After 8 weeks recovery from the OD 100 I laced up the Asics 2140's for another 100 attempt. My mileage the last 8 weeks was between 0 and 47 miles per week with my long run being a few 10 milers and one 12 miler with Anne on the C&O towpath.
So how long does good training stay in your legs?? hmmm. Since the Build up for the MMT 100 I have done no speed, no hills, and no runs over 12 miles other than the 65 miles at MMT May 18th and the 100 at OD the first week of June. That is probably pushing it. I guess it was enough though, as the BR 100 I ran august 1st ended up being one of my best 100 runs ever!
I had zero stomach issues and nothing but smiles and good times for 94 miles. The last 7 (it was 101 miles) sucked a bit. I was ready to be done and very tired, but hey that is a LONG way. I ended up running 22:33 on what I would consider a pretty tough course. Harder than RR, UM, VT, AT and about the same as OD but slower due to the muddy footing and more trail miles.
BR 100 has it all, and reminded me of MANY of my favorite races. Such as:
1- the amazingly cool tour thru rock formations in the "ledges" section (mile 70-ish) was like Laurel highlands
2- the miles of curvy, rolling hills, and real nice single track was like BRR 50
3- The amazing big grassy hill at 75 was like those around the KT aid station at hardrock...just without the altitude
4- the farm houses and horse farms and quaint towns and crappy footing through a farm field reminded me of the VT 100.
All in all it was a first class race from the pre-race dinner and brief to the course, course marking, aid stations, volunteers, and RD. Two thumbs up!!!!
Showing posts with label Race. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Race. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Back to old school
Okay so I took 2 months off from the blog. A couple of good runs in there since MMT.
3 weeks after the MMT disappointment I went back to the Shenandoah's for some redemption at the original Old Dominion 100. Wow what a race. lots of dirt roads in the beautiful valley, just enough hilly rocky trails to make you feel it, but not too much to make you hate life. and presto! a nice 5th place finish in 21:20
This was a return to old school running for me.......
1. Drove out the Day before after working a full day
2. Missed pre-run dinner and briefing- ate subway for dinner
3. slept in my car
4- Had no crew
5-Had no pacer
6- did not put out any drop bags
7- carried 3000cals worth of gels,blocks,sharkies with me
8-carried 2 battles and used my Nathan vest
9-nibbled off all the aid tables, but not too much
10-had mild stomach trouble in the heat of the day- backed off the pace and pushed hard again when it passed.
11- bonked a bit after crushing the big hill (miles 75-83- in 2nd best split)
12- finished my 17th 100 in one of my best times.
Redemption!
3 weeks after the MMT disappointment I went back to the Shenandoah's for some redemption at the original Old Dominion 100. Wow what a race. lots of dirt roads in the beautiful valley, just enough hilly rocky trails to make you feel it, but not too much to make you hate life. and presto! a nice 5th place finish in 21:20
This was a return to old school running for me.......
1. Drove out the Day before after working a full day
2. Missed pre-run dinner and briefing- ate subway for dinner
3. slept in my car
4- Had no crew
5-Had no pacer
6- did not put out any drop bags
7- carried 3000cals worth of gels,blocks,sharkies with me
8-carried 2 battles and used my Nathan vest
9-nibbled off all the aid tables, but not too much
10-had mild stomach trouble in the heat of the day- backed off the pace and pushed hard again when it passed.
11- bonked a bit after crushing the big hill (miles 75-83- in 2nd best split)
12- finished my 17th 100 in one of my best times.
Redemption!
Sunday, May 17, 2009
MMT 2009
First off major props to Karl and Amy for some amazing runs at MMT! Karl proving yet again when it comes to 100's he is the man. As for me what can I say:
2003, 2006, 2009 = MMT 100 DNF!
Yikes 3 strikes and I am out! I shoulda stopped in 2002 after my 3rd finish in 3 years at this tough race. Despite training mainly on roads and bike paths the last several months I wanted to run well at my VHTRC's premiere event. I gave it a good go, but the course (and weather) ate me for lunch so to speak.
Super Pacer and crew Bryon Powell had it right when he said "know thyself". For me in the 2000-2002 years I was a rock-hopping trail runner. I went hiking a lot and when given the chance I always chose a long slow trail run on death rocks over a quick road jaunt. "we are what we repeatedly do"....... In those days the trails of MMT were not that bad. They were what I ran on all the time. These days all my running is on roads, bike paths, and the C&O canal towpath....not the proper place to develop the muscles and specific strength needed for Masanutten. By 30 miles on Saturday I figured that out. Dead quads, shaking gluts and cramping calves were my undoing. And full disclosure the idea of walking all night in the cold pouring rain was something I could no longer stomach. I have walked in my far share of 100's (including the 2000 MMT 100 (injured - 15 hrs for last 35miles), and most recently my 46:45 Hardrock... but I am not a fan.
Since the first 24 miles of MMT is almost an even split of road and trail my legs felt pretty darn good. I started conservatively running thru the first crew access point (8.7 miles) feeling happy with 90 minutes of smooth running in the books. I was taking in 200 + cals and plenty of water each hour. (powergel, clif shot blocks, and sharkies)
Climbing up Habron gap my lack of "climber" legs really was showing and despite continuing to move up through the field and passing folks I just couldn't get over how bad my legs felt on all the climbs. The flats and descent were great and I was moving well there. As the day wore on and I rolled into Camp roos it really started to get hot. Leaving Camp Roos at noon and climbing into a burned out section of the forest (canopy-less) was a bit much and my stomach stopped draining. Energy and salt intake slacked and the pace slowed. By the time I had gotten along the ridge line that is Kerns mtn I had to stop and sit a few times just to have the strength to keep moving.
Then I hit the road and wa able to run sub 8:00 miles down to the visitor center. Once there the heavens opened up and huge rain and thunder soaked us all. Climbing up bird knob my calves and hamstrings were cramping and I began tossing down the salt tabs in an effort to get some balance back with my electrolytes. I passed the 52 miles point in 10:43 and had to sit on a rock for 6 minutes to let everything settle enough to continue. Good buddy Joe Clapper came upon me and together we made our way down to 211east.
A shoe and shirt change there did wonders for my comfort level but within 10 minutes the second huge down poor was upon me and my spirits hit the lowest low yet. These things are supposed to be fun! This is not! I struggled on and again ran okay on the downhill and road section heading into gap 2. There I let my crew know I wanted to drop but was convinced to "go one more" and made it to the next aid station with Bryon pacing me. I still felt like I had given all I wanted to give on this day and took off my number at the 15 hour mark. :-(
I have been at this game for a long time now and have many 100 dnf's to my name (16/28 finish rate) but honestly this one hurts the least 2 days post run. (mentally....physically I am sore as hell and could barely do my job today)
BUT! my app for the OD 100 goes in tomorrow. dirt road racing here I come!!!!!!!!!!
2003, 2006, 2009 = MMT 100 DNF!
Yikes 3 strikes and I am out! I shoulda stopped in 2002 after my 3rd finish in 3 years at this tough race. Despite training mainly on roads and bike paths the last several months I wanted to run well at my VHTRC's premiere event. I gave it a good go, but the course (and weather) ate me for lunch so to speak.
Super Pacer and crew Bryon Powell had it right when he said "know thyself". For me in the 2000-2002 years I was a rock-hopping trail runner. I went hiking a lot and when given the chance I always chose a long slow trail run on death rocks over a quick road jaunt. "we are what we repeatedly do"....... In those days the trails of MMT were not that bad. They were what I ran on all the time. These days all my running is on roads, bike paths, and the C&O canal towpath....not the proper place to develop the muscles and specific strength needed for Masanutten. By 30 miles on Saturday I figured that out. Dead quads, shaking gluts and cramping calves were my undoing. And full disclosure the idea of walking all night in the cold pouring rain was something I could no longer stomach. I have walked in my far share of 100's (including the 2000 MMT 100 (injured - 15 hrs for last 35miles), and most recently my 46:45 Hardrock... but I am not a fan.
Since the first 24 miles of MMT is almost an even split of road and trail my legs felt pretty darn good. I started conservatively running thru the first crew access point (8.7 miles) feeling happy with 90 minutes of smooth running in the books. I was taking in 200 + cals and plenty of water each hour. (powergel, clif shot blocks, and sharkies)
Climbing up Habron gap my lack of "climber" legs really was showing and despite continuing to move up through the field and passing folks I just couldn't get over how bad my legs felt on all the climbs. The flats and descent were great and I was moving well there. As the day wore on and I rolled into Camp roos it really started to get hot. Leaving Camp Roos at noon and climbing into a burned out section of the forest (canopy-less) was a bit much and my stomach stopped draining. Energy and salt intake slacked and the pace slowed. By the time I had gotten along the ridge line that is Kerns mtn I had to stop and sit a few times just to have the strength to keep moving.
Then I hit the road and wa able to run sub 8:00 miles down to the visitor center. Once there the heavens opened up and huge rain and thunder soaked us all. Climbing up bird knob my calves and hamstrings were cramping and I began tossing down the salt tabs in an effort to get some balance back with my electrolytes. I passed the 52 miles point in 10:43 and had to sit on a rock for 6 minutes to let everything settle enough to continue. Good buddy Joe Clapper came upon me and together we made our way down to 211east.
A shoe and shirt change there did wonders for my comfort level but within 10 minutes the second huge down poor was upon me and my spirits hit the lowest low yet. These things are supposed to be fun! This is not! I struggled on and again ran okay on the downhill and road section heading into gap 2. There I let my crew know I wanted to drop but was convinced to "go one more" and made it to the next aid station with Bryon pacing me. I still felt like I had given all I wanted to give on this day and took off my number at the 15 hour mark. :-(
I have been at this game for a long time now and have many 100 dnf's to my name (16/28 finish rate) but honestly this one hurts the least 2 days post run. (mentally....physically I am sore as hell and could barely do my job today)
BUT! my app for the OD 100 goes in tomorrow. dirt road racing here I come!!!!!!!!!!
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Bull Run Run #5
Sun- 10.5 miles- route record 1:25- one strong mile= 5:51
Mon- 10.5 miles- easy
Tues- off
Wed- 7 miles easy on treadmill
Thurs 4 miles AM, 11 miles PM, 4 mile walk evening
Fri- off
Sat- 50 miles- 7:34 (8th/314 @ BRR 50)
While I have done a lot of races over the years the only race I have ever completed five times is the VHTRC's signature event the Bull Run run 50 mile. And this happened yesterday underneath a beautiful blue sky with temps climbing all the way to 80. This course is beautiful, close in, superiorly well managed and is the absolute perfect fit for my skills as a trail runner with road runner speed tendencies.
This was to be a biggy race for me in my build up to the MMT 100. However, I did not want to taper as I still need some big mile weeks heading into MMT. I also wanted to take some self induced pressure off by going into the event a bit tired. Then if for some reason I did not run well...its because I was tired and not because I suck:-) ....So with a strong week under my belt I toed the line with 300+ others Sat. morning feeling pretty good but not super peppy.
As always the first 5 minute loop at BRR is really fast as all the guns take off to sort themselves out before the single track trail narrows the field down. I tried to get out strong without breathing heavy and managed to hit the trail around 17th or so. I quickly settled in and began to do some walking on some of the early steep climbs while those around me continued to press. Soon a few more folks passed me including first women Amy Sproston and VHTRC legend Derrick Carr. Derrick is a great guy and super consistent runner and when he sarcastically asked "is this a 50k?" I knew the two of us were on the same wavelength. I settled in with him and we would run together for the next 3 hours.
Compared to the runners around me I tend to run at a faster pace, but stop to walk for longer breaks and more frequently. This was true with Derrick and superstar senior Mike Campbell (who managed to run an insane 8:06 at age 59!) We all leap frogged back and forth as I took my walk breaks, had two off trail pit stops, but then would bomb all the downhills at 6:00 min pace in an effort to beat up my quads and would catch back up.
