tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88373972024-03-23T14:24:04.640-04:00Chloraphil?? More like Bore-a-phil!You spelled chlorophyll wrong in your google search and it brought you here. I apologize.Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13544992030084559716noreply@blogger.comBlogger1041125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8837397.post-84935103648488224262017-05-09T21:47:00.001-04:002017-05-10T15:12:48.972-04:00A perfect day at Massanutten 100 miler<div class="MsoNormal">
Two weeks out from my 5<sup>th</sup> MMT I went for an easy
6 mile run with my buddy, and pacer, Garry. When I got home my ankle blew up. I
canceled my last big weekend and cut my mileage down a lot more than planned. I
spent two weeks icing my ankle and figuring it will be fine on race day, or
I’ll be out of the race by mile 12. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-sZvk8Xq7PSMIzg13ry4PVM7c567enbx0aNb2qxl4ClDF64DdM_3gxASdS-ZbqkNLLQd7lCyg8HCZx6pETebvOGxghWeNQnFWxAzEZAhcpaggWhCkB3idz1zKDL8xUmitPDMe/s1600/Edinburg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-sZvk8Xq7PSMIzg13ry4PVM7c567enbx0aNb2qxl4ClDF64DdM_3gxASdS-ZbqkNLLQd7lCyg8HCZx6pETebvOGxghWeNQnFWxAzEZAhcpaggWhCkB3idz1zKDL8xUmitPDMe/s320/Edinburg.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">not out of the race at mile 12 – photo by David Whitney Potts</td></tr>
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My goal for the race was to do better than last year. My
more specific goals for the race were to get to the Bird Knob lookout by
sunset, and to win the Masters division. There was a long list of runners I
thought would be competing for that award with the main two being Brad Hinton
and Keith Knipling. Brad has crushed me at Bull Run the past two years, and
Keith can crush this course like no other.<o:p></o:p></div>
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In order to beat my time from last year and get to Bird Knob
before dark I had to do two things this year: Run faster in the first 54 miles,
and not miss any turns in the second half. From mile 10 to 34 there are two
climbs, and the rest is largely runnable. During my training this year I put
more focus on running steady. It paid off as I got to Elizabeth Furnace 23
minutes ahead of last year. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Much like 2014, this year runners were treated to 103.7
miles of wet feet. The field we run across at the start had about a foot of
standing water and there was never an extended period of drying off. It rained
for about 4 or 5 hours in the morning and the trails were worse than 2014 in
some sections from what I remember. I took two falls. Around mile 25 there’s a
steep descent that was just a stream of water. I was bouncing around trying to
avoid the water and my foot clipped a rock and I went down hard. My knee hit a
rock and I got some road (rock) rash on my arm and shoulder. Then at mile 37 I
was going down a wide open trail with very little rocks, excited about how well
I was feeling when a rock reached up and grabbed my ankle. I tucked and rolled
like a stuntman, and hopped up and kept running.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWF0VkdyiupDTj2H3SUmbFGqfjl6E118Bnkw6KCkERSvMskgz4KPL1K8OHvGgNr0ofyXQHXHEkaGhsPSXkFrz7th1CLPb4YhkFHAL0BGBotHWAqTK3P3pJaSL0azrN-U2krNGw/s1600/mile+26.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWF0VkdyiupDTj2H3SUmbFGqfjl6E118Bnkw6KCkERSvMskgz4KPL1K8OHvGgNr0ofyXQHXHEkaGhsPSXkFrz7th1CLPb4YhkFHAL0BGBotHWAqTK3P3pJaSL0azrN-U2krNGw/s320/mile+26.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mile 26 photo by Karsten Brown</td></tr>
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For much of the first half of the race I leap frogged with
Will Kuper (another runner who crushed me at Bull Run). I would take a big lead
on the climbs and rocks, and he would pass and take a big lead on me on the
runnable sections. Just before my mile 37 tumble I spotted Brad Hinton ahead of
me. When I got to the aid station I changed socks, and chased Will to the next
AS. We repeated our routine up Veach. I took the lead on the climb, he gapped
me when we got to the top.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWcH0qRsDzWT64vWNWJ-2xzzjX7teR-bu7MxvIYUeOHwcAzWER6p4DbDRa_CjBBlgRjg3mO7tIAR8FoEMuptVh6iEF5thzSvsu1twa3GEj9O9laOpw9hdLoY42EUF49YC-UfhP/s1600/indian+grave.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWcH0qRsDzWT64vWNWJ-2xzzjX7teR-bu7MxvIYUeOHwcAzWER6p4DbDRa_CjBBlgRjg3mO7tIAR8FoEMuptVh6iEF5thzSvsu1twa3GEj9O9laOpw9hdLoY42EUF49YC-UfhP/s320/indian+grave.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Indian Grave - photo Annie Gie</td></tr>
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As I got into Indian Grave at mile 50, I finally caught up
to Brad. It was a huge motivation for me, and I was able to also catch Will on
the road to Habron. On the road I also caught up to my buddy Pat who was
struggling. I encouraged him to run with me and he finished the section strong
(and went on to an awesome 6 hour PR finish of 23:20).<o:p></o:p></div>
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Brad was in and out of Habron quicker than me, and I passed
him on the big climb. It was the last runner I’d see on the trail for the rest
of the day. At this point in the race I was 43 minutes ahead of last year. Looking
at how well I ran the back half of the race last year I thought I’d be able to
make up not much more than the 20 minutes of extra running I did last year.
Apparently I underestimated myself. When I left Habron I put on my pack. About
20 minutes into the climb I went to eat a gel. There were none in my top left
pocket, none in my top right pocket. I reached around to the sides and found
one. I planned on eating three in this section and started to let myself get
mad about not having more and in my head I was rationing this one gel as if I
was stranded on a deserted island. After about 5 minutes I took the pack off to
look in the back pocket for more. None back there either, but as I was putting
it back on my hand touched a pocket on
my shoulder I forgot about. Never have I been so happy about 200 calories.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjReQyJTAUmMMZ4ZqvaMfAiPwhdTZoFcprOI5_zz30GE_xrLsH9ZEsgR9_2hhvE8TFWYN-uARi0pL6BV5rj-DN_V07MEMEB1GWcHQLu-XmC92sAoX9WaEq55hpRdz7OUSyxq5hO/s1600/duncans+hallow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjReQyJTAUmMMZ4ZqvaMfAiPwhdTZoFcprOI5_zz30GE_xrLsH9ZEsgR9_2hhvE8TFWYN-uARi0pL6BV5rj-DN_V07MEMEB1GWcHQLu-XmC92sAoX9WaEq55hpRdz7OUSyxq5hO/s320/duncans+hallow.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jess Gockley’s feet on that trail later that night</td></tr>
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At this point in the
race I had no idea of what place I was in, or if there might be someone in my
age group ahead of me. I just knew I was running well, and if I kept it up I
could get to Bird Knob before dark. Coming into Camp Roosevelt I was running
really strong and spotted Garry out on the trail. Just about the same spot I
tried to tell him I wanted to quit two years ago. This year I was feeling
better than ever. A quick aid station and I was off to the worst section of
trail on the course. It’s a mess on a normal year, and it’s a foot deep stream
on wet years.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I didn’t focus on
trying to beat my best time here. I just went at it strong, and kept taking in
calories while my stomach was still ok. In the end I missed my best time on
this section by one minute. Maybe the final splash in the creek slowed me down. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Along with Garry, Marsha was down for the second half to
help Kym crew, and Brandon came down to also pace. I told them I didn’t think
I’d need a pacer until mile 78, but they had Brandon jump in with me here. It
was a good idea. I wasn’t struggling, but having him with me helped lift my
spirits more and kept me moving well. I focused on not missing the turn up
Jawbone this year, and I’m not sure how I missed it last year. It rained off
and on in this section but it cleared up for a beautiful view of the mountains
as we ran down the road to the Visitor Center aid station. It was 7:19pm, and
after some soup I left for the huge climb. I told Brandon about my goal to get
to the lookout and he said he’d give me 1 minute to enjoy it before we got
moving. I took it all in in about 20 seconds. We got to the Bird Knob Aid
Station before needing our headlamps. I remember seeing a picture of Brian Rusiecki
coming into Bird Knob in the daylight a few years ago and I was amazed. Now I
was doing the same. The run from Bird Knob to Picnic is probably my least
favorite on the course. It seems like 4 miles of the same thing over and over.
Not difficult trail, but all running, and mostly wet. It gets in my head that
I’m not moving fast enough and constantly look behind me as if someone is
catching me. In this section we saw the same Whippoorwill on the trail as last
year. It didn’t fly off the trail until I almost stepped on it. It did that 3
times again. Bizarre.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We heard cheers from Picnic AS a few minutes out. Great
news. Not only because we were finally there, but the cheers meant I caught someone.
Nick Pedatella had just gotten to the Aid Station when we got there. I had some
more soup and quickly got out of there and Garry joined me to the finish. When
we crossed the 211 highway I started running the climb. I ran much of that hill
last year and as I ran I tried to get myself to run the entire fire road until
we turned off to the trail. I made it and cut a few more minutes off my time
with that push. We power hiked the long
climb, including this awesome trail:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHFpviOOAnUo9TG1n8e1xnhLCGalWUZUHfENL8tYU1iRs2dPfzkYLEDKVDIQqiWtCRQB8eCwWzKmjv3ACW5_VQSC2ze2zvz7ILzQz5ZRY2XDrE1gRNiU-KpRkfE9gnUj2lkiox/s1600/waterfall+trail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHFpviOOAnUo9TG1n8e1xnhLCGalWUZUHfENL8tYU1iRs2dPfzkYLEDKVDIQqiWtCRQB8eCwWzKmjv3ACW5_VQSC2ze2zvz7ILzQz5ZRY2XDrE1gRNiU-KpRkfE9gnUj2lkiox/s320/waterfall+trail.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">except picture hiking that in the dark- photo Ted Bielawa</td></tr>
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After the 4 mile
climb, the downhill here always hurts my quads. It wasn’t as bad this year and
I cut more time off. We ran the road to Gap 2, and with a 15 minute improvement
it was my best improvement of the day (so far). We made quick work of the last
Aid Station. I was sad to hear a fellow Pacer Laura Mooney was still at Gap 1
and they were trying to get her to go back out, but it was also nice to see the
familiar faces of her crew. We made a strong push over the last few brutal
miles of trail and popped out on the road. At this point last year I got passed
and there was no chance I was letting that happen this year. Garry took charge
and pulled me along to a ridiculously fast finish. According to my watch my
last full mile was an 8:38. I finished in 21:05:33. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I cut 43 minutes off the first 54 miles, and 66 minutes off
the second half that I didn’t think I could improve on. I had a great day
alone, but there’s zero chance I finish anywhere near where I did without
the amazing help of Marsha, Brandon, and Garry. And there’s zero chance I even
run the race if not for the amazing support of Kym. I ran more training miles
than ever before this year, and I can only do it because she’s a supermom and a
superwife. She got me in and out of every aid station in seconds (except when I took about a half hour to change my shoes in the above video). I can’t do any better than this, so why ever do it again? Just
like I said last year. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbsrr19JLTa1AvfQSnXnOvW8zET4jGJw5PDnAS5UHn2Q31j5A23XS5etM1bjTCEnwzXjuRei0HyLgjz-Uieoy_oIA12FVt_PPxt8PNlTWlsc32aPepkt2EsQTVk31ieS2a-szc/s1600/IMG_8124.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbsrr19JLTa1AvfQSnXnOvW8zET4jGJw5PDnAS5UHn2Q31j5A23XS5etM1bjTCEnwzXjuRei0HyLgjz-Uieoy_oIA12FVt_PPxt8PNlTWlsc32aPepkt2EsQTVk31ieS2a-szc/s320/IMG_8124.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brandon, Garry, Marsha, Me, Kym</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTPYpElg-Auiq0wto0aJLUPdRLeV9aVSut6OtW81iU50GhEpTCGC8S16ivtoFPNgiCk-MYwibzspDxx2A-lEU6I8UeYPBrTPLUO5D-EHV0YEg2DrKFTd_MZGVGYubP5YLubQYp/s1600/IMG_8128.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTPYpElg-Auiq0wto0aJLUPdRLeV9aVSut6OtW81iU50GhEpTCGC8S16ivtoFPNgiCk-MYwibzspDxx2A-lEU6I8UeYPBrTPLUO5D-EHV0YEg2DrKFTd_MZGVGYubP5YLubQYp/s320/IMG_8128.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kym and I. Masters champs<br />
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strava - https://www.strava.com/activities/976089321<br />
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Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13544992030084559716noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8837397.post-57618975471692558002016-05-19T22:51:00.001-04:002016-05-19T23:11:35.433-04:00Fourth Time's the charm<div style="text-align: right;">
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It was 8pm the night before the race started. I had a great
training cycle and was in the best trail running shape of my life. But,
my race was about to end. Pat Heine, my pacer Michael Heimes, and I were
hanging out when a black bear wandered into our campsite and was staring us
down. I was certain he was about to attack. After a few moments,
Kym believed us enough that there was a bear in camp that she opened the tent
to see. Luckily black bears are terrified by the noise of zippers, and it
ran away. Crisis averted. Averting crises is a running theme to any
good 103.7(++) mile run. <o:p></o:p></div>
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(Video by Pat Heine because mine was too blurry)</div>
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After a mostly terrible night of cold sleep I got up and
prepared. Said hello to a bunch of friends at the start, and we’re
off. I settled into the back of the chase pack for the first 4 miles up
the road, running and chatting a little with Pat. We hit the first climb,
and we took it about as slow as I can ever remember going up that climb.
But, I wasn’t in any rush. The train continued to move slow over Short mountain
until someone caught us and asked to pass. Shortly after that I decided
that pace felt too slow, so I also headed off ahead. Coming into mile
Edinburg Gap I felt like the first section was very easy, and I was right on
target.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1__rDZJ6USp6vOKkzbylAYCLX6fsSkUCCHvyQS9cm_kTeo8Wiz3gtneI31OSeSh950LlkfeftNU2zrGSemHKNVL89uWPQYocvzkMrWAxlacwdWN7YOp1tiSiZyMswHZR-GSHG/s1600/PE%252C+Powells.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1__rDZJ6USp6vOKkzbylAYCLX6fsSkUCCHvyQS9cm_kTeo8Wiz3gtneI31OSeSh950LlkfeftNU2zrGSemHKNVL89uWPQYocvzkMrWAxlacwdWN7YOp1tiSiZyMswHZR-GSHG/s320/PE%252C+Powells.png" width="224" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Feeling less than stellar at mile 25. Photo by Paul Encarnacion</td></tr>
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So what was my target? Sub 24 hours. Again, after
failing last year. I had a printout of my previous three year’s Aid
Station arrival times, which I very briefly went over with Michael before being
rudely interrupted by the bear Friday night. The plan was to cut a few
minutes off each section, then bigger chunks over the last two sections that I
normally struggle with. In execution, I only actually remembered a few of
the times. I had hoped to be about 20 minutes ahead of my best when I got to
Elizabeth Furnace, but I was struggling early. In my previous 300 miles
on this course I had never had to step well off trail to use the “mens room”. I
did so at mile 13, and felt like I needed to either puke or step off again for
much of the next 15 miles. The humidity was getting to me early. Not a
good sign. Also in my previous 300 miles on this course, I don’t recall ever
actually falling. I fell for the first time in these miles. I was going
down a steep hill and my foot got caught. In slow motion I was heading
towards a rock the size myself, headfirst. Luckily I was able to get my hands
up to push and tumble off the rock. Crisis averted. I don’t remember much else
about this section other than getting passed by Kathleen Cusick just before
Powell’s. Exactly where her and Amy Rusiecki passed me last year.
