Sean Gillieshttps://sgillies.net/index.atom2024-02-04T23:45:44ZSean GilliesNikolaPreseason runninghttps://sgillies.net/2024/02/04/preseason-running.html2024-02-04T16:09:24-07:002024-02-04T16:09:24-07:00Sean Gillies<p>My 32 week running season starts on February 19 and ends on September 29, at
Bear Lake if everything goes right. My preseason running has been light on
running because of various maladies. I strained my back at the end of December
and just as I recovered from that I experienced some knee inflammation that was
badly aggravated by running. For the past three weeks I've switched to weight
training and chugging on the elliptical machines at a nearby gym. I'm doing
5x5s of squats, deadlifts, etc three times a week and 4-5 x 3 minute hard
elliptical intervals once or twice a week. In between I've been walking briskly
on the bike path or hiking on trails. I'd hoped to be actually running 6 hours
a week by now, but am adjusting and getting some good workouts in. By February
19, I think I'll be able to take my interval workouts outside and switch from
hiking to running without beating up on my knee.</p>Station identificationhttps://sgillies.net/2024/01/02/station-identification.html2024-01-02T09:55:51-07:002024-01-02T09:55:51-07:00Sean Gillies<p>Hi, my name is Sean Gillies, and this is my blog. Blog is short for "web log".
I write about running, cooking and eating, travel, family, programming, Python,
API design, geography, geographic data formats and protocols, open source, and
internet standards. Mostly running and local geography. I live in Fort Collins,
Colorado, and sometimes in Montpellier, France. I work at TileDB, which sells
a high performance multimodal database as a service. I appreciate emailed
comments on my posts. You can find my address in the "about" page linked at the
top of this page. Happy New Year!</p>2024 running goalshttps://sgillies.net/2023/12/31/2024-running-goals.html2023-12-31T16:00:15-07:002023-12-31T16:00:15-07:00Sean Gillies<p>I've registered for the Never Summer 100K (my 3rd) at the end of July, the
Black Squirrel Trail Half-Marathon (my 4th) in early September, and the Bear
100 Mile at the end of September (my 2nd try). All are events that I've run
before, but never as a set. I ran Never Summer and Black Squirrel together in
2021. I did the shorter 60K version of Never Summer last year along with the Bear.</p>
<p>I intend to do Never Summer as part of my build up for the Bear 100. I'll give
it a good go, but stay composed, and be mindful that it will be just the first
week of my peak training block. I registered for Black Squirrel because I've
missed running it, could be really fit that week, and some faster running might
be a fun break from the long slogs of late summer.</p>
<p>Finishing the Bear 100 is my number one goal. I'd like to finish and do well at
Never Summer and Black Squirrel, too, but am ready to sacrifice these goals if
I must.</p>
<p>Along the way to finishing the Bear I'm going to try to add 250 miles at 220
feet per mile to last year's numbers, so 1850 miles running and 275,000 feet of
climbing. This is feasible if things go well. I ran 2000 miles in 2021.</p>
<p>I aim to lose at least 15 pounds in the next 9 months so I don't have to drag
them for 30 hours through the mountains of Utah and Idaho. I'll have to omit
junk food and DIPAs to do it. In their place, I can work on training my stomach
to handle Spring Energy gels.</p>
<p>My last goal is to increase the flexibility and durability of my ankles so that
I have a better chance of weathering the trails of the Bear in 2024. I'm
planning to get some physical therapy help on this early this next spring.</p>
<p>Good luck in reaching your own goals for next year, whether they are on or off trail!</p>Running in 2023https://sgillies.net/2023/12/30/running-in-2023.html2023-12-30T18:34:49-07:002023-12-30T18:34:49-07:00Sean Gillies<p>2023 was a pretty good running year. I was both ambitious and conservative,
overcame some adversity and learned a lot. The numbers for 2023:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p>363 hours</p></li>
<li><p>1610 miles</p></li>
<li><p>220,128 feet D+</p></li>
<li><p>3 ultra finishes</p></li>
<li><p>1 DNF</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Coming off a down year, I signed up for my first 100 mile run, and tried to do
it on fairly minimal training relative to the big miles I ran in 2021. I got my
third Quad Rock 50 mile finish in May, did the Kettle Moraine 60K fun run in
June, and the Never Summer 60K in July.</p>
<p>I had to manage and run through an episode of intense back pain in July, but
recovered in time for the Bear 100 in September. At that race I was on track to
finish in less than 36 hours, but wrecked my left ankle and dropped out at 61
miles. I'm going to try it again.</p>
<p>I ran fewer miles than in 2019-2021 years, but did a lot of climbing (including
a new weekly total high), and started 4 ultra-marathons. That's a new high for