The miles rolled by and after falling to as low as 23rd place we began to work our way up through the field. After the first 16.6 miles of out and back we arrived at the start/ finish aid station at 2:24. Memory of last years too fast early start and sketchy math told me this was likely a really good pace. I felt very comfortable and my stomach (despite the pit stops) was feeling fine. I was eating shot blocks and sharkies every 20-40 minutes and drinking just water with salt tabs on the hour. All was going well and we rolled thru the next ten miles at 9:00 mile pace despite the challenging terrain of rolling hills.
My brand new Asics 2130 trail shoes felt fine, but needed a tightening up of the laces around 20 miles as I felt like my toes were sliding forward in the shoes too much. This did the trick and I had no foot issues the rest of the day.
After reaching the amazingly decorated wolf-run aid station (26.1 miles-3:49) I knew I was going to be able to have a sub-8hr run if I could stay smart and not fall apart. Temps were hot and I began drinking a cup of something at each aid station in addition to filling my bottle. Leaving this aid station I really felt great and began to press a bit more as we continued to pass some runners who were now beginning to fade in the heat and from the overly quick early pace. Around 28 miles I left Mike and Derrick for good and began to chase after Amy and good buddy Keith Knipling.
Approaching the infamous do loop I felt strong but hot. The super folks at the aid station told me I was mere 10-15 minutes behind and this news further fueled my fire to "chase em all down". I had reached the start of the do loop under the 5 hour mark and continued to think that something in the 7:30-8:00 range was definitely possible. The do loop is ugly though and all the leaves and poorly laid out trails are confusing and frustrating. Being toward the front of the field this year no trodden path thru the leaves was evident making the route finding more difficult. I could not wait to leave the loop knowing I only had a short bit with better footing yet to go.
Once back at the aid station having see no one in the loop I was excited to hear I at least made up time on those in front, but a bit bummed to learn I still had nearly 15 miles to go. It had to be less than that!?! I shoved off feeling strong and running with purpose. some of the next miles clicked off at 8:30 pace. At Fountainhead I learned I was now only 2 minutes back and was encouraged by the "you look great" comments. I continued to press and hoped that by wolf run I would catch someone in front of me. No luck.... but once there the volunteers told me that someone just left. So as fast as I could I again gave strong chase having now covered 40 miles in 5:59.
5 minutes later I began to see folks in front of me. I got one, then another, then a third. Then after passing super photographer Aaron S and crossing yet another stream I finally caught Keith. We chatted a bit and I pressed on with his knowledge that Amy was "just ahead". Two minutes later I caught a glimpse of her. She was brightly dressed in pink as part of the WUS-pink mafia team. Two more minutes and we were running together.
Having really red-lined a bit the last 4-5 miles I had to tone it down and settled in with Amy thinking that I would recoup for a while then continue to press on for more places but the pace she was setting was damn fast! She was destroying the BRR course and in its 17 year history no other women besides the legend Anne Lundblad would run the course as fast as Amy.
We stayed together for the next few miles with me again walking more of the ups-- falling behind--- only to pound quickly the downs and catch back up. The heat of the day was beginning to really suck and I kept getting twinges of cramps in my calves and anterior tibialis's. I swallowed my last salt tab, ate my last shot block, and hoped for the best. At the last aid station (6:40) we had 5. something miles to go and I knew we could break 7:40. Rough and slow footing trail remained along the river but Amy's desire to set a PR on this course was strong and together we toughed it out finally reaching the last big climb. A strong hike to the top and run on in brought us home in 8th place overall in 7:34. A mere 2 minutes of the CR for her and just 11 minutes off my best on the course from 2001.
At the finish I had no appetite, felt ridiculously hot and thirsty, and had my pec muscle cramp as I gave a celebratory fist pump. Ugh! What a day! All in all I could not ask for a better tune up race and feel pretty confident now heading in to MMT. In 2001 and 2002 I managed top 8 finishes at BRR and followed these with top 5 finishes at MMT. These days MMT is more competitive but I do think a sub 24hr race there is within reach.
Now the question of what to do next weekend for my last big beat down training effort remains.
Mon- 10.5 miles- easy
Tues- off
Wed- 7 miles easy on treadmill
Thurs 4 miles AM, 11 miles PM, 4 mile walk evening
Fri- off
Sat- 50 miles- 7:34 (8th/314 @ BRR 50)
While I have done a lot of races over the years the only race I have ever completed five times is the VHTRC's signature event the Bull Run run 50 mile. And this happened yesterday underneath a beautiful blue sky with temps climbing all the way to 80. This course is beautiful, close in, superiorly well managed and is the absolute perfect fit for my skills as a trail runner with road runner speed tendencies.
This was to be a biggy race for me in my build up to the MMT 100. However, I did not want to taper as I still need some big mile weeks heading into MMT. I also wanted to take some self induced pressure off by going into the event a bit tired. Then if for some reason I did not run well...its because I was tired and not because I suck:-) ....So with a strong week under my belt I toed the line with 300+ others Sat. morning feeling pretty good but not super peppy.
As always the first 5 minute loop at BRR is really fast as all the guns take off to sort themselves out before the single track trail narrows the field down. I tried to get out strong without breathing heavy and managed to hit the trail around 17th or so. I quickly settled in and began to do some walking on some of the early steep climbs while those around me continued to press. Soon a few more folks passed me including first women Amy Sproston and VHTRC legend Derrick Carr. Derrick is a great guy and super consistent runner and when he sarcastically asked "is this a 50k?" I knew the two of us were on the same wavelength. I settled in with him and we would run together for the next 3 hours.
Compared to the runners around me I tend to run at a faster pace, but stop to walk for longer breaks and more frequently. This was true with Derrick and superstar senior Mike Campbell (who managed to run an insane 8:06 at age 59!) We all leap frogged back and forth as I took my walk breaks, had two off trail pit stops, but then would bomb all the downhills at 6:00 min pace in an effort to beat up my quads and would catch back up.
The miles rolled by and after falling to as low as 23rd place we began to work our way up through the field. After the first 16.6 miles of out and back we arrived at the start/ finish aid station at 2:24. Memory of last years too fast early start and sketchy math told me this was likely a really good pace. I felt very comfortable and my stomach (despite the pit stops) was feeling fine. I was eating shot blocks and sharkies every 20-40 minutes and drinking just water with salt tabs on the hour. All was going well and we rolled thru the next ten miles at 9:00 mile pace despite the challenging terrain of rolling hills.
My brand new Asics 2130 trail shoes felt fine, but needed a tightening up of the laces around 20 miles as I felt like my toes were sliding forward in the shoes too much. This did the trick and I had no foot issues the rest of the day.
After reaching the amazingly decorated wolf-run aid station (26.1 miles-3:49) I knew I was going to be able to have a sub-8hr run if I could stay smart and not fall apart. Temps were hot and I began drinking a cup of something at each aid station in addition to filling my bottle. Leaving this aid station I really felt great and began to press a bit more as we continued to pass some runners who were now beginning to fade in the heat and from the overly quick early pace. Around 28 miles I left Mike and Derrick for good and began to chase after Amy and good buddy Keith Knipling.
Approaching the infamous do loop I felt strong but hot. The super folks at the aid station told me I was mere 10-15 minutes behind and this news further fueled my fire to "chase em all down". I had reached the start of the do loop under the 5 hour mark and continued to think that something in the 7:30-8:00 range was definitely possible. The do loop is ugly though and all the leaves and poorly laid out trails are confusing and frustrating. Being toward the front of the field this year no trodden path thru the leaves was evident making the route finding more difficult. I could not wait to leave the loop knowing I only had a short bit with better footing yet to go.
Once back at the aid station having see no one in the loop I was excited to hear I at least made up time on those in front, but a bit bummed to learn I still had nearly 15 miles to go. It had to be less than that!?! I shoved off feeling strong and running with purpose. some of the next miles clicked off at 8:30 pace. At Fountainhead I learned I was now only 2 minutes back and was encouraged by the "you look great" comments. I continued to press and hoped that by wolf run I would catch someone in front of me. No luck.... but once there the volunteers told me that someone just left. So as fast as I could I again gave strong chase having now covered 40 miles in 5:59.
5 minutes later I began to see folks in front of me. I got one, then another, then a third. Then after passing super photographer Aaron S and crossing yet another stream I finally caught Keith. We chatted a bit and I pressed on with his knowledge that Amy was "just ahead". Two minutes later I caught a glimpse of her. She was brightly dressed in pink as part of the WUS-pink mafia team. Two more minutes and we were running together.
Having really red-lined a bit the last 4-5 miles I had to tone it down and settled in with Amy thinking that I would recoup for a while then continue to press on for more places but the pace she was setting was damn fast! She was destroying the BRR course and in its 17 year history no other women besides the legend Anne Lundblad would run the course as fast as Amy.
We stayed together for the next few miles with me again walking more of the ups-- falling behind--- only to pound quickly the downs and catch back up. The heat of the day was beginning to really suck and I kept getting twinges of cramps in my calves and anterior tibialis's. I swallowed my last salt tab, ate my last shot block, and hoped for the best. At the last aid station (6:40) we had 5. something miles to go and I knew we could break 7:40. Rough and slow footing trail remained along the river but Amy's desire to set a PR on this course was strong and together we toughed it out finally reaching the last big climb. A strong hike to the top and run on in brought us home in 8th place overall in 7:34. A mere 2 minutes of the CR for her and just 11 minutes off my best on the course from 2001.
At the finish I had no appetite, felt ridiculously hot and thirsty, and had my pec muscle cramp as I gave a celebratory fist pump. Ugh! What a day! All in all I could not ask for a better tune up race and feel pretty confident now heading in to MMT. In 2001 and 2002 I managed top 8 finishes at BRR and followed these with top 5 finishes at MMT. These days MMT is more competitive but I do think a sub 24hr race there is within reach.
Now the question of what to do next weekend for my last big beat down training effort remains.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Seneca-Greenway Trail 50k
What a beautiful DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
After a 5 inch snowfall and 16 degree temps Monday and Tuesday, this weekend ends with a 73 degree sunny day of play on great trails in Maryland.
Sunday, Monday, Tuesday- off feel crappy and tired
Wednesday- 4 miles am, 11 miles pm
Thursday- off- legs feel day, have head cold- enjoyed the rest by painting in house
Friday- 4 miles AM, 4 miles PM
Saturday- 50k (17th-5:19) ++miles???? seemed a bit long
55 miles for the week on 3 days- 5 runs
After much debate yesterday and even 15 more minutes this morning when my alarm went off at 5am I decided to take advantage of the super weather and head a few miles north to run Ed Schultz's Seneca Greenway trail marathon and 50k. With temps in the high 50's when I woke I knew it was going to be a warm one. After a bus ride from the finish to the start and good conversation with some fellow runners I began my race at 8am running with VHTRC friend Stuart Kern. We settled in to a pretty strong run allowing us to still be able to chat, but at a fast enough pace to gap some of the 200+ other starters (marathon and 50k start together). The minutes rolled by with my legs feeling pretty good. I stopped to walk on a decent rolling hill and then stopped for a pee break only to see my friend Alyssa Godesky striding up from behind. Having only been passed by two other women I figured Alyssa (who is fresh of 3rd placings at JFK 50 and Holiday lake 50k) should be a favorite for the win. I settled in to a steady run with her and realized that the first hour had now passed and the 9:00 miles we were running felt great. This was just what I needed...fast enough to let me keep my own selected stride, but slow enough to keep from crushing my already tired legs. Today was to be all about enjoying the great course, good company, and fabulous weather.
The marathoners and 50kers split up at a lake.....we would go right and make a counterclockwise loop around the lake, while the marathoners would skip the lake trail and continue on to the left. The aid station personnel were superb all day and the folks here told us we had already completed 15 miles (2:15) and that Alyssa was in 2nd place for the 50k women. The first place girl was in sight just ahead and we would stride off confidently in pursuit. I tried to keep the fluids and salt going in as the temps were now easily in the high 60's. A far cry from the weather we have had recently. As the 3 hour mark rolled by we had closed on the lead gal and managed to get 19 miles in. My legs felt great and I enjoyed each and every downhill. The climbs still are kicking my butt, but I felt more and more comfortable as the day rolled on.
