Run Mikey P

Summer 2011 Update

2011-06-30T17:16:00.000-04:00

It's been a while since I've posted to my blog. It's been a busy few months at work, at home, and on the trails. Updating my blog just hasn't been a priority.

The big news thus far is that I finished the Mohican Trail 100 for a third time (3 for 3!) on what turned out to be the most difficult Mohican on record. There is really little else to report. It was about as easy of a 100 as I expect I'll ever have. It was very stressfull leading in with all the volunteer work and an injury scare, but on race day my body answered the call.

As for Mohican statistically being the most difficult ever I only have myself to blame for that, as I laid out the 2011 course. Perhaps I was just mentally prepared for it, since I knew the course so well. I knew the elevation would be greater than in past years but I really believed eliminating the miles on road, in the sun, and on hard pavement, would "save our legs" in the later miles. I'm not sure that was the case... The extended 32hr cut-off didn't do much to increase the finish rate. There will be changes in 2012 (for my sake I hope minor) that should address some of the challenges the 2011 course presented, and hopefully get that finish rate in the 55-65% range. Unfortunately we can't do anything about the Ohio June humity, which in my view plays into many of the DNFs.

Other news... I purchased a fancy new MTB last weekend. I went out to the Dennison Bio Reserve and had a real eye opening experience. I don't quite understand it but I manage to run the trails faster than I bike them. On a route with constant techincal uphills and downhills a bike is NOT faster...it only makes getting up and down hills more difficult. Fred Davis was joking with me last week that he managed to run a few races faster than he biked the same route. ...Well I think I'm in the same boat. It was a lot of fun to change up the pace a bit and I look forward to adding MTB to my training regiment.

One final bit of news. I've signed up for Burning River for a 2nd straight year. I'll be entering the USATF Championship this year. I have a realistic but at the same time aggressive goal. I know that I'm capable of running a faster time than I've produced to date. I also know that my biggest barrier is either stomach or mental. My legs have never failed me. I got through Mohican without a single stomach or mental issue...but I went into that race just setting my goal in finishing under 32hrs. I felt great all day and figured I might as well finish up a little earlier if I was feeling well. I never shy away from verbally laying out what my goal is. It's just a little extra motivation for me to stick to it. The important thing is that I (capital and in big bold letters) believe I'm capable of running this time, and in a 100 that's all that matters. With that being said my goal is to finish on Saturday - meaning anything 18:59 or under will do. Ideally I'd like to run sub-18 but that will require a very strong 2nd half, as I won't be going out any faster than a 8:30 50 mile split. If I can acheive my time goal perhaps I'd be able to place in my USATF age group...which would be pretty damn cool.

Goals - Umstead 100

2011-03-24T12:02:00.000-04:00

Here are my goal splits for each lap at Umstead. Writing it down makes it official and will hopefully motivate me come race day, since I've put it out there for all to see.

Lap 1 (12.5 mi) - 02:05:00 total (02:05:00 lap) 10min pace
Lap 2 (25.0 mi) - 04:10:00 total (02:05:00 lap) 10min pace
Lap 3 (37.5 mi) - 06:27:30 total (02:17:30 lap) 11min pace
Lap 4 (50.0 mi) - 08:45:00 total (02:17:30 lap) 11min pace
Lap 5 (62.5 mi) - 11:15:00 total (02:30:00 lap) 12min pace
Lap 6 (75.0 mi) - 13:45:00 total (02:30:00 lap) 12min pace
Lap 7 (87.5 mi) - 16:27:30 total (02:42:30 lap) 13min pace
Lap 8 (100 mi) - 19:15:00 total (02:42:30 lap) 13min pace

Pretty simple strategy. 10 min pace the first two laps, 11 min pace the second two laps, 12 minute pace the third two laps and 13 minute pace the last two laps. My goal is to finish between 18-20 hours and this strategy is (in my opinion) a realistic way to accomplish that goal. My PR is 21:32:00 so this would constitue a 2:15 minute PR but I think I have it in me. If things are going well, and I can hold 12min pace on the last two laps, or perhaps pick up the pace to 11's than I might get closer to my 18hr stretch goal. If I'm struggling late in the race this plan gives me a 45min cusion. Worst case scenario I should manage a PR as long as I'm still moving late in the race. We'll have to see how it plays out on race day but I'm confident going in.

Over and out.

Training Update

2011-02-21T10:58:00.000-05:00

Thought I would post a few notes about my trainig for Umstead and how it's progressing.

Over the last few weeks I've been increasing my milage. I was cruising on my 2 day a week regiment for a while there, just running Wednesdays and Saturdays. A couple weeks before Regis I began making the Sunday run a regular thing. I've even been adding in a weekday morning run on occasion. I've done one a week for the last few weeks, with a running group in New Albany (typically on Friday mornings). So I'm now averaging 4 days and a little over 40 miles per week.

The highlight of the past several weeks had been my speed work on Wednesday nights. The times I've been hitting on my workouts project out to a 2:45 marathon, which means I'm seeing improvement. All of this during what has been a pretty tough winter. The two biggest breakthrough workouts were 6x1200 repeats (on a grade) at 5:40 pace, and an 8 mile tempo run at 6:18 average pace. Even when training for an ultra its important to me to run fast 1x a week.

Over the last two weeks I've tried to really amp up the milage on the weekends.

Last weekend the plan was 10 Friday, 15 Saturday, 15 Sunday (CRRC Winter Run). My actual milage ended up being a little different. I did manage the 10 on Friday. Saturday's run was chellenging because the bike path we ran on with MIT was a sheet of ice - we managed a slow 13. On Sunday I decided to get up early and get in an easy 10 before the Winter Run, the late race start presented an opportunity to get in more miles that I couldn't resist. Unfortunetly the Winter Run was awful and I had side stiches so bad that I only made it 10 miles. It was still a 43 mile weekend but none of the runs were quality runs.

This weekend was a better weekend. I only had time for 7 on Friday because I had to hit the road early for work. On Saturday I ran a solid 20 miles with MIT at 7:35 average pace. On Sunday I got in 25 miles at Mohican with Jay, Seth, Terri, Mark, Michelle, and Rob. I had planned on doing 2.5 more but decided 25 was enough. It was a solid 63 miles for the week and I'm tired today, not sore, just tired.

Who knows what this week will bring. I plan on running Tuesday morning, Wednesday night, Friday morning, a double on Saturday (MIT morning and COTR Alum Creek afternoon), and Last Chance on Sunday. That would be 82 miles for the week, which is about what I need to stay on my schedule.

My goal is to peak at around 100 miles the week of March 7-13, so that's only 3 weeks from now. If I logged ~50 miles two weekend ago, ~65 last weekend, then I want to run ~80 miles this week, ~90 miles next week, and 100 miles my peak week. Then it's time to taper, with probably a 70 mile week, a 35 mile week, then race week.

What is my goal at Umstead? I'm not 100% sure. I'd definitely like to shoot for sub-20 maybe even sub-18, but that may be a stretch goal. I think I'll try and hit the halfway mark at about 9 hours and see how it plays out from there.

Run for Regis 2011

2011-01-17T11:55:00.001-05:00

The 2011 Run for Regis is one of those runs that will stick with me for quite some time. It was an epic run. The conditions were about as bad as they could be while still allowing us to actually run. It was like running on loose sand for 33 miles. In short, it was awesome! This is the type of run that puts hair on your chest. It hardens you both physically and mentally. These are the types of runs you need to get under your belt to prepare you for a 100 mile run.

My goal coming into this year’s race was to just finish the 50k race. The prior two years I let the elements, and the warm shelter, get the best of me and I stopped after completing the 30k distance. With Umstead looming I knew I needed the mileage and needed to cover the full 50k distance. The race didn’t go perfectly but I’m very pleased to say that I held it together, ran strong, and finished the full distance.

I started out at a slow pace but that pace required more effort than usual because of the uneven footing. Things were perfect through 30k. I had held back, felt fresh, and was ready to attack the last ½ marathon. I picked up that pace heading out onto the 2nd 8 mile loop and felt strong. I learned quickly that running just a minute a mile quicker required twice the effort and backed off on the pace as I began to cramp. I wasn’t as prepared as I should have been and didn’t have e-caps or Advil on me and struggled a bit since I had nothing to combat the cramping. As I slowed down Mark Carroll showed up at the most opportune moment and offered me a couple of e-caps to help my cramping. It was a welcome relief to have his company and assistance and we ran together on and off for several miles. After about an hour the cramping returned and I knew that I would just have to grit and bear it, put my head down, and push towards the finish. If I had a couple Advil and e-caps I think I could have improved my time by 20 minutes but was thrilled to finish in just over 6 hours under these conditions. As a comparison, Vince Rucci, the race winner ran a 5:23, so 6 hours is not a bad time at all. As I sat in the warm shelter eating the delicious vegan chili I was satisfied and tired – as it should be.

I think it’s worth giving honorable mentions to a few runners who’s performances really stood out in my mind. There were undoubtedly many more runners who deserve mention but these were three that stuck out in my mind:

First and foremost is Mark Carroll. On the first 5 mile loop Mark was charging up the hills (something he continued to do ALL race). I questioned why he was working so hard on the uphills and he replied that he had an abdominal strain and couldn’t run the downhills. Mark wasn’t deterred. Instead of taking what the course gave him he imposed his will on the course. In the last three miles he blew by me and secured a top 5 finish. Well done Mark, you earned it!

The second shout out goes to Tracey Ross who had a great race and finished as the 3rd female finisher. In my opinion the day suited the tougher runners who are more suited to 50 and 100 milers. This 50k felt more like 50 miles. Tracey seemed to get stronger as the race went on and looked fresh as she finished the race. I think an ultra star was born at the Run for Regis. If this race is any indication I think Tracey will excel at a 100 miler, whenever she decides to tackle the distance.

The third shout out goes to someone I admittedly don’t know well at all. I ran a few early miles with a young guy named Sam who left an impression on me. I asked him what distance he was running and he replied that he was running the 50k and that it was his first ultra. I kidded with him that he picked a heck of a race to chose for his first ultra, as the Run for Regis is known for it’s poor weather conditions. I asked how many marathons he had run and he replied that he had never run a marathon, in fact he had only run one ½ marathon. I wished him good luck and complimented him on his guts, thinking to myself that he might not be able to finish this race but he’s got some balls and he deserves some credit for the effort. As I was heading home towards the Ledges Shelter, covering my final mile I crossed paths with Sam again as he was heading out on his final 5 mile loop. He was going to finish this darn thing! Incredible… What an effort from a young guy who undoubtedly has a future in this great sport as well.

I have to close with a huge THANK YOU to Tanya Cady and all the volunteers who came out to support the runners. I can’t say enough about Tanya the job she does to support the runners both at the Run for Regis and throughout the year. She is one of a kind. The number of people that came out to spend the entire day in the bitter cold to volunteer says a lot about Tanya, and means a lot to the runners. I feel blessed to be a part of such a great community.

Change

2011-01-13T13:23:00.006-05:00

Since I was involved in the Mohican course re-design I thought I'd share some of my thoughts related to the course, the process, change, and Mohican in general.

Every change that was made to the Mohican course was debated at great length. We discussed issues and complaints from prior years, and how we might improve the race to address certain concerns. We considered how we could reduce the amount of ashpalt and course gravel road and add more trail. Many of the scenic dirt roads from years past are now ashpalt. When the race started and finished at Mohican Wilderness this wasn't a big issue because these miles were run at night when it was a nice mental break from the trails. With the new AND IMPROVED start/finish at Mohican Adventures these ashpalt road miles were now sandwiched in the middle of the race in the heat of day. This was a major issue to address. Another issue to address were all the Green Loop miles that were being torn up by the gas company, which were replaced with baseball sized gravel roads. This would continue to be an issue going forward if we didn't consider change.

As Ryan mentioned the race has experienced quite a bit of growth over the last few years. Trail running and ultra running have seen a recent boom and we want the course to be able to accomodate this influx of runners. We wanted to come up with a course that could be sustainable for years to come. The location and accessability of some of the past aid stations, and the confusion of runners going every which way from those aid stations, made it difficult to accomodate a greater number of runners. My family has volunteered at Rock Point the last two years, assisting aid station captain Julie Bowen-Miller for the entirety of the race. We spent the days leading up to the race preparing potato soup, hard boiled eggs, just to name a few things, to ensuring the runners would have everything they needed. Mohican is a passion of mine and I am happy to say that my family shares that passion with me. For as tiring of work as it is to spend over 24 hours at an aid station catering to us cranky runners, my wife said she would miss The Rock, as will the runners. That being said, they understand better than most runners the logistical challenges associated with some of the more remote aid stations. Whether it be re-stocking aid, getting volunteers to and from the aid station, getting pacers and runners back to home base after dropping, etc. Having a more centralized race we will improve the efficiency of logistics considerably and improve the aid station workers, supply volunteers, family and crew, and the runners experience in the process.

We want Mohican to be both affordable and accessable - as opposed to races that have to cap entries and as a result have to either institue a lottery or sell out in a few minutes time. With the boom of the 50 mile race we had to consider how changes would impact both events. I know some 100 runners don't like to hear that their course should be modified for the sake of a relatively new 50 mile race. That being said the 50 mile race has made the Mohican 100 sustainable and it makes the event that much more accessable. The more people we can expose to the magic of of Mohican the better. The introduction of the Mohican Marathon will only add to this exposure and hopefully put the trail ultra bug into a whole new group of runners. With the new course and the staggard start we feel we can accomplish this without interfering with the 100 or 50 mile race, or putting an increased burden on the aid station volunteers. I encourage you to embrace the 50 mile runner and embrace the marathon runners. Remember that this might be the toughest challenge they ever attempt, it should not be treated like a minor accomplishment. We should be supportive and cheer them on towards their goal! After all, trail running and ultra running is about the inner challenge, the friendships made on the trail, and the beauty of nature - this is no different for a 50 mile runner or marathon runner than it is for a 100 mile runner.

What makes Mohican special? The answer is different for everyone. Sections that one runner loves, another despises. At least one person mentioned that they would be ok with the race being all road. A few proposed increasing the cut-off limit, citing the number of multiple finishers who barely finished under 30 hours. Some said that very toughness is what makes Mohican special. As for me? Mohican is special to me because of all the friends I have made on the trails, all the great runners that have come before me, and because it gives me an opportunity to dig deep and find out what I'm really made of. A 100 mile race is going to be difficult regardless of the course. We feel like this course will simplify logistics, make the race more accessable for family and crew, and most importantly improve the runners experience.

All of this talk and I haven't highlighted the new sections of trail! I think runners will love all the new single track trail being added to the course - it's both scenic, challenging, yet very runnable. The new section of bridle trail being added, linking the course to the traditional purple section, is also very scenic and may be my favorite section of trail on the whole course. As an added bonus, those runners who go way back will recongnize certain portions that are still marked with Mohican 100 stickers from several years ago. Some might remember that the much loved (and much maligned) section on the red loop that used to climb from Covered Bridge up to Bridle Stageing was a relatively new trail itself. By incorporating the "purple" trail into the course, as opposed to it being a stand-alone loop, we ease the congestion at Covered Bridge. We're very enthusiastic about the new course and the improvements that have been made. We understand that not everyone will share that enthusiasm initially. Our hope is the feedback is overwhelmingly positive once people have had a chance to run the course, and once they've seen all the improvements made on race day.

Long live Mohican!

Michael Patton
2x Mohican 100 Finisher

A Quick Grindstone Recap

2010-10-05T12:04:00.002-04:00

This will be brief, as my race at Grindstone turned out to be quite brief. I was running well early in the race and was enjoying myself quite a bit. I came into the 2nd aid station positioned well and was ready for the 2nd major climb of the race - Crawford Mountain. A mile into the climb my stomach started to bother me and I became a little dizzy. About 2 minutes later I was throwing up and was shivering. I struggled to the 3rd aid station after a couple more bouts of stomach distress. I don't know what went wrong and why it hit me so quickly but I decided at aid station #3, mile 22, that I should call it a night. I could have, in the words of Mark Carroll, walked for 10-12 hours and hope that it passed but this was the wrong course to get stranded on if things went terribly wrong. I think I made the right decision but I'm still having a very hard time coming to grips with my first 100 mile DNF. I need to get past this so it doesn't haunt me going forward but I also don't want to force another 100 and will wait until Umstead in spring to take another stab at the distance. I will be back but I'm going to take my time.

Shout outs to the other Ohio runners that represented so well at Grindstone - it turned out that I was the only person who had a bad day. In order of placing here's how the other runners faired (times are approximantions as results are not posted).

Sandy Nypaver dominated the womens race winning by nearly 4 hours (23:05 if I'm not mistaken), setting a new course record! Needless to say she is a very talended runner with a promising future in the sport. Well done!!! Shout outs to her pacers Rachel and Sean who guided her through the 2nd half and got her home to the victory.

David Huss (aka Mountain Lion) ran a PR on one of the toughest courses around, posting a time of 25:25. He ran a perfect race, stayed focused, pushed through the pain, and was rewarded for his efforts. His pacer Steve Zeidner, and crew - headed up by his wife Katie - provided him the support he needed to acheive his goal. Congrats Dave, you earned it!

Dave Peterman posted a time of 26:35 (approx.), showing great perseverence in the 2nd half to get that buckle with a fantastic time to boot. Dave now has three 100 mile finished on the year, including MMT and Grindstone, very impressive! Dave now has one race to complete the Beast Series, the Hellgate 100k+. Shout out to Jay Smithberger who jumped in to pace him the last 50 miles after his runner wimped out and DNF'd early.

Last but not least, Regis Shivers Jr finished his 3rd Grindstone and 28th 100 in a time close to 28:00. Regis was steady throughout the race and acheived a new course PR. I enjoyed running a few early miles with Regis and enjoyed getting to know him. I also spent a good chunk of the race crewing and getting to know his mom as well. It was a pleasure meeting them both and hope that our paths cross at future races.

So even though it was a very bad day for me personally it was a very exciting day none the less. I was able to wrap myself up in my friends races and focus on crewing them through the day instead of sulking in my dissapointment. I am very proud of all of their accomplishments. Well done, you all earned it!

The Year of the 100

2010-09-09T10:17:00.000-04:00

Most people would be pretty content with two 100 mile finished in one year. As I was eyeing my fall races I struggled to find anything other than another 100 that really sparked my interest as a GOAL race. As far as road marathon's go Columbus is about as good as it gets and I may run that easy but right now, where I'm at with my running, road marathon's don't really get me excited. Roy's race, Running with Scissors, is another race that I really want to run but but wasn't sure if I wanted that to be my GOAL race. I really wanted to find a race that was not a 100 that would get me motivated to train hard but it just wasn't happening - mostly because I still had Grindstone in the back of my mind. I don't want to fall into a rut where only 100's inspire me.

With all that being said I just signed up for my fall 2010 and spring 2011 goal races: the Grindstone 100 and Umstead 100.

Aside from the distance these 100's are about as different as you can get. Grindstone is a technical 100 with a ton or elevation change. Just competeing Grindstone in the allotted 38 hours will be an accomplishment. Umstead is not technical and it's hills are very gradual and mostly runnable (from what I understand). I will definitely go into Umstead with an aggressive time goal.

Well I've got my work cut out for me. Enough typing, I've got to go run!!!!

Keep Your Nose to the Grindstone

2010-08-20T16:24:00.000-04:00

Recovery from Burning River has been a mixed bag. I felt better post race than I’ve ever felt before; my legs felt fine, my feet felt fine and I even had an appetite. I even texted my friend David within hours of finishing telling him that a fall 100 we were eyeing was a go. I was ready for the next challenge. Then I woke up the next morning feeling like death...

I will keep the details to a minimum to spare you but let’s just say my body revolted the day after. If I had to guess I would say that while my body was in recovery mode, busy repairing muscles, that my immune system let a flu bug in the back door. I was a sick boy and my body didn’t seem to be fighting off the illness very well. I couldn’t keep anything down all day and over the course of the next couple of days I lost over 12 lbs, which meant that I was now about 25 lbs under weight. I wasn’t completely recovered until Saturday and it was a tough tough week. I emailed my friend back and said that the 100 I was so enthusiastic about post Burning River was now 50/50.

I took over a week off running and focused on getting my weight back up to my normal range and to allow some lingering plantar fasciitis heal. I resumed running on Tuesday of last week with a hot a humid 7 miles with my friends David and Stephen. I felt a little weak but was pleased that once I warmed up the plantar fasciitis felt ok. I decided that I would see how recovered I was and give my MIT speed workout a go the next day.

Our Wednesday MIT workout consisted of 5 x 1 mile repeats which were supposed to be run a little bit faster than ½ marathon pace. This would normally not be a workout that is too difficult but it was hot and humid and I was 10 days out from Burning River. I actually used good judgment and decided to stick to the prescribed pace and run them at 6:20. I typically run my mile repeats at sub-6 pace but decided that it might be a bad idea on this day. The run went remarkably well, I might even say it was easy and I was encouraged that the recovery was coming along nicely. Since I was feeling well I decide to join a few friends on a training weekend in Virginia to scout out that 100 course I was contemplating running – the Grindstone 100.

On Friday afternoon David, Stephen, Jay, Peterman, and myself piled into our rented SUV and set route towards Virginia. Our weekends itinerary included 50 miles of trail running, spread over two days, two nights camping out at a Boy Scout camp, and about 12 hours in a car. The Grindstone website reads, “Grit, endurance, temporary loss of sanity. You might need all of these if you want to attempt Grindstone. If you want to finish, well, just keep in mind this is, without a doubt, the hardest 100 miler east of the 100th meridian.” This statement is debatable but it was sure to be an adventure.

In order to avoid this blog entry from getting too lengthy here were a few highlights from the weekend:

• We camped out at the Boy Scouts Camp Shenandoah, which had a lot going on that weekend. We may have interrupted a nighttime séance which involved flaming torches but we pretty much did our best to stay out of their way.

• Sleeping in the front seat of an SUV before runs of 30 and 22 miles was probably not my smartest choice but I slept surprisingly well both nights.

• The Grindstone course is tough and beautiful. We weren’t able to appreciate either of the mountain top summits due to foggy weather but the course really has it all. I think the variety of trails that the course offers was my favorite thing about the course.

• I felt really good both days and ran with Peterman pretty much all 50 miles. I had a lot more trouble with the pounding on the downhills than I did with the uphill climbs.

• I really enjoyed the chance to meet some local Virginia runners who were nice enough to host us that weekend – especially David Horton, Clark Zealand, and Jeremy Ramsey. It took a lot of work for them to plan the weekend and to make sure we were well looked after. It was much appreciated from us Ohio boys.

• I especially enjoyed hearing David Horton tell stories about his adventures over the years. If there’s someone who’s seen and done it all it’s Horton. I have no desire to do a ¼ of the things he’s done over the years but I have a huge amount of respect for his achievements. It was especially entertaining hearing him give Jay (of all people!!!) a hard time about not maximizing his potential. It was all in good fun and we all had a good laugh.