When I got to Powell’s I was out of Tailwind. I had meant to pack more,
but I forgot, and the excellent AS volunteers filled me up with Gatorade.
They offered to also add ice, which was amazing. I was overheating and
this was perfect.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjEJmqo_TUiSATvp7XkDmN4ywl9FNsjBw4er89IPfFiXTvEwhMq1adJLR88nuFWSIcuoTa3FiivYjWwm2BzbARmPNLx7nQ5U0lIsHHcsbpPQdaPS7LGlngd_4AFSItDo5bUxJi/s1600/BA%252C+EF2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjEJmqo_TUiSATvp7XkDmN4ywl9FNsjBw4er89IPfFiXTvEwhMq1adJLR88nuFWSIcuoTa3FiivYjWwm2BzbARmPNLx7nQ5U0lIsHHcsbpPQdaPS7LGlngd_4AFSItDo5bUxJi/s320/BA%252C+EF2.png" width="272" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">running into Elizabeth Furnace - photo Beth Auman</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
On the long fire road out of Powell’s I was moving ok and
killed the climb around mile 29 like I always do. At the top of the climb
my stomach finally recovered, and I determined it was likely Tailwind that was
causing me problems. Over the next few sections I tried to mix in
Tailwind, but it never felt good, so I eventually bailed on it. I had
planned on most of my calories coming from that, so I had to change
course. More Gu’s than planned, and more Aid Station food than
planned. It worked out.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6AmKKkLWfu1nt25mZBNbXRRbP8-txhxQOy1l02Cx2iCp7119Wcdz09ARl6yw6GKaLpysq2rLsaypVgC253ipvW7hK4pcDIA2qJ53PE1efzvXpyiX6dr07Lhm6BXsxsTKFwHLz/s1600/BA%252C+EFpng.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6AmKKkLWfu1nt25mZBNbXRRbP8-txhxQOy1l02Cx2iCp7119Wcdz09ARl6yw6GKaLpysq2rLsaypVgC253ipvW7hK4pcDIA2qJ53PE1efzvXpyiX6dr07Lhm6BXsxsTKFwHLz/s320/BA%252C+EFpng.png" width="280" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">back on track at mile 33 - photo Beth Auman</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I got to Elizabeth Furnace and re-lubed and did everything I
needed to do. I asked my crew if it was really hot out, or just me.
They told me it wasn’t hot at all, but others had left without shirts. I
decided to do the same. I cooled off a lot in this section, and that
really helped me move well. I got into Shawl knowing I had a really good
section. Without actually discussing splits/times, Michael would simply
tell me I was in good shape with the times. I took a long AS at Shawl to
tape my feet, and headed out shirtless with two handhelds and a shirt tucked
into the back of my shorts. There were a few other people around me to
chase, so the run to Veach went pretty well. I headed out to what I
always find to be the hardest climb of the day for me. It’s around noon,
and it’s always been sunny. The climb has a lot of sections exposed to
the sun as well. I started the climb with 36 oz of fluids. Shortly
into the climb I was crossing a very muddy section when I fell again. A
harmless fall, except I landed on my water bottle, which shot out about 6
ounces of my precious water. The climb was hot and hard, as usual, and I
was taking in a lot of my fluids. But, after I got to the ridge, the
temps cooled down and shortly after that a light rain started falling. It
was perfect for me. I put my shirt on and finished the section
strong. Looking at the splits now, these 9 miles were 35 minutes fast
than last year. I got into Indian Grave to a small group of runners,
including Kathleen who was drinking a beer. I got out of there quick and
she zipped by me and gave me someone to chase on these road miles. It was
raining pretty good for this entire section, but it didn’t bother me at
all. This was the first time I’d see Garry, who was coming down to help
me/Kym crew again this year. Last year, the first time I saw him I was
hating life. This year, I was all smiles.<o:p></o:p></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqqY0IxnHzSe8e5PWkz_OZacBoy74L0gNIo-B31T6NJpXf3lcOfBMpHEzD6Iin8s-9ggFu0A3-Z4kTNdxKU5Y84X2y0WhYX5QTKZG6qZRKeFI3KtwsvgZOGYN7KIkU5iJqsd4w/s1600/IMG_1784.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqqY0IxnHzSe8e5PWkz_OZacBoy74L0gNIo-B31T6NJpXf3lcOfBMpHEzD6Iin8s-9ggFu0A3-Z4kTNdxKU5Y84X2y0WhYX5QTKZG6qZRKeFI3KtwsvgZOGYN7KIkU5iJqsd4w/s320/IMG_1784.JPG" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Actually running into Roosevelt with year with Garry</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At Habron I changed to a dry shirt, put on a windbreaker,
and refueled. I also got an update on my kids. Colin pitched one
inning, allowed one walk, no hits, and struck out the side. Kenslee won her
soccer game, and scored the last goal “for my dad.” Probably my favorite
part of the day. Within a half-mile of leaving Habron the rain stopped
and I was hot already. I took off the jacket, but refused to have a bad
section. At the end of this section last year I sat down and tried to
convince my crew to quit. I absolutely was not going there at any point
today. During the long climb I passed 4 or 5 people and ran strong into
Camp Roosevelt. Looking at the splits, I was 47 minutes better than last
year, and 24 minutes better in this section than ever before. When I got
into Roosevelt I was again warm, so I took off my shirt for last few miles
before sunset. Duncan Hollow was a muddy mess of a stream, as was the descent
down the other side.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWR9NHTf1hIBL2biwVxSm-_P2K6x78grn0_JWcYwKfwfZkSarTv0sKgAhs-HEyvjoM-Hg9tTIPmnyK9s6Qr-0P5Z-k4pOkJCbB3CZ9S02aKX0j2TbXk9NNSsRtaUSNgw3YzOts/s1600/IMG_1794.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWR9NHTf1hIBL2biwVxSm-_P2K6x78grn0_JWcYwKfwfZkSarTv0sKgAhs-HEyvjoM-Hg9tTIPmnyK9s6Qr-0P5Z-k4pOkJCbB3CZ9S02aKX0j2TbXk9NNSsRtaUSNgw3YzOts/s320/IMG_1794.JPG" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gap 1. A wee bit of mud on my legs</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When I got to Gap 1 I changed socks, and picked up my
pacer. Before the weekend, Michael and I had only briefly met once, after
Stone Mill. We’re Facebook friends, and I know he’s a huge Bernie Sanders
fan. I’m politically un-opinionated, so leading up to the race I joked
with him when we ran I’d convince him how President Trump would Make America
Great Again. We headed out of Gap 1, made the turn at the yellow gate and
started up Turkey Pen Rd. We started talking about Trump and other things
political, then, suddenly, I realized we hadn’t turned up Jawbone yet.
There were no flags around us. Michael ran ahead, saw nothing, then ran
back. I followed him back, knowing exactly where we went wrong.
Eventually we got back on course and headed up the Jawbone climb. Looking
at my Strava, we went just under a mile past the turn. 1.8 bonus
miles. The guys I had passed in the previous sections? I had to now
pass them again. Of all the places to go off course, I guess this was the
least harmful. No climbs, runnable road, still daylight, not too deep
into the race to crush me. I wouldn’t let it crush me. Sub 24 was still
in sight. Crisis averted? We moved well along the Kerns Mt ridge,
and got to the road to Visitors around 8:10pm. I moved well on the road,
passing a group of kids likely high on some illegal drugs, and rolled into
Visitors without needing headlamps. This was a goal I had somewhat joked
about the night before. I never thought it would actually happen though.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Besides the first section, the only actual Aid to Aid split
I knew was that in 2014 I got to Bird Knob in under an hour. I had lost
time by missing the turn in the last section, so I didn’t want to lose any more
time here. I climbed well, and passed a runner just before Bird Knob Aid
Station. I had a chocolate covered donut, some tater tots, and headed
out. The next 6.2 mile section always feels long to me. After an
early climb, it’s largely downhill. In this section my watch died, and
the games I play with myself to fool myself into thinking there’s more to go
than there really are were useless. I just started to get really
tired. Although mostly downhill, there are some small ups that I
really wanted to be running, but simply couldn’t. I was exhausted.
Eventually the Picnic Center Aid Station appeared and I moved on. Got a
bunch of food, no one caught me, got out.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In the three previous years, by this time my quads are dead,
or my feet are torn up, so I’ve never run the mile downhill out of
Picnic. I vowed to run it, and I did. Slowly, but it was
running. Kym and Garry met us at the 211 road crossing to give me a new
watch. From this point I knew there was about 3.5 mile of climbing.
I was actually able to run for stretches in the beginning. I felt
somewhat invigorated, and moved strong. During a more technical section
here we came upon an owl on the trail. It was just sitting there and
didn’t fly away until I was almost on top of it. Twice it flew away, then
landed on the trail 15 feet ahead. It stayed there until I got there, and
did it again. It was cool and bizarre, and if Michael didn’t also see it,
I’d have written it off as a hallucination. Eventually we topped out, and
started heading back down. I hate this downhill, but I very slowly was
able to run it. We got to the road to Gap 2 and I was able to run all of
that (I think?). Looking at splits now, this section was 21 minutes
faster than ever before. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We got in and out of Gap 2 fairly well and I climbed very
strong up Jawbone the second time. Because of the missed turn the first time, I
don’t have a Strava segment to compare, but I feel like I might have gone
faster the second time up. I passed a bunch of people who were going up
Jawbone the first time. Everyone was cordial, and I wished them well.
After reaching the top, the next two miles or so are unrunnable, for me.
We walked the downhill, and walked the technical trail from there. Just
as I popped out on the road, I lost the masters title. Nathan Leehman
passed me like I was standing still and finished 9 minutes ahead. The way
he was moving, I knew there was no chance of catching him. But, as I
looked at my watch I realized I had a slight shot at sub 23. When Michael
picked me up at Gap 1, I said we will not mention a possible finishing time all
night long. We were to focus on the climb we were on, the ridge we were
on, the descent we were on. Never mentioning time. When we got to
the road I said “Ok, now that we’re on the road, I can talk about it.” I
then proceeded to tell him I thought I had a broken foot. Somewhere in
the first twenty miles I stepped on a rock and my foot slipped and another
sharp rock went right into the side of my foot. When I changed socks at
Gap 1 it was all black and blue. Every flat step for the last 30 miles
killed it. Rocky trail, fine. Flat running, pain. He convinced me I
was fine. It was 2:15am, and he convinced me we could finish sub
23. We ran every step of the road, and partially up the campground
road. Just like last year. I head Garry’s “woo-hoo”ing in the woods
and knew I had it. The last quarter mile felt like it took forever, but I
did it. 105.5 miles in 22:54.<o:p></o:p></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTTRHO6Ecx7EpGc0z1lljuz_wPHPTZjrEh-FqX18VtEQBcnB7m1iIjyxv1uDT8AAZrG_sTvIpKlNdI8nTy6eGesVBuW2hy69jjT6cKouyvOhPLMH55YqLJgoIvOmua6XP7qtFu/s1600/IMG_1804.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTTRHO6Ecx7EpGc0z1lljuz_wPHPTZjrEh-FqX18VtEQBcnB7m1iIjyxv1uDT8AAZrG_sTvIpKlNdI8nTy6eGesVBuW2hy69jjT6cKouyvOhPLMH55YqLJgoIvOmua6XP7qtFu/s320/IMG_1804.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">unreal</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/N3-FepJYiRo/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/N3-FepJYiRo?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Thank you to Garry for coming down again to help me and Kym
out. She loves hanging out with you, and I love seeing you as I come into
every aid station. You helped keep me eating and moving though the Aid
Stations.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB4R1zwjz4lqXnQbKTJS5fRdvgLj5O0ozRhQqRltTADtNkVdXBmwJ6zMsV5p6gBaLcBubmq0nmCiHhyE2VV1iuHbcuSKgjEMQolJJzei_izA0hRO0vshbrFLOhvd73oHd2PxF6/s1600/IMG_1805.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB4R1zwjz4lqXnQbKTJS5fRdvgLj5O0ozRhQqRltTADtNkVdXBmwJ6zMsV5p6gBaLcBubmq0nmCiHhyE2VV1iuHbcuSKgjEMQolJJzei_izA0hRO0vshbrFLOhvd73oHd2PxF6/s320/IMG_1805.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Thank you to Michael for spending a cold long night in the
mountains with me. You just once questioned why I wasn’t going faster,
and it was the perfect question for the time. No chance I move as well
all night without you on my heels, and making sure I was taking in calories.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br />
<br />
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBqL0ac8V7vKNo2gLHVWF2j_lxnceBV-DIzt5vgOPm9i80WfvEnsZAOeeC2MQ9vALcQFuNEg72tRxpneeSquT5oCe8lxCfcuJtnvFRx1vt7vkAb6rfTMAXuiRzBGCiVNvVOX4Q/s1600/IMG_20160513_165637802.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBqL0ac8V7vKNo2gLHVWF2j_lxnceBV-DIzt5vgOPm9i80WfvEnsZAOeeC2MQ9vALcQFuNEg72tRxpneeSquT5oCe8lxCfcuJtnvFRx1vt7vkAb6rfTMAXuiRzBGCiVNvVOX4Q/s320/IMG_20160513_165637802.jpg" width="240" /></a>And mostly, thank you to Kym, who put up with this for the fourth straight year. Not just for these 23 hours, but for the months leading up to this where I disappear into the woods for hours on end. You’re the best crew, and wife, I could ever dream of.</div>
Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13544992030084559716noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8837397.post-37596278310434798992015-11-20T11:14:00.003-05:002015-11-20T11:25:09.310-05:00Stone Mill 50 Race Recap<div class="MsoNormal">
In early September a Facebook post from a bunch of friends
saying they signed up for Stone Mill got me interested. A few weeks later I was signed up and started
training. I figured I had about 5 weeks
to build up to acceptable shape and I did.