As we began to catch many marathoners a bit of weaving around was in order and soon enough one of the folks we went on by was the women's leader of the 50k. Alyssa held tough and the hilliest stretch of the course was upon us. The occasional cool breezes we had felt earlier in the day were long gone but the 2nd to last aid station seemed to be forever away. Finally at the 4:17 point we arrived at the chocolate lovers aid station. No one was really sure how far the finish was from here (~7 miles) but I hoped it was short. At least the trail was generally downhill to the last aid station. One last big hill and we were almost there. Before I knew it I could see the long line of cars at the finish and our day was done. Alyssa won and we were 16 + 17 overall.
A hot pulled pork sandwich was our reward for a long day. mmmm mmmm
Thanks to Ed and all the volunteers for a great day and a great race! Next up... the EFA 50k
After a 5 inch snowfall and 16 degree temps Monday and Tuesday, this weekend ends with a 73 degree sunny day of play on great trails in Maryland.
Sunday, Monday, Tuesday- off feel crappy and tired
Wednesday- 4 miles am, 11 miles pm
Thursday- off- legs feel day, have head cold- enjoyed the rest by painting in house
Friday- 4 miles AM, 4 miles PM
Saturday- 50k (17th-5:19) ++miles???? seemed a bit long
55 miles for the week on 3 days- 5 runs
After much debate yesterday and even 15 more minutes this morning when my alarm went off at 5am I decided to take advantage of the super weather and head a few miles north to run Ed Schultz's Seneca Greenway trail marathon and 50k. With temps in the high 50's when I woke I knew it was going to be a warm one. After a bus ride from the finish to the start and good conversation with some fellow runners I began my race at 8am running with VHTRC friend Stuart Kern. We settled in to a pretty strong run allowing us to still be able to chat, but at a fast enough pace to gap some of the 200+ other starters (marathon and 50k start together). The minutes rolled by with my legs feeling pretty good. I stopped to walk on a decent rolling hill and then stopped for a pee break only to see my friend Alyssa Godesky striding up from behind. Having only been passed by two other women I figured Alyssa (who is fresh of 3rd placings at JFK 50 and Holiday lake 50k) should be a favorite for the win. I settled in to a steady run with her and realized that the first hour had now passed and the 9:00 miles we were running felt great. This was just what I needed...fast enough to let me keep my own selected stride, but slow enough to keep from crushing my already tired legs. Today was to be all about enjoying the great course, good company, and fabulous weather.
The marathoners and 50kers split up at a lake.....we would go right and make a counterclockwise loop around the lake, while the marathoners would skip the lake trail and continue on to the left. The aid station personnel were superb all day and the folks here told us we had already completed 15 miles (2:15) and that Alyssa was in 2nd place for the 50k women. The first place girl was in sight just ahead and we would stride off confidently in pursuit. I tried to keep the fluids and salt going in as the temps were now easily in the high 60's. A far cry from the weather we have had recently. As the 3 hour mark rolled by we had closed on the lead gal and managed to get 19 miles in. My legs felt great and I enjoyed each and every downhill. The climbs still are kicking my butt, but I felt more and more comfortable as the day rolled on.
As we began to catch many marathoners a bit of weaving around was in order and soon enough one of the folks we went on by was the women's leader of the 50k. Alyssa held tough and the hilliest stretch of the course was upon us. The occasional cool breezes we had felt earlier in the day were long gone but the 2nd to last aid station seemed to be forever away. Finally at the 4:17 point we arrived at the chocolate lovers aid station. No one was really sure how far the finish was from here (~7 miles) but I hoped it was short. At least the trail was generally downhill to the last aid station. One last big hill and we were almost there. Before I knew it I could see the long line of cars at the finish and our day was done. Alyssa won and we were 16 + 17 overall.
A hot pulled pork sandwich was our reward for a long day. mmmm mmmm
Thanks to Ed and all the volunteers for a great day and a great race! Next up... the EFA 50k
Sunday, February 22, 2009
The Reverse Ring 71 Miler
A sound week resting up for Saturday
Sunday- off
Monday 4 miles AM, 11 Miles PM (strong pace)
Tuesday- 11 miles
Wednesday- off (feeling sickish- 1/2 of co-workers out sick)
Thursday- 4 miles
Friday- off
Saturday- 71 miles on MMT ring 19:23- 2nd place
Saturday started out with a 4am wake up and 2 hour drive out to the mountains (I took wrong turn and did an extra bit. doah!) But, I arrived with plenty of time to get my backpack ready and mingle with the other 20 starters. Start time of 7:07am allowed for full light and a perfect stillness made the 17 degree temp feel comfortable. We began slowly with Keith Knipling taking off the front at a good clip while the rest of us chatted it up making our way up the first rocky climb. This days run would have some of the worst footing in all of ultrarunning. These are the Massanutten mountains....the rocks are everywhere!
I settled in and decided to focus on me and run it as the training effort it needed to be and soon found myself chatting with Mike Bailey and then Joe Clapper and Tom Corris. My camelback hose froze up once we had made it over signal knob and descended into the valley where it was noticably colder. I tucked it inside my shirt and soon enough it had unfroze. With a mild effort I began to feel the aches and strains the rough footing and trails give you. Since I run exclusively on roads (bikepaths) these days and hit the trails every other weekend on average I am not as strong in the lateral muscles as I should be. Both plantar fascias got tweaked, both achilles were sore pre-run, of course I rolled both ankles...generally I began to wonder why it was I wanted to run the MMT 100 again at all. Then I looked around and found the peace the mountains of fort valley give me and I settled in to a better less tense gait pattern and started feeling good. As I rolled through the Powell's mountain section having taken aid for the first time at 14 miles (woodstock tower road) I was sitting in 6th place and the competitor in me began to rise a bit. Why am I so far back? How can I be moderately pushing and be behind these guys? My head still thinks I am in the 2001 era body and that all those in front of me should not be there.
Soon enough the tough course began to take its toll. Some folks were dropped off the pace, some dropped out with minor injuries or stopped due to the pure realization that 71 miles on these trails would in NO WAY be fun. By whatever reason, when I starting the climb up short mountain I felt great and had now moved into 3rd. I chased Mike this entire section running a 1:49 split which is as good as I can remember ever doing that section. It is actually about what I was able to do in the 2001 MMT 100 (all be it the opposite direction). I saw Mike leave the aid station at moreland gap as I pulled into it just a bit ahead of my projected pre-race pace. I had covered about 31 miles in less than 7 hours and really felt good. Better actually than I did just 2-3 hours ito the run.
I fueled up with a "whoopie pie"- some kind of frosting filled cookie that really hit the spot- one that I had never seen before, but will look for in the future. I downed some mtn dew, ate a few chips, grabbed my headlamp (just in case) and continued on as I had been all day. I was drinking water from my camelback and nibbling on skittles and sharkies. I have figured out that I run best with little in my stomach but need to do a constant infusion. The day was going well with partly cloudy skies and temps now around 40. Ascending Jawbone gap I pushed strongly, then eased off on the section of MMT I hate the most. Kerns mtn. Talk about sucky footing! You can never find a rhythm on that trail. I can't wait for this year version of MMT as we will at least get to run on crisman hollow road for a few miles following this dreadful section. Not in the RING though. We simply crossed the road and headed down the degraded and super steep trail section known as waterfall mtn. It drops 1500 feet in a mile and has no switchbacks. Sucks on the knees. Man did they feel it. About a mile out from the aid station at crisman hollow road (hiked in by Michele Harmon- thanks!) I came up on Mike who was now walking and said he had slipped on a log and tweaked his back. I tried a little Physical therapy on him on the trail but did not seem to make him feel any better. So he continued walking on out and would then walk the road back to camp roosevelt to drop out.
At Crisman hollow road aid station I gladly partook of a PB & J sandwich while early starter Gary Knipling also fueled up. Having started at 3:13 AM with superstar 75 year old Ed Demoney. Gary had made it 37 miles of his planned 46 mile day. I left the aid station with him and enjoyed Gary's conversation as we ran together for 5 minutes. What a great guy and fellow grand Slam finisher. Chugging down waterfall the reality of how far I had to go was sinking in and I had some oh gosh thoughts. I attempted the MMT reverse ring before in 2006 only to drop at 46 miles and then went on to the MMT 100 and dropped there at 76 miles. So finishing today had special meaning even if any real training benefit had probably already been surpassed by the 10 hours I had been out running.
Climbing up the mountain away from one of the many stream crossings I got really inspired and started pushing hard. Once I crested the top I really let it go and was ripping down the poorly kept trail catching briers and downed branches all the way. I easily was running some sub 8:00 mile pace miles and put out for over a solid hour an effort that I use only once a week on my commute run home. The 11 mile trek on these days takes around 1:20 so I knew I was probably over-doing but it felt great to be able to press this hard on technical trail 10 hours into an event. This feeling of total control with each foot plant and being able to press as hard as I want in an ultra has really been absent for 5-6 years. Amazing what actually training will do for you huh? Miles 39-46 were some of the best I have run in a long long time.
With this good effort I managed to arrive at Camp roosevelt aid station before sunset. I just happed to do it 1:50 behind Keith Knipling! I was still well ahead of the existing reverse ring course record pace and had hopes of running something around 17 hours. As I ate some chicken noodle soup (really drank the broth, more mtn dew, and ate part of another whoopie pie) My stomach did not feel great so I declined the turkey and cheese wraps they had to offer. I filled my camelback bladder and got my lights out as the darkness was now full on. With a heavy backpack and the odd twilight time lighting it was hard moving well leaving mile 46 and I ended up walking the entire climb up to Kennedy peak taking about an hour to do so. So much for trying to break 17 hours.
Thus began the long long stretch on the eastern ridge line alone with my ipod tunes and one of the best canopies of stars I have ever seen. I decided to back it off completely and shuffle run only when it was safe. Deep piles of leaves covered the deadly rocks in many places and the trail seemed to go on forever. Occasional trail intersections with Habron gap and the Indian grave trail gave some break up to the monotony but to be honest it was a pretty miserable walk. I was very hungry and kept taking gels and eating skittles but never felt like I had enough. My hormone pulses told my my bed time had come and gone, but still I was on the ridge line. Every now and then I was smacked around by huge gusts of wind, but at least it was not that cold. Perhaps in the high 20's.
At 16:05 into the event I finally made the turn to head off the ridge and descend toward veach gap! Man o man did that feel good. I started running again and was super excited to see the tent (which contained bags of food and drink) left at the trail intersection in the valley floor. I stopped for a refuel with some mtn due, a backpack reorganization ( the straps were killing my shoulders) and grabbed 4 cookies for the long long walk back up to the next hill top. I supposedly had just 8 miles to go but it would take me a full 3 hours to cover this remaining ground.
I felt okay and moved as well as I could but my light (which is 7 years old) was dimming out and really is not up to today's brighter standards. (Anyone have some suggestions for something better?) The trail was muddy, wet and of course rocky and footing continued to suck. My mind said enough...... this is not longer fun, but the trail just continued on ever upward. While my flat and downhill running has really returned to form. I climb like molasses. I mean I really suck. I don't have the fitness to run the hills like I used to and I have absolutely zero power to walk strong uphill. These will be my two main focuses in the remaining weeks before the MMT 100 as I am determined to run well there once again.