We had a really good time in Virginia and I’m looking forward to going back the weekend of the race. I’m still on the fence whether I want to run it myself or not but I will be there to pace, crew, or volunteer if I don’t decide to run. My heart is leaning towards running the race. I love the trails and I would love the opportunity to compete in another 100, one that might offer an even greater challenge from my previous two this year. The two things holding me back at this point are cost ($250 is a lot to shell out for a race) and the thought of a tough recovery. This course is no joke. I’m not fearful of the uphills, they are difficult but don’t take a toll on your body and there is not inherent danger in climbing uphill. I am concerned about the downhills. They are quite technical and very steep in some sections. There are technical descents on the first half of the course that will have to be done at night with a headlamp. This will present a real challenge. In the second half of the race I’m concerned that after 50 miles of descending I’m not sure I’ll be able to safely navigate down the narrow steep trails – the brakes might be too shot at that point. This course will really beat me up physically unlike the other runs I’ve done. I know that the recovery will be tough after Grindstone and that has me on the fence whether I want this to potentially be my one and only fall race.

Decisions, decisions, decisions…

Burning River 100 Part 3: Going the Distance

2010-08-11T13:10:00.002-04:00

It was just after 9pm at night and I had been running going on 16 hours. Yet as I left Pine Hollow Aid station at mile 75 of the Burning River 100 I was energized. Everything seemed to be clicking. I had no major aches and pains, I seemed to be keeping up with my fluids and food and I only had a marathon to go. By this point in my previous 100s I had already entered survival mode. Today I had a breakthrough and was still running. In fact after holding back all day, trying to conserve energy, I finally let loose and was flat out racing and it was a thrill.

The next section of trail covers 6.8 miles as we wind our way towards the Everett Rd Covered Bridge. Long stretches like this can be challenging late in a 100 because it’s very difficult to consume enough calories at an aid station to get you through that long of a stretch without getting bloated and possibly sick. I ate as much as I thought I could and my pacer and I headed back out on the trail as the sun was beginning to set over the Cuyahoga Valley.

We started out slow, wanting to give me stomach some time to digest all the food I just ate. I had that feeling that I over-ate and needed a good burp but I just couldn’t seem to. My stomach was starting to turn on me and just seemed to be shutting down. I told my pacer Mike to be patient with me and that I’d work my way through this but it might take an hour. We were still moving at about 16 min/mile which is actually ok late in a race, especially when you’re working through stomach issues. I told Mike no more solid foods – with less than a marathon to go I could survive on fluids and chicken broth. Even though our pace had slowed down we were still keeping pace with the runners near us and had not gotten passed by a single runner. I stayed encouraged and knew that I was still well on pace to achieve my initial goal of 24 hours.

As Mike and I exited the Wetmore Trail and crossed Akron Peninsula Rd I was starting to get my stomach back and we were again running more than we were walking. It was now pitch black outside and I was doing my best to not let the night slow me down as we entered the Covered Bridge aid station at mile 80.

Even though my stomach had slowed me down considerably on the previous section of trail – as much as an hour by my calculations – I came into the Covered Bridge with an appetite. I didn’t want solid foods but Tanya Cady was serving up mashed potatoes and I put in an order for a cup mixed with chicken broth. I’m sure it looked awful but it was delicious and my stomach perked up immediately. I again ate more than I probably should have but I told Mike that I wasn’t going to cover this next section of trail real fast anyways. I wanted to get some food in me so that I had energy to make a final push AFTER the Perkins Loop was out of our way. As we exited the aid station I got some final words of encouragement from my crew Scott and Rob and we headed off into the night.

Perkins Trail has the reputation of being one of the most challenging sections of trail in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. I had never struggled with this trail in the past and wasn’t intimidated by it as we started the loop. I might also mention that I had never run the trail with 80 miles on my legs. Well now I know what all the fuss is about. Perkins Trail was a bear. I fought to keep up a good pace the whole way, which I think I did, but we weren’t moving as fast as I would have liked to. We passed a couple runners who had moved a bit ahead of us on the previous section so I felt good that I was still keeping pace with people and even passing some. I just wanted to get through the Perkins Trail in good shape so that I’d have something left for the final push to the finish. At this point in the race I was just putting my head down, shutting my mind off, and running. We exited the trail and we were back at the Covered Bridge. I was excited to have the Perkins Trail behind me. I had another cup of mashed potato mush along with a can of Red Bull and Mike and I headed back on course.

The next section of course was 3 miles, mostly along road, to O’Neil Woods. Mike and I set a comfortable pace and ran towards the headlamps ahead of us. Less than a mile onto the roads and our comfortable pace had picked up considerably. I wasn’t wearing a Garmin but I’m sure it was at or near 8 minute pace. We weren’t just gaining ground on people we were blowing by them. I think it was a combination of the roads, the psychological boost of passing people, and the fast that I only had about a ½ marathon to go, that was fueling this surge. I told Mike that I felt so good that I honestly think I can maintain this pace to the finish…after all it’s only 14 miles. We entered the trail leading to O’Neil woods and I was really flying. I ran the whole section, up hills and all and was at the aid station before I knew it. Mike entered the aid station about a minute behind me and I wondered whether the miles were starting to get to him a bit.

Mike decided to pace me just a couple days prior to the event and initially intended to split up the pacing duties with another friend, which means he agreed to run about 20 miles with me. At the last minute we got word that my other pacer would be unable to make it. I assumed that Mike would still pace me about 20 miles, since he was only training for a ½ marathon at the time and anything more would be pushing it. As we arrived at O’Neil Mike had already run 30 miles with me and we were just starting to push the pace. He was stepping up the challenge in a big way.

We exited the aid station along a trail that would lead us towards the towpath trail. As we hit the road, and then the towpath we were again moving at an impressive pace. Mike was just off my left shoulder the whole time keeping pace and encouraging me along. We blew by figures in the night and I was having fun. We were at Merriman Rd ahead of schedule. After a quick shot of Red Bull and broth we were back on course. We continued our fast pace along the towpath, passing a few runners here and there. We arrived at Memorial Parkway in no time. Our crew said they had just arrived themselves; barely getting from Merriman to Memorial Pkwy by car in the time it took us to run there. For once our route was more direct than by car. I again had Red Bull and chicken broth and we hit the trail.

Mike and I were doing math in our heads as we left the final aid station. We had 70 minutes to cover these last 5 miles and still finish under 22 hours, which I knew we could manage. The question was how much we could better that mark of 22 hours. As got to the top of the brick road hill we settled back into a run as we snakes through a section of trail that I’m sure is beautiful in daylight. We could hear water along side us almost the whole way and I got the feeling that Cuyahoga Falls got it’s name because of this section of river. As the trail turned away from the river we hit a set of stairs to climb out of the valley. As soon as we finished one set of stairs we hit another set of stairs, and then another set of stairs. It was brutal but I was happy to have all the climbing out of the way in one few swoop and have more run-able sections in between because we were running well. Before we knew it Mike and I were off the trail and onto Front St. We saw a set of runners about 100m ahead of us on the last climb of the course. We pushed on and ran the hill in order to track them down. We continued to push the pace and were soon me by a volunteer on bike. I knew we must be close and gave it everything I had. We passed one final runner along the homestretch. I told Mike that I was going to bust out a final 400m like you’ve never seen as we passed some fire fighters out cheering on the runners. We could see the finishing clock and I was off, flying to the finish. As I came through the finish line the clock read 21:32:00. A 7 HOUR PR!!!

As I finished, I laid down in the grass to savor the moment. My pacer Mike and my crew Scott and Rob offered congratulations and I thanked them for being there with me through the night. Unlike my other 100 mile finishes I didn’t have a wave of emotion come over me. I just felt a great sense of accomplishment and satisfaction. Scott called my wife, who had just closed down the bars in Medina after our 10 year high school reunion. She and her mom were in route to Cuyahoga Falls, thinking they would be there well before I finished. She was disappointed to have missed my finish but excited that I ran so well. Jen arrived about a ½ hour after I finished and we all hung out for a while re-living the highlights of the day. While we waited we got to see a lot of runners that I crossed paths with during the day finish their race, most notably Star and Adam Bright who both had strong finishes.

As I looked back on the days race and how strong I finished, I was torn between two thoughts: excitement for such a huge personal best, truly a break-through performance for me, and the competitive side of me knowing how much I had left in the tank at the end and wondering how fast I could have run if I hadn’t held back as much as I did early in the day. In the end I’m thrilled with my performance on the day and excited to tackle another 100 in the future, perhaps with even loftier goals.

Thanks to everyone who played a part in my race and in my preparation, as well as those who encourage me to chase my dreams and achieve my goals.

Burning River Part 2: Running Down a Dream

2010-08-06T11:15:00.000-04:00

I was just over ½ way through my 2nd 100 of the summer. This is one of those points in a race when a runner has to decide whether to man up and make a race out of it or reel it back and enter survival mode. My body was aching and telling me that maybe slowing it down was the way to go but with my friends Star, Darrin, and Steve now with me my mind was telling me to do whatever I could manage to do in order to keep up with them. I spent more time than I should have at the aid station making sure I had enough food in me for the next stretch. I popped a few Advil in the hopes that it would make my sore feet feel better. Darrin and Star were already on course so I asked my pacer, Mike Barga, if he was ready to give this a go. We were off…

I decided to allow myself a mile or two to catch up to the group. I wanted to give the Advil some time to take effect and needed to give the full stomach some time to digest. Over-doing it on a full stomach can have terrible consequences. Mike and I moved along at a decent pace as I gave him instructions about what to expect as a pacer. I asked him if he was good at math because we’d be crunching numbers through the night, making sure we were still on pace, or how fast we’d have to run a certain section to hit my goal time of 24-hours. I told him that we needed to be patient when my stomach was telling me to take it easy but when he could tell I was ready to run, that he should push me to keep a good pace. I told him that he could not carry anything for me and must stay beside or behind me, not out in front like a rabbit. It was a good distraction having Mike there, talking race strategy and race rules, instead of thinking about how I was feeling. And that’s when it happened…that’s when it always happens…when you’re mind’s distracted and you’re not thinking about how you feel. I bounced back and I bounced back in a big way.

The food had it’s effect and the Advil must have had it’s effect too. I was feeling energized and pain free. I was ready to rock ‘n roll. I knew it would be stupid to go overboard so I happily tucked in line on the Star 24 Hour Express. I knew Star would keep us on pace and get us home under our goal. She is the perfect pacer – always positive, always consistent. If she has personal lows during her runs she does a great job of masking it because I’ve never seen her struggle.

We were already ½ way through the Pine Lane section and I was already getting antsy. Ultra advice is often contradictory because there really is no right or wrong way to approach a race. Scratch that, there are plenty of wrong way’s to approach a race but there isn’t one clear cut RIGHT way. The debate brewing in my head was, be smart stick with the group and work together to achieve your goal vs. run your own race, when you feel good run your heart out and when you feel low take care of yourself and rely on Mike to keep you on pace. This day hadn’t turned out at all how I had planned it. I had run less than 5 miles with my friends when I had planned to stick with them all day. I decided to move to the front of the group but keep the pace steady and not push too hard. We came into Pine Lane about a minute ahead of the group. I took my time to cool off and fuel up before heading back out with the group.

We were headed to Happy Days. This section of the course has about 3 miles on hot road and rail-to-trail. I was dreading this stretch and was happy to be with my friends. We took our time in the heat as we ran along old Akron Peninsula Rd. Early on along the road Steve started to have trouble and empties about a gallon of Perptuem from his stomach. I can’t imagine how bad he was feeling prior to that with having all that liquid sloshing around in his stomach. I told Barga to walk with Steve and help him back up to the group. We weren’t moving fast and didn’t want Steve to get stranded on this stretch of road. Before I knew it Barga was back by my side. I looked back and Steve had rejoined the group, “that’s one tough dude” I thought.

We made the u-turn onto the bike-n-hike trail and immediately hit some shade and a nice breeze. What a relief! Mike and I started a steady jog and before I knew it we were running at a pretty good clip. I looked back to see where the group was and Star and Darrin were right there. We ran together for about a mile, all feeling good to be out of the heat. We exited the bike-n-hike and hit some trail towards Happy Days. I was still feeling great and Mike and I opened it up a bit. We pushed the pace towards the aid station and picked off a few runners along the way. As we came into Happy Days we were greeted by the good folks of the NEO Trail Runners, including Nick Billock, Bob Combs, and Jim Harris. You couldn’t ask for a more experienced group of volunteers to care for you and get your butt back on course. Before we knew it we were back on the trail.

At this point we still had 35 miles until the finish but I had held back about as long as I could. Mike and I really opened it up on this section of the course. I don’t know how fast we were running – as I haven’t poured over my Garmin data to date – but it felt like we were flying. I passed a number of runners along the Ledges Trail, some looking relaxed and in control, some looking defeated. I was really enjoying myself at this point and for the first time all day started doing math in my head. If I killed the last 1/3 of the race what sort of time could I run? We calculated that 21:30 was a possibility and that became the new goal. Forget 24 hours, I was feeling good and I knew I could do better on this day. We pushed the whole way to Pine Hollow, with only one low spot that I was able to quickly correct with a Hammer Gel. My confidence was at an all time high, I knew I was moving up in the race and I let that motivate me. Looking back at the results I moved up nearly 20 places on this 6.8 mile stretch. As we crested the Sound of Music hill I pumped my fists in the air like Rocky. We only had 50k to go and we were cruising.

I tried to move in and out of Pine Hollow quickly while still getting some food in me. I ate a grilled cheese, had some of the worlds best chicken noodle soup, and hit the Salt Run Trail. This was a 3 mile loop before returning to Pine Hollow. I told Mike to hold tight at the aid station. I needed him to rest up because I didn’t know how many miles I’d need him for late in the race. He had already run about 17 miles and knew I shouldn’t ask too much more from him since he was training for a ½ marathon, not an ultra. I completed the 3 mile loop at a pretty good pace.

I told Mike that I felt good but it was hard to push myself without him there with me. He agreed to join me for the next section which was 6.8 miles to the Everet Rd Covered Bridge. I took my time to get an adequate amount of food in me. My crew of Scott and Rob Hively took care of my every need. Scott had even crafted up a unique sort of encouragement for me, something that probably had a few folks scratching their head but it had me smiling and laughing. Scott had brought a life sized cardboard cut-out of Adrianne Lima, of Victoria Secrets fame. He pasted a text bubble on underwear model that read, “Mike Patton Has Strong Legs”. I told my crew as well as Tracy and Kathy Ross, who were there waiting for Ron, that I thought 21:30 was a possibility and that I was going for it. I left the aid station in good spirits, but maybe a little bloated. We strapped on our headlamps and hit the trail. Onto Covered Bridge with only a marathon to go…

Burning River Part 1: Best Laid Plans...

2010-08-04T17:21:00.000-04:00

Northeast Ohio and the Cuyahoga Valley have come a long way since the summer of ’69 when the Cuyahoga River famously caught fire. At the time the river was an ecological disaster. The Federal Water Pollution Control Administration stated that, "The lower Cuyahoga has no visible signs of life, not even low forms such as leeches and sludge worms that usually thrive on wastes." Since that time great efforts have been made to literally clean up our act, so much so that in the fall of 2000 the Cuyahoga Valley was named a National Park. Burning River is a celebration of the regions rebirth and chance for the great running community of Northeast Ohio to showcase their diverse park system and their world-class hospitality. The event and the trails that make up it’s course are so well regarded that it was chosen to host the 2010 USA Track & Field 100 Mile National Championship. The Burning River 100 is a fine event indeed and at 5:00 am on July 31st I was lucky enough to be one of the 275 individuals that were standing at the starting line, ready to embark on a great adventure.

Spirits were high at the starting line. Temperatures were projected to be ideal, after weeks of brutally hot and humid weather. My plan was to stick with Star and her 24 hour train for as long as possible; with the hopes of running a sub-24 hour time myself. I stood there second guessing a few pre-race strategic decisions, cautiously optimistic that my plan would pay off. Number one, I chose to start the race in Nike Free racing flats. If we’re so concerned with shaving ounces in 5k’s and 10k’s why not 100’s? I had tested their trail mettle a week prior and they were awesome; soft like a pillow, light as a feather, but offered no protection against rocks and roots. The other thought floating around my head was my decision to not work up a pace chart or leave drop bags. I wanted to run based on feel, not be overly concerned with pace, but I was concerned it would leave me inexperienced crew unsure when to be at each check point. Luckily these thoughts were interrupted as we neared start time. We sang Happy Birthday to race director Joe Jurczyk and stood in silence at the singing of the National Anthem. At 5:00 am sharp we were off, into the darkness.

I was not wearing a headlamp since the first 10 miles were along Chagrin River Rd, and navigation wasn’t a concern. What I didn’t consider is that I would have a hard time finding my friends in the dark. As I hit Chagrin River Rd I looked around and the Star 24 Hour Express was nowhere to be found. I gave a holler to see if they were nearby but didn’t get a response. I didn’t know if they were in front or behind me. I decided to settle into a comfortable pace and hoped we’d cross paths soon enough. In a 100 you tend to yo-yo with runners near you dozens of times of the course of a day so I figured we’d cross paths very soon. I settled in with my good friends Rob and Michelle from Mansfield for the first 5 miles in the dark, on our way to Gates Mills. I’m not typically a fan or road sections in an ultra but this is one picturesque stretch of road. Chagrin River Rd is littered with mansions and horse farms and was just beautiful at sunrise. I believe we were averaging 10 minute miles along this stretch which was about as slow as I could manage to hold myself back. As we came through Gates Mills 5 miles into the race we had caught up with Dave Peterman and we were off on leg 2 towards the Polo Fields.

Dave and I pulled away from Rob and Michelle a bit during this section and had a chance to run with some true legends in Dan Brenden and Phil Rosenstein. These guys have resumes that would blow you away – just this year Dan is in route to his 7th consecutive Grand Slam and Phil at one stretch this spring had run 4 100’s in a span of 6 weeks. These guys are machines and I knew I’d be smart to draft off them for a while. I also had the pleasure of making a new friend in Bo, who I would run with countless miles.

As is typically the case early in the race nature calls for most runners and I had to go bad. I picked up the pace a little bit with 2 miles to Polo Fields so that I could enjoy the comforts of a bathroom as opposed to squatting along the side of the road. I made it just in time but had to run into the women’s restroom because the men’s was occupied. After a couple minutes none other than Michelle was banging on the door yelling at me for occupying the women’s stall. I hurried out of there, washed my hands (of course), grabbed a granola bar and banana, and headed back out on course.

I was still stalking Peterman and Dan Brenden as we left the Polo Fields. Since I missed the Star 24 Hour Express the next most reliable way to a sub-24 hour finish was to follow Dan Brenden. I would ride that train the majority of the day. The next section of trails is a relatively flat section of bridle trails with several water crossings. Luckily the water was low and we were able to keep our feet dry by tip-toeing across the rocks.

Physically I was feeling great early on. But mentally the thought of all the miles ahead of me was starting to wear on me. When I’d be alone for stretches I’d start to doubt myself and my ability to stay strong over the course of 100 miles. To say that you have to keep your head in the game, in the world of 100’s is a gross understatement. A negative thought can infect you psyche and before you know it your race is going downhill in a hurry. I wasn’t as focused as I needed to be early on and I decided that I had to consciously avoid yo-yoing with friends, but stick by their side because I always to better when running with friends. This was the magic pill that kept me going all day.

As we entered Shadow Lake at mile 18.5 my dad was waiting for me as my morning crew. I knew this was the last time I would see him all day, as he was off to West Virginia for a wedding. I had planned to switch into trail shoes at Shadow Lake but decided I could manage to go a little further in my Nike Free flats. I tend to be a little lighter on my feet in my Free’s and that, combined with all the weight I was saving with each step, convinces me I could put off the change to trail shoes until the next crew access point – Station Road Bridge at mile 33. Luckily the miles seemed to go by a bit quicker at this point and I made it through Egbert Shelter (mile 23), Alexander Rd (mile 28), and onto Station Rd (mile 33) with relative ease. The heat was starting to bear down on us, especially on some exposed sections of towpath but I was feeling relaxed through 30 and had a positive outlook on the day.

I came into Station Rd at 11:00 am sharp, which means I covered 33 miles in 6 hours. A little fast but I felt good and didn’t feel like I over-did it. I was looking forward to seeing my wife Jen and my crew Scott & Rob who were waiting with my change of shoes. As I came into the aid station my crew was no-where to be found. I thought about the time, 11:00 am and realized that I was so far ahead of pace that I told them they didn’t have to be their until 11:30. I had literally outrun my crew. I would have to run another 6 miles in these road flats, which at this point was not really exciting. It turns out that my crew was actually running early but followed the directions in the Runners Packet that directed them East on Rt-82 from I-270, when they should have gone West. I tried to put this minor hiccup behind me and focus on what I could control and that was running. I pushed onto Ottowa Point, a little behind on calories, but still feeling pretty good.

As I entered Ottowa Point I was happy to see Dave and Leigh there, waiting to support Steve and the Star 24 Hour Express. I asked Dave to call Jen and tell her I’m ahead of pace and in desperate need of a shoe change. If she was on her way I would wait, if she was no-where near I would have to push on. I took my time and downed some calories. I was told I’d have to push on in my road flats and change shoes at mile 50. As I was exiting the aid station, beating myself up on my stupid decision to wear racing flats in a 100, the Star 24 Hour Express entered the station. It was awesome to see all my friends still looking strong at mile 39. I told them to hurry it up and catch up because I couldn’t hang at the aid station any longer - I was off to Snowville Rd.

The trails get a little more technical here and I was being cautious in my Nike Free flats. I probably lost some time here but I know first hand that a fall here is bad news, 4 weeks earlier I took a spill during this stretch and put a nice gash in my leg. Aside from my feet, that were starting to get sore, I was still feeling great but was trying to hold back and not over-exert myself in the heat. It was still early in the day and I was still afraid of what night would bring. I made it through Snowville and on to Boston Store, the ½ way point, in 10:00 hours. I was over-joyed to see my crew, my wife, and my pacer Mike Barga waiting for me.

I changed my shoes and was a little concerned because they didn’t fit. My feet were swollen and were at least a ½ size bigger. There was nothing I could do about it. I grabbed some food and headed out on the Brandywine Loop. 5 more miles and I could pick up my pacer. I struggled with this loop. My swollen feet were killing me in shoes that were too small. I was beginning to doubt the prospect of a strong 2nd half. I just kept telling myself to run as much as I could and get back to the Boston Store. About a ½ mile from the aid station none other than the Star 24 Hour Express pulled up along side me. Star was still leading a nice sized group that included Darrin Bright and his brother Adam, Steve Zeidner, and Bo. I hopped on the train on the way into Boston Store. I was boosted by the fact that I was amongst my friends again and that we could tackle the last ½ of the race together. That and I had an eager pacer in Mike Barga who was there to help me though whatever obstacles I encountered. Regardless of the pain my sore feet were causing me I was back in a good mental place and optimistic that I’d have a strong 2nd ½.

To be continued...

Catching Up

2010-07-05T22:56:00.001-04:00

Since finishing the Mohican 100 a couple weeks ago I've been training hard in the build-up towards Burning River 100 on July 31st. I was lucky to have recovered quickly from Mohican, which is probably due in part to my slow 2nd half and 29 hour overall finishing time. I have some unfinished business, just because I know I can run much faster if it all comes together and if I can maintain my competetive edge as the day wears on.

Here's a recap of what's been going on since Mohican:

Wedneday June 23rd: Speed workout with MIT. After only two days of rest from Mohican I wasn't quite up for the full workout but I did three up-tempo miles bookended by a two mile warm-up and two mile cool-down.