Every one of my friends dropped out, but I decided to stick with
it. Going into the race I had no clue
what my pace would be. I’ve run 3
50s. One was in the snow, and two were
fatasses where I ran completely alone for 35 miles. I scanned past results and settled for a goal
of around 8:45. Which would be a 45
minute PR at the distance. Knowing the
course is very runnable I did a lot of miles of training on the Perkiomen trail
and the regular trails at Evansburg. The
trails of Stone Mill were very similar in elevation to Evansburg.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The first mile of Stone Mill is downhill on a sidewalk
before hitting the trails. I was
probably somewhere around 30<sup>th</sup> place and the pace was just right for
this early on. Mile 2, when we hit the
trail, was a 9:59 and that was the slowest mile for the next 20+. My plan was to stop as little as possible at
aid stations. I wore a pack with a
bladder for the first time ever. For
every Aid Station up to mile 24 I simply grabbed a handful of chips or pretzels
and kept moving. Kym and the kids came
to help me out and I would basically just get high-fives and keep going.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOTrYS9btWRWOtX-Y_KqX6ZvjGIWzpxo5lDQLWUeB2mfkvX0SJ0FxmZsPyu6SKdSY49CZa71zaI_MOWRzTJ-jaH3Wp3ASaqGoWBXTq17OtlS33Vh21d2NC8LA_OeOzJK8iBkXU/s1600/SM+Ken+Trombatore.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOTrYS9btWRWOtX-Y_KqX6ZvjGIWzpxo5lDQLWUeB2mfkvX0SJ0FxmZsPyu6SKdSY49CZa71zaI_MOWRzTJ-jaH3Wp3ASaqGoWBXTq17OtlS33Vh21d2NC8LA_OeOzJK8iBkXU/s320/SM+Ken+Trombatore.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo: Ken Trombatore</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The course was very well marked. The only part where I was slightly confused
was I didn’t know there was a long (~2 mile?) road section leading to the mile
14 Aid Station. I was following a group
of runners who appeared to know what they were doing, but I couldn’t help
question it. We crossed a 4 lane
highway, then ran about a mile on the sidewalk, then crossed right back over it
when they realized we shouldn’t have crossed the road. The fact that we were on the wrong side of
the road is probably why I wasn’t seeing any course markings. But eventually we came to the aid station and
crossed under the road back to the trail. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQKOn2wma6lly9uFS8gNLzwrpH0tSiMZ8dK8XyJWX0dWDb9PyZOsxrMSY8Xd2n1eLzeNvfAURZxLq8QoAUDF3tcK8ij98b8Ka1G8rDgRJSJsBHGaMvHG150a8pXVZSrOQA3aUP/s1600/Stone+MillJames+Williams.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQKOn2wma6lly9uFS8gNLzwrpH0tSiMZ8dK8XyJWX0dWDb9PyZOsxrMSY8Xd2n1eLzeNvfAURZxLq8QoAUDF3tcK8ij98b8Ka1G8rDgRJSJsBHGaMvHG150a8pXVZSrOQA3aUP/s320/Stone+MillJames+Williams.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo: James Williams</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Shortly after this a deer popped out and ran in front of a
few of us on the trail for a few seconds.
It was a big buck with a nice rack.
It then left the trail and turned around and ran full speed about 50
feet in front of us directly across our path.
About mile 45 I saw another deer running full speed. It was grunting like wild pig. Or maybe I was
just delirious at that point.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKqWXVyxHCdgJqmzc21YVSvQ9IdR_i4w3TaSQZXbz8t_WhRWbsF3S6-HpMB9AgS5_lItC2ajSyK-rQLofJYrHZJPIxmsjvswI25OUj14ST8LOOYp8-a1tE37Vd_XpUSFKvGnrF/s1600/Stone+Mill+JW2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKqWXVyxHCdgJqmzc21YVSvQ9IdR_i4w3TaSQZXbz8t_WhRWbsF3S6-HpMB9AgS5_lItC2ajSyK-rQLofJYrHZJPIxmsjvswI25OUj14ST8LOOYp8-a1tE37Vd_XpUSFKvGnrF/s320/Stone+Mill+JW2.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo: James Williams</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Everything went pretty smoothly and at mile 24 I handed Kym
my pack and took a handheld for the 3 mile section along the towpath. I didn’t want a full pack bouncing around on
that fast section. But, there was a
stiff headwind the whole time to slow me down.
I did 3 sub 9 minute miles, and they turned out to be the last three
miles I’d do under a 10 minute pace for the rest of the day.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggOYFGUni-_xt0uTp0gGhsdBq4q-ESWNCxInN-tDzEG9VVy1g66kvuq6YuUB-Ot3-mRbBLFMgdXyJQXy0Y5fTA-Vqzx28EZjVJu_fG2LPnOfEomoGvEpQnZ93AKgHqZBMQHkW9/s1600/SM_Dan_Reichmann.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggOYFGUni-_xt0uTp0gGhsdBq4q-ESWNCxInN-tDzEG9VVy1g66kvuq6YuUB-Ot3-mRbBLFMgdXyJQXy0Y5fTA-Vqzx28EZjVJu_fG2LPnOfEomoGvEpQnZ93AKgHqZBMQHkW9/s320/SM_Dan_Reichmann.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo: Dan Reichman</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
At the next aid station I grabbed a half a PB&J, and
that ended up not sitting well with me.
I spent a lot of the next section trying to figure out if I’d puke or
not. I didn’t, and when I got to mile 34
I was pretty miserable. I couldn’t eat
anything, but Kym gave me a ginger chew.
It seemed to really calm my stomach and I was able to churn on. When I got to mile 37 aid station my watch
read 35 miles. I was 3 miles to the next
Aid and when I got there my watch read 39 miles. According to my watch this section was a mile
longer than advertised, but I’d been expecting those miles to be made up at
some point. From mile 40 on I tried to justify
walking every hill possible. But the
hills are so small it was hard to justify, and when I did walk, it didn’t feel
right so I’d quickly start running slowly again.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
I made my final exit of the trail just in front of a guy I
had passed. As we started up the road he
passed me and we jockeyed a few times.
He joked it was like a snail chasing a turtle. At one point I gave up chasing him and turned
around. I saw two other people exit the
trail and decided I didn’t want to get passed.
I ran strong to the finish. When
I crossed the finish line, the announced said “Tim, come see me.” I was the first 40+ year-old-finisher and
that won me the Maryland Masters State Championship. On paper, the best running accomplishment of
my life? 8:31:18, 16<sup>th</sup>
overall, 1<sup>st</sup> out of 66 in my age group.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu6UoIGjoK40qRoLe5AlwYc4N3SlWoSBex6rEP578xONnSwkfOu93z-xc7iFt7oUqQPa1gSjfYZyyj9TwwydlVVRpL85XuUJwjD7PDLA_HOcBvxZMXgShDcpy2QgLCnAjsZcWo/s1600/medal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu6UoIGjoK40qRoLe5AlwYc4N3SlWoSBex6rEP578xONnSwkfOu93z-xc7iFt7oUqQPa1gSjfYZyyj9TwwydlVVRpL85XuUJwjD7PDLA_HOcBvxZMXgShDcpy2QgLCnAjsZcWo/s320/medal.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I<span style="background-color: white; color: #6a6a6a; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.2px; text-align: left;">f coach</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #545454; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 18.2px; text-align: left;"> woulda </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #6a6a6a; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.2px; text-align: left;">put me in</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #545454; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 18.2px; text-align: left;"> fourth quarter, we </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #6a6a6a; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.2px; text-align: left;">would</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #545454; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 18.2px; text-align: left;">'ve been state champions</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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</div>
<br />
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<br />
<o:p></o:p></div>
Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13544992030084559716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8837397.post-24678807066530342152015-05-19T21:50:00.000-04:002015-05-21T14:56:10.381-04:00MMT, take 3<div class="MsoNormal">
In 2014 I finished MMT in 24:43, and my main focus this year
was to break 24 hours. An Achilles
problem in February lead to no running for over 3 weeks. The mileage slowly built back up, but never
got to where I was in the previous years.
I did more overall elevation, so my goal, though a stretch, remained sub
24 going into race day. If I had any
chance at this, I knew I’d need help this year.
My buddy Jeff casually mentioned he’d help if I needed it, so I reached
out to him about 10 days out. He was in,
and recruited Garry and Marsha to join him.
Sounds like a party in Virginia.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
After checking in, attending the race briefing, and eating
we hung out with some friends at their upgraded cabin for a few hours before
heading to bed. It was a good time, and
nice to relax before trying to sleep. I
got 3 hours of sleep before tossing and turning until the alarm went off.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlz76yWa_nDV_mzQKw9Aev8mcUDaEntpEXB7D6msa1zCRml4vYK0wZVRKl-oxhr1FUyNSNe8ahpVSYmOnfeA4IP2NM_Lh9blnnLzcv8BPFjevDEBySduGXgafZYlTLLO2-8m5N/s1600/IMG_8361.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlz76yWa_nDV_mzQKw9Aev8mcUDaEntpEXB7D6msa1zCRml4vYK0wZVRKl-oxhr1FUyNSNe8ahpVSYmOnfeA4IP2NM_Lh9blnnLzcv8BPFjevDEBySduGXgafZYlTLLO2-8m5N/s320/IMG_8361.JPG" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">not feeling bad at Edinburg</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
My perfect-day race plan was to go 5-10 minutes faster in
the first 12 miles, then run at the same pace as last year for the next
75. I thought that if I was able to get
through Aid Stations better, I could be about 30 minutes ahead of last year
where Jeff could jump in and push me to sub 24.
Well, plans are made to be broken, right? The first 12 miles went according to
plan. I didn’t feel like I pushed too
hard, though I was sweating a lot more than last year. It was low 60’s, but very humid. It was around mile 13 that I knew sub-24
wouldn’t happen. I think the best aspect
of my ultra-running is my fast uphill hiking.
As I went up the big climb at mile 13 I was already out of breath and
had side stiches because of the heat.
And, it was only 6:30am. My new
goal was to just finish as fast as I could, regardless of time.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For each of the past two years I ran most of miles 15-30
with a group of other runners. This year
I was never really with anyone for more than a mile or two. During these miles I got passed by a fair
number of runners, many who I recognized, many who I knew I should not have
been ahead of at this point. Maybe I
went out too fast, and would spend the next 80 miles paying for it? In this section runners were slaughtered by a
ridiculous amount of horse flies. I said
I felt like I was going to get a concussion because of how many times I was
hammered in the head by flies. The other
memorable thing about these miles was my attempts at peeing. I never had to, but forced myself to. It barely dribbled out, and it was a dark
yellow. I was drinking 40 ounces between
each aid, and drinking another 20 or so at aid stations. I was taking salt every 30-45 minutes, but I
could not stay hydrated.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtt6QTqRa3vDAhZDvz-3XPlw0ACysqE81T-xtpOvULzZSehCbTCwai_8DzlfcaV_ogNIK9Wl70IryIhl9Dp39jxnmyrlYJ7wpzZdkRpKVVOeItZQLpVuHOjga6nTWHfCnZo-fl/s1600/IMG_8376.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtt6QTqRa3vDAhZDvz-3XPlw0ACysqE81T-xtpOvULzZSehCbTCwai_8DzlfcaV_ogNIK9Wl70IryIhl9Dp39jxnmyrlYJ7wpzZdkRpKVVOeItZQLpVuHOjga6nTWHfCnZo-fl/s320/IMG_8376.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">feeling less than stellar after 33 miles</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtzlaooEKJ5HJTbs42KgyaNAY7vFo7wDan1Qmv8Nt6MVme5FrRq_YsU-H_niLyg9yCFlQcUK8DsfZ2VLklq_kernRPjf0ilzHHrbIbGT-Qiy2hhDMuFIBkrJMDGcrJpmNVlaq1/s1600/IMG_8383.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtzlaooEKJ5HJTbs42KgyaNAY7vFo7wDan1Qmv8Nt6MVme5FrRq_YsU-H_niLyg9yCFlQcUK8DsfZ2VLklq_kernRPjf0ilzHHrbIbGT-Qiy2hhDMuFIBkrJMDGcrJpmNVlaq1/s320/IMG_8383.JPG" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kym putting suntan lotion on me</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
At Shawl Gap (mile 38) I saw hopeful winners Jimmy and
Ashley in chairs looking like their days were done. It bummed me out big time. I don’t remember much about what I said or
did here, but I know I had a deep, dark sense of jealously. I was so spent that sitting down in a chair
and calling it quits didn’t sound like a terrible idea at this point. If I was rude to the group here, I’m sorry, I
think I was trying to avoid letting those thoughts creep up. I left here with 2 full handheld bottles, and
an empty flask to fill up 3 miles later at Veach Gap. During this short 3 mile road section I
downed almost all of the water I had here as well. I refilled those, plus the flask and headed
out for what I knew to be one of the toughest sections. There is a huge, mostly straight climb which
has sections exposed to the sun. I did
most of this section with a guy named Dana running his first MMT. I know for sure that if he weren’t there to
help push me I would have sat down to rest a few times. About 4 miles into this section he asked me
if I had a lot of water. He had just run
out. I had about 20 ounces left, and we
still had 5 miles to the next aid. I
told him I had a little. He said he was
ok for now but might ask if he got desperate.
As I contemplated just giving him one of my half full bottles we turned
a corner to about 40 gallons of water on a bench. It was absolutely magical. I topped off my bottles, and drank about
another half-gallon. I think that surprise-water
saved a lot of people’s day. It was here
that Rande Brown caught up to us. I asked
him if any of his previous 10 finishes were this hot. He said it was tough to tell. He could only remember one other year of
extreme heat. I moved ok into Indian
Grave (mile 50) where the awesome volunteers were having runners sit down while
they put ice cold towels on them. While
it sounded great, I didn’t want to get too comfy there. I quickly cooled myself with one of the
towels, grabbed a bite to eat and set off on the 4 mile road to Habron
Gap. A light rain started on my way
there and that felt great as the road is very exposed when the sun is out. When I got to Habron I saw Jim, his day
officially done. He and Karen set me up
with a handkerchief full of ice to wear around my neck for the next
section. This aid was bordeline
overwhelming for me because there were so many people there to help. Jim and his crew, Kym, and the crews of all
the other Pacers. It was excellent. I sat down for a few minutes to rest, then
set off in the rain for another big climb.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr0602OOcPtgFO988Krkvyy-xHEcVXDibni_27n_Rwd9uL18tQ2UagcNf8u4mAnjQfr5ZnX8DPIBecSnRfnzk_lxUHe5ToTI8TI_VbApgM2TNslEiz80GZXo61BnKz6T4ChcMw/s1600/IMG_8396.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr0602OOcPtgFO988Krkvyy-xHEcVXDibni_27n_Rwd9uL18tQ2UagcNf8u4mAnjQfr5ZnX8DPIBecSnRfnzk_lxUHe5ToTI8TI_VbApgM2TNslEiz80GZXo61BnKz6T4ChcMw/s320/IMG_8396.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A haze over the mountains, with a storm brewing</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It was here that my race took a nosedive. During this long climb a pretty
heavy thunderstorm rolled in. It went
from 90 degrees and sunny to somewhere in the 60’s (I think?). I was sopping wet in a sleeveless shirt, and
I was cold. Teeth-chattering cold. It wasn’t fun. The extreme heat wasn’t fun, now the exact
opposite was even less fun. I didn’t
want to do this anymore. I couldn’t stop
thinking that. I didn’t care
anymore. I didn’t want to be out
there. I’m not sure what it was, but as
the weather made a complete change, so did my hydration. I couldn’t stop peeing. During this 9 mile section I peed at least 15
times. I was convinced that I was medically
unable to go on. I’m now sure I was fine,
but I was convinced I was done then. In
this section, after the climb there are several miles before the next aid
station where the trail is very runnable.
