Coach Spencer Runs in the Woods

3:54:52 for 50K! Huge PR. Won the Race!

2011-11-19T21:44:00.000-05:00

Stats:

Previous 50K PR: 4:41:00

Today's time (half mile longer than 50K): 3:54:52- 47 minutes faster than old PR

Pace: 7:24/mile

Winning margin: 23 minutes

First, let me say I know there are tons of faster people out there. I know I'm nowhere near them. The Mad Marsh 50K with 68 competitors wasn't the largest, most competitive race out there. BUT, I am really happy with my accomplishments lately & was proud to say I won a race for the first time since 1988. People have asked what the secret to my improvement is...

* Significant weight loss.

* Experience & putting things into perspective during a race.

* Pushing myself in training (though my long runs could be more frequent).

* CONFIDENCE!

I have raced way more than ever before this year and I think all but one race was a PR. After Kiawah, I will have raced 552 miles this year. There's simply no doubt in my mind that I'll PR in every race I run. The question is by how much. Maybe that sounds cocky, but it works. I used to worry a ton and doom myself to a bad race before I even started. 6 years ago, I started doing ultras & trail races because I didn't like the pressure I put on myself in road races & didn't like the disappointment that went with it. Things went downhill when I turned 30 & I thought I had not hope of getting better or returning to where I was.

Switching to trail running & ultras helped relieve some pressure but I still had a bad attitude. I made up excuses but could hide it with "Oh, but it was an insane mountain trail. How was I supposed to do well?" My return to more road running and trying to run fast has been way more enjoyable than I ever thought it could be though I do still enjoy the rocks, roots & especially the scenery of trail running.

I set some goals in July & one of them was to break 4:00 for 50K. I honestly thought it was the hardest goal on my list and wasn't sure I'd get it. Frosty 50K in January was going to be my big attempt. I found out about the Mad Marsh 50K a couple of weeks ago & just decided Wednesday to come down to Beaufort, SC and run it. I told some people on my team I was going to win it & run under 4 hours. Most believed me, I think, but some asked, "How do you know? You don't even know who's going to be there?" I told them I didn't care. I was going to do what it took to win. If that meant I had to run 3:40 to win, I would just have to do that. If it meant I could run 3:59 and win, then so be it. Wait, did I mention 4:41 was my PR before?? :)

The race was 7x4.5 mile loops around an abandoned golf course. I guess it was on what was once unpaved cart paths. The surface was sandy and a little loose, but better than I expected. There was one short section where the grass was pretty tall and rough, but other than that, it was a great surface though calling it a trail is a bit misleading. More like grassy/dirt/sand path. I enjoyed the course and always like loop courses.

I have to talk a little junk. There were some "cool guys" decked out in fancy gear who yelled at me a minute after the start to slow down, that I didn't know what I was doing, that they were the ones setting the pace & for me to fall back. I turned around & said, "I think I want to run a little faster if that's OK." They indicated they'd see me in the last half of the race- implying I'd die & they'd catch me. I must say it brought me a little joy to lap them on my 5th lap. I felt like I was pretty encouraging to the people I lapped, but not to the guys who yelled at me. Maybe that's mean.

I went out with another guy for the first lap. I ran right on his shoulder for 4 miles and then beside him for the last half mile of that lap and we talked a little. He was just running 3 laps- a little over half marathon & I left him shortly after the end of the first lap. There was one other guy in sight behind me for the first 2 laps but that's all. I led the whole way but wasn't sure how much of a lead I had.

Things went perfectly other than frequent bathroom breaks (what's new??) & I was able to run very consistently. I hit the marathon in exactly the same time as I ran last week at Thunder Road! 3:08. After that, knowing I'd be under 4:00 & would win, I backed off the last 5 miles. I kept looking back, seeing if I needed to pick it up in case someone caught up, but I didn't realize how much I was leading by. I won by 23 minutes and had a 47 minute PR! Actually, the course was a little long, at 31.7, so it would've been a few minutes under 3:54. I usually like to finish races strong, but I'm OK with easing up at the end here. I think the best I could've done would've been 3:51. 3:51, 3:54... not a big difference. Had I been able to get under 3:50, I would've gone for it.

Below is the breakdown, not by 4.5 mile lap, but by 5 mile increments. Each lap included a bathroom break &/or aid station break & the last 2 laps included a minute of stretching each. I kept it pretty even and cruised after the marathon.

First 5 Miles- 35:19 (7:04/mile)

Second 5 Miles- 35:15 (7:03/mile)

Third 5 Miles- 36:12 (7:14/mile)
Fourth 5 Miles- 36:11 (7:14/mile)
Sixth 5 Miles- 37:50 (7:34/mile)

Seventh 5 Miles- 40:41 (8:08/mile)

Last 1.7 Miles- 7:52/mile

This race gives me a lot of confidence for Kiawah & Frosty 50K, both in the next 6-7 weeks. I know both will be PRs & I'm looking forward to it!

3:08:34 Thunder Road Marathon- 9 Minute PR

2011-11-13T22:39:00.001-05:00

Q: Why would a 9 minute marathon PR be kind of ho hum?
A: When you know you could've done better.

I decided to run this race less than 48 hours before the gun went off because Wren's soccer tournament times were different than expected & I could make the Saturday game and still run. So my training wasn't exactly what I'd want for an "A Priority" race. I am focused on the Kiawah Island Marathon Dec. 10 & Frosty 50K in January, with a big push after that for a couple of spring marathons. Thunder Road was just thrown in there because it was close to home, I knew I could PR & wanted to test some strategy.

I was confident for the 2 days before the race until I tried to go to sleep. Sitting in bed, I started letting my mind get to me. A friend texted me, "You will have a great race. Your training has been great. I will be thinking about you while you're running." That did the trick & I fell asleep by midnight.

I've really been on a roll this year of running well with confidence & focus I've never had before. In this race, though, I just never was that into it. Didn't seem... I don't know... important for some reason. I still gave my best effort but things didn't exactly click. My running's been different the past 3-4 weeks. I'm going as fast or faster than ever, but it seems to be more of a struggle. My legs feel heavy and not really sluggish but like every step, the muscles are flexed. Feels like I'm pushing- like running uphill, instead of the light, quick (for me at least) feeling I had before this. ...just muscling through. Every step seems like an individual effort that has to be thought about rather than just moving along with fluid motion.

The first 8 miles were uneventful except for a bathroom break that cost me a minute. It was my only one of the day, so not a killer. My sciatic nerve gave me problems starting around mile 8 & I remembered I hadn't taken ibuprofen. I was surprised by the number of spectators I knew who yelled.

Around mile 12, when the half marathoners went one way and the marathoners went the other way, there was a big letdown. There always is, but this time was different. I HATE running a marathon alongside a half. I certainly have nothing against people running a half marathon, but it just messes with my head. I guess I was in about 35th place in the combined race, but I was told I was 12th after the split. For about 4-5 miles, I didn't see a single person in front of me. 11th place must've been pretty far ahead. Then a group of 3 passed me around mile 17. At mile 18, my sciatic nerve was hurting more and I stopped for a second to stretch my hip. It was one of those moments where I thought, "I just gave up. I am still on pace to break 3:00, but in this one instant, I've told myself I can't."

I started back up after 20 seconds of stretching and was fine for a half mile before noticing an unusual pain in my chest. Never felt anything like that. Got worse as I went along. By mile 20, I had decided there was a decent chance I was having a heart attack. I backed off by about a minute/mile and really took uphills easy. I knew even if I managed 9:30 miles, I'd set a PR but hopes for sub-3:00 were over and breaking 3:05 didn't look likely. I focused on 3:10... but more than that, just surviving! That's all I could think about and I kept going back & forth in my head, "Should I drop out & go to the hospital? No. You're going to set a PR & it's probably nothing." If I saw anyone looking remotely like an EMT or something I probably would've stopped.

I ended up in 3:08:34, breaking my PR (set in June in Seattle) by 9 minutes. That's a major accomplishment but I'm disappointed because I knew I could do a lot better. I went to the medical tent afterwards & they said I had a tight diaphragm and worked on it for 20 minutes. No heart problems.

So, I'll push hard to Kiawah, have better luck there & expect another big PR.

1:24:15 Half Marathon- Almost 10 Minute PR

2011-10-24T02:18:00.000-04:00

I entered the Rocktoberfest Half Marathon on a whim. I knew I could PR. I wanted to test out sub-3:00 marathon pace and see how progress towards that goal was coming. It also just fit into my schedule and was close to home. I was very pleased with the results.

The course was fairly hilly and ran along roads used in Charlotte road races for at least the 30 years I've been running- Morehead, through Myers Park, etc. I couldn't sleep the night before, worried about pace and how prepared I was. Silly to get nervous about a half marathon, maybe, but I was. Just didn't know what I was capable of. Regretted not knowing what 6:45 pace (my initial goal) really felt like anymore since I haven't been wearing a GPS watch lately.

I ran the first mile with some of my new TrySports teammates who I knew were going to run my target pace of 6:45/mile. It was downhill and I think we hit it in 6:12. I felt good so I picked up the effort in the next uphill mile and ran the rest of the way by myself. Hit the 10K mark in 40:12. I was nervous about a race of this distance but I really enjoyed it. Seemed really short (not bragging at all) and I was able to divide it up easily. "Half way there? Crazy! I just started!" or "Just 35 more minutes. That's nothing." I kept a very positive attitude & was confident the whole time. Once I hit the 2nd or 3rd mile, I knew I wouldn't slow down and I averaged 4 seconds per mile faster in the last half than the first, which is pretty remarkable pacing if I do say so myself. Though I was pushing it hard the whole way, I can't describe how easy it felt. Knew I'd finish strong. Thought about every step. Told myself to run as fast as I could each step. But still, ZERO fatigue, no problems, no slowing down, no getting passed, etc. Couldn't ask for anything more.

My PR had been 1:33:58, set in January. I was just looking to break 1:30 Saturday but ended up at 1:24:15 because everything just clicked. I took a gamble not knowing exactly what would happen because of my inexperience at that distance but I think I played it perfectly. A little faster early & I may have died. The ultimate goal is sub-3:00 by this Spring. There are a lot of "what ifs," but I feel certain I could've run that Saturday. Experiencing no fatigue, no problems & no negative thoughts, I'm pretty sure I could've kept that 6:25/mile pace until 20 miles and then fallen back to 6:45-7:00- let's go high & say an average of 7:00 for the last 10K. That would've given me 2:51. Even 7:00 pace for the last 13.1 would've given me 2:55 and that would've been a big slowdown. Will I go out in 6:25 for a marathon? I don't know why I can't be close to that and still have a good marathon. More work & testing, but I feel very confident. It's a good feeling.

I finished 12th place out of 709 finishers. Top 1.6%. Strange being that alone in a pretty big race.

Now, I register for Kiawah Island Marathon which is December 10 to see what I can do.

Really enjoyed my Sunday 10 mile run at ASC trails just before sundown. I used to love squeezing in as many miles as possible before dark on Sundays out there but haven't been in a couple of months. And sadly, with the faster paced, non-trail running I've been doing lately, I noticed it on the trails. I wasn't as nimble & didn't see the trail like I used to. Still fun.

Recovery?

2011-10-02T21:42:00.000-04:00

Runner's World comes to my box at school. I flip through & look at the pictures but rarely read anything. Not all that interested in "8 Miracle Foods That Can Make You Faster," or "6 Tips For a Stronger Core." Maybe I'm jaded or think I know it all. I don't, but so little of the advice in there seems to apply to me or my runners. This month, there was an article about recovery with this chart. I thought it was a little funny as I saw it after my Wednesday hard run following a weekend 103 mile run. Nothing in the chart to tell me how long to go before doing a hard workout after running 103 but it says don't go hard until 26 days after a marathon. Really? If I followed that logic I think my running would be a lot different.

I am positive I do things that aren't in my best interest... often to prove something to my team. I'm still alive, but there hasn't been much recovery after running 50 miles at the Blue Ridge Relay or 103 at Hinson Lake. Two days after Blue Ridge Relay, I did 10x600 in 2:03. Ouch. Really hard. Sore. Three days after Hinson Lake, I ran 4 miles at 6:18/mile pace. I was sore then too but more than that, just completely fatigued still. I thought of every excuse possible to stop but kept going. One of the guys on my team said recently, "You're too hardcore for your own body." Maybe so. Maybe these aren't great choices, but if I followed what Runner's World seems to suggest- give yourself a day free of hard workouts per mile of racing, I wouldn't have run hard until 2012. 103 days, 3 days... same thing, right? :)

Blue Ridge Relay 4 Person Team

2011-09-30T10:09:00.001-04:00

Just realized I hadn't posted about BRR. Out of the blue, I was contacted by some friends of friends about running the 208 mile Blue Ridge Relay as part of a 4 person team... Thomas Eggar, Matt Jaskot & Chris Causebrook (who I knew as the boys XC coach at Charlotte Catholic). Sounded like fun. I was in.

I'd run BRR as part of a 10 person team in 2006 & ran 4 legs. It was hard. I remember thinking at the time, "Running what equates to 4 hard 10Ks is much harder than a marathon." How would I handle running what equated to 9 x 10Ks? Sounded challenging. It was. Blue Ridge Relay is divided into 36 sections and teams must rotate in order. It's designed for 12 person teams but smaller teams must also rotate, so it's not like we could each run 52 miles straight. 52 straight seems a lot easier than dividing it up & running 9 times, but I'm positive our time was way faster running 9 times and I think in the end, I actually prefered it. The breaks gave your body time to get sore but you'd be sore towards the end of a 52 mile mountain run anyway. Everyone on our team had major cramping problems in the van between runs.

So, if you're running nine 10Ks (really, the legs range from 2-10 miles but average about 6 miles) in a little over 24 hours, you're going to pace yourself, right? I ran the first downhill leg in 5:33/mile pace. Guess I decided not to go easy. Next 3 legs were mostly uphill or up & down and I averaged about 6:50 pace. Way way way too fast I knew. The guys on my team are young, really competitive & I'm probably the slowest of the 4. I felt a lot of pressure to do my best. I think I held my own and while I slowed down some, the wheels never fell off. In fact, all of us started off fast and no one died. I was impressed. I did feel like dying a couple of times. I ate some potato chips after a leg. With no gall bladder anymore, my body has a hard time digesting fats. The next leg was... umm... problematic, but I was OK after that. Collapsed at the end of a leg and came close to passing out, but that leg was fine & I was strong for the next one.

I ran legs 1, 5, 9, 13, 17, 21, 25, 29 & 33. My toughest leg was my last one. An incredible 13% grade! 13%! Yowza! I ran the entire way on each leg, including this one. A guy 100m ahead of me walked the whole way up the mile long hill. I ran & he walked & I swear I didn't catch him until the very top. It was STEEP! I actually felt really good on this leg. Running down the mountain was more painful than running up. Legs were shot.

So, all in all, it was a fun time, tough challenge & rewarding experience. We finished in 27:11 (7:51/mile pace for the entire race), which was good enough for 23rd place out of 120 teams... not bad considering most teams were 12 person teams. We were the only 4 person team this year & only the 3rd every to try it with 4. We beat the previous 4 person record by nearly 3 hours. We were 3rd out of 19 ultra teams this year (All other ultra teams were 6 person teams.). Good stuff.

103 miles at Hinson Lake. Difficult.

2011-09-27T00:38:00.001-04:00

OK, yeah, how could 103 miles NOT be difficult? I guess it's always going to be hard, but this just seemed... more difficult than anticipated. I was a little foggy most of the race, just out of it mentally. Hard for me to remember many details or chronology. Had one MAJOR problem that let to other issues I think- dehydration. I lost TWELVE POUNDS during the race. That's not good. Not good at all. Keep reading.

Quick Facts:
* Marathon: 4:09
* 50K: 4:57
* 50 Miles: 8:49
* 100K: 11:22
* 100 Miles: 21:39
* 103.36 Miles: 22:55 (Yeah, I was done an hour early. Done.)
* 5th place male. 2 women beat me. 277 people registered.

PRs in 50 Miles, 100K, 100 Miles & 24 Hours!

Hinson Lake 24 Hour Run & Mt. Mitchell Challenge are my two favorite races. I didn't get into the MMC lottery. I've been thinking about Hinson Lake since the last Hinson Lake! Really looked forward to it. Called out a pretty lofty goal- 112 miles. Got 92 last year, 102 at Black Mountain. I figured the next step was 112 to go up by 10 again. My running keeps improving, used to heat now, as opposed to early June for Black Mt. and Hinson Lake is an easy course. Thought about this race most days this summer. Imagined myself going around & around & around the 1.52 mile loop.

I came in with severe achilles pain, but different from anything I've ever experienced. More like nerve damage or something. Running didn't seem to effect it. Felt like a hard pinch every 30 seconds. Didn't hurt at all at Hinson Lake. Legs have been pretty dead since running about 50 miles at part of a 4 person Blue Ridge Relay team 2 weeks ago. They were dead at Hinson Lake but never really got worse until the end.

First 30 were fine & uneventful. Felt confident & strong. Controlled. Drizzly start. Humid. Yuck. Not muddy like I thought due to sandier surface. Hit a pretty quick marathon in 4:09 & 50K under 5 hours. Started feeling queasy about that time. Because of that, I got behind on calories and maybe fluid intake. As discussed here before, I sweat a lot & my body can't absorb enough fluid to replace what I sweat. So, what happens is I end up dehydrated & not sweating but also with a sloshy, bloated stomach.

I always feel like my running is pretty strong during 24 hour races, I just take to many breaks. I wanted to work on that this time, and I did to an extent, but the more I felt sick, the less I could eat and drink... the less I consumed, the worse I felt. Couldn't find a balance. At 33 miles, I took my first 10 minute, get horizontal on a picnic table break. They got more frequent as the night went on.

In loop courses, I pick spots I'll allow myself to walk and never stray from that. At Hinson Lake, I walk the little hill and aid station a little. It helps break it up into short sections I can run no matter what. ...and like I said, the running was strong. 8:15/pace for first 8 hours maybe, then 8:45, then 9:00 maybe. And of course that + bathroom/walking/eating/drinking/gear breaks. I stuck to the plan until very late but was disappointed I had to stop when I did. Felt like motion sickness. Dizzy. Restless. Tired. Skin really hot. Face & shoulders broken out. Not mentally coherent. Got worse & worse. As I looked down in the night, I didn't recognize my arms & legs. When I went to the bathroom & looked in the mirror, face, neck, chest looked different. Veins sticking out that don't normally. Knew I was dehydrated & had lost a lot of weight. Didn't know until I got home it was 12 pounds. Dangerous. I gained most of it back by now just by drinking a lot in the past 36 hours.

To stay in it mentally is so so so hard for me and I imagine a lot of other people. People ask me how I keep going. I honestly don't know. For the last 18 hours or so, I think about quitting about every 20 minutes... "44 is a lot of miles. That's respectable. You can quit now & it's not a failure. Dude, 44 miles! That's not bad at all." An hour later, "OK, 50 miles. Now that's an even number. Quit now. Nah, better not. 55 sounds better..." "Nah, 100K. 80. 100." I think about quitting all the time.

One of my Blue Ridge Relay teammates, Thomas came to run some laps in the evening with a buddy of his and ran 4 with me. After one of them, I felt like I was going to fall on my face. First, but not the last time I really felt awful. I was down for about 5-10 minutes & then felt a little better. My energy & nausea really came in waves. 10 minutes of good, 10 minutes of bad all night.

I got to the point at 96 miles that I just couldn't run. I tried. Believe me. Step, step, OWWW! Legs just wouldn't go anymore. Mind was gone. Dizzy. Sick feeling. Had to think hard about where I was and what I was doing a couple of times. I ended up walking the last 7 miles until the last .75 or so, which, of course, I could run just fine (???). I got to the end of the loop at 103.36 miles with 65 more minutes. I could've easily walked 3 more miles, shuffled 4 or run 5-6. I decided to do none of those and call it quits. That put me at a 1 mile PR for 24 hours & secured me in 5th place. I was good with that. At the time, I didn't feel like there was a choice. Done. I was pleased.

My training has been really good the past few months but NOT for 24 hour running. I haven't been doing any long runs. Nope. I did it on more like 1/2 marathon training. I let good general running fitness, experience & confidence get me to 103 miles, but I haven't done a run over 2 hours in 2 months. That could've played into the wheels falling off at Hinson Lake, but I don't think it was nearly as significant as the dehydration. Made me wonder about 24 hour/100 mile races. Was REALLY tough. I seem to do a lot better to 12 hours and then fall apart. I have been in so few ultras other than 24 hour races in the past 2 years, I just realized. Strange. I'm going to push it in some marathons & Frosty 50K. Don't have anything over that on my schedule for awhile. I'm positive I'll be back to 24 Hour races & Hinson Lake. Love what race director Tom Gabell, his crew & the friendly runners at the event!

Lots of Work Ahead

2011-09-11T18:00:00.000-04:00

Summer is over. Good. It wasn’t a good one for me personally . Running was good but other than that… I won’t get into all of that, but I’ve come to the realization that I just need structure in my life. Being a teacher and having summers free sounds great to most people but I’d rather be in school. It's been a long time since I've written here, but the running's been good.

The summer running was a lot different than most years. 3 years ago, I tried to get in as many miles as possible. Got in at least 300 miles each of the 3 summer months and my summers usually have some really long slogs in the woods where I’m pretty sure a family of bears is ready to rip my limbs off. I did plenty of trail running but I wouldn’t call it the wilderness. I ran far more miles on roads, paved greenways, and wide, groomed paths than I have in years. I’m not going to get my “crazy, ultra trail running dude” card revoked am I? This summer, I ran much faster than ever before but the mileage wasn’t as high. I averaged about 50 miles/week this summer with one week in the 80s and one higher than that with the 102 miles at Black Mountain Monster. I ran two good marathons at Seattle and Grandfather Mountain (pacing Shannon, but couldn’t have run much faster) this summer.

At Brevard Distance Runners Camp in July, I had the team write down personal goals. I wrote down my goals for the team as well as my personal running goals. Having them in black & white in front of me made them more real. Putting them in the blog makes them even more real.

• 5K under 18:00 (completed August 20- 17:52)
• 10K under 40:00 (completed August 2- 37:54 solo on a track)
• Marathon under 3:00
• Frosty 50K under 4:00
• 110 miles at Hinson Lake 24 Hour Run

These are really lofty goals. I have set PRs in everything from 5K-24 Hours these past 6 months. I have a lot work ahead of me but I feel good about it.

Grandfather Mountain Marathon- Highlight of the Summer

2011-07-10T22:03:00.007-04:00

SHORT VERSION: 3:50 at one of the toughest road marathons around, pacing someone I coach was a truly a phenomenal, emotional experience.

LONG VERSION:

Shannon texted me in late April asking me how Grandfather Mountain Marathon would be. I thought... 18 years old. First marathon. One of the toughest road marathons around. Only 10 weeks to train. In contention for state title in 4x800 & spot in the 3200m (thus 4 more weeks of track where we couldn't disrupt her training with really long runs). Longest run ever was 13. History of chronic injury.

So my answer, "Sure, why not?" Shannon had a chance to run in college but decided to go a different route. Because despite all of those obstacles, Shannon is one of the toughest, most determined people I know. She's not demonstrative at all and you would never know how driven she is until you're around her awhile. Having had the privilege to coach her for 4 years, I have seen her grow incredibly, shared a lot with her and have made a real connection that I expect to last a long time to come. By the way, this is a girl who came in as a 9th grader running 28:00 5Ks, dropped to 23:30 at the end of the season, and was in the mid 19s this year. She has had to work HARD for everything. I respect that.

Shannon's training has been going really well. We had to put her on a crash course in the 7 weeks since the state track meet. Her fitness & speed was already fantastic but we needed to get some long runs in there. She ran 12, 14, 16, 18 & a couple of other 10-14s in there. It wasn't ideal marathon training, but I felt like it was the best we could do in 7 weeks. I never told her long runs are supposed to be slower and never told her a marathon is scary. I didn't want her to be intimidated. We'd get done with a long run and I'd think, "Hmm... 7:45 miles... this girl is going to KILL the marathon." About 3 weeks ago, she had some pain in her foot. Still had the pain the week of the race.

I've had some severe achilles pain for 3 weeks. Ran the marathon in Seattle on it and really had to be like Patrick Swayze & tell myself "Pain don't hurt." It's hurt every step for 3 weeks though. I didn't care how it effected my race in Seattle and was determined to get through it. I was really nervous, however about how it would effect me at Grandfather Mt. I felt a huge responsibility to Shannon- to be there for her and get her through this race. I didn't bother telling her the ins & outs of marathoning because I thought it would make her nervous. I thought I'd just tell her as we went along. I knew my biggest job would be to SLOW HER DOWN in the first 18 miles.

It was. I told her 50 times it seemed. "Ease up." "Let's back off a little." "Hey, slow down." Finally, at mile 14 or so, I got a little frustrated as she pulled ahead of me. "Seriously, we're halfway done, but you've got to slow down. This is a critical time of the race- like mile 2 of a 5K. We have to still be conservative so we have something left later." Keep in mind, this was Shannon's first road race of any length & longest race over a Cross Country 5K!

The course starts on the track at Appalachian and is flat for the first mile or so. We talked a lot during the first 3 miles, but as the ground got more vertical, the talking ceased. I have loved my solo runs with Shannon, Chelsea & Mallary lately, and you usually can't get me to shut up. Hard runs with super serious discussions. I had all sorts of topics stored up for discussion, but man... the hills got to me. Neither one of us were able to talk. I'm amazed with how much comfortable silence we shared.

At mile 7, I felt a familiar feeling and made my way into the woods, telling Shannon I'd work hard to catch back up. Took about 1.5 miles of hard running to catch her. Stomach hurt all day. Achilles hurt all day. I tried not to talk about either. I was there as a coach and spectator, not as a runner. I was 100% there for her. No other reason. But I really felt rough. Didn't say anything because I didn't want to complain and didn't want to plant seeds in her head. ...and I was supposed to be the experienced sherpa getting her through this thing. In actuality, she helped me more than I helped her I feel. Gave me purpose and made it impossible for me to ease up and (literally) limp to the finish line.

At 16, we were at 2:15 and I said, "OK, we've got 10 more miles. If we run these in 9:00 miles even, we'll be home in an just an hour and a half. We're almost done." I knew the last 10 miles looked to be some of the roughest terrain, but still thought we'd be in under 4 hours, which was her goal. After those words of encouragement, I veered off into the woods again. Before I caught her again I had to go again. So we're talking about making up 4 minutes on a girl who won't slow down. Tall order. So I killed myself. At 20, I saw her on one of the few straight sections on the course (super windy mountain roads) but maybe 1:30 away. That gave me some hope. Went as hard as I could and I'm telling you- the endorphins were kicking. I freaked out on a couple of people as I passed. Frantically yelling, "I'm supposed to be pacing someone up here and I can't catch her! Can't stay out of the woods! Good job man!!! I gotta go get her!!!!!" When I got within 30 seconds of Shannon, I yelled and clapped. Finally I caught her a little after 21. And as quickly as I caught her, I had to go to the bathroom again. I told her good luck if I didn't see her again. Told her how amazing she was and how much I care about her & this accomplishment. Almost cried. I'm emotional. What can I say?

I was determined to catch her though. 90% of it was wanting to share the finishing moment with her but yeah, 10% of it was having to deal with certain members of my team making fun of me for getting beat by her. I went all out to catch her this time. "Only 4 (super steep) miles to go. What do I have to lose?" I caught her pretty quickly this time and was able to run the last 3 with her. Just before the 25 mile mark, I said, "Shan, do you care about catching her (woman ahead of us who we'd passed back & forth a couple of times.)?" She said she didn't. If she had said yes, I would've told her to go because I thought I was going to throw up from all of the hard efforts I had put in. "OK, then let's just relax, enjoy this last mile and kick when we see the finish line, OK?" She agreed.

We passed the woman anyway. In fact we passed a lot of people in the last 10 miles. As she wanted to pick it up at mile 6, mile 10, mile 14 because people were passing us, I assured her we'd pass most of them back and we did. We hadn't seen Stan all day though & as we're passing people pretty strongly, here he comes flying past like we're standing still. He later told me my bright yellow Brooks singlet was a target. I tell kids that all the time about uniforms that stand out! I always gain a lot of momentum passing people late in a race and lose a lot if I'm getting passed. I tried pointing out that to Shannon. Her response, "Yeah, but a lot of them were walking." HA! That counts double! :) We didn't walk a step during the race except through a few aid stations.

As you crest the last hill at the park entrance, you can hear the bagpipes of the Scottish Highland Games. I told her, "Let's go. It's time to kick." She said she didn't have anything. As we got onto the dirt road to the finishing track, I said, for the 10th time probably, "Shannon, you are incredible. This is an amazing accomplishment. I am so glad I can share this with you. Means so much to me." A few seconds later, "Shan, I'm going to cry." I did shed some tears. She wasn't lying when she said she didn't have anything left. She ran an absolutely BEAUTIFUL race. Hard to determine pace and effort in the mountains, but I would say there was never a spike or lull in effort/pace all day. Totally consistent. Mile 25 was just as strong as Mile 2. But yeah, she wasn't kicking. At all. She said she died, but not at all. She just maintained that 8:30 pace around the track, got passed by the woman we had passed earlier and finished one tenth of a second ahead of me. Awww, she beat me. ;)

She was 5th woman. 61st overall out of 360 people who finished under the cut off and 465 entrants (which tells me a lot of people didn't make it under the cut off or dropped out). 1st in 29 & under age group (I finished a tenth of a second behind her & was 21st in my age group!). 3:50:33 which is 8:48/mile on a pretty brutal course. Have I run tougher races? Of course, but never even close to a tougher road marathon. Point to point, 2000' of elevation gain. My guess is that you can take a flat marathon time & add 15-20 minutes to it which would put her at 3:30-35 and I projected she was about a 3:35 flat marathoner. There are downhills, but many more uphills of course. For her to pick this as a first marathon & run so flawlessly is... I'm just at a loss for adjectives. I have never run a race that went so smoothly as her's did- including this one! No one told me good luck or anything before this race- only, "Take care of Shannon." I'm glad. Even people who didn't know her told me that. That was my whole mindset and I feel bad I had to drop back a few times, but she pulled through. When I was done a few people asked me how I did. Seemed like a foreign concept. How I did?? Didn't even feel like I ran. Just there as a spectator.

