seconds per mile should bring me in just under.

Last year's training program was about building mileage, steadily increasing my long run each week until I topped out at 20 miles before the race.

This year's plan - put together by the same trainer friend as last year - is similar, with a few changes:

• The mileage buildup continues, but instead of running just one 20-miler before the marathon, I'll complete two, plus a 22.
• There's also a focus on pace. Those long runs are about distance, so will be slower. One day a week will be a tempo run focusing on building up miles at the 8:20 pace.
• The weekly mileage also goes up. Last year, the most I ran was 38 miles in a week, once. This year: 49 miles, three times.

Overall, the plan requires that I slow down from the pace I've been running 13-milers at for the past three months. Surprisingly, it's more difficult than it sounds - but so far, so good.

Check back for more on my progress.

On the run again

After a long interruption last fall, I'm finally back to running on a regular basis.

I never really stopped after completing my first marathon last year, but travel set back my routine several times. Since the holidays, however, I've worked up to running 30 to 35 miles a week again.

Last weekend, I ran my first race of the year, the Snow Joke Half Marathon in Seeley Lake. I finished in 1 hour, 41 minutes and 47 seconds - 78th out of 196 in the "bushman" division (men ages 16 to 39) and about four minutes faster than my previous best at that distance. Not too bad for a race with a record 660-plus runners.

I'm looking forward to another season of races leading up to the Missoula Marathon, which was recently named the best overall marathon by Runner's World magazine readers.

See you on the road and trail!

The finish line

After four months of training, I ran and - as many have already heard - finished the Missoula Marathon on Sunday, my first marathon.

Officially, I finished in 4 hours, 1 minute and 22 seconds, 245th out of 596 runners to make the timing cutoff. The pace works out to 9:13 a mile, which is faster than what I trained at by about 20 seconds a mile.

The race started in Frenchtown at 6 a.m. - just as the sun was coming up - which meant the alarm clock went off at 4 a.m. The first 16 miles were a breeze (in hindsight, I probably went a bit fast at the start). By mile 20 I had slowed some. I had to walk a little at mile 23 after my iliotibial band tightened up, but soon was running again for the final stretch over the Higgins Avenue Bridge downtown.

One of the best parts of the race was having friends in a relay team cheer me on throughout the course and at the finish with some of my family. I even got my own "GO JUSTIN" sign. Jen worked as an official race photographer and from her vantage shot some video, including the clip of me crossing the line above.

The past few days I've been resting - read busy at work - but I went for a short jog this morning and everything feels great.

Do I plan to do it again? It's a big time commitment, but yes. Mostly I feel like I need to drop that 1:22 off my time to get under four hours, but I've also come to enjoy the longer runs. Insane, as Jen would say.

See the official race photos here.

Time to taper

After more than three months steadily increasing my mileage while training for the Missoula Marathon, I'm down to the last two weeks and the "taper."

I closed out my long runs over the weekend with a last-minute entry in the Mountain to Meadow half marathon on dirt roads just across the border in Idaho's Clearwater National Forest. With beargrass and camas in full bloom at Lolo Pass, it was a fun and beautiful run. And I finished a little quicker than I thought I would considering the 2,200 feet of elevation loss and gain over the 14-mile course - in 1 hour, 58 minutes and 50 seconds.

In this last part of training, my longest run is eight miles, with the average distance a little more than 4 1/3 miles. The theory is to rest you legs for the big event, but it's a little strange, really, after heading out regularly for runs in the high teens.

My main goal for the marathon itself is to finish. The pace I've been training at should bring me in at about four to 4 1/2 hours. After the half last weekend, though, a co-worker and fellow marathoner tells me I could come in under four hours.

We'll see on July 12.

The long run

I'm officially on the final stretch of training for the Missoula Marathon, having topped out with a 20-mile run this week. And it was quite a wild run.

First, while crossing over the North Hills, I saw that the bitterroots are beginning to bloom (I need to get back up there with my camera). In the residential part of the Rattlesnake Valley, I came across a few deer during their morning munching.

Then, just a mile up the main trail in the Rattlesnake National Recreation Area and eight miles into my run, I rounded a bend and found myself looking at a large bear about 100 feet away - and it was looking back at me.