The rain had stopped and I’d try to run.
When I’d run, I’d kick a rock.
Almost always with my right big toe.
I grunted the first few times, then I yelled a few times, then it turned
to blood curdling F-bombs. My foot was
broken. I was again convinced I was
medically unable to go on. I was done
running, I had to walk it in from there.
From the time the heavy rain started through the rest of this section I
planned my DNF. My best plan for a
successful DNF would be if Jeff, Garry, and Marsha didn’t show up to help me at
mile 63 like they planned. Maybe they
heard Jim got hurt and his crew would help me, and they wouldn’t be
needed. I knew I wouldn’t be able to convince
Jeff, Garry and Marsha I needed to quit, but I could fight Kym on it. My hopes rested on a DNS from my crew. About a quarter mile from the aid station I
spotted a long blond haired dude in a flannel shirt drinking an IPA on the
trail. My DNF hopes were dashed. When I
finally reached him I apologized to him for having him come down, as I was
quitting. He had none of it, walked in
with me telling me I just had to get it done, forcing me to run the last few
yards into aid. I sat down and told
everyone I was done. In 2012 I told Kym
I was done at mile 88. At that point I
knew I really wasn’t done, I kind of just needed to say it to express how much
I was hurting, and how much I needed a rest.
This time I was serious. I was
dunzo. They all had running clothes with
them and asked if I needed someone to go with me. I told them I wouldn’t do it alone, and if
anyone came with me it would be a 6 mile walk before dropping. I was adamant I was walking the whole
section, and then I was done. Jeff ran
and got changed. I changed socks,
moleskin, and my shirt. My big right toe
was a disaster, but I tried to ignore it.
I only had 6 more miles of walking on it anyway.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jeff and I headed out with a baggie of food that Marsha gave
me. As we walked I ate all the food,
leaving the two hard boiled eggs I was confused about why she would give
me. A few minutes later I realized they
were potatoes, not eggs, so I ate them too.
This section consists of about 4 miles of mostly uphill trail, some of
which is a stream. Jeff and I talked and
my spirits changed. I may have even run
a little in those first 4 miles, I can’t remember. I do remember that the climb here has always
been my favorite of the race. It’s very
steep, but only about a mile long. I
decided to attack it. We went up fast,
and this year the downhill after the climb was not in nearly as bad shape as
last year, so I ran that whole thing. I
got excited when I passed a few runners, as I hadn’t passed anyone on the trail
in a long time. I got into Gap 1, and it
was on. My crew saved my race, and now
it was time to make it worth it.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We headed out up Jawbone and Jeff remembered about a turn
off the main trail that I surely would have missed if I were alone. When we got to the top of this climb another storm
rolled in. This one was more refreshing. It was a humid climb and the rain wasn’t as
drenching as the earlier storm. The
trail along Kerns Mountain is pretty much unrunnable in the dark. We fast hiked it and passed a few more
people. With a new moon it was complete
darkness out there. I started playing a
game where I’d spot a runner’s headlamp far ahead on the trail and I’d say
“headlamps”. We’d make a push and pass them,
then look for another one. Every pass in
the night felt better than the last. I
think I passed 6 or 7 in this section.
When we got to the 2 miles of road before Visitors Center (mile 78) it
was the first time Jeff kind of pushed the pace for me. We did two strong miles before reaching
Garry’s redlighted headlamp waiting just outside the Aid Station. Yeah, yeah.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In Visitors Center I put moleskin on my right ankle, got
some soup and headed out. I had meant to
switch watches, and about a tenth of a mile from aid I realize that and asked
Jeff to go back for me. Probably a stupid
ask on my part, but I use my watch to fool myself into thinking I have more to
go than I really do. We climbed up to
Bird Knob fairly well. One runner was in
there, sitting in a chair, and eyeing up the lounge chair. I was happy to be feeling positive, and we
headed out with more soup. After the
next short climb we ran well, picking off more headlamps. 6 or 7 more.
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm8biktbO9WEuuh3ueYgTlLcfePI3TaZEFD0Ml7tM0p4GiwaoQCReaxttukbpZrCcRLTROQs-7TpwDIL1TNrKvCddVyH1LYcg3PtL0QGtzovPNqxOdRUGCNSIgPI2sD6Hu6Y4q/s1600/picnic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm8biktbO9WEuuh3ueYgTlLcfePI3TaZEFD0Ml7tM0p4GiwaoQCReaxttukbpZrCcRLTROQs-7TpwDIL1TNrKvCddVyH1LYcg3PtL0QGtzovPNqxOdRUGCNSIgPI2sD6Hu6Y4q/s320/picnic.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jeff and I looking for food, Garry hydrating (photo: Andrew Burnette)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Picinic Area (mile 88) has been my downfall both previous
years. I napped in 2013, and too long of
a sitting down, sock-changing break in 2014 lead to dead quads. We moved in and out of there pretty quick,
but my feet were too sore to try to run the mile of downhill out of there. Regardless, we knocked off 3 more headlamps
as we started the next big climb. The
last huge climb. The climb that never,
never, ever ends. My fool-myself watch
trick failed me here. I thought 3 miles
was a high estimate for how long this climb is, but it’s even longer than
that. This climb hurt. On the downhill just before the road, we got
passed the one time of the last 40 miles.
The road running was slower than I’d hoped, but once we saw Garry’s red
lights I was able to run it in from there.
Again, aid was quick and at the top of the very last climb we caught the
runner who passed us. (He passed us
again just before the last road to the finish, but must have made a wrong turn
and got lost as he finished 45 minutes after me. Ouch.)
Most of the last trail section is too technical to run at this point of
the race so I just moved through it as best as I could. We got to the road at 6:05am. A strong finish for sub 27. We ran every step of the road, and halfway up
the campground road. It was
awesome. <o:p></o:p></div>
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This was definitely the hardest run I’ve ever done, and
finishing with the help of my friends was the best feeling of my running
life. Garry, Marsha, Jeff, Kym – I
surely would not have finished without you.
I cannot thank them enough. 26:48. Two hours slower than last year, and
7 places better for 13<sup>th</sup> place.<o:p></o:p><br />
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As usual the volunteers were all awesome. I was especially impressed at how Kevin just had a hip replacement, but I saw him all over the course. At the finish he mentioned how bad I looked at Camp Roosevelt and he wasn't sure I'd make it. To have 199 runners and a race to direct, remembering each runner and giving them the feeling that every one of the matters is what makes MMT great.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9hIF5Ak3SwKEro8UxjelgzdVO1RaqxzF1bOunGIZkrseA6aQQ9HBZlrilmroucJKeLYF8yVGuq1N16IT26QNY666PGDpdv2_KfLCPFnjSsMG4hq-R_MBvLoUCebbwgsjruPYh/s1600/IMG_8417.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9hIF5Ak3SwKEro8UxjelgzdVO1RaqxzF1bOunGIZkrseA6aQQ9HBZlrilmroucJKeLYF8yVGuq1N16IT26QNY666PGDpdv2_KfLCPFnjSsMG4hq-R_MBvLoUCebbwgsjruPYh/s320/IMG_8417.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Best crew ever</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Best Wife ever</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD3aKTeX6rZHn6d4L1LAb1aR9Iai3cmjgAS_41uEUiF_VlDsBapRlSeHlpcI5pWnD5axXrkkKld6z6O9Q3aZHeItOaL3pqyhyDH0Sswvj2k-Yztx6sqQIeOw0FZwt-GrpyePXL/s1600/IMG_8346.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD3aKTeX6rZHn6d4L1LAb1aR9Iai3cmjgAS_41uEUiF_VlDsBapRlSeHlpcI5pWnD5axXrkkKld6z6O9Q3aZHeItOaL3pqyhyDH0Sswvj2k-Yztx6sqQIeOw0FZwt-GrpyePXL/s320/IMG_8346.JPG" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;">A special thanks to JP Food Sales, Redners, and Great Lakes Cheese for sponsoring me.</span></td></tr>
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Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13544992030084559716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8837397.post-21857776667948077102014-06-26T17:00:00.004-04:002014-06-26T17:02:48.716-04:00Rattlesnake Ridge 50K Race ReportSince I saw no others online, I figured I'd do a quick report. We were out visiting Kym's sister for 12 days, so I looked for a place to run or race while I was here. I found the Rattlesnake Ridge races. I was torn between the half marathon and the 50K. Since I just ran MMT 5 weeks before this race I'm not 100% recovered, but I'm definitely not in half marathon shape, so I went with the 50K. The elevation would be more than any east coast 50K I'd ever run. So, in prep, a few days before the race I ran up Mt. Si. I parked in the wrong spot and ran up the Old trail from the Boulder Loop. It's apparently much more steep than the normal Mt. Si, and there' wasn't a single person on it. When I intersected with the Mt. Si trail there were a few dozen people I passed in the last 1/4 mile up. There was a thick fog at the top, so it made my decision to not climb the haystack easy. I made a wrong turn at one point, and added about a mile on the way up. So, the climb up was 4.2 miles with 3600 feet of climbing in 1 hour 22 minutes. The run down was 3 miles with about 3300 feet of descent in 40 minutes. Nice way to pound my quads just before the 50K. <a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/522328044">Mt Si run from little Si lot I think garmin</a><br />
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After a quick 1/4 mile out and back we headed towards the Rattlesnake Ridge trail. Miles 2-5 go straight up the mountain, about 2600 feet of gain. Halfway up you see the sigh to the Ledge lookout. I was tempted to go take a look, but I had no idea how far the ledge was, and I was in around 4th or 5th place at this point. The next 6 miles are downhill. There's slight ups for the first mile or two, but its mostly down and fast. I'm not a fast downhill runner and sore quads are the lingering effect of MMT. I was passed by about 6 guys over the next few miles. The last mile before the turn back up the mountain is on a crushed rock utility road. Shortly after the aid station I started to pass the 1/2 marathon runners, who had just started their race. It was fun to have a lot of other runners out there climbing back up the ridge line. The only "problem" with the race, if you want to call it that, is the traffic. After you pass the trail to the ledge on the way back, around mile 19, there's tons of people hiking up and down the mountain. It was a beautiful day, so there were probably even more people out there than usual. There was a lot of stopping and waiting, and slowing down to avoid people for about 2 miles. After coming off the trail you pass the Finish line, and there's a 4.5 mile out and 4.5 mile back. On the way out I was running really well holding low 8 minute miles. On the way back, I realized I was running well because those miles were all downhill. About 100 feet of mile down on the way out, then 100 feet per mile up on the way back. Easy if it's early in the race, tough for the last 4 miles of a 50K. It's all runnable, and I ran it all, but it feels like it'll never end. <br />
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The course was extremely well marked. I bought a "clearance" shirt after the race for $5. The trails on west coast are much different than the east coast. Mostly in the long climbs and downhills. There's definitely no 4-6 mile hills in the Philly area. Also, the trail is all smooth. There's rocks and roots, but they're all avoidable. The trail up to the Ledge was probably the most technical with rocks. The backside had more windy/switchbacky trail. <a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/526475721">Rattlesnake Ridge 50K garmin</a><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">view of the trail</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">another pic of trail</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">view from the Ledge, halfway up where the 50K runs</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">wiping daddy's sweaty kiss off</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Icing my legs in the cold lake after</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJA1t3R6V8oOTmKxJmyRUcBNnMOc4bmfmZcnvwUkf17N8FN9L4Fauw5D4f1h74-hMVt9C-fJKLd82yuLQ_GguLw8P_alBjF0_-ZVk41EhoYp6NO-piogRfQdUgVM71uEa2VQlH/s1600/IMG_5962.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJA1t3R6V8oOTmKxJmyRUcBNnMOc4bmfmZcnvwUkf17N8FN9L4Fauw5D4f1h74-hMVt9C-fJKLd82yuLQ_GguLw8P_alBjF0_-ZVk41EhoYp6NO-piogRfQdUgVM71uEa2VQlH/s1600/IMG_5962.JPG" height="320" width="213" /></a><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">all the people on the ledge</td></tr>
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<br />Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13544992030084559716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8837397.post-2763865328885900692014-05-21T13:48:00.001-04:002014-05-23T14:04:22.226-04:00MMT100 Race Report (again)<div class="MsoNormal">
Last year I ran Massanutten as my first 100. I blistered early, sprained my ankle at some
unknown point, and had no fun over the last 50 miles. So, I figured, let’s do it again. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Pre-Race</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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Last year Kym and I had plans to go out to dinner with some
friends from my running club (Pagoda Pacers), but we got there too late. This year we left early to get there with
plenty of time to set up, but heavy rains on the ride down delayed us. When we stopped for lunch at Chipotle we sat
down to eat and saw Jim Blandford and his wife Karen, and crew Beth. Exactly who we were having dinner with that
night. We joined them for lunch and I
talked to Jim about his nutrition plan for the race. He does Perpetuem with a gel and S-cap every
45 minutes. This is what my plan was,
with real food added in since I’d be out there for many more hours than
him. We got to race headquarters around
3pm and saw the mess it was because of the rain. The parking lot was a mud pit and the field
leading to the start/finish line was underwater. We checked in and learned the bridge to the
campground was out. This meant we’d have
to drive between the two, and that the start was moved to the campgrounds this
year. We drove up to set up camp and
there were only about a half dozen camps set up at this point. I noticed one was Karl Meltzer’s car. He had his speed golf bag out, so I went over
and talked to him about it. He was very
friendly and it was an interesting conversation about the sport. Kym and I set up camp, went to the pre-race
meeting, out to dinner, and I was asleep at 10pm.
I woke up twice in the night with nightmares of DNF’ing at mile 54.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUptXwsezLhi5KWQaPWEtbKeGWOdgloWW2qDYV2dAtFd97elANPH5QiPV2RZRIdTCn2VXe6lIGjRA-jVoCHRpJ2l-vPftuZ3yagnZzNzsSBl460rBClNzGV9qomlAleQZsnZI0/s1600/IMG_4133.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUptXwsezLhi5KWQaPWEtbKeGWOdgloWW2qDYV2dAtFd97elANPH5QiPV2RZRIdTCn2VXe6lIGjRA-jVoCHRpJ2l-vPftuZ3yagnZzNzsSBl460rBClNzGV9qomlAleQZsnZI0/s1600/IMG_4133.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Overflowing river on race morning</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Race Day</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When anyone asked me my goal for the race, I generally would
tell them to not get the blisters I had last year and to not sprain my ankle
like I did last year. By doing that I
knew I’d be able to have a nice improvement.
I told only one or two people my stretch goal of finishing before the
6am sunrise on Sunday. That would be a 2
hour and 49 minute improvement, and would not be easy.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Start to Edinburg Gap</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Last year I recall the first time I had to get my feet wet
was around mile 65. This year would be
much different. On the 4 mile road to
the trail we had several shin deep water crossings from the overflow of water
off the mountains. There were about
15-20 of these types of crossings through the day with miles and miles of wet
and muddy trail. My plan to keep my feet
dry all day was out the door 1 mile into the race. I ran the first few miles with my friend Lori
(who won 1<sup>st</sup> place senior woman!).