After about a million years I reached what I thought was the top of the hill only to dip and roll and climb again about 7 more times. I have only been on this section maybe once or twice in my life (the opposite direction to boot) and nothing looked familiar. The trail is not maintained as well as most in this area and I kept having to search to make sure I was going the right way. Mentally I had no picture that I would be ascending to shawl gap and then follow the main trail down to Elizabeth's furnace.....it just didn't make sense.... and I struggled at the intersection of 4 trails on top there in the dark with my dim light for a long time. I even dug out new batteries replaced them and continued down only to lose the trail and get stuck back-tracking uphill on some interpretive nature trail. Once I finally hit Elizabeth's furnace I was determined to follow orange and not the MMT course route. I kept stopping and backtracking only to realize it was the correct route. Then I couldn't believe I needed to cross rte 678 to get to the parking lot and finish. What a mental fog I was in. Needless to say the 18 and 19 hour barriers remained in tact and at the 19:23 mark I finally reached Quatro's car, tapped on his window to wake him up, and officially finished the MMT Reverse Ring. I Join only a few others who have done the ring in both directions and gained the title "Master of the Ring" ahhh...... finally!
After a couple hour fit-full nap in the back of the car I drove on home happy to have fulfilled my goal and to feel overall pretty good physically. I'll be ridiculously sore tomorrow but it was well worth it. At least I don't have any blisters. (injinji socks and pearl izume road shoes) Last time I did the ring my feet were a mess for 2 weeks.
Thanks to the VHTRC and for all the volunteers. What a great event.
Sunday- off
Monday 4 miles AM, 11 Miles PM (strong pace)
Tuesday- 11 miles
Wednesday- off (feeling sickish- 1/2 of co-workers out sick)
Thursday- 4 miles
Friday- off
Saturday- 71 miles on MMT ring 19:23- 2nd place
Saturday started out with a 4am wake up and 2 hour drive out to the mountains (I took wrong turn and did an extra bit. doah!) But, I arrived with plenty of time to get my backpack ready and mingle with the other 20 starters. Start time of 7:07am allowed for full light and a perfect stillness made the 17 degree temp feel comfortable. We began slowly with Keith Knipling taking off the front at a good clip while the rest of us chatted it up making our way up the first rocky climb. This days run would have some of the worst footing in all of ultrarunning. These are the Massanutten mountains....the rocks are everywhere!
I settled in and decided to focus on me and run it as the training effort it needed to be and soon found myself chatting with Mike Bailey and then Joe Clapper and Tom Corris. My camelback hose froze up once we had made it over signal knob and descended into the valley where it was noticably colder. I tucked it inside my shirt and soon enough it had unfroze. With a mild effort I began to feel the aches and strains the rough footing and trails give you. Since I run exclusively on roads (bikepaths) these days and hit the trails every other weekend on average I am not as strong in the lateral muscles as I should be. Both plantar fascias got tweaked, both achilles were sore pre-run, of course I rolled both ankles...generally I began to wonder why it was I wanted to run the MMT 100 again at all. Then I looked around and found the peace the mountains of fort valley give me and I settled in to a better less tense gait pattern and started feeling good. As I rolled through the Powell's mountain section having taken aid for the first time at 14 miles (woodstock tower road) I was sitting in 6th place and the competitor in me began to rise a bit. Why am I so far back? How can I be moderately pushing and be behind these guys? My head still thinks I am in the 2001 era body and that all those in front of me should not be there.
Soon enough the tough course began to take its toll. Some folks were dropped off the pace, some dropped out with minor injuries or stopped due to the pure realization that 71 miles on these trails would in NO WAY be fun. By whatever reason, when I starting the climb up short mountain I felt great and had now moved into 3rd. I chased Mike this entire section running a 1:49 split which is as good as I can remember ever doing that section. It is actually about what I was able to do in the 2001 MMT 100 (all be it the opposite direction). I saw Mike leave the aid station at moreland gap as I pulled into it just a bit ahead of my projected pre-race pace. I had covered about 31 miles in less than 7 hours and really felt good. Better actually than I did just 2-3 hours ito the run.
I fueled up with a "whoopie pie"- some kind of frosting filled cookie that really hit the spot- one that I had never seen before, but will look for in the future. I downed some mtn dew, ate a few chips, grabbed my headlamp (just in case) and continued on as I had been all day. I was drinking water from my camelback and nibbling on skittles and sharkies. I have figured out that I run best with little in my stomach but need to do a constant infusion. The day was going well with partly cloudy skies and temps now around 40. Ascending Jawbone gap I pushed strongly, then eased off on the section of MMT I hate the most. Kerns mtn. Talk about sucky footing! You can never find a rhythm on that trail. I can't wait for this year version of MMT as we will at least get to run on crisman hollow road for a few miles following this dreadful section. Not in the RING though. We simply crossed the road and headed down the degraded and super steep trail section known as waterfall mtn. It drops 1500 feet in a mile and has no switchbacks. Sucks on the knees. Man did they feel it. About a mile out from the aid station at crisman hollow road (hiked in by Michele Harmon- thanks!) I came up on Mike who was now walking and said he had slipped on a log and tweaked his back. I tried a little Physical therapy on him on the trail but did not seem to make him feel any better. So he continued walking on out and would then walk the road back to camp roosevelt to drop out.
At Crisman hollow road aid station I gladly partook of a PB & J sandwich while early starter Gary Knipling also fueled up. Having started at 3:13 AM with superstar 75 year old Ed Demoney. Gary had made it 37 miles of his planned 46 mile day. I left the aid station with him and enjoyed Gary's conversation as we ran together for 5 minutes. What a great guy and fellow grand Slam finisher. Chugging down waterfall the reality of how far I had to go was sinking in and I had some oh gosh thoughts. I attempted the MMT reverse ring before in 2006 only to drop at 46 miles and then went on to the MMT 100 and dropped there at 76 miles. So finishing today had special meaning even if any real training benefit had probably already been surpassed by the 10 hours I had been out running.
Climbing up the mountain away from one of the many stream crossings I got really inspired and started pushing hard. Once I crested the top I really let it go and was ripping down the poorly kept trail catching briers and downed branches all the way. I easily was running some sub 8:00 mile pace miles and put out for over a solid hour an effort that I use only once a week on my commute run home. The 11 mile trek on these days takes around 1:20 so I knew I was probably over-doing but it felt great to be able to press this hard on technical trail 10 hours into an event. This feeling of total control with each foot plant and being able to press as hard as I want in an ultra has really been absent for 5-6 years. Amazing what actually training will do for you huh? Miles 39-46 were some of the best I have run in a long long time.
With this good effort I managed to arrive at Camp roosevelt aid station before sunset. I just happed to do it 1:50 behind Keith Knipling! I was still well ahead of the existing reverse ring course record pace and had hopes of running something around 17 hours. As I ate some chicken noodle soup (really drank the broth, more mtn dew, and ate part of another whoopie pie) My stomach did not feel great so I declined the turkey and cheese wraps they had to offer. I filled my camelback bladder and got my lights out as the darkness was now full on. With a heavy backpack and the odd twilight time lighting it was hard moving well leaving mile 46 and I ended up walking the entire climb up to Kennedy peak taking about an hour to do so. So much for trying to break 17 hours.
Thus began the long long stretch on the eastern ridge line alone with my ipod tunes and one of the best canopies of stars I have ever seen. I decided to back it off completely and shuffle run only when it was safe. Deep piles of leaves covered the deadly rocks in many places and the trail seemed to go on forever. Occasional trail intersections with Habron gap and the Indian grave trail gave some break up to the monotony but to be honest it was a pretty miserable walk. I was very hungry and kept taking gels and eating skittles but never felt like I had enough. My hormone pulses told my my bed time had come and gone, but still I was on the ridge line. Every now and then I was smacked around by huge gusts of wind, but at least it was not that cold. Perhaps in the high 20's.
At 16:05 into the event I finally made the turn to head off the ridge and descend toward veach gap! Man o man did that feel good. I started running again and was super excited to see the tent (which contained bags of food and drink) left at the trail intersection in the valley floor. I stopped for a refuel with some mtn due, a backpack reorganization ( the straps were killing my shoulders) and grabbed 4 cookies for the long long walk back up to the next hill top. I supposedly had just 8 miles to go but it would take me a full 3 hours to cover this remaining ground.
I felt okay and moved as well as I could but my light (which is 7 years old) was dimming out and really is not up to today's brighter standards. (Anyone have some suggestions for something better?) The trail was muddy, wet and of course rocky and footing continued to suck. My mind said enough...... this is not longer fun, but the trail just continued on ever upward. While my flat and downhill running has really returned to form. I climb like molasses. I mean I really suck. I don't have the fitness to run the hills like I used to and I have absolutely zero power to walk strong uphill. These will be my two main focuses in the remaining weeks before the MMT 100 as I am determined to run well there once again.
After about a million years I reached what I thought was the top of the hill only to dip and roll and climb again about 7 more times. I have only been on this section maybe once or twice in my life (the opposite direction to boot) and nothing looked familiar. The trail is not maintained as well as most in this area and I kept having to search to make sure I was going the right way. Mentally I had no picture that I would be ascending to shawl gap and then follow the main trail down to Elizabeth's furnace.....it just didn't make sense.... and I struggled at the intersection of 4 trails on top there in the dark with my dim light for a long time. I even dug out new batteries replaced them and continued down only to lose the trail and get stuck back-tracking uphill on some interpretive nature trail. Once I finally hit Elizabeth's furnace I was determined to follow orange and not the MMT course route. I kept stopping and backtracking only to realize it was the correct route. Then I couldn't believe I needed to cross rte 678 to get to the parking lot and finish. What a mental fog I was in. Needless to say the 18 and 19 hour barriers remained in tact and at the 19:23 mark I finally reached Quatro's car, tapped on his window to wake him up, and officially finished the MMT Reverse Ring. I Join only a few others who have done the ring in both directions and gained the title "Master of the Ring" ahhh...... finally!
After a couple hour fit-full nap in the back of the car I drove on home happy to have fulfilled my goal and to feel overall pretty good physically. I'll be ridiculously sore tomorrow but it was well worth it. At least I don't have any blisters. (injinji socks and pearl izume road shoes) Last time I did the ring my feet were a mess for 2 weeks.
Thanks to the VHTRC and for all the volunteers. What a great event.
Friday, July 18, 2008
what worked
I wanted to write a bit to let folks know what worked for me......and what didn't
FEET: Hardrock is an extremely wet race with stream crossings and marshlands the entire course. My feet were wet from the river crossing at 2 miles straight thru for 46 hours until the river crossing at 99 miles.
AJW tip to wet your feet before long runs was an excellent one! The two weeks prior to the race I ran with wet feet 5-6 times- spraying them down with a hose (filling my shoes really) then re-wet in a local river 30 minutes in to the runs. I also did 2-3 hour yard work sessions where I wet my feet every 45min. This constant time spent in wet socks/shoes allowed my foot skin to toughen and all the looser/weak callus stuff to peel off prior to race day and thus in the race itself I had ZERO problems. I had one tiny blister on the side of my big toe that I did not feel, drained after, and it was sealed and healed in 24hrs. No other issues at all!!!
Shoes:- I wore my Asics 2110's road shoes that have 800+ miles on them and are a year old. They drained well, gripped decently, were light weight, comfortable, supportive but not restrictive and are lower to the ground than my Montrails. However, they have higher side walls around the ankle and this caused my most severe post race problem......I have swollen ankle bones on the outside (lateral malleolus) bilaterally and the right one was rug burned into a bloody area. Runing straight is no problem, but side hill action caused the side of the shoes to push into my ankle bones. Ouch.
socks: I changed socks 4 times for no good reason other than it FELT GOOD! I used white "jockey" socks that fit my feet well. They are all ruined with stains now but hey.
fluids: I drank plan water 100% of the time and filed my bottles from the streams and with snow probably 60% of the time. I'll let you know if I develop giardia. I also took in up to 12 cups of coke along the way (drunk at aid stations)
Electrolytes: I used maybe 8 or so NUUN tablets and one S! cap, then had GI trouble and for the last 26 hours of the race only ate salty food from the tables. Salt pills are overrated. I eat an extremely low salt diet, and was well heat acclimated prior to the race so my sweat has little salt in it. I wish I had not used the NUUN tabs at all. Pretzels is all you need.
