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!

Do you need inspiration?

Monday- off
Tuesday- 21miles- 3:39 trails
Wed- off
Thursday- 7 miles on TM

Inspiration??? Look no further: Sarah Reinertsen (her Blog), Amputee Triathlete (her page)

She is the first above knee amputee to complete Kona's Ironman triathlon. And recently has been shown on the TV show The Amazing Race and in a Lincoln car commercial. Very amazing person...an amputee since age 7. Her picture from the cover of Triathlete magazine is framed and on the wall in the clinic where I work helping amputee's learn how to walk using prosthetic legs.

Slacking

Last week: 36 miles on 5 runs in 4 days.

All runs short. (5-10 miles) I completed my first double of 2008 last Tuesday by running 5miles in the am with Anne, and 7 miles around the riverbank loop here in town in the afternoon after work. It felt really good. But the next day I was tired/bonky. I gotta eat better.

This weekend I did not get anything long or fast in (a shock huh?!) and I have now gone 5 straight weeks with out a speed workout!!! Not sure why that happens. I really have good intentions. I'm just lazy and enjoy running without pushing the effort too much I guess.

Yesterday was a good run as I did 21 miles around the Charlottesville Rivanna trail and only got lost a little bit by 5th street (looking for a trail extension) and then a bit more by Avon street (looking for the actual trail (its unmarked there!)

The loop with getting lost time took me 3:39 compared to 2 weeks ago when it took 3:55. I suppose the third time will be the charm and I won't get lost at all!

I'm getting excited for this weekends Bel Monte 50k/50mile. Time to do some LONG running. I am stepping up to the 50 mile. Should be fun....lets hope for good weather so I can enjoy the beautiful course.

Catawba Run Around

36 miles- 9:53 (9:11 moving time)

The Dragons Tooth

Tinker Cliffs

Joe Clapper scaling the Dragons tooth in 40mph wind gusts and flurries

A great run in less than ideal weather on Saturday in catawba, VA. I got to run around the town on the Appalachian trail and the OLD Appalachian trail before it was rerouted. Very cool run. GPS map and data here!!!

I have been really busy lately so more to write later and pictures of Catawba too.

For now a Mileage update:

January- 210 miles
February- 236 miles

in the first 60 days of 2008 I ran 31 times for an average run of 14 miles per run

Long runs for 2008 are: 22, 31, 31, 34, 36, 38, 41

Charlottesville's Rivanna Trail

Friday- 22.56 miles- Rivanna ring trail

I was spontaneous Friday and hopped in the car to head up to my favorite town Charlottesville, VA for some running on the Rivanna trail. This 20 mile loop trail encircles the town and the University of Virginia. It is great singletrack trail that goes through city parks, on private land and on a few streets to connect sections. This trail has been in the works for several years and when I lived there in 2000-2002 it looked vastly different than today.

Huge numbers of new houses, condos and townhouses have been built within sight line of the trail and a few sections have been finished or moved since I last ran there...and even one section that was open is now closed to use. Overall the trail is in great shape and well maintained and well marked. However, some unfinished parts and areas where permission to use is not official....no markings exist. yikes!

Thus, I started off with some good maps and tips from Frannie at the CRC. This fared me well initially and then 5-6 miles in to the run none other than Jeff Wilbur runs up behind me. He was out on his daily run and happened to be in the same section of trail. We would run together for the next 4-5 miles just like years past. It was great.

After Jeff turned back to go back home to complete his out and back, I manged to find my way through some tricky stretches and really was doing well until 16.5 miles into the loop. Then I missed something...or it obviously wasn't marked well enough. Somehow I dumped into Quary park and could not find the trail. I ended up just running toward downtown with the idea of road running back to my car. I thought better of it after a mile and managed to backtrack a bit, forge the river, and re-find the trail.

I ended up running 22.5 miles (3:55 total time) but 3:32 of actual moving time or 9:25 per mile Stats and maps here. Not bad for unfamiliar trail. Now that I know the route I'd like to go back and have a go at 3 hours for the supposed true 20 mile loop.