When I got to the trail I moved much more quickly up Short Mountain than
the group I was near. When I got to the
top I ran the rest of the section with two guys, Brad and Dan, who were friends
running together. I very much enjoyed
the conversation and leisurely pace and the weather was perfect. I rolled into Edinburg gap at 6:25, exactly
the same time as last year, but at what felt to be a much more relaxed pace. 12 miles.
0 minutes ahead of last year. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Edinburg to Woodstock to Powells to Elizabeth Furnace</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7QTyUVgl_99xsutGb8r46nk3V1AcmZ-i1fMYf5p3XLlxNqgCgVQTn9wa4o6xuselSy-dsQLsSruBsQuFv7Tz7zbW6Gc_ldbITg1aLFal2A5es3m6bx2KQMSX0FpInU_j1MH8h/s1600/mmt+100+2014+350.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7QTyUVgl_99xsutGb8r46nk3V1AcmZ-i1fMYf5p3XLlxNqgCgVQTn9wa4o6xuselSy-dsQLsSruBsQuFv7Tz7zbW6Gc_ldbITg1aLFal2A5es3m6bx2KQMSX0FpInU_j1MH8h/s1600/mmt+100+2014+350.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">photo credit: James Williams</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
After leaving Edinburg there’s a long climb, then about 19
miles of very runnable trails with one other climb before you see your crew
again at mile 33. This section all
blends together for me. I know that I
climbed the first hill strong, then put in my headphones for the first
time. During the runnable sections Brad
and Dan caught me after I went through the first Aid quicker than them. There was a group of 5 of us that ran a lot
of these miles together. At points I
felt like their pace was too quick for me, so I’d drop back from time to
time. At Powell’s I had some French
toast that might have been my favorite food of the day. It was exactly what I desired at that
point. After leaving Powells’ there’s a
fire road for a few miles. During this
section there was some talk about being excited for the next hill so we could
justify walking. 5 or 6 of us hit the
mile 27ish climb together. I’m still
very new to running very long distances, but the best thing I’ve learned is to
walk with a purpose. When I’ve run with
Jim Blandford and other Pagoda Pacers who are better runners than me, I’m
struck by how quickly they can move while walking. I made it a point to walk with vigor when I
decided to walk. All day. If you think about it there are something
like 30 miles of uphills. If you can
take that average down 2 minutes per mile just by walking quicker, that’s an
hour off your time. It’s a lot easier to
walk 2 minutes per mile faster than to run 2 minutes per mile faster. So, on this uphill I pulled pretty far away
from the group. I was a few miles past
the hill before they caught up to me again.
I’m just not as fast on the flats/downhills as them. I got to Elizabeth Furnace at 10:38am. 33 miles.
11 minutes ahead of last year.<o:p></o:p><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJfYEHjT-nxMD8jblmWrKpamldCvprEasjhCIZfiwZ3xOhhOzMSgUo-zwWz_amzc7ewGsjiGosl0X2xA5TBnN5wG0WaFFZPlkJTrT2NB7S0DWC_Iw5Aavj-B6PO3PRriaqFnu8/s1600/IMG_4144.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJfYEHjT-nxMD8jblmWrKpamldCvprEasjhCIZfiwZ3xOhhOzMSgUo-zwWz_amzc7ewGsjiGosl0X2xA5TBnN5wG0WaFFZPlkJTrT2NB7S0DWC_Iw5Aavj-B6PO3PRriaqFnu8/s1600/IMG_4144.JPG" height="320" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">coming into Elizabeth Furnace</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Elizabeth Furnace to Shawl Gap</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My plan was to change socks at Elizabeth, but reports of a
very wet trail ahead led me to decide to wait until Shawl. This section was one of my least favorite
last year. After all the runnable trail
we had just been on, the climb here was a kick in the gut. It’s not the longest climb on the course, but
one of the more technical ones. Lots of
switchbacks, steps carved into the mountain out of stone, and when you look up,
it seems like it will never end. This
year I knew what I was getting into, and just put my head down and hiked as
fast as I could. There’s some high grass
fields in this section and Kym pulled a tick off me as I got into the next Aid
Station. 38 miles. 23 minutes ahead of
last year.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Shawl Gap to Veach to Indian Grave to Habron</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Coming into Shawl I started to feel a hot spot on the bottom
of my right foot. I took a long time
here to change socks and to put moleskin on the bottom of both feet. This 100 million percent saved my race. The bottoms of my feet did not blister all
day. During a short road section before
Veach I ran a little with Kyle. A friend
of a friend who I’d met just before the start.
Kyle and I would leapfrog and run together a little for the next 30+
miles. The climb out of Veach is one of
the toughest of the day. It’s long and
mostly straight. You can look ahead of
you and see you just keep going up and up and up. It’s the middle of the day so it’s hot, and
there’s 9 miles between aid stations. I
had two handhelds at this point, so I had to drink a lot, yet conserve water
for the long time it would take. After
the long climb, there’s some runnable miles before you get to a ridge on the
side of the mountain. Very technical and
actually a little scary in spots. You
just have to take your time and get through it.
It was here last year that my bottom of the foot blisters started. This year, I was feeling great. Just before Indian Grave I caught back up to
Dan. Brad had been feeling strong and
took off on him. Dan, Kyle and I ran
most of the road to Habron together. 54
miles. 41 minutes ahead of last year.<o:p></o:p><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuKwJaOvnmfA4Qu_6zMYOE2fyIr471P1kfu5qMo4pf0ROAMcEZ20hFu46gUwvbrAUJpSYDLYHWeOnFadljdMqtZG4aEa1eDp9_69w5J0BZ_svodbTEwM63udfnPGkD1v6fcbZz/s1600/14030296280_f7d5be1877_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuKwJaOvnmfA4Qu_6zMYOE2fyIr471P1kfu5qMo4pf0ROAMcEZ20hFu46gUwvbrAUJpSYDLYHWeOnFadljdMqtZG4aEa1eDp9_69w5J0BZ_svodbTEwM63udfnPGkD1v6fcbZz/s1600/14030296280_f7d5be1877_b.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">me, Dan, Kyle photo credit: Ryan Paavola</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigqYbDh1PSVvpGJZFK2QYn4NP-DPYdzhROa46BmUI3-3qBMa26TvMh8qp6JBa-17MXTlhshdj-_W-Y9_FRQ7c5xZcRPSjvZqml_xAMBfCYplOnRHm1nykPteZxyGv4KB2fNxR5/s1600/10397836_10154179099055323_1357271652668838317_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigqYbDh1PSVvpGJZFK2QYn4NP-DPYdzhROa46BmUI3-3qBMa26TvMh8qp6JBa-17MXTlhshdj-_W-Y9_FRQ7c5xZcRPSjvZqml_xAMBfCYplOnRHm1nykPteZxyGv4KB2fNxR5/s1600/10397836_10154179099055323_1357271652668838317_n.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">54 miles done and happy. photo credit: Tab</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Habron to Camp Roosevelt</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I sat down to change socks at Habron. I also taped my toe as it’s always a blister
area. This was my only blister of the
day, but I never felt it until about a day after the race. Dan and Kyle left Habron well before me. I was having fun talking with friends here. I left there with two handhelds, a burrito, a
half of a PB&J, and an amazing ice cream sandwich. I settled in for one of the longest climbs of
the day. It was the hottest part of the
day, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as it could have been. The climb seems to take forever here and as I
neared the top I caught up to Dan who was with Brad who had stopped and was
forcing himself to puke. I quickly moved
on wishing them luck. I don’t remember
much about this section other than that rough climb. 63 miles. 47 minutes ahead
of last year. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM0CbMm_7kbKtVvP79EdWTFU9qEt9JYyFy4LwkpjBgCxUK0LiZC3QhDMLARW-pJ810vJXQFUhGwskjIfYys4SGjZwd6ajC3Vuir41zVI8AKDnbsM4xUuJK58x7atQo1mWEi3aI/s1600/IMG_4168.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM0CbMm_7kbKtVvP79EdWTFU9qEt9JYyFy4LwkpjBgCxUK0LiZC3QhDMLARW-pJ810vJXQFUhGwskjIfYys4SGjZwd6ajC3Vuir41zVI8AKDnbsM4xUuJK58x7atQo1mWEi3aI/s1600/IMG_4168.JPG" height="320" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pretty sure that guy is about to punch the girl in the face</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUlOf_KZarRkPUnU-igVBE6gqIcUyShpRwDqX1yZM77JXFKdh8-sUQ5LsDBNj5auoR9vyl6xbH67SUEqEE9io1pK0kPhUNpAO1RixSIzoVe3UT2iAos9L1-4n3cIYhyphenhyphen32vAPFH/s1600/10290649_10152470224644040_5310282202652297888_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUlOf_KZarRkPUnU-igVBE6gqIcUyShpRwDqX1yZM77JXFKdh8-sUQ5LsDBNj5auoR9vyl6xbH67SUEqEE9io1pK0kPhUNpAO1RixSIzoVe3UT2iAos9L1-4n3cIYhyphenhyphen32vAPFH/s1600/10290649_10152470224644040_5310282202652297888_n.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">my bro and me</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Camp Roosevelt to Gap 1</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When I got into Camp Roosevelt I was greeted by my
brother. He had asked me how he could
see me at some point, but I never go confirmation that he’d be there. It was an awesome surprise. Unfortunately I was feeling so good at this
point I got out of there as quick as I could.
I’d heard that the next section would be the wettest of the course. Last year I had just taped my feet for the
first time, and this was my best section as I ran most of it except the large
climb. This year was a lot of hiking, as
running through the constant stream of water would have just taken too much out
of me that I wanted to conserve. The
large climb was not nearly as large as I had remembered. But, the back side of the trail was just as wet
as the front, so it was slow moving down that as well. 69 miles.
56 minutes ahead of last year.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Gap 1 to Visitor’s Center</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Coming into Gap 1 I was again changing socks and checking on
my moleskin. The volunteers here were
amazing. They gave me a foot bath,
cleaned my shoes, reapplied moleskin and got me fed. All while I just sat there. Really awesome. As I was being waited on Kyle came in and got
out of there. I could have stayed
forever, but my midway goal was in reach.
I knew my best chance at finishing before sunrise would be made or
broken here. After leaving Gap 1 there’s
a big climb then you hit the pie plates.
Mile 71 turn left, mile 98 go straight.
When you turn left you’re greeted with some horrible running along a
ridge. Up and down over the ridge with
big rocks all over the place. I wanted
to cry here last year in the dark. This
year, it was not dark. I looked at my
watch when I made the turn and I think it said something like 7:55pm. I had a few minutes to run in the
sunlight. So I took off like a bat out
of hell. I ran recklessly. After spraining my ankle last year I am
always afraid of it. I didn’t care
here. I ran as fast as I could over this
very technical section. I made it
through the worst of it before the sun set over the mountains. 26 hours was
possible now. I continued to move well
here and passed Kyle for the last time of the day. The last few miles of this section are on a
road. I welcomed it and ran strong. Last year without stopping at Gap 1 at all
this section took me 2 hours and 42 minutes .
This year I stopped for about 10-15 minutes and still finished the
section 35 minutes faster. 78 miles. 1
hour and 32 minutes ahead of last year.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRs-NLCwIRt6c6GqXzEyOtppmZv90STWkjlz_BkNns9iF8yBDsOS8OQ3NC81vpWQrMBQ5D5zfwyUWlYlGjcCG_TKt7miDpqhc7-yWejO-jSXm04ZgMDaZf9p5iKp0bT084bw2O/s1600/IMG_4180.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRs-NLCwIRt6c6GqXzEyOtppmZv90STWkjlz_BkNns9iF8yBDsOS8OQ3NC81vpWQrMBQ5D5zfwyUWlYlGjcCG_TKt7miDpqhc7-yWejO-jSXm04ZgMDaZf9p5iKp0bT084bw2O/s1600/IMG_4180.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">leaving Visitors Center (I think?)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Visitors Center to Bird Knob to Picnic Area</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Coming into Visitors area I knew I was too early for
Kym. So, as I ran into the Aid Station I
looked for her car. Sure enough I was
able to find her still asleep. She
popped up and got me what I needed while I ate some delicious soup. I was moving well, so I wasn’t sitting
down. I got out of there quick. The climb up Bird Knob is very steep and
technical. Last year there was also fog
at the top. I had back to back to back
27 minute miles here last year. This
year I moved very well and passed several people at the top. Some more soup at Bird Knob, and back to
running. After you leave the aid station
there’s a seemingly very long ¾ mile road to the next climb. It’s a relatively short climb before a few
downhill runnable miles. These miles
take a long time and last year just as I started to feel better I got sick of
them and crashed. This year I convinced
myself there were more miles than there were, so when I got to Picnic Area I
was mildly surprised. 88 miles. 2 hours
and 57 minutes ahead of last year.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Picnic Area to Gap 2</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Last year I got to Picnic and sat down to sleep for 30
minutes. This year I sat down and had
another amazing job done on my feet.
Cleaning, remoleskin, new socks.
Awesome volunteers. I grabbed
some food and got out. There’s about a
mile and half of downhill leaving this aid station and the sitting down for 10
minutes did my legs in. My quads were
toast, so I’d be walking this. Fast walking. After the downhill you start uphill and just
keep going up. I don’t remember it being
this long last year, but there’s about 3-4 miles of climbing. Some mild uphill, some steep uphill, some
through a fast flowing creek. After
getting through that you then go back down a pretty steep hill. It’s wide trail of loose smaller rocks. Extremely runnable if it were earlier in the
race, but not here. When it wasn’t too
steep I was able to do some running.
Finally you come out to about a 2 mile section of road before the last
Aid Station. I wasn’t moving too fast
here, but I was doing my best to run as much as I could. 97 miles. 3 hours and 55 minutes ahead of last year.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Gap 2 to Finish</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When I got into Gap 2 I looked for Kym and couldn’t find
her. I loaded up on some food and headed
out. Oops, Kym always hands me new full
bottles, so I headed back to refill them.