Calories: I took in 2400cals of Cliff shot blocks, 4000+cals of pure granulated sugar (that I carried in a bottle then added water too to make a gel like slurry). I will use maltodextrin in the future as sugar worked great but has a taste to it, that I did get sick off, while maltodextrin is tasteless. I ate a strawberry milkshake (real deal ice cream from an ice cream shop), 1/2 a turkey sandwich, 1/2 a turkey sandwich with cheese grilled, 2 cups of pasta, 6 pop sickles, maybe 12 cups of coke, one zip lock bag of peanuts, M&M's, and one zip lock bag full of pretzels. during the 46:45. Pre-race breakfast was a liter of gatorade and 2 banana Power bars. I'm not sure how many calories this all is but it was ALOT! yet I was still hungry and bonky a few times. The caloric expenditure scaling 40% grade mtns at 14,000ft must be higher than 100 calories per mile.
I also recently read that Krissy Moehl took in 600cals per hour at last years hardrock....this is double the 300cals an hour max the stomach is supposed to be able to process.(according to my masters degree in exercise physiology learnings) Interesting.! Probably why she kicked ass. I watched Karl Meltzer pack his drop bags for the 2005 hardrock were he spent 18 minutes in aid stations total time. He had 60 gels. for 6000cals. And ate nothing else. Trying to run at altitude asks a lot of the old cardio system so much of the bodies blood is diverted away from the viscera (stomach/intestines) and shunted to the working muscles. this makes digestion of anything complex very difficult. This is why I chose to stick closely to simple sugar and away from harder to digest foods. During exercise at a high % max output (like I had at Hardrock) the common phenomonen of "take in sugar---recieve huge insulin spike----resulting in lowered blood sugar and BONK" is attenuated. Huge spikes in insulin output are not seen, so one does not bonk as hard after pure sugar intake as one would say when sitting on a couch. No, I am not as dumb as I may seem.
Due to efficiency of the body being able to utilize stored fat when running at x min/mile pace rather than burning glucose or glycogen, the better shape you are in, the less calories you need to take in. I am not in that kind of shape obviously! so I likily needed more calories taken in during the event than fitter/faster folks.
all in all it was a great experiement and I am glad to be back in better shape. It has been a slow climb out of the 2003-2006 duldrums, but I am getting there.
grindstone 100 in Oct and JFK 50 in Nov on the horizon
FEET: Hardrock is an extremely wet race with stream crossings and marshlands the entire course. My feet were wet from the river crossing at 2 miles straight thru for 46 hours until the river crossing at 99 miles.
AJW tip to wet your feet before long runs was an excellent one! The two weeks prior to the race I ran with wet feet 5-6 times- spraying them down with a hose (filling my shoes really) then re-wet in a local river 30 minutes in to the runs. I also did 2-3 hour yard work sessions where I wet my feet every 45min. This constant time spent in wet socks/shoes allowed my foot skin to toughen and all the looser/weak callus stuff to peel off prior to race day and thus in the race itself I had ZERO problems. I had one tiny blister on the side of my big toe that I did not feel, drained after, and it was sealed and healed in 24hrs. No other issues at all!!!
Shoes:- I wore my Asics 2110's road shoes that have 800+ miles on them and are a year old. They drained well, gripped decently, were light weight, comfortable, supportive but not restrictive and are lower to the ground than my Montrails. However, they have higher side walls around the ankle and this caused my most severe post race problem......I have swollen ankle bones on the outside (lateral malleolus) bilaterally and the right one was rug burned into a bloody area. Runing straight is no problem, but side hill action caused the side of the shoes to push into my ankle bones. Ouch.
socks: I changed socks 4 times for no good reason other than it FELT GOOD! I used white "jockey" socks that fit my feet well. They are all ruined with stains now but hey.
fluids: I drank plan water 100% of the time and filed my bottles from the streams and with snow probably 60% of the time. I'll let you know if I develop giardia. I also took in up to 12 cups of coke along the way (drunk at aid stations)
Electrolytes: I used maybe 8 or so NUUN tablets and one S! cap, then had GI trouble and for the last 26 hours of the race only ate salty food from the tables. Salt pills are overrated. I eat an extremely low salt diet, and was well heat acclimated prior to the race so my sweat has little salt in it. I wish I had not used the NUUN tabs at all. Pretzels is all you need.
Calories: I took in 2400cals of Cliff shot blocks, 4000+cals of pure granulated sugar (that I carried in a bottle then added water too to make a gel like slurry). I will use maltodextrin in the future as sugar worked great but has a taste to it, that I did get sick off, while maltodextrin is tasteless. I ate a strawberry milkshake (real deal ice cream from an ice cream shop), 1/2 a turkey sandwich, 1/2 a turkey sandwich with cheese grilled, 2 cups of pasta, 6 pop sickles, maybe 12 cups of coke, one zip lock bag of peanuts, M&M's, and one zip lock bag full of pretzels. during the 46:45. Pre-race breakfast was a liter of gatorade and 2 banana Power bars. I'm not sure how many calories this all is but it was ALOT! yet I was still hungry and bonky a few times. The caloric expenditure scaling 40% grade mtns at 14,000ft must be higher than 100 calories per mile.
I also recently read that Krissy Moehl took in 600cals per hour at last years hardrock....this is double the 300cals an hour max the stomach is supposed to be able to process.(according to my masters degree in exercise physiology learnings) Interesting.! Probably why she kicked ass. I watched Karl Meltzer pack his drop bags for the 2005 hardrock were he spent 18 minutes in aid stations total time. He had 60 gels. for 6000cals. And ate nothing else. Trying to run at altitude asks a lot of the old cardio system so much of the bodies blood is diverted away from the viscera (stomach/intestines) and shunted to the working muscles. this makes digestion of anything complex very difficult. This is why I chose to stick closely to simple sugar and away from harder to digest foods. During exercise at a high % max output (like I had at Hardrock) the common phenomonen of "take in sugar---recieve huge insulin spike----resulting in lowered blood sugar and BONK" is attenuated. Huge spikes in insulin output are not seen, so one does not bonk as hard after pure sugar intake as one would say when sitting on a couch. No, I am not as dumb as I may seem.
Due to efficiency of the body being able to utilize stored fat when running at x min/mile pace rather than burning glucose or glycogen, the better shape you are in, the less calories you need to take in. I am not in that kind of shape obviously! so I likily needed more calories taken in during the event than fitter/faster folks.
all in all it was a great experiement and I am glad to be back in better shape. It has been a slow climb out of the 2003-2006 duldrums, but I am getting there.
grindstone 100 in Oct and JFK 50 in Nov on the horizon
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Ice Age 50 Mile
big week for me: 90 miles
Sun- 14
Mon-5
Tue-7
Wed-7
Thur-7
Fri-off- drove up to race after work with my brother, Tim
sat- 50 miles- 8:25 (18th)
Ice Age 50 Mile (Resuts) ------ garmin report here
The Ice age 50 Mile was in its 27th year this year and had good trail conditions and great running weather (p. sunny temps 35 at the start warming to 63). the field had 200+ runners and started at 6am.
The race has an interesting lay out with a really runnable and smooth slightly rolling jeep trail width path for a 9 mile loop back to the start/finish. The course then heads on out for an out and back to the south (21.7 mile mark) and then goes out for an out and back to the north with the turn around at 40 miles all on nice single track trail.
I started the race at a good clip settling in at training pace clicking off 8:00 miles with Ann Heaslett reminiscing about 2001/2002 when she was competing for national 50k titles at the HUFF race and crushing me at RR 100 where she ran 15:57!! I was hovering around 150bpm and made myself slow down and let her go on off in pursuit of Kim Holak (last years womens winner) who had gotten out to an early lead. I was able to hold 150bpm for 3 hours (22miles) at BRR 50 last month but completely depleted the glycogen stores and could not climb back out of the deficit and ended up with a less than stellar 9:14......so I wanted to hold more of a 140bpm HR in this race and slowed my pace to that level despite not breathing heavy or really working THAT hard.
Sun- 14
Mon-5
Tue-7
Wed-7
Thur-7
Fri-off- drove up to race after work with my brother, Tim
sat- 50 miles- 8:25 (18th)
Ice Age 50 Mile (Resuts) ------ garmin report here
The Ice age 50 Mile was in its 27th year this year and had good trail conditions and great running weather (p. sunny temps 35 at the start warming to 63). the field had 200+ runners and started at 6am.
The race has an interesting lay out with a really runnable and smooth slightly rolling jeep trail width path for a 9 mile loop back to the start/finish. The course then heads on out for an out and back to the south (21.7 mile mark) and then goes out for an out and back to the north with the turn around at 40 miles all on nice single track trail.
I started the race at a good clip settling in at training pace clicking off 8:00 miles with Ann Heaslett reminiscing about 2001/2002 when she was competing for national 50k titles at the HUFF race and crushing me at RR 100 where she ran 15:57!! I was hovering around 150bpm and made myself slow down and let her go on off in pursuit of Kim Holak (last years womens winner) who had gotten out to an early lead. I was able to hold 150bpm for 3 hours (22miles) at BRR 50 last month but completely depleted the glycogen stores and could not climb back out of the deficit and ended up with a less than stellar 9:14......so I wanted to hold more of a 140bpm HR in this race and slowed my pace to that level despite not breathing heavy or really working THAT hard.
Proof that holding a lower HR initially leads to less of a drop late in the race... above..compare to BRR 50 here
I settled in with some guys new to ultras, a couple of triathlon guys, and a pilot from Chicago. The miles ticked by and before I knew it I was at the first turn around point (21.7 miles). The first guy to come by on the out and back was none other than legend Kevin Setnes who looked strong passing by with about 25minute lead on me. Women's leader was Kim Holak. I was hitting 22 miles today at 3:25...a full minute per mile slower than I went out at BRR, but I felt a million times better and actually pushed a bit at this point moving up in the field slightly from the 25th or so I was in at the 21mile turn around.
I was eating more off the tables (1/4 putter butter and jelly sandwiches, M&M's, glasses of coke) and was drinking NUUN water from my bottle. (Coke flavored NUUN tabs rock by the way) I was carrying 8 carb boom gels with me, but left my Cliff shot blocks home in Virginia. Since a gel pack is only 100cals and shotblock packs are 200. I knew I needed to eat more off the tables than I have been doing in the 8 previous ultras I have completed in 2008. My stomach was feeling great and draining well so I continued to down cups of coke at each aid station, (which were very frequent), sip my NUUN water, and hit a gel every time I felt a tiny bit bonky. Around 30 miles I came upon Kevin who was walking and looked to be in pain. Hopefully he is okay.
During the 4th hour I felt the poorest I would feel, but really was not that bad off...just a little behind in energy and thus the walking had increased. I had an off trail pit stop and then did some running with Boston native Chris H who was running with the broken finger he suffered in the infamous "Don't run boston 50K" in the Blue hills. I ran that race in 2001 and wow! what a tough one. This course had about 2% of the rocks and footing difficulty that that one did. I'm thankful for it too. I like running and despite having had good runs on tough technical courses, I am leaning more and more toward the fast nice footing courses.
I hit 31 miles in under 5 hours and continued to move up in the filed. I made it out to the 40 mile turn around in 6:40. Doing some calculations I knew that if I continued to do the 11 minute miles I was averaging over the last 10-12 I would be really pressed to break 8:30. The next 3 miles to the 43.5 mile aid station were still slow and I really didn't think I had it in me, but a mile or so later I was passed by a hard charging guy from Michigan who had 13 previous Ice Age finishes under his belt. He picked me up and we pushed hard together. We ran most everything until reaching the final aid station a mere 2.4 miles from the finish at the 8:02 mark. We knew sub 8:30 was in the bag and he relaxed while I moved on wanting to be done with this fine run. a few more turns on the pine needle covered trails and the finish line appeared. I squeaked into the top 20 and finished in 8:25. Surprisingly this race even had age group awards and I got a 2nd in mine. In 70+ ultras I have run in this was the first time that has happened! Ha. kinda silly since most of the top folks are still considerable older than me. And two of the most amazing older runners in the country proved that. Roy Pirrung beat me by 5 or so minutes at the rip age of 59! And even more impressive at age 66!!!!!!!!!!! Tom Bunk finished a mere 10 minutes behind me in 8:35. That is amazing.