Overall the nearly 4 hours with one bottle and one gel was a great training adventure!!

Chasing Annette

Sunday & Monday- off
Tuesday- 13 miles easy treadmill
Wednesday- 6 miles road
Thursday- off

Okay just for curiosity sake I looked up what I thought I remembered. And it turns out it did happen. The amazing Annette Bednosky ran the February triple that I just completed this month in the year 2005. The same year that she went on to win the Western States 100 miler in an amazing 18:39. What is this February triple you ask? Uwharrie 40 mile, Holiday Lake 50k, and Mt Mitchell Challenge 40 in the same month.

How did I stack up:
Annette: Uwharrie 40- 6:59, HL50K- 4:51, MMC- 5:50
Me: Uwharrie 40- 7:38, HL50k- 5:07, MMC- 6:23

Later that spring she went on to run what will be my next two scheduled events:
Bel Monte 50k- 4:59
Bull Run Run 50mile- 7:40

In her amazing year she set course records at the two 40's and BRR 50.

It will be interesting to see how I can stack up. Annette you rock!

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.

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!

Heartrates anyone???

After playing with a heartrate monitor for one of the first times I am begining to gather some data on myself. I am begining to wonder what others are getting for their own HR values.

1) I have run 3 trail ultras of 31-41 miles in length the last few weeks and seem to average a HR of 136-138bpm with a steady moderate effort the whole race but HR fell over the 5-7 hours from 140's to 120's.

2) with easy runs of 45min-1:45 around my neighborhood I have an ave HR of 128-138bpm depending on how easy I go. For me 130bpm is around 8:45 pace per mile

3) in a hilly 10k trail race I have readings of 159bpm ave and shooting in to the 170's on the up hills 145-150's on the downhills. This was pretty much a max effort for 46minutes.

4) And in track work of 1000m and mile repeats with full recoveries I tend to average 153-161bpm for the repeat. With values in the last 100m of the repeat of 164-170. These repeats were close to 6:00 mile pace or my current VO2 max pace according to Jack Daniels calculator using my recent 3:01 marathon. (That was a total all out, well paced effort).

Sprinting up a hill I have got my HR up to 183 (I had said 192 but looking at the data graph from Uwharrie that one point had to be an error...it jumped from 178 to 191and then back into the 170's immediately) spriniting the first hill in the CRC trail 10k I hit 183. I will do a test soon to more accurately find my current max HR. I remember now my max HR being lower than predicted when I was doing lab testing in 1997 to 2002 (old values were 181-190 for my max then...and a few years have passed). I am 33 years old, but understand the 220-age formula has a 12bpm standard deviation! So is notoriously off for the majority.

So what I want to do next week is a 2 mile time trial to find out my current true VO2 max fitness and what my HR is during this run.

What kind of values do you get???
Book values below:
Vo2max- % of max HR=95-98
Lactate threshold- % of max HR 80-92
Recovery easy run -% of max Hr should be less than 75%

And why does the check spelling feature no longer work on my blog???

Solid Week

Sunday- yoga
Monday- 15 miles - 2:12
Tuesday- weight work
wednesday- 12 Miles (10 run 2 walk)
Thursday 6 miles (5x1000m)

Some nice solid work this week. I'm still keeping with the day on day off schedule with my runs being on the longish side. Monday was pure steady, wednesday I did 10 miles running then walked 2 at 12% grade with a 25lbs weight vest on (Hardrock looms!)

Yesterday was a great weather day 45 degrees perfectly still with blue skies and a warm sun. I went to the track and put in a classsic repeat workout: 5 x 1000m with equal recovery time. This one went well with laps of: 3:44, 3:42, 3:41, 3:41, 3:38. I tried to run very steady with a tiny bit of increased effort as the workout progressed. HR averages: 153, 155, 155, 156, 157




You can see the warm up, strider, 400m in 93sec, then 5x 1000m reps, and cool down here. cool!

It just felt good to be on the track and pushing. This is the 4th week in a row with a solid fast workout for me. Habit?? I hope so.