But as for myself- achilles hurt bad. There were times I ran up hills with my foot positioned outward so it wouldn't hurt as much. There were times where I said, "Owww." There were a lot of times I was worried I wasn't going to make it with her. If I had been on my own running this, I may not have started because I know the achilles hurts most uphill. But if I did run alone, I would've been more aggressive which may or may not have paid off. Still I don't think I could've been much faster than 3:35 and on the other hand, could've been as far back as 4:05 without the responsibility I felt to catch up to Shannon. The day after, I'm not the least bit sore and my achilles actually feels the best its felt in 3 weeks!

Course is beautiful winding through mountain laurel, a few streams, rock formations, Price Lake... no real overlooks. Has the feel of a mountain trail race without the trail. I fell hard late in the race looking at a small waterfall. Who falls in a road marathon?? Roads aren't closed to traffic and a lot of people complain, but it didn't bother me at all. It was a cool 65 degrees, but really humid and foggy. Strange to be dripping sweat and wringing out your shorts when it's 65 degrees outside. This is one I will definitely run again, but one you have to be in shape to run. I can't imagine going out there not feeling ready and trying to fake it. Probably the most meaningful experience yet in what has been the best year of running I've ever had. ...keeping in mind I started running in 1981.

7 Minute Marathon PR in Seattle! 3:17:17.

2011-06-30T16:07:00.003-04:00

Short version: I had an achilles injury coming into it, hurt every step, fairly tough course but still managed a 7 minute PR in 3:17. Super pleased but ready to take the next step- sub-3:00 marathon.

Long version: I was coming out to the Seattle area for a coaches camp Brooks was putting on for free. Signed up for a tough trail 50K much like Mt. Mitchell and was looking forward to it but at the last minute, they canceled the race due to flood damage. The Seattle Rock'n'Roll Marathon happened to be the same day and though it was closed, the people from Brooks pulled some strings, got me in the marathon and paid for it. Nice!

I ran the original San Diego Rock'n'Roll Marathon in 2005. I think this year, the series has expanded to races in 24 cities. These races aren't really my thing. Huge production. Big expo. Lots of frills. Inflatables. Bands. Just huge. Brooks people told me 42% of the R'n'R runners are first time marathoners and 68% are women- not that either is bad by any means! Just different than most events I'm at. There were just over 3,500 marathoners and over 17,000 half marathoners. I'm amazed with how many half marathoners there are out there now. Exploding, it seems. It been awhile since I've been in the world of road racing but have made a few visits this year. It's different. The sort of "We're going to have a blast! Start off slow and ease up." attitude in a road marathon doesn't really fit with my personality. Yes, I'm the same person who gets offended when people don't talk enough in ultras. :)

I was really excited about the 50K and felt mentally and physically... I don't wanna really say "tough," but yeah, I guess I do. I pictured myself really pushing through a difficult trail run. I was really ready to run. I did NOT feel all that prepared for a road marathon though. Haven't done any hard workouts except a few tempo runs in 6 weeks. I was sick for a month, ran a 102 miler, and recovered from that, so training just wasn't great. Not terrible though. I told Jennifer the night before though, "Brooks' slogan is 'Run Happy,' but I really feel like running angry. I'm ready to kick the crap out of this race."

I had pushed though an achilles problem all week and had a slightly noticeable limp going to the STARTING line. Bad sign usually. I was fully committed to having a great race though. There was no way I was not going to PR in this race. Period. No room for failure. Never been as focused and confident. The achilles hurt every step but I don't think it effected my performance. It was just pain. As Patrick Swayze says in Road House, "Pain don't hurt." No excuses in this race. I put the ipod on which I usually don't do, got in my bubble and got ready to kill it.

I went out in 7:05/mile and felt really comfortable. Hillier than expected. At 6 miles, something happened to the ipod. I stopped for 30 seconds to fix it and the 3:10 pace group passed me. I thought it might be nice to run with them and caught up. It was really easy to just tune out and go with the flow. If you tell yourself you ARE running with these people, it's a lot easier than doing it alone. Came through the half marathon within a couple of seconds of my half marathon PR set earlier this year! Either I was going to have a great race or blow up, but I didn't really consider blowing up. It's funny how running ultras gives you a different perspective. At different milestones I thought, "8.5 miles and I'm already 1/3 of the way there?" or "only 90 minutes to go?" Don't get me wrong- a marathon is hard but not long to me anymore. Don't think about walking or anything now. Not about finishing at all anymore.

I ran with the group until 15 miles when I had to go to the bathroom. We were averaging 7:08 miles and it felt perfect. I was almost positive I would be able to hold it and run 3:09. Very determined. My legs have hurt all over since Black Mountain Monster. When I stopped for the bathroom, my hamstrings cramped up. BeforeIstopped, I knew I could make up the minute I lost and get back with the 3:10 pace group. With the cramps, I had to make up 1:30. I pushed it and 100m later, more leg cramps. Hard to get it rolling after stopping.

I could see the pace group a long way up the road (most of the course was on big 6 lane concrete (not asphalt) highways & bridges- weird.) and was willing to chase them down over the next 4-5 miles, but I was worried about the cramping. Knew a better plan was to scale it back and run 7:45ish miles, be a little more conservative and still get a big PR. I thought 3:15 was still in the bag. The last 10 miles were really hilly. Mile long hills. I could never seem to really make up time on the downhills. Felt like I was pushing it but Garmin said 6:55 or whatever. Uphills were 8:10ish. Kept telling myself at 5K to go I was going to fly. There was a big mile long hill at about that point and whew--- I swear I gave it what I had. 3:17:17 was the best I could manage. 138th place out of 3,520- or top 3.9% for what it's worth.

3:24 was my previous PR & was run way back in 2003 in Louisville. That was the only time I've ever run under 3:30.

I was extremely happy with my effort and time. It's been an emotional time lately. I shed a couple of tears when I finished, I'm a little embarrassed to say. I felt like there were tons of reasons I could've had a bad race. Had doubts about even starting. BUT while I was pleased, it only took 2 days before I started setting goals. Started thinking about what I was capable of and what I could change. There's a lot to change. I haven't developed a training schedule in years- just run what I felt like running. Little consistency. 30 miles this week, 80 the next, 50 the next, 100 the next, 25 the next. Have a lot of other factors to change- nutrition, strength, flexibility, recovery, etc., etc., etc.

THE NEW GOAL is an extremely bold one. I never thought I'd be shooting for such a lofty goal but I've decided to give everything I can to run under 3:00. It'll take a lot to run 6:50/miles. I'm ready to get to work!

3:17 Seattle R'n'R Marathon

2011-06-29T15:51:00.000-04:00

102.5 Miles at Black Mountain Monster (full report)

2011-06-06T22:49:00.014-04:00

I'll get this out of the way. 102.5 miles. 2nd place overall out of 48. Running 100K, "beat" all but two 12 hour runners to the 12 hour point (I would guess more 12 hour starters than 24.). Hit 100 in 22:48. Extremely pleased. Broke the course record of 98 miles, but of course, so did the guy who won this year. Now for the details...

I was more nervous about this race than I have ever been before... OK, not exactly true- first marathon, first Ironman, Rocky Raccoon- those were scarier. But let's say I've never been more nervous about a distance (time in this case) that I've already run before. This is my sixth 24 hour race in less than 2 years. I should be used to it, but this one gave me a bad feeling.

It's been a strange few weeks- really a strange 6 months or so. Very emotional (no nothing like divorce, losing job, etc) and I've had some health problems that have scared me. I was most concerned about how I'd handle this race emotionally. I always tell people running ultras the way most of us run ultras is not a particularly impressive physical feat. People can't comprehend how tired you must get, how "out of breath" you are, how much your legs hurt, etc. To me, that kind of stuff is so secondary though. The hard part is being where you need to be mentally. On a course where you need 33 x 5K laps to get you to 100 miles, the mental focus is even tougher. It's incredibly hard to pass your car every 30-45 minutes and know how much easier your life would instantly get if you hopped in. I get really lonely out there. I latch onto people when I can and run with them, but 24 hours is a long time to feel sorry for yourself. Given my kinda screwy emotional state lately (OK, a lot of it has to do with seniors graduating and other team issues. I'm not trying to hide anything.), I imagined the worst. I thought the chances were well over 50% that I'd break down and cry during this race. I didn't.

BUT the other 30% or so of me thought, "You've trained better than ever, you've lost 40 pounds since last year at this race, you know what you're doing, you like the course, people care about you, and you have been trying to run 100 in under 24 hours for over 2 years. It's not that hard. Get out there and do it!" That's the voice I listened to. I told myself I would not feel sorry for myself. I didn't.

The high was 90 and was predicted around that for a week. "Yeah, it's hot. Who cares? I can manage." That's what I told myself, but I also thought about how 95 at Hinson Lake didn't bother me too much because it's in September after a summer of running in the heat and it's much more shady. Still. I could handle it, right?

Jennifer asked me to set limits before I left. "What will you stop for?" I did not want to suffer through severe heat problems like I did last year at this race. I told myself I'd quit before I'd lay around all day with ice or trudge through slow, agonizing laps. I meant it. Maybe it's wimpy, but I was either going to have a good day or quit early. I knew I'd run 30-50 or over 80. To me, if the goal is 100, 51-79 is too much to invest in a run that you're going to end up disappointed in. I've done it 3 times.
I did experience problems from the heat, but nothing severe until late and we'll get there in a little bit. I got to the starting line right as we started so didn't get to talk with anyone. Ran with Denise Davis for the first minute and she said, "Go ahead. You'll be ahead of me." Haven't been before but went ahead. Ran with Mark Elson for another minute and he stopped for the first hill and said the same thing Denise did. Mark has also beaten me consistently.

I felt slow the first couple of miles, but that's OK. Was hitting the first several laps in 30 minutes, including walking hills, drinking and getting everything situated. I figure I was running at 8:30 pace when I was running. Easy on a lap course to want to have everything just perfect. "Do I need to carry this, or should I leave it? Would I rather wear this shirt or the other one?" I took more time than most people at the end of each 5K loop, as I always do, but I am proud to say I only took two 10-15 minute breaks all day where I laid down and shut my eyes. That is sometimes a problem for me. Both of the ones this time were out of necessity as I packed my body with ice to cool down.

It heated up nicely but I felt strong. Never ran with anyone the first 100K. Exchanged words with people I knew in passing, but nothing more than that. It was enough to not feel lonely. I got a lot of compliments on my running, weight and friendliness from people I knew and didn't know- sometimes all at once. "For someone so lean and fast, you're really nice to encourage us slow people. HEY! I reeead your blogggg!" That was incredibly unexpected. Strange. Flattering, but strange. I would certainly not categorize myself as being lean by any definition.

Everything after 50K was a PR for me in this race! Couple of marks I remember: 25 miles at 4:15. 50 miles at 9:24. 100K right at 12:00. I think I was the 3rd person to hit the 50K mark including two doing the 12 hour race. That's what they told me, but it seems like the eventual 24 hour winner should've been ahead of me at that point. I know he was ahead of me soon after that. I think the 4 of us were the only people to get in at least 100K in 12 hours. The two 12 hour guys got in 68 miles.

I felt really strong through about 75 miles. Yes, I had stopped sweating long ago and had goosebumps at 90 degrees but I FELT fine. No hot skin. No dizziness. No hallucinations. No stomach problems. No muscle cramping. I ran up on Joe Fejes as he was walking a flat section pretty late into the night. I didn't know who the leader was but I knew his name was Joe and he was on the same lap I was. I hadn't really seen this guy all day because we were on the same lap most of the day or he was one up on me, but I asked people a lot after 15 laps or so how many they had completed. Joe told me what lap he was on and it was the same number I was on. I asked if he knew what place he was in. He said he didn't know and I asked him his name. "Joe." I patted him on the back and said, "You're the dude. You're in first place. Well, tied for first place now!" He let out a friendly little grunt as if to say, "Eh, now I gotta go run with this guy." We ran about 10K together at this point and ran fast. One of the laps was at 28:00. I hadn't run any under 30 at any point during the day, much less after running 70 miles! Joe later told me he was having a hard time keeping up and he would never have pushed it without me. In no way was I trying to burn him out or really even thinking about winning. If I wanted to be sneaky, I would've just passed him the first time and kept going. I even told him, "When I hit 100, I'm done even if we have a couple of hours to spare." For me, the pace we ran was comfortable and it was good to have someone to run with. Gave it some purpose in the wee hours. I knew that if I lost him, I'd slow down a lot and potentially feel sorry for myself. It wasn't exactly like that, but I took an emergency bathroom break after our 10K together and that was the beginning of the end for me.

Stomach issues until the finish. The last 6-8 hours I guess. The good thing is they didn't completely shut me down. I felt very much in control and knew I could bang out the last 25 miles with certainty. When I got to 7-8 laps to go to get 100, I started doing the math. I knew I couldn't push it or the stomach would get worse, but I could easily get through and get my 100 if I stuck to the plan. That didn't stop me from running a lap or two with Joe the next two times he lapped me. He ended up with 114. I could hang with him even late and we'd run a 30:00 lap and then I'd have to go to the bathroom. Legs felt great. Not that fatigued but just couldn't hold anything in. When I was on my own, I took my time at aid stations, walked all inclines, but ran as well as ever all other times.

The 32nd lap put you at 99.4. Kind of cruel to make you run a whole 5K just to get the .6 for 100 I thought! I hit where I estimated .6 to be for the 100 miles at 22:48. That is a little over 5 HOURS faster than my only other 100 miler which was also notable for stomach issues in the last 20 miles. Right when I got to the point I thought was 100 miles, I saw Jason, Wayne and Christian walking on the other side of the fence- about 500m ahead. I stopped and talked for a minute and shuffled ahead to catch them. Walked with them the rest of the way in because... why bother? Not going to run anymore laps. Never got to talk to people for more than a "good job" exchange (Joe and I ran together for maybe 1.5-2 hours total, but didn't say a whole lot. It was cool though.). So we walked. A couple of them had bad blisters so the walking was slow. Took me exactly an hour to complete that lap, but it was a good time. Those guys are funny.
Basic thoughts about the race:

* Great course that has a mix of everything- I would estimate that it's somewhere like 60% grass or wide open dirt trail (hot), 20% really narrow, rooty, poison ivy covered singletrack, 10% wider wood chip trail, 10% paved greenway. Literally, there was no section that took over 2 minutes so even though it was a loop course, there was no monotony. I was told 100 miles had over 10,000' of elevation gain. You don't notice it though.

* Like most people, I always take electrolyte supplements in the heat. It helps to prevent cramping and settles my stomach (which was SOOO evident this time!). BUT, when it's really hot and I'm taking the salt, I've noticed chafing is so much worse. Not just the "usual" locations. When I finish, I'm covered with scabs. Honestly, in most ultras, the seemingly minor issues that you wouldn't think of are way worse for me than the big ones like joints, muscles, etc. This time, even my chest is covered in scabs. I protected the nipples but they put up a fight. Seriously, after the Band-Aids wouldn't stick from sweating too much, I broke out the glue and duct tape. Yes, I glued duct tape to my body. But the other parts of my chest were raw. Armpits, waistband, where the bottom of my shorts touched my legs (really bad there), "usual" locations- even my shoulders. I think it's from sweating out the salt. I wore two shirts. The first one, was when I stopped sweating, so it was dry, but stiff and white from salt.

* I'm not exactly sure what causes my stomach problems. Heat? No gall bladder? Not enough solid food? Dehydration? Too much liquid unable to absorb (a little sloshy)? I think it's the heat primarily, but I did try something a little new with calories. I'm always on the very low end of calorie intake in a race for someone my size. 100-150 calories an hour. It's not that I think that's ideal, but that's all I can stomach. I ate almost no solids all 24 hours. Maybe 10 pretzels, 2 small handfuls of nuts, 2 small pieces of watermelon and 1 gel. Most of it made me gag. I had to spit pretzels out because I thought I'd puke. I tried a drink Jonathan Savage concoction with a minor change. GU2O (like Gatorade but more complex carbs), whey protein, glutamine, branched chain amino acids. Mango flavored GU2O, vanilla whey protein. Tasted good and went down easily until my stomach went bad. Then I just went straight Gatorade and crystalized ginger. I kept the protein ratio pretty low, but I think adding it was helpful.

* My legs were really swollen after the race. That's not new. What was new was the bulging blue veins in my legs and arms. Is that my body trying to pump blood where it needs it for recovery? Looked gross but subsided after 36 hours.

* I'm not exactly a minimalist shoe kind of guy, but I've been doing most of my non-technical running in Brooks Racer ST. I knew the course wasn't very rocky so I planned on wearing them most of the run but also brought Brooks Cascadias & Brooks Adrenalin ASRs. I wore the racing flats (which are a tad bulkier than most true racing shoes, but less than a lightweight trainer) for 75 miles. My feet had swollen a little and the gravel parts had started to hurt some. I changed in the the ASRs which have a rock plate & I have in a wide EE. Zero foot problems all race.

* Things were far from perfect, but I managed to make a good day out of it. Makes me happy.

* Mark Connolly told me I would surpass this mileage at Hinson Lake with an easier course. Sheesh. Something I haven't even- and don't want to think about. Usually I set goals when things haven't gone well and think about what I could do differently. I'm content with 102.5 miles for now. Do I think I can run more in 24 hours or run 100 faster? Yes, but I just want to relax and let everything stop swelling first. :)

Beyond Bonking- Scary

2011-05-24T21:30:00.003-04:00

A year ago at this time, I weighed a lot. More than I have in a very long time. I needed to lose a lot. I think I have these numbers right. I think I lost 25 by November 15 or so. Running started getting good then. I gained 5-10 back by February 15 or so. Lost 20 in past 5 weeks by eating 800-1,000 calories most days. You don't have to tell me that's dumb. I know it is. I'll spare you the issues of control, "all or nothing" mentality, and long term relationship I've had with food. But I know better than to try to lose that much that quickly. I tell my team all the time all about the importance of food as fuel and why you need to eat for performance.

This past Saturday, I ran a routine 12 miles with Shannon. I'd eaten a Powerbar and a medium sized dinner the day before and that's all. Nothing Saturday morning. I got to about 11 miles feeling fine & then all of the sudden, I started having trouble seeing, the trail "moved" from side to side, and I was super dizzy. I was sure I would pass out. I think I grabbed onto a tree. I had already fallen twice in the run, but I don't think that was connected. Maybe. I convinced Shannon I was OK and we finished up the last mile in silence. I was close to passing out and honestly, was just waiting until I got back to the parking lot/bathrooms/water area before I dropped. Shannon went to her car to get her phone or something. I vaguely remember walking behind the bathrooms and the next thing I knew, Shannon was over me. She said she had been there for 2 minutes and it could've taken her about 2 more minutes to find me. I may have been out for 4-5 minutes. I am positive I passed out because of no food. Like a mega-bonk.

I figured that was an isolated incident and told myself I just needed to change my eating habits, but it lasted longer than expected. I felt terrible all day. I was going to cook dinner, and knew what I wanted to make but stared at the pantry for 5 minutes before giving up. I simply couldn't think of what to do. Sunday was worse. ZERO energy. ZERO brain function. I could hardly get a single coherent sentence out all day. I stayed in bed for the most part until 8 PM! I'd get up, get confused and get back in bed. Not really to sleep, just to avoid having to think and function. I really felt dumb. Shannon texted me to ask how much she should run Monday. It took me 2 hours maybe to think "6 miles would be good." I weighed all kinds of options in my feeble mind to come to that brilliant conclusion.

Monday was better and I went to work but felt foggy. Today was better than that but I don't feel 100%. I went to the doctor this afternoon and he told me the drop in blood sugar &/or blood pressure could've been so severe that my brain and the rest of my body just shut down. I haven't really bonked more than once or twice since 2000-2003, when I was training for triathlons and I remember feeling bad for a couple of days afterwards, but nothing like this. I was really incapable of much thought or movement for 36 hours. Luckily, the doctor said the effects would be temporary, but still pretty scary. They did an EKG & blood work. Results from blood will be back in a couple of days. EKG looked good. Resting heart rate of 36. He said that was the record low he's ever seen in a healthy person & I felt like saying, "If I was so healthy, I wouldn't be here." I also got another kind of antibiotic & inhaler for the month-long bronchitis I still have.

Some of my runners are really concerned & tell me I need to take a break from running- that I need to get my eating under control & take care of myself. One told me if I can't get through 12 miles without passing out, I can't consider doing more. It makes sense, but I'm committed to continuing and having a great 24 hour run in a week & a half. I just need to be smarter than I am. I tried to lose the weight to improve my running. Now that it's having a negative effect on it and potentially serious effect on my overall health, I'll eat what I need. I haven't been able to run what I want to the past month because of the bronchitis, but I've run enough to call it a "taper," and my running before that was good. I've been able to get in 30-40 miles/week this past month for most weeks, but nothing longer than a 12 mile run. 100 mile week the week before. I think I'll be OK as long as the bronchitis passes and I fuel myself to run.

People always say, "Listen to your body." Mine never says much to me but it was yelling this time! Maybe this was a teachable moment for the team.

Too Much?

2011-05-11T08:18:00.002-04:00

Maybe I overdid it.

Week 1: 100 miles. I've run 100+ mile weeks before. Not a ton of times, but I have. I don't know if I've done as many short, semi-fast 6 mile runs as I did. Over Spring Break, I tried to meet with anyone on the team who wanted to run whenever they could do it. That sometimes meant 3 runs a day. Luckily, I did not repeat the 16x400 workout! It was a lot for the week.

Week 2: Fewer miles, but some hard running. This week I got 15 hours of sleep in a 5 day period. I tried to sleep more but couldn't. Could be a sign of overtraining now that I think about it.

Week 3: Worst cold/flu/bronchitis I can remember ever having. Completely shut me down. I only got in 12 miles for the week. 9 days later, I've been running but still sick.

I think it's safe to say these could all be connected. Sometimes, I guess, too much is too much.

18:10 for 5K!

2011-05-02T23:01:00.006-04:00

I say it was when I was in 9th grade, but actually, I think I ran my previous PR in 1988 in 10th grade at McAlpine- 18:15. I dunno, it could've been 9th grade. I never got any faster than that. I turned 30 in 2003. I ran 18:58 that year and have not run a 5K race since. Last fall, I ran on our XC course by myself and ran 19:07. I was pleased. My running's getting better & better and I started doing the math and thinking that I can run under 18:00. We have a 5K on the track May 19 and I thought about jumping in on that but I'm worried about the pressure. I went to the track yesterday to see if I could maintain sub-18 pace for 2 miles. I knew if I could, running under 18 was a possibility.

First mile 5:48. Stomach hurt a little and legs were not fresh feeling at all. I started the run 45 minutes after I woke up and blame that. Second mile 5:46. Still not feeling good, but not feeling terrible. Decided in the last 200m of the 2 mile to keep going for 5K. Last mile 5:56. Completely zoned out with 3 laps to go. Started thinking about other things and was 1:33 that lap instead of 1:26. Last 200m :40. Total time 18:10. Lifetime PR by 5 seconds. Adult PR by 48 seconds. Very happy about the time and the possibility of a faster time on the horizon.

After turning 30, things seemed to fall apart for me running-wise in a lot of ways. I just assumed I was going to get slower and operated under that mindset until this past fall. For 7 years, I did marathons, ultras, got hurt a few times, but never pushed my speed limitations. I figured, "If I can't run fast anymore, at least I can run long." Don't know why you can't do a little of both. (Obviously, someone who focuses on 100 mile races exclusively isn't going to be a great 5K runner and vice versa, but there is some middle ground.) I've been doing hard workouts faster and more effortlessly lately, but last week, after 600s, we did two 300s that were supposed to be at 800m race pace. Who knows what that is for me, but I was just trying to stay ahead of the girls as I did on the 600s. Hit the 200m mark of the first one at :33 and got passed by Mallary. She was :50. I was :52. Legs were screaming. Difficulty breathing. Next one, Mallary & Shannon passed me. I was :52. They were :48 & :50. I thought I would die.

I may do that 5K on May 19 but on a track with people watching me... I dunno. I'm very much looking forward to Black Mountain Monster 24 Hour in a month. Wasn't planning on doing it, but I think I was just put off by last year's unseasonable heat.

I've lost 30-35 pounds in the past year and that's probably been one of the biggest factors for my improved running. I felt terrible a year ago. Pushing harder has meant having to bump up my vegetarian (post/semi/not exactly-vegan) protein consumption. The last couple of days, I've neglected that & can feel nagging calf and hip problems that aren't too happy with my lapse. On to tomorrow.

100 Mile Spring Break

2011-04-24T23:36:00.007-04:00

I hit 100 miles for the week with a two hour run, a three hour run, a four hour run, two quality hard workouts and a few other runs. I ran twice a day a few days to run with people who couldn't make it to our regular practice. Everything went very well. I took Saturday off for afamily camping trip and I was a little sore for Sunday's run, but all of the others were fine. I ran a pretty hard ~28 miles in four hours. 16 x 400 in 1:21 on Tuesday which felt incredibly comfortable- almost too easy as each 100 was exactly the same each time. I guess a hardworkout doesn't have to involve throwing up to be effective! Ha! Felt very fresh everydayexcept for today and today wasn't bad. I wish I had the time to run like this every week. Got to visit a couple of places I've never been before, most notably, South Mountains State Park, below Morganton. Also did some hiking with the family this week. Very enjoyable.

I really love it when running is an excuse to see beautiful new places. Waterfalls, overlooks, animals, flowers, rock formations, the trail itself... I only wish I could stand and enjoy it longer.

At South Mountains, I knew I only had 22 minutes to get from the top of Chestnut Knob, to my car to the gate before the sign said it would be locked. I was 3 minutes late and the ranger was waiting for me at the gate to lock up. I apologized. "Not a problem. Glad you could enjoy the park." I did, but wanted 10 more minutes to stand on the rocks and look out. Got a good

picture at least.

I also love it when I come back to familiar places and remember little details about the trail... how many steps to take after the big rock and before the dip... the rhythm of cresting the little hill and then shuffle, shuffle, shuffle, lean left so you don't hit your shoulder on the tree on the way down... remembering what the trail was like in different seasons, or thoughts like, "I remember when I used to have to walk up this hill. Ha!" I did some running at Beatty Park and ASC trails which are local favorites.

After knowing that I've never been more ready for a marathon as I was last month and then

having an unforeseen setback (stomach problems), I was kind of disappointed. As it gets warmer, there are fewer chances to test my race fitness, but I decided to add a couple to the calendar I wasn't planning on doing: Black Mountain Monster 24 Hour Run in early June & Grandfather Mountain Marathon in early July.

I did Black Mountain Monster last year and melted in the unseasonable heat. I am ready to really go for it this year and plan on treating it as a 100 mile race, not a 24 hour run. Minimal breaks. Minimal time spent at the end of each 3 mile loop. Keep pushing forward. I liked the course last year. I did not like the severe dehydration I noticed early on or the hallucinations once it got dark. ...actually thinking eels and sea turtles were coming out of my body was kinda neat. :)

I've always wanted to run Grandfather Mountain Marathon. I was signed up in 2005 but chickened out. I ran the Rock'n'Roll Marathon in San Diego the month before and didn't do well. I thought, "If I can't do better than that on a rolling course, I don't have any business

running up Grandfather Mountain," and backed out. I got a text from Shannon, one of my runners last weekend. "Is Grandfather Mountain a good place for a long run?" My response: "Huh? Yeah, you're not there are you? I didn't know you went to the mountains." Shannon: "No. I was thinking I want to run a marathon this summer. Is that a good one?" Ha! We discussed it and I came up with a bare bones training plan for her. It's not ideal, but enough to get her to the finish line uninjured I think. I know she could handle a 14-16 mile run now but hasn't done over 8-10 since the fall. She's a 5:30 miler/11:59 2 miler right now and in good shape but the jump to long runs will be a welcome challenge. What a tough marathon to do as your first one & especially the month after you graduate high school. I'm incredibly excited about running it with her!

Wrightsville Marathon- The Good & Bad

2011-03-21T21:26:00.006-04:00

I've worked harder than ever since November. Training has been great. In 2011, I've:

* Had a great 24 hour race going until mile 68 when I got hurt.
* Half Marathon PR
* 50K PR on a solo training run
* Another Half Marathon PR en route to a solo 18 mile training run (silly, I know)
* Great Mt. Mitchell Challenge
* Several other 20+ mile training runs that went well
* Good hard workouts

I was really excited about this race & ready to go but the week after the Mt. Mitchell race was too light. I missed some runs because I was busy and sore and only got 19 miles in that week. I was ready for a Sunday long run when I stood up and my back seized up. I could only run 4 miles the next 10 days and then one day my back was fine. I ran Wednesday, Thursday & Friday with no problems and decided to run Sunday's Wrightsville Beach Marathon.

I was a little nervous that I'd struggle only getting in 23 miles in 17 days. I thought there was a decent chance I could have back problems again. Neither of those problems occurred but a very significant one did arise. Let's just say I had severe stomach issues. I don't know why I get like that sometimes. I used to eat too much before races, but didn't even come close to eating too much (or the wrong things) the day before this race. I really don't know what caused it, but I woke up with stomach pains and from the start, I had intense stomach cramps. I was still able to run 7:20 miles easily for the first 4 miles before it really hit me.