All in all the great footing trail and amazing sections under pine trees will be what I remember most. this is a good one and I am glad I was able to run it. In terms of difficulty I would say it falls in between JFK and BRR. Thanks to all the volunteers that helped make it a great run for me.
The running log shows that the first 8 races at the 50 mile distance I ran were all faster than this one, but only one of the last 5 I have run has been. Lets hope a new trend is being set!
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Bull Run Run 50 Mile
How far did you run daddy???????????????Spring is definitely here in Virginia now and like in many years past the first really warm and humid day Saturday fell on BRR 50 day. Yikes....you'd think a year in the desert heat would have helped me but noooooooo it felt hot out there to me.
My day started off at 3am when I rolled out of bed, grabbed my stuff and jumped in my trusty Nissan Sentra to make the 2 hour drive to the very familiar BRR50. This would be the 4th time I completed this run...more than any other race I have entered.
Since this was the 8th ultra of 2008 for me I have a pretty good routine down now. I drink two 210 calorie "weight loss shakes" from costco (they are cheap and full of good stuff..a knock off slimfast) and if I have 3+ hours until the run I might eat a powerbar as well. So 640 calories for a breakfast and then on the starting line I put down a pack of cliff shot blocks for another 200cals. I drink plain water or NUUN dissolved in water during the run and try to take in a 200 calorie pack every 45-60minutes. Bull Run was no different except that at the start line I was not standing shaking in a long sleeve shirt (or two and with pants) like I have been in the previous 7. I was in shorts and a singlet and I was completely comfortable...even warm.
I had wanted to push it in this one a bit more with the hopes of running near what I had in 2002 (7:56) but knew the shape I showed in 2001 was not really likely. The 11:40 I ran with my dad in 2003 would surely be doable though!
I started off at a conversational pace on the very first parking lot loop and settled in with the front pack that included Anne Lundblad and Justine Morrison. When the single track began I let them go and really started watching my heartrate monitor keeping it around 150bpm. From previous race sI know if I run at a pace that elicits a HR higher than 150 I will end up bonking and hurting. 150 is 82% of my marxHR.
I had some good conversation with Leo Lutz who I ran some early miles of JFK last Nov with and then settled in behind "Last Great Race & Grand Slam" record holder Joe Kulak. He lead me to the first aid station 1:05 into the run where I realized I was in the top 10 overall. I got excited and let it go a bit. I felt strong and good and was delighted that the super muddy section to the turn around where Anstr always is was not that sloppy. The temperature however was sweltering and the singlet I was wearing was already soaked through and had begun to chafe and bounce.
After the turn around I settled in with Jeff Brower and really enjoyed the constant ups and downs off good runable footing that makes the BRR special. We returned to the start/finish at 2:26. This felt great and I was confident I could hold this sub 9:00/mile pace a good while longer. Soon other runners were coming back to me off the front and I was able to pass Justine just prior to crossing the soccer fields. I had put down 200 cal shotblock packs at 60min, 1:45, and 2:40 but was beginning to tire. During the really hilly section after the 21mile aid station I realized I was gonna be slowing down and the fun running I was doing with Jeff and Justine was soon to end. At the 3 hour mark with 22 or so miles in the first quick rain shower hit and with it went my hamstrings. Hello Mr. Bonk! Done. Done done..like dinner.....DOAH!
Plan B. Enjoy the great event and finish. The next couple aid stations I sat down and hit the salt and coke hard. (21 minutes of down time says the garmin) The trail heading toward the infamous do loop was not my favorite as I didn't feel great and it being a newer lesser used trail that I was unfamiliar with made it downright suck. But, by the time I got to the do loop I was feeling a bit better. I gladly brought an umbrella out to Sean Andrish who was sitting gaurd at the T intersection and began some running with Leo again. I still had no strength to run any uphills and quickly let him go when nature called me off trail.
Once I had left the do loop and started the slog back most of the 20+ runners that would pass me were already gone so I actually ran alone for 2+ hours. Always amazes me that in a field of 350 runners you can end up being alone for so long.
One of the highlights of Bull Run is the aid stations and volunteers. This year was no different and a big thanks to John Dodds and Robi S, Bunny, and Aaron. (Who took awesome photos here)
With about 6 miles to go I was caught by Denis who woke me up and as you can see by looking at the below HR chart got me running again. I finished with a smile feeling like I had put out a really good effort on a tough day.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Road Racing with My Buddy
Last week 4 runs- 38 miles
Sunday- off
Monday- 6 easy treadmill
The last two Saturdays I have participated in the areas big road races. My wife and I completed the Charlottesville 10 Miler and Richmonds Ukrops Monument avenue 10K. The former had 2,000+ finishers and this weekends had over 24,000!!!! I believe it may even have been the biggest race I have ever participated in.
Both races were very well done and showcased their cities greatest streets and sights. The huge crowd in the 10k was incredibly well organized at the start with a multiple wave start via seeded corrals. This allowed the super elites competing in the USATF national championships (won by Abdi Abdiraham) to start unimpeded at 8:30, my D corral to start at 8:44 and so on back to walkers going off nearly an hour later. A pretty neat system indeed. I both of our races we managed to beat the majority of the folks AND enjoy ourselves.
The Charlottesville race had cool but clear weather which brought out a good number of fans while this Saturday's race was in the midst of the 8 straight days of rain we have endured. So the cheering sections were down from what I hear is common, but the hearty souls that were out there made it fun.
Pinning a number on for a road race always brings me back to my first ones....some 23 years (and 560-some races) ago when I was a little runt of an 11 year old. Many kids were out running in each race and I can only hope they will end up loving and competing in running races as much as I have over the years.
I also have a small pang of .....hhmmmmmmm you should get some speed workouts going and get competitive again..... playing in my ear.
Next up Bull Run Run 50 Miler!!!! nothing but easy 6 mile runs this week to come in rested and ready.
Sunday- off
Monday- 6 easy treadmill
The last two Saturdays I have participated in the areas big road races. My wife and I completed the Charlottesville 10 Miler and Richmonds Ukrops Monument avenue 10K. The former had 2,000+ finishers and this weekends had over 24,000!!!! I believe it may even have been the biggest race I have ever participated in.
Both races were very well done and showcased their cities greatest streets and sights. The huge crowd in the 10k was incredibly well organized at the start with a multiple wave start via seeded corrals. This allowed the super elites competing in the USATF national championships (won by Abdi Abdiraham) to start unimpeded at 8:30, my D corral to start at 8:44 and so on back to walkers going off nearly an hour later. A pretty neat system indeed. I both of our races we managed to beat the majority of the folks AND enjoy ourselves.
The Charlottesville race had cool but clear weather which brought out a good number of fans while this Saturday's race was in the midst of the 8 straight days of rain we have endured. So the cheering sections were down from what I hear is common, but the hearty souls that were out there made it fun.
Pinning a number on for a road race always brings me back to my first ones....some 23 years (and 560-some races) ago when I was a little runt of an 11 year old. Many kids were out running in each race and I can only hope they will end up loving and competing in running races as much as I have over the years.
I also have a small pang of .....hhmmmmmmm you should get some speed workouts going and get competitive again..... playing in my ear.
Next up Bull Run Run 50 Miler!!!! nothing but easy 6 mile runs this week to come in rested and ready.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Bel Monte 50 Mile
woooooo hooooooooooooo longest run of 2008! Saturday was the first running of the Bel Monte 50 miler in Sherando Lake VA. In previous years a 25k and 50K were run on the amazing trails that surround the lake and climb up to the blue ridge parkway. I had originally signed up for the 50k but decided that hay the 50 mile is new, I should just toughen up and run the big one. So I did.
Wow, what a tough 50 miler! I have competed in many 50 milers since my first in 1999, but none of them took longer than this one did. I managed to break 10 hours by a few seconds....and I ran hard. Ultra stud VHTRC clubmate and Charlottesville Running Co teammate Mike Mason won the race in 8:58. H0racio chased him all day and finished 2nd. Results here
I started the day in the dark trying to pick my steps through the first few stream crossings following the light of those around me who wore headlamps. The temps were a bit chilly (40's) but the sun would soon rise and raise the temps into the high 50's. When in the sun my long sleeve shirt was too much, but along the highest ridge lines in the late afternoon I was glad I had it on as a cold wind was blowing. Luckily the rain showers that were fore casted never came and it really was ideal all day.
Since I wanted to place pretty well I started out at a good clip while keeping my breathing in check. Since the 25k and 50k started with the 50 milers many of the fast folks were long gone before I knew it. I settled in with a good group and eagerly watched the miles tick by on my Garmin. ( stats here! )We had the first big climb of the race right off the bat. It also happened to be the best trail (least technical) which was a bummer as I really would have liked this incredible trail in the last 6 miles when I was whipped and whining for some good footing.
Before too long I fell into step with Dave Peterman and Brennon Wysong. The miles ticked by as I blabbed on about my bad memories from Western States and our previous runs at the incredible Massanutten mtn 100. At the 13 mile aid station VHTRC legends Robin Kane and Joe clapper ran on by us and would continue to stay together all day. They had started a bit more conservatively than I did but they spent the rest of the day 6-10 minutes a head of me.
After a few road miles I moved on alone and stayed alone for all but a few minutes for the next 7 hours. With the long out and backs it was never too lonely though and I had a great time encouraging the other runners. Nutrition-wise I continued to stick to cliff shot blocks as my primary fuel. I ate one twinky, drank a fair amount of coke, and added NUUN tablets to my water bottle at each fill up. Aid stations were well stocked and plentiful and as expected the course marking was outstanding.
As the miles ticked by I continued to move up in the field. I passed some runners and moved up by default as others dropped out. As I started up the last big climb I was holding on to 5th place and all I could think was...please let this go quickly... But, 5+miles at 16 minutes per mile really did not go too quickly. I got to the top out of water and hurting but with out being caught. I thought I had it in the bag until as I started to leave the station I took one final look back and saw the Dave pulling in. Doah! I gotta work now! The last 7 was downhill and ridge line running and easily was the most technical of the the entire race. Ugh! so many rocks! Signal knob has nothing on Tory ridge. Ever so slowly the miles ticked by and when I was almost down I came up on Joe. He was moving slowly and was suffering once again from the vision problems that plaque him. When oxygen flow to his eyes is lessened they cloud over and he slowly looses his vision. This makes trail running all but impossible.
Joe is a great guy and good friend so I was happy to escort him on in to the finish. I just lead and he stepped where I put my feet. The clock continued to tick and I figured for sure we were going to miss the 10 hour barrier but with a bit of a push on the final blacktop piece we managed to get across the line just in time.
All in all it was the best effort I have put out since the 3:01 marathon I ran at Marine Corps last October. The feet, ankles, and knees were aching pretty good on the drive home, but the leg muscles felt surprisingly good due to some hot lasagna at the finish. A very nice treat!
Wow, what a tough 50 miler! I have competed in many 50 milers since my first in 1999, but none of them took longer than this one did. I managed to break 10 hours by a few seconds....and I ran hard. Ultra stud VHTRC clubmate and Charlottesville Running Co teammate Mike Mason won the race in 8:58. H0racio chased him all day and finished 2nd. Results here
I started the day in the dark trying to pick my steps through the first few stream crossings following the light of those around me who wore headlamps. The temps were a bit chilly (40's) but the sun would soon rise and raise the temps into the high 50's. When in the sun my long sleeve shirt was too much, but along the highest ridge lines in the late afternoon I was glad I had it on as a cold wind was blowing. Luckily the rain showers that were fore casted never came and it really was ideal all day.
Since I wanted to place pretty well I started out at a good clip while keeping my breathing in check. Since the 25k and 50k started with the 50 milers many of the fast folks were long gone before I knew it. I settled in with a good group and eagerly watched the miles tick by on my Garmin. ( stats here! )We had the first big climb of the race right off the bat. It also happened to be the best trail (least technical) which was a bummer as I really would have liked this incredible trail in the last 6 miles when I was whipped and whining for some good footing.
