Monday, July 23, 2007

Hills man hills

Sat- 100 miles- 23:45:55 -63rd place

Just a quick one to let the curious mind know...... Nope I did not run 15:00 (my dream goal for a 100) Nobody did. I doubt anyone ever will again at Vermont. The course is a lot tougher (2500+ more climb and decent) (and longer-3-4miles!)) than it was. AJW and Jim Kirby ran awesome and were in great shape and had AMAZING weather and still only managed to run right around 16 hours. SUPER!, but not the 14:08 and 14:19 times turned in there previously. Montrail guys finished 1,2, 4, 5 and first female!

As for me. I was not feeling great going in to race day, and discovered quickly that I just was not ready to run fast on hills and trails. A YEAR without either is something you can not regain in a couple runs. I could have run okay had the race been on completely flat pavement, but not hilly trails.

I did not go out crazy and die, rather ran at 140 bpm on the HR monitor in about 20th place innitialy...moving up to a high of 12th by mile 11 then slipped back the rest of the day. I was 4:11 at 25miles, and was not in trouble physiologically. I was eating 2 Cliff shot blocks (66cals total) every 10 minutes and processing well, just had legs that were not capable.

Honestly, at 12 miles I really found out I was not ready for hills and trails and it just got worse from there. My 23:46 was a TOUGH effort. Sure it is not super quick, but I pushed very hard to beat the 24 hour cut off. "Running" 9 hours and 17 minutes for the last 30 miles was honestly all I could manage. I was as beat up by the finish in this one as in any of the 14 other 100 milers I have finished. I tore the popliteus muscle in my left posterior knee somewhere around 45 miles and just destroyed all the stabilizer and accessory muscles that help maintain balance and keep you upright on uneven surfaces. Additionally. I don't think my hamstrings ever recovered from the 40 mile walk followed by 21 mile trail run 3 weeks prior. On paper it looked great, but a year with out using these muscles that way was too much to ask and they couldn't deliver.

Additionally, I had intestine trouble yet again..... having to take 6 number 2's between miles 20 and 45. Stopped by two doses of prescription strength Imodium.....only then to have a stomach that just sloshed and wouldn't drain. BLAH! 100's suck.

I decided at mile 28 that I was not going to Leadville next month and decided at 70 miles that I am having my my wife (a brand new lawyer) draw up an official contract stating that I will not attempt a 100 mile race for at lest 3 more years. She of course thinks I'm kidding, but really I am not. I am 15 for 25 now (I had miscounted thinking this was 26) and that is enough for a good while. I won't say never again, just not for a while. It is not fun and has not been fun for 5 years now. My attention is going to shift to 50k's, 50 milers, and a quality road marathon once a year.

In 3 tries now (23:08=2001, 23:30- 2002) I still have not been able to run the VT 100 quicker than my 22:14 at Massanutten! Funny.

Now a good couple of weeks off. Pack up the apt in Arlington and move to Richmond this week. Then off to a wedding in Ithaca, then off to the Caribbean on vacation!

Cheers, and thanks for all the well wishing along the way while I was in Egypt and the last 4 weeks upon my return. What a long strange trip it has been the last 6 months building for this event.

11 comments:

amy said...

Great effort out there Greg. What a beautiful course and event. But not a flat spot on it! I lived in a very flat part of the world for two years, and know the pain you are talking about. A flight of stairs was an effort at first. It takes time to re-develop those muscles. You will, and I'm looking forward to seeing you on the trails in VA in the future.

WynnMan said...

good work loomdog, despite what your end goal was. Still a very good time and battled through what sounded like some very rough spots. Recover well, and enjoy the vacation.

Olga said...

Tough day out there for you. Interesting (crazy, really) that your Massanutten time is faster than VT, never heard of it before. I'd say take one day at a time. Have fun with your plans~!

Matt Hart said...

yeah i agree.. great effort. way to push through and finish in under 24hrs.

Chase Squires said...

Strong running, nice job, and way to overcome those obstacles ... I had to laugh at the "no more, just 50s" comment ... after a draining 100 my friend and I sat in our rented car and rationalized that "100s just aren't fun, haven't been for a while, we'll stick to 50's" .... that was a few years ago, still runnin' them ... you'll be back :-)

Sophie Speidel said...

Greg,

Great effort on a tough course!! I'm with ya on the 100-miler plan...rather, the NO-100miler plan! Let's train for some great 100Ks and shorter once you get to Richmond. Have a great vacation!!!

Scott said...

chin up. good to see you back state side and racing again.

it will only get better.

Rob said...

I'm proud as hell of you LoomDog. One helluva a result given your training circumstances!

Tony C said...

It was a "finish" and that's key.

I think the more miles you have in training, the better you feel in the latter stages of the 100 (seems obvious right), and the quicker you recover. My WS was slow for me, so my recovery was quick with all the long runs I had in.

Hopefully you won't wait for 3 years ... it seems like it would be like becoming a virgin again.

Just a thought!

*tc

Ryan said...

Way to put in your best effort out there, it sure was a great weekend for a run thru the Vermont countryside! Happy recovery and good luck with your future endeavors.

I am a runner. "We are what we repeatedly do" said...

Thanks all for the nice comments. Although VT 100 was not the steller 15 hour run for the win I had dreamed of it was indeed a tough effort that made me dig deep. And really that is the reason I run ultras in the first place. We need that struggle in life.

No Leadville though...Ithaca College Alumni XC 5k is the next race :-)