I set myself up for this. An extra half hour of shuteye was my downfall and I mother nature had her revenge!!!

I missed my easy 3-miler on Tuesday and decided to stack in on top of my 5-mile tempo run on Wednesday. I was actually looking forward to some longer miles during the middle of the week to offset the stress a little bit. The one thing I wasn’t looking forward too was the forecast. A cold front was coming thru Las Vegas and the winds preceding it had already started howling early in the evening.

By the time I awoke at 5:30 a.m., the winds had whipped up to a constant 25 m.p.h. gusting to 35-40 m.p.h. Not wanting to skip another day of training, I strapped on my gear and head out into the waiting sunrise. At the beginning, it wasn’t that bad. Sheltered from nature’s full wrath by the surrounding homes, the first .8 miles were “breezy”. That was until I hit that stretch of Charleston/Rt. 159 heading west – straight into the beast.

A little foresight spared me from having to worry about a hat a flapping jacket but a face shield and leg armor would have been a good idea now…looking back. You know those stories your grandparents used to tell about walking to school – uphill – both ways? Yeah, this is another one. Not only did I have to fight the wind this blustery morning but I would do so – uphill.

On the way towards Red Rock, there’s a section that narrows towards the top as it cuts thru a hill. On an average day it’s a cool site – Wednesday morning, it was a NASA wind tunnel test. Struggling against an immovable object, a cyclist on the other side of the road circled back towards me and wished me luck, they weren’t having any part of this. With tears streaming from the corners of my eyes and the occasional gust expanding my cheeks, I carried on. Using the 45º angle running form, I made it to the other side with only 1 1/2 miles to go until I got my reprieve…or so I thought.

You might think it would be a “breeze” running downhill with a 30 m.p.h. hand on your back pushing you, but it’s not. It’s like being in a large fast moving crowd – move with the flow or be run over!!! If you’re not going fast enough, the wind made sure I almost toppled over. If there was any thought of skipping my tempo miles this morning, those thoughts were quickly quashed by this locomotive at my back.

The proof is in the numbers (I’m a numbers guy).
4 miles (headwind): 10:45 pace/mile
4 miles (downwind): 7:49 pace/mile

It was a crazy morning but one I’ll remember for a long time. It could have been deadly still and the run would have been just another 8 miles. Instead, I was treated to another running memory I won’t soon forget. Don’t always pack it in when the going looks rough, you never know what awaits you on the side!!!

RMFR

I’m a few days late with this update but didn’t want to leave anybody hanging from my earlier post. I’m going to blame daylight savings for my tardiness. The short story – same run, nearly same result (with a few exceptions).

I had a ton of confidence going into my 2nd 20-miler. No injuries, felt great and had a really good tempo run a couple days before. My goal was to settle down, relax and take the first half slow. I wanted to negative split my long run to see if I had the wheels at the end. Good game plan…poorly executed!!! I ran my first 10 miles at 9:40 min/mile. If you know anything about me, that’s pretty fast for a long run (my long tempo runs are 9 min/miles). So right off the bat, my game plan is shot. At the time though, I thought I was going to kill this run on the way back.

To give you a little background on my route, it’s along Nevada State Route 159 and weaves thru the Spring Mountains on the western valley of Las Vegas. You wouldn’t really know it by driving it but there’s quite an elevation change. While the elevation change from the lowest to highest point is only about 700 ft., the total elevation change of this run is nearly 2,000 ft. So, by busting out the hills early in my run, I had nothing left for them on the way back.

Confidence is still high knowing that not only am I putting in quality miles, but I’m doing it on some serious inclines. In a perfect world, all our long runs would be gradual downhills the whole way but nothing about this world is really perfect now is it.

With the Rock-n-Roll Las Vegas Marathon now only 33 days away and 2 more 20-milers on my schedule, I’m feeling very confident. It’s been a great running year and nothing’s going to slow this freight train. That and the fact that the marathon course only has 1,000 ft. elevation change and the last six are pretty much downhill.

My sister says I have the knack for “running” into interesting situations on my training runs. After looking back at the many things and people I’ve met, I’d have to say I have been pretty lucky.

• I’ve run during an lunar eclipse. I planned my run so I would see the eclipse – before, during and after. You really don’t realize how bright the moon is until it’s gone.
• There’s been numerous encounters with animals. Whether it’s the wild burros that roam Nevada State Route 159 or my countless run-ins with coyotes. They always seem to be hunting. I’ve caught one with a cat in it’s mouth and on a trail run, they were hunting desert cottontails.
• I’ve met some really cool runners on my many solo trips around Las Vegas. Some with interesting stories and others that have tested my stamina and speed.
• One early morning I tracked the International Space Station across the entire Las Vegas valley. This and countless shooting stars.
• I’m a sucker for sunrises. If I could have a photo of every sunrise I’ve seen I would be a lucky man. Earlier this week I witnessed an electric sky with Mars peaking through an opening.

All of this and I think I finally encountered the  piéce de résistance last weekend. Around 5 a.m. on Saturday I was making my way out on a 19 mile run. At mile 2, I saw a car parked along the edge of the road. This isn’t a rare site as many people park on the roadside and go hiking. There was no traffic and as usual the desert was silent – that is until I was near the car. The windows were closed; the car was on the opposite side of the road and a woman was thoroughly enjoying herself (trust me, I think she said it in many different ways). Since nobody was around, I pointed my flashlight at the car to scare them. The second my light hit the car the woman screamed that it was her dad.

I’ve never laughed so hard on a run in my life. Please share some of the cool things that have happened to you on your runs.

To be brutally honest with you I’ve been scared to run for the last week. The tragic and needless death of Jeremy Kunz in this years Las Vegas Ragnar Relay effected me greatly. Over the past couple of months we here at One Runner’s Brain have tried to advocate runner safety. Whether it’s rules of the road or wearing the correct clothing, there’s a lot we need to do to make sure we can be seen by motorists. I’ve tried to lead by example but I decided the amount of reflective clothing I wore was not enough.

Most of my long runs are on Charleston Blvd./Nevada State Route 159 which treks thru the beautiful Spring Mountains and The Red Rock Canyon Conservation Area (if you’re ever in Las Vegas you have to run out here). This is a popular route (especially for cyclists and more and more runners) because you can take this road to Blue Diamond Road (about 15 miles) and back and not have to worry about one single stop light. What you do have to worry about (especially in the dark, early morning hours) are vehicles seeing you on the shoulder of the road.

This weekend I went out and purchased a Nathan Night Fall Vest and I’m sleeping and running with a much clearer mind. Knowing that I’m going to light up like a Christmas tree to oncoming drivers is much more comforting than wondering if they’re going to see you. I still carry a flashlight and prepare to launch myself into a gully at the first sign of lights heading my way, but I know they can see me.

If you’re not wearing reflective gear, please go out get some. There are many inexpensive items from reflective tape, wrist bands and vests. Don’t leave it up to chance. We can’t stop drunk or reckless drivers but there are steps we can take to make running a whole lot safer!!!