Once I'd stopped a few times, I realized the sub-3:20 I was shooting for. I sort of gave up there in the middle of the race to settle my stomach and because I knew my time was out the window. I threw up and immediately started feeling better around mile 18 and pushed harder the last several miles. I really enjoyed myself the last 8 miles.

I ended up running 3:39:44. Considering I wasn't moving for probably 18-20 minutes, I feel pretty good about it... especially since days just don't get much worse than that. I ran pretty strongly when I was able to actually make forward progress. Not even close to having to walk. Virtually no fatigue. Legs felt good. It actually felt easy and short. Felt very confident even though things didn't go right. I am positive I could've run under 3:20 and set a PR by several minutes. Bad part is I just don't run many marathons so I don't know when I'll have a chance to take advantage of the better running I've been doing on a better day. I'll have to look at the calendar.

The course had a lot of loops and turns and didn't flow very well. There were a lot of spectators on the course. Average shirt, medal, post-race stuff, etc. for a race of that size. Weather was super. Had been a lot warmer the two days earlier but was in the 40s until the very end when it was probably about 52.

I didn't come close to accomplishing what I set out to do, but I actually feel pretty good about it. I did the best I could given the circumstances, know I could've done a lot better, and still 3:39 isn't terrible for me. Better luck next time- whenever that may be.

Oh- and a little footnote- I don't think I've ever run the day after a marathon or ultra. I went out today for 2-3 easy miles but the team was doing a hard fartlek workout. When they went hard the first time, I felt compelled to do so and made it through the whole workout. BARELY. I was really struggling but managed to stick with the top girls, grunting and groaning the whole way. I'm not sure why I did it. Dumb, I guess.

Great Mount Mitchell Challenge!

2011-03-05T16:38:00.007-05:00

This is my 3rd time doing at least some of this race. In 2009, I was coming off a 100 miler and felt like "just" running the marathon would be the best option. In 2010, I signed up for the 40 miler, but the course was cut short due to terrible conditions. I was really nervous both of those years. I love running in the mountains, but I'm slow uphill. This time, I was very confident and excited about running it and finally seeing all of the trails. I wasn't disappointed. Had a great race!

7 AM start in the town of Black Mountain which is at 2405' in elevation. You go up to the top of Mt. Mitchell which is the highest peak east of the Mississippi at 6684' and then back to the town of Black Mountain. The first 2-3 miles is paved and slightly uphill until you get to Montreat College, go up a steep hill and hit the trails. I had planned on running as much of the race with a buddy of mine as I could. He's always faster than me but I thought I could hang onto him to the marathon turnaround. I lost him right at the start, waited a little for him, but ended up running ahead on my own. I had looked forward to the companionship. More and more, I really get lonely and start thinking negative thoughts on my own in long races, but get distracted when I'm with people. I did latch onto some strangers and acquaintances during the race though. I ran 15 miles on the way down by myself and enjoyed it.

I went slow for the first mile waiting, then picked it up a bit. Walked the steep road at mile 2-3 and enjoyed the narrow singletrack from about miles 3-6.5 more than I remembered. A good chunk of the race is on the Toll Road, which I believe was an old railroad line and then old road. It is a moderate grade. Very runnable and not the gruelling climb you'd expect "running up a mountain." Wide but very rocky. Muddy in places during the race. You run up the Toll Road until about mile 14. I felt great, chatted with some people, and stayed relaxed. Ran the whole way until mile 10. This guy started talking my ear off and asking me questions that required long answers. Friendly but as soon as he started talking he wanted to walk. We walked probably 70% of the next half mile together. I didn't want to but wanted to keep talking to him. Finally, I left him, but he kinda threw me off my game. I took four or five 30 second walk breaks in the next 2 miles even though I didn't really feel like I needed them. I got to the marathon turnaround at mile 14 (it doesn't go back exactly the same way) at 2:35. The cutoff was a little tight I thought at 3:00. But I got there in plenty of time, felt good and decided to celebrate the accomplishment (Last year in the deep snow, I was legitimately worried about making the cutoff.) with a more substantial break. I broke the race down into segments and kept looking forward to the next piece. "Can't wait for the Toll Road!" "Can't wait for the Parkway!" "Can't wait wait to get back to the Toll Road!" When you get off the Toll Road and to the Blue Ridge Parkway, everything opens up and for a half mile, you are surrounded with great views. I took them in, took a few pictures, ate, drank, situated stuff in my pack, soaked in the sun and walked for most of that 1/2 mile even though most if it's downhill. Just enjoyed myself. It was a good mental break. Worked hard up to that point. Knew I'd have to work hard on the steepest parts ahead, and just took it easy for a few minutes.

I had never been on the next part of the trails but I expected them to be rough. In actuality, they weren't bad at all at first. You're on the Buncombe Horse Trail which is flat in places, wide, not very technical, but pretty muddy with snow melting and rain the day before. There was patchy snow and ice in places here, but nothing more than a few steps at a time. I stayed with a few people for most of this 4-5 mile section and it was a lot of fun. I very easily could've picked it up here if I wanted to pick up 5 minutes. Felt good pushed at a decent pace, but was well within my limits. Took a few pictures and bathroom breaks and kept catching up to my group. Towards the end of this section, you come out into some clearings and the terrain was really rocky and dry. Didn't look like NC to me. The dead hemlocks and firs weren't as apparent to me as they were other times I've been to Mt. Mitchell. I was enjoying the views when SPLAT, I tripped on a rock and landed on my side in a giant puddle of melted snow. I was completely soaked. Would've been bad if it were cold, but the temp at the top was probably 38 and 60 at the bottom. Unbelievably PERFECT conditions.

The last 1.5 miles to the top is narrow singletrack that you have a hard time recognizing as a trail sometimes. It's straight up. Rooty and rocky too. Not very runnable. I could've scrambled a little faster and run 4-5 steps between rocks here and there, but I was content staying with another group I'd joined. The last half mile up was icy and very slippery. I put on the YakTrax which were helpful for that half mile + the first mile downhill. Made it to the top in 4:30. At the top, I took some pictures and talked to some people before heading back down. Beautiful clear day with 360 degree views from the observation tower. There are plenty more miles to go from the top, but you know the real work is done at that point. Good feeling.

I went down the first 1.5 miles very slowly talking to a guy I'd run with earlier. VERY slowly. Thick, slippery ice. Super steep. After this steep downhill singletrack, the trail dumps out to a gravel road. I knew this was a moderate uphill mile and decided to get serious and work hard from that point on. Ran almost all of that uphill section and then went as fast as I could go the next 15 miles or so. 2-3 miles pounding down the Mt. Mitchell entrance road made my stomach a little queasy. Still felt kinda bad the top mile of the Toll Road but kept running fast. Passed 15 people or so on the way down. No one passed me. Pushed as hard as I could go. Felt great.

Kept looking forward to the road, which means about 3 miles to go. Ran down the Toll Road with a grin on my face knowing that I would finish strong. When I saw the road for the first time, I think I may have literally laughed out loud. You hit Appalachian Way and fall out of the sky. The steepest paved road I may have ever seen. Always burns the feet. A lot of people walk down because it's rough on the quads, but I've never had a problem with it except for the feet. Flew down and then hit the flat last 3 miles and went as hard as I could. 8:00 miles. Seemed a lot faster than that, but after 35 miles, that's still pretty fast for me. Felt fantastic. Hit Lake Tomahawk 1/3 mile from the finish and felt like really kicking, but that seemed silly. I did finish strong but scaled it back more than I wanted to.

Finished in 7:43:05 in 74th place out of 179 people registered and 129 finishers. Not sure how many people didn't meet the marathon turnaround cut off and how many just chose to turn back there. With the number of people on the wait list, I wouldn't imagine many people registered just didn't show up.

I feel really good about this race. Everything was perfect. Couldn't imagine feeling any better. Felt very strong. Could've taken it a little harder on the way up, but I really enjoyed my day and was happy with how things went. Had fun, ran hard, got to spend 8 hours with beautiful scenery doing something I love to do and met people along the way. Couldn't beat this experience.

Pre-Mt. Mitchell Thoughts

2011-02-21T22:53:00.003-05:00

picture from last year's Mt. Mitchell Challenge near the top.

Saturday brings the Mt. Mitchell Challenge- 20 miles to the top of Mt. Mitchell and 20 miles back down. Last year, there were single digit temps and 30-50 mph winds along with a lot of snow. I worried for weeks about it last year. I'm not nearly as worried this year and have barely thought about it until the past couple of days.

I'm expecting it to be about 10 degrees warmer this year- around 35 at the start and in the teens- maybe 20s at the top. Reports sound like snow, and some tricky footing, but not as bad as last year. Expecting less snow at lower elevations. Report said 2 foot drifts of crusty snow you could run on top of in places, but around 4" more common in upper elevations. It was around 30 and snowing yesterday while being above 60 in Black Mountain where the race starts.

Two years ago, I did the marathon, which doesn't cover the upper part of the course. Last year, I did the Challenge, but it was rerouted to the roads above the Parkway, so I still haven't seen the upper trails.

I plan on bringing a lot of gear to the race. I'll decide on what to bring with me at the briefing meeting the night before. My guess is that I'll start in shorts with calf sleeves (which sort of serve as leg warmers) with a short sleeve and a long sleeve shirt & hat. I'll carry a thin shell, pants/tights, and Yak Trax. That may be all, but I'll bring more in the car with me. I guess I'll take a hydration pack with a bottle in the pocket and a my extra clothes where the bladder goes.

Conditions and terrain make this less about racing for me and more about survival. I struggled last year and my training had been terrible. Lately, it's been good. No time goal or anything though. I finished a disappointing 87th out of 121 finishers last year (many no shows & people who were forced to, or decided to turn around early). I'd like to finish better than that and should barring any problems. I feel good about it.

Speaking of training, yesterday, I went out and ran a hard 18 miles with the GPS. I actually ran a half marathon PR by a few seconds! Really pushed it. Intentionally slowed down just a little the last 5 miles and averaged 7:12/mile for the 18 miles. Followed it up with a hard tempo run with the team today. Legs sore. I'll take it easy the next few days, take care of myself and be ready to go Saturday. Excited!

Peak to Peak to Peak to Peak at Crowders

2011-02-07T10:07:00.007-05:00

Had a great ~4 hour run Sunday at Crowders Mountain State Park. Parked at the Visitors Center which is between Kings Pinnacle & Crowders Mountain. The Visitors Center is at 850' elevation and each peak is at about 1700'. I went up Kings Pinnacle, then Crowders, then repeated. Felt absolutely perfect! Ran all the way up each time (except on some of the icy stairs on Crowders), which I've never done before. Great run!

I came upon a couple who were in their 70s. They asked if they could take my picture. I said, "Yes" and stood there. They said, "No go back and run towards us again." I obliged. They asked if I had a camera with me and wanted to take my picture with it. Here's what came out:

Good Weekend? 2 PRs?

2011-01-30T21:25:00.004-05:00

I guess I set 2 PRs this weekend, but have mixed feelings about both.

Winter Flight 8K in Salisbury on Saturday. I used to run this race with my dad in the mid-80s. Haven't run an 8K in over 20 years. I didn't remember this race being so hilly! I did a lot of thinking before the race and felt pretty confident I could run 6:20 miles for a 31:40. First mile was 6:18. After that, there was hill after hill. Long fairly steep ones. Each was about 2:00. The whole last 4 miles I was either going up a hill or recovering from one with the next one in sight. I ended up with a 34:13- 2:33 slower than I expected. 1:30-2:00 of that could be attributed to the hills and :30-1:00 of it could be because I backed off a little (not much) when I knew I'd be slower than I thought. I feel like I kept it steady and hard, but the time is not a very good gauge of fitness due to the course. Results say I was 43rd overall out of 260- top 16%. 4th in my age group. I guess this was a PR. I haven't run an 8K since I was about 13, so... I feel OK about the race. Tried hard but I'm so bad in the hills that it's hard for me to recover before I get to the next one. I ran within myself but it was a hard effort. Here are some pictures.

Sunday, I went to McAlpine with the GPS and ran 50K. I didn't set out to run a PR time, but I did feel bad about how Frosty 50 turned out and an hour into it, I felt good and the average pace was 7:50, so I decided to break my PR of 4:41. I felt good for the first half and averaged 7:55/mile through 15 miles. Then two miles around 8:20 and then crashed. Last half, I averaged 9:09/mile. I guess the good thing is I never dipped to 10:00/mile or below. I was able to keep my running pace to about 8:40/mile with some breaks for water and bathroom. I really felt terrible the last 15. Just felt like sleeping. So tired. I think the weather had something to do with it. All of my long runs in the past 3 months have been at 45 degrees or below. Most in the 30s. I started at 11 AM and it got up to 73 today! Tomorrow's high is back down to 45. Sheesh! Very sweaty & salty. All out in the open at McAlpine. I think it really zapped me.

I ran a 4:27:40, bettering my PR by 14 minutes, but I don't feel great about it. First of all, it doesn't really count since it was by myself, but the main thing is just that I'm worried b/c I felt so bad so early in the run. If I die at mile 15 of the marathon in March, I'm in trouble. Obviously, if I was running a 50K race and expecting to do well, I wouldn't run an 8K race the day before, but I don't think that had a major impact on today's run. My energy level for last weekend's 20 miler wasn't great either. Sleep hasn't been good at all lately. I didn't get more than 4 hours of sleep any weeknight this week. I usually crash Sunday and don't do anything except lay around and run. Both of these long runs were on Sundays. I'll make an effort to sleep better this week and hopefully perk up a bit next weekend. If next weekend's 25 mile training run goes bad, I'll adjust the training plan.

Marathon Plans- Hard Training

2011-01-25T20:13:00.004-05:00

The thing I've loved about trail running and ultra running for the past few years has been the relaxed nature of it, but I guess that doesn't have to go hand-in-hand with the distance or terrain I choose to run on necessarily. I was so burned out on stressing over pace and setting PRs in road races. Looking back on it though, I wonder how hard I really pushed though. I can recall some mile interval sessions on the Asheboro golf course in 2002 and can say I'll probably never run that hard again, nor do I want to. A hard run always meant vomiting. There are things I didn't know then and things that I'm capable of now that will make my training better I think. Now that I'm running a bit faster I've regained interest in seeing what times I'm capable of.

Ready to push like I haven't since... really ever. I signed up for a road marathon March 20. Wrightsville Beach Marathon will be the first road marathon I've done since 2007 (I did casually run the Wild Hare training marathon in 2009, but that doesn't count) and I'm coming at it with a completely different approach.

For the first time in 6 years, I sat down and made a training schedule. What? I have been running what I feel like running, with the idea that I should get a long run in here and there and some hard efforts with the kids when it fits. But I felt like to have a good performance in March, I really need to focus on what I'm doing. Imagine that. I've developed a completely different philosophy too. I'm not sure it's that radical, but it's a lot different from what I used to do training for marathons. Here's what I used to do: An average day was 5-6 miles. I ran one tempo, fartlek or interval session each week, and I had a pattern for my "long" runs each week: 10, 12, 10, 14, 10, 16, 10, 18, 10, 20, 10, 20, 10, marathon race. Two days off each week. Weekly mileage was somewhere around 40-45 usually. I think this is fairly typical for a lot of beginner marathoners, but looking back on it, is there any wonder why nearly every marathon I fell apart between 16-20 miles??

I have always been one to experiment against sound training philosophy on purpose just to prove the validity to myself. Used to be, "What happens if I try to run 2 hours at tempo pace?" or "What does bonking feel like?" Most sound training philosophy says you can't increase volume and intensity at the same time. I think increasing each a little will be OK though. I have been running workouts harder than I ever have before. Started that at the end of November. Mileage is high for me at this time of year but not what I would consider truly high mileage. I often get in 75-100 mile weeks in the summer, but as a teacher, coach and dad, it's hard to do it during the school year. I know I couldn't handle 80 miles/week and hard, but I think 55-65 and hard will push me but not over the edge.

I used to do hard workouts that made me puke, like I said, but I think I can do even harder ones now, and do them smarter. These will be geared more for marathon+ than 5K racing. Last week, I did 8x400, which sounds easy, but I did them in 1:20 with a :30 rest, which is tough for me. Today I did 2 x 2 mile with a 4:00 break in between. I did today's run at what I consider tempo or 10K pace. It's hard to gauge that sort of pace since it's not all out. 2 miles at tempo on the track + warmup & cooldown has been my favorite rainy workout since about 2003. I've always been right at 13:20 and felt like it was comfortably hard. Today, I did two of them and was at 12:50 and 12:38 and felt like it was no harder than usual. So the hard workouts are going along nicely.

It stands to reason that a person who perpetually dies at mile 16-20 of a marathon and never runs over 20 in marathon training should consider bumping that up right? Eh, when I was training for marathons everything I read cautioned about going over 20-22 miles and 20 really was a struggle most of the time in training. So if you're putting in training runs of 26, 30, 40... you should fare much better shouldn't you?? Of course, not the best advice for someone looking to run their first marathon, but coming from ultras and moving down to marathon distance, this makes sense to me- work hard during the week and keep the long runs coming on the weekends. I'll also bump up my average weekday run to 7-8 miles and still get in 1-2 days of rest a week. In my schedule, I have stopped short of planning each day, but instead, have planned out the runs I need to do each week and then pick the days I want to do them on as I go along. My weekly long runs in the 9 weeks leading up to the marathon are: 20, 30, 26, 26, 18, 40 (Mt. Mitchell Challenge), 20 & 14.

On occasion, my long runs get pretty pedestrian... not really the running so much- I run at a decent pace, but sometimes I walk hills, appreciate the scenery, take a longer than needed break at the car to refuel, etc. Sometimes, that has to do with climbing thousands of feet on rough trails, but some of it's in my head. In the next 2 months, I'll move away from trails to an extent and plan the long runs where I can get better leg turnover and focus on running at a better clip with fewer distractions. Read "boring." :) But it's just temporary.

So I'm looking forward to the adventure of Mt. Mitchell in a month, and Hinson Lake in the fall is always high on my list of things to look forward to, but the marathon in 2 months has been the motivating spark the last couple of weeks. I'm excited. I'll know what time goal to go after closer to the race when I've figured a few things out.

Half Marathon PR and a Great Rebound

2011-01-16T21:07:00.002-05:00

1:33:57 and felt good at the Charleston Half Marathon!

After a great November and December of training I felt so good. So confident. Then I had to drop out of Freedom Park 24 Hour Run after 74 miles due to injury. Thought I'd be OK to run 50K the next week and was still hurt and had to drop out of it. Those two things combined with the simple fact that I was hurt had me really down. When I signed up for these 3 races, I knew I could run a 24 Hour/100 mile PR, 50K PR and Half Marathon PR, but wasn't sure if I could do them all back to back to back. I couldn't, but did get the Half.

I hadn't run a half marathon since 2002. I had no idea how to pace myself. 7:00/mile seemed fast. 7:30 seemed slow. This race was such a low priority, I gave it no thought until the drive down to Charleston. "I know I can go under 1:45. I don't think I can go under 1:30. Under 1:40? 1:37? Who knows?" My wife asked me the name of the race as we drove down. "I dunno... Charleston Half Marathon, Riverfront Half Marathon... I'm not sure." Yeah, I didn't put a lot of mental prep work into this one, but I did know if I ended up dropping out of another race or hurting so bad I had a bad race, I was going to lose it! So, I did no training at half marathon pace, whatever that is. Haven't run thinking, "OK, this is the right pace." Nothing like that. Seriously, 30 minutes before the race, I ran a total of about 2 miles figuring out with my GPS what seemed right. 7:12/mile seemed good I decided. Ha!

It was 31 degrees an hour before the start and quickly warmed to around 42-45 by the finish. Felt good. Course went through historic Charleston for the first 6 miles or so and was a great venue. Then went along a divided highway that was less scenic and finished up along the water. Point to point course, which poses some logistical problems. Again, I didn't bother to look at the map and realize it was point to point until the day before the race. Of course, being in Charleston, it was flat & fast, which was good for keeping an even pace. I had forgotten how important pace is to me in a shorter race. This is the only race I've ever worn GPS in and I must say I looked at it every 1/4 mile or so. Helpful little tool.

I went out just a little faster than planned but it felt very comfortable- just under 7:00 pace. Held that pace pretty evenly for the first half and then made a noticeable drop off but never slid much from the second pace. Mile 10* was a little off because of a short fairly steep hill (the only one on the course) and an aid station I walked a few steps to drink at. Picked it up a bit at the end with a nice kick. Splits:

Mile 1- 6:53, Mile 2- 6:59, Mile 3- 6:56, Mile 4- 6:54, Mile 5- 6:52, Mile 6- 6:58, Mile 7- 7:13, Mile 8- 7:16, Mile 9- 7:18, Mile 10- 7:40*, Mile 11- 7:29, Mile 12- 7:25, Mile 13- 7:11

Ended up at 1:33:57. My previous PR was 1:34:37. Honestly, I didn't know that until I looked it up after my finish. I couldn't remember if it was 1:33 something or 1:31 something. Neither one. I'm telling you, I didn't put much (OK, zero) emphasis on this race. Finished 74th overall out of 1504 people. That puts me in the top 5%, which is very high, but I don't think it says much about me, but rather the changing face of running. It's been a long time since I've run a big road race like this and it was a good experience, but things have really changed.

While I did no prep work for this race, doing poorly would've been pretty crushing and doing well was a nice ego boost that I desperately needed. 1:33 isn't blazing fast or anything- I know that. Considering I'm not 100%, my training the past 2 weeks has been almost non-existent, and I haven't run a half marathon in 8.5 years, I'll gladly take it. I think I could go just under 1:30 with effort and planning- and I do like that distance, but I probably won't race another half for a long time.

My next race is even more foreign to me- an 8K that I used to do in the mid 1980s with my dad. It's been over 20 years since I've raced an 8K! :) After that, Mt. Mitchell 40 miler and then Wrightsville Beach Marathon. I signed up for it to run with a girl I used to coach but she decided not to run so I'm solo and looking for a solid marathon performance after the half!

Half Marathon PR! 1:33. No Pain. More Later.

2011-01-15T22:29:00.001-05:00

I Think I'll Make It

2011-01-14T01:11:00.005-05:00

I've gone to Carolina Sports Clinic a few times, ice, compressed, rested, and really tried to take care of myself the past two weeks. Tired of being hurt. After dropping out of last week's 50K, I promised myself I wouldn't run again until Wednesday, but then 5" of snow fell Monday! I looked out the window all day and wished I could be out there running in it, but resisted the urge. On Tuesday, I thought about putting on running shorts just because I missed them. Again, I resisted! Yesterday was my first day running and I'd told myself I'd run 10 miles to test the knee out and stop earlier if I needed to. If I could do that and have a decent Thursday run, I thought I'd be OK to run the Charleston Half Marathon this weekend.

Yesterday went OK. I ran at McMullen Creek Greenway for only the 2nd time ever. It was icy. The knee hurt from the first mile, but not nearly as bad and didn't effect my running- just pain. No hobbling, stopping or anything. It lessened as I went further and when I hit 10 miles, it hurt considerably less.

Today, I went out to ASC trails in Fort Mill and had a fantastic hour run in the ice and snow. I felt like a pioneer on some of the trails because I was the first person to use them since the snow. Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. After no school for 4 days because of the snow, it was great to get out and run trails I love in conditions I love. MUCH less pain today. Didn't notice it for most of the run and from time to time, the knee would be a little achy but nothing bad at all. I will end up doing the half marathon Saturday.

DNFs- A Reflection

2011-01-13T22:20:00.003-05:00

Did Not Finish. Words a runner never wants to speak, but if you do enough long events, it's bound to happen... or you do finish and die doing so... In all of the races I've done over the years, I don't think I have what would be considered a lot of DNFs- 5 including 3 times going home after 17 hours in 24 hour races. They weigh heavily on me though. I wrote them down this week and thought about each one of them. Some I'm OK with dropping out of. Others, I regret. I should've known better than to even try Frosty 50 last weekend after severe problems the week before.

Someone told me recently that they think my injuries motivate me as a runner. I'm not certain what that means. I don't even feel like I have many injuries, but I do have this thing & that thing pop up in races... stomach, chafe, knee, ankle, dehydration, etc. etc. It would be easy to see these things as excuses. Maybe they are. It is getting more and more apparent that for every 2 bad races I have, it seems there's only 1 good one. Funny part is almost every single one of my long training runs is good. Most fun I've had, and the strongest I've felt in the past 3 months were two 40 mile solo runs in the mountains.

I've spent the past 2 weeks just kind of busted up. Left ankle. Right achilles. Right knee. Left foot... The 74 miles on New Year's really took their toll a lot more than I expected them to. I blame the asphalt, but of course, knew and accepted the challenge coming into it. Anyway, several people (mostly non-runners) have told me in the past 2 weeks, "You're not 18 (or 22, or...) anymore. You can't run like this. You have to back off, rest, and scale back the miles." They didn't mean now because I'm hurt, but in the future. I disagree. When I was 18 I had given up on running. Retired after 10 years and maybe 150 races. Burned out. By the time I was in my early 20s, I had gained a lot of weight, was cycling a good deal, but was no runner, for sure. So when people say "You're not 24 anymore." I think, "Thank goodness." I've been getting a lot of, "You can't keep doing this to your body" comments lately. Makes me feel like I'm headed to the old folks home.

In my recent frustration because of the last 2 races, I realized I am a better runner at 37 than I was at 7 (when I started training for my first 10K), 17 (high school XC/track runner), or 27 (running marathons and doing triathlons). A recent 5K time trial and intervals have proven that I'm as fast as I ever have been as an adult and I certainly couldn't run the miles I do now back then. So I'm very happy with where my running is right now, just very unhappy with the way the last two races went.

I took a 3 year break from road races (going to mix things up this year a little though) because I put too much pressure on myself. I felt like uncertain trail miles have a built in excuse in some ways, "Dude, it was really hard. Of course I was slow." Your time at a trail 50K which may not even be accurately measured matters a whole lot less than it does at the Myrtle Beach Marathon. The goal in ultras for me was always to have fun and finish feeling good, but really push myself. Lately, I've found myself putting more pressure on myself in ultras. And with ultras, the mind really has to be right. If I have a bad attitude running a 5K, so be it. I don't mean to belittle the mental aspect of shorter distances, and as a coach, I certainly understand how important the mind is. But if you're running 24 hours, 100 miles, 50K... there is so much room for real physical problems to arise, but also mental weakness. If you run all day and all night, you (at least I do) hear a million times, "UGH! This is so painful and so draining. Why don't you just quit so I can curl up somewhere and sleep?"

This sounds like a letter of resignation, but it isn't. I think it's important to address the physical and mental hurdles I've had lately in order to move past them. ...and I'm ready to move on. I have been doing a lot to try to heal up physically the last 2 weeks and have done a lot of thinking about how I can improve mentally.

Complete Idiot

2011-01-08T12:04:00.002-05:00

Dropped out of last week's 24 hour race at 74 miles with a messed up foot. Really messed up. Got treatment at Carolina Sports Clinic twice this week. Thursday was the last day and Brad was rough on me. I hobbled for 4 miles later that day. He killed me. The next day, though, COMPLETELY FINE!!! I jumped up & down, ran on it. Perfect!!! I decided I was in for Frosty 50K. GREAT! I had really wanted to run this because I'm running faster than I ever have before and long training runs have been so easy. Fresh, I knew I could go under 4:30 and 4:41 is my PR. Salem Lake, the race venue is an easy, non-technical course.

Ran the first 6 miles with Konrad Gannon and felt really strong. Great to have someone to talk to. If I'm alone, I start questioning myself. Honestly, the first 6 were effortless. Often, it's the first hour that's the worst for me- trying to settle in physically & mentally, but today, I felt great. We hit the first 2 miles in 8:00 pace and then picked it up a bit. We were at 6 miles at 46:00, which means we were running 7:30/mile from 2-6. Felt fantastic all over. Stomach great. Legs & feet great. It was going to be the perfect day for me. Felt fresh, not at all like I came off a 74 mile race last week (even though getting my feet into my shoes was a little difficult b/c they're STILL swollen).

Then all of the sudden, it hit me. My knee kind of locked up. Came from nowhere. I didn't say anything but 1/2 mile later, I had to stop. Made it to around 9 miles, but had to stretch it every 400m. I knew even if it got better a couple of miles down the road, I wasn't going to have the time I was looking for. I dropped out at 9 miles. With my foot hurting so bad, I forgot that I struggled with knee pain for 30-40 miles last week. I'm pretty sure it's my IT Band, as it was hurting up the outside of my upper leg too towards the end.

So embarrassing and disappointing. Seems like I always have an excuse and though I feel like I'm running great right now, I've had back to back disappointments. No doubt in my mind I was running 100 miles last week. I knew when I signed up that the Frosty 50K might not happen after Freedom Park 24 Hour, but thought I'd give it a go. Once I started, there was no way I wasn't going to break 4:30. My PR is 4:41 and I felt so good and so confident that I would do well.

This was supposed to be a prolific 3 week stretch where I'd prove to myself how much this great training was paying off. 24 Hour race, 50K, half marathon. Supposed to do a half marathon in Charleston next weekend. Again, I feel like if my body holds up I can PR, but I don't know if I can take another disappointment if my body doesn't hold up. UGH!

Freedom Park 24 Hour Run- Ouch!

2011-01-01T16:51:00.008-05:00

74 miles in 17:50 with a busted foot at the Freedom Park 24 Hour Run. Disappointed with the results, as I was dead set on 100 miles, but given the situation, there was nothing I could've done.

Round & around a 1 mile paved loop all day & all night in Morganton, NC. I was so prepared. So confident. Never felt like that for anything over a 50K. Just knew I was going to get in 100 miles and figured I'd get it in well before 24 hours. "100 miles or 24 hours- which ever comes first," I kept thinking. No way I was quitting before one of those occurred but I really though 100 wouldn't be a problem. Training's been so good.