Friday June 24th: 7 miles @ Highbanks with Mark Carroll, Mike Keller, and my Dad. It was a pretty relaxed run followed by beers at Winking Lizard. Good times all around.

Saturday June 25th: 9 miles with MIT. I managed to keep pace with my 7:30 pace group, which I was pretty happy about. I haden't run with my group for a few weeks and it was nice to get in a run with my MIT friends.

Wednesday June 30th: 8x800m at 2:52. Typical yasso workout but only 1/2 rest. Legs felt great, breathing was strained. Overall I was surprised to hit that pace only 10 days out from my 100.

Thursday July 1st: Mohican Picnic! Jay organized a picnic at Highbanks Metropark, where all those Central Ohioans who ran, or supported Mohcan runners were invited to come socialize, celebrate, and show thanks for those who supported us. It was fantastic. From memory the attendies were Steve, Leigh, Dave, Katie, Me, my wife Jen, Jay, Shelly and Elliot Smithberger, Julie Miller, Terri and Mark Lemke, Star, Darris, Ted Niemann and his wife, Mark Carroll and his two boys, Mike Keller and his two girls. I had a blast and I'm pretty sure everyone else did too. It's so cool to have such a fun group of ultra runners here in Central Ohio.

Saturday July 3rd: 14 miles with MIT. We did 9 miles at 7:30 pace before kicking up the pace in Worthington Hills. We hit three miles at 6:45, 6:30, and 6:15, before slowing back to 7:30 pace for the last three miles of the run. I felt great when we were pushing the pace but felt like crap when we reeled the pace back - not sure why that is but I was sore the rest of the day.

Sunday July 4th: 24 miles at CVNP. Met up with some friends from NE Ohio for a BT50k training run. The group included Kevin Martin, Vince Rucci, Sean Pope, Greg Dykes, Sandi Nypaver, Star and Darris Blackford, Lloyd Thomas, and many more. We started off from Station Rd Bridge, ran to Boston Store, and back. Felt surprisingly ok after being sore all day Saturday from my run with MIT. It was really hot but Vince and another runner left aid along the course that was a godsend. About 2 miles after the turn-around I took a nasty spill which left a nice cut on my leg. It hurt like hell for about a mile but the pain subsided and I finished the run pretty strong, a few minutes behind Sean. Again, I was surprised how well the legs are surprising so soon after Mohican...starting to get optimistic about Burning River. Felt sore the rest of the day but woke up feeling ok the following morning.

Monday July 5th: 22 miles at Hocking Hills. Met up with Jay, Steve, Ted, Kim, Rob and Michelle for a run at Hocking Hills. We started at Old Man's Cave, ran south to Ash Cave following the Buckeye Trail. We then took the BT Alt. Bridle Trail north to Cedar Falls, I had never run this section of trail but they were happy to explore with me. It's a really great section of trail, except for the fact that it's never travelled and was a little over grown. From Cedar Falls we took the Upper Falls Red Trail all the way back to Old Man's Cave where our cars were parked, which was 11 miles into our run. I was starving and managed to down a can of Mountain Dew, a PBJ sandwich, and loads of pretzels and salt&vinegar chips. I've never ate that much mid-run but I was starving and decided to see how much the stomach could handle. We headed north from Old Man's Cave along the Buckeye Trail, all the way to Big Pine Rd. I had never run this section of trail either but again the group were good sports and were up for a little exploring. This is a really awesome section of trail with some high cliffs and cool rock formations. When we got to Big Pine Rd Rob was waiting for us with aid, since he had finished up his run - this was a big help on such a hot day. We ran 0.75 miles west on Big Pine Rd to Concle's Hollow and ran the 2.5 mile loop around the gorge. This is a really cool loop with high cliffs and great overlooks of the park. We headed the 0.75 miles east along Big Pine Rd, retracing our route back, all the way to Old Man's Cave. It was really hot and I don't think I've ever ate or drank more on a run. The most encouraging thing about the run was that I felt better in the last 5 miles than I had the entire rest of the run. After a high milage weekend the legs still felt strong, dare I say stronger, later in the weekend. I think I'll be ready for a good performance at Burning River in a few weeks.

Over and out...

Mohican 2010 - Part 3

2010-06-28T20:35:00.000-04:00

I do believe it's time to get back to my story and get us to the finish, because that's what a 100 is all about - getting to that finish line. I had arrived at Mohican Adventures just after the sun had set and after changing shoes, caring for my feed, re-fillng some bottles and gettings some food in my stomach I was back on course with my good friend and pacer Kevin Martin.

Running 100 miles is not something you can do on your own. Even if you come to the race by yourself and run without a pacer you are still relying on the kindness of the aid station volunteers to keep you fed and hydrated. My support system - my wife, parents, and friends - are the main things that motivate me to continue. Believe me when I say that I would not have finished this race without their support, and encouragement. I was at a very low spot coming into Mohican Adventures and had thought of dropping for the last 10 miles but once I saw my family and picked up my pacer the thought of dropping didn't enter my mind for the rest of the race.

I sort of spoiled it there didn't I? If I took any of the drama out of the remainder of the story I apologize for my crappy story-telling.

If you've had the pleasure of running with Kevin Martin before than you know that he is one of the nicest, most positive people you will ever meet. I was exhausted, I was sore, I felt like I had run 65 miles but Kevin kept me in a positive mental state the entire evening. No matter how bad you hurt, if you remain positive and you continue moving forward you will finish pretty much any 100 mile race.

Since I had so many problems with my stomach at the previous year's Mohican 100 and has my share of nausea early in the day I was a little gun shy all day with how much I was eating. Because of this my energy levels were low in the second half of the race. After eating at an aid station I would walk until the bloated feeling subsided - sometimes this would take 30-40 minutes. I was moving but I wasn't moving very fast.

I think everyone was moving pretty slowly throught the night. As Kevin and I came through Covered Bridge we ran into Steve Zeidner walking back towards the aid station. I knew the look on his face. I had the exact same look on my face 365 days prior at the exact same place. At Mohican in 2009 after 35 miles and 9 hours of puking I had all I could take and came into Covered Bridge at mile 63 intending to quit. It was a miracle that my pacer Roger and aid station volunteer Kathy Ross got me to go back out on course after more than 3 hours at the aid station. I was hoping that this years Mohican miracle would grace Steve. He did not want to listed to the words of encouragement I gave him as we passed in the night. I don't blame him, I knew what he was feeling. I was just hoping that look of dissapointment, that competetiveness in him, would motiviate him to continue if his stomach calmed.

As we continued on our way we arrived at Bridle Stageing before I knew it. To my dissapointment Dave Huss was sitting in a chair with his head hung low. Someone told me that the IT in his good knee had locked up and he was talking about dropping. I decided to take a seat at a chair about 100 feet away and fill my water bottle and get some food in me before going over to encourage Dave to continue. After 2 or 3 minutes I was so exhausted that I asked Kevin to go over and ask Dave to walk with me. Before I knew it Dave and his pacer Star were at our side and we were walking towards Rock Point. Even though Dave and I had run 100's of miles together over the last year I'm not sure we said more than 2 or 3 words to each other on that stretch of trail. We were both exhausted and stuggling to keep up a good pace. Even with his IT bothering Dave was walking faster than I was but when my stomach settled I passed him because I was still running a bit.

I knew Dave was in good hands though. Even though Star has paced Gradma's marathon that morning and flown all the way from MN back to OH just to pace Steve I couldn't think of a better person to be at his side through the night. Star is not only an experienced 100 mile runner but just like Kevin, she is incredibly positive and she would keep Dave good company on the trail. I didn't realize just how much Dave was struggling or that he had actually decided to quit before I arrived at Bridle Stageing. At the time all I knew is that his leg was bothering him but that he was still fighting and still on pace to finish.

Kevin and I continued on towards Rock Point. I was a big lift knowing that my family would be there, as they were all day, supporing runners. My wife and I had stayed up Thursday night cooking potatoe soup and I had been craving a cup all day. Boy did I enjoy that soup. As was the case the first time I came through, I was in such a good mood when I came through that I was more than ready to just hit the trail again and didn't spend a lot of time socializing. We headed off towards Southpark.

On the stretch towards Southpark the hours ticking away started to catch up to me. If Kevin hadn't been with me, talking the whole time, I'm pretty sure I would have sat down on the trail and awoke to the sun rising a few hours later. I was just exhausted and wanted to sleep. I needed caffeine, pronto! I had a 5-hour energy in my pack and I drank it expecting a rocket boost. I felt nothing, no life. We continued on at our SLOW pace. When we came into Southpark I was surprised to see Rita Barnes in a chair clearly going through a low point. I didn't think seasoned ultra runners like Rita had low points...in actuality they are just more adapt to getting through them but they do have low points. I was sure I'd see her again and I was right.

I may have nodded off for a while on my way from Southpark to Fire Tower - I don't remember much but when I arrived at Fire Tower I was even more exhausted if that's even possible. To be honest it was almost entirely sleep exhaustion that I was having problems with. My 5-hour Energy's weren't giving me any boost, none of the aid stations seemed to have coffee, and Coke wasn't quite strong enough. As I sat in the chair I actually started to cry, I can't realy explain it except to say I was tired. Kevin told me his wife Elizabeth was at Covered Bridge and that she had Red Bull. That might do the trick I thougth, so we continued on at our slow pace.

We arrived at Covered Bridge as the sun was coming up. It was good to get rid of the headlamp and flashlight and I was hoping the sun and a little Red Bull would give me wings. We arrived at Covered Bridge just after Elizabeth had left. There was no Red Bull, but they did have coffee. I had a cup and we got back on the trail headed towards Hickory Ridge. This section of trail took me a pathetic 2:30 to cover earlier in the day. I knew I wasn't going to get there a whole lot faster this time around but I knew it wasn't physically possible to get their slower. The thought of having maybe 4 hours left was not a big boost but we continued on, slowly.

The orange loop is not my favorite section of trail but it was all that stood between me and the finish. I wish I could say that I fought for every last second in those last 11 miles but it was a pretty poor effort other than the fact that I continued moving forward, excited about knowing that I was a few hours away from a 2nd buckle. No one had really passed me all night, since Kevin had joined me, but people were passing me on the orange loop. I didn't have the fire to respond. In an otherwise strong race this still eats a way at me a bit. If nothing else it's motivation for next year, it's unfinished business. The cut-offs were creeping up on us just a bit but we still had a comfortable cushion. We exited the trail, into Mohican Adventures campground, just after 10am on Sunday. I had completed my 2nd Mohican 100 in as many years. It wasn't fast, it wasn't pretty but I finished. On a day when so many people DNF'ed I was happy just to have a buckle.

Like I just mentioned, I still think I left time on the course and could have run faster but I'm happy to have unfinished business for future years at Mohican and for Burning River in just a few short weeks. Even though my two finishes at Mohican were in 28:30 and 29:15 I'm still keeping my expectations high for future 100's. I know I can run a fast 100 and with each race I gain more experience and learn how to cope with a new low. I feel like I'll be better prepared and in better shape to get my sub-24 at Burning River on July 31st. In future races I'll set the bar even higher.

Mohican 2010 - Part 2

2010-06-24T19:55:00.002-04:00

After struggling through the road section, due to stomach and leg issues, I was happy to have caught a second wind and finally arrived at Rock Point. My family was at Rock Point for the entire race, along with a lot of friends from MIT, a group I run with in Columbus. It was great to come through and see so many familiar faces. Even though I could have probably used a few minutes sitting down to get some sugar in me I really wanted to get back on the trail. Even though I was a little light headed I figured a gel or two would perk me back up. I decided to head back out on the trail and run with Michelle Bischell for a while, since she was leaving Rock Point as well.

As we got back onto the trail I started to feel the effect of all those miles on the trail. I wasn't able to get my sugar levels back to normal and I became a little disoriented and confused. It's a damn good thing that I know those trails as well as I do because I was really struggling - not with my legs or stomach, but with my mind. I just kept moving forward, trying to drink a lot, and trying to eat as much as possible. I don't remember a lot of specifics from miles 40-59 - except that Michelle and I were together most of the time. We both sort of bonked and were moving pretty slow, and when we did talk we talked about which aid station we would quit at. We were a sorry bunch. Luckily every time I got withing a mile of an aid station I perked up a bit and came into aid stations a little more optimistic.

One memory that sticks in my mind was my not-so gratious behavior at Fire Tower. After struggling the 8 miles from Rock Point to Fire Tower I was so excited to smell hamburgers grilling at the aid station. I thought a Coke and hamburger would be the perfect things to lift me up. To my great dissapointment the hamburgers were only for aid station workers. I was crushed. I didn't want pretzels and another turkey sandwich. I wanted a hamburger. I didn't hide my dissapointment well and I'm sure I came accross like an ungrateful runner. I feel bad about that but emotions difficult to control after running 50 miles. I had some standard aid station food and headed on my way to Covered Bridge where I hoped to see Kevin (more on him later), his wife Elizabeth, and Tanya Cady who is one of my favorite people in this great ultra running community.

Last year the stretch from Covered Bridge to Hickory Ridge almost did me in. I don't know what it is about this trail but it's my kryptonite. It took me 2:30 to cover the 5 miles. I can normally cover 20+ miles in 2:30 so this was an especially pathetic pace for me. I think I could crawl 5 miles in 2:30 under normal circumstances. With how slow I was moving Michelle was moving slower. I came upon her sitting on a log about 1.5 miles from Hickory Ridge. She wanted to drop but of course she would have to get to Hickory Ridge first. I wanted to drop too but wanted to at least get to Mohican Adventures first. I came into Hickory Ridge pretty low. I sat down for about 15 minutes while Wayne cared for me - Wayne is a saint. He loaded me up Advil, water, coke, and food. A wonderfull lady rubbed cold stones on my injured leg. Those Mansfield Road Runners are a special bunch. It was a wonderful place to have a low point, but family was at Mohican Adventures and I had to move on.

The trail from Hickory Ridge to Mohican Adventures is much easier but it just irritates me to no end. It's only about 2 miles as the crow flies but the damn trail zigs and zags and loops around so much that it takes us 6 miles to get there. You literally run right by the Mohican Adventures campground at one point and you still have 2 miles of unnecessary switchbacks before you exit the trails - switchbacks should be reserved for steep hills, not flat trail. Enough bitching :) ...the mountain bike folks have in all honesty built an incredible single track trail and I am grateful for all their hard work. There's just something about the trail that gives me problems in the 100. Luckily I perked up as usual about a mile from the aid station knowing that family and friends were waiting for me - most importantly my pacer Kevin Martin was there.

If there is one person who could get me to the finish line it was Kevin. He is the most optimistic pleasant person to be around, not to mention he is one hell of an ultra runner. We ran 40 miles together at MMT and he didn't complain once until his toenail popped off at mile 101 - and I pushed him hard. I was excited that Kevin was there as my pacer. I didn't know how much I had in me but I knew he would not give up on me and would do everything in his power to keep me moving.

I'd also like to give a shout out to Jay Smithberger who, after winning the 50 mile race, stuck around to cheer us all on at the turn around and stayed until we all finished. This is quite ironic because when Jay finished there was almost no one there to cheer him on. There wasn't even anyone from the race at the finish line to record his time. I think I had some karma on my side from MMT where Tanya had me washing peoples feet because my dogs were barking and Jay was there to help. I couldn't get anything to stick on my heel that was raw but Jay had some moleskin in his car. He ran to his car, ran back, taped up my foot and sent me on my way. I was happy to be off and running again.

Stay tuned for the final installment...

Mohican 2010 - Part 1

2010-06-22T20:05:00.000-04:00

Running 100 miles is more a test of mental toughness than physical fitness. Unless you've run a 100 it's hard to understand that but you can take my word for it. In case you're not sure what I mean, I have a pretty literal definition of mental toughness, which pretty much boils down to being hard headed and stubborn. My wife will tell you that my stubborness is one of my worst qualities, but as a runners it's my best. The ability to block out the negative and focus on finishing is absolutely crucial in a 100 mile run.

If I were any kind of story-teller I would start off at the most trying time in my race - when I wasn't sure if I could go another step further, when life and death were in the balance. I would then flash back to the begining of the race, or maybe even childhood, when the journey all started - leaving you on the edge of your seat the whole time whether I persevered or not. I might as well let you down now and tell you that I'm not a great story teller and my race wasn't nearly that dramatic. I will share my story though and I'll be as honest as possible because like I said, running 100 miles is more mental than physical.

The mental challenge started four weeks prior to race day. I was full of confidence after a few weeks of really strong training. My training peaked that week with a great 40 mile run at Massanutten (pacing my good friend Kevin Martin), a 23 mile trail run at Highbanks, and a 25 mile night trail run at Mohican with Jay Smithberger. My final planned run for the week was ambitious, the goal was to run the road section of the Mohican 100 course then tack on some additional miles on trail for a total of 40 on the day. On that run I developed some pain in my right shin coming into Buckhaven and cut the run short - logging 25 miles for the day. I didn't think much of it, just thinking it was a little bit a shin splint that would heal up during a taper.

A couple days later, after some business meetings in Cleveland I met my dad for a run. We did 8 miles that night and I was in pain the whole way. I was really worried with Mohican only 3 and 1/2 weeks away and I scheduled a visit to see a good friend and sports medicine physician Dr. Darrin Bright. X-rays were inconclusive but Darrin said it could very well be a stress fracture. He said I should get an MRI to be sure but if I didn't want to spend the $ a few weeks of rest would be the way to go. If it still hurt than he said I really should get the MRI. With 3 weeks until Mohican I was hesitant to take a few weeks off running but I didn't want to spend $1000 if I didn't need to. I decided to shut it down completely for 2 weeks and test the leg a week and 1/2 out from race day. If I could run pain free than I would give it a go. If the leg still hurt than I would withdrawl from Mohican.

After 14 days off from running, and all exercise for that matter, I tested the leg out on a 6 mile run (2 miles at 6:10 pace). I felt a bit out of shape but the leg felt fine. I got in two more runs in the week leading up to the race, both pain free. With a bit of doubt about the leg I decided to give Mohican a go, with a modified goal. The primary goal in a 100, for all but a select few, is just to finish. The secondary goal I set for myself was a sub-24 hour finish. I felt that if I could keep up with my hydration and nutrition (something that plagued me last year) that this was a goal that was well within reach.

The weather forcast leading up the race called for tempatures in the 90's and a chance on thunderstorms. With all the rain the past two weeks water levels at Mohican were said to be higher than they had been in several years. There seemed to a lot of concern amongst the runners but I wasn't as worried as most. Running 100 miles isn't supposed to be easy and if people can run 135 miles through Death Valley surley we could run 100 miles in 92 degree heat. It might affect our times a bit but I was confident I could finish.

The race started out at 5am with runners following the North Rim Trail and Hemlock Trail 5 miles to the Coverd Bridge. It was a comfortable temperature and it even sprinkled a bit which cooled things down a bit. From Covered Bridge we headed onto the Purple Loop and I was surprised that the water wasn't nearly as high as I expected it to be. We finished the loop on pace, feeling good, and we headed up the red loop up to Bridle Staging. At this point Steve, Dave, Terri, and myself were all running together. I also had the pleasure of running with Kyle Fahrenkamp for a bit. Things were still going well and we were on pace heading into Bridle Staging at mile 11.5.

The section leading from Bridle Staging is not only the longest, at 7.5 miles, but also one of the more challenging sections of the course. It includes 3 stream crossings where your feet do get wet. On the last crossing the water is knee deep. Two troubling things started to occur on this stretch of trail: #1 I became a bit nauseas and #2 my shin started to ache. Needless to say I was very concerned and decided to take the next sections very slow to try and get my stomach turned around. I had no idea what to do about the leg pain, but figured the slower pace might help that to.

We were lucky early on the road section to have a nice breeze and some cloud cover. I was stuggling but the weather was at least cooperating for the time being. I felt ok when I was walking but when I would jog my stomach and leg would protest. I was happy to be maintaining 15-16 minute miles while recovering - still below time cut-off pace. As I approached Mohican Wilderness my stomach was improving but my leg was getting worse. The decent down Big Hill Rd really had me wincing in pain - on top of that I had developed a blister on the back of my left heel. As I came into Mohican Wilderness I took advantage of my stomach being ok and ate as much as I could. The leg called for more desperate measures. I popped a few Advil, not a great thing to do when dehydrated, and wrapped the leg with an ACE bandage and duct tape. I figured the duct tape would hold up better through the water crossings and I needed something to add some consistent presure on the leg. I left the aid station wondering if the leg would be ok or if my day would be over soon.

I walked a bit to let the food digest and to see how the leg tape job felt, not to mention that one of the biggest hills on the course is on this section of the course. After a couple miles I started to feel really good and ran consistently all the way to Buckhaven and from there all the way to Rock Point. I was definitely in the middle of one of those high points and I've always been told that when your body wants to run, run. I came into Rock Point at mile 40 enthusiastic and optimistic that this WOULD be my day. That my lost time early on the roads might actually be a good thing, because while others were cooking in the heat I was recovering. I was a bit lightheaded and woozy, clearly in need of some sugar (I avoided it all day because this is what made me sick last year) but this was something I knew I could correct and was confident heading back out on the trails. I had caught up with Michelle Bischell at Rock Point and the two of us headed back out on the trails. I was on my way.

To be continued...

Hocking Hills

2010-05-09T22:29:00.001-04:00

I spent the weekend running the trails at Hocking Hills, which far exceeded my expectations. I drove around the park to explore a bit and decided to start my Saturday run from the Cedar Falls area. I followed the Indian Run 20k loop around Rose Lake, through the campground, and to the A-Frame bridge spanning Old Man's Cave Gorge. From there I had a hard time following the loop back to the Dining Lodge, and I had no intention of running the road portion of the Indian run course, so I explored Old Man's Cave and picked up the Buckeye Trail back to Cedar Falls. What an incredible 3 miles of trail from Old Man's Cave to Cedar Falls. It's not very hilly but it's very scenic and very technical. When I got back to Cedar Falls I ran into some friends, had some lunch, and chatted for a while.

After my friends headed on their way I decided to navigate the south portion of the Indian Run 20k loop. This didn't go so well. I missed a turn right after Cedar Falls parking area and instead stayed on the Buckeye Trail south, all the way to Ash Cave. What a fantastic mistake! This is a great 3 mile section of trail, again not too hilly, but very scenic and quite technical. Ash Cave is really impressive. It's like Big Lyon falls but about 20 times bigger...no joke.

All in all, this combination of trails was just over 12 miles an had no roads except the small section through the campground. I loved it so much that I decided I would run it again Sunday. The only question was whether I would run it alone or not.

I had planned a COTR trail run on Sunday, but failed to realize that no one would show up because of Mothers Day. We are a more well adjusted bunch than folks give us credit for :) ! I still had a blast out there and on Sunday started south at Ash Cave and ran the same trails, to Cedar Falls, to Old Man's Cave and back. This is easily my favorite trail I've ever run...and that's saying something considering my affection for Mohican.

After the run I did a little scouting. I ran noticed a MTB trail parking lot so I parked my car and ran a bit of the loop. Very promising - only a 1/2 mile down the same campground road you run through on the Indian Run 20k loop, if you turn right onto that road instead of left. If you've never run the Indian Run, you have no idea what these reference points mean. (a bridle trail also intersected this east campground connector road, which leads me to the next though).