me.</p>
<p>In 2024, I'll be trying a different mix of events. And I'll be back here at
Kelly Lake.</p>
<figure>
<img alt="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53093994225_d7e5b0e5db_b.jpg" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53093994225_d7e5b0e5db_b.jpg">
<figcaption>
<p>Kelly Lake at Never Summer 2023</p>
</figcaption>
</figure>2024 Bear 100 registrationhttps://sgillies.net/2023/12/02/2024-bear-100-registration.html2023-12-02T16:19:00-07:002023-12-02T16:19:00-07:00Sean Gillies<p>In my <a class="reference external" href="https://sgillies.net/2023/11/20/bear-100-retro.html">previous post</a>
I said that I was going to register for the 2024 Bear 100 and I did. I was
logged into UltraSignup promptly at 8 am on Friday and am glad, because this
race apparently filled up within the day. 2024, let's fucking go!</p>
<figure>
<img alt="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53371412751_534021edb9_c.jpg" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53371412751_534021edb9_c.jpg">
<figcaption>
<p>Brunch at Upper Richards Hollow, 2023-09-29</p>
</figcaption>
</figure>Bear 100 retrohttps://sgillies.net/2023/11/20/bear-100-retro.html2023-11-19T19:50:58-07:002023-11-19T19:50:58-07:00Sean Gillies<p>After the race I needed some time to deal with my disappointment about rolling
my ankle and dropping out at mile 61. Then I got busy looking for a new job.
Writing up a retrospective that I could use in the future was delayed. Here it
is, at last. I hope it's interesting and useful to others. This kind of
retrospective is something I've learned to use at work. It's roughly organized
around what went well, what could be better, lessons learned, in the areas of
preparation and training, planning, and execution.</p>
<p>First of all, the race itself was great! Other runners I know said it was, and
they were right. It was very well run. The aid stations were well stocked and
operated smoothly. The course was beautiful and well marked. I felt constantly
challenged, safe, and encouraged. I won't forget the super runnable single track
down into Leatham Hollow, the springy soil made of pine needles, the ferns, and
the view of the cliffs on the sunny slope. I lived just a few miles away for 10
years, but I'd never been on that trail before. The shady side of the canyon
was super lush and green, almost Pacific Northwestern compared to Colorado's
Front Range foothills. My memory of arriving at the Upper Richards Hollow aid
station is another favorite. After a tough climb out of a wooded canyon, we
were greeted on the flat bench above by an aid station volunteer holding a tray
of cool, moist towels! They invited us to freshen up and enjoy a fancy brunch
at clothed tables served by volunteers in tuxedo t-shirts. More than one of us
expressed the feeling that it was way too early to be having hallucinations.</p>
<p>Much went according to plan, or better. My summer training volume was adequate
and I did plenty of hiking and running on similar terrain at a similar, or
higher, elevation. 4.5 weeks of fine tuning and tapering suited me well.
I started the race feeling fresh. Flying to Salt Lake City and driving to Logan
worked well for me. I was able to close my eyes and snooze while others
transported me from Fort Collins to SLC. After landing, I had a sentimental and
tasty lunch at Red Iguana, one of my favorite restaurants. In Logan, I enjoyed
an entire day of hanging out with my aunt and her dog before race day.</p>
<p>My simple race plan was fine. I started out aiming to leave aid stations at the
times that previous 36 hour finishers have, and did that. I aimed to slow down
less than the typical 36 hour finisher after 40 miles, and achieved that, too.
It was a good pacing plan for finishing in less than 36 hours. At each aid
station I knew how many 100 calorie portions of food I should be picking up,
and how many drink bottles to fill, and this was a fine fueling and hydration
plan. I didn't bonk, cramp, or run out of drinks at any point, thanks to the
water drop above Temple Fork.</p>
<p>We had exceptionally good weather on race day and night, so flaws in my
equipment choices didn't surface like they might have. Tony Grove was, in
fact, a good place to have a change of clothes, pants, and a sweater. Temple
Fork would have been too early for warm layers. Franklin Basin would
have been too late.</p>
<p>My feet suffered less in 60 miles of the Bear than in any of my previous 100K
runs. I lubed them well before the start and changed socks at 28 and 50 miles.
I had no blisters and no hot spots. I started the race in a pair of newish HOKA
Mafate Speed 4 and they were fine. In the weeks before the race I had some
persistent soreness on the top of my right foot and was concerned about
a stress injury, but this didn't get any worse during the Bear.</p>
<p>I had no crew at the race, but found good company on the trail multiple times.