Had some stomach issues for the first 15 miles, but ran well when I wasn't in the bathroom. 10 miles in 1:35. 20 miles in 3:15. Marathon in 4:17. 30 miles in 5:07. 50 miles in 9:57, which I think it was my fastest 50. Then I slowed and took some extra breaks. 60 in 12:35.

Knee was hurting me a lot from 30 on. Legs hurt all over, but managable. Around 60, I had done math & figured I could do 12:00/mile and still have over an hour of rest time & still get in 100. Easy.

Then everything came to a screeching halt. At 68, I was running along and something in my heel just popped. One step I was fine- no heel pain all day- the next step, I was yelling. Didn't twist it or anything. Couldn't run a step after that. Finished walking that lap and stayed off it for 30 minutes. After that I could run with a good deal of pain for a lap, then with less pain for a lap. I stopped to text Jennifer I was OK. When I started back up, again, I couldn't run a step. Walked to what I thought was 75 miles, but turned out to be 74 and called it a night at 1:50 AM.

I'm good with my decision. I didn't have much choice. COULD NOT run. Once I'm done running, I'm done. I'm wasn't interested in walking for 6 hours. I ran with a podiatrist, Bill Johncock for a couple of laps here & there throughout the day. He caught up to me after I got hurt & thought it might be a microtear in a tendon in my heel.

Today, it's much worse. Can barely walk. Has me worried. I'm signed up for Frosty 50K next weekend, but doesn't look like that'll happen. You never know. I have much more general soreness that usual too. Last year, I was mad at the asphalt. This year, I fooled myself into thinking, "Oh this isn't so bad." Better attitude but didn't make the legs feel any better. I wore some pink (yes) Zensah calf sleeves I just got because my calves have been sore a lot lately. I can't say for sure that they helped but I think they did. Swelling is less than expected and pain in calves during the run was less than expected.

Weather was as good as you can expect for this time of year. I think it was forecasted to be a little warmer, but it got up to 48-50 & never dropped to freezing. Much better than last year (or the year before, but I wasn't there then). I say I like the cold but for a race that long... It wasn't COLD, but I was just a little chilly at times. Teeth were chattering when I had to walk late. Nothing at all to complain about.

Great race organization! Many thanks to David, Rhonda & the BMRC volunteers. Lots of frills for an ultra yet the personal connection of a small race. Met some interesting folks. Had a good time, I just wish it had ended up differently. It's been since 2006 that I've had a serious injury (yeah, OK, cracked rib, surgery... but I mean one bad enough to keep me from running with no end in sight). I hate not knowing. Could be fine Monday. Could hurt for a month. Frustrating.

Scary moment of the night was around 8 PM, a guy I had run a little with early on had to get hauled off in an ambulance with what they thought was hypothermia but ended up being kidney failure. He came back for the ringing in of the New Year, having just been released from the hospital! I talked with him a little and he said it was the worst pain he's ever felt. Sounded like it hit him suddenly. Scary to think what can happen.

Most amazing moment of the day was Jerry Johncock, an 82 year old setting the 50K American record for the 80-84 age group- 5:55 I think- under 6 hours, I know. Broke the old record by over an hour!

I have now run five 24 hour races and only finished two of them! I am always reminded how mentally tough it is to keep going. The I've had:
90 miles & a finish on a hot day.
70 miles & a long day of cold rain & asphalt that ended in 17 hours.
67 miles & a long hot day with many heat issues & hallucination that ended in 17 hours.
92 miles & a finish on a very hot day.
74 miles that had to end at 17 hours because of injury.
What is it about 17 hours?? Of my 3 DNFs, I had no choice this time. Last time in the heat, I also think I made the best decision possible. Last year at Freedom Park, was the only one I maybe should have kept going but I was in a lot of pain and frankly not having much fun. I don't regret my decision in any of them.

So yeah, Salem Lake a week from today. Could be a PR... I feel like I'm in shape to go under 4:41, my best time, but I also could be unable to run at all this week. We'll just see. Honestly, if it's worse than today, I don't see how I won't be on crutches.

I recently got these Recover Gear tights. They have pockets for ice/heat packs. Can ice both quads, hamstrings & calves at once without having to get in an ice bath. I like 'em. Can't figure out... I think the company changed it's name to 110%.

Astounding Strategy for 24 Hours

2010-12-30T14:31:00.002-05:00

My mindset in other 24 hour races has been, "This is going to be rough," and my strategy has been, "Just hang on for 24 hours and do what you can. If that's 70, so be it. If it's 100, great." I have an astounding new strategy this time- RUN A LOT OF MILES! Revolutionary, I know. I have GOT to minimize the breaks... and not even so much the four or five :20 rest breaks, but the little, "Hmm, what do I need?" breaks I tend to take at the end of each lap or two. Maybe it's wishful thinking, but I honestly think I run fairly quickly in these events but waste so much time not running, it costs me. I'm going to get out and run at a decent clip for the first 30-40 miles and then go from there. Too often I look at my watch and say, "5 hour marathon? How did that happen? I thought I was running 9:00 miles." I think the truth is I AM running 9:00 miles, but also taking time to go to the bathroom, fix my clothes, decide what to eat, talk to people at aid stations, etc. I need to keep moving!

Freedom Park 24 Hour This Week! Now Hear This!

2010-12-27T00:40:00.005-05:00

Freedom Park 24 Hour Run is this Friday-Saturday and I'm really looking forward to it. I didn't enjoy myself last year... absolutely no fault of the race director and volunteers. David, Rhonda & the Brown Mountain Running Club do an amazing job with this race but last year, I dunno... I came in undertrained and not used to asphalt. It drizzled & was about 35 degrees all day and night. Most people seemed to be in a bubble to me, but I read a lot of positive reports on it afterwards, so maybe it was just me that was in a bad mood! :) I left after 17 hours & 70 miles of sore legs last year.

Anyway, I'm excited about it and ready for it this year. I ran several long runs on roads lately to prepare for the 1 mile asphalt loop. Yeah, I said 1 mile asphalt loop! I've lost some weight. I've been doing hard workouts faster than I ever have as an adult. My long runs have been problem-free. It's time to set a goal. Haven't done that in a long time. 100 miles. Plenty of people run 100 miles in 24 hours. It was my goal at Rocky Raccoon 2009, but things happen. I've run 100 miles and four 24 hour races and still haven't quite got in 100 miles in 24 hours. It's not a particularly lofty goal but instead of saying, "We'll see," like I normally do, I will consider anything under 100 miles disappointing this time around. There, I said it.

I anticipate great weather, feeling good and getting in a lot of miles. Why does that seem weird. I usually expect the worst, and for the last few months, I've been visualizing brutally cold temps. 2 years ago, I understand it was something like 15 degrees with 40 mph winds! Last year was cold and wet the whole time. I usually do look forward to adversity (why?), but great weather is OK too, isn't it?? Forecast has changed a little the past couple of days but now says high of 52 and low of 36. Short sleeves & shorts! Totally not expected, but it should be good. I ran 92.26 miles in 24 hours in September when it was 95 degrees. I feel better equiped now and conditions will be much better.

Can't wait!

2011

2010-12-22T14:14:00.003-05:00

My running has been good lately. Doing faster interval sessions with the kids, strong tempos, long runs easier than ever... Let's hope that continues!

I came up with my 2011 race schedule and there's a lot more on it than usual. 13 races totally over 500 miles. I think it'll provide the motivation and fun that's sometimes missing.

I found out yesterday Brooks will keep me on in 2011 as part of their P.A.C.E. program (Performance And Coaching Elite). They were restructuring the program and cutting the number of sponsored athletes, so I figured I'd be kicked out, but I was happy to get the contract yesterday. In anticipation of being cut, I bought a whole stockpile of shoes at discount last month. Oh well. :) Happy to be using Brooks products and even happier to get them for free or at a discount.

Feet

2010-12-13T00:45:00.002-05:00

I've been having weird foot problems lately.

A) Severe pain that seems like plantar fasciitis some days and moves to the top of my foot other days. It's had a habit of coming & going. Not present at all in last week's 40 mile run or really for the last 2-3 weeks.

B) Strange nerve damage thing (so says my school athletic trainer) that feels like my part of my foot's in hot water. Comes & goes but some days it lasts most of the day.

C) Painful, but mysterious stone bruise thing on my right foot. Just started last week. I was fine on run Monday. Finished up and waited around for kids to finish. Stood around for 15 minutes. When I started to leave, I could barely walk. All night & next day was like that- extreme pain in ball of my foot. Hurt like crazy until about 2 PM the next day. Since it hadn't hurt in an hour, I thought I'd run on it at practice and did a hard workout. Didn't feel a thing. That night & next day, it killed. Off & on since then, but has never hurt while running.

Weird.

40 Miles on Blue Ridge Parkway with Ice

2010-12-04T22:21:00.004-05:00

HEAVY sleet & snow for about 2 hours of this 40 mile run on the BRP near Asheville. Trying to run long on asphalt to get ready for Freedom Park 24 Hour Run on New Year's. Despite the weather (drizzle after the sleet), I felt just fine. No problems whatsoever. Honestly, except for the eyes burning b/c of cold & a hint of pain in my hamstring, I can't tell I ran at all. Nice feeling but remarkable on asphalt! Hooray!

40 Miles at Moses Cone

2010-11-16T06:24:00.005-05:00

Ran 40 miles at Moses Cone Park near Blowing Rock, NC. I've never run there before. Thought it would be a good faster paced run on smooth paths. It was smooth but it was pretty mountainous. There's one 4 mile climb up to Rich Mountain I did twice, one 2.5 mile climb up to the Lookout Tower I also did twice, and various others. Took me 6:39, which is just under 10:00 miles. I'm very pleased with that, especially in the hills. Foot hurt but other than that had minimal problems. Encouraging.

Blue Ridge Parkway Run Pictures

2010-10-24T10:00:00.006-04:00

Started in the dark & ran from Price Lake to Rough Ridge & back. My foot (plantar fasciitis) has been bothering me. Considered asking someone for a ride on the way back. Beautiful run though, and enjoyed the faster pace of running on the road. Funny to think of running on the Parkway as being easier and faster than what I normally run in the mountains.

Great Day at Hinson Lake. 92 Miles.

2010-09-27T21:11:00.011-04:00

I think the progression in these pictures says it all. Pre-race, 15 miles, 30 miles. 62 miles, 75 miles, 90 miles.

I've run 5 races over 100K (62 miles)- all in the past 18 months.

* Feb 2009- Rocky Raccoon 100 Miler- Unseasonably warm. Had bad heat issues that forced me to walk the last 20 miles, but I finished (though outside of my 24 hour goal).

* Sept 2009- Hinson Lake 24 Hour- Unseasonably hot. I didn't have many heat issues, but many did. Made it 90 miles and felt pretty good. Loved the race set up.

* New Years 2009/2010- Freedom Park 24 Hour- 35 degrees and drizzly all day. Got bored and joints hurt from asphalt. Went home after 70 miles. Felt OK about that decision.

* June 2010- Black Mountain Monster 24 Hour- Unseasonably hot. Blew up due to heat & being out of shape. Still struggled through 66 miles. Rough.

* Sept 2010- Hinson Lake again- 95 degrees- Record high! I still haven't run 100 miles in 24 hours. It'll have to wait for better conditions, but I did have a great time out there!

Hinson Lake & Mount Mitchell were the 2 races I looked forward to most this year. I really enjoyed Hinson Lake last year. Race organization is fantastic, the course is condusive for running major miles, and it's pretty close to home.

THE COURSE: The course at Hinson Lake is a 1.52 mile loop around a lake. When I read about this a few years ago, I thought to myself, "How ridiculous is that?! Somebody stop me if I ever sign up for that thing." I cannot stress how PERFECT the course is for me though. Both years, I stuck to a plan and absolutely followed it completely until around 75 miles & then all bets are off. You go out about .85 mile on a finely crushed rock (dusty, deeper and loose this year, but no complaints) path that's about 6' wide. Then you hit the only hill on the course. The first time this year, I kept waiting for it to get steeper but it never did. I commented to someone, "This is the hill? It was so much bigger last year. I'm sure it'll grow later on." So after the first 3 loops, I walked this hill. I had a tree picked out- one with a little knot thing near the bottom- if you were there, you know the one I'm talking about. I walked from there to the top of the incline each lap and that's all I walked for the first 75 miles, except for the aid station on occasion. Broken up like that makes it so perfect in my head... "Run .85 mile, then a walk break. Then run .6 mile, then an aid station break." Makes it so much easier to keep going. If the aid had been 5+ miles between stations like most ultras, there's no way I'd get through it on a tough weekend like this one. So much easier carrying nothing with you.

THE HEAT: I'd seen the forecast early in the week. High of 94. But these things change all the time, right? Not this time. Predicted 94 high and it actually got up to 95, tying a record for this date. Knowing my history in the heat, I was very worried. In the back of my mind, I sort of figured there were really only 2 results possible: A) Dropping out early after several hours of misery; B) Running a couple of hours, taking a couple of hours of break, and repeating for 24 hours. There was a 3rd option I hadn't considered- actually doing well!

THE RACE: I started off comfortably. I was running about 8:00-8:30 pace early on + short aid station breaks, so 9:00 miles, and I don't think I fell off that for 20 miles or so... it's hard to remember. The time spent at aid stations got a little longer after 10 miles or so, but I was moving nicely. Felt great!

At 30 miles, I wasn't sweating like I should and my stomach was sloshing with water, so I decided to take a 20-30 minute hydration break. I didn't want to, oddly enough (I usually welcome breaks.). Felt great still & wanted to keep going but knew I needed to cool down & drink. Got in the back of my car & did just that. Piled ice on my chest and neck. Ran most of the daylight hours with ice in my hat.

Going into this race, I felt more like a real runner than I have in recent years. That may sound strange. I usually feel like a guy who can stay out on a rugged trail for a really long time, but not like a runner. I've felt a little faster lately and have had good intervals and tempo runs with the team lately. Even though it's a 24 hour race, during the first half I felt like I was moving along nicely with quicker turnover and better form than usual. Good feeling.

At 45 miles, I had developed a really bad chafing problem all over. Anywhere skin touched clothing or skin touched skin, I was having problems. I think the salt sweated out was a big factor. My skin was on fire the whole race. You can see from the pictures, I'm bright red. Looks like sunburn, but wasn't. Just from the heat/dehydration. So at 45 miles, I decided to pull an unorthodox move and left the race for an emergency Wal-Mart trip to try to get the chafing under control. Saved my race but cost me 45 minutes at the store!

I felt pretty decent for another 10 miles and at about 55 I started a roller coaster pattern. Great for 6-8 miles, then crash. Repeat, repeat, repeat. The later into the race, the shorter the spikes. 8:00 miles one lap, followed by one where I hallucinate, can barely walk in a straight line, feel like I might pass out, etc., and then feel fantastic again. Strange. I was coherent enough to know there was a problem and to know that it would pass. Had I not had the positive spikes, I would've dropped out.

This is the 2nd consecutive race I've hallucinated a little (sea creatures were passing through my body last time) and before that, I thought people were exaggerating. Just before daylight after 21 hours of staring at the ground, I noticed, "Wow! The ground is so shiny from my headlamp. There must be millions of flecks of mica on this trail. It's so beautiful. It looks like stars--- wait no, it IS stars--- no, the mica on the trail is a reflection of the beautiful stars in the sky. But where's the moon? I can't see the moon on the trail." Soon after that, I was feeling great, and ran past Ray K. I slowed a little and talked to him for a couple of minutes. "Ahh! Did you see that?! A rat! Something just ran between us." His response, "Dude, there are no rats. You're hallucinating. The shadows this time of night play funny tricks on you." I saw, and hurdled two more just after leaving him, but I think he was right. I never listen to music when I run, but started to at night during these long races. I've also never been a big Metallica fan, but like to run listening to sort of fast, but not super fast metal & punk. I spent probably 30 minutes pondering, "I never realized it, but Metallica's 'Creeping Death,' was written for this exact moment. How did they know it was going to happen? How did they know I was feeling like death was creeping up on me? Did they know that I ran away from it & feel great now? That's so crazy b/c I don't even know those guys. Those dudes in Metallica must be really smart." Yeah, I lost it a bit. :)

75-85 miles was, by far, the worst of the race. I had a couple of positive spikes in there, but it was rough. That was the first time I strayed away from my "only walk on the hill strategy." I collapsed on a bench about every other time I got to the aid station and stayed there for 10 minutes each time. During the whole race, I probably took: one 40 minute Wal-Mart break, one 30 minute break to cool down & hydrate, two 20 minute breaks for the same reason, and three 10 minutes bench breaks. That's 2:20 of breaks + the time spent picking out food, drink & supplements at the aid station, which may have been about an hour total. My pre-race plan was to reduce these breaks, but on a hot day like this, I don't fault myself for all the lost time. I needed it.

Sun came up around mile 85 and I was more lucid. Had a smile on my face. I did a lot of walking because I knew I'd beat my 90 miles from last year but could not get 100. Didn't see much use in killing myself for 95 when I could enjoy a few more laps around the lake for 92. I saw these sort of as victory laps. Walked the entire last 2 miles I think. I talked to more people during this time than the whole rest of the race combined. Lot of "How'd it go" stories. Many people ran during the daylight hours of Saturday, slept at night and got in a couple of laps Sunday morning, so there were a lot more people out than there were at night.

THE ORGANIZATION: Tom Gabell and his crew do such a good job and are so unbelievably friendly!! I couldn't appreciate it more. When I was losing it, I felt like the bearded guy who counted my laps all day & all night was my best friend. After collapsing on the bench around 85 miles, I heard Tom say, "Anyone who completed one lap is a finisher." I yelled out, "Tom, did I just hear you say I was finished? I completed a lap." I my delirium, I thought it was the funniest joke ever. I recall trading jokes with the volunteers late into the race last year. Running for 24 hours is hard, but there is personal reward. Tallying laps or filling Gatorade cups for 24 hours is maybe even more commendable. What's the payoff? Entry was $24. Tom and these folks aren't getting rich. My ice filled hat goes off to these people for making the event possible. Most of them didn't take shifts- they were out there the entire time.

Ray K said this was the biggest 24 hour race ever held in the US with about 250 people registered. I certainly would never argue with his assessment of the ultra world past or present. Results haven't been posted but I think I was about 12th for men & probably 3-4 women beat me. I made the leader board of top 10 for a brief spell around 80 miles. I finished 7th last year with 90.0 miles and went 92.xx this year. I almost stopped at 91.25 but I don't like odd numbers, so... seriously, that's why I went out on another lap. Horn sounded the end of the 24 hours and you have to drop a banana with your name on it where you stopped. Mike Morton, the eventual winner flew past me dozens of times during the day. He finished 100 miles in less than 13:30!!! I walked some of my last full lap with him and I was the one who wanted to keep running. He said he really struggled after 100 but still managed to get in 152 miles!! Unbelievable especially in the heat!

REFLECTION: Had fun, met some people- some who have seen this blog and 3 who watched the 2009 Hinson Lake video I put on youtube, overcame some obstacles, and just generally had a great experience out there.

If I can run 92 miles when it's 95 degrees, I know I can crack 100 in 24 hours under good conditions. I'll have to wait for that day to come. As much as I didn't have a good experience (no fault of race director!) at Freedom Park because of the paved loop and yucky weather, I'm planning on going back. We'll see how that goes. Also can't wait for Hinson Lake 2011!!

92.8 Miles. Hot!

2010-09-27T09:03:00.002-04:00

I made it 92.8 miles at the Hinson Lake 24 Hour Run. Official distance will be about 92.2 because I didn't finish the last lap in 24 hours. It got up to 95 degrees. I felt great for about 45 miles and then after that, it was very up & down. For the next 20 miles it was up for 6-8 miles, then a crash. Towards the end it would switch every 30 minutes. Never experienced such shifts. At 85 miles, I'm thinking, "I haven't felt this strong all day! I can run 8:00 miles from here on out!" ...and I WAS! Then 3 miles later, I'm walking for 20 minutes straight. After that, running strong again. Strange.

No big problems at all except chafing all over (I blame the sweat and salt.). Given the conditions, I had a VERY GOOD race. 100 miles would've been nice, but I was mainly out to beat my 90.0 miles from last year.

I think I finished around 12th out of around 250. Ray K said this was the biggest 24 hour race ever in the US. I'll trust his word.

More details later.

Hinson Lake Heat- Then Again

2010-09-23T22:56:00.003-04:00

...ugh... I REALLY hate the heat, but these past few weeks have been really hot, yet haven't seemed so bad to me. Granted, I've been running shorter runs, but being out there in the 90s this week hasn't been so bad. Maybe a summer to acclimate, losing some weight, and just being in better shape will work to my benefit.

I've never even thought of taking long breaks. I love a 20 minute break here in there in a 24 hour race, but when I see people get into a tent for extended periods of time, it's never seemed very appealing to me. I'll play it by ear, but it may be necessary to get off my feet, get out of the heat and rehydrate during the middle of the day. I've always been worried that I wouldn't want to start back up after a long break, but if I had the problems I did at the Black Mountain Monster, I may not have much choice but to stop and catch up with hydration. At that race, for about an hour, the only 2 things I thought of were: A) I'm going to end up in a hospital. An IV would be great right about now; B) I wonder if there's a freezing cold movie theater around here.

I'm going to have to be open to adaptation and the idea that taking it easy- or even a long break in the early afternoon might be the only way that I'm able to continue when it gets cooler at night.

We'll see. Bedtime.

Hinson Lake 24 Hour Run This Weekend- 94 Degrees

2010-09-23T22:24:00.002-04:00

I've been eagerly awaiting the Hinson Lake 24 Hour Run since last year. I had a good race last time and really enjoyed myself. I haven't raced much in the past year and Mt. Mitchell and Hinson Lake were the two I was really looking forward to.

Ran a 24 hour run in early June but dropped at 66 miles because of heat problems. Had the gall bladder taken out the next week. All has gone well since then. Training has been better. Lost about 15 pounds (greatly needed but still room to lose for sure), and have generally been confident and feeling like, you know, sort of a decent runner. Couldn't wait until Hinson Lake.

Forecast for Saturday is 94 degrees. EEEk! Worried. I wrote that it was 81 degrees last year and people had big problems in the heat. I was OK, which was a little shocking, but I do remember it being hot. 94 is a different story. I've looked forward to this race for so long but I've vowed to be smart. I dealt with some potentially dangerous dehydration at Black Mountain Monster 24 Hour in June. Problems started early and I altered my plan a bit but kept going 14 more hours or so after the problems arose.

All summer, I had major leg cramping almost everyday when I came home from practice... I guess not really while I was running, so that's a good thing at least.

Plan this time is to minimize the problems altogether by being smart from about noon-5 PM. After dropping early in the past two 24 hour races (but feeling OK about both decisions & getting in 66 & 70 miles), I was 100% sure there was no way I'd stop early in this one. Thought to myself this past month, "I may not hit 100 miles, but I'm not going home early. No way." With the heat, I may change my tune. I've got electrolytes, salty Chex Mix, even pickles packed. If I follow my hydration plan, I'll drink over 5 gallons. Seems like a lot. I'll pack the hat with ice. I toyed with the idea of a homemade ice vest but will be stuffing ice in a compression shirt instead. A guy I know suggested sports bra and said he's worn one before and stuffed bags of ice inside. I just couldn't bring myself to buy a sports bra. Sheesh.

We'll see how it all works out. Excited but I've got to say, I'm a little scared of the heat.

10K? Good Time.

2010-08-22T20:26:00.005-04:00

I think I've only run one race shorter than a marathon since 2004. Decided to do something a little different and ran the XTERRA North Carolina Trail 10K today.

It was held at Beatty Park, where we've been running 3 days a week all summer. Feels like I have every step memorized going clockwise. The race went counterclockwise but I still felt like I had a rhythm from knowing the course so well. Beatty Park is very rooty. My leg and elbow are healing from a fall there last week. It was almost funny running a 10K. I missed the first mile marker and looked at my watch at the 2 mile marker at 15:20. "How could that be? 7:40 miles on a trail? I'm already 1/3 done?" I almost laughed. In reality, I didn't run much faster than I do when I try to keep up with my top girls on hard days. I was a little conservative, not knowing exactly how to run this distance. Strategy was: decent pace for first 2 miles, barely slower middle 2, all out the last 2. I stuck to that. Felt very good. I don't know how to explain it, but my stride felt powerful and longer than usual. Easily flowed over the roots and rocks. The race was pretty uneventful and was over before I knew it. One person passed me early and I passed five the rest of the way. I passed one guy 1/2 mile from the finish. He seemed to be struggling a little, but not that bad. He finished 10 minutes later and they had to call an ambulance & fire truck for him.

I finished in 49:11. 16th overall out of 60? 80? I may have been able to run about 1:00-1:30 faster and risked puking and blowing up. Instead, I went hard but within my limits, finished strong and felt good. I'm happy with it.

Best Week of Summer

2010-08-15T21:43:00.005-04:00

Best running week of the summer so far. June was rough coming off a 24 hour race and then gall bladder removal. July was better but H-O-T. This week was my highest mileage of the summer- 82 miles. This week, I got in a 12 miler, a 16 miler, and a 26 miler, along with a hard set of 800s that made me puke and three 6-8 milers.

Ran the 26 miler this morning at the beach- Harbor & Hunting Islands. Left at 5 AM before the sun came up. Lot of lightning for the first 20 minutes. Nearly 100% humidity and around 80 degrees. Soggy for 4 hours. Yuck. Ran almost all on the roads through the marshes. Actually, my legs felt better today than any day this week and I felt perfect afterwards.

Good week!

ps- Fast (for me) tempo run the day after the 26 miler... 13:34 for 2 miles in the middle of a 6 mile run. Felt great!

Great Time! Great Views!

2010-07-25T22:08:00.011-04:00

We were headed up to the mountains this weekend. Around Wednesday, I decided to run a marathon on the Greenway in Boone they've been having every couple of weeks. The more I thought about it, the less appealling the 90 degree forecast, asphalt, 7 out & backs, and running by the sewage treatment plant 14 times seemed. I'd been having problems with dehydration and cramping all week. Instead, I decided to go into the woods by myself and start early in the morning. As is my habit, at 10 PM on Friday, I was still figuring out where I wanted to run.

I chose to park at Devil's Garden Overlook at milepost 236 on the Blue Ridge Parkway and run down the Mountains to Sea Trail into Stone Mountain State Park and then run up the mountain and elsewhere in the park if I had time. It was 64 degrees and breezy when I got out of the car. 88 when I finished. I ran over 5 hours and had a great time. I took a hydration pack and a two bottle belt and filled up the pack at the park. Drank 160 ounces and was still dehydrated. That's what happens when you sweat upwards of 3L/hour. Yuck.

Went from 3500' up to 3700', down to 1500' and back up to 2500' on Stone Mountain and then, back down and then back up from 1500' to 3700'. That was a steep climb! Walked quite a bit those last few miles. For the first time ever, I considered just parking it on a rock and resting for a little bit. It was slow going, but I made forward progress. Going down on the way into the park hurt my feet. I didn't realize at the time, my feet busted out of my sock in two places. I've worn those socks probably 30 times and never had any problems. Where one of the holes was, I developed a blood blister, but I barely noticed it when I ran. I felt good though, and the next day, my legs feel better than they have all week.

Went tubing with Wren & Jennifer afterwards. Good day.

OK, I Cried a Little. Great Run!

2010-07-15T00:43:00.003-04:00

I am not ashamed to say I cried a few happy tears during today's run.

We're at Virginia Tech running camp this week. Brought 14 kids. Today's run was a difficult 6.5 mile run all uphill to Mountain Lake. Pretty steep. Some of my kids were worried about doing the whole 6.5 and considered taking the 2 or 4 mile option, but all but 2 rising 9th graders did the longest option.

I thought I ran well. Never stopped to walk. I ran the first 4 with 2 of my girls with 2 guys within yelling distance. Then Jessica & Mallary took off while I maintained my pace. The guys left too. Chelsea was up with the other guys- who knows how far ahead.

A mile from the top, Jess, Malz & Patrick were within sight and I got a little emotional... I felt great and was just so happy to be running. More than that, I was so happy 3 of my girls were beating me! ...and on a good day for me! Made me feel like I'm doing something right in coaching and made me think about how much these kids mean to me. I think our first guy was about :56- he wasn't sure. Our first girl was 1:03. 1:13 for me. The run was comfortably hard. Perfect really. Not hard enough to HAVE to walk but hard enough to WANT to after 2 minutes!

Doughton Park- Longish Run

2010-07-03T23:10:00.005-04:00

I pride myself in knowing an awful lot about North Carolina's geography. I'm very interested in where people are from (and what high school they went to). I look at maps a lot. I go places... but I'm sad and a little embarrased to say I'd never heard of Doughton Park before today. I googled around looking for places in the mountains I'd never been to to run today and stumbled across Doughton Park. 30 miles of trails along the Blue Ridge Parkway near Stone Mountain State Park- sort of in between Jefferson and Sparta. I'm still not clear about who runs the place. I think it's part of the Blue Ridge Parkway system.

I wanted to run 2-3 hours, but got a little bit of a late start and had Wren and Jennifer with me. I told them I'd be back in 2 hours. Started at Basin Cove Overlook at Milepost 244.7 on the Parkway, where there's a great view, including Stone Mountain. Wonderful 72 degrees when I started. Ran on some nice singletrack as well as an enjoyable fire road. I thought I'd read that it was all rolling. What I ran was not rolling. It was pretty darn hilly. Started at 3300' elevation, went up and down a bit, got down to 1400' and then went back up to 3300'.