Another area that caught my attention was the bridle staging area accross from Old Man's Cave. I parked the car and studied the map. The first thing I notices was a Buckeye Ttrail alt. route (bridle trail) connects here that takes you all the way back to Ash Cave on an alternate trail! It's marked with white blazes instead of the traditional blue. I'm gonna run this all the way to Ash Cave next time I'm down there...it was very easy to follow. Speaking of blue blazes, the Buckeye Trail runs right through this bridle staging area and continues north. Approx. 2 miles north is a really cool rock climbing gorge, which is just south of Big Pine Rd. North of Big Pine Rd. is a huge network of Bridle Trails, where getting in 10+ miles would be simple...the trails are all very well marked. I can't wait to get down there to explore more!!!!

All weekend I was thinking, why does the Indian Run have so much road when there are all these great trails? I can see if it was just an issue of parking, but the Ash Cave and Cedar Falls parking areas were probably bigger parking lots and there was nobody at the Ash Cave lot...

I'd love to hear some comments/feedback about this next idea... I think I'm going to spend Labor Day weekend down at Hocking Hills. The thought was that I'd do a Saturday, Sunday, and Monday run - ala the Mohican training weekend, different trails each day. I'll reserved a couple adjacent campgrounds, do some running, have some beers and barbeque, play some horseshoes and cornhole. It would be fun to have spouses and kids down too and they could do activities in the morning, early afternoon, while we're off running.

I'm excited just thinking about it...chime in and let me know if you're interested!!!!

Boston

2010-04-21T11:04:00.000-04:00

It's fair to say that my performance at Boston didn't live up to my expectations but I enjoyed the experience none the less.

Here are a few scattered thoughts/memories from the day:

Since I was staying in Providence I had a friend attempt to drop my off in Hopkington. Due to my poor navigation we got off at the wrong freeway exit. Roads were shut down and we going absolutely nowhere. I had no choice but to walk all the way from the freeway to Hopkington (about 3 miles). No bus would stop and pick me, or the other people walking, up. Not the way I wanted to start my day but I don't feel it played into my poor showing.

Around mile 8 things started to go poorly. I felt great up to that point and was hitting my splits, not letting the hills draw me into a faster pace. I don't know what caused me to be flat on race day, but things just weren't clicking. I decided to slow my pace down for a few miles and see if I got through the rough patch and got a second wind.

At mile 12, heading into Wellsley, I decided to shut it down for the day. I was going to finish the damn race but I was going to try and enjoy myself. I was feeling poor and didn't feel like pushing it to the edge was worth it when even a 3:10 didn't look like it was in the cards. Slowing down and soaking up the atmosphere was the best decision I made all day.

The crown support blew me away. A few stretches in particular really impressed me:

Of course Wellsley is one of them. I'd heard all about it and pretty much knew what to expect but it's different when you experience it first hand. There are two cheering sections, one through campus with the screaming college girls and one through town. Every student had a sign that read something to this effect, "kiss me I'm a senior" or "kiss me I'm from California". It was pretty funny...there were definitley some guys taking them up on their offers - I was not one of them :). Regardless, the energy from everyone in Wellsley really gave me a boost of energy.

Newton was another section that was really neat. This is home of the infamous hills, the last one being coined "heartbreak hill". People come out in hoards to encourage the runners up the hills. You saw a lot of runners struggling here and the crowd couldn't have been more enthusiastic. I ran up every hill, in pain, with a smile on my face - the crowd was just too awesome to not be loving every second of it.

Boston College was another great section of the race. I was doing a lot of walking here...not proud of that but I was cooked. Boston College was a lot like a Buckeye tailgate party. You could tell that everyone had been up since sunrise drinking - lots of plastis cups. They were super enthusiastic and supportive of the runners. I was run/walking with my friend Jerry at this point and we seemed to be pretty popular. I had a shirt that read MIT (pretty convienent acronym) and my friend Jerry had his name screen-printed on his shirt. Since we were walking I think we got a little more "encouragement" from the crowd to get our buts moving. It was like a football game, the crowd would pick a runner and chant in unison, "Jerry, Jerry, Jerry, Jerry" on and on. Again, I couldn't help but smile.

Of course the last mile was magical. That damn Citgo sign taunts the runners for what seems like forever. You know that once you pass the huge sign you've got a mile to go, but you can see the darn thing from like 2 miles out. When you climb the hill up to Fenway the crowds got to get really packed and loud and all of a sudden you crest the hill and the Citgo sign is there. I was elated, releived, and for some strange reason my hamstrings and back gave me a momentary reprieve from the cramping. I took advantage and ran the entire last mile, high-fiveing everyone along the way. It was a great way to cap off the race.

So my time sucked (by my standards) but I enjoyed ever second of the last half of the race. I'm really glad I slowed down and let myself enjoy the race instead of running myself into the ground and being in agony for the last 1/2. I'll come back to Boston to try and improve upon my performance but I've got no regrets about my first Boston.

Expect to see me do a better job about keeping up with my blog during the summer months. As I gear up for the summer ultra's I'll have a lot more to write about. Hope to see you all on the trails soon!

Busy Busy Busy

2010-04-16T10:14:00.000-04:00

It's been a busy spring and it seems like my blogging has been the one things I haven't been able to keep up on.

Tonight I fly out to Providence where I'll be staying with my best friend for the weekend. On Monday I'll run my first Boston Marathon. I'm excited but nervous. My plan was to just have fun with it and enjoy the experience. I'm too damn competetive for that to have been a realistic plan. New goal...sub 2:55. Gotta get that NYC qualifyer and be done with fast marathons for a couple years. Now that I've put the goal in writing I damn well better do it!!!

Post Boston, things just get crazier. My tentative plans each weekend leading up to Mohican:

April 17-19: Boston Marathon
April 24-25: John Bryan 50k
May 1-2: Cap City 1/2 (1:30 pace leader) AND Mohican Traininng Run (38 miles)
May 8-9: COTR Hocking Hills Run (needs to be a 50 mile weekend)
May 15-16: Massanutten Pacing (40 miles with Kevin Martin)
May 22-23: Mohican Training Weekend (60 miles - 3 days)
May 29-30: open weekend (5th wedding anniversary but gotta get in some miles!)
June 5-6: Vegas (God help me...)
June 12-13: taper
June 19-20: Mohican 100!!!!!

Last Week

2010-03-17T11:26:00.000-04:00

Last week ended up being a pretty solid week of training. The week didn’t start off that well, with a big project taking up my entire Monday and Tuesday evening – meaning I didn’t get in a run either day.
On Wednesday I was again late to my speed workout and actually drove to the spot where the group was doing repeat 1000m as opposed to parking at the school and running the 1.5 mile warm-up. That being said, I struggled mightily on my speed workout without having a warm-up. I’m just thankful I didn’t injure myself jumping right in without a warm-up. The times I hit weren’t too bad (3:39 average per split) but I had to give it all I had and my breathing and stomach were strained. The stomach thing is weird. Occasionally when I really push myself on a speed workout my stomach gets really upset, and I’m not talking nauseous – enough said. Anyways, I think the 1000m splits projected out to a 2:52 marathon but my speed workouts always project out to a faster marathon than what I’m able to actually do on race day.
After a tough Wednesday workout I just got on my stationary bike on Thursday for 30 minutes and did a light lifting session. I took Friday off.
I was dreading Saturday’s run. Our training schedule called for 22 miles and my training partner wanted to do 12 at long-run pace and the last 10 at marathon pace. For him marathon pace is 6:30 and I was going to try and hang with him. I was more nervous going into this training run than I have been for some races. I know I’m nowhere near where I need to be to hit 6:30 pace in the second half of a 22 miler. That being said, I ended up not having to. Two other friends and training partners who are shooting for 3:00 at Boston wanted to get in marathon pace as well so I had a 6:50 MP group to stick with. It ended up being for the best because my right ankle and right knee were giving me all sorts of problems and 6:30 pace would have been completely out of the question.
The weather Saturday was miserable. Friday was sunny and high 60’s. Saturday was pouring rain and mid-40’s. I dressed for sunny and 60’s, with just a short sleeve Mohican 100 t-shirt and shorts. I froze my ass off!!!! It made an already challenging run even more difficult.
Like I mentioned, my right ankle and knee have occasionally been bothering me recently. They were screaming at me on Saturday and I pretty much knew from mile 1 that 6:30 pace was out of the question. I again was running late and actually had to run two marathon pace miles (6:50) to catch the group…not a good way to start a long run. I settled into our 7:30 pace and was pretty relaxed by the time we hit mile 12 and the real fun would begin.
We set off at 6:50 pace and as is typically the case it always feels more difficult than you expect it to (always feels easier on race day). With the weather and the right ankle and knee pain I decided to shut it down after 6 miles. I just wasn’t feeling it and didn’t think it was worth killing myself when I’m not even racing Boston. I’ve got bigger aspirations for 2010 and don’t want to peak too early. With the first two miles at MP I guess that put me at 8 total miles at marathon pace for the day. I’m pretty sure I was showing symptoms of hypothermia on my two cool-down miles back to my car – my 9:30 recovery pace felt like I was moving at 20:00 mile pace.
I was really feeling it after the run. I took a cold bath because my legs were killing me, followed by a warm bath later in the day. I can’t remember feeling that bad after any of my recent marathons. With that being said you would think I would take Sunday off – not the case. My dad and a few friends were meeting up at Mohican and it was too enticing to pass up. If I felt as bad Sunday as I felt Saturday afternoon/evening than I would just hike the trails instead of running.
Well there’s something magical about Mohican – anyone that’s run there knows that of course. My knee was bothering me a little bit the first few miles but after a reckless few miles from the Fire Tower back to the Covered Bridge things had loosened up and I was relatively pain free. I really let loose on a few down-hills, hitting sub-6:00 on one of the miles – Don would be proud!
We ended up doing the 50k green, red, and lodge loop for 16 total miles. It was great to get out there with Dad, Rob, Michelle, Terri, Darris, Star, and a few new faces Mike and John from Tiffin. After the run a few of us went to Mellor’s for the best post-race meal you could ask for: $1.99 all you can eat pancakes!
I haven’t had that much fun running in a couple of months and it was great to be back on the trails I love so much. I was chatting with Rob on the Purple Loop for a bit about how much those trails feel like home. I can’t wait to get back for another run.

A Quick Update

2010-03-03T12:58:00.000-05:00

I've been really lazy with my blogging recently, which is a direct reflection of the intensity of my training. I had a few good workouts but for the most part I've been going through the motions, just maintaining an adequate fitness level. Since I'm focusing on my June and July 100s I'm ok with keeping it relaxed for now and gearing up in March, April, and May - tapering in June. My wife has been really busy at work and although she isn't a runner she's a big source of support. Now that she's through her busy season I hope that I'm able to focus a little bit more on my training.

I did want to make a quick note of a very promising workout I had last Wednesday. I had been a little discouraged because my long runs hadn't been as strong lately but my Wednesday speed workout helped boost my confidence a bit.
There was a good turnout for the speed session and the workout called for Yassos. With only a handful of weeks before Boston we decided that we should do at least 6, not 4 like the folks doing a May race. In the summer/fall I had gotten a little carried away with cutting my recovery period - my last session before Cbus last fall I only gave myself a 1 minute recovery. Per my coaches suggestion I extended that to 2 minutes - he would have liked it to be 3 minutes but I'm slow to adapt :). I think the extra minute really helped improve the quality of the workout.
I went into the workout saying I'd be happy with hitting each Yasso in 3 minutes, since I didn't feel like I was in great shape. My first split was 2:55 and it felt very relaxed. Feeling good, I pushed the pace on the last 5 which were all at 2:45. Since I'm stubborn I did all of the 2:00 recoveries at a 7:30 per mile pace - which worked really well for me. It's not like I don't like the rest, I do, but I tend to stiffen up pretty quickly and it affects my workout in a negative way. Shortening the rest seemed to counter-act that, but I think doing a proper recovery just a bit quicker seems to work even better.

Since I'm just starting my training cycle March 1, I'm a little behind and might under-acheive at Boston. 7 weeks might be too short to really hit top fitness, especially given a 2 week taper at the end. That's ok though because I've got bigger fish to fry this summer.

Eye on the prize.

Quick last note: My wife and I spent a incredible couple of days in the Bahamas over the weekend. We decided last Thursday that we needed to get away and a day and a 1/2 later we were on a plane to Nassau. The trip definitely recharged my batteries!

Shifting Gears

2010-02-04T14:19:00.000-05:00

It’s time to stop dragging my feet and get serious about my running again. The past couple of weeks I’ve been increasing my mileage, averaging about 15 miles per run three times a week. Getting 45 miles in three days works very well for me to maintain fitness but this is the time of the year when I need to be getting faster.

With that in mind I did my first speed workout of 2010 last night (Wednesday). I did a 2 mile warmup, 5 x 1 mile repeat, and 2 mile cool down. With some jogging between repeat miles I think it ended up being an 11 mile run. The miles were in order: 6:18, 6:25, 6:30, 6:40, 6:00. Much slower than I was running 6 months ago but a good first workout. The last three were in the dark and I sort of lost track of my pace until the 0.75 mile point where it was too late to get the pace back where it needed to be. They were very relaxed mile repeats and didn’t really open it up until the last rep. Next time I do this workout I need them all in the 6:00 range. Over the summer I was hitting 5:50-5:55 and doing 6 mile repeats, so that’s the bar I need to hit a couple weeks out from Boston. I’ve got a challenge ahead of me…

Run for Regis

2010-01-18T16:13:00.002-05:00

I had an absolute blast at the Run for Regis yesterday. As I stated in my last post, I was coming into the race without having run in a couple of weeks. I’ve been sick and unmotivated the last month. Events like the Run for Regis remind me why I love running so much.

As Tanya said in her pre-race speech, this is not a race and as soon as it stops being fun come in and have some chili. I took that to heart yesterday and approached the race with the mindset that I was just going to enjoy myself and see how the day unfolded.

It was a little colder than I anticipated at the start of the race but overall the weather was great for a run. The heavy snow of previous weeks was now melting and it left us with a slushy, icy trail. The ledges and stairs were especially treacherous and I really wish I had taken the time to screw my shoes. The trail was pretty decent though and I would compare it to running on the beach, it just required a little more effort but wasn’t too challenging.

Surprisingly I started the race out in control. I always tell myself that I’m going to start out slow but it never seems to happen. Well yesterday I ran a smart “race”, so to speak. I found myself running with Kevin, Dave, and Lloyd on the first 5.5 mile loop. It was run running with them and I was feeling good. If it weren’t for a necessary restroom break after returning to the Ledges Shelter I would have loved to carry on with them. As it were, my 6 minute pit stop was a blessing in disguise. Since I had lost touch with the “faster” group it gave me an excuse to slow down more and really enjoy the day.

I left the shelter with Michelle and planned on sticking with her for the 8 mile loop around Kendall Lake. To her credit she kept her own pace and we didn’t get sucked into mine and we didn’t end up running together for very long, although I believe she was right behind me for almost the entire loop. About halfway through the loop Jimmy Fisher caught up to me and we ran together for several miles. I’ve run countless miles with Jim’s younger brother Patrick but I haven’t had the chance to log many miles with Jim and really enjoyed catching up with him on the trail.

As we completed the loop and started out for the 5.5 mile loop we were joined by Mel, who was having a great day out on the trail. She was leading the women’s race and the three of us (Jimmy, Mel, and myself) ran the entire loop together. I had never run with Mel before but you make fast friends on the trail, which is one of my favorite things about trail running. The three of us chatted the whole time and before we knew it we were back at the shelter.

By this time I was a little tired and a bowl of chili was calling my name. I sat down for a couple minutes at the shelter and debated whether I wanted to continue. I was actually in pretty good shape physically, no aches or pains, but I was just out there to enjoy myself and I didn’t know how enjoyable another 8 miles would be. If Terri, Mark, or Michelle came through I would have certainly headed back out but I was sort of in no-mans-land. After I finished my bowl of chili and had warmed up inside I decided that going back out wasn’t going to happen.

I’ve got no regrets. I don’t have any races until April and right now I’m just out here to log miles and enjoy my training. According to my watch I logged 19.5 miles in 3:15 minutes, which isn’t a bad little training run considering the conditions. The best thing about the run is that it left me wanting more. I can’t wait to get out there on another run!

Being Lazy

2010-01-15T16:47:00.000-05:00

I've taken some time off from running recently and I'm feeling like a real couch potato. I've only run 3 times in 2010, for a grand total of 20 miles! To be honest I haven't had a quality run since my 50k in December. This was not a planned break, I'm just highly unmotivated. I need to get my but in gear pronto. Well that's going to happen this weekend. I plan on completeing the Run for Regis 50k on Sunday, which should be interesting. We'll see how well I do. I will certainly start slow and have only two goals, finish and don't get injured!

I'm looking forward to seeing all of my ulta buddies at the race this weekend!

Festivus 50k 2009

2009-12-14T11:43:00.000-05:00

Last week was a difficult week for my wife and I and my running definitely took a back seat. We had to say goodbye to our beloved dog Riley and I was pretty broken up over it. I was on the fence whether I would still run Saturday's Festivus 50k or not because my other runs hadn’t gone so well all week. Usually being alone with your thoughts is one of the great things about a run, not so much this week. My Wednesday workout was the only run I was able to complete because I had a friend to chat with to get my mind off everything.
I decided to give it a go on Saturday and I think I made the right decision. I had a hard time focusing and digging deep after a tough week and because of that I made the decision early on to just run relaxed and see how the day unfolded. Even without going in with a racing mindset I ended up with a 50k PR of 3:58 on the day, which ain’t too shabby. This is about as fast a course you could ask for and I think I could achieve a 3:40-3:50 finish in future years. The only challenge for this run is that it’s a self-supported FA event, meaning you carry your own aid.

A couple brief notes about the run itself:

I made a few big errors with the race prep. #1, I forgot my wristwatch. I ran the entire race based on how I felt, not based on my pace. I think it worked out ok in the end. I had no clue whether I would come in with a time of 3:50 or 4:50. I checked my time on my car clock after the run and conferred with Amanda who finished just ahead of me to determine my time. #2, I wore a CamelBak on a day where the temperatures were below freezing. The line froze up and I was without water for the first half of the run. I ended up putting the line under my shirt to let my body heat defrost it. This also ended up not being too big of a problem in the end, I was able to rehydrate on the 2nd half.
There was a bit of confusion, on my end at least, because I made it to the turn-around without seeing anyone on their way back. I knew Amanda was ahead of me but assumed she had either gotten lost or decided to call it a day at some point. I ran the majority of the second half of the race under the impression that I was in the lead. That wasn’t the case, she did make the turn-around and we somehow missed each other downtown. With all the construction downtown and the option to stay high at street level or low along the river we must have run right by each other but not even known it. After chatting with her after the run I have no doubt that she made the turnaround and covered the distance, and is therefore the winner of the Festivus run.
I joked with a friend afterwards that if I knew she was still ahead of me at the turn-around that I probably would have pushed myself too hard on the return trip and crashed and burned (my competitiveness sometimes gets the best of me :). I think it was best that I just ran my own pace and let the chips fall where they may.

After the run I stuck around and chatted with Amanda and her family, Ted, Greg, and David. I always enjoy catching up with fellow runners after a race; picking their brains about training and races they’ve done. Greg, David and myself even went over to Rusty Bucket for an adult beverage – a hell of a way to cap off a great run.

Thanks to Dan D. for organizing another great event. I’ll be back next year.

Road Rules

2009-12-03T12:19:00.000-05:00

Runner’s World brought some attention to an article that recently ran in a Boston paper, I believe it was the Globe. To sum it up, a guy got banned from running in a New Hampshire town because he refused to stop running on the roads and behaved badly when the cops pestered him. What really caught my attention, and Runner’s World’s attention, was all the readers comments on the article. The comments, from mostly non-runners, shouldn’t shock me.
As a runner, who occasionally ventures out onto the roads, most drivers feel like they shouldn’t have to share the roads with anyone, let alone runners and they find ways to get that point across on a regular basis. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve had to stop and collect myself because an a$$hole driver made a point to hug the curb and almost clipped me with a mirror. Luckily I don’t typically run with an iPod and am hyperaware of traffic while running on the roads.
Just a couple months ago on a bike ride a guy came flying by me and a couple friends on a country road, again making a point to hug the burm. His mirror nearly caught my handlebar and would have put me in the hospital for sure if it did. I barely kept the bike on the road and almost ended up in a ditch. If he would have hit me I might have ended up under his vehicle or at best on the pavement, which wouldn’t have been pretty traveling at 20+ miles per hour clipped into a bike. I guess the guy made his point, I just wish he wouldn’t have put my health at risk to do so. I was so mad that if he had pulled into a driveway or had stopped his car it would have taken every ounce of composure I had to not kick his a$$ or at least get beat to hell trying…

So obviously I have my opinions on the topic. I’ll try and stay out of your way if you try and respect my right to be on the road too.

Feel free to read the article at, http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2009/12/02/for_jogger_no_more_crossing_the_line/

Here are just a few of the 200+ comments (and my comments to each below). There are so many that I don’t have time to read them all but you’ll get the idea.

stinkinmuck wrote:
Maybe the police should worry about the people in their cars rather than someone running. I've been hit by rear view mirrors three times, had things thrown at me, been sworn at and almost run over many, many times despite being conscientious and staying as close to the side of the road as possible when I run. Some drivers just don't want to share the road with anyone and it sounds like the police in Portsmith don't either.

MP: big fear of mine as well. If we’re all courteous of one another I think we can all “share the road.”

alleydweller wrote:
(commenting on stinkinmuck’s post) Best argument for keeping joggers off the streets and roads which were designed and built for VEHICULAR traffic. Go to your local high school and do laps around the track. No. I don't want to "share" the road with you; you sound like an accident waiting to happen.

MP: I’m lucky to be able to do most of my longer runs on a path, but imagine doing a 20+ mile run on a track…

dougzinboston wrote:
Unless he's jogging in the middle of the road, I thought the heirarchy (sic) of the road began with people, bikes THEN cars. Am I wrong? I understand about issues with blocking traffic, but if people are aggrevated (sic) with him because they constantly have to go around him, that is too bad. They aren't having to pass around an 18 wheeler and a crew, it's a person. I bet the people complaining are big fatties who can't jog like him nevermind (sic) run around town shirtless.

MP: maybe I’m wrong but doesn’t the pedestrian have the right away? Or is that only in a crosswalk. I honestly don’t know.

CityCity wrote:
If he's a "jogger" that means he's a pedestrian and, legally and from a common sense perspective, should not be ANYWHERE on the road. Pedestrians are supposed to be on the sidewalk.
This looks to me like another holier than thou runner blocking traffic and giving a hard time to people trying to actually drive on the street. No shortage of them in Boston.

MP: alright, chime in people. Are we legally aloud to run in the road? Who has the right of way?

voicemania wrote:
this guy is like most of the hollow-eyed obsessive exercise narcisists (sic) running the roads of America; runnning (sic) out some deep, dark trauma and pain, traffic be damned.

MP: I think he got his point across, he’s not a fan of running, or probably exercise in general. Deep dark trauma, ha! Running is therapeutic for sure, but that doesn’t mean I’m running away from anything…

Robo84 wrote:
Stay out of the road or pay the penalty. Simple as that. This same guy will be suing the town if he got hit by a car while jogging.
Act like an idiot and get treated like one. This isn't a story...this is a man craving attention.