Sometimes with other people making their own first 100 mile attempt. Sometimes
with people going for their third or fourth Bear finish. I heard hilarious
stories about the extreme hallucinations you can experience after 48 hours
without sleep. I met a guy who graduated from Cache Valley's other high school
a year after I graduated from Logan High. I ran with a woman who lost her colon
to cancer a year ago. I spent four hours on the trail before Tony Grove with
a guy from Boulder who runs a molecular biology center at CU. We run many of
the same routes in Rocky Mountain National Park.</p>
<p>Now for the things that didn't go as well. Some flaws in my training and
overall fitness were exposed by the Bear's long and rough downhills. I should
lose at least 10 pounds. 15 might be better. I can feel the extra weight in my
knees and the sensation compounded over 20+ hours. Also, I feel like I've lost
foot speed and spatial sense over the last year or so. Three years ago my favorite fitness
trainer went out of business and exercises like skaters and box jumps fell out
of my repertoire. I believe that I can improve my
proprioception by bringing these kinds of exercises back. If I can, I should be
better able to dodge impacts instead of absorbing them.</p>
<p>My stomach was fine at the Bear, but I struggled with lower intestinal trouble
from miles 20-40. I had to make a lot of stops in the trees, used up my supply
of toilet paper, and had to resort to various leaves. Burdock is my friend in
this situation. It wasn't the end of the world, but was a distraction.
I don't know what the cause was. In the interest of keeping things simple,
I had decided to go with the race's drinks instead of bringing, and mixing, my
own, but I didn't train with them beforehand. Gnarly Fuel2O treated me well
enough at Kettle Moraine, so I felt safe at the Bear. I started the race with
3 bottles of GU Roctane because I spaced packing some Tailwind mix for my
initial bottles. I've never tried this stuff before. It has more ingredients
than Taillwind or VFuel, my staples, including taurine. Maybe that was the
culprit? I can only speculate. As I said, this was not a problem that would
have prevented me from finishing.</p>
<p>Long descents in the dark made my brain and eyes tired. I was not fully
prepared for this. I had a 350 lumen light on my belt and 500 lumens on my
head. This was fine for 9 hours at Kettle Moraine in June, but not great for 12
hours at the Bear. I'll bring more light next time. Why spend energy trying
to figure out mysteries on the trail that could be solved by better
illumination?</p>
<p>Without a crew, my stop at Tony Grove to change clothes and get set for seven
more hours of night running was overly long. I wonder if I'd left 20-30 minutes
earlier I might have reached Franklin Basin without incident? At the very least,
I'd have reached Franklin Basin that much sooner. A crew wouldn't have helped
earlier, but would have helped at 50 miles when I was trying to change clothes,
stay warm, and get fed simultaneously. It was mentally tiring at a moment where
I was already mentally tired.</p>
<p>I've mentioned before that I left Tony Grove alone at 11 pm and had a sprained
ankle at 1 pm. I was out there by myself and am not sure what happened. I could
have fallen asleep on my feet; this has been known to happen. Having a pacer
could have helped get me to Franklin Basin and beyond in good shape. Being able
to follow someone with fresh eyes and a fresh mind would have helped with the
issues I mentioned two paragraphs above. It's always easier to follow than to
break trail. Even without a pacer, if I'd been in a small group I could have
done some leading and some following. This would have been good. And I think
getting out of Tony Grove earlier would have made it more likely to join
such a group.</p>
<p>In hindsight, I should have had some plan for resting or napping. At 20 hours,
I was more groggy than I expected, perhaps because I was alone with nothing but
my breath, footsteps, and sleepy thoughts. Recently, a friend of mine shared
his tactic of laying down on the trail for short naps, to be woken by the
next runner 5-10 minutes behind. This issue is very connected to the previous
ones. With less exertion, there is less need to nap. Even if I solve other
problems, I bet I'll still run into the need to shut my eyes at 3 or 4 am.
I'm going to think about this for next year.</p>
<p>Lastly on the could-have-gone-better front, how about my reaction to my ankle
injury? My fuzzy recollection is that I came to full consciousness with
a painful and unstable ankle in the dark at 1 am, a mile from the Franklin
Basin aid station. I was concerned and went gingerly over that mile, and my
plan was to try 15-20 minutes of elevation and compression before deciding
whether to continue. I wasn't otherwise physically tired, hungry, or thirsty. My ankle
became more swollen and painful while I was off my feet, and after 30
minutes I concluded that I could could not continue.</p>
<p>What if I had not stopped and just grabbed some hot food and kept going? The
worst case scenario would have been hiking some small way toward the next aid
station and having to return to Franklin Basin, with some damage done to my
ankle. What if I had been able to hobble 8 miles to the Logan River aid
station and continue slowly from there? I've run through mild sprains several
times this year, and have endured worse grade 2 sprains than this one, yes, but not
this year. Being alone out there make it harder to push on. If I was pacing
myself, I may have been able to convince myself to take a shot at continuing.