As I was leaving here I looked up and down the street then heard my
name. I was again so far ahead of what
she thought, so she had just woken up. I
grabbed a long sleeve shirt and headed out for what I knew for sure to be a sub
26 finish. Heading up this climb for the
second time of the day I caught somebody who asked me where the pie plates
where. I pointed to the headlamps above us and told him up there
somewhere. He said he was on his first
climb up as his stomach was giving him issues and he needed a nap. I wished him luck and headed off. Just then I got to the pie plates and shouted
back he was almost there. From here
there’s a very steep drop then some very technical trail. It was all fast walking for me. There were some sections here that I was able
to run briefly, but my quads were just too painful. Finally I got to the glorious road. 4 miles to go. I looked at my watch and it was 3:58am. 15 minute miles to go sub 25, 12 minute miles
for a 4 hour PR. I started running and
didn’t stop. I passed Keith Knipling
with a mile or two to go and got that 4 hour PR. I sat down and was able to amazingly see Keith finish his 15th MMT at the age of 38. We're the same age, so if he follows his dad's footsteps he can do 50 of these.<br />
<br />
103.7 mile in 24:43:03. 4 hours and 6 minutes ahead of last year.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">24:43:03</td></tr>
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<b>Post Race</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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My goal of finishing before sunrise was blown away by the
fact that I was able to get a shower and back to sleep by sunrise. 4 hours of sleep in the tent and I was
actually able to help Kym pack up camp this year. We went down and joined our friends at the
finish to hang out, eat some tacos, and drink some beer.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Meltzer, Yoder, Lori, I forget his name, Marsha, Beth, Kym, Me, Jason Lantz. photo by Karen Blandford</td></tr>
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A huge thanks to my awesome wife for chasing me down and being there for me again. She's down on herself for not being awake when I arrived a few times, but I was so far ahead of my times that there's no way I could be upset. She's done this by herself for the past two years and I can't imagine how difficult it is to do that.<br />
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Three days post race and I’m able to go up
and down stairs without too much trouble.
My big toe blister is the only really annoying thing I have going on
now, but hopefully that will be gone in the next day or two.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Less mud and quicker through the Aid Stations for sub 24
next year….?<br />
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edit: GPS records</div>
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<a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/502486336">Start to Shawl Gap</a></div>
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<a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/503729901">Shawl Gap to Visitors Center</a></div>
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<a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/502486427">Visitors Center to some point just after midnight</a></div>
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<a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/502486613">Last 15 miles</a></div>
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Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13544992030084559716noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8837397.post-61019510751426364052013-05-30T14:41:00.000-04:002013-05-30T14:41:14.904-04:00Massanutten Mountain Trails 100Kym and I arrived at camp at around 3:30pm Friday and immediately made our way to the registration for the 4pm race briefing. We met Biddi, Larry, Nebs, and Mike B. there. We we going to go out to dinner with a group with my running club, but we got there too late and didn't have time to set up camp before dinner. After setting up camp and heading back down for dinner at the race headquarters I was actually able to fall asleep at around 9pm. Of course I was up by 10:45 for a few hours, but I got a decent amount of sleep before the 3am wakeup. One thing led to another on race morning and I was literally running from camp to get to the 4am start. And we’re off. The first 3-4 miles was road and Nebs and Mike B don’t know it but I stayed about 5 feet behind them the whole time on that road. I didn’t necessarily want to get into running “with” anyone this early, so I hung back a little. When we hit the first trail it was a decent, not too rocky trail until we hit Short Mountain. Short’s a great place to start the race because you’re quickly introduced into the ridiculous rocks, and it’s very much 30 seconds running, 30 seconds rock-hopping. So, there’s not much room to really hammer in this section to get into too much trouble. In this section it was probably in the mid to lower 60’s out, but the humidity was very high and I couldn’t wait to get the stupid headlamp off. Around mile 8 I started to feel a hotspot on the ball of my right foot from my shoes slipping on all the rocks. Shortly after that the trail actually became runnable, so I didn’t want to stop there to fix it. Just after the first crew aid station (12.1) I remembered to stop and adjust my shoe. I had put them on in my tent at around 3:15am, with intentions of readjusting later, but forgot. I should have adjusted both at this point, but I didn’t. And here’s where the rest of the day/night becomes mostly a blur, so I’ll just randomly say stuff now. Nebs and I ran for about 8-10 miles together from like 20-30. It definitely helped get through a very boring 2-3 mile crushed gravel section. Ball of left foot blister started around mile 40 and was uncomfortable for the next 7-8 miles before it burst. Then I could put pressure on it. Every step was a stabbing pain, but I was moving well. At mile 63 I decided to have it addressed and Biddi moleskined me up and definitely helped save my day. Two of the aid stations had cold towels/dunking stations and they were the greatest baths of my life. My Garmin first died after 12 hours and 48 minutes and 55 miles and did not upload the elevation stats today. Devastating. I borrowed Biddi’s Garmin at mile 63 while I was feeling good and had fresh coverings on my blister. I put in a 22 minute mile during the big climb before the downhills into Gap 1, and I thought it was my best mile of the day. My least favorite part of the day was after Gap 1. There was a big climb, then what felt like miles of unrunnable trail in the dark. Massive boulders the size of cars you had to jump across and off. My right foot blister kicked in here and every jump was murder. From mile 78-82 were back to back to back 28 minute miles. A brutal climb and thick fog at the top put me at a race low. (Amzginly, looking at the splits, that 3.5 mile section was very middle of the road, while it felt like I had to have been worse than everyone) After Bird Knob AS It was 7 more miles to the Picnic aid station and I worked on a way to talk myself out of quitting. It was going well as the trail became runnable, until I thought the aid should have already been there and it was no where in site. When I got to Picnic Area (87.9) I grabbed a chair and a blanket and closed my eyes to the best of my ability. My blisters were killing me and my attitude sucked. After 15 minutes I opened my eyes and Kym and Biddi talked and Reike’d me into going. It was then 3:30am, my brain wasn’t working and I thought I had 18 more miles and I was calculating 18 miles of 30 minute pace for 9 more hours and I simply couldn’t do that. But, eventually I decided I had to. I took some magic pills (carbo veg 6c) from Biddi and got on my way. Forgetting to re-lube, my headphones, a new Garmin and everything else I wanted. About a half mile later I actually started running again. The magic pills worked? The blisters still killed, but my head was much more clear. Over the next 5 miles I passed about 6 or 7 people, I was feeling great. A comical section of about ¼ mile – straight uphill through a fast flowing creek. It was ridiculous. A girl I had caught was trying to quit throughout this section but her pacer kept her going. I think I need one of those pacer things if I ever do this again. Then a downhill rocky section did me in. I had to walk it all because of the blisters and all those people I had passed, then passed me back. I was in and out of the last aid station in a few minutes. The sun had re-risen and I was going to finish. The only way I was able to get through a very technical section around mile 99 was to literally lean into a tree, then fall into another tree to make forward progress. Once the 5K road section to the end came I was cruising. I didn’t have a watch, but I’d guess I was doing around 9 minute miles. Largely because at one point I turned around and saw a blond girl pacing a tall guy. I thought Nebs and Biddi were catching me, so I put my head down and ran as fast as I could. Coming into the finish, I hadn’t had a watch in 16 miles, so I had no idea if the clock would read 29 hours or 32 hours. I was in shock when I saw I went 28:49:15. All in all the lows were lower than the highs were high. I’m very proud of myself and I couldn’t have done it without all the help I received along the way. Thanks to Biddi and Nebs, and especially my awesome wife who was there for me at every stop. PostScript - almost two weeks later and I still haven't run. Two days ago I pulled a 3 inch by 3 inch hunk of dead skin off the bottom of my left foot. My left ankle is still bothering me and I have an MRI set for next week. Oh, and I know I can go about 2-3 hours faster if I can figure out the blister issues. <br />
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mile 33.3 - Elizabeth Furnace<br />
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Note left foot is twice the size or the right<br />
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mile 13ish rocks after Edinburg Gap<br />
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I think this was mile 67ish before Gap1.Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13544992030084559716noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8837397.post-34972315767784780742013-03-07T12:03:00.000-05:002013-03-07T12:03:08.620-05:00Febapple 50 race reportIn December I won a chance to run the Massanutten 100 so I started looking for semi-local ultras to use as long runs to help prepare. The Febapple 50 fit perfectly in my schedule to use as an early long effort, and would be my first official 50. Kym and I started the 2 hour drive at just after 4am. The weather forecast was 40s and rain all day and a light rain fell for the whole drive. It hadn't snowed in a week and the mild weather had melted it all. All except the snow on South Mountain in NJ. Somehow the trails were still largely covered in a thick layer of ice and snow. We arrived and I got dressed in the car and had just enough time to hear the RD's pre-run talk (which I should have paid attention to) and we were off. Knowing some of the others running, I settled in a smaller pack of about 4 off the lead pack which had about 10-15 guys. The first mile was on roads and then we took a quick 300-400 foot drop over the next half mile on a trail similar to those on the Horse Shoe Trail around here - small, somewhat loose rocks. A short flat stretch, then back up. I tried to keep a steady run up this whole big hill, but even the first time around ended up walking some of it. Several technical miles with several very icy spots followed back to end the first mini-loop to the start/AS area. The first 4 mile loop was about 25% covered in ice/snow and the second 6 mile loop was closer to 2/3rds covered. The second half was less technical, but the ice made the going a bit slower than I was hoping to run. I noticed some people wearing yaktraxs, but I feared that wearing them for too long would tear up my feet.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Slipping into mile 4 Aid Station</td></tr>
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The course lollipops around mile 7 and mildly confusing trail markings and my stupidity of following the people in front of me, and my failure to listen to the RD's directions before the race lead to a 2.2 mile mistake when we turned right instead of left. I noticed this as I reached the 2nd Aid Station for the 2nd time in a row. Another runner in front of me, and the one I followed who was now behind me started to backtrack, picking up several others that made the same mistake. At least 8 runners did this on the first loop. It mentally crushed me for much longer than it should have. I also ran faster than I should have trying to make up that time, which surely hurt me in the long run. After my second full loop the ice and snow was bothering me enough to decide to put on my yaktraxs for the 2nd half of the race. Of course though before I put them on I had a nasty, feet above the head, cartoonish fall on the ice. Initially I thought only my right hand took the brunt of the fall, but a few days later when my left leg was the only thing still hurting, I realized the bruise on my hip was due to this fall. Once I put the yaktraxs on I cursed myself for not just wearing them the whole time. No feet issues, no slipping, and no prancing around trying to avoid the ice. At mile 30 I changed out of my wet shirt (as far as I can remember there was a light rain all day) and this made my outlook a lot brighter. I felt so much better being warm and dry, if only for a short period. When all was said and done I finished in 9:39 and in 8th place. Out of 40-50 that started, only 20 did the full 50 mile distance. The race has 50K, 20 mile, and 10 mile options that all start an hour apart and if you want to drop down, the RD allows you to just enter in that race's standings. When I finished up and was eating a little, the awesome volunteers pointed me towards a cooler of beer they had and offered me to help myself. Can't beat that. While leaving my house at 4am for a race isn't the most desirable thing, I'd definitely do this race again. The race and course are awesome (my Garmin measured 5500ft of gain, a friend's measured somewhere around 6700 ft of gain). The "swag" was a vest with the race logo. It's nice, but I always prefer a technical shirt to run in.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finishing happy</td></tr>
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<br />Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13544992030084559716noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8837397.post-28077643776629115352012-10-08T17:14:00.002-04:002012-10-08T17:14:55.061-04:00Blues Cruise Race Report<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I can't say this will be a very exciting recap, but I also like reading others' recaps when I first run a race, so I guess I'll just put one out there. First off, great organization, great race. </div>
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Two weeks before the race I met up with some of the Pagoda Pacers to run about half of the course. What we ran that day was from mile 2 of this year's course (clockwise around the lake) to 17. Lots of rolling hills in this section with one or two that were big enough to walk. It was a good preview of the course. Definitely the most difficult stretch of the course. The first two miles of Blues Cruise to get to that section are mostly downhill. The course is a good mix of single track, double track and a few farm roads. The course has a lot of farm land that has deeply grooved single track which is not my favorite type of trail to run. I always feel like I'm going to trip up on it.</div>
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One major plus was that Kym and the kids came to cheer me on and they were able to drive around and see me a lot. They were at the start, then I saw them at the mile 4 Aid Station, at backroad around mile 12, at the mile 17 Aid Station, mile 24 Aid Station, mile 27.5 Aid Station, and back in time for the finish. It was a great boost seeing them so often.</div>
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Leading up to this race my training was not exactly where I wanted it to be. Besides the 100K last month, I hadn't run more than 16 miles in almost 2 months. But, for the first 19ish miles I was feeling great so I just kept it up. What I lacked in physical preparation I hoped to make up in the confidence I gained when I ran 100K. When I reached the biggest hill of the course at mile 19 I was averaging around 8:15 miles. The hill here really sucked a lot out of me (I think this was skislope hill?). I've run tons of trails lately, but nothing with hills like this. While that hill hurt, luckily the layout of the course this year provided me ample time to recover. From mile 20 to 26 there are very few hills. I was able to get my legs back and continue with a decent pace. I ran with another guy for about 3-4 miles here, which was really the only extended time I spent running anywhere near anyone. He was stronger, and eventually took off when I stopped for a bathroom break.</div>
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From all the race reports I'd read in the past, I expected the entire last 11 miles to be as flat as miles 20-26. But, they weren't. There were lots of very small, slightly steep hills over the last few miles, with one very steep short hill, and then a hill that seemed to go on forever at around mile 30. My 8 minute miles slowed all the way down to a few 11 minute miles at the end. The mental game could not beat the physical. But still, I came in at 4:33:40, a 24 minute PR over my HAT run time.</div>