MP: I won’t debate that I’m an idiot, but should there BE a penalty for running on the roads?

canaqua wrote:
…The entitlement attitude that many people acquire as soon as they get behind the wheel should be discouraged, not encouraged. Yes, people and bicycles can be in the road, except on state highways like 95, 2, etc...and there are signs posted there specifically saying so.

MP: Amen. Driving is a privilege not a right, that’s why you have to get a license.

OldDude3 wrote:
Oh.....look at me run....look at me run. I'm better than you....look at me run. There are hundreds of places to run in solitude and safety but alot (sic) of runners crave the same attention that the d-bags who write on their laptops in coffeeshops (sic) do.

MP: alright, I got to admit this one’s pretty funny. Yes, we run ALONE on the roads because we’re starved for attention. If I was starved for attention I’d go a bar in a pink polo shirt with the collar popped, or something…

spartan112 wrote:
Teddy Bikes absolutely belong on the road. They are a vehicle and thus do not belong on the sidewalk. I bike 100+ miles a week during the spring and summer months and have not had a problem other than being heckled by motorists. If you're concerned about the safety of cyclists how about getting off your cell phone and focusing on the road? As for runners, while the sidewalk can be safer it is generally not as evenly paved as a road and many times it's made of concrete which is much less forgiving on feet, knees, ankles, etc. Also, if I remember correctly downtown Portsmouth has very narrow sidewalks that provide barely enough room for two people to pass so he'd likely be more of an annoyance or safety issue there than on the street as long as he is running against traffic as he should.

MP: Amen. The first comment about DRIVERS having a little responsibility to look out for the safety of others.

silverbulletman wrote:
stinkinmuck.....runners and bicyclists alike do not belong on the roads. The roads are for automobiles and most roads that you idiots run and bike on aren't wide enough for autos and you fools at the same time. So I say, run at your own risk. If my SUV mirror clips you, then quit running on the road. There are indoor and outdoor tracks and trails for this activity.

MP: first you call me an idiot, then a fool, and then you admit no guilt for hitting runners with your SUV mirror? This guy’s a piece of work!

1234GBB wrote:
As a habit, I run for good health. But also being a driver, I know when and where to run. Not only for my own safety, but for the well being of all the drivers on the road as well. After all, as many have said, the roads were designed and built for vehicular traffic and not a jogging path. (Why there are no regulations about keeping pedestrians out of the roads when it is dark in this over regulated society is beyond me)...anyway,
I drive my commute to and from work in the dark (not figuratively, literally) and travel the unlit suburban backroads with a keen eye looking for the invisible human that think they have every god given right to jog down the middle of this dark road at five in the morning without so much as a reflector on their jogging shoes. Throw in a little rain or drizzle and the occasional oncoming cars headlights and that my friend IS an accident just waiting to happen......and it will be the driver of the car at fault. Go figure.
If you run, use your head and run when and where it is safe to do so. The life you save may be your own.

MP: this guy’s anti-road running but at least he’s eloquent, so I respect his opinion.

AcrossDaPond wrote:
ROADS ARE FOR CARS, not yahoo's running half naked through towns. God, you live in one of the least populated states in the nation, is there not enough park/forest/fields to run in? This guy is just trying to be another "look at me" idoit darting into and out of traffic, prob just waiting for someone on their way to work to hit him so he can sue...

MP: damn, he got me! The only reason I run is so I can sue someone in the event they hit me with their vehicle.

jreagan wrote:
Can we please get back to talking about Tiger Woods or Jon&Kate?

MP: yes. Yes we can. Thanks for your time and if you’re brave enough, your comments.

Still Chugging Along...

2009-11-24T14:35:00.000-05:00

I’ve been a little lazy with my posting recently. My training has actually been going pretty well, but I’m just developing an ultra base right now and there’s nothing real exciting about that. I’ve stepped up my training to three days a week of running, fast on Wednesdays and long on Saturdays and Sundays, and I’ve been lifting and cycling for 1 hour on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The bike trainer I purchased turned out to be well worth the money. It allows me to cross train in the comfort of my own home and get some use out of my little used road bike.

As far as my last week of running is concerned, I had a nice workout on Wednesday with MIT. A group was doing mile repeats on the track, they were doing 4x 1 mile, and so I decided to join them since I haven’t really written up a training plan of my own. The track we work out at has lane barriers up during the winter, so it’s a little challenging measuring distance when you can’t run in lanes 1-3 so I just decided to run 4 laps, even though the distance was probably a little long. I hit my first “mile” at 5:52, the second at 5:45, and my third at 5:40. At that point Mary had arrived and I decided to scrap the last repeats and hit the trail for an easy 6 mile run. My legs just didn’t have the turnover after a hard weekend of training and I decided a 4th mile wouldn’t really do me any good. Mary and I churned out the 6 mile run at about 7:30 pace, which felt much better than those mile repeats! Total mileage, including warm-up and cool-down, ended up being just over 12 miles.

On Saturday I headed over to TWHS, hoping to catch some MIT’ers going out for a long run. No matter what time I show up it seems like Tim D. and his crew always start their run a half hour earlier. I figured it’s still dark at 7am now, so they’re probably going to be meeting at 7:30. I should have none running in the dark would not stop this group - they are one dedicated group of runners. So I ran into Tim’s crew at Hills, they were 6+ miles into their run and I was just hitting 3 miles. We ran together for another 12 miles, so I got in 15 for the day and they ran 18. Best part about the run was that it was Julie M’s birthday and in true team 8:30 style we celebrated after the run. There were Jello shots and mimosas, and Julie’s birthday candle’s were stuck in a bagel. I’ll tell you what, that group has a lot of fun and I’m glad they allow me to join in their fun from time to time.

Since I only ran 15 miles on Saturday I had to do at least 15 on Sunday. Mary was looking for someone to run with and I suggested Highbanks for a long run. We mapped out a nice little 5+ mile loop filled with hills and we ran that 3 times. The first loop sucked and was slow, second loop was easier but I had a little chaffing problem. We made a quick stop back at my car to remedy the problem and I think Mary was impressed with my running kit I keep in my car. Let’s just say I’m prepared for any situation that might present itself on a run, as long as I’m able to make it back to my car! We set our for a third loop, which flew by and tacked on a little distance on at the end to get an even 16 miles for the day. We averaged 8:01 pace overall, which explains why Mary was running away from me at the end – I’m guessing she wanted to hit 8:00 on the dot but I was holding her back. It ended up being a really great run and got me to a 50k distance covered for the weekend.

Hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving. Enjoy gorging yourself this weekend, you’re a runner, you deserve to let loose every once in a while!

Not a Bad Ass, but a Pretty Good Weekend

2009-11-15T13:58:00.000-05:00

Well I came up a little short on my bid to become a bad ass, only completeing 5 loops plus the Oak Hill climb to get my dum dum. It ended up being just over 26.2, so at least I got in a marathon.

Things went quite well early on actually. I ran the first loop very relaxed and by the time I hit the riding run trail I hit my stride. I had let Patrick go ahead early on this loop but by the time I got back to the bridal staging area near the coverd bridge he was just leaving for his second loop. I finished the first loop in just over 41 minutes, so I was running about 8 minute pace on that first loop. Patrick and I ran together for the next three loops and it was great having some company on the trail. I felt as though we were running at a very comfortable pace and continuted to clock loops in about 42 minutes.

Patrick is running a race next weekend so he called it a day after 4 loops and I continued on along. Near the end of that 4th loop my shoulders and back started to tighten up a bit and I decided to take the 5th loop slower and hoped things would loosen up with a slower pace. It was a difficult loop. Legs were fine, heart rate was ok, but my entire back was killing me. I don't know what was going on but after a slow 5th loop I decided to just do the Oak Hill climb and call it a day. I completed the marathon in 4:08, so it was still a pretty good effort for the day but I was obviously dissapointed that I wouldn't be getting a t-shirt for a bad ass finish.

After laying on my back for a while and spending some time in my in-laws hot tub, my back loosened up and I felt pretty good actualy. This having been the first time I've experienced back pain I didn't know how to remedy this stiffness on the run. I hope to figure this out before my next big race, because I don't want something like this to result in a DNF again. One thing I will continue to do is work to improve my core strength, which should only help. I hadn't lifted weights all summer or fall and just two weeks ago started up my lifting regiment again. If I stick with it through the winter and get stronger I hope the back and shoulder pain I had on Saturday isn't a problem going forward.

Of course the Bad Ass 50k was just one of my two races on the calendar this weekend. On Sunday I was scheduled to pace the 8:00 per mile group at the Buckeye Classic 10 at Highbanks Metropark in Columbus. I was seriously doubting my abilities to pace after the marathon I had run on Saturday so I called my friend Roger up and asked if he would be willing to help me pace. If I couldn't make it I knew Roger would be able to handle it without a problem. Of course Roger agreed to help out, so I had some insurance for Sunday.

I was definitely stiff after the 26.2 miles I ran on Saturday but after stretching out a bit I was feeling OK. The first mile of the 10k is on a flat trail along the river, and it took me a while to loosen up. After the first mile we hit the Dripping Rock Trail and the next 4 miles are seriously hilly. I was surprised that I was doing quite well going up and down the hills. The 8:00 pace wasn't much of a challenge so far. At about 3 miles we looped around the Overlook Trail, which is another hilly section of trail before reconnecting with the Dripping Rock Trail. When we came down off the hill at about the 5 mile marker we were still easily on pace and I was running very relaxed. The last mile was a repeat of the first mile - a flat trail along the river. Roger and I finished right on pace, very relaxed.

I was pretty surprised I felt so good on my run today, but it was an encouraging sign. Although I struggled late in the Bad Ass 50k it wasn't an indication of my fitness and I don't think it was a result of going out too fast. It just is what it is. I ran into a difficulty I hadn't encountered before and didn't know how to work through it on the run.

My next "race" happens to be another fat ass, the Festivus 50k on December 12th here in Columbus. I ran a 4:20 on the course last year after having run a 3:27 at Columbus in 2008. I did a lot of walking late in that run as well. If things go well I think a time of 3:50-4:00 is well within reach.

That's all for now, hope to see you all out on the trail!

Am I a Bad Ass?

2009-11-13T10:18:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow morning I’ll be participating in the first annual Bill’s Bad Ass 50k in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Although this is a fat ass race, meaning it’s an unofficial event, there is a huge list of registered participants and we all receive a free t-shirt for participating. What really makes this event bad ass is that it is run exclusively on the Perkins/Riding Run trail in the CVNP, which is a notoriously gnarly trail. The loop has some pretty steep hills, a couple creek crossing but more than anything else you can always count on this loop to be muddy. I ran this trail a few weeks ago and it was completely covered in leaves making it difficult to see tree roots, making it even more difficult a trail to traverse. This loop is run 80 miles into the Burning River 100 course and is notorious for making people quit. We will be running it 6 times…bad ass.

To top off an already bad ass weekend, I have a previous commitment to pace a pretty bad ass trail race in it’s own right on Sunday – The Buckeye 10k in Columbus. Run at the Highbanks Metropark it traverses some of the steepest trails here in Columbus and should be a pretty difficult challenge. My biggest challenge won’t be completing the 10k, it will be maintaining the pace I’m responsible for. It looks like I’ll be pacing the 8:00 per mile pace group, which is super tough to maintain on a hilly trail, let alone the day after a tough 50k. I would really prefer to pace a 9:00 or 10:00 pace group but it looks like there’s no one to pace the 8:00 group and I’m always up for a challenge.

I will try and conserve some energy on Saturday so I have enough left in the tank for Sunday, but we’ll have to wait and see how things play out.

Things Didn't Go As Planned

2009-11-08T20:11:00.000-05:00

I had big plans for this weekend. The plan was to run 9 miles with MIT on Saturday, which went according to plan, and then run the Mohican 50k course on Sunday for a total of 40 miles. I planned on mapping the entire route with my new Garmin so Rob could post the course on his race website. A group was planning to meet at the Covered Bridge at 8am, so I planned to start earlier at the START/FINISH and run the course to the covered bridge.
I got to the MTB parking lot at 6am ready to hit the trail, the weather was perfect for a trail run. I did encounter an early problem though, about a mile onto the trail my headlamp went out - I think the battery simply died and I hadn't brought spare batteries. I decided the best thing to do would be to head back to my car and wait for the sun to come up. I managed to make it back just fine and about 10 minutes later there was sufficient light to head back out. In retrospect I should have stayed out on the trail and waited for the sun to come up instead of backtracking.
I was now behind schedule and not wanting people to have to wait too long for me at the Covered Bridge I was covering ground quickly. About two miles into the run I hit a root or rock and went down on the trail. I wasn't able to get my hands under me to break my fall and my right knee hit a rock, taking the full impact of the fall. I stayed on the ground for a couple of minutes in some pain, trying to stretch the knee out before hitting the trail again. I got up and proceeded along the trail. Although my knee was very sore and stiff I tried to push through it, sure that the pain would subside after a couple of miles. That wasn't the case and a mile later I was having difficulty running at all. I knew that I would neither be able to run the entire 50k course or make it to the Covered Bridge in time to meet the 8am group. I called Rob and asked if he could come pick me up at Hickory Ridge. A few short minutes later Rob and Michelle came to the rescue.
Although my knee was really hurting me it wasn't bruising or swelling so I assumed it wasn't too big a deal and decided to try and jog easy with the group and give the lodge loop a try. It didn't go very well. After really struggling to keep up through Little Lyon Falls I decided I would walk the rest of the purple loop, while the rest of the group continued onto the lodge. It was slow going and it was especially tough making my way down Big Lyon Falls but I was able to make it back to the Covered Bridge right at the faster runners were finishing their 9 mile loop. Instead of doing 31 miles I barely managed to log 10 miles for the day...not what I had in mind.
I was pleased that my dad, who had some down from Medina to run, had decided to call it a day at 9 miles because I needed a ride back to my car. We decided to grab a bite to eat at Mellors before we headed home, the home of the $1.99 all you can eat pancake breakfast. It was a long uncomfortable ride back to Columbus. I'm pleased that after icing my knee and taking a nap I'm feeling pretty good. The knees still sore but I have a feeling I'll be ok to go in a couple of days - if I had to guess I would say that I have some bursitis and nothing more.
Whether or not I'm able to run Bills Bad Ass 50k next weekend is very much up in the air. We'll have to wait and see...

Words that Ring True

2009-11-07T11:14:00.004-05:00

A I read Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer I can't help to think how ultra running and mountaineering are a lot alike. The challenges and dangers are quite different, but the driving force behind our desires to take on such enormous challenges seem to be quite similar.

Excerpts from Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer:

"Some of the same people that warned me against writing hastily had also cautioned me against going to Everest in the first place. There were many, many fine reasons not to go, but attempting to climb Everest is an intrinsically irrational act - a triumph of desire of sensibility. Any person who would seriously consider it is almost by definition beyond the sway of reasoned argument."
-John Krakauer Into Thin Air

"But these are men for whom the unattainable has a special attraction. Usually they are not experts: their ambitions and fantasies are strong enough to brush aside the doubts which more cautious men might have. Determination and faith are their strongest weapons. At best such men are regarded as eccentric, at worst, mad...
Everest has attracted its share of men like these. Their mountaineering experience varied from none at all to very slight - certainly none of them had the kind of experience which would make an ascent of Everest a reasonable goal. Three things they all had in common: faith in themselves, great determination, and endurance."
-Walt Unsworth Everest

I'll continue to post good excerpts as I make my way through the book.

Random Thoughts/Complaints (not running related)

2009-11-02T13:08:00.004-05:00

This Is It made over $100 million last weekend at the box office. You would have to strap me down to a chair and hold my eyeballs open, ala A Clockwork Orage, to get me to sit through that film. I thought Michael Jackson was a very creepy pop "star", and most likely a pedophile, while he was alive and am surprised at how captivated everyone is by him now that he's passed on. I don't know what this says about society in general, but its frightening to say the least.

On a more positive note, the Browns are an embarrasement to themselves and to the city of Cleveland. Derrick Anderson had about the worst statistical performance in history, finishing with a passer rating just above 10. His passer rating in the first half was 0, I didn't even know that was possible. In fact I think DA's stats over the last four games might just be the worst in NFL history. The fact that Mangenious refused to go to Quinn is just baffelling. Quinn wasn't lighting things up the first couple of weeks but he wasn't terrrible either. At the very least, let Cribbs take over as QB. How much worse could he be? To add to the misery, no one could hang onto the football and we ended up with 5 turnovers. After the game Jamal Lewis said he was retiring at the end of the season, I can only hope the majority of his teamates and front office people do too.

My company has started a new snacking "campaign" at work, where people are penalized for bringing in junk food. That's all well and good but it's the Monday after Halloween and there's no friggin candy in the office! Are you serious??!!! I need some candy, pronto! All this healthy eating thing is making it difficult to get away with my normal junk food diet. I realize that's sort of the point, but it doesn't mean I'm happy about it. Off to Dairy Queen, I need a Blizzard...

Running with Scissors

2009-10-26T17:18:00.004-04:00

Saturday morning's Running with Scissors Marathon was a contradiction of feelings. In one way it was a dream come true. It had been weeks since I had seen many of my trail running friends and it was great to reconnect with so many of them before the race. The weather was perfect for trail running, low 40's at dawn and low 60's come afternoon. I hadn't run on trails in over a month and it was truly incredible to be out there exploring trails I had never run before. On the flip side in a lot of ways it was like a nightmare - it had all the key elements at least... It was pitch black and I was running (from who or towards what I wasn't really sure). The race started at 5:00 am and it would be 2 1/2 hours until we could rely on the sun to light the trail. I was lost, even though the trail was well marked it's difficult to stay on course when running alone on unfamiliar leaf covered trails with only the light of your own headlamp. I was lucky to have always found my way back on course and never lost more than a minutes time. At time I was falling down and at other I was struggling to climb up slick muddy hills. The leaves not only made it difficult to follow the trail, it also did a good job of hiding tree roots and rocks that always seemed to trip me up. Add in all the ankle deep mud on the trail and it was hard to stay on my feet. I'm being a little dramatic of course, but add all this up and it makes running a marathon all the more challenging.

My actual Running with Scissors narritive is shorter than I would like it to be. I intended to run the double marathon, which would have been my second longest run ever. Even though it was only a week a after a PR at Columbus I thougth I could gut it out. I had followed the fall race schedules of all my ultra friends and they things they were doing was inspiring. Ron's 8 marathons/ultras in nine weeks including a 103 mile effort at NC24, Roy's 100+ miles at NC24 followed by the Towpath Marathon, Terri's back to back Towpath and Columbus marathon followed by her top finish at the RWS double marathon, not to be outdone Gred Dykes was doing 8 marathons/ultras in 9 weeks concluding at the Massanutten 50 in two weeks. Even though I hadn't been putting in a lot of miles I thought I could manage ONE back to back marathon/ultra.

The first 16 miles of the marathon actually went pretty good. I was running at a comfortable pace and running in the dark on with a headlamp on trails requires your undivided attention. I think this took my mind off how tired my legs actually were. As the sun came up and we headed back towards the Ledges Shelter I already felt like I was running on empty. I was able to hold it together but I started to question whether the double was such a good idea. I have a lot of races I'd like to run this fall and I'd hate to derail that all by overexerting myself and getting injured. Somewhere between Pine Hollow and Ledges I decided to put in a push to the turn-around point because if I decided to only run the single marathon I wanted to finish strong. Despite Dave's best efforts to warn Patrick of my presence I was the third person to complete the marathon - Dave had already left for the double.

Maybe I wasn't as committed as I needed to be but right when I finished the marathon I knew there was no going back out for the second. To Patrick's dismay that meant that I was second and he was third in the marathon, both finishing in 4:21. As Terri, Ron, and Mark came in and went back out that feeling of dissapointment that I hadn't gone back out emerged. They are so tough, and I can't help but question my toughness when I chose to just do one marathon. I know I could have completed a second marathon but it would have been a long, slow, painful 5+ hours and I wasn't prepared to dig that deep. All in all it was a great day, and a great race. Roy certainly didn't do us any favors when he drew up that course, it was brutal! I look forward to coming back next year and this time actually completeing the double.

Happy trails everyone...

The 2009 Columbus Marathon

2009-10-21T14:14:00.006-04:00

from left to right: Mike Barga, stranger, Mary Dillhoff, Dave Calvert, and Me

Now that the dust has settled from last weekend’s marathon I thought I’d take the time to write up my race report with a clear head. My perspective on a race can sometimes be off the day of or day after a race because the pain is still fresh. Thoughts like, never again, or fast enough, are always at the forefront of my thinking. After just a couple of days those thoughts fade away and all the great things about a race and the road leading to that day come to the forefront.

I came into Columbus with a fairly reasonable goal, to break 3:00, which for me represented a 10 minute marathon PR. I ran 3:10 at Cleveland while training for my first 100, without doing a great deal of speed work, so I thought breaking 3:00 wouldn’t be too difficult with training more tailored to a marathon. I think that initial overconfidence really affected my training efforts for the worse. Even though I ran quality speed workouts and quality long runs each week I did very little, almost nothing, between those two workouts. I think I was just dealing with that post-marathon lull that people go through where people have a hard time ramping things back up for the next race. For me it was a post-100 lull. Instead of taking a few months off, I was doing things half-assed for a couple of months. Although my training results were very up and down I had a few very good runs the weeks leading up to the race and I found myself pretty confident come race day. I’ve come to realize that confidence in your own abilities is ½ the battle in an endurance event.

Conditions on race day were very conducive to a fast time. Although it was a little cold at the start, there was little wind, and no precipitation. This wasn’t my first rodeo but the race day nerves never go away, and I just wanted to get this thing started. At one point it looked like there would be a small army of people running as a group, trying to break 3:00 together, but on race day it was just Mary and I at the start together. We would rely on each other to reign in the urge to run quicker or to slow down throughout the race. Looking back on things I think that worked to our advantage, as a large group is hard to keep together.

As the race started we quickly settled into our pace, hitting the first mile just a tad ahead of pace. We had planned on doing the first two miles at 7:00 or 7:10 pace to ease into race pace but you know what they say about the best laid plans… The good thing is that things felt easy early on and we did our best to stay at marathon pace and not run too fast. By mile 8 we had attracted a little crowd of strong female runners. I’d like to think they were there because of my good looks :) - but it was pretty apparent that they were trying to stick by Mary who was moving up in the overall rankings. Dave Calvert of Fleet Feet joined us around mile 10 and he would work with us the rest of the way, making our little team three people strong.

We went through the ½ way point in 1:28:30, which was a little quick but overall right about where we wanted to be. We were still on cruise control, but this is the first point at which you take an inventory of how your feeling. I was running strong but had only been taking water thus far so I made myself eat a pack of Sport Beans, which would pay off late in the race. I started to have my first sign of difficulty around mile 15, circling OSU’s off-campus housing but luckily I had Dave and Mary to pace off of for a few minutes and before I knew it I was through it and feeling good again. In a marathon you’re going to have spots that are difficult, you just hope that they’re fleeting like this one was.

As we left OSU’s west-campus I had another difficult stretch and again set in behind Mary and Dave and was lucky to have this spot of bother pass quickly as well. By mile 20, the make or break point of the race I was feeling strong. Our training partner, and soon to be sub-3:00 marathoner, Mike Barga joined us at mile 20 to bring us home. Mike’s running MCM next weekend but didn’t let that stop him from pacing Eric for several miles on his way to a 2:49 and us for 6 miles. It was more than he should have been doing a week before his big race, but that’s Mike for you. He’s a team player and is just as invested in his friends races as he is his own.