I got a little lost and realized I'd be late. Then about 2:15 into it, I went from tired but fine to Bonk City. Felt like someone turned the power switch off and it happened instantaneously. Been years since that's happened. I figured I was only running 2 hours- didn't need to bring anything besides water. Wrong. Didn't know exactly where I was, but thought I was close to where we parked. Heard cars and just trotted across a pasture and onto the Parkway. Luckily, picked the right direction and ran a mile along the Parkway to the car. Finished in 2:50. Jennifer wasn't too freaked out I was almost an hour late. Wren had been discussing whether they would have to spend 1 or 2 nights in the parking lot waiting for me. She knew they had water, granola bars and they saw blackberries on the trail. Ha!

Didn't go perfectly, had to walk a lot post-bonk as I was going uphill, but I'm just happy to be out there running a fairly long run in the woods.

No Excuses Now

2010-07-02T22:23:00.003-04:00

Poor training all spring. 66 miles at Black Mountain Monster in early June. Lazy week after that. Emergency gall bladder removal the next week. Now, three weeks from surgery, I'm back in it. Didn't know if I was going to be able to run at all last Monday, but managed 5 miles with some pain. 7 miles the next day with less pain. I managed to run a "tempo" run with the team this Monday. I use quotation marks because it was a lot harder than tempo pace for my present ability. But I felt good and was happy to get through it. Told the girls I was running with Tuesday, "Don't let me use the gall bladder as an excuse from now on. I'm OK." It does hurt a little still, but not bad when I run. Went to the mountains today after our run. Enjoying a 72 degree high and 52 degree low today after 3 weeks in the 90s in Charlotte. Going for a 2-3 hour run somewhere fun tomorrow. Back on the right track and happy about it.

Bye Bye Gall Bladder

2010-06-14T20:39:00.002-04:00

I felt fine Friday. I ate a large dinner, but it wasn't that big. Felt full. By 9:30 PM Friday, I felt bad. Threw up at midnight. At 1:30, woke Jennifer up and told her I had to go to the ER for my stomach. Passed out in the waiting room from the pain. Worst internal pain I've ever felt. In & out of consciousness for a couple of hours. Took 4 hours for me to be seen by a doctor.

Ended up having an inch wide gall stone. They took the whole gall bladder out Saturday afternoon. I wonder how much of my "stomach problems" over the years have been more about this gall bladder. I've thrown up in more races in the past 10 years than I haven't. We'll see.

Recovery's going well, but I can't run for a week and didn't run much last week after the Black Mountain Monster, so that'll be 2 weeks off basically. Really itching to run.

Black Mountain Monster 24HRS- Extended Version

2010-06-07T22:43:00.003-04:00

(LACK OF) BUILD-UP

My running has been horrible lately. I have gained a good (bad) deal of weight. I've had to cross off one race on my calendar after another for various reasons. Been busy with teaching, coaching & watching Wren turn into a pretty exciting (biased, I'm sure) 6 year-old soccer player. My girls track team was 2nd in the state indoor and outdoor meets this year & 4th in XC, by the way. Guys have made incredible strides too. Things on the personal running front have been on the decline, but I'm ready for a good summer. I've never had a bad summer of running except due to injury. I plan on 300 mile months, losing the weight, being able to keep up with the top girls on my team again in intervals by XC season, and really getting in shape for Hinson Lake 24 Hour Race in September. Black Mountain Monster was a step in the right direction, but was a big challenge for me.

When I say things have been bad... In the past 4 months, I don't think I've run 6 days a week once besides the trip we took to the Pacific Northwest. 4 days per week has been the usual. I ran 70 miles at the New Year's 24 Race in Morganton, then Mt. Mitchell Challenge in February, and 4 hours a couple of weeks ago. Those have been the only long runs I've done, but I have gotten in several 2 hour runs if those count as long. Admitting my shortcomings is the first step to recovery, right? I'm ready to turn things around. I used to pride myself in doing 2-3 long solo training runs a month.

Black Mountain Monster has been on my calendar for months and as it approached, a feeling of dread filled me. A month ago, I figured out how I could squeeze some 2-4 hour runs into my schedule and survive the race. Half the battle in long races is having the confidence and experience that you can do it and have done it before. I'd be OK, wouldn't I? Maybe. Yeah... Nah... I think so.

RACE

Chafing is sometimes an issue with me and when it's an issue, it's severe. To prevent the chafe, I always wear a 9 year-old pair of Titan tri shorts under my regular shorts during long races now. I couldn't find the shorts easily when I was packing Friday afternoon, and just decided to spend the night at home. I was frustrated. I found them shortly after that but still stayed home. Drove the 2 hours the next morning for the 10 AM race start. The race was at the Manor House at Montreat College. I planned on cutting it fairly close and getting there at 9:20. I know the Montreat area and this place sounded like something that would be centrally located. I didn't bother looking at directions. Dumb. After a call to my mom to look at the website, I found my way to another property owned by the College. I showed up right at start time, not ready and the race director, Richard asked if I wanted them to hold up. I told him I had 24 hours to catch up and that was just 5-10 minutes I wouldn't have to run! I started 7 minutes after everyone else and caught up to some people about a mile into it.

To my knowledge, there have been 4 incarnations of this race in 4 years: 1) Run for Africa at Camp Rockmont in 2007; 2) Blue Planet 24 at Camp Rockmont in 2008; 3) Black Mountain Monster at Montreat last year, and; 4) Black Mountain Monster: The Race for Awesomeness at Montreat this year. I ran 25 miles with a relay team in 2007, 55 miles with a relay team in 2008 and didn't run last year. This year's course was different from last year's apparently. It was a good mix of rolling terrain with dirt roads, wide woodchip and dirt trails, 1/2 mile of paved greenway, and a little narrow, twisty singletrack. I liked it all, and really appreciated the variety. Wore Brooks Cascadias as usual, but you could've easily worn road shoes. A few roots but not rocks. There were mountains surrounding the course from all sides, but the town of Black Mountain is down in a valley so it wasn't particularly hilly. The course was a 3 mile loop with a common tent/aid area each loop and a self-service aid station on the other side of the loop. There was far less food than any ultra I've ever run, but I brought all of my own stuff, so it was no problem. Race volunteers were friendly. I'm supposed to be getting a technical shirt in the mail and the entry fee was modest, so no complaints about any aspect of the race.

The high Saturday was 86 and it was humid. As stated many times on here before, I fall apart in the heat. When I saw the forecast, I actually thought about showing up at 10 PM and just doing the last 12 hours as some people did. Within the first hour it was already hot. 3 hours into it, I was in trouble. Uh oh. Wasn't sweating enough, legs cramping, heat rash, dizzy... not good. I sincerely thought about quitting at mile 12 and again at 15. I took a break at 18 miles to cool off. My running, the whole race, was actually pretty good- there were just a lot of stops. I ended up taking four 30 minute breaks, spending time in aid stations and walking the hills.

I enjoyed meeting some people but ran by myself the whole time except for a few 2-5 minute sections. Met a woman who just started running in October and was on mile 33! Had never run a marathon before. Sheesh. Met two XC coaches. Talked to Anne Lundblad who was a few weeks out of back surgery, was walking 12 hours and was only a couple of laps behind me 8 hours into it! Passed some people laying in the middle of the trail. Caught someone cutting the course (a shame in a sport as non-competitive as this one, where 99% of people do it for personal fulfillment). A lot of people left early. Around 7 PM, I saw several of the 12 hour folks packing up early. If I had to guess, I'd say there were only about fifteen people doing the 24 hours, about thirty doing the 12 hour option, and about 5 relay teams. It was small.

Miles 30-50 were pretty decent for me. Cramping wasn't as often. Cooled off. But by that time, the damage was done. I'd like to think once the sun went down and it got into the 60s, I could flip a switch and click off the miles quickly. By that time, though, you've been going so long, your feet hurt, food and drink don't sound appealing... you're just ready to be done. Also at about 55 miles I started experiencing more of the dehydration symptoms again. Rather than fight it again, I told myself I'd quit at 100K- 62 (or 63, in this case) miles. Nice milestone number of 100K. As silly as it sounds, the way my day had gone, I picked it up at the end to finish strong. I passed a guy with 800m to go and told him I was done. He knew I coached XC and track and said something that bugged me.

Him: Why are you quitting?
Me: I umm... Man, I'm just done. I told you, I've been cramping up for 50 miles. I'm not sweating. It's been so slow going today, I'm not going to be near any distance that I'd consider to be a goal. I'm just going to take the 100K & call it a day. I've been hurting for a long time.
Him: Would you accept quitting from your team?
Me: I dunno. (But I wanted to say, "Yeah, if they were peeing brown, not sweating, had bad leg cramps, and had run 63 miles, I'd probably let them off the hook!" I didn't. "I dunno," was all I could muster. Bugged me.)

When I got to the tent and told them I was quitting, I asked how many people were still running. Only 5-6 solo 24 hour runners. I think I was somehow in 2nd or 3rd. How?? Dang. Could I keep going all night and end up with the most laps at the end? While I decided, I figured I'd keep moving. I probably only ran half of that 3 mile loop and walked the rest. I did not want to just trudge on through the night walking. I've done that before (Rocky Raccoon). No fun. I called it quits at 66 miles in a staggeringly slow 16:58. I've run 60 miles in 12:35 on some pretty difficult singletrack before.

ANOTHER REASON to drop out... I've always thought people were stretching the truth about hallucinating. Maybe not. For the last 8-10 miles, I could've sworn the ground looked like it had about 4" of water on it and I was actually running on the water- really more like I was running on a clear gel pad with water over it. Very ripple-y. When I rested for the last time after 54, everytime I closed my eyes, I imagined animals coming out of my chest- an anaconda, a whale, a sea turtle, a creepy little goblin-like thing. It was as if they ate me and continued on their path. I knew it wasn't real, and I wasn't asleep, but it was like a dream. Wacky.

SO. 66 Miles. I'll take it especially in those conditions. It's not my ideal performance by any means, but I think it'll be a springboard for better things to come this summer and fall! One thing to consider this summer will be do I try to avoid the heat and do long runs at night or in the mountains, or do I just get used to it in case I have to do it at Hinson Lake or other races? Last year was about the same conditions as Black Mountain but I handled it much better, largely because it was on the tail end of the summer instead of the begining. One thing is certain though... gotta turn things around and train well. I'm ready!

Black Mountain Monster 24 Hour Race

2010-06-06T13:41:00.000-04:00

Went home early after 66 miles. Major major heat issues from mile 10 or so. 86 degrees. Legs cramping, no sweat, brown pee, goosebumps, fishbowl stomach, throwing up... It was ugly, but I pushed on for as long as I cared to. Didn't seem like a failure.

More later.

British Columbia Pictures

2010-04-16T09:46:00.000-04:00

Pictures from April running trips between Vancouver & Whistler. Stanley Park in Vancouver was a great accessible park in the middle of the city with huge old growth trees. It poured on me at Lynn Canyon, north of Vancouver & was my least favorite run of the trip, but I felt rushed, Wren & Jennifer got lost and the trail was flooded. North to Whistler was absolutely beautiful! We had considered cutting this part of the trip because the weather was supposed to be bad, but it was the best part and the weather was great.

I intentionally didn't plan a running route for the day in Squamish because I knew the weather may dictate where I could and couldn't run. Quite a bit of snow at high elevations. Coming into town, there was a huge rock face- Stawamus Chief. Apparently, it's the world's 2nd largest granite monolith. I asked a woman at our hotel where would be a good, picturesque place to get a challenging 2-3 hour run in. She suggested "The Chief." Run? She must've been joking. The Chief tried to kill me.

I woke up before the sun came up and it had just risen when I looked at the park sign. "Let's see, the 3rd peak is the highest and longest trail. That should be the best one. Then, I can add on with other trails." I knew it would be difficult, but sheesh! Trail up is only 1.8K (just over a mile) but has 800m of vertical climb. Math & science whiz Mr. Jeff Wnek tells me that's 26.4% grade. It was also over some very unfriendly boulders and, after I got about half way up, over 2" of snow. I kept climbing & climbing and knew coming back down, scaling rocks in the snow was going to be impossible. I was also running out of time from when I told Jennifer to expect me. I turned around at what I imagine was about 20 minutes from the top and I heard the view from 3rd peak isn't that great anyway. It took me 20 minutes longer getting down than it did to climb up. I ran almost none of this trail. Impossible. Had a great time though!

More Olympic National Park

2010-04-06T01:15:00.009-04:00

Ran an hour on the Hoh Rainforest Trail. It was an easy run, but the trail is 17 miles one way and gets up to Mt. Olympus and glaciers eventually. I didn't get nearly that far. Amazing old growth forest where I was. Green everywhere. Hiked 45 minutes with the family. They turned back and I started running. Worked out well. Hoh gets more rain (140'/year!) than anywhere else in the continental US, but it was sunny for us. Rained later in the day when we went to Rialto Beach. Took our time on a 3 hour walk on the beach. Fun day.

Seattle Area Running!

2010-04-05T00:16:00.008-04:00

Flew out to Seattle Friday with Wren & Jennifer. It was a long day that ended at eating at a fantastic Morroccan restuarant. Never had Morroccan food before. Good. In fact, we've had several good meals so far... Ethiopian & Thai too.

After a long day of sightseeing Saturday we decided to go out Discovery Park since we had a little extra time. Very pleasant surprise. Finished the run just before sunset and had a good time. What a great urban park! Big trees, beaches, meadows, hills. Felt like it was miles away from the city. Friday & Saturday were both about 44 and rainy. I'm not sure Jennifer & Wren liked their hike as much as I enjoyed the run. I only ran for 45 minutes, but they were in the car when I got back, staying dry. Today was warmer at first but we got some heavy rain in the evening.

Took a ferry over to Bainbridge Island & then over to Olympic National Park. The road to Hurricane Ridge was closed because of snow but we drove up to the Lake Mills area, up to a ridge at 4,000', looking down at the lake which was 400'. Beautiful. I had wanted to run from there to Lake Crescent but couldn't because of the snow. I ran 2 hours around Lake Crescent to Marymere Falls and up to Mt. Storm King. Native American legend states that the Storm King got angry at warring tribes and tossed a huge boulder to seperate Lake Crescent and Lake Sutherland. The Storm King must not like people running on him either. Man, that was tough! Over 2,100' of elevation gain in the 1.9 miles to the top. I stopped often to take pictures. Couldn't make it quite to the top. I turned around when I got to 2" of slushy snow. I don't know how much worse it got, but it was so steep when I turned around that I literally had to get on my hands and knees for a 30'. I didn't notice it being particularly treacherous going up, but if I had slipped, I could've dropped well over 50'. Figured all fours was the best bet. Never had to crawl through snow before! The water in the lakes and rivers in the area are amazingly clear and bright green-blue. Standing on the dock at Lake Crescent, you can easily see the bottom, maybe 20' deep. Saw Pacific Loons & 4 female Roosevelt Elk today (2 young ones in one location and 2 adult females in another). The Storm King Trail goes through an old-growth forest of Western Red Cedar and Douglas Fir. Trees maybe 8' in diameter and 500+ years old. Driving through the area, we also saw a lot of unsightly clearcuts.

We've had a wonderful time so far. Hoh Rainforest run in the morning, Beach at La Push tomorrow afternoon. British Columbia the following day for the rest of the week.

Mt. Mitchell Picture. Yowza.

2010-03-23T23:51:00.002-04:00

Crowder's Mountain 50K

2010-03-12T00:28:00.002-05:00

So I guess I'm headed to an informal little 50K group run at Crowder's Mountain Saturday. Should be fun. 12-15 people are confirmed. Things have been going pretty well.

Girls Indoor Track team came in 2nd in the state a few weeks ago, which was exciting. 3 points away from winning it. Outdoor Track has started and is rolling right along. Our first real meet was yesterday & I was pleased with the progress we're making.

Time for bed.

Mt. Mitchell Challenge--- COLD

2010-02-28T10:42:00.009-05:00

The Mt. Mitchell Challenge is normally a 40 mile race from the town of Black Mountain, NC (elevation 2,405) to the top of Mt. Mitchell (elevation 6,684) and back. Mt. Mitchell is the highest peak east of the Mississippi. This year, parts were cut out because of 58" of snow on the ground with 10 foot snow drifts, but it still went to to top and back. We used more road than usual, but there was still a good chunk of snowy trail.

My camera batteries were dead. Here are pictures from Asheville Citizen-Times. Really amusing pictures of freezing cold people and worth a look. I do have a picture that's pretty funny from my phone, but I don't know how to get it off my phone and on here.

So yeah, it was cold. Thinking about it though, I can't remember actually being cold. I had more clothes with me that I didn't put on. At 9 degrees and 30-35 mph winds, we had a wind chill factor of -15 or so. Brrr. But I expected much more snow. It caused some problems, but I anticipating post-holing through the 24" deep snow. There was only one section like that and it was only 1/4 mile at the top. I had been worried for weeks about this. Last week, they said they were re-routing the course to avoid the deepest snow, but we should still anticipate 2 foot snow. The day before the race they said the worst mile had been scraped, so I felt better about it. Also, the Challenge had been shortened to 35 miles & the marathon was shortened to 23.

So it was easier than I thought, but it was not easy. Not close.

2.5 miles in the town of Black Mountain with an incredibly steep paved hill at the end of the section. Then 9 miles of snowy fire road. There were ATV tracks you ran through. Otherwise, it was 8-16" or so of snow. But staying in the narrow tracks was tough. This section was certainly harder than usual with the snow but it was runnable. I was happy last year that this section is much more gradual than I expected. I felt tired and my hips hurt literally from the first half mile. Worried me. My hips hurt the whole way.

There was a 3 hour cutoff at the 11.5 mile mark, which sounds easy to hit, but I didn't know what to expect. I passed a guy with a GPS watch at the 7 mile mark and eased up when I realized it was in the bag. When I started passing people going back down from the marathon, I asked people how much to the cutoff and when I realized making the cutoff was still in the bag, I eased up again. I was just trying to make the cutoff and have fun with the race. There were about a dozen who didn't make the cutoff and some who voluntarily turned back to finish the marathon & not continue on with the Challenge.

At 11.5, we hit the Blue Ridge Parkway and 45 mph winds! Wow! 1/2 mile later, we turned on the Mt. Mitchell entrance road and ran about 4-5 miles to the top. It gradually got colder. The road was steep. People I was around walked the whole way. I'd pick out landmarks and run about 50m and walk 50m. I passed 6-8 people on the road up and no one passed me. I noticed runners coming back down with frozen hair & eyelashes. How bad was it up there?? I'd soon find out. Of course, Byron Backer came down with shorts on! Ouch!

A mile from the top, it got bitterly cold. -15 wind chill cold. My mom called me near the top. I could barely talk. It was like a scene from a movie about Antartica. "I'm... I'm... O... K..." Ice all over me. Gloves, jacket, hat, eyelashes. Sheesh! I remembered reading about people's eyeballs freezing at the Hellgate 100K & would close my eyes for 3 steps and open them for 3 steps.

At the very top, we trudged through knee-deep snow to the tower, about 1/4 mile total. Highest peak east of the Mississippi. All downhill from there, so it's easy, right? Not exactly.

At the aid station, someone announced there were only about 20 people behind me, which was humbling & got in my head a little bit.

I thought I'd fly down and really pass people- and at times, I did, but it wasn't as simple as that. Almost all of the road was clear of snow & ice, but there were patches. Not enough to warrant YakTrax. After turning around, I just didn't feel great. My hips hurt more pounding down the asphalt. About 1/2 mile from the top, I slipped on ice and banged my knee up. Falling also made my hamstring cramp up and I pulled a muscle in my back. That wasn't fun. It would be the first of my 3 falls. It took me 2-3 miles to feel better and I flew down the last 2 miles of the road, passing 4-5 people.

A couple of people passed me when I put on YakTrax before going down the fire road. The 4-5 minute break didn't serve me well & I started feeling bad again right after that. It was strange. My mood and the way I felt were clearly defined and changed quickly. There was no reason for the way I felt. Just simple fatigue. "Man, I'm tired." A couple of people passed me in the upper part of the fire road and I was fine letting them go. About half way down the fire road, I turned around and saw a guy in a very noticeable outfit. I told myself 90 mintues earlier there was no way that guy was going to beat me and there he was right on my tail. I picked it up and lost him and in the process, passed some people. I started feeling very good and flew down the mountain. People commented, "Dang, you are really moving!" But I also stopped a lot. To take pants off (Hey, I had short on!), take YakTrax off, go to the bathroom, etc. so I didn't make up as much ground as I could've. Passed more going down the big paved hill and one in town and felt great the last 7 miles. I love feeling good at the end of a race.

I finished in 87th place out of 121 finishers, which is disappointing. 7:48. My training has been garbage though. Getting through a race this hard is an accomplishment given what I've put in in training (or regardless of training, I guess). I know I'm crummy climbing mountains too. My buddy Kevin beat me by 1:05- Over an hour! Yeah, he's faster than me, but I thought he'd beat my by 30-45 minutes & I didn't expect him to create more distance on me on the way down. But when I was feeling kinda down for my poor performance, I remembered that the race was capped at 200 or 250(can't remember). So a lot of people got turned around, decided to turn around, or didn't start. I'd be fine with 87th out of 250. I guess the moral of the story is to train harder.

It was fun though... and quite an experience! The course was absolutely beautiful (so silent and frozen), I met some nice folks, and I pushed through some brutal conditions. Looking forward to next year!

Oww- Mt. Mitchell

2010-02-27T17:53:00.002-05:00

I made it. 9 degrees & 30-35 mph winds at the top. I was never really cold though. Snow was an issue, but not nearly as bad as expected. We had to be re-routed on the road up to the top instead of the trails, avoiding the 5-10 feet of snow, but there was 18 miles or snow of snowy trails. I felt generally fatigued & hips hurt the entire way. Finished strong. Really made up ground the last 6 miles or so.

More later after a shower & stuff. I smell awful.

Seriously? How?

2010-02-25T21:54:00.003-05:00

Mount Mitchell Challenge is coming up in 36 hours. This is a 40 mile trail race from Black Mountain to Mount Mitchell & back. In good weather, it's a very tough course (at least the first half). Last year, I ran the marathon that covers most of the course, but not the top part. They only let about 1/3 of the 40 mile runners to the top and then shut it down. I think something like 2/3 of those who went up were treated with hypothermia. It was pouring rain and 38ish on the lower trails & then got colder, windier & snowy up at higher elevations. But there was only a dusting of snow on the ground.

This year... UGH... 10 FOOT snow drifts at the top!! ...and it's currently snowing. I think just to the north of there, there's a Blizzard Warning in effect, but maybe not as bad at Mt. Mitchell. They re-routed the course so it "only" covers trails that had about 2 feet of snow on them before this recent snow. That's still knee deep. The upper trails have been replaced snowy roads, but it will still go to the top of Mt. Mitchell. They've taken out some aid stations because they simply can't get there. The forecast for race day isn't brutally cold. Hard to say what the actual conditions will be at nearly 7,000' but I'm guessing we'll have a wind chill in the teens.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't very worried. But I'm also very excited. This is why I signed up. Could be more about survival than running this time. I think I may be running in the same pack I took for 3 days of camping- a very small one for backpacking, but a very big one for running a race in. I'm overpacking. Better safe than sorry. YakTrax go with saying. Also foil space blanket, cell phone (do they work there?), gaiters, extra clothes, etc.

There's also a cutoff of 3 hours to a certain spot. I'm not sure how far it is with the re-rout- maybe 12 miles? The website says with the change, runners "have a reasonable chance" to make the cutoff. That doesn't sound incredibly promising. It sounds like there's a good chance that in the deep snow, getting to the cutoff in 3 hours will be pretty difficult. If it is 12 miles, I don't think I can run 15:00 miles up a mountain in deep snow. We'll see.

I've looked forward to this race for a long time. Hope it goes as well as possible. Sheesh. Worried.

Nice Week

2010-02-01T11:01:00.002-05:00

Nothing epic this past week, but it was a nice one...

Last weekend, I thought about running a 1/2 marathon at the Whitewater Center, but we got a lot of rain, it was kinda pricey & I was still having hip flexor problems from the New Year's race. If I had been registered, I would've run it, but decided to stay home. Instead, on Sunday, I went out to a new park for me- North Mecklenburg Park in Huntersville. It's near my parents' house. I ran two 4 mile loops and went pretty hard the first loop & ran as fast as I could the 2nd loop. Second loop was 4:00 faster than the first. Felt good to go at race pace. Made me want to do some shorter distance races. I really never ever run local road or trail races. North Meck Park was fun. Fairly technical with some roots but not bad. Roots seemed to pop up more quickly on the faster loop!

Good results from our track meet this week, with our boys 4x800 finally qualifying for the state meet & our girls 4x400 and 1000m individuals running some impressive times.

We got about 2" of snow & ice Friday night. Had some enjoyable, crunchy runs on trails. So quiet & beautiful out. Ankle deep creek crossing in the first mile this morning at 23 degrees was a little chilly!

Best & Worst of 2009

2010-01-05T20:26:00.003-05:00

I thought I'd already posted this. Not too late is it?

Best Race: Hinson Lake 24 Hour Run. 90 Miles feeling pretty fresh. Was really moving for a few hours through the night. 7th place male.

Worst Race: I'm happy to say I didn't have any terrible races! There's a first. Things went bad at Rocky Raccoon, but geez, it was 100 miles & I finished. A few so so races, but no disasterous ones. SweetH2O 50K my worst & I attribute that to the heat.

Favorite Training Week: I love the trails we ran at camp in Brevard. The 3 day self supported solo trip on the Appalachian Trail with a cracked rib was a memorable one. Some misery involved, but character building and something I really appreciated. Not like, "Woo hoo, this is fun!" but enjoyable in a different way.

Highest Weekly Training Mileage: How many did I get in the week of Rocky Raccoon? 120? Many around 85.

Total Yearly Mileage: Right at 2,000. 500 less than last year, which was a little disappointing. I enjoy long training runs and missed some due to mild injury, recovery, illness and laziness. 22% of my mileage was in races, which is way more than ever before. Seems very strange.

Best Route: Ran a lot of good trails- Art Loeb Trail in Pisgah National Forest, DuPont State Forest, Caesar's Head, GA section of the Appalachian Trail... Hard to pick one.

Greatest Acheivement: Hard to beat making it through a 100.

Biggest Disappointment: Rough period of training in October & November.

Longest Injury-Free Stretch: I didn't have many problems this year, but my sciatic nerve problem flared up a bit this fall.

Worst Injury: See above.

Most Memorable Moment: After puking for 20 miles, not having any fluid or calories in my system & having to walk almost all of the last 20 miles at Rocky Raccoon, thinking, "OK, I have to run across the finish line. I'll run the last 200 meters in," but not being able to run more than 2 steps. But boy did I walk fast across the line!

Best Run Shared with Someone: Several. 25 miles or so with Konrad at Hinson Lake. He totally saved my race. Running just about the whole time with Kevin at Black Mountain Marathon. 2 hours in the slush with Hannah. Cedar Rock Mountain with the team.

Best Shoe: Brooks Cascadia 4s. Wait- did I say I liked them better than the Cascadia 2s?? I'm not sure. I ran out of my stockpile of the Cascadia 2s so I moved over to the 4s. I haven't put in any really long runs in them yet. Ran in the Brooks Adrenaline ASR at Rocky Raccoon and Freedom Park with no complaints.

Worst Shoe: I didn't wear any shoes I didn't like. Tried Saucony Xodus. I wasn't crazy about them but can't say anything bad about them. Snug in the arch for me. Tried out the END Stumptown 10 oz. They're different. I liked them for running, but if I were running a long race and doing any walking I'd be in trouble with the collapsable heel. Also, they completely fell apart! Sole off the upper, stitching unravelled, hole in the fabric...

Something I Never Thought I'd Do: I ran 3 races of 70 or more miles this year.

Race I Enjoyed Most Watching: Boys Wendy's XC race. Girls Regional XC race.

Most Important Lesson Learned: GOT TO run more during the week. Don't want to just get by running 4 runs a week, as I did often this year. It's hard for me to get motivated to go out for 5 miles or something, but I need to be more consistant.

Thing I'm Looking Forward to Most in 2010: Hmm... I think this will be a good year for me. I am really excited about Mt. Mitchell 40 & will go for 100 at Hinson Lake.

Last Decade of Running

2010-01-05T06:56:00.000-05:00

I still don't know what you call this past decade- the oughts? The 2000s? I dunno. But I do know my running has changed a lot.

2000- Did my first triathlon at Latta. I rode a 1988 Nishiki road bike I spray painted olive green. That race felt like such an accomplishment- around 600m swim, 18 mile bike & 5K run. Did a couple of other sprint & international distance triathlons that year, building up to Ironman in 2001.

2001- Another year of firsts, but all had pretty bad experiences associated with them. Ran my first marathon at Myrtle Beach. Screwed up my IT Band during the race and hobbled the last 5 miles. Probably should've dropped out. Funny remembering how hard it was to walk that night from general soreness. Walked like Frankenstein for days. First Half-Ironman at White Lake. 95 degrees. Realized once I started running that I wasn't sweating. Reduced to jogging 100 meters, and walking 100 meters throughout the "run." Really should've dropped out. Needed an IV. Did my first Ironman at Great Floridian. Hyponatremia. Fishbowl stomach until I... expelled the contents. Someone I knew went to the hospital with seizures with the same condition in that race. 13:40. Such a miserably long time on the bike. Perked up in the run.

2002- Very good year for me. Ran another bad Myrtle Beach Marathon and then dropped my marathon PR by 45 minutes at Kiawah Island. Dropped my Ironman PR by over an hour- 12:18 at Duke Blue Devil. Had fun running. Loved doing hard workouts with the team I coached.