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<br />Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13544992030084559716noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8837397.post-18358300448939808542012-09-03T14:30:00.001-04:002013-07-26T10:36:17.854-04:00Labor Pains 12 hour Race ReportYesterday I ran the Labor Pains ultra. A 12 hour event on a 5 mile loop through the trails of Mt. Penn. Leading up to the race I'd done one run of 3.5 hours and one 4 hour run. I figured I'd be able to get about 6 hours of running in without it being too painful. I ended up with so much more than that.<br />
<br />
My internal alarm clock went off at 3am and I rolled around for a while before getting up and going. I arrived about an hour early of the 7:30 start time and set up shop with a couple I know from Dailymile. The start time was 12 minutes late in typical PCS fashion. As with my first ultra I wanted to run the uphills while I could as I assumed I'd be walking them later. According to my Garmin there was somewhere around 800 feet of elevation gain per loop. My first lap ticked off at 45 minutes. A bit faster than planned, but not too crazy. The course was easy compared to anything else I'd ever run at Mt. Penn. It was about 98% runnable. The other 2 percent was very rocky or short crazy steep hills. My second lap was identical to my first. Except the rain started at the end of this lap. It came down hard for about an hour an a half. It seemed to cut the humidity, but made for a few slippery trails. All in all the trails held up very well all day for the amount of feet that tread them.<br />
<br />
At the end of my 3rd lap I started a trend. Grab my phone and email Kym how it was going and take 1 Advil. I did this every other loop for most of the rest of the day. My pattern also became to eat twice per lap. Once at the main Aid Station (pretzels, PB&J, candy, salted potatoes. That which I did not eat - burgers, hot dogs, soup, pasta, bagels, and other stuff I paid no attention to), then I'd either grab a Gu I brought, or a mini cliff bar from the main AS to eat at the 2.6 mile station. I twice filled my water bottle with electrolytes, and water the rest of the day. I drank coke or powerade when I felt like it. Hydration was never an issue. Peed about 9 times throughout the run.<br />
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On my 6th lap I passed by the marathon sign at 4:15. Halfway through this lap another runner fell in line behind me and we pushed the pace for the rest of this lap. After the 30 mile Aid Station I got out ahead and then he caught me again and we pushed the pace for the rest of that lap. I lost him after that, but I'd say I went a good 5-10 minutes faster in that time with us pacing each other. At the 50K mark I was somewhere around 5:10, then when I reached 50 miles I was at 9 hours. Well before I reached 50 miles I had decided to not stop there. I knew I'd have 3 hours to spare, so I knew around mile 45 I wanted to go for 100K. <br />
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At mile 40 I changed into dry socks and shoes and shortly after that big blisters popped in each foot. The pain was short lived though. Throughout the day I hit just about no rough patches until mile 58. Up to this point I had only been passed by 1 or 2 non-team runners. After the mile 57 aid station 3 runners passed me. I was discouraged by how strong they looked. Granted, I had no idea if they were on mile 30 or 60. But I decided to not let them go, so I picked it up and started running, passing them. Two of them fell back and one said "let's go have some fun!" and ran with me. I talked to him, and he was 5 miles ahead of me. That news hurt. And when I gave in to walk and he tore past me, and the other two also did the same, I got angry. As a faster runner, one mentally rewarding thing about a 5 mile loop is that I passed about 400 runners throughout the day. It does wonders for an ego to pass someone. And not only does it feel good, but in the ultra world, everyone is always encouraging. They said good job to me, I tell them the same. But, as someone who doesn't get passed very often, it was a kick in the gut. The guy was awesome and encouraging, but I couldn't hang. About a half mile later "Be Calm" from Fun came on my ipod. These lyrics put me in my place "I know you feel like you are breaking down, I know it gets so hard sometimes, be calm.... it just gets so hard sometimes, be calm." So, I calmed down, and Lou Reed's "Perfect Day" came on next. And I caught up to them. At this point I was at 60 miles in 11 hours. I had either 1 hour to try to get 5 more miles, or I could finish the 100K with a mile out and a mile back. I was tempted to go for it, but knowing there is no partial credit, I wanted to be sure I got that 100K mark. 100K in 11:20. 3rd in the under-39 male age group, and probably somewhere around 7th overall.<br />
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edit 7/2013 - garmin link to show course/elevation - <a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/218193767">http://connect.garmin.com/activity/218193767</a>Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13544992030084559716noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8837397.post-56198867461316386152012-03-25T11:11:00.003-04:002012-03-25T16:46:59.020-04:00HAT Run 50K Race Report<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRtTRkYzGjARGtFnIvP-8tvbjToqdXih0f_eG1cAUYQh8aMVc5MbFXbTm30ift_RmOk9A8cyEmHhN81kyHi0llCxgQU3UI5ioxQBpdByAygONdjIAGlbLneYYp5icvzkncr2mS/s1600/ssp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRtTRkYzGjARGtFnIvP-8tvbjToqdXih0f_eG1cAUYQh8aMVc5MbFXbTm30ift_RmOk9A8cyEmHhN81kyHi0llCxgQU3UI5ioxQBpdByAygONdjIAGlbLneYYp5icvzkncr2mS/s320/ssp.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Susquehanna State Park</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="937531214-25032012"><span class="937531214-25032012">Kym and I left the house at about 5:45am for the hour and 45 minute drive. When we were about 3 miles from the park it first started raining. The rain steadily fell until just before the race started.</span></span></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhAU5rwXGemPmdlaWJbkBWjsT7ZgHGInv7GgSLduhuwboicN6HnoOFmbvpo75BjaV-vUgUhQa9u3zYBo_h5ISEcgh_5nmXVSlpQn9usLGo_OIgDd89yG61D7YUaUAlAwAznSW-/s1600/start2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhAU5rwXGemPmdlaWJbkBWjsT7ZgHGInv7GgSLduhuwboicN6HnoOFmbvpo75BjaV-vUgUhQa9u3zYBo_h5ISEcgh_5nmXVSlpQn9usLGo_OIgDd89yG61D7YUaUAlAwAznSW-/s320/start2.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beautiful day for a run</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="937531214-25032012"><span class="937531214-25032012">Going into the event, I was unclear of how many hills there were. The elevation chart on the website is very dramatic, so I did as many hills as possible during my long training trail runs. I set a stretch goal of 5 hours, thinking I'd be happy around 5:15. With the amount of rain that fell, I added about another 15 minutes to that in my mind.</span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="937531214-25032012"><span class="937531214-25032012"></span></span></span> </div><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="937531214-25032012"><span class="937531214-25032012">The course starts on an open field, and this year it looped past the start at 1.5 miles, then again at 3.6 before going out to two 13.7 mile loops. The first 1.5 mile loop was almost all open fields and while the terrain wasn't ideal, the hills were minimal.</span></span></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhReS4ksbNejdIBstDGwAWLemlIPDLFnqsu9UjB5fclN1RuLfdHnf-mKrVTqtH-dxIAZT3OA56zZfQ8kXMb5bGIh52uBlm6p4cF6X9MF4H7GafXO7Qv3wIY5oFbVxQp1JbjWoA/s1600/start.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhReS4ksbNejdIBstDGwAWLemlIPDLFnqsu9UjB5fclN1RuLfdHnf-mKrVTqtH-dxIAZT3OA56zZfQ8kXMb5bGIh52uBlm6p4cF6X9MF4H7GafXO7Qv3wIY5oFbVxQp1JbjWoA/s320/start.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">a blur in the rain</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span class="937531214-25032012"><span class="937531214-25032012"> <span style="font-size: small;">I clicked the 1st mile off at 7:57, and the second, when we hit the first downhill trails was an 8:17. Way ahead of where I wanted to be. A little dangerous, but I felt it was ok to get some quick miles in while the trails allowed it. Going up a steep incline in mile three, everyone around me was walking. I didn't feel I needed to, but I figured I may as well join the crowd. About 15 seconds later I could see the top of the hill, so I went right back to running. The hills I trained on at French Creek state park are technical, and very long. A good hill there will go up for over a mile straight. The hills at the HAT run are mostly 1/4 milers. There's a ton of them, but I always felt like I could see the top, so I could make it running. All ultra advice, especially to first timers is to walk the hills. But, I figured if I were to be walking the hills later in the race, I wanted to be running them early. So, I attacked the hills, doing all of my passing of people there. Around mile 7 there's a mile long stretch across fields where people can open it up. Rolling hills instead of climbs. I got passed by several people here, even though mile 7 was a 7:48. Hitting the trails over the next few miles and I did some passing on the hills again. Miles 11 and 12 are on roads, mostly downhill. Quad killers. I didn't train for this type of terrain at all, did a 7:24 12th mile, and still got passed by about 5 guys. After the mile 12.5 aid station, there are a series of the most steep inclines. This is where I did the most of my 1st loop walking. It wasn't much, and it was less than a lot of people around me. At mile 18 I hit the aid station and set back out for the next loop on what I knew would be brutally muddy trails.</span></span></span></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBqAFZpnpkHW96AORoI2VDx0HgRKht-E_3Kot1FizoSA1sDU6Lmch4BFcO5ofRgsaFKD_hMlLLm8EWPl3VmWAXT8AmVK8hN4ZQUu_TgjjOG7pvmli69gUSvm8j2ZcdjQF3aptm/s1600/hatrun.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBqAFZpnpkHW96AORoI2VDx0HgRKht-E_3Kot1FizoSA1sDU6Lmch4BFcO5ofRgsaFKD_hMlLLm8EWPl3VmWAXT8AmVK8hN4ZQUu_TgjjOG7pvmli69gUSvm8j2ZcdjQF3aptm/s320/hatrun.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">before the "muddy" parts</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="937531214-25032012"><span class="937531214-25032012"> I read someones description that it was like running in pancake batter for the 2nd loop, and that's pretty much right. Shoe sucking mud. I feel bad for the runners toward the back who dealt with these conditions for the entire race when 400 people in front of them tore the trails up before they even got to them. My mostly running strategy kept up for much of the 2nd loop. From miles 18-26 I was basically alone. I had just passed someone and there was no one in front of me or behind me for 8 miles. It made running the uphills harder since I had no competition. I did a little more walking here. After the road section the 1st overall female passed me at the aid station. I stayed with her for about a mile of so, but in the 27th mile my wheels really started to fall off. The hardest hills the first time around were brutal the 2nd time. I'd push myself to run 10-20 feet at a time. Around the 26 mile marker my overall pace was a 9:20. By mile 30 it dropped to 9:40. When I was walking up some of the last hills I figured my shot at a sub 5 was now out the door and just wanted to finish with as much running as possible. As I approached the finish I saw my Garmin was wrong. 4:57:10 for my first ultra. Not too shabby for this course in this condition.</span></span></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPhNW1CfpEYypiOsK_3JAHvF42hTAhVtu1Ilt5IhBkrW_Sy1k2loqhq7g9QqfrP5uQiMA4fI7o-A3BSyQ8SXTg4j3VeC30w2mxXEImohhLKbJ0z2srUTh96-ui7KRUc02LG_w0/s1600/trail+change.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="147" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPhNW1CfpEYypiOsK_3JAHvF42hTAhVtu1Ilt5IhBkrW_Sy1k2loqhq7g9QqfrP5uQiMA4fI7o-A3BSyQ8SXTg4j3VeC30w2mxXEImohhLKbJ0z2srUTh96-ui7KRUc02LG_w0/s320/trail+change.jpg" width="320" /> </a></td><td style="text-align: center;"></td><td style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">note the change in the field trail. Now imagine the ones that started as dirt.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span class="937531214-25032012"><span class="937531214-25032012"><span style="font-size: small;">L</span><span style="font-size: small;">astly, I'll note that the websites 9000 feet of elevation gain info is dead wrong. Don't get me wrong, there's hills and a lot of them, but nowhere near that. My Gramin showed 3454' of gain:</span></span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisB3bvjWbEDrwv39AfgBE5LD_JI5nTxLV67qvM-nYf5caf1BqwxH3ZZQ0SGnxjjOQQ-MjVld8mlsMQUDrNWLzGB2_1LNLE7i4j-aEfCiPEeV62-tDaal165GFPfDmReOTOLgF8/s1600/hatrun+elevation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="103" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisB3bvjWbEDrwv39AfgBE5LD_JI5nTxLV67qvM-nYf5caf1BqwxH3ZZQ0SGnxjjOQQ-MjVld8mlsMQUDrNWLzGB2_1LNLE7i4j-aEfCiPEeV62-tDaal165GFPfDmReOTOLgF8/s320/hatrun+elevation.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span class="937531214-25032012"><span class="937531214-25032012"> http://connect.garmin.com/activity/161098872</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span class="937531214-25032012"><span class="937531214-25032012"><span style="font-size: small;">HAT Run swag: </span> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span class="937531214-25032012"><span class="937531214-25032012"><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMr5KMhi-PDqgivKfRfTsC7CemAh1-9pc8C2OhQa7wAJ-JUJg-zI8uLze85MdDiggoVKWdyyg095aPm-9Ls8lFejOYGYdnF3aIzt1Dudh9iUfzPdqSlzAWxgNNkU5qEeYSJfUQ/s1600/hatrunswag.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMr5KMhi-PDqgivKfRfTsC7CemAh1-9pc8C2OhQa7wAJ-JUJg-zI8uLze85MdDiggoVKWdyyg095aPm-9Ls8lFejOYGYdnF3aIzt1Dudh9iUfzPdqSlzAWxgNNkU5qEeYSJfUQ/s320/hatrunswag.jpg" width="180" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">tech shirt for all, hat and car seat cover for finishers</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span class="937531214-25032012"><span class="937531214-25032012"><br />
</span></span></span></div>Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13544992030084559716noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8837397.post-32795374210733776882012-01-17T12:12:00.002-05:002012-01-17T12:12:46.093-05:00Chilly Cheeks 2012On Sunday I ran the Chilly Cheeks 7 mile trail race. I did this race last year when the trails were covered with a few inches of snow. The footing last year was poor and I wasn't in as good of condition as I am this year so I didn't try to run as hard last year. In road races I generally finish in the top 5%, and trail races I'm closer to top 10-15%. I decided to try to change that and took off like a bat out of hell. A quarter mile into the race there's a free for all up a hill. I was probably in about about 20th place up that hill (out of 580), and when I started down the street to the next trail it felt like I was kicked in the gut. That feeling would stick with me for the next 7 miles. Whether it was the 15 degree weather or the fact that I'm not in as good of hill shape as I think I am, it didn't matter, I hurt. But, I wasn't about to slow down. <br />
Without snow on the trails this year, I was surprised to find just how rocky the trails are. About 2.5 miles in I felt like my socks were bunched up in my shoes, but it turns out my feet were just starting to swell a little from taking the rocks too hard in shoes that probably don't have a rock plate (Adidas Marathon Trail). At 5 miles in there's the first flat stretch of the race where I was able to get my legs back and aim for people to pass. But, when you're running with the front of the pack, you can't easily catch someone 200 yards ahead of you. And when we hit the single track again I unfortunately followed them about 50 yards off course (straight down a hill of course). After climbing Mt. Whadafug (my 4th or 5th hill having to walk up) I knew it was all downhill from there. I flew down 600 feet of elevation over the next mile trying not to blink which would have resulted in a tumble. I ended up in 33rd place with a time of 1:01:something. 18 minutes and 54 places better than last year.<br />
It's amazing how when I run a race like this I, and my legs are trembling beneath me as I trudge up another hill I question why I even do this. But, as soon as it's over I start planning on how I can do better next year.<br />
The rocks beneath my feet were like that for about 70% of the trail.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYBK2nKZ42GoE2v1ZSkk9qaQRlDCD6RQLHn3HNqIp7TpklVd-TaydaI_6WmTzTLZ2tEhGpW4nGirQSWNU0NzAXJl8ANIT6yQUhIQdMPaTlMbgC3FMbyu3wG26ZZdin1pbd4oyA/s1600/chilly.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320px" kba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYBK2nKZ42GoE2v1ZSkk9qaQRlDCD6RQLHn3HNqIp7TpklVd-TaydaI_6WmTzTLZ2tEhGpW4nGirQSWNU0NzAXJl8ANIT6yQUhIQdMPaTlMbgC3FMbyu3wG26ZZdin1pbd4oyA/s320/chilly.JPG" width="178px" /></a></div>Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13544992030084559716noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8837397.post-53074623091963534352012-01-10T10:45:00.000-05:002012-01-10T10:45:26.818-05:00Loooong RunBy way of training site DailyMile I found out about a "Fat Ass Run" taking place just down the street from my house - Kent and BJ's Recover from the Holiday 50K. I'd never heard of a Fat Ass event. A Fat Ass is a no-frills "race". No awards, no spectators, no bibs, but best of all no entry fee. Bring your own water/food/gatorade. Kent was one of the originators of Fat Ass, and this was his 27th annual event. It was being run on the Perkiomen Trail, where I do a lot of my running. The course was a 10K loop starting/ending from his garage just off the trail. After each loop runners wrote down their times on a poster board and decided whether to continue on, or stop and drink beers and eat the smorgasbord of food provided by Kent and other runners.. I believe this was the largest running on record with around 50 runners out there.<br />