At mile 20 our pack cracked a little bit as I took over the pacing duties, doing my best to maintain 6:45 pace. Dave was by my side, but Mary was a few seconds back. I knew she’d be in good hands with Mike with her so I fought to stay on pace. I was happy to hear Michelle and Co. going crazy cheering for Mary as I came down Grandview Ave. at mile 22.5 because I know Mary was right with us and hadn’t fallen off pace. Things were getting very tough and it was difficult to maintain 6:45 miles at this point but Dave and I were still working together to hold it together. Miles 24 and 25 were extremely painful but I knew it would all be over in less than 20 minutes. Dave was dragging me through these miles – if he was hurting he was doing a good job of hiding it because he looked in control and relaxed.

At mile 25 the pain goes away as thousands of fans line the course. Their cheers and words of encouragement offer a distraction from the pain. Wanting to put on a good show, the body offers a little extra energy that you didn’t know you had a mile earlier, and luckily the last mile turns out to be one of the quickest – the fact that it happens to be downhill doesn’t hurt either. For the first time of the day I switch the watch over to show my overall time, I had my sub-3:00 marathon in the bag. My watch clicks over to 26.2 miles and reads 2:56:32, but wait we’re still not on Nationwide Blvd – doggonit either my Garmin is off again or this course is long! Keep it together! The last ¼ mile is always tough, you’re willing the body to run faster but it’s fighting you. I’m not sure if it’s the pain of the finishing kick, the sense of accomplishment for knowing you’ve made it, or the fact that your focus finally breaks and you soak it all in and look at all the crowd cheering for YOU! Whatever the case may be I always get emotional at the end of a marathon.

I came across the line in 2:58:15, a 12 minute PR and my first time sub-3:00. Darrin was there to congratulate me and then make sure I was ok, after all he had a job to do as medical director. Esposito and Julie were there to give me my metal. I turned around to see Dave finish right behind me, his chip time would be identical to my own. We hung around, against everyone’s instructions to keep moving through the finishers chute, because I wanted to see Mary come across that line. Sure enough, with time to spare Mary came through in 2:59:36, finishing as the 7th female! The fact that all three of us accomplished our goal made it all the more special, there was no consoling anyone who came up short, it was pure jubilation!

As always, it was a banner day for dozens of MIT teammates and friends, who had run Columbus that day. Eric’s 2:49, Roger’s 2:51, Ashley’s 3:07, Patrick’s 3:20, Terri and Michelle breaking 3:30, Ron Ross also breaking 3:30 the week after running the Towpath Marathon and only two weeks after a 103 mile effort at NC24! I could list 50 people who set PRs or qualified for Boston at Columbus, it was that type of day. Congrats to everyone that ran on Sunday! I look forward to hearing each and every one of your stories on a run in the near future.

It feels like this race marks the conclusion of a long season of training but it’s actually the commencement of my fall/winter racing season. I plan on ramping up my training to include 4 days of running a week, including long runs on Saturdays and Sundays in preparation for some longer races. This upcoming Sunday I will be participating in the Running with Scissors Double Marathon+, which is a 53.4 mile trail run. I plan on taking the first loop really easy and playing the second loop by ear. On November 14th I will be participating in Bill’s Bad Ass 50k, which is an unofficial event but I plan on running hard. On December 12th I'll be running the Festivus 50k here in Columbus, hoping to go sub-4:00 on an easy course. On January 17th I’ll be running the Run for Regis 50k, which I DNF’ed at last year and hope to do well in this year. My fall/winter season all builds up to my second 100 mile race on February 6th – the Rocky Raccoon 100 in Huntsville Texas. Not only is Rocky Raccoon my favorite Beatles song but it’s also the name of one of the most popular 100 mile races in the country, and it’s early enough that it won’t disrupt my spring marathon training.

That's my plan and I'm sticking to it...

A Few Thoughts about the Columbus Marathon

2009-10-19T09:55:00.001-04:00

I’ll probably take the time to organize all my thoughts about my recent Columbus Marathon finish but for now I thought I’d write a few random thoughts about my day and the marathon in general.

As I woke up the day after the marathon it was just another reminder of how hard road running is on the body. After I stretched and took a nap after the race yesterday I met some friends out to celebrate our marathon finishes. I felt really great, very few aches and pains, which I wasn’t expecting. Well I woke up this morning and my left knee is killing me and I’m very stiff. I can’t remember ever feeling like this after a trail race (100 miler excluded).

I was blown away with all the huge PR’s people set yesterday. Almost everyone who followed Tim’s speed-workout regiment had 10+ minute PR’s yesterday, myself included. All but a few qualified for Boston.

Columbus really is a first class marathon. The course is fantastic, the neighborhood support is fantastic, and the event is very well managed. I was a little disappointed to not be doing one of the marathon majors this fall, but after another great Columbus experience I’m happy that things turned out the way they did.

There is definitely a sense of accomplishment that I feel for breaking 3 hours in the marathon but as of right now I don’t have any urge to lower that time. That hurt like hell and I can just imagine how bad a 2:50 would hurt…

I was really lucky to have Mary and Dave running the whole way with me and I think the three of us working together helped us all achieve our sub-3 finishes. I remember miles 14, 18, 23, 24, and 25 being really tough miles and it was nice to rely on someone else to set the pace through those miles. Congrats to Mary for finishing as the 7th female.

Is it just me or was the course once again significantly long? I know Garmins aren’t 100% accurate but my watch measured the course at 26.45 miles and all of my friends watches matched mine or showed that the course was a hair longer. If that’s the case than ¼ of a mile is a pretty big discrepancy, and would represent 1:45 at my pace (putting my time closer to 2:56:30). You would have a hard time convincing me that I lost that much distance by running an incorrect tangent. For people that were right on the verge of a Boston qualifier an extra ¼ mile might have detailed their bid. Just my two cents…

My 4th Columbus Marathon

2009-10-16T14:19:00.003-04:00

It's hard to believe this Sunday's race will be my 4th Columbus Marathon and 10th marathon or ultra.

My first marathon was the 2003 Columbus Marathon, which sort of happened by accident. My college roomate had trained all summer for his first marathon and was going into the race with an ambitious goal - qualifying for Boston at his first marathon. I had run some pretty good half marathons in high school, but had literally not run the entire thee years at college. I can't recall whether he asked or I volunteered, but it was determined that I would try and pace him for as long as I could, hoping I could get him to the 1/2 way point. I ran one time a week before the race, a 6 mile jog, and that was all the preperation I did. The day before the race my roomate came back from the expo with bad news. He told me that they were really serious about pulling "bandits" off the course and that I wouldn't be able to help pace him. I don't know what possesed me but I thought, no problem I'll just sign up for the race and drop out at the 1/2 way mark. After forking over $75 and having immediate buyers remorse I told myself no matter what that I would complete the run the next day even if I had to walk the entire second half. Being my typical overconfident self, I didn't think a marathon was really that big of a deal and that I'd be ok. Boy was I wrong. A marathon has a way of humbling even the most confident.

Even though I came in with no plan, it's fair to say that nothing went according to plan. First of all I didn't manage to run more than two miles at 7:00 pace with my friend, I was out of shape and the worlds worst pacer - but I soldiered on. I came through the 1/2 marathon in 1:45, which looking back on things was way too fast but I didn't know that at the time. At mile 14 I ran out of gas and everything began to hurt. The next 3 hours were the toughest 3 hours I'd ever endured. I walked almost the entire 2nd half of the race and finished the marathon in 4:51 - I was in tears as I crossed the finish line. Almost immediately I told myself I'd run this again someday and I'd train property next time.

Flash forward 3 years, and I got the urge to try the marathon again. I had just spend the summer in Europe honeymooning with my wife and for some reason I decided it was time to give this another shot. I really committed myself to my training...for the first week. I had trouble staying motivated. I recall every run I did leading up that marathon, which is pretty easy when you only run 4 times. I did a couple 6 milers after work, I did a 10 mile run, as well as the Homestretch 20 miler. I thought, if I can finish Homestretch I'll be ok, even though I'd let myself down with my committment to the training. I made it about 14 miles in the Homestretch run before I had to resort to a walk/jog routine - it was not the run I had hoped for.

I don't know if it was stubborness or overconfidence this time that led me to go through with the marathon but once again I toed the line at Columbus with little to no training. My goal was to not walk and to try and break 4 hours, which I thought was reasonable. I once again came through the 1/2 in 1:45, which was again too fast and 4 miles later I hit the wall. The last 9 miles were very similar to my first marathon...difficult. I think I finished in 4:12, meaning the only goal I accomplished was finishing, but it was an almost 40 minute PR. I finished that race questioning whether I really had the drive to properly train for a marathon.

Two years later I got the urge to try another marathon and at the urging of my wife's friend I joined a training group, thinking group runs would motivate me to train. MIT it turned out was a great fit for me. Although I ran no milage outside of the group runs on Wednesdays and Saturdays, it was still a lot more than I had done in the previous two attempts. I came in with the same goal as before, finish in 4:00 without walking. This time I accomplished my goal, finishing in 3:27; a 45 minute PR. I still wasn't as dedicated to my training as I should have been but it was a huge improvement.

This years marathon looks to be pretty similar to last years. Even though I have a pretty great year of running behind me, I had a little bit of trouble dedicating myself to training this summer. After Mohican I regressed back to a twice a week running routine, although they were all quality runs. If everything goes according to plan I should be in line for another big Columbus PR, but I think my days of 40-45 minutes PRs are behind me :). My goal is pretty ambitious, sub 3:00, but I know it's well within reach if I'm feeling well on race day. Tune in next week to see if I hit my goal or if I crashed and burned once again on the 2nd half of the Columbus Marathon course.

Time to Taper?

2009-10-03T10:15:00.003-04:00

Well I easily completed the 10 Yasso 800's on Wednesday and after finishing another strong run today - 17 miles at a 7:00 average - Mary mentioned that it's time to start our taper. I was too embarrassed to mention that I've kinda been tapering since Mohican! I never did get back into a regular training schedule. Outside of Wednesdays and Saturdays I rarely ever run. I did put in a couple good back to back runs over Labor Day weekend, and ran the BT50k and paced at BR100 but other than that my training has been pretty lax. I know Clara already uses the moniker, but I feel like the lazy ultra runner.

I think all the people I train with assume I run 6 times a week like they do, and I guess I go along with it because I don't know how it would come off if I mentioned I only run 2 days a week for the most part. I'm afraid it will be perceived as arrogant or something...really I'm just a bit lazy.

Considering I'm averaging 30 miles per week I don't think I'll decrease my milage in the lead into the Columbus marathon but I'll probably take my weekend runs a little easier. I know a PR and sub-3:00 time are still easily within reach given my recent long run results. I feel like I'm cheating myself of reaching my full potential by not giving my training 100% effort.

So I'm going to open this up for suggestions, I hope some of you will chime in. I have never, ever (seriously), woke up before work during the week to run but that's what I'm going to need to do if I plan on taking my running to the next level. I am not a morning person, I dread getting out of bed. If anyone has a trick or suggestion about what gets them moving in the morning I'd really appreciate the input!

Happy trails everyone...

Great Tune-Up Run

2009-09-27T11:35:00.005-04:00

Instead of running on Saturday morning with MIT we met on Sunday, to participate in the Homestretch 20 Miler in Westerville. Most people were going to use it as a tune-up for their fall marathon, with the intent to run at least 13 miles at marathon pace. That was my intent as well, but as usual things didn't go according to plan. It was cold, raining and windy this morning so I was not optimistic that it would be a good day. We did two warm-up miles and I was already chaffing, yowser!

We started the race off a little faster than we planned but the adrenaline of race day can do wonders. We weren't racing but pinning on a bib can do a lot for the psyche.

Mile 1 – 7:13
Mile 2 – 7:15

The plan was to jump into marathon pace at mile 3 and we eased into pace as planned. Despite the wind and rain things were going quite well.

Mile 3 – 6:52
Mile 4 – 6:40
Mile 5 – 6:37

Ok, that one was too fast! We were feeling a little too good and we realized after clocking a sub-6:40 mile that we needed to slow down. We might pay for that one later...

Mile 6 – 6:41
Mile 7 – 6:40
Mile 8 – 6:43

Ok, so we didn't really slow down but this was feeling easy. We decided to just maintain the pace at maybe shut it down at 13 if we were under 6:50 average pace at that point. Don't want to stray from the plan we set...

Mile 9 – 6:49
Mile 10 – 6:39
Mile 11 – 6:42
Mile 12 – 6:37

Geesh, that was another quick one but we were in the groove and things were still feeling easy. I could feel a bathroom break coming on so I was planning on shutting it down at the next water/restroom stop on the course.

Mile 13 – 6:51
Mile 14 – 7:01

Ok, that was a close one. If the porta-john had been 100 yards further I would have had an embarrassing shuffle to the finish. After my 2:37 pit stop (yes I timed it :) I planned on just cruising into the finish line. Exit porta-john and my friend teammate was nowhere in sight, well maybe I'll carry-on at a decent pace and since we're taking it easy the rest of the way I'll catch him in a mile or two.

Mile 15 – 9:15 (inclding pit stop)
Mile 16 – 7:05
Mile 17 – 7:05

Where the hell is my teamate? I'm running a lot faster than I planned on running these last couple miles and he's still nowhere in sight. He must have saw an opportunity to put some time in me and he seized it. I'm still feeling great, this is almost too easy, so I'll continue my pace and see if I can run him down.

Mile 18 – 6:30
Mile 19 – 6:31
Mile 20 – 6:20

Wow! What a race although I never did run down my teammate Mike. Despite the rain and windy conditions that couldn't have been a better run. I wish today had been marathon day because even with my pit stop I was still on marathon pace and I was super relaxed. I could have hammered 6 more miles at 6:30 pace. Oh well, I'm pumped about my run today - it was a big confidence booster. I just hope I have another good day in three weeks in Columbus.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

2009-09-23T21:22:00.002-04:00

It's been that kind of training week. I actually had a couple good runs in a row. Last Wednesday's run went well and so did my Saturday workout. On Wednesday we did 2 miles warm-up, 6 miles at tempo, and a 2 mile cool down. All my tempo miles were sub-6:30 and I felt relaxed the whole way. On Saturday I had a 20 miler planned and if I was feeling good the plan was to get a few in at marathon pace. We started out at 6am and got in 5 before the full group met at 7am. The first 5 miles were at 8:30 pace - my overall pace for the 20 miles was 7:20. I haven't calculated it out or really analyzed my splits from my Garmin but most of those were around 7:00 pace and we ran very relaxed the whole way. In fact it was the easiest 20 miler I've ever run and I had a ton of confidence in my chances of breaking 3:00 after finishing the run. Fast forward a few days and I was confident that tonights workout would be no problem. The workout called for a 2 mile warm-up, 3 miles at marathon pace, 3 miles at tempo pace, and 2 miles at tempo -15sec. On paper this workout is super tough, but I felt confident that I could handle it. Well it ended up handling me...
The workout started out really well. We got through the marathon pace miles with ease. When we started into the tempo portion things started to go a little downhill. The first mile was a relaxed 6:30 mile but I started cramping up - 2 minutes later and I was searching the trail for a Port-a-John. Luckily I made it to one just in time - they're doing construction on 315 and the nice people of ODOT had one right at the corner of Henderson and 315. I had a hard time getting back on pace after my little pit stop and although I was supposed to be running sub-6:30 pace I couldn't seem to get myself to run marathon pace. It was a long 3 miles to the next restroom on the trail and I pretty much gave up on the workout and focused on making it to the next pit stop.
If these little OFF days were a rarity it wouldn't bother me so much, but they are becoming all too common. I've had some stomach and intestinal issues lately and they are impacting my running all too often. I need to start thinking more about what I eat so that I don't have these problems so often. I've failed to finish several key workouts lately because something I've ate didn't agree with me. I'd really like to have a good workout this weekend at the Homestrech 20 Miler to convince me that these bad workouts haven't set me back too far.

Wish I Could Be There...

2009-09-23T10:10:00.004-04:00

The Plain Dealer had a great article on the North Coast 24 Endurance Run today, http://www.cleveland.com/recreation/index.ssf/2009/09/edgewater_park_will_host_gruel.html.

I really wish I could participate in this event. Not only would I love to test my limits in a 24 hour event, but the fact that it's a national championship would add to the excitement. Of course I wouldn't have a chance to contend for a spot on a national team, but it would be exciting to participate none the less.

With that being said, my dear friend Katie is getting married that day and I wouldn't miss her wedding for any race - even an event that's sure to be as great as the NC24.

For everyone running at the NC24, good luck! I can't wait to see those results posted to see how all the NE Ohioans did.

I would still like to do an ultra sometime between now and Mohican, and for the time being I have my sights set on Rocky Racoon. Not only is it a well run 100 mile race, it fits into my schedule well by not interfering with the spring marathon season - that and Rocky Racoon happens to be my favorite Beatles song, so I fell like it's meant to be. That being said, I still haven't gone to my Mrs. to get approval to run the race. A race that requires travel ($) and a potential use of a vacation day will certainly require approval from my wife, the accountant.

Mountain Bike?

2009-09-15T15:10:00.010-04:00

I've been enjoying my bike rides so much recently that I have this urge to try out the Mohican MTB trails. Of course I've run most of them countless times but I think it would be fun to do them on a bike. There's just one problem. My mountain bike is really old and is not equipped to handle real trails. First of all it has no front shock, nor does it have disc brakes - two things I think would be very important when riding trails real trails. So of course I've been looking around if there are any good deals to find on a entry level mountain bikes. I've been surprised at how reasonable some of these bikes are priced. The following are the ones I've considered - all between $450 and $550.

Felt q520 - $470

Cannondale F8 - $550

Specialized Hardrock (disc) - $470

Trek 3900 (disc) - $530

If anyone know anything about mountain bikes I'd love your input on which brands are good/bad.

Bad Run, Good Ride

2009-09-14T13:02:00.003-04:00

This weekend’s group run called for another 21 miles, with 10 miles at marathon pace. We ran south to the ‘Shoe as planned, did our loop of all the tailgaters, got our picture taken at Game Day and headed back north. The plan was to start our miles at marathon pace as soon as we crossed Lane Avenue heading north. I wasn’t feeling well from the get-go once we started in at marathon pace. I hadn’t eaten a proper meal the night before (salami sandwich early and banana before bed, that’s it) and slammed a McDonald’s breakfast sandwich 5 minutes before the run because I was starving. That didn’t agree with my stomach (surprise!) and I was feeling sick. What’s new!? I made it 4 miles into the marathon pace before the McDonalds came back up…ugh! The group was already running way to fast (between 6:30 and 6:40 instead of 6:50) and I was clearly not having a good run so I shut it down and ran back with the 9:00 pace group who I ran into at our next water stop. I think some of the 9:00 runners got a kick out of seeing me struggle :). It was probably a good lesson for those who were training for their first marathon as I stepped off the trail, hacked up some breakfast, and rejoined the group. I’d run a 100 miler a couple month before and I was having more trouble completing a 20 mile workout than they were, but I was still trucking on. It ended up being a 19 mile run at 8:00 average pace but it was not the workout that I had planned. The thing that stinks is that I have to do the workout again next week, but I’ll be doing the marathon pace miles alone.

On Sunday I planned on meeting my buddy Roger (who crushed the previous day’s workout) for a 50 mile group ride. He forewarned me that I might be over my head, but I’m always up for a challenge. On Labor Day we rode 50 miles, my first ride in over 2 years, at a 16mph average. His Sunday group maintains a 18-20 mph average. I was prepared to be dropped in the first 5 miles, so I studied the map before leaving, assuming I’d be out there alone for most of the day. As luck would have it, none of the usual aggressors showed and it was quite windy so we never quite hit that 18mph average pace and I was able to hang with the group for most of the ride. I got dropped on a hilly section of road about halfway, but I caught them as they refueled at the next turn. I got dropped again at about 10 miles later but they waited for me at a major intersection to make sure I knew the way. I kept up for the next ten miles, but with about five miles to go they dropped me again and I had nothing left in the tank. My quads were shot and I sat up and cruised in. They again waited for me at an intersection and I felt really bad to be holding them up, and told them to go ahead because I knew the way back and that I was OK – just tired. I finished the ride up but my legs were completely thrashed. We ended up riding 52 miles and I averaged 17.5 mph.

I felt really good about the ride. I’m not used to being the weakest link in a group workout, so that was humbling and a bit of a new experience but I didn’t let it get me down. Hey, I had just logged 100 miles for the week on my bike…not too shabby! I’m not ½ as good on a bike as I am on a run, but it’s fun to mix it up. I have no ambitions to become a competitive cyclist like I do as a runner, but I hope to improve enough that I’m not being dropped on rides. As with anything else, if I stick with it I think that will come with time.

Speed

2009-09-09T21:29:00.002-04:00

I'm beginning to think that my performance at the Spirit of Columbus Relay was just a fluke. Everyone's entitled to a bad day right?

We hadn't done any speed-work on the track lately so we (and by we I mean Tim) decided to revise our schedule and do Yasso 800's. We are something like 6 or 7 weeks out from Columbus so we (Tim) figured it wouldn't make sense to do more than 8 repeats...so that's what we did. I'm hoping to break 3 hours at Columbus so I need to run a 3:00 800s according to Mr. Yasso. I always get a little carried away on the track and have a hard time holding back, but that's ok if you can complete the workout. It was that kind of day. All of the reps were between 2:48 and 2:52, so I was pretty pleased with the work-out. It certainly helped to have Mr. Fleet Feet himself join the workout tonight to push me along. Tim's crazy fast and when I was hitting 2:50 on a 800m repeat he was easily hitting 2:40 without breaking a sweat. He was nice enough to wait until my 90 seconds of rest were up and started each repeat with me - acting as my rabbit on each repeat.

I'm knowing I'm probably asking the wrong group of people here - I'm pretty sure only my ultra friends read my blog - but what are peoples thoughts on doing the Indian Run 60k a month out from Columbus? Would that totally derail my marathon training? I'd like to run the race but I don't want to hurt my chances of hitting my goal of breaking 3:00 at Columbus.

As Good As It Gets

2009-09-08T18:34:00.005-04:00

Last weekend really was perfect. I came into the weekend feeling down on my training lateley - thinking I wouldn't hit any of the goals I set for the fall races. What I needed was a solid weekend of training with some friends to recharge my batteries and get some confidence back.

The weekend started like any other weekend, with a Saturday morning MIT training run. The plan was to run 20 miles, running all the way down to campus to circle the Horseshoe on gameday. The atmosphere of a gameday at Ohio State adds a little excitement to long run and it always makes the first half of the run that much easier because I'm excited to get to the stadium and hear the band practicing, see the ROTC doing their morning drills, and see all the fans tailgating. We did a pretty good job of holding our 8:00 pace for the first half, even around campus where we typically get a little amped up and carried away with the pace. It wasn't until mile 15 that the pace quickened and I was happy to tag along. The last 5 miles averaged 6:30 pace, which is really quicker than we should have run but I never felt like I was pushing myself. I felt so relaxed at the end of the run that it boosted my confidence that I would bounce back into shape quickly. I felt so good that I decided I would meet Terri at Mohican the next morning. I hadn't been back to Mohican since the 100 and I was really excited to head up there for a run, although I wasn't sure how I'd do the day after a 20 miler.

