i have seen it on the runners world blog and then on an email (from tatur dave maybe?)... the word fartlek. but before that, i saw this sign along the course at psycho wyco run toto run and have been asking people what it means. my dad, the experienced runner that he is, explained it to me and since i wouldnt be good at it, ignorance was bliss. it was funnier without the knowledge. for those of you still in the dark, an example is what the military does when the guy in the back runs to the front of the line of runners and this process continues. since i will never catch the guy in front, i will keep giggling to myself like a naive kid about what i think fartlek might mean.so this is how we spent our muddy valentines day.
the taturs were few but i represented with my many chins along with jason, janeen and kate. janeen set out to do the 20 miler while kate set out to do 10 miles and jas and i just thought we would see how it went and decide how far we would go while on the course.
psycho wyco lived up to the hype. it was trechourous as promised and had a difficult change in terrains. since we were running on a bridle trail, the hoof prints had froze in the mud making for fancy foot work. these pics cannot even capture how many times i said owwch! the guy oat the top of the picture is trying his best not to cuss.
The course, while beautiful, had many (slick) hills with an overall change in elevation of over 5,000 feet in just one 10 mile loop!
at times it was so steep, it was difficult to even walk up the hills. this sign reads "steep grade. use lower gear". i may have used a few choice works here.
the terrain changed from frozen hoof prints, to icy rocks uphill and icy downhill to very slick mud and back again. after i fell flat on my ass four times within about 1/4 of a mile while descending down icy rocks i walked scared at a slow pace for about two miles before running again. i used many trees to climb these hills and wonder if the older (70+?) man behind me ever finished. the snail pace only extended my time on the trail but i eventually passed under the gates of hell.
perhaps this guy never made it out last year.
jas however enjoyed himself and is ready for the 50k next year. in fact, he plans to run the psycho psummer 50k including one lap with our dog malibu. malibu has just started training and ran 3 miles with bobby's bunch on monday. i will be there to cheer them on.so the rumors are true. this is a very difficult course as the name suggests. jas and i ran one 10 mile loop each. he finished in 2:02 and i crawled in about 2:46 or 8 or something. these times were about the same to our times in dan man which was not as hilly but just under 3 miles longer.
*** janeen did awesome finishing her 20 miler in 5:04 on this tuff course! yes she was in shorts and i havent seen her since to find out how many times she fell or if she has any bruises.
aid stations get a 'C' compared to sunmart, dan man, and aid stations i have worked at. there were a few jolly ranchers, frozen m&ms, soup, water, non-gatorade sports drink and coke. the food after the race was less then ok. some corn? soup that looked like vomit, some bean soup, and luke warm hot chocolate was all that was there to comfort you in the 25 degree weather. one of the sponsors, dynamic earth gave out some awesome gear with door prizes including free trail running shoes and icebreaker wool sportswear.
it was real. it was kinda fun. but it wasnt real fun so i will not be doing this race again. i will save my energy to cheer jas on.
btw, jas or my times are not posted online since we both signed up for the 50k but did not complete it. :( my first DNF!