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I started with another runner I "know" through DailyMile. We got caught up behind a large group of runners going much slower than we planned, so after about a mile we passed them and ran our own paces. John took off on me and I settled in to a pace that I figured would catch the next group of people in front of me within the next few miles. Around mile 5 I caught up with them, and then that group dispersed. After the first loop John continued on together over most of the first 30K. 30K was my goal given my recent injuries. My previous long run since the marathon was 15 miles... but those were trail miles. So, after 18.6 miles on the flat Perkiomen trail I was at just about 2.5 hours of running, which matched my 15 trail mile time. I was feeling fine except for a little blistering, so I headed out for a 4th loop after a stop at my car for a change of shoes. Around 20.5 miles into the run I really started to feel the miles in my legs. At this time there was no more than a handful of people that chose to run more than 30K so I was pretty much on my own. I had just put on my iPod for the first time all day, and with my music, and comfort with the route I've run 100 times I cruised fairly comfortably into my longest training run ever - 24.8 miles. Two days later I feel pretty ok. A great confidence booster in my <a href="http://www.hatrun.com/">HatRun</a> training.<br />
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When I finished most of the other runners were inside enjoying lunch and beers. They all knew each other pretty well and my introvertedness prevented me from feeling comfortable there, but it was a great day all around.<br />
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Garmin data - <a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/140036750">http://connect.garmin.com/activity/140036750</a>Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13544992030084559716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8837397.post-69400202094547842872011-12-05T11:09:00.001-05:002011-12-05T11:14:04.229-05:00Jingle Jog 5K (Collegeville PA)After only running 4 miles all week to rest my hurting foot, I didn't have too high of expectations for my first 5K in about 6 months. But, I couldn't pass up a race in my home town when I had nothing better to do. With around 200 people behind me I toed the line, expecting a top 10 finish. In most road races lately I aim to finish in the top 5-10% of all finishers. I'm not quite as good at trail racing (yet). <br />
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Within a quarter mile the front of the race thinned out to the guy who I could tell would win it all, and a group of about 5 of us separated by about 20 yards. I was third in this bunch with a 16 year old kid just in front of me. He was wearing headphones, a sweatshirt, loose calf-high socks, with ratty black sneakers. All tell tale signs of one of those kids who starts the race in front and finishes about 15 minutes behind. So, I kept at striking distance. But, he refused to fade. He stayed within striking distance of the 2nd place runner in front of him. We stayed in this order until hitting the last mile on the perkiomen trail, with my second mile split matching the first - 6:02. I didn't care much about my time at that point. I was focused on catching and beating these two. I've run this stretch of the perkimoen a million times so I was confident with what the last mile had in store. I quickened my stride at this point, and passed the kid with about 3/4 to go. I kept that up and took over 2nd place with a half mile left. I kept this pace and slowly didn't hear him right behind me anymore. Kym and the kids were waiting about 50 yards from the finish and Kym screamed to me that he was going to catch me. An all out sprint to the end, and I kept my lead. We both finished in 18:25. A PR for me by 64 seconds. <br />
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I followed this up with a trail run Sunday morning. I fell harder than I ever have, bashing my knee. I'm hoping it's just superficial, but it doesn't feel too good walking today.Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13544992030084559716noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8837397.post-23050088869199028762011-12-05T11:08:00.000-05:002011-12-05T11:08:06.475-05:00Dirty Bird 15KOne week removed from the Philly Marathon I ran the Dirty Bird 15K. I ran the race last year, so I was more prepared for the difficulty of the hills. At least mentally. After a half mile of road, the race turns into the woods and goes straight uphill for a mile. I did my best to get towards the front of the pack before entering the woods as it's very difficult to make any passes in that first uphill. The crowd I started with was a perfect pace for me. Little need to pass or get passed. The next section is straight back downhill and very rocky. I would venture to guess it was somewhere in here that I hurt my foot, but didn't really notice. I actually didn't even know I hurt my foot until the next day and was gimpy for much of the following week. I'm not even sure if it was a real injury or I just tied my shoes too tight. But, anyway, the next few miles of the race are less eventful. Smaller hills where I was passing people on the uphills and getting passed on the downhills. Around mile 5 there's a series of 3 steep climbs and decends. On the second set of inclines I ended up passing all those that were passing me on the downhills for good. The marathon training definitely built a good base to not have to do any walking for a 9 mile race, regardless of how steep these hills were (and they're steep!). With about a quarter mile left I missed a turn and got passed when I had to backtrack about 20 yards. I cut 14 minutes off my time and ended up in 25th place, compared to 148th last year.<br />
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Below is my gps of the course elevation changes:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx6iiz6kwA8OXS93R-z0BYCN8KgGOY7ngooRfMP2BXPU_jduE3bsWE_-mNcVrCk3ZCMIKMEf22g5Wcn1wj2jxFFRdMux_PN8ixg0d87ap-Az9h_2Gnxa2a8nPT0uBjACpVR7gr/s1600/dirty+bird.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="106px" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx6iiz6kwA8OXS93R-z0BYCN8KgGOY7ngooRfMP2BXPU_jduE3bsWE_-mNcVrCk3ZCMIKMEf22g5Wcn1wj2jxFFRdMux_PN8ixg0d87ap-Az9h_2Gnxa2a8nPT0uBjACpVR7gr/s320/dirty+bird.bmp" width="320px" /></a></div>Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13544992030084559716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8837397.post-79179389155256016432011-11-22T15:37:00.000-05:002011-11-22T15:37:18.276-05:00Hitting the WallI finished the Philadelphia marathon in a time of 3:18:02. I'm happy with my time, not as much by my performance. I struggled mentally for much of the race, thinking way too much about my splits. It was my third marathon, missing my "A" goal for the third time. Coming away from it, I know that if I ever do another one I need to add in longer training runs. Not distance-wise, but longer times running. All 3 of my 20 miles runs were completed in around 2 hours and 40 minutes. This is just about the time of the marathon where I fell apart the most.<br />
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Which brings me to what I want to write thoughts about "hitting the wall"<br />
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- The "wall" is not a wall. A wall can be overcome, and then it's in your rearview. When running a marathon, the wall is about 8 miles long. You can rid your mind of thoughts of failure and pain, then 1/4 mile further along, they come back. Fighting through the wall is a 10K process.<br />
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- No, it's not a 10K thing. I didn't suddenly hit a breaking point at mile marker 20. Maybe I should have adjusted my gameplan to think of the last 10K as it's own race, but I've never run a 10K. Let alone run one after running 20 miles, so that's kind of a stupid gameplan if you ask me.<br />
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- Irrational thoughts run amazingly rampid when you start to break down. Mine included -<br />
- "Look at these people going the other direction. They're so fresh! They're 10 miles behind me, but they'll all probably feel great when they reach mile 24. So lucky!"<br />
- "My toes are killing me. I've never run barefoot, but I think I could do really well running barefoot for these last 3 miles."<br />
- "What's going to get me through this last mile and a half is to stop and do a quad stretch I haven't done in about 2 years" (hamstring nearly exploded)<br />
- "I'm so pissed right now that these last few miles were so clearly mismeasured. Each mile is at least 2 miles in reality."<br />
- "I hate everyone."Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13544992030084559716noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8837397.post-69025739185101401112011-11-06T21:49:00.000-05:002011-11-06T21:49:58.317-05:00Marathon goalsTwo weeks out from the marathon, so I think it's time to set goals for myself. <br />
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A+ goal: 1) Stay mentally light the entire race. 26.2 miles of having fun running. Having fun for me means going fast, and going fast easily. Never stressing about a split, but knowing the splits are where I'd like them to be. 2) under 3:09:59<br />
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B+ Goal: 1)Stay mentally light for as long as possible Push through the wall. Finish hard. 2) 3:15<br />
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B goal: Stay focused the entire race. Finish under 3:20<br />
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C goal: Under 3:25<br />
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D goal: Under 3:30<br />
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F goal: 1) Don't get taken away in an ambulance 2) Don't fall on ice/curbs/stray racoons. 3) Don't cry out of disappointment.Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13544992030084559716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8837397.post-34090678960277559092011-10-03T12:55:00.000-04:002011-10-03T12:55:27.212-04:00Runner's tonenailsI ran my first 20 miler (at a pace faster than I'd ever expected) on Saturday and I'm sad to report to those that were around 4 years ago that I'm not yet losing any toenails. As soon as I peel one away I'll be sure to post pictures again.<br />
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I ended up running 55 miles last week, and finished September off with 184 miles. 44 more than any other month I've done. I hope to hit 200 miles this month, though I bagged today's lunch run because I'm too damn tired from the Phillies and Eagles sucking.Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13544992030084559716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8837397.post-62957312044560219142011-09-26T15:14:00.000-04:002011-09-26T15:14:26.148-04:00trainingSaturday morning my parents picked up the kids and I went out for a 19 mile run. It wasn't easy. The weather in the Philly area is not yet being marathon friendly as it was about 75 degrees with 100% humidity. This week I'm scheduled to have my biggest week ever - 50 total miles with a 20 miler on Saturday. REALLY hoping the weather cools down as they say it will.<br />
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I just went back and looked at some of my posts during my runstreak and figured out that since March I've lost 16.5 pounds. None of my pants fit me anymore and I'm way too lazy to go buy new ones. I'll probably just start tying them around my waist with an extension cord as my belts don't fit either.Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13544992030084559716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8837397.post-6227852419958868512011-09-19T11:24:00.002-04:002011-09-19T11:24:52.819-04:00It can't all be wedding cakeYesterday I ran the best race of my life. A half marathon that I ran 8 minutes faster than I ever have before. I'm still kind of on an emotional high about it.<br />
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Tomorrow could be one of the longest days of my life. Kym will be undergoing surgery to remove a tumor from her parotid gland. She/we will be detailing her journey <a href="http://paininmyparotid.blogspot.com/">here</a><br />
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Praying for a full recovery.Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13544992030084559716noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8837397.post-23874012448741545832011-09-06T23:00:00.001-04:002011-09-06T23:00:33.518-04:00It's your faultAnyone still got my blog in their feeds? If so, remember that time I live-blogged me ripping my toenails off? Then bonked during a marathon and made you all promise to never let me do another one? Well, I'm two and a half month out from doing my 3rd marathon, and I blame you all for not stopping me. I guess I get a four year itch with these things.<br />
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But, this time is different I say! I'm running about twice as many miles. I've got twice as many kids, I'm twice as awesome, and twice of two of things I can't remember right now. So, this is me putting it out there so I can't go back on my word.<br />
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Oh, I just remembered something else - I have twice as much fun running now. How can you double zero fun? Not sure... but I actually have fun running now. I know, it's odd.<br />
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<br />Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13544992030084559716noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8837397.post-11464188362227824982011-08-30T18:36:00.003-04:002011-08-30T18:49:39.896-04:00Hurricane Irene Trail run
<br />As the winds of hurricane Irene died down I went out for an ill-advised trail run. The winds had died down, and based on what I saw the waters had died down considerably as well... though they were still extremely high.
<br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxNVEdDjpnHXTiEWcZcLcgwFA-MnFrYGB3o1UrXEupm2f7moiq9yXOKQHiZkrpj6cdNdLYwXDoNEg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe>
<br />There's not normally water here.
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<br />One other (barefoot) runner preceded me on the trails:
<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWuwoe20EW3LDU8jwQklqzd63wzvP8yFRsutJ4REpaVxZg88yCsODJ2ruXcN5vjBp7-X6Kog5mhaFzclRYoXbOX2VsdZeC8naCgE202NZfzhVuZTLCH1ilBuOiVubZYRmnj3kM/s1600/101_0017.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWuwoe20EW3LDU8jwQklqzd63wzvP8yFRsutJ4REpaVxZg88yCsODJ2ruXcN5vjBp7-X6Kog5mhaFzclRYoXbOX2VsdZeC8naCgE202NZfzhVuZTLCH1ilBuOiVubZYRmnj3kM/s320/101_0017.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5646783224049787650" border="0"></a>
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<br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dybWwE9ibJgm6i6-YcGFXZJ2B3YLYV8CBKxY8sFBIDoPTryatBL4TkH1Jxs9aDBos3JXpFW8wG2KZs' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe>Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13544992030084559716noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8837397.post-65737563172082897712011-04-08T14:34:00.001-04:002011-04-08T14:36:15.415-04:001 monthDay 22 - 6.85 <br />23 - 2.14 <br />24 - 5.02 <br />25 - 5 <br />26 - 1.08 <br />27 - 3.12 <br />28 - 7.84 <br />29 - 3.17 <br />30 - 5.5 <br />31 - 5 <br />1 month down, 123.34 miles. Feeling stronger than ever. Generally have been going out for 1 in mind and doing 3 to 5. Knee pains gone. Disney next week could be my downfall.Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13544992030084559716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8837397.post-45419199614782640422011-03-29T10:49:00.002-04:002011-03-29T11:45:23.783-04:00Day 21 updateDay 16 - 1.02 miles<br />Day 17 - 3 miles<br />Day 18 - 5.37 miles<br />Day 19 - 2.31 miles<br />Day 20 - 8 miles<br />Day 21 - 3 miles<br /><br />Weekly totals<br />Week 1 - 29.02<br />Week 2 - 21.88<br />Week 3 - 27.72<br /><br />21 straight days of running and feeling good. There was one run last week when it was 40 degrees and raining that I didn't feel up to it, but I got out there for a mile. Kym goes away this weekend, so I'm going to have to find a way to get a run in with the kids. I'm thinking I'll either put them in child watch and run at the gym or have them ride bikes around the neighborhood with me running next to them.<br /><br />Weight loss update - no change. 21 days of running and I haven't lost a pound since day 3. Is this proof that working out isn't good for you? I think I'm on to something.Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13544992030084559716noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8837397.post-77034594887851362782011-03-22T18:29:00.002-04:002011-03-22T18:32:15.535-04:00RunStreak Day 155 miles in 35:54 on the schukyll<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1Cdetoglr9VdxZI9AXzpDCgKSXDu5_-ABDylh_jtq8XLXKGJYzKLttAlHqSIdcIDGFcN4fB788eQmO4Nh9SN_2vOcEX4mQ8adTv4LKH8UCkSiuaLYrb8DBuL18ErPXHCgiUGQ/s1600/3-22-11.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1Cdetoglr9VdxZI9AXzpDCgKSXDu5_-ABDylh_jtq8XLXKGJYzKLttAlHqSIdcIDGFcN4fB788eQmO4Nh9SN_2vOcEX4mQ8adTv4LKH8UCkSiuaLYrb8DBuL18ErPXHCgiUGQ/s400/3-22-11.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5587035121020999010" /></a><br />A revolutionary War era trading house on the river. Or maybe not. This is in Valley Forge, but there's no sign saying what it is.<br /><br />This could be the last of my picture posts. I'm running out of anything interesting to post. It will degenerate to me posting pictures of the horseshit I have to avoid on the trails and I'd rather not go there.Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13544992030084559716noreply@blogger.com1