2003- Overall, a good year, with one really bad race that I let define- not only the year- not only my athletic ability, but ME. I dropped my 5K time by a lot that year and raced probably 6 of them. Went from just under 21 to 18:58. Dropped my marathon PR by 10 minutes- 3:24 (would've been 3:22 had I not gotten lost!) at the Louisville Marathon. But I got the bright idea that, "Hey these Ironman races aren't that hard. I need a bigger challenge. How about Ironman Austria, in the Alps?" Dumb. Didn't finish the bike. Really hot that day and I couldn't make myself drink the warm water & drink that had been sitting out in the sun all day. The 3 loop bike course over the mountains did me in & I called it quits after 2 laps. I got in a bad funk for a year & didn't ride my bike a single time.

2004- This year & the next would be sort of ho-hum. I would've had a good Chicago Marathon, but I started throwing up at mile 16. Still managed 3:31. Turned out to be a stomach virus, as I was sick for days- not just from the running.

2005- Nothing very eventful. Bad marathon in San Diego. I trained pretty hard for marathons back then and put a lot of pressure on myself to do well. Sort of raced my long runs and looked at my watch at landmarks every quarter mile. Lost a lot of sleep worrying about splits, PRs, etc. I think it was 2005 that someone told me to chill out and enjoy the running. It didn't make any sense at the time. "But no, why run a race if you're not going to PR?" My brother lived in San Diego when I ran that marathon & said, "Everyone else was waving and having a good time, but you looked mad." My response was something like, "It's hard work out there. I'm not out there to have fun." Amusing that my outlook's changed so much since then. I still have goals, but they're not measured in seconds, or really even minutes. "Finish feeling good and having fun," is sort of the goal now. It was around this time I started enjoying running on singletrack trails, but I was horrible at it. There was a 16 month period where I fell and cracked ribs on 3 different occasions and tripped and pulled the muscle off my ribs in a 4th incident! Jennifer made me swear I wouldn't run on trails anymore. I didn't for a year or so. Before that hiatus from the trails, though, I ran part of a 3 person relay in the Triple Lakes Trail 40 Miler and saw my friends Watts & Konrad finish the whole 40 solo. I felt like crying for them. How could you run for 7 hours straight?! And on trails?! Crazy.

2006- My first 50K at Salem Lake was in January 2006. I entered on a whim and knew I would hear it from the kids I coached if I didn't finish. Wasn't sure I could though. It was 20 at the start and didn't warm up much. I thought the pain in my hamstring was just being tight from the cold. Turned out to be a problem I still have, which no one's ever been able to pinpoint. I've heard everything from herniated disc to piriformis syndrome. I call it sciatica. I dunno. Taking the leap to 50K seemed nuts. I only did it because I found out in 2005 that this crazy race even existed. I tried to run the Tybee Marathon the next month and was only able to get through 4 miles of it due to this sciatic--- or whatever problem. It got bad & I couldn't run much at all for a couple of months. Once I was a little better, I ran the Blue Ridge Relay in 2006 with some friends and others who became friends. It sort of got me thinking about expanding what running was. I also completed the White Lake 1/2 Ironman again while injured and just doing what I could on the run. I wanted some sort of redemption for not finishing Ironman Austria. It was my first triathlon in 3 years & I haven't done one since.

2007- Big, big changes. I was able to complete a February marathon after being injured for most of 2006. Time wasn't great, but it felt like an accomplishment. I realized I'd quickly become a trail rat. All of my long runs leading up the marathon were on trails. I continued to run more & more trails and had a great time doing it. There was a new purpose in running. FUN!!! By the spring, I developed this rule that I wouldn't bother running if it wasn't at least an hour. I still don't like to, but I break the rule now. I also sought out new trails & fun places to run. Since then, I've run less than 150 miles on roads & about 5,500 on dirt. I ran 25 miles at the Relay for Africa and came across these insane people who were doing it solo. 24 hours. Who were these people? In the back of my mind, though, I was thinking, "I wonder if I could run for 24 hours next year." Soon afterwards, I signed up for the 12 Hour Adventure Trail Race in VA. I officially got something like 53.xx miles in, but went out for another loop, bringing it right to 60 miles in 12:35. I felt good doing it too. Better than any marathon I'd run. After swearing off road running, for some reason, I ran the Outer Banks Marathon and it killed my legs. I thought about dropping out in the last 2 miles! Went on the first of my Appalachian Trail runs at the end of 2007.

2008- Ran several ultras, but more than that, I ran probably 20 training runs over 26.2 miles. Got in 3 consecutive months of 300+ mile months. Ran 50K races on 2 consecutive days. Had some achilles problems early in the year, but half ignored it. Ran Salem Lake 50K on it against my better judgement. Also ran Gator Trail 50K, New River 50K, FATS 50K, 55 straight miles at Relay for Africa, Holiday Lake 50K++. It was a good year & I put in a lot of good training for my first 100 in 2009. My highest yearly total, right at 2,500. For a few weeks in December 2008 & January 2009, I think I suffered some effects of overtraining. So many long runs. Had long runs of 40, 60 & 31 miles & 3 out of 4 weeks and ended up dragging, having trouble breathing, etc. Ended up OK.

2009- Ran my first three runs over 60 miles, including my first 100 miler at Rocky Raccoon. Man, that was a rough day. I'm still saying no more 100s, but I'm enjoying 24 hour races. Ran 90 at Hinson Lake and 70 at Freedom Park. Those were big runs for me, but the year as a whole... I dunno. I really enjoy training. Not sure why. My training wasn't all it could be- sometimes for legitimate reasons and sometimes because I got a little lazy. I got in 2,000 miles, and ran some races I'm proud of, but didn't enjoy as many of those Sunday long runs as usual. I think I ran more races in 2009 than I have since I was in high school. I got through 70 miles with a cracked rib on the Appalachian Trail over 3 days. I gained a lot of confidence during 2009- that I could get through whatever... not that I think I'm fast or anything- just that I can finish if I have to. Funny I should say that after going home early in the 24 hour race I just ran, but if somebody said, "You have to run 20 more miles," I wouldn't have had a problem. I got sponsored through the Brooks ID program for 2009-10, which I'm happy about.

2001, 2002 & 2007 were my favorite years of the decade. 2009 would be 4th.

Freedom Park 24 Hour Full Report

2010-01-01T20:44:00.008-05:00

24 Hours of asphalt. Man, I'm dumb. I got in 70 miles & left several hours early, but I'm OK with it. It's hard for me to write a review of this race because there was a lot I liked & a lot that was just... off. It's hard for me to say anything bad about the race because it was so well-organized & the volunteers were great, but I just didn't have a great time running it. In my last 24 hour race, I really enjoyed myself and felt like I was running with purpose. In this race, it just felt like I was going around in (cold, wet) circles for no good reason.

I walked out of the Sleep Inn to around an inch of sleet/snow on the ground. It was right around freezing- 32 or 33. I showed up at the race & picked up my packet with a nice fleece pullover, a fleece scarf & Injinji (my favorite) socks.

Everyone was really low key & bundled up at the starting line and we were off with little fanfare. The first of my 1 mile asphalt loops followed. Freedom Park is adjacent to Freedom High School & I've been there for Cross Country meets there before. The XC course is pretty nice but the paved loop has a view of a grassy field. According to Accuweather.com, the temperature never got over 38 all day and it was drizzly and misty the whole time. I would've prefered the race be on a portion of the XC course but it would've been a muddy mess yesterday. The forecasted high tomorrow is below freezing and the overnight windchill is 5, so I guess I can't complain about the weather. Is 38 and wet better than 17 and windy? Maybe so.

I ran more on asphalt yesterday than I did in the past 2.5 years combined. I really don't know why I signed up. Around mile 8, I noticed my knees throbbing. By about 14, my ankle hurt. Around 18, my shins hurt. Those problems lasted the rest of the race. That's a long time to hurt. For the better part of 16 hours, my primary thought was, "Ow." The race director said it was OK to run on the edge of the path in the grass, but I was really the only one who did. I'd run in the mud down the slight hills & another 100m stretch. It made me feel like I was cheating, but running in the mud was certainly not faster than staying on the path. After several hours, the path I'd blazed got muddier and muddier, so I stopped after awhile.

I had to take a lot of breaks to stretch & massage my legs. I'd put on a sweatshirt, get in the back of my car, shiver, mess with my legs, and get out absolutely freezing. Teeth chattering. Shaking. Miserable. I wasted a lot of time doing this. I can't even remember how many 15-30 minute breaks I took. 5, I think. Before each of them, though, my knees were so bad, I nearly quit, so I think it was the best decision.

I was wet the entire day. For most of the race, I wore shorts, long sleeve shirt, short sleeve shirt, a thin jacket & a hat. I took the jacket off for about a third of the race, which was a good decision. I was a little colder without it, but drier (not as much sweat). With wet feet from the mud I sloshed through, I'm amazed I have no hint of a blister.

I can't say enough how good the support was. Great food, friendly volunteers, chip timing (which I've never seen at an ultra). David & Rhonda Lee & their BMRC volunteers were fantastic and almost seemed offended if they couldn't get you something. I felt obliged to take something most times through the aid station. Seriously, they had a U-Haul truck full of food! The veggie burger Rhonda made for me as I left was the greatest thing I've ever tasted. Only hot food I'd had. I ate a lot more solid food than I ever have in a race. PB&J, potatoes, cookies, trail mix... but there was also pizza, burgers, grilled cheese, etc. I think I ate more than usual to stay warm.

No offense to anyone, but I've got a theory that trail runners are much more friendly than road runners. I went on a fairly long road run at the beach over the summer, I waved or gave a "How's it going?" to about 20 other runners. Not a single response. Training on trails, I've had people turn around and run with me for 5-10 minutes, and I've done the same. Now, I would imagine nearly all of the people in the Freedom Park do their fair share of trail running, but I just never got much of a conversation started with anyone. Some of the comments people made made me laugh.

Them: How many miles have you run?
Me: 38.
Them: Oh, I've run a lot more than that. I'm at 44. It's weird that we're running together but really I'm 6 miles ahead of you. It must feel bad to know that you're that far back.

or

Them: How many miles have you run?
Me: 46.
Them: I've run 40, but at my age, that's a much bigger feat than your 46. You're young. I'm suprised you only have 46.

What?! Really strange stuff. I've never had such conversations with people in an ultra. I blame the asphalt for making people mean. :)

I did meet a few people and ran maybe 2 minutes with people at the most, but that's it. I talked to some people I already knew everytime we passed, but everyone just seemed to be doing their own thing in this race. It felt like the weather and monotony of the course just had people stuck in their bubble of "I'm just getting through this." In most trail races, I befriend someone and run with them for 2-3 hours. That's part of the fun of it. Half of the people had headphones in. I have never run with an ipod, but when it got dark & started feeling lonely, I listened to the finest in 80s thrash metal and punk rock. Gave me a little company.

I got in a relatively fast two laps so I could make the ringing in of the New Year, which was kinda fun. I thought I was at 69 laps then and at that point had decided to run 74 miles (75 laps- each lap was .98xx miles) for some reason. I went to double check and was told I only had 65 laps. Hard to question chip timing. It had been about 10 miles since a break and I knew I wasn't running 10 more without a break. I got back in the car thinking I had 10 more miles for 74. As I got out, I decided to get in 6 more laps for 70 miles instead. When I got back around, they said I had 69 laps! Huh? I must've misunderstood before. I was a little out of it. I sure wouldn't have taken a 30 minute break before running 3 miles though!

I wasn't sure I could even make it a marathon on asphalt (again, why did I sign up?), so I'm pleased I made it 70. I probably should've signed up for the 6 hour option & tried to run faster rather than grind it out with all the breaks I took. I don't mean to paint a bad picture of the race. It was put together very well and most people were more than happy to get in a lot of miles on a quick paved course free of roots, rocks and mud. That's the kind of stuff I like though.

Pictures to follow.

Made it 70. Stopped Early.

2010-01-01T04:21:00.002-05:00

Asphalt & I hate each other. Really, I have no idea why I signed up for a 24 hour race on asphalt. I ran more today on asphalt than the last 2.5 years combined. Knees started hurting at mile 8. Ankle, shins, feet... 70 miles. Got to ring in the New Year, but went home early. If I were still there, I'd have 4 more hours. I'm glad I'm not. Temps ranged from 32-41 with drizzle & mist all day & night. 1/2"-1" of snow/sleet on the ground this morning. Cold & wet the whole time. David & Rhonda Lee, along with the other BMRC volunteers put on a great event, but it just wasn't my thing. More later. Time for bed.

What Did I Get Myself Into?

2009-12-24T21:55:00.003-05:00

Freedom Park New Year's 24 Hour Race is coming up. I'm scared. Here's a quick checklist:

1) Asphalt. Race director said you can run on the grass next to the path though. I bought the first pair of road shoes I've had in almost 3 years just for this race. I figure even if I'm running in the grass a lot of the time, a 10 oz. road shoe is better than a 12 oz trail shoe.

2) Seems like it's rained for 6 weeks straight + several inches of snow there that's melting + an inch of rain they're calling for tomorrow + RAIN DURING THE RACE will make running on the grass potentially worse than the asphalt.

3) 1 mile loop. I can handle a 1 mile loop in the woods or around a lake or something. This is all out in the open in a grassy park. I've been there before for XC meets so I knew what I was getting myself into. Something... I dunno... I just don't like running in the open. Feel like people are watching me. That's one of the reasons I don't run on the roads anymore & the few times I've done it to prep for this race, I've waited until dark. Good thing the days are short now.

4) Yesterday's forecast called for low of 25 with sleet. Today, it says low of 32 with rain on the 31st. Snow Dec. 30 & Jan. 1. I would much rather have 25 & sleet than 32 & rain. I just don't want it to be muddy. It's gonna be muddy. Not like trail muddy, but like soccer field muddy. Wet feet. Poor footing. There are 100 runners. Let's say half run 1' into the grass and let's say 50 miles is the average distance people go. That's 2,500 laps people are running, churning up the mud. I'm sure the forecast will change a lot in the next week. Either way, though, I think it's gonna be muddy, dangit.

5) Undertrained. I've gotten in few 2:00-2:30 runs in the past month, but nothing longer than that. With a good summer of training and a 90 mile race 3 months ago, I should be OK, right? Semi-OK? Good enough? As good as dead? I can't decide.

I thought injury, the heat & a boring 1.5 mile loop (turned out to be nice, not boring) was going to lead to a bad race at the Hinson Lake 24 Hour Run, but I was very pleased with my performance there, so maybe things will go well at Freedom Park! And, hey, I always love bad conditions, don't I?? I'm headed up to the mountains Dec. 26-29 and am looking forward to getting in a couple of runs with the YakTrax! Can't wait to see how terrible it is at Mount Mitchell Challenge this year. So, what's a little mud, right?

Snow Slush Mud. Greensboro Watershed Trails

2009-12-22T23:01:00.002-05:00

Ran a pretty brisk 7 miles at 11 AM at practice today and then got in the car and drove to Greensboro to run with Hannah. We ran 11 miles on the Greensboro Watershed Trails around Lake Brandt. These trails are pretty flat and normally not that technical. Some roots, but nothing too tricky. The Owl's Roost section is the toughest, but not bad- just a lot of short, steep bumps. I forgot that they got a few inches of snow in Greensboro the other day when we got an inch of 34 degree rain (I swear the ground has been mush since before Thanksgiving!). What we ran through was an inch of snow on top of three inches of mud. Squish, squish, slide. Squish, squish, slide. Had a lot of fun and it was good seeing Hannah, but what would've normally been a pretty quick run turned into 2 hours of slogging through the muck. Made it a difficult run.

Got to go to my favorite restaurant in the world with Mr. John Rash too. Binh Minh Vietnamese Restaurant. v5 with tofu and extra vegetables. Yum.

Nice Runs Over Break

2009-11-29T21:11:00.002-05:00

Nothing earthshattering, but I had some nice runs over the Thanksgiving break. Good to get back into the swing of things and enjoy some down time from school.

Wednesday- 1 hour at Beatty Park in Matthews with some WHS runners. We train here a few days a week over the summer but it's been a little while since I've been. Rooty as always and those roots were hidden under the leaf cover this time but no one fell.

Thursday- 1 hour at Fisher Farm Park in Davidson. This one was a new one to me. I was up at my parents for Thanksgiving & planned on running at North Meck Park but changed my mind the night before. I got a little lost before I understood the concept of these trails (Part of that was b/c I went backwards, apparently.). If you just follow green, you have a 2.8 mile loop or something like that. There are also blue and black spurs here & there, but it all comes back into the green... at least I think. There are a total of about 4 miles of trails here from what I gather. I went on all of them at least once. You go through woods & open fields. I kind of liked the open fields. Some of the trails in the woods were a little too tight to get much flow. Felt like they were trying to cram too much trail into small patches of woods. Then again, I guess the green trails were pretty easy to run. The black diamond had lots of little 6' dips and quick turns. Hadn't rained in 3 days but the trails were still a lot more muddy than Beatty the day before. I'm sure I'll go back to Fisher Farm Park since my parents live 4 miles from there, but this is not a destination trail. The fog & 45 degree temps of the morning were half the fun.

Friday- 1 hour on Smoketree Trail + gravel & paved roads, Beech Mountain. 25 degrees & 20-30 mph sustained winds with gusts over 50 mph! A little snow on the ground too. I can't describe how much I love the cold & miserable conditions. Wore tri shorts, tights, long sleeves, short sleeves, thin Brooks Infiniti jacket & toboggan. I was a little toasty under the jacket when climbing, but my ears & face stayed cold the whole time. Legs were perfect. I was a lot more cold watching Wren sled afterwards! I've done this loop a few times when I've been up here. It follows some abandoned dirt roads that have washed out. Rocky. Passes a couple of small waterfalls, which had icicles on them this time. When I was on this trail over the summer, I saw a bear scampering away from me. I think they were smarter than me this time & found a warm place to be.

Saturday- 2:10 on several trails & roads on Beech Mountain. I had planned on starting at 4900' where we stayed, but instead, got dropped off at 3400' and made my way up. Total climb of 2900'. Ugh. After injury and illness, I don't think I've run over an hour in the 2 months since the 24 hour race. 2:10 on rolling terrain would've been OK, but the fact that is was my longest run and by far the hardest, ugh... I really struggled, but got through it.

Sunday- Thought about running. Decided against it. Calves, achilles, sciatic nerve enjoyed the day off.

Freedom Park 24 Hour New Year's Race

2009-11-28T23:52:00.003-05:00

After the problems I've had this fall, I'm not sure how smart it is, but I signed up for the Freedom Park 24 Hour New Year's Race put on by Brown Mountain Running Club in Morganton, NC. This race is on a 1 mile PAVED loop. Paved. I said I'd never run another paved marathon. I thought about running 6 hours of this race last year & asked the race director if I could run in the grass instead of the asphalt. He said OK. Hopefully that stands for this year too. Until this week, I didn't have a decent pair of road shoes & hadn't for over a year. I plan on doing more road running in the month leading up to the race. This really may not be a good idea. We'll see.

Brooks Inspire Daily Program

2009-11-27T23:50:00.001-05:00

I was recently selected to be a part of Brooks' Inspire Daily Program. From their website:

Brooks I.D. stands for Inspire Daily. These two simple words guide the principles of the program. Brooks I.D. is made up of over 2,000 members who are active in their running communities and share a passion for the Brooks brand. They are runners who are winners in their own right: Winning their age divisions, accomplishing their personal goals, pushing their own limits, and, by extension, encouraging others to do the same. They are coaches, mentors, and leaders.

I've tried a number of shoes over the years. I've had more Brooks than any, but Saucony & New Balance would probably be the next two. I've had a few pairs of Adidas & Asics. 1 pair of Mizunos. 1 pair of Nikes in the mid 1980s. No Reeboks. Back in the 80s, I had some Turntecs, Converse (yes, they made running shoes), & Etonics. More recently, I've tried Montrails, ENDs & Inov-8s. I keep coming back to the Brooks though. From the Chariot of 1985 to the Hyperion of 2001 to the Cascadias I can't get enough of now, I've put a lot of miles in Brooks. They also happen to make the shorts (Sherpa II) I liked so much I bought 5 pairs of.

The ID program gives members a 40% discount and some free gear from time to time (some of which are new test models). I've never seen myself as a pitchman, but I'm glad to be a part of this program. Being loyal to the products I like isn't hard.

Good Hiker

2009-11-22T08:04:00.005-05:00

Wren prides herself on being a good hiker. "The best in the world." We went to Crowders Mountain yesterday and climbed Kings Pinnacle. It's a 3.5 mile hike roundtrip and is listed as "strenuous." The Pinnacle Trail goes steadily up for about .75 mile, gets a little rolling for about .4 and then really turns upward to the summit. Wren did a great job and said she liked it better when it got steep. She loved jumping from rock to rock on the trail. It's a pretty rocky trail. Several people on the trail commented how well she did & that they were getting shown up by a 5 year old.

I hiked up with the family & then ran back down and up and down Crowders Mountain. It was my first hour long run in a month. Still coughing a lot when I run, but I'm a lot better. Today will be the 9th day I've run in a row. Mostly just 5-6 milers though.

Rough Period

2009-11-08T15:46:00.002-05:00

I ran today for 45 minutes & thought I'd die! Before that, I'd run once in 16 days. I had bronchitis and the flu at the same time. Coughing & wheezing. The other day I ran made the coughing much worse. I think today's run was hard not only because it's been so long since I've run, but I'm also still having a lot of trouble breathing.

The team I coach has been wiped out by the flu. Unlike anything I've ever seen. The boys didn't make it to the state meet though they were ranked 7th in the state. The girls had even more cases of the flu (7 of top 8!) + injuries. We managed 4th in the state meet yesterday. Ready to get myself & the team well!

Love the Weather

2009-10-18T21:33:00.003-04:00

People this time of year complain about the weather a lot. 52 or so when I went out the door this afternoon. Cloudy. Rained all week and looked like it wanted to today. Kinda breezy. If the weather was like it was today everyday, I'd be OK with it.

I also really enjoyed my run. 2 hours at ASC Greenway trails. Back pain wasn't too bad. Loved scooting along the roots, rocks & leaves. It was one of those dreary days where I felt like skipping the run but once I got out there it was one of the highlights of my week. Someone remind me those runs are always the best.

Low tonight is supposed to be 33. Wish I were in the mountains this past weekend. An early morning 33 degree would be nice, but I know I'm not getting up at 5 AM.

Recovery

2009-10-06T08:44:00.002-04:00

I had some problems coming into the 90 miles I did at Hinson Lake. They didn't get worse there but didn't go away either. I haven't run a whole lot since then. 5 miles here & there. I ran 2 hours on the trails at Latta Plantation Sunday & didn't have much pain so I thought I was cured. When I got out of the car after the run I knew otherwise. Sciatic nerve got worse throughout the day. Spent Sunday afternoon & night horizontal. It was a little better Monday & today. Went to see Josh Kollman, a local Ironman chiropractor yesterday & will go back Wednesday. This problem's existed for about 4 years. It's usually just a nagging pain I can deal with, but flares up sometimes. I enjoyed Sunday's run more than usual because I hadn't run that much in 2 weeks. Getting bored. Want to be better.

90 Miles at Hinson Lake

2009-09-20T18:47:00.008-04:00

"Why would anyone want to run all day & all night around a 1.5 mile loop?" Those were my thoughts a couple of years ago when I heard about the Hinson Lake 24 Hour Race put on by the prolific Mangum Track Club. I really enjoyed it though. You hear that? It was actually fun. I never thought something that long would be fun. Rewarding yes, but not fun. Having done one 24 hour race, one 12 hour race, 12 hours of a 24 hour relay & numerous fixed distance ultras including a 100 miler, I really love the fixed time races. No pressure. If you do 30 miles, OK, great. If you do 130, OK, great. You're not a loser if you don't complete a certain distance.

I had few expectations coming into this one. I wanted to get in 70 at least. Some recent injuries made me back off that goal a little, so I really went in expecting to do... whatever. In a way, that's what made my race. Didn't psyche myself out.

I completed 90.0 miles. This was on some pre-existing sciatic nerve problems & foot issues that caused me not to run all week. I kept upping the bar throughout the race. Said I'd quit at marathon, 50K, 40 miles, 50, 60, 100K, 70 & then I was DONE at 75. Packed my stuff up and started walking to the car. Was talked into running 5 more miles. Then at 80, was told I was in 9th place. I had no intention of making the leader board so I had to defend that. At about 60 miles, I passed the guy who was in 10th place but then went to the car for a short rest & never actually made the leader board of top 10 at that time. Late in the race, I was doing some math in my head, predicting what the people behind me could do. I stopped at 23:20 with 90 miles when I knew I had 7th place locked up. There were over 200 starters.

Early in the race, dealing with pain, it was harder & harder to pass by the car every 1.5 miles! The course was an easy, smooth loop around a lake. A bit monotonous doing it so many times, but really a beautiful location. The first half of the loop was perfectly flat and the north side of the lake was gently rolling. Fans of Umstead would feel right at home.

I had just told someone I was doing 1 more lap at 30 to make it 50K. I waited at the aid station for my buddy Konrad to tell him I was leaving & run my last lap with him, but I ended up running the next 20 miles with him! He saved my race. During all of those miles, I felt like a pacer- like I wasn't really in the race- just getting him through it. I'd let him get ahead of me at the aid station & then run hard to catch up. I didn't realize he was getting me through the race. Konrad fell victim to the tent at 100K & didn't run anymore after that. When I saw his shoes outside his tent, I knew he was done for the night. Still, a solid effort. Getting my mind off of the pain with Big K was incredibly helpful. We got separated at 50 miles & I really felt great from 50-65. Best I felt all race. No one passed or lapped me this whole 15 mile section. I flew past people & they asked if I was the leader. Not quite. The leader (Jonathan Savage) ended up with a staggering 131.5 miles I believe. I walked one hill & the aid station each loop all day & stuck to that. I did walk a little more in the last 3-4 laps but not much & walked almost the whole last lap as sort of a "victory lap."

I could've gotten 100 in I'm sure. With a 1.5 mile loop, the tendency is to not carry anything with you & just use that aid station each time, but with 60 laps & spending 2:00 each time, it really adds up! That's 2 hours spend just in the aid station! Also, I laid down in the car 3 times for 15 minutes each time. That's a total of 3 hours of down time. I don't regret not getting in 100 at all though. I'd like to do this race again & next time, I'll bring a bottle & a gel or two with me so I can just stock up every 3-4 loops instead of stopping every 1.5 miles.

I met & ran 3 hours with race director Tom Gabell at a race last spring. He & his crew were great. Most of them were out there all 24 hours. Standard ultra fare was served. No gels. I didn't eat much & certainly didn't stick to any fueling plan. I brought a big bag of stuff but barely used it. I consumed less than 200 calories an hour & most of it was liquid. I'd say 50% of my calories for this race came from the Powerbar Endurance drink served on the course. 25% was from Mt. Dew, Coke & ginger ale. 15% was from solid food like salted potatoes & trail mix. 10% was from Gu Chomps & Roctane. Also had one thing of EAS protein drink. Most people would say that's not enough & not the right types of food, but it worked for me.

High of 81 & low of 66. Warm for my tastes. Most of the course is in the shade but I packed a hat with ice during the day. A lot of people had issues with the heat. I really enjoyed the night hours because it was cooler & just fun. The race cleared out quickly when it got dark. Many quit for good & others came back after the sun came back up for a few more laps.

Feel sore & a little groggy now, but much better than after Rocky Raccoon. I spent the whole day in a dark hotel room barely able get across the room to make it to the bathroom then.

What's next on the agenda? I haven't looked much past this race. It was a good one! Click here for a video of the race. It's not great, but it's all I filmed.

Hinson Lake 24 Hour Preview

2009-09-14T23:22:00.003-04:00

Coworker: Are you pumped??!
Me: No.
Coworker: Why? Shouldn't your adrenaline be flowing? Isn't it good to get a little nervous.
Me: No. Adrenaline might be good if I were racing 800 meters, but 24 hours of adrenaline doesn't work.
Coworker: But aren't you excited?
Me: Trying not to be.
Coworker: You don't make any sense. I still don't understand why you do this stuff.
Me: Cause.

I'm running the Hinson Lake 24 Hour Race Saturday & Sunday. I put a lot of pressure on myself in my 100 mile race this year, but this time, I'm just getting in what I can get in. You never know what can happen, but 50-60 miles is in the bag, barring injury or illness. I'll be satisfied with anything over 70 miles. 100 would be very nice.

My training hasn't been anything like it was leading up to the 100 miler in February. That's not necessarily a bad thing. I developed some problems due to overtraining in December. This summer, my training has been OK, but few really long runs. I did run 12 hours at night 6 weeks ago & felt fine. Ran a marathon 4 weeks ago. Not much over 2-3 hours besides that. I think I'll be fine though.

I've had some foot issues this summer. Haven't made much of it & it really doesn't bother me while running, but I've had some plantar fasciitis and pain on the side/top of my foot which may or may not be connected to the PF. Also have a stone bruise that hurts a lot when I'm barefoot or step on a rock. All of this is on the same foot. That said, I don't think it'll effect my run this weekend... that may be a dumb thing to say.

I've never been to Hinson Lake, but it's a 1.52 mile loop you do all day & night. Sounds exciting, right? Pictures are actually nice- you run around a lake the whole time. Looks like a relatively flat, wide, smooth dirt trail. Not my favorite type of running, but it'll be good for getting the maxiumum number of miles possible. Sue Norwood posted a lot of good photos & a race report from 2008's race. Click 2008 on the left.

Supposed to be around 83 degrees for the high & 60 for the low. I don't do well in the heat, so I may take it a little easier between noon & 6 PM on day 1. I tested out a new (to me) product to help me out in the heat- Liquid Endurance. Always thought about using it when I did triathlons but never did. It's main ingredient is glycerol which helps you absorb liquid prior to the race (3 day pre-race loading process). Theory is you have more to sweat out this way. It also helps metabolize fat. I'm also planning on trying some different methods of staying cool like ice under a hat & an ice-filled bandana.

Maybe I should be nervous, but I'm not. Just going out for a very long run & we'll see how it goes.