I think dropping out was 99% the right decision overall. My chance of making it
another 8 miles to Logan River was maybe 50%, though? It's hard to say.</p>
<p>I learned two lessons. The TSA says no hiking poles allowed in carry on
luggage! I had to leave mine behind at DEN and get new poles at the Farmington
REI after leaving SLC. I won't make this mistake again.</p>
<p>While I was mentally prepared for the possibility of dropping out of the race,
I did not have any plan for getting back to town after I did so! After two
hours of sitting by the campfire at Franklin Basin I did finally meet someone
who was heading directly back down the canyon to Logan.</p>
<p>As I said earlier, things mostly went my way. Except for some bad luck and
a misstep I believe I would have finished. Registration for the 2024 edition of
the Bear opens on December 1. I'm going to try again with more or less the same
simple plan, stronger ankles, more light, and fewer distractions.</p>Status updatehttps://sgillies.net/2023/11/19/status-update.html2023-11-19T17:41:55-07:002023-11-19T17:41:55-07:00Sean Gillies<p>Finally, I have a professional update. I started work at <a class="reference external" href="https://tiledb.com">TileDB</a> on Wednesday. I'll be working from Fort Collins
alongside colleagues around the world. I know a slice of TileDB's market,
dense multi-dimensional arrays like earth observation data, well, but have
a lot to learn about genetic data, embeddings, and storing graphs in adjacency matrices.
I expect this to be both challenging and fun. I'll post more about it once I'm
settled in.</p>
<p>I'll be resuming work on open source projects, which I've paused while job
hunting, soon!</p>Wellsville fall colorshttps://sgillies.net/2023/11/12/wellsville-fall-colors.html2023-11-12T19:01:04-07:002023-11-12T19:01:04-07:00Sean Gillies<p>After crashing out of the Bear, I picked myself up by going for a short hike in
the <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wellsville_Mountains">Wellsville Mountains</a>.
This range frames Cache Valley on the west side and is covered with bigtooth
maple.</p>
<figure>
<img alt="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53328584175_25128968e5_b.jpg" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53328584175_25128968e5_b.jpg">
<figcaption>
<p>The Wellsville Range draped in red maples.</p>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The colors made my jaw drop. I lived in Cache Valley for 10 years and don't
remember a better show.</p>
<figure>
<img alt="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53328345293_72e790eb86_c.jpg" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53328345293_72e790eb86_c.jpg">
<figcaption>
<p>Closeup on pink and red maple leaves.</p>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure>
<img alt="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53328122971_2691c5592d_c.jpg" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53328122971_2691c5592d_c.jpg">
<figcaption>
<p>Dark red chokecherry leaves.</p>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Hobbling through this landscape and seeing the color change as the sunlight
fluctuated improved my mood by several hundred percent.</p>
<figure>
<img alt="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53328468064_528345d3d7_b.jpg" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53328468064_528345d3d7_b.jpg">
<figcaption>
<p>View across a sunlit pasture to red maple covered slopes under a partly
stormy sky.</p>
</figcaption>
</figure>Bear 100 recaphttps://sgillies.net/2023/10/06/bear-100-recap.html2023-10-06T17:35:39-06:002023-10-06T17:35:39-06:00Sean Gillies<p>A week ago I started the Bear 100 Endurance Run. I did not finish. This was my
first DNF. I'm still trying to figure out what went wrong and evaluate how
I responded.</p>
<p>To recap: I rolled into the sixth aid station, Tony Grove, mile 51, at 9:59
p.m. I made a head to toe gear change. Underwear, pants, hat, socks, and shoes.