When I pulled into the Covered Bridge parking area on Sunday I was really excited to see that not only was Terri there, but so were Rob and Michelle! Mohican is certainly a special place but it's the people you run with that make it extra special. I hadn't run with Terri, Michelle, or Rob since before Mohican 100 and I was excited to be back on the trails with them. I was a little bummed that Mark Carroll didn't show. I've been reading his blog for a few months now (you all know how great a writer he is) and I was really looking forward to logging some miles with him. As we later found out Mark had a run in with a deer just a few miles from Mohican - he was ok but his car wasn't. Mark, I look forward to running with you in the future - glad you're ok.

I hadn't done back to back long runs since May, so I was a little unsure how I'd feel but to my surprise I felt great all day long. We ended up running the Red and Green loops, which is 9.5 miles to Rock Point ant 10.5 back to the Covered Bridge for a total of 20 miles. I always have a blast out at Mohican - it's great to get off of the asphalt bike paths of Columbus and its great to get out there with people who share my passion for running...LONG. It was especially great to see Rob out there, looking great. For him to be out there running 10+ miles at Mohican so soon after his health scare was incredible. The only bummer on the day was seeing what the natural gas companies have done to the South Park to Fire Tower section of the Green Loop. Huge sections of trail have been replaced with gravel road and large section of forest cleared. The Green Loop was my favorite section of trail, so I was really dissapointed to see that section altered so much. I hope that they're done doing whatever they're doing, it would be a shame if they tore up more trail. I had an absolute blast on the run though and it was great to catch up with everyone I hadn't seen in a while.

On Sunday I met up with a couple buddies for what was supposed to be a 45 mile bike ride. I hadn't rode my bike in over two years and I've been meaning to get out and ride so I asked my buddy who just completed Ironman Louisville if he's join me for a ride. I knew the only chance I had of keeping up was to catch him after his race. The skies looked a little ominous and the forcast called for showers so I wasn't sure exactly how long of a ride we'd manage but we headed out as planned at 8am.

I think I underestimated how different bike fitness and running fitness are. The first ten miles were tough. We weren't even keeping up that fast of a pace, maybe 16mph average, but I was feelig it. The great thing about biking though is that you get stretches to recover and I felt much better as the ride wore on. At about mile 15 we missed a turn, I realized it right away but my buddy said we could just continue on and we'd be fine. We ended up cutting a huge section of the route but sure enough we did end up back on the planned route. There was a pretty steady rain coming down at this point but it never got the point where it bothered me that much. At about mile 25 we made a wrong turn and instead of heading south, back towards home, we turned north. The ride was shaping up to be about ten miles short due to the earlier detour but this wrong turn would more than make up for it. We eventually realized we were going the wrong way and took the first main road heading west to head back towards a main road we knew was only a few miles to the west. When we hit the main road we headed south and took the first right to avoid the heavy traffic. What threw me off was due to a curve in the road the right turn had us going north again and not west, like I thought we were going. We took the first left, thinking we were going south at this point (are you confused? now you know how I felt on the ride :). We weren't going south though, we were heading west and before we knew it we hit Hoover Resevoir...oops! The good thing is that we now knew where we were and pretty much how to get home. The bad news is that we added some distance to the ride. With the earlier missed turn taking about 10 miles off the route we ended up only going 5 extra, for a total of 50 miles for the day.

Despite our bad navigation and the crummy weather, I had an absolute blast on the ride. I'm certainly not a gifted rider. I'm a little uneasy on the bike (afraid to go down on the aero bars) and still uncomfortable rideing in a pace line (we tried this for a bit) but my endurance suits the sport. We weren't keeping up a very fast pace but I did get stronger as the ride went on. Including our stops and some sections where we were riding slower and chatting we averaged just over 16mph for the ride - nothing to brag about. I think if we were constantly working we could have pretty easily averaged about 18mph. My buddy's normal riding group averages 20+ mph on their rides and I know I'd get dropped from them immediately if I tried to join them, so I've got a ways to go. With that being said, the ride lit a little fire in me. I forgot how great a bike ride can be and I really think I'll incorperate it in my training more often. It will never replace running for me, but it will be a nice alternative on occasion.

I hope I have a few more weekends like last weekend before the colder fall weather hits us. Besides the Mohican training weekend this was about as much fun as I've ever had with my training. Maybe some sort of mult-day event is in my future, who knows? This weeekend definitely gave my taining the boost it needed to push hard towards my fall marathon. Maybe I will have some good things in store this fall...

Time to Jump Back Into My Training

2009-09-04T18:35:00.000-04:00

Well my race last weekend didn’t go as planned. Although I had taken some time off from running I was still hoping that my fitness level wouldn’t drop off too much. This race would essentially kick off my fall marathon training season – a fitness check. I think I went into the race a little overconfident, with the goal of holding 6:00 pace for my portion of the relay leg. My partner came through the relay split in first place in 38:30, so he definitely held up his end of the deal – the pressure was on me now. My legs didn’t respond pretty much right from the beginning. I hadn’t properly warmed up (actually I didn’t warm up at all). I’m not going to go into all the detail but who ever planned all the logistics of the race had overlooked some crucial details. Like I said, right from the get-go I wasn’t feeling well and I put it in cruise control and held 6:30 tempo pace for my leg. So I ended up not racing but used it as a tempo run. My partner had give me such a big cushion that we easily won the relay, which was a bit of a surprise given my performance.
Well this was a little bit of a wakeup call – I need to get my butt back in shape! I was quite busy this week but I did manage to get in a ½ hour run on Monday followed by a 1 hour lifting session. On Wednesday I met with MIT for our usual speed workout. This week called for a progressive workout: 2 mile warm up, 3 miles at marathon pace (6:50), 2 miles at tempo (6:20), 2 miles at tempo -0:20 (6:00), with a 2 mile cool-down. It was a tough workout. My Garmin battery was dead so I ran it without a watch but I’m pretty certain I hit my paces. I ran with a friend for the first leg and we hit our 6:50 pace. We hit our 6:20 pace in mile 4 of the workout but then I pulled away and ran ahead. I picked up the pace at mile 5 to what I thought was 6:00 pace but I don’t know for sure without a watch. Anyways, it was a good workout and hopefully a good sign of things to come.
Since its Labor Day weekend I’ve got a lot of things I’m trying to cram into one weekend. I’m meeting my fellow MIT teammates for a 20 mile run on Saturday. With it being the first Buckeyes home game we plan on running through the tailgate lots, with is always a lot of fun. On Sunday I’m thinking of heading up to Mohican for a trail run – maybe another 20 miles…we’ll see. On Monday (Labor Day) I’m planning on going for my first bike ride in over 2 years. My friend and recent Ironman finisher, is going to accompany me on a 45 mile ride. It will probably be a joyride for him and a good workout for me. I think this is the type of weekend I need to get that fire burning again!

Break Time's Over

2009-08-29T11:26:00.003-04:00

I haven't left a post in a while, for good reason, I've been taking a little break from running! In the last three weeks I've logged about as many miles as I would normally run in one week - 24/14/12 for a combined total of 50 miles. Well it's time to jump back into my training for the fall marathon season. No better way to start than with a tune-up race! I'll be running the Spirit of Columbus 1/2 with a friend tomorrow, as a relay team. The 6.55 race should give me an idea where I am fitness wise - hopefully I haven't gotten too out of shape during my break. Other than this weekends race, I'm not sure whether I'll do any other races before Columbus. I'm kicking around the idea of running one or two other races but I'm on the fence. I may just surprise you and show up at a race your running : ). One things for sure, I need to log some miles on trails - I really miss those long training runs on scenic trails with great friends. Hopefully our paths cross soon, if not good luck in all your fall races!

Oh, one more thing. I want to give a shout out to my friend Roger, who's competing in the Ironman Louisville on Sunday. Good luck buddy!

Time for a Break

2009-08-09T21:53:00.005-04:00

With my 17:37 5k finish this past weekend (Baltimore Festival 5k) I've now accomplished all three of the goals I set for 2009. With my 3:10 finish at the Cleveland Marathon I accomplished the first part of my goal, qualifying for the Boston Marathon. With my 28:30 finish at the Mohican 100 I accomplished my second goal, finish a 100 mile run. My third goal was to break 18:00 in a 5k, which I've now done.
I've really enjoyed the persuit of these goals. They've allowed me to run a variety of different races, which all require a different type of training - which keeps things interesting. I've enjoyed it so much that I'm considering upping my game for 2010. Off the top of my head a 2:55 marathon (NYC qualifyer), 24:00 finish at Mohican, and a 17:00 5k would be a really difficult/fun challenge. With that being said, I'm not allowing myself to excel at any one discipline by having such a diverse set of goals.
If I were to choose one goal to focus on it would be the 100. I enjoy the training the most and it is the most rewarding. On top of that I think it's the event that I have the most potential in. It is also the most challenging... Should I forget about all the other stuff and just focus my training on ultras? What type of goal is reasonable? Without getting a couple more ultra's under my belt I just don't know.

For now, I’m going to take a much deserved vacation and take a break from training. Last week I only ran 22 miles, and I’ll be lucky to top that the next two weeks. I’m leaving for a vacation at Lake Cumberland this Friday and I’ll be on a house boat for 8 days. That means I’ll miss a full week of running - including two weekends, which is when I log most of my miles. I’m not even going to stress out about it. I’ll probably do a little swimming and some push-ups and sit-ups, but for the most part I’ll veg-out. After all that’s what vacation is all about right?
I’ll pick up my training in two weeks and hopefully I’ll be re-charged and ready to resume my training for fall.

I Think I've Found My Calling

2009-08-05T12:15:00.004-04:00

Last week was an inspiring week of running. As I mentioned in last weeks blog I got to pace twice! Once at the Dublin Irish Festival 4 Miler, where I lead the 8:00 minute pace group. I was really excited that I crossed the finish line with a 4 second cushion – talk about right on pace! We got a lot of great feedback from people who joined us on the run, who really appreciated our help with pacing. Afterwards the pace team and fellow MIT team members went to Brazenhead for an adult beverage – it was a great night all around.
The second pacing opportunity came at the Burning River 100 Run. Again, as mentioned in last week’s blog I had the opportunity to pace Jenny Chow, who is a very accomplished ultra runner. I was very excited about the opportunity to pace because it’s a great way to get in a long training run while simulating a race (i.e. eating every few miles and fighting sleep deprivation). I was also excited to learn a few things from Jenny, who has clearly had a lot of success in 100’s this last year. Jenny was looking for a pacer because her normal running partner Nathan was planning on running a bit faster at Burning River. You know that saying, “You know how to make God laugh? Tell him your plans.”? I think that saying very much applies to ultra running as well.
I got to NE Ohio around 10am on Saturday and was excited to get to the Burning River course to cheer on the runners. I thought Station Road Bridge would be a great place to spectate because runners come through twice, so that’s where I went. 35 miles into the race everyone was looking strong and in high spirits. I saw all the front runners come through and a lot of friends. I was trying to be useful but they had an army of volunteers and for the most part I was just cheering on the runners. I remember how crappy I was already feeling 35-40 miles into Mohican but every time I came through an aid station everyone said, “you look so great!” I thought, oh they’re just being nice because I don’t FEEL great. Well I’m pretty sure they were being honest because everyone really did look great at this point in the race. After all my friends, including my new friends Nathan and Jenny, came through I headed over to the Boston Store – another double aid station.
Runners come through the Boston Store at mile 56, head back out and run a Brandywine loop, and come through Boston again at 60. I was planning to jump in to pace Jenny after her second time through Boston, so I’d wait here until it was time to run. I’ll be completely honest here, everyone was not looking good as they came into the Boston Store. The 15 or so miles between Station Road and Boston clearly took their toll on the runners. Even a lot of the front runners, who you expect to just breeze through these races, were in trouble. It was good for me to see that everyone struggles, no matter how good a runner you are. After waiting a while Jenny came through and right with her was Nathan. Apparently he got lost near Sleepy Hollow Golf Course and ran an extra four miles. Remember what I said about plans changing?...
Both Jenny and Nathan looked really strong when they came through at mile 56 and it seemed like they were trying to work out their plans for the last 45 miles. TheY told me that I was free to pace another runner because Nathan would probably stick with Jenny but that I was more than welcome to join them at mile 60. I knew Michelle was without a pacer for the last 40, so I thought about sticking back and pacing her, but Rob (her friend/crew) was confident that a pacer would become available and told me not to worry about it and to stick with Jenny. When Jenny and Nathan came back through at mile 60 I told them that I’d still love to join them if they didn’t mind the company. Off we went, into the night!

(Disclaimer: these are simply my thoughts and memories from the night, not those of Jenny or Nathan. I sincerely hope I’m not revealing any trade secrets!)

When Jenny came through mile 56 she was in 8th place, but I’m not sure what place she was in when I jumped in at mile 60. There was talk that one of the top ladies was lost on the Brandywine loop and that a couple other runners went out too fast and were slowing down. One runner who was certainly not slowing down was Starshine Blackford. When she hit the asphalt stretch on the way to Happy Days she took off. She was either making a big tactical error (why run so fast this early?) or she had saved everything for the last ½ of the race (I’m pretty sure this was the case). Before we knew it she was out of sight. Jenny was running her race though, and wasn’t worried about what other people were doing.
We made it through Happy Days and to Pine Hollow before night fall, which put us around mile 75. Jenny was still running really strong and I was taking mental notes every few minutes about how she was making her way through the course and aid stations. We continued to move forward towards the Covered Bridge. As night fell I took a more active role as a pacer because I was now responsible to make sure we didn’t get lost and I was pointing out potential hazards on the trail as well – that and Jenny said everything slows down at night, so I wanted to mitigate that. There are a lot of run-able miles on the way to the Covered Bridge and we ran every single flat section and some of the smaller hills. Was I pushing too hard? This was a heck of a lot faster that I was running at this point at Mohican. Jenny and Nathan were sticking with me and there were no complaints so I took that as a good sign.
We arrived at Covered Bridge, mile 80, and it was great to see so many friends working the aid station. We picked up Nathan’s pacer Amanda Stickel who was going to run the last 20 miles with us. Most runners are lucky to have 1 pacer, in a way Jenny had 3 now! It was clear that Nathan’s focus was on Jenny as well and I must say we made a great team : ). Amanda is a really strong runner, with a better resume than my own, who was doing her first night trail run with us. Unfortunately we were all pretty tired at this point and weren’t too chatty, but I hope she enjoyed her time on the trail with us. I know I was happy to have her with us, I was feeling pretty tired and Jenny was running so strong. If I had trouble keeping up I was counting on Amanda to bring Jenny home!
Mike Keller was checking in runners and I was quizzing him on the position of all the top females. One runner he didn’t mention coming through was Star. “What do you mean? She was running great, you must have missed her!” We left for the Perkins Trail very confused about where we stood in the race. Can’t worry about it, must keep running… The Perkins Trail is supposed to be the toughest stretch on the course but we made it through without a problem, running a lot more of it that I expected to. As we were finishing up the loop we passed a group of runners, including one of the females but she made it out of the aid station quicker than we did.
Nathan and I were debating where we stood in the race. Where’s Star? She still hadn’t checked into the Covered Bridge and must be lost. Nathan claimed that it was Dawn that we passed finishing up the Perkins Trail, but that couldn’t be right, she had been running so strong early in the race. We left the aid station just as confused as ever about where Jenny stood in the race, but to her credit she could have cared less – she just wanted to run her race.
The next section of the course was on the roads for a couple of miles, with gently rolling hills, before we hit a mile of trail on our way to O’Neil Woods. Jenny really seemed to pick it up at this point, either that or I was getting tired :). We ran the entire road section, hills and all, and we re-passed the mystery female runner. Nathan was right, it was Dawn - I didn’t get a good look at her when we passed earlier. She must have had a rough patch but was looking determined to finish this thing – way to go! We made it to O’Neil Woods (about mile 89?) and we were starting to finally figure out where we stood place wise. Connie’s got first locked up (she might even be finished by now), we just passed Dawn, Star got lost, so did the runner at the Boston Store, and we passed someone at Pine Lane aid station. We were either in 3rd or 4th so we were doing well.
The next section of the course contained a lot of towpath trail. In fact we would pretty much be on the towpath for the next 7 miles until we hit Memorial Parkway, the last aid station. I was getting tired at this point and would have been happy to walk a bit but Jenny was having none of it! She pretty much ran the entire 7 miles, without much help from me. She was running so strong that I simply ran by her side and kept HER pace. Every mile or so she would slow down, stop and walk, but after about 10 seconds would be running again. She must have been extremely tired, but she refused to let herself settle into a walk. Nathan was mixing in walking and running but was keeping up just fine. They were machines!
At about mile 95 we passed another female. I whispered to Nathan that I’m pretty sure she was the only other female ahead of us, except for Connie of course. Once we arrived at Memorial Parkway we got confirmation that we were in 2nd! Off we went, on the home stretch! That brick road you climb after Memorial Parkway sucked the life out of me. I had only run 35 miles but I was ready to slow down. I think my weakness was starting to rub off on Jenny so I told myself to dig deeper and to not let up. We jumped back on the trails and I tried to be assertive like earlier, taking the lead and setting the pace. This section is all uphill, and it seemed like we climbed a couple hundred stairs on our way out of the valley! When we were a few miles from the finish it dawned on me that I had no idea what type of finish time we were looking at. I had done calculations earlier in my head and I thought we’d finish in about 23 hours but I realized that my math was way off…we might break 22! I pushed on, not letting our pace slow up when it was so easy to do so late in the race. We exited the Glenn Trails (I need to do this in the daylight…it seemed like a cool trail) and we had about a ½ mile to go to the finish.
For the first time all night I gave Jenny and Nathan a time check. I said, we can still break 22 hours if you can get to the line in under 4 minutes and 30 seconds. I expected their response to be frustration that I didn’t keep them under 22 hour pace but being the good sports they are they picked up the pace. We were really booking it to the finish. My Garmin showed that we were running 6:30 pace at one point, which I would have said was impossible when I was struggling up that brick road on Memorial Parkway. We crossed the final street and into the finishing chute and I just watched that clock count up: 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59…and Jenny and Nathan leaped over the finishing pad! 21:59:59, what a finish!

A few lesson’s learned:

It’s what you do in the last 20 miles of a race that matter, not the first 80. While most people are walking the majority of those final miles Jenny was running 95% of the time, and gaining a ton of ground on the field.
Walk the first 5 minutes after an aid station and let the food and drink digest. I think this was a big part of my problem in past ultras. I never let the food digest before running again.
Keep running! The sooner you finish the sooner you can take a nap :).

Thank you again Jenny and Nathan for letting me join you on your journey. I enjoyed my time on the trail with the both of you and I learned a lot. I hope that I was as much a help to you two as you were to me. I owe a great deal of my future success to you two!
Amanda, it was great to run the last 20 miles with you. I’m sorry we didn’t get to talk more, we were all pretty tired and there wasn’t much chatting going on :). I hope our path’s cross at upcoming races (I’ll be in your neck of the woods this weekend at the Baltimore 5k) and I wish you a lot of success in the future!
To everyone that had the courage to start the race, and to those that were able to finish, congratulations! It’s so inspiring to see each and every one of you out on the course chasing your goals! I know that’s cliché, and it might seem disingenuous coming from someone who has also completed a 100, but it really is special and inspiration to see other people chasing their dreams (and achieving them), just like I hope to continue to do myself. I was in tears as several of you crossed the finish line and I’m not ashamed to admit it.

Burning River 2009

2009-08-03T12:36:00.002-04:00

I haven’t found the time to type up a full report but I just wanted to jot down a couple of my favorite memories from the weekend before they escape me.

The final ½ mile with Nathan and Jenny as we raced to the finish. With a goal of finishing under 22 hours we exited the trail with just over 4 minutes to spare! We pushed hard to the finish and Jenny and Nathan leaped over the finish line right at 21:59:59! My Garmin clocked our max speed at 6:30 pace!

It must have been the lack of sleep but I actually teared up when a couple people crossed the finish line.

The first was Nick Billock’s finish. I’ve been reading Nick’s blog for a while but we had never actually met until this weekend. I know how badly he wanted to get to the finish line after last years DNF due to injury. Seeing him cross the finish line with his two little girls in hand was really awesome. Job well done Nick! Now I need to get me one of those bumper stickers :)

The second one that got me all teared up was Coutney Baker’s finish. Again, I don’t know Courtney all that well – our path’s crossed on a Mohican training run and the No Frills FA, and she was nice enough to transfer her BT50k to me when she decided not to run (much appreciated!). As Courtney was approaching the finish her boyfriend Brandon Russell, who had just completed his 100 40 minutes earlier, started to tear up. There’s something about seeing another man cry but I couldn’t hold it in either. I know how special a moment it must have been for the two of them to have both finished and I just got caught up in the moment. Congrats to both Courtney and Brandon for their finish!

Having just completed my first hundred a few weeks earlier I knew what they went threw to get to that finish and it was really special to see each and every person cross that finish line.

Congrats to everyone that competed over the weekend. Whether you crossed that finish line or not, you deserve a round of applause for your efforts!

More to come…

Feeling a Bit Lazy

2009-07-29T11:29:00.003-04:00

I’m getting back into the bad habit of taking too many days off from running during the week, and to make things worse I haven’t been supplementing it with lifting. I’ve pretty much been lazy. After achieving most of my 2009 goals mid-year, and without a “reach for the stars” type goal still out there, I think my motivation is waning. My goal of a 1:23 half is probably not ambitious enough any therefore my drive to keep pushing myself is lacking; after all 1:23:00 half is 5:00 of my PR, although that was years ago. I think I need to pick out another 100 miler and set a more ambitious goal than just finishing; not because finishing isn’t good enough (it will always be my primary goal in 100’s) but because I always need to set the bar higher in order to not slack off.

One exciting development, at least I’m excited about it, is that I’ve joined the M3S Sports pace team. I’ll be leading the 8:00 per mile runners at all of M3S’s ‘signature’ events, most of which are 4 milers…a unique distance. The races are Cinco de Mayo Cuatro Miler, Dublin Irish Festival 4 Miler, Oktoberfest Vier Miler, Dead Celebrity 3 Miler, Flying Feather 4 Miler, and Holiday Run 4 Miler. Almost all of the races fall on week nights, meaning they won’t interfere with other races or my weekend long runs. For my efforts I get free entry into the races and all the good stuff that goes with it…technical shirts, etc. There are a few other perks, but I’d do it with or without them. I’m looking forward to being a part of the race atmosphere without having to shell out $ and without the pressure of having to race. It should be a lot of fun! The first race I’m pacing is this Thursday’s (7-30) Dublin Irish Festival 4 Miler…if you’re running the race stop by and say hey!

Speaking of pacing, I’ll be pacing at Burning River 100 this weekend as well, pacing the last 40 miles. I’ve never paced before in my life and now I’ll be pacing twice in 3 days! I was always kind of planning on pacing at BR but didn’t hook-up with another runner until this week for a number of reasons.