(after a XC meet this weekend)
Me: Next week at this time, I'll be getting kinda tired.
Girl on my team: Which one will be more fun for you, eating lunch with us now or running that race all day & night?
Me: Fun?? At the time I'm doing each of them, I'm sure lunch will be more fun, but this lunch won't be a highlight of my year & possibly more. This sandwich isn't exactly character-building.

Cannon XC Invitational

2009-09-12T22:25:00.004-04:00

73 Miles of Appalachian Trail Video

2009-08-29T00:53:00.002-04:00

Finally, what you've all been waiting for- my film making debut. ...as if having a blog isn't self-important, now I'm making movies of myself. :)

Click here for the 9 minute video of the trip.

Wild Hare Marathon

2009-08-24T09:39:00.005-04:00

Ran the Wild Hare Marathon today. Low key free event put on by Brown Mountain Running Club. Minimal support, but enough to get you through & not lost. This is the same (new) course as the Ridge to Bridge Marathon and it goes from Jonas Ridge to... I don't know. Sort of near Morganton? There's nearly a 3,000' of elevation drop which sounds easy but it wasn't as easy as I expected. The first 6 miles were on asphalt & rolling terrain. That's the only asphalt. The rest was on gravel roads through Pisgah National Forest. After the rolling 6 miles, you drop most of the 3,000' in the next 9 miles. There are a couple of decent sized uphills in there too, but for the most part, you're just descending. A little rough on the quads, knees, hips & back, but didn't feel like work. At mile 15, there's an abrupt change, as is flattens out and you come out of the woods & onto a different road. From there, it rolls gently for another 6 miles and the last 5 miles is mostly a gentle downhill.

I thought I'd be about 3:35. I finished in 3:49 after taking about 10 minutes to "check out the woods" a record 5 times. Without that, I would've been 3:39. Around miles 15-20, I didn't work as hard as I could've because I knew my time was shot. Had I not been in the woods, I may have pushed it in these miles & hit 3:35. If, if, if. Excuses, excuses, excuses. I felt fine. Enjoyed myself. Ran every step. No leg, blister or fatigue problems. Good experience. Had a good time going up there with Kevin & Brad who also ran.

Worst part is I sort of realized I'll never see the other side of 3:30 again unless I make some big changes. If I can't do it on a course like that...

Next stop, Hinson Lake 24 Hour Race Sept. 19-20. No concrete goals. Somewhere between 70-100 miles would be nice. More excited about the start of Cross Country season. First meet is Tuesday.

Rotten Recovery

2009-08-08T22:02:00.003-04:00

I am amazed everything felt fine during the 50 mile night run this week. I wouldn't say I felt great, but not to have the hint of a problem for 9 hours is fantastic. The days since then haven't been so good though. I haven't been sore at all. Strange. Had other problems though.

24 hours after the run, I spent the night throwing up. Not sure why. Spent most of yesterday in bed. I ate a cup of rice & 1/2 can of beans at 3 PM & a decent dinner, but that's all I felt like eating all day. Today, I woke up at 6:30 AM & had a Powerbar before practice. Ran 2 loops of the 5K XC course at Wingate University & picked it up the last 2 miles. Afterwards, I mowed my parents' grass & then came home & mowed my own. Hot today. By 3:30 PM, all I'd had to eat all day was that Powerbar. I did drink a lot. I was making something to eat & ended up on the kitchen floor. Jennifer said I was leaning on the counter mumbling & she lowered me to the ground. I think I was only passed out or whatever for a minute, but I was very much out of it for 20 minutes & fuzzy for 30 minutes after that. From 5 PM on, things have been OK & I ate like a normal person.

I always stress taking care of your body & the importance of recovery to my athletes, but I guess I should take my own advice. Crummy last 2 days. Yesterday was my birthday too. :(

Running All Night

2009-08-07T08:18:00.004-04:00

The night before last, I ran from 9 PM-6 AM. Not a race, just a solo training "fun run." There were a couple of notable things about this uneventful event. 1) I ran the whole way. Because it was easy terrain, there was no excuse to walk and I realized about 7 hours into it, I hadn't walked any. I got in somewhere around 50 miles in 9 hours because of the easy terrain & I kept running; 2) I ran at school and had planned on doing the 3 mile loop over & over again. A midnight storm & downpour flooded the trails so I had to run on asphalt the rest of the night. Usually kills me, but I was OK; 3) I'm not sore. At all. It's weird. No blisters. Nothing. Legs are absolutely fine.

I didn't run at practice 2 hours after finishing, but I could have. I would have run the 14 miles they're doing today, but was up all night with a stomach virus. Yuck. It's a nice birthday present. Today's the big 3-6.

Good Summer

2009-08-07T08:07:00.008-04:00

I haven't taken any big trips over the summer, but I think I've done more running in the mountains than at home, which is nice. I've had a lot of 3-4 day weekend trips over the summer and have really had a good time. With the school year & Cross Country season approaching, I've been thinking about all I've been able to cram into these past 2 months. Pictures from last weekend's run at Julian Price Park off the Blue Ridge Parkway, near Blowing Rock, NC.

Wow- Caesars Head

2009-07-19T21:28:00.005-04:00

On the way back from running camp in Brevard, NC, I decided to go 12 miles out of my way to get in a nice longer run. I'd heard about Caesars Head State Park & seen pictures, but hadn't really investigated the trail maps or anything. Never heard of anyone going there, so it was a mystery. Turns out, Caesars Head & the adjoining Jones Gap State Park have some of the best trails, waterfalls & overlooks around! Who knew?

I showed up at the Visitors Center & talked to the friendly rangers who seemed genuinely interested in my running. They warned me, "The trails are kinda gnarly," but they weren't that bad. I ran most of the trails on the east side and went back & forth over creeks and along the scenic Middle Saluda River. Saw Jones Gap Falls, which is about 50' tall and though outstanding, is supposed to be the least spectacular of the several waterfalls in the two adjoining parks. The 5 mile (one way) Jones Gap Trail was the least technical of the trails I ran, but it still had its share of rocks & roots. Seemed like an old logging road. The other trails were more narrow & technical.

I gave myself 2.5 hours Saturday because I wanted to go home after a week of being away from the family, but next time I go, I'll plan on getting out to most of the trails in the park which would be a solid 5-6 hours most likely. I can't think of any trails 2 hours from home I like more than what I saw here!

About 10 years ago, I started getting into photography & spent a good deal of time in the woods taking pictures. Waterfalls were my favorite subjects. It disappoints me that I can only carry a tiny, basic point & shoot camera when I run. Every time I'm out somewhere new, I want to spend an hour or two taking pictures. Of course, if the equipment were lighter & smaller, that would severely alter my running routine!

Brevard Running Camp

2009-07-19T19:28:00.008-04:00

Had fun week with 22 of my runners at Brevard Distance Runners Camp. Ran 77 miles for the week (including a longer one Saturday morning) & the runs were much prettier than last year. All of the runs are in DuPont State Forest & Pisgah National Forest. The ones in DuPont are mostly wider double track & rough fire roads, while the Pisgah ones are single track.

The run up Art Loeb & down through North Slope Trail was the longest & hardest. Only about 10% of the girls in the camp attempt it & some have to cut it short. I'm happy to say 8 of ours did it & were strong doing it. This run was about :50 up & :35 down for me. As much as the camp makes this run out to sound suicidal, it's actually one of the more moderate sections of the Art Loeb Trail, which goes over 30 miles & from an elevation of just over 2000' to over 6000'. We were on the low end.

We do an early morning run the last full day of the camp up to John Rock, which has the best view of the week, over to Looking Glass Rock. The fog was rolling through when we were there, so you had really beautiful views one second & it was completely white the next.

One of my favorite runs of the week was Cedar Rock in DuPont Forest, where you're out running on the rock face for a mile or so.

I had to struggle to keep up with my top girls this week, but that's not a bad thing, as long as it's them getting faster & not me getting slower. I actually ran the runs a little faster than 2 years ago (We didn't run many of these last year.). This was a great experience for our team & a way to build momentum for the coming Cross Country season.

I can actually run run.

2009-07-04T18:55:00.002-04:00

Lately, because I only run on trails, I've thought maybe I can only run on trails. I've run on some hard trails lately and I've had to walk & wondered if I could even really run run. You know like miles and miles without stopping. I told someone the other day I'd be scared to run a 10K for time and I'm scared to see what my flat road marathon time would be. As silly as it sounds, I just haven't done that in a long time. I'm at the beach with the in-laws and decided to go out at 5 AM this morning and run 18 miles. Ran 7:45 pace, which is rolling right along for me. I picked it up and ran 7:00 or better the last 2 miles. It was very easy. Could've gone much longer & could've gone faster. I've run 3 runs of 2 hours or longer this week. The 18 miles is more than I've run on the road in the past 18 months combined. I guess it feels good to be able to run like a normal person. People have been accusing me of being more Man. vs. Wild than runner lately. Good to maintain a balance. Actually I prefer Survivorman. Man vs. Wild is fake. :)

Kings & Crowders

2009-06-30T16:33:00.005-04:00

I've run at Crowders Mountain State Park 3 times & each time, it's been 90 degrees or more. I felt good after the 3 hour run the day before & I've wanted to go up Kings Mountain & Crowders, so I did that on my way home yesterday. These mountains are rocky remnants of an old mountain range... and I do mean rocky. Solid rocky outcrops on top, but loose stuff going up.

I'd never gone up Kings Mountain before & told myself as short as it was, I'd run all the way. Nope. Things were going well until I hit the really steep part about 1/2 mile from the top. Dang. The Kings Mountain loop using the Pinnacle & Turnback Trail took me about 40 minutes plus 10 at the top to look around. Great views from the top of these mountains, as they stick out 800' above everything around them. Very similar to Hanging Rock & Pilot Mountain above Winston-Salem. From the Visitors Center where I parked, there are two ways up to the top of Crowders Mountain. One is up a steep gravel road and then 250+ stairs. That's the easier way. The harder way, which I did is scrambling up rock & then over a ridgeline & back down the stairs. You kinda lose control going down the gravel road before turning left on a rocky, rolling trail back to the Visitors Center. The Crowders Mountain loop is about an hour, so I was out close to 2 hours & felt good, but was humbled to absolutely have to walk in places.

What excited me most is confirming what I thought to be true. Near the peak of Kings Mountain, the Ridgeline Trail comes off to the left & goes into South Carolina to Kings Mountain State Park & Kings Mountain National Military Park. This is a 6.2 mile trail & the loop around the South Carolina parks is 16 miles, making that a great place for a long run. For some reason, the Ridgeline Trail is not on the maps any of the 3 parks provides. Parking at the Visitors Center at Crowders & cutting out the big climbs at Crowders & Kings, you could have yourself a nice 50K. There is a 50K- or actually a 60K there, but retracing that course as a training run with it's climbs to the peaks would require too much walking for me. When it cools off this fall, I'll head over there.

North to Damascus- Hooray!

2009-06-28T19:22:00.006-04:00

I kind of feel like I'm back from the dead! Nice, enjoyable long (but not too long) run today with very little rib pain!

To review, exactly 2 weeks ago, I fell & cracked a rib on the Appalachian Trail in Georgia. I continued running 71 miles over the next 3 days. When I got home, it got worse. Exactly 1 week ago, I was in the Emergency Room & thought there was an outside chance I would die from a blood clot, which the Urgent Care doctor told me I had before rushing me to the ER. After injecting me with morphine, doing more blood tests & giving me a CT Scan, they ruled out the blood clot but said my lung was crushed a little in the fall & fluid was seeping in where it shouldn't. They gave me ibuprofen, which I'd already been taking, but for some reason, I feel remarkably better the next day. Coincidence. I ran 7 miles 2 days after the hospital which hurt & got in a couple more 7-9 milers with mild pain. I had to walk a couple of times two of the days.

Hannah was supposed to run with me this weekend, but I haven't been in contact with her much between her Outward Bound trip to New Zealand and working at a camp. I found out on my way up to the mountains I'd be going alone due to another committment she had. It's just as well anyway. She's so much faster than me when I'm 100%. With busted ribs, who knows how much I'd hold her back?

The section of Appalachian Trail from 421 near Shady Valley, TN to Damascus, VA is 15.0 miles- about 15.5 from where I stopped and looks easy on paper. The elevation starts at around 3300', goes up to about 3950' and does some gradual ups & downs, but dumps you out in Damascus at 1950'. Sue Norwood's report of this section says not only is the elevation easy- the trail surface is very runnable too. Still, every time I think I'm in for an easy day on the AT, it always turns out harder than I thought. "How in the world could they fit any more rocks on this stupid trail?!" I've been known to say late in a run. Or, "Do we have to go up every single mountain from here to Maine?!" I've been on several "easy" downhills that are just covered with jagged rocks or strewn with huge boulders you have to use your hands to climb down.

I was pleasantly surprised today though! The section was by far the easiest section of AT I've ever done. The hardest climbs were only 300-500', there weren't many of them & they were gradual. No need for switchbacks- just long stretches of straight runnable trail. I could've run 100% of this section, but not knowing it, I left some in the tank. I still ran maybe 93%. Told Jennifer it would take me 4-5 hours to run the 15.5 miles. Turns out, I finished in 3:07. No need for water fill-ups. Took a couple of pictures, but besides that, no stops. The trail went along ridgelines for the most part, so if there were no leaves on the trees, you'd probably have nice views to the left & right almost the whole way.

Best of all, I experienced almost NO pain! Having a huge bruise on my arm from the IV last weekend is a reminder of what I could've been facing. There for a little bit, I thought at best, I was looking at 2-3 days in the hospital, blood thinning medication, no activity for 3 weeks... something like that. Or is a blood clot something they operate for? I didn't know. Knowing that I'm back & able to do what I want to do is unbelievably encouraging. Now, I know, running mostly downhill isn't too hard. :) But still, I was out there over 3 hours with almost no pain.

Is this a good idea with the lung problem? I dunno. I think it's OK. The ER doctor has done triathlons & was a little evasive when I asked her about running. She said I could run as long as it felt OK. I'm going for a follow-up visit in a few days.

Grinning from ear to ear that I'm back to running!

Aqualung

2009-06-22T16:50:00.003-04:00

I spent most of Father's Day in the hospital. The rib pain from falling last week has migrated and gotten worse. Because it's near my heart & lungs, I thought it best to get it checked out. After 3 hours of tests, the Urgent Care Center said I had a blood clot & rushed me to the Emergency Room. They did more tests, including a CT Scan & said it wasn't a blood clot, but I had Pleural Effusion. When I fell, it crushed the lung a little, causing it to fill with fluid. If it gets worse, they may have to drain it. It could also lead to pneumonia.

Whole lot better than a blood clot. I envisioned having to be hospitalized for days, on medication & unable to run all summer.

So, today, I promised everyone I'd do nothing (one of the perks of a teacher's summer), but I plan on resuming regular running tomorrow if the pain's not bad. Every day has been worse than the next though, until today. Feels much better today.

73 Miles of Appalachian Trail in 3 Days

2009-06-17T00:32:00.005-04:00

OK, now for the proper report.

I made it around 73 miles on the Appalachian Trail in 3 days- 71 of which were with a fractured rib. My goal was 110 miles in 4 days, but I'm OK with what transpired.

There are 2 main ways to the southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail in Georgia- a 8.8 mile approach trail or USFS Road 42. Doing it the second way, you drive a rough gravel road that isn't marked very well for 30-45 minutes & then end up in a parking lot 1 mile north of the top of Springer Mountain. This is what I did & Jennifer dropped me off at 10 AM- a little bit of a late start as I knew I had 29 miles ahead of me. The Georgia section of the AT is considered to be the hardest state besides Maine & New Hampshire, with Vermont, Tennessee & North Carolina closely following. Most of the trail in Georgia hovers around the 3,500' mark. There are lots of ups & downs & the trail is relatively rocky (I've yet to run on a section of the AT that isn't!).

I ran/hiked to the top of Springer Mountain and came back down the rocky section of trail. The top wasn't what I expected after seeing pictures. There's just a small rocky outcrop, a plaque & a pretty good view off to the west. Certainly not as grandiose as you might think. I would imagine a southbound thru-hiker would almost want something more. I don't get that impression from the northernmost point in Maine, Mt. Katahdin.

I passed the parking lot and wondered why I hadn't just left my pack in the parking lot while I went out & back. 50 meters after passing the parking lot- 2 miles into my 4 day trip, I fell and fractured a rib. It was a fall I would easily regain balance on if I didn't have the pack, but with it, I landed flat on my chest. At that point, I considered calling Jennifer to come pick me up, but how could I bail out just 30 minutes into a 4 day trip?! "Maybe it'll be OK," I thought & continued on. "If it's really bad, I can call from Woody Gap (20 miles into the trail) or Neels Gap (30 miles into it- and right at the beginning of Day 2)."

I really enjoyed the first few miles through the hemlock groves along the streams of the Stover Creek/Three Forks area. Though it was a lowland area with no views or anything, it was one of my favorite sections of trail. Some of the hemlocks & some poplars later on seemed like they could be old growth, but I would imagine this area was cut extensively in the early 20th century.

Things went well for the first 5-6 hours and were relatively uneventful. I was making good time, getting through the pain of the rib and enjoying myself. I passed a group of day hikers every 45 minutes or so. The first real view I came to was Ramrock Mountain & soon after it, Big Cedar Mountain which was wonderful. I had to climb several mountains the first day- Springer, Hawk, Sassafrass, Justus, Ramrock, Big Cedar, Burnett Field & part of Blood. On paper & objectively, Day 1 was the hardest, but Day 2 felt worse. My watch has an altimeter on it & tells me I climbed over 21,000' this first day. It's been know to be off, but it's usually very close. That sounds like a brutal day, but it wasn't until late in the day that I faded, the rib hurt more & I wanted to be done.

I pulled into Slaughter Creek Campsite on the side of Blood Mountain at 8:30 PM, so I was out for nearly 11 hours including breaks to treat water, take pictures, talk to people, etc. There were 3 guys at the campsite & I was glad. There have been routine reports of bear activity on Blood Mountain and to the north. There was a bear at the shelter on top of the mountain (1/2 mile from where we were) the night before & one at our campsite two nights before. Having other people there was comforting. They didn't believe I'd come as far as I said I did in one day, which was a common response I got from people. "No, but where'd you stay last night?" These guys really thought I was lying when I told them I'd come all the way from Springer Mountain that morning. Counting having to go back to get something that fell off my pack and short side trips for water, I went about 29.5 miles the first day. I met a woman the first day who was only able to cover about 3-4 miles a day and was planning on getting to the Smokies. I don't even want to do the math to find out how many weeks that would take.

I regret getting to camp so late. I rushed to get my tent up, down a Clif Bar and protein shake, hang my bear bag & go to bed. Sleeping didn't really happen because of my rib and because I was just waiting to get mauled by a bear! I slept a total of 90 minutes probably & during that time, I was awoken by a crash. I yelled out, "Hey! Hey!" and heard several more loud crashes down the mountain. I'm 90% sure it was a bear & would say it was 200' from me. I've already seen two bears this year & they both ran away quickly. Black bears aren't a huge risk in most situations. They're not out to get you, but they will certainly steal your food & defend themselves when they feel threatened.

I was very happy that the rib was tolerable the second morning. I got up, took a long time to pack up & was on the trail at 9:00 AM. The climb up Blood Mountain wasn't bad and the views at the top were spectacular. I spent 20 minutes looking around at the top & had the whole mountain to myself before coming down into Neels Gap. The only store I'd see all trip is right there on the trail. It's an outfitter called Mountain Crossings & I bought some food & mailed my stove, fuel & pot home, deciding I could get by on Clif Bars & protein shakes for dinner. I enjoyed a Cherry Coke & Corn Nuts at the store, talked to some people & was on my way. I was scolded a little by an older guy who I think worked there.

Him: Did I hear you say you went all the way to Blood Mountain on the first day?
Me: Yeah, it was a long day.
Him: Why would you do that? That's too much like a job.
Me: Eh, that's what I do. I run these crazy long races & wanted to see this part of the trail. I only have a few days, so why not pack in as much as I can?
Him: These mountains are sacred. You should enjoy them, not push through them.
Me: Well, I am enjoying them. Instead of just seeing one or two mountains yesterday, I got to see 8 or 9. This is enjoyable to me.
Him: It's like a job. Relax and respect the mountains or you'll get hurt.
Me: Actually, I did get hurt yesterday...
Him: See! Everyone I've heard of who tries to push through gets hurt. That's the mountains way of slowing you down.

I mean I see his point, I guess. This isn't a race and I maybe I shouldn't be as rigid as I was with the planning. When I asked most people how far they were going for the day, they'd say, "As far as I feel like," or, "Until I get tired," or "Until it gets dark." I didn't feel like I was racing the clock, but I did feel like I was racing the sun & trying to get to my predetermined destination at all costs. Maybe I could stand to relax a little. But this trip absolutely was enjoyable to me. No one can tell you what pace is enjoyable for you.

I left the store with a new supply of Clif Bloks and Gu and was ready to go. I was cruisin' along just fine over Levelland Mountain, Cowrock Mountain... & then hit Wildcat Mountain. I'd never heard anything about this mountain and I don't know if it just happened to be situated where I was going to lose it that day or not, but I hit that thing like a brick wall! It's a short, incredibly steep climb I wasn't expecting. I was prepared for Blood Mountain, Tray Mountain, and some others to be tough, but this little 400' climb killed me! After a steep descent, the trail leveled off a little and went steadily downhill to Low Gap, where I met two young guys from Alabama that had come to the AT after 250 miles on the Pinhoti Trail in Alabama. They said they had no backpacking experience & were planning on doing a thru-hike. They'd have to flip it- hike north, then go to Maine before it got too cold & hike south to the point they left off at. I joked about how ambitious they were that they needed an extra 250 mile warm-up.

I got water again at Blue Mountain Shelter & felt fair. Then, I dunno... I completely fell apart all of the sudden. 2 minutes after filling up with someone & telling him about my trip, I was on the phone home telling Jennifer there was no way I could make it. I had to go 27 miles today I wasn't going to make it even after leaving at 9 AM. I couldn't make 27 miles in 12 hours. What was I doing out there slogging through this pain? Why did I think this was possible when I couldn't even lift my left arm over my head or pick up my 14 pound pack with my left hand? I called my mom next who was supposed to pick me up on Wednesday & asked that she come on Tuesday instead. She tried talking me into camping at Unicoi Gap (2 miles away) & getting picked up there in the morning. I didn't tell her, but I considered hitchhiking from there & sleeping in a motel in the nearby town and assessing the next 2 days then. I told her I was going 4 more miles in the next 90 minutes before nightfall & camping at the top of Rocky Mountain. We arranged for me to be picked up at Dick's Creek Gap the next day after a 15.5 mile run/hike (which turned into 17.5). Up until I called home, I was able to jog the downhills and easier uphills and walk the steep stuff. Those 4 miles took forever though. I ran little. I was done. With this rib pain- every step- every inhale hurt. It had for 2 full days. I couldn't sleep. The pain was right at my sternum strap on my pack so that made things worse. And running at that point didn't seem like something I was able to do. I felt pretty pitiful. To top it all off, the last climb of the day was a quad-busting 1100' climb up Rocky Mountain. I almost cried when I came to what I thought was the nice water source someone had told me about. It was a mud slick with no water flowing at all. I was empty and had to spend the night on this mountain with no water... and I wouldn't have it for the first 4 miles the next day. Then, 1/4 mile up the trail was a nice creek! Whew! Saved!

I arrived at the top of an empty Rocky Mountain by the light of my headlamp. "Hello?!!" "Anyone here??!!!" I yelled. No reply. Just then, my headlamp crapped out. I could get it to work for 3 seconds at a time and then it would go off. So I put my tent up, got some food, and all that in the dark. I didn't waste any time, but didn't get to bed until 10:15 PM. I listened to my ipod until 1 AM and then slept pretty well from 2 AM-7AM.

I felt great the morning of the 3rd day! Spirits were up, running was easier. Pain wasn't as bad. Much of that, I think was that I knew today was a shorter day & the last day. I kind of regretted making the call now! I thought I could make it, but then again, what really kept me going was knowing I didn't have to sleep on the ground with a broken rib that night. That I could have a drink with ice in it. That I wouldn't have to have a pack jostling all day on that rib...

Day 3 wasn't bad at all. I flew up Tray Mountain. Killed it. I passed a group of 15 Boy Scouts strewn across the mountain, many of them doubled over and getting out of my way. Tray Mountain is a long climb, but it's relatively gradual until the last 3/4 mile when it kicks upward. On paper, it might be the toughest climb I did, but I felt the best on it.

Another thing that made Day 3 feel better was knowing I could eat more since there would be no Day 4 but I had food for it. I was really only eating 100-150 calories an hour while I was running, which isn't enough.

Overall, Day 3 went downhill more than uphill, but there were some good climbs too. I felt good for 4 hours and not so great for the last 2. I got a little lost at Indian Grave Gap and the water in this section is way off the trail, so I ended up going about 17.5 miles. Two miles from the end at Dick's Creek Gap, I was shuffling along as I had the last 2 hours (Had to think, "Now is this a run or a walk? I have both feet off the ground at once, so it's a run."), when I came 1 step away from a timber rattlesnake. It wasn't in the trail, but right before I stepped down, it thrust itself a foot or so & started rattling like crazy! I jumped back quick & didn't give much thought about bypassing it through the poison ivy thicket on each side of the trail. The day before, I came close to stepping on a coiled rattlesnake that just looked at me. Had to crawl through the briars to get around it.

I was happy to see my parents & get picked up when I did. I honestly believe I could've made it another day for a total of about 95, but I'll take my 73 in 3 days and knowing I could go home to heal up. In actuality, the 2 days I spend laying around the house after coming home hurt the worst! Maybe I just got through it on the trail because I knew I had to. I didn't complete as much of the trail as I wanted to, but I'm happy about what I did accomplish and doing so through adversity. More than that was that I got to see a lot of great stuff- mountains, views, 2 rattlesnakes, family of turkeys, chipmunks, wildflowers, etc., etc. I wish I'd been able to meet more people, but I was on the go too much. Most people that run the trail just take what they need for the run & get picked up at night or have someone meeting them at every road crossing giving them water & food. Carrying the pack made it different. I wasn't used to it & wouldn't have been so ambitious had I known how 14 pounds on your back would feel. 15-20 miles/day would've been challenging, but manageable and allowed me to have some downtime each night. How much did I run? I dunno. It's hard to say since it changed throughout each day. I ran a lot on day 1 & early on day 3. I'd say altogether, probably 40-50%, I ran. I'd planned on more than that, but I was just happy to get through what I did in the shape I was in.

I'm supposed to run on the AT (or some other long adventure run- we never set the details) with Hannah in 10 days. I haven't run in the past 3 days, but I think I'll be OK. I'll test it out tomorrow. I'd like to go back once more this summer and do 20-25 miles.

The single biggest question I got from people on the trail was, "HOW MUCH DOES YOUR PACK WEIGH? IT'S TINY!" I had hoped it would be a little lighter, but it ended up at 14 pounds at the heaviest with water and food. I almost left my 2/3 length Thermarest pad at home because I thought it was too bulky. If I were sleeping directly on the ground, I can't imagine the pain! Here's what I had out there:
REI Jet UL pack- I think it's right at 13 oz. & 1850 cu in.
Deuter Dreamlite 500 sleeping bag- 13 oz. Packs down to the size of a Nalgene bottle. Never really used it except as padding under my rib. Would need something more in other seasons, but lows were around 60.
Eureka Solitaire tent- 2.5 lbs or so. I could've saved some weight on this sleeping in shelters or under a tarp, but I didn't want stuff crawling on me.
1 set of running clothes (P.U.! Smelly.)
1 set of sleeping clothes
1 set of Patagonia capilene long sleeves in case it got cold at night. I wore the shirt to sleep in part of one night & used the bottom as a pillow.
1 rain jacket- never used
Small first aid kit
Toiletries
ipod Nano- seemed frivolous, but I listened to it both nights & it's tiny, so...
Phone
Tiny still camera
Tiny Flip video camera- just got it. Will post videos one day.
Food
Water
Laminated list of landmarks & distances between them
That's about all that was in my pack.

110, 73... Eh, what's the difference?

2009-06-16T21:25:00.005-04:00

Just got back from my 4 day Appalachian Trail trip a day early. More details, pictures & even video to follow. Briefly, here's what happened...

Day 1: Got dropped off 1 mile below Springer Mountain, ran up & when I got back to the parking lot, I tripped (Maintaining balance is hard with the pack- even if it was just 14 pounds. A normal trip that you can recover from leaves you on the ground with the pack on.) and fell right on my chest. CRACKED RIB. 2 miles into my 110 mile trip! I felt it- even heard it crunch. I could've called Jennifer then & told her to come pick me up, but I kept going. With side trips to get water & going back to find something that fell out of my pack, I ran/hiked about 29.5 miles the first day. Camped just below Blood Mountain where there has been frequent bear activity lately. Only got about 90 minutes of sleep because of rib pain. Scared a bear off in the night.

Day 2: Started out OK, but every step hurt my rib. Running made it worse & the worst part was that the busted rib is right at the sternum strap of my pack. 6 hours into it, I faded, but ended up taking 6 more hours! 26 miles in 12 hours! Granted 2 hours of that was treating water, hanging out at the Neels Gap store, talking to people, etc., but still. I called my mom at mile 22 and asked her to pick me up a day early. I didn't think I could make it a 4th day. Got to the top of Rocky Mountain after dark and camped by myself. A nice 1,100' climb when it's dark & you're miserable is a great end to a day!