Diaper ointment lube on my feet and privates. Ate potatoes and chicken noodle
soup and refilled my bottles. I spent too much time there, but this was going
to be my main stop before dawn, and I wanted to get properly set up for 8 hours
of plugging through the night. I left at 10:43 p.m.</p>
<p>Somewhere around mile 59, descending into Franklin Basin, my left
ankle stopped working, and I limped into the Franklin Basin aid station (mile
62). After 15 minutes of triage, I decided to quit. I had no flexibility or
stability in my left foot, and continuing seemed pointless.</p>
<p>What happened? I couldn't remember a single major incident. I'd had a number of
little wobbles earlier in the day and the descent from Tony Grove was pretty
rough. I certainly picked up a little damage along the way. And I'd sprained
this ankle four weeks ago. Maybe it wasn't strong enough to go 100 miles. It's
possible that I fell asleep on my feet at 1:30 a.m. and rolled it. I was
certainly sleepy enough at some points. Either the accumulation of stress was
too much for my ankle, or an acute injury happened while I was checked out. Or
both. I don't know for sure.</p>
<p>I'm disappointed. Otherwise, things were going well. My gear choices were
solid. I was eating and drinking well enough. Other than one toenail lost to
kicking a rock, my feet were fine, no hotspots or blisters. My ankle was
swollen for several days, but I didn't go far enough to wreck my quads or hips.
Sigh.</p>
<p>I will try this again.</p>
<p>More about the race, photos, stories, etc, soon.</p>Bear 100 race weekhttps://sgillies.net/2023/09/24/bear-100-race-week.html2023-09-24T15:06:55-06:002023-09-24T15:06:55-06:00Sean Gillies<p>This is it, race week. Wednesday I'm flying to Salt Lake City and driving to
Logan. Friday before dawn I'm headed up the trail to Bear Lake.</p>
<p>Week ~5 was a rest week at the end of a big training block. I biked and ran for
less than 4 hours. Week ~4 I ran for 12 hours, 53 miles, and 8,500 feet of
elevation gain. Much of that was above 10,000 feet in Rocky Mountain National
Park, my go-to for accessible high country. I ran up to Granite Pass, 12,100
feet, just below the Longs Peak boulder field, and test drove the gels that will
be served at the Bear 100. Spring Energy's Awesome Sauce is good! I could eat
them all day. Spring's Speednut product is a bit harder for me to stomach. One of
those every few hours might be all I can take.</p>
<p>At the end of week ~4 I did some volunteering at the Black Squirrel Trail
Half-Marathon, a race I've run several times. I helped park cars in the pre-race
darkness and get first-timers pointed toward registration and the starting
line. I saw the Milky Way in the clear, dark early morning sky. I caught up with the race
directors, Nick and Brad, and saw other friends in the first mile of the
course. Volunteering at events is always needed and fun. I recommend it.</p>
<p>In week ~3, I ran for 9.5 hours, 42 miles, and 5,700 feet. In the interest of
fine tuning, I went out in the heat of the day and took my poles. In week ~2,
last week, I got the new COVID vaccination and did less running and more yoga
and body-weight strength and mobility exercise. Split squats with dumbbells
made me sore, but I am over it now.</p>
<p>Where am I at now, in week ~1? I think I have enough experience and adequate
training this year to finish. Three events of 40 miles, including one
overnight, and one at very high elevation. The heart palpitations that were
troubling me last year almost never occur now. I'm well over my most recent sinus infection. I've got all the gear I need and am
physically and psychologically prepared for hot weather, cold weather, and rain
or snow. The race will have more food than I can eat along the way and will
deliver my five drop bags to aid stations and the finish line. I don't have
a crew or pacer for the run, but think I'll be fine without. Reality is that
it's harder to have these as you get older. Your family is busy and your
friends are busy with their own families. I'm shy, but not shy about forming
small ad-hoc teams on the trail, so I expect to be fine on that front.</p>
<p>The Bear 100 Endurance Run starts with 5,000 feet of climbing in the first 10
miles. I can do this. At least it's at the beginning and not the end. That
leaves only 17,000 feet for the last 90 miles. I'm joking about this to keep my
spirits up. This will be super hard, a big bump up from my hardest week of
training, and I'll need to go even deeper into the unknown than I've done at the
Never Summer 100K. I'm ready to see what happens out there.</p>
<p>The one thing that's concerning me is that I have a persistent ache in my
right foot. Yesterday I went out for an hour in my Nike Terra Kiger's to see if
I might want to bring them along as a shoe option. The answer is no:
they don't have enough padding for my foot in its current condition. I feel worse today than yesterday. There's at
least a small chance that I have a bone stress problem. The pain and swelling
is right on the "N-spot". I'm not going to let this stop me from starting and
will see how it goes on Friday. I've got a pretty high pain threshold and will
be stashing some ibuprofen in my later drop bags. Cold rain and cold, numb
feet, if the forecast holds, might help, too. How is that for positive
thinking?</p>
<p>If you want to follow along on Friday and Saturday, the live tracking should be
at <a class="reference external" href="https://data0.adilas.biz/bear100/">https://data0.adilas.biz/bear100/</a>. My bib number is 314. That website
currently shows last year's race. I expect that this year's progress will be
shown on Friday morning.</p>