In the end it wasn't all that big of a deal. I stopped, yelled and clapped at it, it stepped off the path, and I turned around and ran up a different trail. Sure, there's an initial adrenaline rush, but I've encountered bears while hiking before and know the protocols. Mostly, I was thrown off by having to change my route and refigure my mileage - and having to yell "Hey, bear!" - on the run.

As far as the marathon training is concerned, it's going great. I've been able to keep a steady pace on my long runs, and the recovery has gone well.

People have asked me several questions about my big double-digit days: Do I get tired? Not while running; afterward my legs feel like they've had a good workout. Sore? Not really after adjusting to the distance; that's the point of going slow and stretching. That's a lot of energy expended - what about food and water? I take some energy gummies and a hydration pack with me, and yes, it does mean carrying a few extra pounds. What about the final 6.2 miles? My trainer-friend says most marathoners only get up to 20 or 22 miles before the event and think of the last stretch as just another 10K.

I've got a couple of runs in the high teens left, then I taper off until the big day, Sunday, July 12. I'm looking forward to crossing the finish line.

Half-marathon man

I'm six weeks into the training plan for my first marathon - the Missoula Marathon on July 12 - and so far, so good. If only the weather were better.

Distancewise, I'm a little more than halfway there. Last week, I did my long run of 13 miles in about one hour, 50 minutes with snow falling the whole way. This week, it was 14 miles in about two hours, the final three miles into a cold downpour.

Actually, it's not that bad considering the alternative: the treadmill in the same dingy, gray basement room at work that houses the building's sump pump. After running 10 miles down there one night, I decided that mentally I couldn't do my long run on a machine anymore.

I've been steadily adding a mile a week to my long run, but that's about to change as I'm scheduled for 16 next week. And my four short runs a week are increasing to the five- to six- mile range from three to four miles.

There have been a few minor strains and pains as I adjust to the increased mileage - I had to take a few days off at one point after running too hard the week before - but my body seems to be adjusting and is recovering quicker now.

Check back for more progress reports, and I'll see you at the finish line.

Marathon plan

I met with my trainer-friend last week and have my Missoula Marathon workout schedule in hand.

Basically, there are a several short runs and one long run each week. The long run is surrounded by days of rest and increases by a mile or two each week until a couple of weeks before the race, then tapers off. Here's how the long runs work out:

• March 24: 9 miles
• March 31: 10 miles
• April 7: 11 miles
• April 14: 12 miles
• April 21: 12 miles
• April 28: 13 miles
• May 5: 14 miles
• May 12: 16 miles
• May 19: 16 miles
• May 26: 18 miles
• June 2: 16 miles
• June 9: 20 miles
• June 16: 18 miles
• June 23: 16 miles
• June 30: 6 miles
• July 7: Rest
• July 12: 26.2 miles

So far, so good - but it'll be interesting when I get up to that 16- to 20-mile zone, and then the race.

Marathon man

About 3 1/2 years ago, I had a bad slip on a trail in the Swan Range and managed to tear my quadriceps just above my right knee - my first serious injury since breaking my arms as a youth.

At the time, it didn't seem to hurt and I made it out of the woods without trouble. It wasn't until a couple of days later when the pain set in - when I went to the doctor I couldn't bend my leg, couldn't bear weight on it and couldn't go up or down stairs.

The prescription for my recovery was two months of physical and ultrasound therapy. It started with a lot of stretching and resistance band work. Later, I moved onto a stationary bike, then an elliptical machine. Eventually, I started jogging on a treadmill and got back into running regularly for the first time since high school, when I competed on the track and cross-country teams.

In the past few years, I've kept it up, running on the treadmill in the basement at work after my shift or in the morning on the riverfront trails or at the Pattee Canyon National Recreation Area. I've dropped 20 pounds, run in a few races and am hiking stronger than ever.

For a few weeks now, I've been mulling over the idea of entering the Missoula Marathon. This weekend, after consulting with a trainer friend, I decided to go ahead and try it - just to say I did it.

We're going to set up a training program so I can do this as safely as possible and fit it in around my work schedule, dog walking and weekend hiking with Jen.

As with all of our adventures, I'll be posting updates on my progress here. And if all goes to plan, I'll be crossing the finish line at Front Street and Higgins Avenue on Sunday, July 12.