Day 3: Started out feeling great! Rib hurt, but felt energized. Believe it or not, my muscles never hurt. Knees, calves, achilles... everything fine. With getting lost & long trips for water, I ended up with 17.5 miles at Dick's Creek Gap for a total of 73 miles for the trip. Besides the shorter distance, today was the easiest day with significant climbs at Tray Mountain, Kelly Ridge & a few others, but a lot of downhill too. Also some of the only flat I saw the whole trip... albeit for only 500' at a time.

I feel good about it. I could've easily bailed out before I did but I stuck with it, and while slowed down considerably, I hung in there. Saw a lot of wildlife (2 rattlesnakes I nearly stepped on, turkeys, hawks, chipmunks, deer...), saw some great views & tested myself a great deal. I think I could've gone 5 more miles today & 15-20 tomorrow for about 95, but I was happy to be picked up when I was. On day 2, I wasn't entirely sure there'd be a day 3... come to think of it, I wasn't sure about day 2 on day 1.

More later.

Appalachian Trail Preview

2009-06-09T09:06:00.003-04:00

My semi-ambitious goal is to cover all of the Appalachian Trail before I die. Only semi-ambitious, because I don't plan on thru-hiking (hiking the entire 2,100+ miles at once). I'll chip away at it year after year. I just decided to do this a year ago. In 2008, I ran about 150 miles on the AT, but much of that was out & back in sections, so I've really only covered 74.3 miles. I have my work cut out for me. I plan on running all of it I can... well, "ultrarunning" all of it, which includes walking the significant climbs. :) There are parts in New England that are impossible to even think about running. I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to finish the northernmost 100 miles with Wren when she's 18-22. She's 5 now. I think that would be an emotional finale. She's a great hiker already, but who knows if my plans will interest her at all in 15 years.

Anyway, I'm setting off on Sunday to tackle the southernmost 107.7 miles- from Springer Mountain, GA to Winding Stair Gap/Hwy 64 near Franklin, NC. I have to run up 1 mile from Forest Service Rd 42 to get to Springer Mountain, making the trip 108.7 & there will be detours for water & views which will make the trip 110+ miles. I'm doing it in 4 days. It's not an easy section at all. An average hiker spends 10 days on this section. I'm not too worried about the distances though. Maybe I should be. It will essentially be 4 of the hardest marathons I've ever done back to back. Each day will be an average of 27 miles- of course planned that way so I can think of it in terms of marathons (or slightly longer). While my marathon PR is 3:22, each of these marathons may take 7-8 hours because of the terrain & gear I'm taking. ...and of course, I'm not racing here.

I've got my pack weight down pretty low though. 12 pounds + water. I don't plan on carrying more than 40 ounces with me. That's 2 hours worth. I'll treat water along the way from springs & creeks. I could make my pack a little lighter by ditching the solo tent & sleeping in shelters or under a tarp. There are a few other minor changes I could make to shave off an ounce here & there, but I'm satisfied with the pack weight.

"A little over a hundred miles split between 4 days is nothing for you." Not true. Yeah, I ran a 100 mile race 5 months ago, but that's 100 miles at once & on a much much MUCH easier trail. In many ways it's harder to do multiday events even if the distance is shorter each day. When I ran the Blue Ridge Relay a couple of years ago, I realized running what amounted to four 10Ks in less than 24 hours was much harder than running a marathon. This should be infinitely harder than the 100 miler at Rocky Raccoon. I think. But again, I'm not too worried about the running.

What I am worried about is the uncertainty of it all. There are a lot of "what ifs" involved in such a trip. Being alone for 4 days & going into areas where there have been recent reports of aggressive bear activity seems a little dicey. They have actually closed the trail to camping (not hiking) from Neels Gap to Tesnatee Gap because of this. Of course, all of the "what ifs" about snakebites, twisted ankles, busted knees, wild boar attack are worrisome too. Most of this fear would be alleviated with a running companion, but at the same time, I like running alone too. My mom offered to come pick me up at the end of each day & drive me to a hotel. It was tempting, but besides the fact that there aren't roads evenly spaced where I'd want them, this is something I want to do. Just like running ultras is a test everytime I do it, this too, is a test. It's unlike anything I've ever done & I'm committed to finishing, but it will be difficult.

Here are my plans:
Sunday- USFS 42 to Springer Mt. to Slaughter Creek Campsite (28.5 miles)
Monday- Slaughter Creek to Cheese Factory Site (27.0 miles)
Tuesday- Cheese Factory Site to Muskrat Creek Shelter (24.8 miles)
Wednesday- Muskrat Creek Shelter to Winding Stair Gap (28.4 miles)

Any advice is welcome! I have a Flip video camera on the way to my house. I plan on making a few short videos along the way & will try to post them. Wish me luck. I'll need it. I've got this trip planned and two other single days on the AT this summer, so I'll be up over 200 for my total. 10% done. :) Chippin' away.

Beech Mountain 5 Miler

2009-06-06T17:17:00.004-04:00

Came up to Beech Mountain with my extended family last night at 8 PM. Talked my dad & brother into running a 5 mile race here I saw a banner for on the way in- A Cool 5. Tough hilly course! No flat anywhere. 41:52. My calves still hurt from last weekend. Fun spur of the moment race. First race shorter than a marathon I've done in a very long time. Dad was 48:56. Brother was 50:40ish. I came back & ran the last half mile with my brother. Went on a 2 mile hike at Roan Mountain later. The rhododendrons still have about 10 days before they're in full bloom. Only a few were out today.

Product Reviews

2009-06-02T10:23:00.003-04:00

END Stumptown 10 oz shoes- I got these shoes a month ago and came close to wearing them in my 34 mile race a few days later. I put them in the car along with my Brooks Cascadias & made the last minute decision to go with the Brooks mainly because I just hadn't put enough miles in the ENDs yet. ...but I like them a lot.

END stands for Environmentally Neutral Designs & they're based out of Portland. Their shoes are made with some recycled materials with an effort to minimize waste.

I've tried lightweight trail shoes like the Inov-8 310s and the New Balance 790s and they didn't cut it for me. I wear the 790s on occasion for speedwork, and both of these shoes are popular, but just didn't work for me. The Stumptowns were different though and they're actually lighter than the Inov-8 310s (278g vs. 310g).

I have weird feet. ...to say the least. Wide forefoot. Narrow heel. The Stumptown is made with a stretchy material that accomodates my weird feet. I'll go ahead & tell you though- there is no heel cup. Nothing. You can squish the uppers flat. It's strange & I'd read about it before ordering them, but I still wasn't prepared for it. When I got them I thought there was no way this was going to work out for me. Out of the box, I took them for a 90 minute run and have put in a few 60-90 minute runs with them. Felt great. You don't get the stability you would with a beefier shoe, but if you're buying the Stumptown 10 oz., you're not looking for the Montrail Hardrock or the like. I like the freedom of this shoe as you glide across rocks & roots. I felt quite a bit faster and more nimble. I am neither.

I was all ready to wear them at last weekend's 50K, but last week, I got caught in an incredible downpour while wearing the Stumptowns. The trail turned into a river instantaneously. As I went down hills, the insoles slid down into the toes. I had to take the shoes off & fix them each time. They did that 3 times before I removed the insoles for the remainder of the run. With the river crossings at the race, I didn't wear the Stumptowns, so I still haven't tried them out on a very long run. I would imagine they would be fine for me at 50K, but beyond that might be a stretch. Other folks will be perfectly fine going longer in them, I'm sure.

Another upside of this shoe is the retail price is a very reasonable $75 and I got it for $59. The Stumptown also come in 12 oz & 8.5 oz versions, as well as road varieties. I'd highly recommend checking out shoes from this new, forward-thinking company.

Roctane gel- After hearing great things about this gel made by GU, I resisted buying it because it's more expensive than other gels. Apparently, it used to be a homemade mixture elite athletes passed around in ziploc bags before it was introduced commercially in the past year. GU sent me some samples & I'd have to say even to a cheapskate like myself, it's worth the higher pricetag.

I mentioned trying Roctane in my post about Rocky Raccoon. I really think it helped me significantly in that race and I've used it with good results since then. There is a moderate amount of caffeine (35mg) in each packet, but I think the big difference is the amino acid blend. I feel like it helps me maintain focus in a long race or workout. It only comes in two flavors (blueberry pomegranate & orange vanilla). The flavor isn't the best- a little medicine-y, but it's not bad. Certainly not hard to get down or anything. While there are better tasting gels out there, I honestly think Roctane works better than any of the others. Try it out. I used to think all the gels were about the same.

GU Chomps- Just tried these for the first time this week. They just came out this spring. Clif Bloks are sort of the standard of the new chews and I really like them. Less messy than gels and easier to handle. If I didn't have a ton of gel laying around, I'd probably just eat chews on the run, but I mix it up. I like Bloks, Sharkies, Stinger Chews... Chomps come in 4 flavors (fewer than Bloks), 2 with caffeine. They all have an amino acid blend not found in Bloks or the others. Also have 100% RDA of Vitamin C & E. The Bloks are a little wet/slimy... that sounds worse than it is. Sharkies are a little more firm and harder to chew. Chomps are a little more in between. Taste is comparable across the board. I don't have a huge preference, but the Chomps might by my favorites. Interesting flavors like Cranberry Apple & Blueberry Pomegranate.

SweetH2O 50K- Sheesh! Hot & Hilly!

2009-05-31T20:49:00.011-04:00

What a tough race!

Just when I was starting to think of 50Ks as comfortable & kind of routine, the SweetH2O 50K outside Atlanta kicked my rump. I had heard it was pretty hard & went into it a little more nervous than usual. I ran a 34 miler in SC earlier this month & people told me the time from that race- 6:49 should be about the same time at SweetH2O for 31. The 34 miler was no problem & I was confident going into it.

There was a large crowd & some speedy looking folks. Race was capped at 250 & 212 finished. We ran most of the first 2 miles on roads, which wasn't to my liking, but necessary to spread out the field. I felt like I was being pushed to go faster than I wanted to, even though I was right about in the middle of the pack. The legendary David Horton was there & he fell right after entering the woods. Both hands were all bloody. I ran right behind him for a couple of miles. There was a steep concrete spillway you go down, through some water & then back up. Had to use the rope to climb up. After that, the trail got very rooty & rocky for a couple of miles- the kind of stuff I like, but with a large group, it slowed things down a lot.

I didn't know when to expect the infamous waist-deep river crossing, so every time we
came down to the river, I thought we'd hit it. I'd be waiting until mile 19. There were a good number of ups & downs in the woods, but then you hit something called Top of the World. The first time, this was 4 huge 300 meter hills- one bigger than the next. Then you go through the woods for a mile or so & come back out to power lines for some more huge up & downs, but those were mostly downs. The second time around, it was a little different & I think there were 6-7 hills on the first section & then you immediately cross over to the power lines. The first time through, I told some locals I was running with, "Ah, this isn't terrible. It'll probably be worse next time around though." So true! ...but I was feelin' pretty good for the first 3 hours.

At mile 19, I was feeling OK & running with Mark Elson, who I've run with before. I've finished within a couple of minutes of him twice. Not today. It was here that we hit the river crossing- or I should say the line for the river crossing. There were about 40 people in line & you had to go one at a time. I waited 22 minutes to cross. I'd passed David Horton at around 4 miles & he passed us right at the river crossing. He'd cleaned his hands up a little & showed us the black eye he'd gotten from a fall a couple of weeks before! 22 minutes later, I was walking waist-deep in the Sweetwater River holding onto a rope. At one point, my feet shot out from under me & I was just holding onto the rope until I could get them back. The current was strong. I'm not too competitive & I would've welcomed the wait in a training run, but the wait here was a little aggravating. It was hard for me to get back into the race mentally after this. I ran with Mark for another mile until he took off. He waited for me for a second, but he looked too fresh & I told him to go ahead. It would've been wise to stick with him for a few miles. He ended up finishing something like 45 minutes ahead of me! Because the river crossing spaced the race out so much, the last 12 miles were kind of lonely.

Hitting Top of the World the second time was the worst! It was 86 degrees & that section was totally exposed with no shade. I had my hands on my knees, literally thinking about each step. I started getting dizzy & lightheaded- something I've never experienced while running. Thought I was in trouble & considered crawling off into the shade of the woods to cool off for 20 minutes, but kept trudging. It was ugly. This was the most "out of it" I've ever been in a race. An aid station worker asked me if I was OK. I stayed there talking to him for 2-3 minutes & really, after that, I felt a lot better. Guess I needed the break. The thing about these hills is- see, they weren't mountains that you can expect to climb for 30+ minutes with switchbacks & more moderate grades. These were super-steep cliffs practically (OK, I'm exaggerating) that only took 1-2 minutes to get up. Brutal though. Click on the picture to the left and look at the ant-like people flying down the cliff!

Rest of the race was relatively uneventful except for the end. Jennifer (wife) & Wren (5 year old daughter) came with me to Atlanta & went to a museum & festival all day. They were waiting for me 1/4 mile from the finish line & Wren ran in with me. As we were running, she said, "Is this special for you? It's special to me to finish your long run with you. You can leave if you need to go faster. I'll just follow you (of course her speed was my top end at that point!)." Broke my heart. I've always thought it was a little cheesy when kids finish with parents, but not this time! After we crossed the line & she gave me 5, she said, "UGH, Dad, you stink so bad!" That got a chuckle from the finish line crew.

So, the guy who told me my Buncombe 34 Miler time of 6:49 would be about the same as my SweetH2O 50K time couldn't have been more right on, even though I broke down in the last 10 miles. I finished in 7:10, but taking out the 22 minutes of standing around, that's 6:48. Pretty close, huh? Finished 120th out of 250 registered & 212 finishers. Keeping in mind my 50K PR is 4:41 on a flat course... it's just kind of amazing how much conditions & terrain make a difference in this sport. Over two hours difference. Wow.

Next up is 109 miles on the Appalachian Trail in 4 days. Solo. Taking all of my gear with me. I'm very nervous about it. 2 weeks from today will be my first night out.

Buncombe Trail 34 Miler

2009-05-03T21:31:00.005-04:00

I said I was going to push it at this race. Most of my races in the past year have been more like training runs. I didn't take a camera, phone... wasn't planning on chatting much- just wanted to run as fast as I could. Envisioned myself making up a lot of ground in the last 6 miles. Wanted to finish in the top 20 out of 74 starters.

I guess I didn't exactly stick to my plan but I had a pretty good race. After mile 2, I started running with a group of guys that ranged from 2-4. I ran with 2 of them for a couple of miles & ended up running with one of them for the next 13 miles or so. The miles clipped along without much effort, but at mile 15, the guy I was with, Tom said he was planning on walking more than we had been. I went ahead & got caught by the first woman a mile later. We ran together for the next few miles & several times, I'd go ahead a little & she'd catch up. We probably stuck together for the better part of 10 miles, and I was convinced we'd finish the race together, but another woman passed us & she went after her. I didn't feel like picking it up quite yet. I think I finished within 10-12 minutes of both of them. The last 8 miles was lonelier. The only people I saw were the two guys passed, and didn't spend any time with them. I almost never get passed in the last 10K of an ultra and I like to finish strong. Today was no exception, but I walked a little more than I wanted to. Needed a little motivation. No one to run with. No one I could see to go catch. Ran as fast as I could the last 2.5 miles- easily my fastest of the day.

The weather could've been better. It was extremely muggy for the first 2/3 of the race and then the sun came out and it got hot. 82 when we finished. It rained about 1/2" last night, so there were some nice muddy spots.

I finished in 6:49, which is right at 12:00/mile. 23rd overall. I'll take top third. Given my slack training lately & the heat, I was satisfied. I had no problems to speak of today. Skin felt really hot, and I had some heat rash on my chest, but legs were fine. I could count on one hand the number of 15+ mile runs I've done since Rocky Raccoon 100 Miler in February... OK, maybe not quite one hand, but I know I could do it on 6-7 fingers. I'm used to getting a lot more mileage in but just haven't had the time to do it this track season.

Terri Hayes puts on great, low key races with sparse (average of 8-9 miles between aid stations), but well-stocked & friendly aid stations. The course was rolling singletrack with not a lot of scenery. A few creek crossings.

SweetH2O 50K outside Atlanta later in the month. Looking forward to that one. Looks tough. I'm glad I got today's race in before that one.

"You Think You're Better Than Me?"

2009-04-22T09:02:00.007-04:00

I've been hearing weird rumblings lately from people I know (& like) that I'm not a very good runner, that I'm slow, that "I run a 5K at xx:xx pace & his 100 miler was run at xx:xx. That's SOOO slow!" Even, "That 100 miler he ran was an easy one. There are some in the Rocky Mountains that are a lot harder." Geez... Let me state this loud & clear: I AM NOT A GREAT RUNNER. I do what I can.

See that's what I like about ultrarunning. It's relaxed. Sure there are people who are very competitive & the elite athletes in the sport are extremely talented & put forth a great deal of effort to get where they are. One look at Anton Krupika's blog would tell you he's serious about his training! BUT, while I consider myself serious about my training & have clearly defined goals, what I like about ultrarunning is that it's fun. Plain & simple. I do it because it's fun. I do it to prove to myself I can acheive a goal, but that goal is rarely meeting a certain time. With the uncertainty of courses I run, how good of a measure is time? If I wanted to still be obsessed with shaving seconds off my 5K times, my training would be a lot different. I got tired of that, so I don't do it anymore. Got tired of pouting for weeks about being 2 minutes slower than my marathon PR. It wasn't fun. You get to relax and enjoy the experience a whole lot more with ultrarunning. I don't remember 5K road races being very fun, per se. I spent 4 months in 2003 to break 19. In about 6 races, I ran 19:06, 19:04, 19:08... until finally, I ran 18:58. I felt like I accomplished something but I can't say it was fun.

That got me to thinking... my running & non-running friends must get tired of hearing about my fantastical running adventures. I get the feeling that people think I'm better than them because I can cover very long distances. I DO NOT. If I could run a 16:30 5K, wow... I only wish. I'm slow. I run what I like to run & try to have fun doing it. My hat's off to fast 5K folks, 1st time marathoners, etc., etc. A friend of mine is running his first 1/2 marathon in a week or two. He thought I was mocking him when he told me about it & I reacted with a, "Wow! That's great!" I was genuinely excited about it, but he thought I was belittling him for "just running a 1/2 marathon." No way, Disco Dave.

Now having said all of that, I will be pushing it at the Buncombe Trail 34 miler in 2 weeks. I realized the other day it's been a very long time since I've gone all out in a race. Viewed them more as training days with aid stations and maybe a new shirt. I'm not building up to anything at the moment, and I'll go hard. It's been a really long time... I guess since last March.

As an Earth Day aside, I ordered a pair of END Stumptown 10 oz. shoes yesterday. This is a very small startup company based out of Portland who makes more environmentally-friendly trail shoes. I've seen a few reviews out there, but I plan on reviewing them after I get a few run in them.

Spring Break

2009-04-15T20:32:00.005-04:00

Why do I do this blog? Started as a place to post race reports so I wouldn't have to email them out to friends, but the more I started reading other people's blogs to decide places to run, the more I think of it as race & trail reviews. Today, I'll give you a little review of the Tanawha Trail, which goes through 3 counties (Avery, Watauga & just briefly in Caldwell) in Western NC.

I love winter running & dread the summer more & more each year. I wouldn't call the conditions on our trip to the mountains this week ideal (low 40s & rain every day but one), but I do like running in that stuff a whole lot more than the 80+ we'll get here soon.

A few good mountain runs over the break. Saw a small black bear (running away about 150m away) on one. It was just an hour run but with 1020' of climbing all in the last 35 minutes. I felt pretty strong. ...well, I dunno if that's the word for it. I kept going & it didn't seem too bad. How's that? On another 90 minute run, I climbed 2300', almost all in the last hour. Both of these runs were mostly on the singletrack & dirt "road" trails on Beech Mountain. They cut several dirt roads 30 years ago and never developed that part of the mountain, so now, they're washed out, rocky & rutty. There's even a whole golf course that was cleared but never opened & it's far from the nearest open road. Kinda eerie. It's funny the description of one of the toughest singletrack trails classifies it as easy, but only talks about going one way. They suggest having a car at the bottom to drive you back up. Yeah, it's steep there! My family's been going to Beech Mountain for 25 years, but I just discovered the trail system a year ago.

I wanted to do an out & back of the entire Tanawha Trail, but the morning I was going to do it ended up being 20 degree wind chill & driving rain. I would've been up for the challenge, but I didn't think my shorts & thin long sleeve shirt would be. Weather forecast had said highs in the 50s everyday when I was packing!

The Tanawha Trail runs roughly parallel along 13.5 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway. It starts at Beacon Heights, near the entrance to Grandfather Mountain & ends at Price Lake. I'd read a guide that classified it as "easy to moderate." I thought that sounded like 10-11 minute miles. Hannah told me no way. We went on a family hike to check it out a little and walked about a mile out & a mile back. It was rocky & rooty in that section, but not too bad.

I ended up being able to run one way of the Tanawha Trail on our way out of town. I was still thinking 11 minute miles was possible. After all, I was going downhill most of the way- total elevation loss of over 1000'. Well, Hannah had mentioned the upper part was more, "fun" than the lower part. Knowing her, I should've expected the climbing, scrambling & squeezing across boulders the first 4 miles gave me. It was beautiful, but not very runnable. Once I got past Rough Ridge, it was smoother sailing. Still a fairly technical trail, but I was able to get moving. The first 3 miles took me over an hour & between mile 0.5-3, it was rare for me to string together 30 running steps in a row. The rain didn't help. On a dry day, I would've taken more chances on the rocks.

It was sunny on the west side of Grandfather Mountain, but as soon as we crossed the ridge & let me out, it got immediately foggy. Couldn't see more than 50' ahead of me. All I saw at overlooks was white fog. I sort of like those days though. Feels as if I'm the only person left in the world. Felt that way the day after Christmas in the rain as I ran 60 miles by myself and didn't see another person on the trails all day.

I must've passed 50 waterfalls- some substantial & others that probably are usually dry, but with all the rain we got... Subsequently, I probably had about 10-15 creek crossings, but I wonder how many would be there on a dry day!

I told Jennifer it would take me 2:45, but clearly, that wasn't happening. I called her 1:40 into it and had only been 5 miles! I could've hopped onto the Parkway & run down it to the lake, but that's no fun. I knew most of the rocks had to be behind me & told her it would take me 1:40 more to do the last 8.5. I was pretty close & the whole 13.5 ended up taking me 3:23. Must be my slowest half marathon ever! Around Boone Fork, the trail got less rocky & there were noticeably more downhills. The last 2 miles or so were mainly through hilly pastures. Wasn't expecting that. Every turn seemed like it should be the end, but finally, I got to the lake & Jennifer & Wren were waiting & clapping like it was a race.

Would I recommend Tanawha to fellow runners? No. Yes. Not the whole thing, but an out & back to Raven Rock from Price Lake would be a great 17 miles of nice runnable trail. Save the other part for a hike & take lots of pictures as you crawl across boulders, over waterfalls, under the Viaduct, and onto rocks which I assume have great views of the surrounding mountains. ...fog's all I saw. :)

Going the way I went, you lose elevation, but you climb a lot too. 3680' over 13.5 miles when you're losing a net of over 1000' is a lot more than I'd expected. I wouldn't classify the ups & downs I did as that hard though. Going the other way, I'm sure it would be more difficult.

Umstead 100 Pacing

2009-04-06T23:33:00.003-04:00

After a long day at a track meet, I went up to Raleigh to pace Kevin in his first 100. I wasn't sure when I'd get there, but I'd planned on running around 40 miles with him. As it turned out, I got there late and he was doing remarkably well, so I just ended up running about the last 22 with him. He finished in 20:14 & 19th place overall. Not bad for a first timer, huh?? Wow! He had no leg problems, no blister problems, mildly upset stomach for a little while- really a perfect day.

This was the first time I'd run the the Umstead course & it's not the type of course I think I'd like. That said, I may try to get in the marathon there next year. It's a very smooth, wide path with zero roots, rocks or ruts. It was more rolling than I expected. You do eight 12.5 loops & by the time I got there, Kevin had memorized every tree on the course (even in the dark). I considered sticking around & running another loop with a stranger after Kevin finished at 2:15 AM, but decided against it.

March was a rough training month for me. Outdoor track season is always hard for me to find time to run, but I've also lacked some motivation. Last real long run was 5 weeks ago at Black Mountain Marathon. I decided to enter a couple of races before summer to get my training in gear. I'll be running Buncombe Trail 34 Miler, a low key event in SC & SweetH2O 50K near Atlanta which looks pretty challenging with a couple of waist-deep stream crossings. I knew just pacing at Umstead would get the juices flowing.

Spring Break starts Friday & I'll be in the mountains for a few days & plan on getting some nice runs in. Haven't decided where yet. Thought about north from Watauga Lake on the Appalachian Trail.

Black Mountain Marathon- Fun With Mud

2009-02-28T21:39:00.005-05:00

It's been 3 weeks since the 100 miler & my hip flexors have been hurting ever since. Achilles hurts a little. Neither pain would make running the Black Mountain Marathon a particularly good idea, but after some debate, I did it anyway.

I stayed with Kevin, whose son & daughter are on my cross country team. He was running the Mount Mitchell Challenge, which runs simultaneously with the marathon. This is a 40 mile race & when the marathoners turn around at the Blue Ridge Parkway, the Challenge runners keep going to the top of Mount Mitchell and back. It felt strange not doing the full Challenge because I usually do the longest distance offered, but I knew when I registered that a mountain trail marathon after Rocky Raccoon would be hard enough and 40 would be a real stretch. I don't feel too wimpy because the marathon wasn't "just" a marathon. It was a "challenge" itself.

The marathon (& lower part of the Challenge) course goes from town along paved roads for the first 2-3 miles & then follows singletrack trails for awhile, before connecting to some very rough jeep roads. The first half is all up the mountain & the last half is all back down (although not quite the same way you came in places). Kevin has done the Challenge twice before & assured me the mountain wasn't that steep- that it was a long grind, but not as bad as I thought. He was right. The marathon rises 3000' in the first half (getting you up to 5300' with a good view of Mt. Mitchell on a normal day), which is a big chunk of elevation, but I knew I could cruise on the way down. By the time I turned around, it felt like the race was over.

So the elevation gain was tough, but what made it much worse was the fact that it had rained for 24 hours prior to & during the race. What wasn't mud was flowing water or rock. Part of it was like running through a shallow creek. Kevin admitted he didn't remember how rocky it was. The jeep roads were extremely rocky. I didn't mind. Coming down was a breeze. I almost felt like I should be working harder for some reason because it was so easy. With the mud & rocks, you couldn't fly down, but the only effort I exerted was dodging the biggest rocks & puddles.

Despite the slop, I had a really good time! I knew I would hurt because of the 100 miler, so I took it easy & tried to enjoy it. I ran with Kevin for the first hour & then took a bathroom break. I talked to people around me for the next 2 hours before getting to the 14 mile turnaround in just over 3 hours. The conditions on Mount Mitchell were severe- around 30 degrees, 30-40 mph winds & heavy snow. If it hadn't poured on the Challenge runners all morning, I think they would've been fine to continue (soaking wet + 30 degrees + high winds = game over), but the park rangers made a decision to close it to runners who showed up after 3 hours to the marathon turnaround. The bad part is no one knew about this cutoff.

Kevin was the first one denied access to continue! I ran into him a minute after he left the turnaround & he went back with me and ran the rest of the way down the mountain with me. I'm sure he was disappointed, but I think he changed his mind when we got to the next aid station & heard an announcement on the EMT's radio, "We've already pulled 3 runners with hypothermia & we need more blankets & EMT workers because we're expecting more."

Here's what the race director sent out after the race, "...For those that missed the trip to the summit…either because you were a marathoner or because you fell victim to the modified cut-off time …The conditions at the top included heavy snow/sleet, temperatures hovering at or below freezing and winds gusting in excess of 50mph…Our fire/rescue crews have final say for where and when we can proceed on the mountain…The decision was made about an hour into the race to move the cut-off from 10:30am to 10am for the safety of both runners and volunteers at the summit…With upwards of 40 people huddled in the ranger’s shelter at times, and more than 20 runners needing to be evacuated in vehicles from the mountain, it was definitely a needed precaution..." Keep in mind this is 40 people hudled/20 people carried out out of less than 70 that were allowed to go to the top.

Most people were bundled with jackets, tights, gloves, hats, etc. I was fine (just a little on the chilly side sometimes) with shorts, a thin long sleeve shirt & a short sleeve shirt on. Of course, that wouldn't have cut it for the Challenge, but I felt fine where I was.

The hip flexors hurt (Achilles did not), but it never got any worse during the race. Otherwise felt pretty good. After the race, I noticed my big toe is killing me! Maybe from running on my toes going up the mountain. Had I not been a little banged up, I don't know that I would've gone much faster. I was working pretty hard for the first hour and then once on the jeep roads, it seemed to get a little easier. I kicked it in the last 2-3 miles and pushed it as hard as I could. I'm not sure why since I'd taken it easy most of the race, but I like to finish a race strong. I also wanted to finish under 5:30 & ended up 5:27. Kinda felt guilty leaving Kevin. He's a faster runner than me and I WAS NOT trying to race him. He'd kill me if we were really racing. I waited a couple of times for him but he told me to go ahead. I'm pacing for the last 20-40 miles in his first 100 at Umstead in about 6 weeks.

But yeah, this was one of my most enjoyable races ever maybe. I've never run the majority of a race with someone & had a good time chatting, making jokes & sharing the miserable conditions with someone. Had I been out there running by myself without talking to the people around me, I would've had a much less enjoyable experience. ...and that's what I'd call today- an experience, not really a race. People were really relaxed and knew it was better to laugh at the muck than to curse it.

Giveaways were good- cotton t-shirt, 'boggan & North Face finisher's fleece with embroidered race logo.

I plan on doing the Challenge next year and hope to encounter some snow on the ground or falling, but no rain & mud, please! Once was fun, but I wouldn't look forward to a repeat performance.