Before too long I fell into step with Dave Peterman and Brennon Wysong. The miles ticked by as I blabbed on about my bad memories from Western States and our previous runs at the incredible Massanutten mtn 100. At the 13 mile aid station VHTRC legends Robin Kane and Joe clapper ran on by us and would continue to stay together all day. They had started a bit more conservatively than I did but they spent the rest of the day 6-10 minutes a head of me.
After a few road miles I moved on alone and stayed alone for all but a few minutes for the next 7 hours. With the long out and backs it was never too lonely though and I had a great time encouraging the other runners. Nutrition-wise I continued to stick to cliff shot blocks as my primary fuel. I ate one twinky, drank a fair amount of coke, and added NUUN tablets to my water bottle at each fill up. Aid stations were well stocked and plentiful and as expected the course marking was outstanding.
As the miles ticked by I continued to move up in the field. I passed some runners and moved up by default as others dropped out. As I started up the last big climb I was holding on to 5th place and all I could think was...please let this go quickly... But, 5+miles at 16 minutes per mile really did not go too quickly. I got to the top out of water and hurting but with out being caught. I thought I had it in the bag until as I started to leave the station I took one final look back and saw the Dave pulling in. Doah! I gotta work now! The last 7 was downhill and ridge line running and easily was the most technical of the the entire race. Ugh! so many rocks! Signal knob has nothing on Tory ridge. Ever so slowly the miles ticked by and when I was almost down I came up on Joe. He was moving slowly and was suffering once again from the vision problems that plaque him. When oxygen flow to his eyes is lessened they cloud over and he slowly looses his vision. This makes trail running all but impossible.
Joe is a great guy and good friend so I was happy to escort him on in to the finish. I just lead and he stepped where I put my feet. The clock continued to tick and I figured for sure we were going to miss the 10 hour barrier but with a bit of a push on the final blacktop piece we managed to get across the line just in time.
All in all it was the best effort I have put out since the 3:01 marathon I ran at Marine Corps last October. The feet, ankles, and knees were aching pretty good on the drive home, but the leg muscles felt surprisingly good due to some hot lasagna at the finish. A very nice treat!
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Mount Mitchell Challenge
Descent into the clouds at the Mt Mitchell Challenge. This is VHTRC teammate Bryon Powell who I managed to finish with in 6:23. Results here
Running up the first 3 mile road climb out of the town of Black Mountain, NC
Heading up the early single track trail... runners in both the Challenge and the Marathon ran together
Heading up to the Blue Ridge parkway on a rocky jeep trail
Miles 14 and 26 at the aid station along the blue ridge parkway. Amazing views of the mountains and their fleeting cloud cover.
A view of the alpine woods approaching the summit. The trail is actually pictured...Can you see it? We hit the summit 3:45 in to the race.
Me at mile 22 with cloudy and fogged in Mt Mitchell in the back ground left. Photo by Brad Smythe
Happy at the beautiful finish line. I manged to soundly break 6:30 thanks to Goat Powell catching me 3 miles out from the finish and making me run 7:00 pace miles to close......what gives man? I don't breath hard in ultras!
VHTRC folks enjoying the beauty of Black Mountain at the finish: Loomis, Goat Powell, Gretchen Powell, and BTB C-ville Running Company teammate Mike Mason
Course Profile: 38 miles (21 miles climbing up to 6,684ft, then 17 mile descent)Amazing Race!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Mt Mitchell 40 is one of the coolest races I have ever done when taken as a whole:
1. Course location: Awesome highest mountain in the east coast
2. Course terrain: great mix of road, Jeep trail, runnable single track, super steep technical trail
3. Distance: advertised at 40 miles the 38 was more than enough. I love 50k-50mil distances!
4. Beauty: the views from the town of Black Mountain, along the ascent and descent and from the summit are unbelievable
5. Aid / support: the town was out cheering us on, the race had 9!! aid stations some of which were packed in and had campsites and fires going
6. Weather: Always iffy, but we lucked out temps 40-60 and no rain, hardly any ice at the summit, crazy gusting winds and cloud/fog made it interesting
7. Companionship on the trail: lots of good folks out there and 6 miles with (including a finish)buddy Bryon
8. Effort expended: Perfect...Hard but enjoyable. I took a lot of photos, had conversations and really enjoyed it, but was competitive with myself and others too. I had three really good pressing stretches: miles 14-20, 22-31, and 35-38
9. How I felt (GI issues, legs, lungs, mentality)- NO ISSUES! Great day. One pit stop, 1400 calories of clif shot blocks ingested; along with water and coke at the aid stations. Legs were strong and held up to the descent fine, altitude was noticeable miles 15-26 when we were above 5200ft. But it was not too much. Mentally I am happy to be fit enough to be running NEAR the front of the pack once again. 22nd of 122
All things considered it was the best ultra I have experienced in 6 years.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Holiday Lake 50K
Firday- off
Saturday- 34 miles- 5:07
Great fun yesterday on the trails around Holiday Lake State Park! I went to (and finished) the infamous Horton creme puff ultra the HL 50K for the first time finally solidifying that I am an ultrarunner.....It seems HL50k is most folks in Virginia's first ultra. Yet it took me 10 years and 70 ultras to get there.
The weather was perfect 40's all day with a clear sky little wind and trails that were not too muddy. a few stream crossings and slight grade hills keep the double 17 mile loop interesting. And the double track trail/road for most of the run allows two folks to run abreast and chat....which is what I did all day long with VHTRC bud Ryan Henry. We were together from the first rays of sunrise until we cross the finishing tape. Fun! Great conversation and company was had with many others as well. We finished just shy of the top 50 in the race showing that ultras are indeed getting more popular and competitive. A 5 hour finish here in previous years was normally place top 25.
I ran steady with very few walk breaks and managed to hold 9:02 pace for the run. Splits for first and 2nd half fell off (2:24/2:43) with a long pit stop in the bushes accounting for some of that. The course was opposite of Uwharrie two weeks ago in that it did nothing to my quads but worked the hamstrings due to all the steady running. No technical trail sections and no real hills really spared the legs so walking around this morning after is completely fine.
This was an impromptu race for me, but with entries not closed, my Saturday unplanned, and the start line a mere 90minutes from my door I could not pass this one up. And for all those who hate this run (like mountian specialist Keith Knipling- who stated "Give me two loops of T.W.O.T. over this anyday" at the finish) there are just as many roadrunner types who really enjoy it. Like me yesterday.
Now off to Mt Mitchell!
Saturday- 34 miles- 5:07
Great fun yesterday on the trails around Holiday Lake State Park! I went to (and finished) the infamous Horton creme puff ultra the HL 50K for the first time finally solidifying that I am an ultrarunner.....It seems HL50k is most folks in Virginia's first ultra. Yet it took me 10 years and 70 ultras to get there.
The weather was perfect 40's all day with a clear sky little wind and trails that were not too muddy. a few stream crossings and slight grade hills keep the double 17 mile loop interesting. And the double track trail/road for most of the run allows two folks to run abreast and chat....which is what I did all day long with VHTRC bud Ryan Henry. We were together from the first rays of sunrise until we cross the finishing tape. Fun! Great conversation and company was had with many others as well. We finished just shy of the top 50 in the race showing that ultras are indeed getting more popular and competitive. A 5 hour finish here in previous years was normally place top 25.
I ran steady with very few walk breaks and managed to hold 9:02 pace for the run. Splits for first and 2nd half fell off (2:24/2:43) with a long pit stop in the bushes accounting for some of that. The course was opposite of Uwharrie two weeks ago in that it did nothing to my quads but worked the hamstrings due to all the steady running. No technical trail sections and no real hills really spared the legs so walking around this morning after is completely fine.
This was an impromptu race for me, but with entries not closed, my Saturday unplanned, and the start line a mere 90minutes from my door I could not pass this one up. And for all those who hate this run (like mountian specialist Keith Knipling- who stated "Give me two loops of T.W.O.T. over this anyday" at the finish) there are just as many roadrunner types who really enjoy it. Like me yesterday.
Now off to Mt Mitchell!
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Foxhaven Farms Trail 10k
Saturday- 1 w up 5.7-46:31, 4miles c dn
A great day today in my favorite town (charlottesville, VA). The weather was great for the Charlottesville Running Clubs 2nd race in the Great Eastern Trail Run Series and canine races for the SPCA.
It was super fun to see 20 some dogs and owners takle a tough trail 4 miler in C-ville today and then hit the trails for my shortest race in a long time. The runs were held out on riverroad and on the private lands and trails of foxhaven farms. and WOW were they hilly!!!
Not one but TWO climbs kicked my butt today and sent my HR into the 180's. Fun stuff. I managed to average 159bpm for the entire 46 minutes of racing showing that yes...I NEED to push myself a bit harder. Stats here.
A great day today in my favorite town (charlottesville, VA). The weather was great for the Charlottesville Running Clubs 2nd race in the Great Eastern Trail Run Series and canine races for the SPCA.
It was super fun to see 20 some dogs and owners takle a tough trail 4 miler in C-ville today and then hit the trails for my shortest race in a long time. The runs were held out on riverroad and on the private lands and trails of foxhaven farms. and WOW were they hilly!!!
Not one but TWO climbs kicked my butt today and sent my HR into the 180's. Fun stuff. I managed to average 159bpm for the entire 46 minutes of racing showing that yes...I NEED to push myself a bit harder. Stats here.
Chart of my HR and elevation changes in the race. HILLY!
It was so much fun to just let it rip and not worry about dying or bonking. Short races are great. I need to do much more of these. I even felt good on a 4 mile cool down with race winner and reigning USATF trail marathon champion Aaron Saft.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Uwharrie 40
Friday- off
Saturday- 41- 7:38
Sunday- off recovery
Wow, what a race! Uwharrie is a tough run...great singletrack, no huge climbs, but constant undulating hills with decently technical terrain that never lets you open up and click off some quick or easy miles. I underestimated the course and figured I was fit enough to run a sub 7 hour run here, but was not even close on the second 20 after hitting the half way turn around in 3:31. I never completely bonked and had no stomach issues yet again ( 9 packs of 200 calorie shot blocks with water, coke, and NUUN was all I ingested), but I did not have the skills to run any faster.
I opened up pushing pretty good on the first climb then settled in with the heartrate hitting 145-150 for the first 5 miles then stayed steady with an ave HR of 141bpm at 20 miles. I only managed an ave of 132 on the second 20 for a total average of 136bpm for the race. Stats here.
I was really fortunate to hook up with CJ Blagg of Arlington and VHTRC fame at mile 9 and managed to run with him the entire rest of the run. We were perfectly matched and helped one another enjoy the truly amazing weather day (clear and still with temps of 32-60).
VHTRC folks were everywhere with Sean Andrish running the 6th fastest time ever (6:05) for the win and several others in placing top 10. On the womens side VHTRC represented well with new friend and C-ville Running Club teammate Alyssa Godesky running 8:00 and Sophie pounding out a strong 8:08 for 6th and 7th.
All in all it was a great day and a great event. I am glad I am finally able to say I have run the famous Uwharrie trail. Now on to Mt Mitchell!
Saturday- 41- 7:38
Sunday- off recovery
Wow, what a race! Uwharrie is a tough run...great singletrack, no huge climbs, but constant undulating hills with decently technical terrain that never lets you open up and click off some quick or easy miles. I underestimated the course and figured I was fit enough to run a sub 7 hour run here, but was not even close on the second 20 after hitting the half way turn around in 3:31. I never completely bonked and had no stomach issues yet again ( 9 packs of 200 calorie shot blocks with water, coke, and NUUN was all I ingested), but I did not have the skills to run any faster.
I opened up pushing pretty good on the first climb then settled in with the heartrate hitting 145-150 for the first 5 miles then stayed steady with an ave HR of 141bpm at 20 miles. I only managed an ave of 132 on the second 20 for a total average of 136bpm for the race. Stats here.
I was really fortunate to hook up with CJ Blagg of Arlington and VHTRC fame at mile 9 and managed to run with him the entire rest of the run. We were perfectly matched and helped one another enjoy the truly amazing weather day (clear and still with temps of 32-60).
VHTRC folks were everywhere with Sean Andrish running the 6th fastest time ever (6:05) for the win and several others in placing top 10. On the womens side VHTRC represented well with new friend and C-ville Running Club teammate Alyssa Godesky running 8:00 and Sophie pounding out a strong 8:08 for 6th and 7th.
All in all it was a great day and a great event. I am glad I am finally able to say I have run the famous Uwharrie trail. Now on to Mt Mitchell!
Monday, January 21, 2008
Swinging Bridge 50k
Friday -5miles w/ Anne
Saturday- 50K- 5:26 (9th)
Sunday & Monday- off
A good weekend here with a fun run at the Swinging Bridge 50k in Bear Creek st park, Cumberland, VA. Not sure why the event had the name it did...I don't remember crossing any bridges at all....but we did cross about 10 stream! Lots of blow down trees to climb over or crawl under as well! Literally 100+ on the bi-directional out and back course. Thus,the winning time of 4:23 was super impressive to me.
I had a fun day running the first 9 miles with Bethany Patterson and Derrick Carr of the VHTRC fame. We had lots of conversation before the first turn around point when Derrick began to pick up the pace. I gave chase and lasted a good 4 miles before backing the pace down and letting my HR drop below 150 again. I managed to run several miles near Dan Lehman the RD for WV's amazing Highlands Sky race (which I will unfortunately miss again this year due to being in Chicago!) Who told me about a new 50 miler being added to the mid-atlantic ultra calendar.....a Night run in August with a 9pm start time. Should be fun!
With about 1.5 miles to go before the 35k finish, where I would begin the second out and back section, I was caught again by Bethany. We ran in together where she took the First female placing in that race. I ran on alone for the final 10 miles holding a steady pace, but had to put in several walk breaks as the hills got bigger and my legs more fatigued.
Having my Garmin 305 was once again a nice treat to know how far sections were and how much I had left. This race clocked in at 31.3miles with an ave HR of 137bpm (stats here). I was able to finish up with a couple strong 8:00 pace miles coming home in 9th place.
Recovery has gone great as I seem to be getting over these long ones quicker and quicker. On to Uwharrie 40 in 2 weeks!
Best thing about this weekend was finishing 40 minutes before the snow/freezing rain began falling. Lets hope my luck continues.
Saturday- 50K- 5:26 (9th)
Sunday & Monday- off
A good weekend here with a fun run at the Swinging Bridge 50k in Bear Creek st park, Cumberland, VA. Not sure why the event had the name it did...I don't remember crossing any bridges at all....but we did cross about 10 stream! Lots of blow down trees to climb over or crawl under as well! Literally 100+ on the bi-directional out and back course. Thus,the winning time of 4:23 was super impressive to me.
I had a fun day running the first 9 miles with Bethany Patterson and Derrick Carr of the VHTRC fame. We had lots of conversation before the first turn around point when Derrick began to pick up the pace. I gave chase and lasted a good 4 miles before backing the pace down and letting my HR drop below 150 again. I managed to run several miles near Dan Lehman the RD for WV's amazing Highlands Sky race (which I will unfortunately miss again this year due to being in Chicago!) Who told me about a new 50 miler being added to the mid-atlantic ultra calendar.....a Night run in August with a 9pm start time. Should be fun!
With about 1.5 miles to go before the 35k finish, where I would begin the second out and back section, I was caught again by Bethany. We ran in together where she took the First female placing in that race. I ran on alone for the final 10 miles holding a steady pace, but had to put in several walk breaks as the hills got bigger and my legs more fatigued.
Having my Garmin 305 was once again a nice treat to know how far sections were and how much I had left. This race clocked in at 31.3miles with an ave HR of 137bpm (stats here). I was able to finish up with a couple strong 8:00 pace miles coming home in 9th place.
Recovery has gone great as I seem to be getting over these long ones quicker and quicker. On to Uwharrie 40 in 2 weeks!
Best thing about this weekend was finishing 40 minutes before the snow/freezing rain began falling. Lets hope my luck continues.
Monday, December 10, 2007
Hellgate 66 miler
Wow 79 degrees today: Dec 10th (what the Hell!)
Well Friday night at 12:01 am I began my quest to complete David Horton's longest/hardest/and youngest ultra race held in the southwestern Virginia mountains. This race: hellgate 100K is (like the other Horton races) long and rolls in at 66 miles (measured by 4 different GPS's units). the fact that it is located where it is and is 66 miles makes it hard enough but add in the being awake all day factor, starting in the dark, and the likelihood of cold, snow, ice and you get an epic event....just like the good Dr. Horton likes.
I did not mind all of the above...what I didn't like was the incredible amount of leaves down IN the trail covering all the loose and jagged rocks that make the blue ridge mountains the old decaying giants they are. The late fall and recent leaf drop with out much wind or rain recently created pockets of leaves 2 foot deep and rendered many sections of trail 1-3 miles in length completely unrunnable at any kind of normal stride. I like running and really was thrown off and slowed by this.
The 2nd thing that makes this race a tough one for me is my current state of having no hip flexor or hip extensor power. There are Many long climbs on the course where you ascend straight on forest service roads for one thousand to 2000 ft and without any hill climbing in Egypt and hardly any since I came back my legs just are not ready for the steady walking grind. Women, children, dogs and those in their 60's simply walked away from me on all these climbs. It got to be comical as I would have to take shuffling running steps to catch back up to those I was moving with until they walked away again. And whenever I stopped for a bathroom pit stop, or to get something out of my shoe I could never catch back up.
Luckily there were some downhills on the course and here I was able to run like I wanted and my quads (all hardend up from the 21, 26, 40, 62, 25, 26, and 50 mile long runs I have done the last 14 weeks) held up like champs and allowed me to go as fast as I wanted. Even today 48hrs post finish I easily handled some running in the back yard with Oskar.
The best thing about Hellgate was all the time I got to spend with VHTRC mates and training partners beginning with a few miles on the first climb with legends of ultrarunning Scott Mills and Derrick Carr, then Bethany Patterson and Ryan Henry miles 10-20. At mile 27 I began to run with Sophie Speidel and finished it out the last 3 miles with Kerry Owens. But, from Mile 2 on to mile 60 I ran with slightly ahead of or just behind my training partner of 2000-2001 Jeff Wilbur. Without all of y'alls company I would not have had the good time I did. THANKS!
My race started out HOT! as the temp was much warmer than I anticipated and I was insanely overdressed. This necessitated a stop about 1.5 miles into the first climb to strip off two Patagonia capilene T- shirts, my hat, gloves, and re-don but unzip my sporthill windshielding long sleeve. The patagonia running pants I had on were also not necessary but ended up staying on for all 66 miles.
After this first break I settled in at a fun pace where I could chat it up with Jeff Wilbur and stayed just off the front group and slightly ahead of the womens top 2-6 placers. This pace had me slipping back slightly during the race when I had some bonk points but surging again strongly after 42 miles.
Due to ice conditions the BR parkway was closed causing the mile 22 aid staion and drop back place to be moved and drop bags going only to mile 42. This pretty much sucked as I had planned to adjust my clothing, shoes (as I was getting a blister) and pick up needed cliff shot blocks as they have been the main thing that has been working well for me in ultras of late. but, what are you gonna do???? I ran on... ate the shot blocks I had at a sparing pace and bonked..... until mile 27 where I put down an amazingly tasting scrambled egg wrapped in a tortilla. After another long climb that digested well and I had some great running energy....until the next bonk. Such is the ultra game.
At mile 42 I picked up my drop back took several minutes to make several adjustments and rallied to run the next section very well enjoying perhaps the most BEAUTIFUL SECTION of trail running in all of the 55 ultras I have now completed! Incredible section with great trail and sweeping vistas as far as you could see. I will never forget those 7 miles.
So will I go back???? Everyone always asks this after the tough ones... everyone answers no immediately then relents later. but, honestly no I doubt it. There are other races I want to do. Consider this box checked.
NEXT!
Well Friday night at 12:01 am I began my quest to complete David Horton's longest/hardest/and youngest ultra race held in the southwestern Virginia mountains. This race: hellgate 100K is (like the other Horton races) long and rolls in at 66 miles (measured by 4 different GPS's units). the fact that it is located where it is and is 66 miles makes it hard enough but add in the being awake all day factor, starting in the dark, and the likelihood of cold, snow, ice and you get an epic event....just like the good Dr. Horton likes.
I did not mind all of the above...what I didn't like was the incredible amount of leaves down IN the trail covering all the loose and jagged rocks that make the blue ridge mountains the old decaying giants they are. The late fall and recent leaf drop with out much wind or rain recently created pockets of leaves 2 foot deep and rendered many sections of trail 1-3 miles in length completely unrunnable at any kind of normal stride. I like running and really was thrown off and slowed by this.
The 2nd thing that makes this race a tough one for me is my current state of having no hip flexor or hip extensor power. There are Many long climbs on the course where you ascend straight on forest service roads for one thousand to 2000 ft and without any hill climbing in Egypt and hardly any since I came back my legs just are not ready for the steady walking grind. Women, children, dogs and those in their 60's simply walked away from me on all these climbs. It got to be comical as I would have to take shuffling running steps to catch back up to those I was moving with until they walked away again. And whenever I stopped for a bathroom pit stop, or to get something out of my shoe I could never catch back up.
Luckily there were some downhills on the course and here I was able to run like I wanted and my quads (all hardend up from the 21, 26, 40, 62, 25, 26, and 50 mile long runs I have done the last 14 weeks) held up like champs and allowed me to go as fast as I wanted. Even today 48hrs post finish I easily handled some running in the back yard with Oskar.
The best thing about Hellgate was all the time I got to spend with VHTRC mates and training partners beginning with a few miles on the first climb with legends of ultrarunning Scott Mills and Derrick Carr, then Bethany Patterson and Ryan Henry miles 10-20. At mile 27 I began to run with Sophie Speidel and finished it out the last 3 miles with Kerry Owens. But, from Mile 2 on to mile 60 I ran with slightly ahead of or just behind my training partner of 2000-2001 Jeff Wilbur. Without all of y'alls company I would not have had the good time I did. THANKS!
My race started out HOT! as the temp was much warmer than I anticipated and I was insanely overdressed. This necessitated a stop about 1.5 miles into the first climb to strip off two Patagonia capilene T- shirts, my hat, gloves, and re-don but unzip my sporthill windshielding long sleeve. The patagonia running pants I had on were also not necessary but ended up staying on for all 66 miles.
After this first break I settled in at a fun pace where I could chat it up with Jeff Wilbur and stayed just off the front group and slightly ahead of the womens top 2-6 placers. This pace had me slipping back slightly during the race when I had some bonk points but surging again strongly after 42 miles.
Due to ice conditions the BR parkway was closed causing the mile 22 aid staion and drop back place to be moved and drop bags going only to mile 42. This pretty much sucked as I had planned to adjust my clothing, shoes (as I was getting a blister) and pick up needed cliff shot blocks as they have been the main thing that has been working well for me in ultras of late. but, what are you gonna do???? I ran on... ate the shot blocks I had at a sparing pace and bonked..... until mile 27 where I put down an amazingly tasting scrambled egg wrapped in a tortilla. After another long climb that digested well and I had some great running energy....until the next bonk. Such is the ultra game.
At mile 42 I picked up my drop back took several minutes to make several adjustments and rallied to run the next section very well enjoying perhaps the most BEAUTIFUL SECTION of trail running in all of the 55 ultras I have now completed! Incredible section with great trail and sweeping vistas as far as you could see. I will never forget those 7 miles.
So will I go back???? Everyone always asks this after the tough ones... everyone answers no immediately then relents later. but, honestly no I doubt it. There are other races I want to do. Consider this box checked.
NEXT!
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