I really would rather be competing in the event. I probably could have, my wife would have been 100% behind me if I decided to run, but she and a lot of other people new to this whole ultra thing think I need to take it easy for a while. I was holding out on pacing just in case the urge to compete got the better of me as we got closer to the start date.
I really shouldn’t spend the money. Not that I can’t afford it but I hesitate to spend $225 on any race…it’s just a lot of money. I tentatively plan on running Mohican and Burning River in 2010 but I’ll be taking advantage of the early bird savings. Pacing is free : )
I was really hoping to hook-up with a runner who’s successfully completed a couple ultras so I could learn a thing or two about how they approach the race. I know pacing isn’t about ME it’s about the runner but I always want to be getting better and this could be a good learning experience. It would be an added bonus if I could pace someone who is not just looking to finish, but is gearing towards a sub-24 goal or is perhaps competitive in the overall race. I’d like to see what type of mind-set is required to keep “racing” after so many hours into the event. I was just happy to be moving forward, closer to the finish, at Mohican and I lost that competitive spirit. When I've finished a few successfull 100 miles myself and feel like I know what I'm doing I'll jump at the chance to help a 1st timer through their first race and hopefully their first buckle.
I wanted to remain a free-agent in case a runner I know would like a pacer. It would be really great to help a friend finish, and I didn’t want to commit to helping a stranger if a friend needed help. This didn’t quite work out as planned because the very next day after hooking-up with a runner a friend emailed looking for pacing help (sorry Michelle!).

In the end I’m really excited to have the opportunity to pace Jenny Chow at Burning River. Jenny’s won two 100 milers this year (at least I think it’s just two : ) Kettle Moraine and Mohican, and she also finished the Vermont 100 just a week and a ½ ago. To pretty much sum it up, she’s a machine! Our path’s briefly crossed at Mohican and she was really nice and supportive as she passed me, looking very fresh 52 miles into the race. Logic tells me that Jenny won’t be gunning to win Burning River just two weeks after Vermont, but logic sort of goes out the window in 100 milers…anything’s possible and I’ll be ready for anything. I’m sure I’ll learn a lot from her, given the success she’s had over the last year. Come Saturday though my sole focus will be helping Jenny through the last 40 miles of the course. If I learn something while pacing than great, but I’m there to help her…not the other way around.

To everyone running the Burning River 100 this weekend, good luck!!!!!!!

On the Track

2009-07-23T13:03:00.002-04:00

I don’t know what it is about Wednesday nights, but we always seem to get crappy weather for our MIT speed workouts. When we’re running on the track it’s always really windy or raining, which was the case this week. When we’re on the trail or at Antrim, without access to water, it’s always really hot or humid. I swear we haven’t caught a break as far as weather goes for months. Doing our speed workouts in this weather probably makes us stronger runners but it’s not a lot of fun. In the grand scheme of things we’ve been very lucky in Ohio and have had a pretty mild and dry summer thus far. I can’t imagine living in the SW where temps are regularly over 100 or the SE where temps are regularly in the 90’s with high humidity. Enough about the weather…

I took a few days rest after Saturday’s 50k, to rest the foot a bit. I taped my foot up before the run, knowing it wouldn’t hold in the rain, but I hoped it would get me through the warm up. The workout for the day called for 3x800m at interval pace, 4x1200m at tempo pace, finishing up with 4x400m at fast pace. I was ready to shut it down at any point if the foot was hurting me, which I pretty much expected.

After a 2 mile warm-up we started into the 800m repeats. A couple of us were talking initially about what pace we would actually run the 800s, since interval pace is different for all of us. A few of the guys said they were going to shoot for 6:00 mile pace and I decided I would just follow them and see how the foot reacted. As always, the people who said they were shooting for 6:00 pace took it out too fast. I felt very good, so while some slowed down after 200 or 400m I continued on, coming through the half at 2:45…5:30 pace. Ok, so maybe 6:00 pace is too slow. The workout called for a 90 second active recovery, which for me is about a 9:30 mile pace, for others it’s a walk/jog shuffle. I tend to tighten up and get some discomfort in my shins if I go too slow on the recovery. The 2nd and 3rd 800 also clocked in at 2:45, which was a very relaxed pace. 6 months ago I killed myself to hold 3:00 800’s for Yasso workouts, so it’s neat to see the improvement I’m making.

After another 90 second recovery I jumped into the 1200’s. If the 800’s were done at 5:30 mile pace and the 1200’s were supposed to be run slower I figured 6:00 mile pace would be appropriate. The 1200’s felt really easy. I guess that’s a good thing but I was questioning whether I was getting enough out of the workout. The 1200’s called for a 3 minute recovery jog between sets, which seemed way too long! Since the actual intervals weren’t as challenging I ran the recovery at 8:30 pace instead of 9:30 pace. After completing 4 1200’s I was ready for the 4 “fast” 400’s.

My thought was, if the 800’s were run at 5:30 pace and the 1200’s were run at 6:00 pace than I should do the 400’s at 5:00 pace. It felt like I was flying around the track thinking, “wow, I forgot how fast a 5 minute mile is!” I fell a little short of my goal, finishing my 400’s in 77, 78, 78, and 79 seconds. I can keep up 6:00 pace for a long time but I don’t have the leg turnover to handle 5:00 pace…never have. All in all it was a very good workout and I did very well. I was very fortunate that I complete the workout without any flare-ups with the plantar fascittis. It was absolutely pouring rain while we were running so I felt really good about running the times I did in the weather as well. Being the competitor I am though, I was more than a little disappointed in my 400 splits though.

My initial post workout thoughts were, “what can I do to improve that leg turnover?” I was devising ladder workouts: 4x100m 4x200m 8x400m 4x200m 4x100m. That should help with my speed right? Then it sort of dawned on me, why do I need to get faster? This isn’t high school where I’m competing in the 800m dash or the 1600m. In the grand scheme of things I could really care less about how fast I run a 5k. I’m more focused on marathon and ultra distances, where leg turnover is really not that important. Speed work always helps, it improved aerobic capacity and lactic threshold, but I don’t need to worry too much about developing my fast-twitch muscles.

For now I’ll stay focused on getting stronger and staying healthy.

Much To Do About Nothing?

2009-07-21T19:06:00.000-04:00

Well after a couple days of rest it's pretty obvious what's wrong with my foot, plantar fasciitis. No biggie right? This is something that I've dealt with before so I'm not too worried about it. Last year I had a real bad case of plantar fasciitis right when I got back into running (July) and I had to take over a month off from running. The other times I've had it, in high school, I've been able to run through it as long as I taped my foot up real good. What I hadn't ever done was try to run through it on trails in road shoes. Downhills, uphills, and tree roots are not a friend of plantar fasciitis. I'm glad to report that this is not a real bad case, even with the tough 17 miles I ran after it flared up on Saturday. I'm confident that if I tape it up properly, and give the 100 meter strides a rest that I'll be just fine.

I still plan on pacing at Burning River. I'd like to run the last 40, I just haven't figured out who I'll do it with yet. For now I'm a free-agent.

I'd still love to compete at Burning River. I had a lot left in the tank after BT50k and I'd like to give a 100 another shot. With that being said, my wife really doesn't want me to run another so soon after Mohican, nor does she want me to spend the money. I guess I'll sit this one out.

Buckeye Trail 50k: 4:46 (15th overall)

2009-07-18T19:22:00.000-04:00

I came into the summer Buckeye Trail 50k with a couple very simple goals: #1 finish the race, which I didn’t do in the winter 50k due to injury, and #2 don’t get sick or blow up! I’ve managed to throw up in every ultra I’ve done so far, which I wanted to remedy at the BT50k. I haven’t really been able to test my limits physically because of my stomach issues and I wanted to have a race where I ran strong all the way to the finish. My plan was to average 10 minute miles the whole way, which would equal 310 minutes or a 5:10 finish. Looking at previous year’s results I figured that would slot in right around a top 10 finish most years. I’m new to the running scene so I don’t know who all the good local runners are but just glancing at the list of registered runners it was clear that this was a very competitive field. If the weather cooperated we could see a course record fall and my hopes of a top ten finish might not be realistic.

The weather on race day was pretty great. The hot and humid temperatures of mid-week were replaced by temperatures in the 50’s and 60’s. We got a slight rain overnight and it was going to rain on and off all day but nothing heavy, so I was expecting decent trail conditions. I woke up at 5:20 am excited about the race. I threw on my race shorts and top, put my socks on and then it dawned on me. My shoes are in my CR-V and my wife insisted we driver her car to NE Ohio for the weekend. I HAD NO RUNNING SHOES! I was in panic mode for about 5 minutes. I thought about calling Vertical Runner at 5:30 am to see if someone was there and if they could bring a size 9 of any trail shoe they had in stock. After I took a minute to assess the situation I remembered that I had thrown an old pair of Asics in my wife’s trunk. They had about 600 miles on them and had been retired about 4 months back but they would have to do. C’est la Vie.

With the worries about my shoes behind me, there was nothing I could do now so why worry, I started to get excited about the run again. It’s always great to see all my ultra friends, most of whom I hadn’t seen since Mohican, and I arrived early to ensure I had plenty of time to chat before the race. I was excited to hear how their training had been going and get a chance to run a few miles with them. The race started promptly at 7am and we were off and running. One of the nice things about ultra races is that the majority of people take it out pretty easy and you don’t feel pressured to start too fast. We settled into a comfortable pace and started tallying the miles. I had never run on any of the trail until we reached the Blue Hen Falls trail that we ran on Nick’s waterfalls run over the winter so I was happy to just follow the pack’s pace for the first 10 miles, not knowing what I was in for. I was pleased that there are actually a lot of run-able stretches between climbs and descents, some over a mile long. It’s often hard to get in a running rhythm in ultras so that was nice to be able to get an occasional 10 minute reprieve from hills.

We arrived at the Boston Store about 5 minutes earlier than I had expected but I wasn’t too worried that I had gone out too fast because I assumed there would be more hills in the first 10 miles and I felt quite relaxed. I had run the section from the Boston Store to Pine Lane several time so I knew what was in store for the next 8 miles. The leaders came flying by around 2/3 of the way to Pine Lane and I was shocked at how fast they were running! Shortly after the leaders blew by we ascended down the stairs, too quickly. I usually take them very slowly, for good reason. About halfway down the stairs I landed hard on one of the logs, which create the stairs, and I felt something pop/pull in my right foot. It hurt just as bad to run as it did to limp so I continued on but I wasn’t very confident about my ability to make it a lot further as my foot was hurting bad and it was tightening up on me. I arrived at Pine Lane and I just wanted to get out of there quickly. If I stopped or sat down I would have talked myself out of continuing on.

I kept moving forward, crossing paths with Michelle and Ron Ross on my way up the stairs. Michelle said she had fallen earlier and was stopping at Pine Lane…I think she said she hurt her knee. I was really bummed out about that and I hope it’s nothing too serious that will jeopardize her Burning River race. I stopped at 30k in winter BT50k because of knee pain and injury or not, it still bothers me that I DNF’d. I couldn’t let that happen today. If I could still run or walk I would finish, even if I was risking further injury. Patrick passed me a little ways up the trail, either he was speeding up or I was slowing down…hard to tell but I had to just keep my pace and make it to Boston Store. I was hurting really bad the last couple of miles to the store and the thought of a DNF was almost overtaking my will to continue on. I got at the store, took my shoe off and wrapped some tape around it popped some Advil. My foot was killing me but I was pleased that I got in and out of the aid station without even thinking about DNF’ing. Dave Peterman and I left the Boston Store together and I was pretty confused. I think I asked him, did you pass me or did I pass you? I thought he was way ahead and was really surprised to run into him. Whatever I said I’m pretty sure it came out wrong, but Dave’s a good guy and hope he knew I wasn’t talking trash or anything like that. I kept plotting along and the foot was still really bothering me but it hurt less running than it did climbing up the hills so I continued to run. After about a mile or two past Boston Store I stopped, took my shoe off and tried to massage my foot. The pain I can handle, it’s the foot locking up on my that I couldn’t…it was really affecting my stride and I didn’t want to injure something else because I was limping. I was able to work out whatever knot I had in my foot and the pain meds were starting to kick in. I was feeling pretty good again and was able to pick the pace back up.

I was sure that this race was going to end up like every other ultra to date…with a miserable shuffle to the finish. I assumed the foot pain would quickly return so I was going to make these miles count. On the flat sections I was running about 7:00 pace, with two or three miles clocking in at 7:30 on my Garmin. I caught up with Patrick at about mile 24 and he was still on pace to achieve his goal so I tried to encourage him on and hoped he would let me pull him along for the mile or two until my foot locked up on me again. I arrived at the final aid station before the finish, still feeling good, and someone mentioned that there were a couple guys just a minute ahead. Thank you! You’ll take any motivation you can get 25 miles into a race, and I pressed on. I carried on at my pace, clocking the marathon split in 4:08. Well I’ll be ____, I’m actually on pace to hit my time goal of 5:10, injury and all…another little motivator late in the race. I was going to keep up my pace as long as my foot allowed because everything else was feeling great. I think my foot was actually distracting my brain from any other ache or pain I might have otherwise been feeling…maybe this was a blessing in disguise. At about mile 27 I was passed by a guy in a white cut-off Vertical Runner top and I was kind of ticked, not at him of course, he couldn’t have been more encouraging as he went by. I was just ticked that I got passed when I was running so strong near the end of a race, but he was charging up the hills and I wasn’t. Who is this guy, what’s in his bottle? He did provide some additional encouragement the last few miles, knowing there was someone ahead of me also running strong. Could I run him down on the flat sections? I kept up my 7:00-7:30 pace all the way to the finish but couldn’t really pick it up any more because it was muddy coming back. With my worn out road shoes I would just slip around when I tried to go faster so I kept up my steady pace.

I was THRILLED to exit the trail knowing that I was only a few hundred yards from the finish and that I was going to crush my time goal. My finishing time was 4:46…awesome! I really didn’t expect that and it was cool to not only finish, which had been all I could say about my other ultras, but actually achieve a respectable time. Hopefully this is just the start of good things to come.

I’ve got to rest the foot a bit, I woke up Sunday and it was really sore and tight. Who knows if it will keep me from running for a couple of weeks or not, we’ll have to wait and see. I feel really good about how I handled it during the race though. Six months ago I would have stopped and used the foot as an excuse to drop or to just walk it in to the finish. I’ve never battled through something quite like I did last Saturday. It certainly slowed me down when it was really tightening up but I kept running, not allowing myself to walk unless I was climbing up a hill. It certainly isn’t a serious injury, otherwise I couldn’t have run on it, but I’ve always had a hard time pushing myself through that physical pain barrier so hopefully this race has made me stronger.

Congrats to everyone who started and finished the 50k last weekend. I know why these races fill up as fast as they do, it really is an awesome race. Thank you Vince and everyone at Vertical Runner who organized the race, and thank you volunteers! I hope to see you all soon.

A couple final comments:
After looking at the results I now know that the runner who passed me with a few miles to go in the race was Tim Clemment. I’m sure BT50k was just a tune up run for him but it’s still pretty cool to run with such a great runner late in a race.

I had zero stomach issues during the race, which is a first for me in a marathon or ultra. The recipe for success? Stawberry Heed in my bottle to start the race, which I replaced with water at each aid station. I don’t think it ever got more than half empty on any stretch. I ate a handful of gummy bears at the first aid station and a Hammer Gel on my way to Boston Store. At Boston Store I grabbed some saltines and a PB&J square ate them very slowly throughout the entire stretch towards Pine Lane. At Pine Lane I grabbed another PB&J and a banana, again eating them very slowly. I took nothing at Boston Store the second time through, I just taped my foot up and took some pain meds. I took a second Hammer Gel during this stretch. At the last aid station I took a banana and some more gummy bears. That was it! I don’t know if it was the fewer fluids or more solid food, but it worked well. My biggest concern going into the race turned out to be a non-issue.

Great Week of Training

2009-07-12T20:39:00.001-04:00

As you might have noticed I've begun posting my training schedule on the right tab of my blog. I figure this will be better than just blogging about each of my workouts. After a pretty solid week of running I planned on doing a back-to-back long run on Saturday and Sunday. I hadn't done any long runs since Mohican so I wasn't sure how I'd feel but if I'm going to do the Buckeye Trail 50k next week I wanted to make sure I could at least run 30 easy miles on these tired legs.
Saturday's run was rough. I completed the 16 miles at a pretty good pace but it wasn't as effortless as it usually is. It was hot and muggy and my legs still aren't 100% back from Mohican. I was happy to stay right at 8 minute pace for the whole run but sped up a little during the last 4 miles because the guys I was running with wanted to pick up the pace. We ran the last four at 7:30, 7:15, 7:00, 6:40. I actually felt better once we picked up the pace at the end so that was encouraging knowing I had 14 miles ahead of me on Sunday.
After a night of partying in NE Ohio, visiting my sister and brother in-law, I got up bright and early to meet up with the Vertical Runner group in the CVNP. We were running from Pine Hollow to O'Neil Woods following the Burning River 100 course. There were some very good runners and I was just happy to keep up for what ended up being 14.5 miles for the day, thanks for showing me the trails guys. The run was great, I didn't get to walk many hills as they were moving at too good of a pace and I didn't know the way so I had to keep up, but I felt really really good. It was a big confidece booster the week before the BT50k. I alwasy enjoy the trails and the company when I run in the CVNP, see you all next week at the BT50k!

52 Total Miles for the Week

Gearing Back Up and Goals for the Future

2009-07-09T12:55:00.000-04:00

With Mohican behind me I need to start looking towards the fall and pick out a few races and set a few goals. I’m the type of person who needs to set lofty goals to provide motivation to train hard. Last summer, my motivation to begin running again was to participate at Mohican. At the time I had my sights set on the 50 miler for 2009 and a goal of finishing the 100 miler in 2010. Well I accelerated my timeline (I’m not always as patient as I need to be as a runner) and finished my 2010 goal a year early, having completed Mohican this past June. I also qualified for Boston, which became a secondary goal mid-year. So how high should I set the bar in 2010? That’s a question I’ve been wrestling with for a few weeks now.

My potential goals have centered around three basic principles: run further, run faster, or run more races.
I’ve considered doing a spring/summer/fall 100 miler. There are so many great ultra’s out there and I’d like to run several of them. The downside of this is that it would limit my ability to do marathons and shorter races and would mean more training on my own, since my running club is geared towards marathons and ½ marathons.
I’ve very briefly considered running further. Reading this month’s Ultra Runner, I saw that Regis Jr. ran the McNaughton 150, which really inspired me. No wonder he didn’t run the Mohican 50k! In the end, I realize that I need to master the 100 mile distance, and all of it’s challenges, before I try and tackle something longer.
In the end I keep coming back to run faster, as the basis of my goal.

After getting shut out of the NYC Marathon lottery I’m motivated to qualify for 2010. That means running a sub 1:23 ½ marathon or a sub 2:55 marathon. I’ve tentatively set a goal to run the 1:23 ½, which is actually 5 minutes off my PR but I ran that almost 10 years ago. As a by-product of this training I may end up running a 2:55 marathon this fall, but I’m not as motivated to set that as a goal.

I had set a goal a few months back to run a sub 18:00 5k, which is an idea I stole from Kevin Martin. I liked the idea of a three pronged goal, Boston qualifier, finish a 100, and run a sub 18:00 5k. Talk about different training requirements, but if I could achieve this I would feel good about myself as an all around strong runner. Last weekend I ran a 18:09, just a bit off my goal, only two weeks after Mohican. I feel pretty confident that this goal will come pretty easily.

Mohican is a pretty inspiring place and it should be no surprise that I’ve derived a few potential goals from my first 100 mile experience. Everyone that has the courage to attempt such a race is an inspiration, but I was particularly inspired by two individuals.

Kevin Martin is a runner I’ve got to know pretty well over the last year. We’ve trained in the Cuyahoga Valley and at Mohican and I would say we’re pretty evenly matched as runners. We both had a goal of finishing the Mohican 100 in 2009 and I’m happy to say that we both achieved our goals. Our Mohican results were quite different though. Whereas I was flirting with the time cutt-offs at certain points in the race because of my inability to keep food and fluids down, Kevin seemed to get stronger as the race wore on. My legs felt strong all race but being sick all day/night zapped my spirits and I didn’t have the will to push myself to my limits. Kevin’s race and top 5 finish really inspired me to set my goals higher at Mohican next year. Looking at his shredded feet after the race it’s clear he was hurting during the race as well, but he didn’t let it slow him down…he kept pushing. In 2010 I’m going to try and have that warrior mentality in the race, and not just a survivor mentality that I had in 2009. Ideally I’d like to shoot for a sub 24:00 finish in 2010, and if everything goes my way who knows how well I can do. In the end the primary goal at a 100 miler is just to finish, but I won’t hesitate to set a secondary time goal to shoot for.

Another runner that really inspired me was Wyatt Horsnby. I hope Wyatt doesn’t mind me saying this, because he’s certainly a stonger runner than I am, but Wyatt doesn’t strike you as an elite runner at first glance. Over the shorter distances Wyatt is a VERY good runner but his times aren’t elite (I’m talking 2:30 marathon). Wyatt is such a great, yes great, ultra runner because he has this drive and toughness about him that is unrelenting. Just before the race start at Mohican a few of us were talking about what a great competition it was going to be this year with Mark Tanaka and Matt Aro entering the race. Mark Tanaka is a great bay-area ultra runner who has won several big races. Matt Aro is no stranger to competing in ultra races; having completed two Double Ironman’s (finishing first and second). These two had resumes that were very impressive, but Wyatt still believed in himself and the training he had done to prepare him. As I was close to DNF’ing at mile 64 (having spent over two hours at the aid station unable to keep anything down) the leaders were just coming through their last time. Mark Tanaka came through with a comfortable lead and looked strong. About 20 minutes later Wyatt came through and he just had this determined look about him…he was a man on a mission. Someone at the aid station, perhaps trying to motivate Wyatt, said “Tanaka is about 25 minutes ahead, but he looks nervous and scared that someone’s going to pass him”. Wyatt’s response was, “He better be scared” and with that he sprung from his chair and hit the trail running. Wyatt’s belief in himself never wavered and sure enough he would catch Tanaka and claim the overall victory, with Aro finishing second. I learned a lot from Wyatt and was incredibly inspired by his achievement. I know his body must have been screaming at him to slow down, or stop, but Wyatt looked as tough as nails 80+ miles into the race. If you really want to compete at a high level you can’t let negative thoughts creep into your head and above all else, you have to always believe in yourself. It’s inspirational to know that you don’t have to be a 2:30 marathoner to be competitive at a high level in an ultra race: you need to be smart, confident, and tough as nails. Eventually I’d like to be at the level where I’m competing to win ultra’s, and not just be competing to finish ultra’s. This is probably not a 2010 goal, maybe not a 2011 goal…we’ll call this a 5 year goal.

Noticeably absent from my goals is a marathon goal. I guess the reason being, that my current PR is so far off from what I hope to achieve that I’m hesitant to put something in writing. I would be disappointed if I didn’t break 3:00 either this fall or next spring but my actual goals (long term) are much much higher. So I guess my goal for now is to keep chipping away at my PR, which is currently 3:10.

I just got my summer/fall training schedule from my coach and let me just say we’re really kicking up the intensity and mileage. The plan has me going from running 3-4 times a week (with cross training) up to 5-6. I guess I’ll have to do my cross training as a two a day, instead of taking an off day of running. We’re really picking up the intensity and variety of our speed-work too. I’m a little nervous about my new pacing guidelines as well: 6:40 marathon pace, 6:10 tempo pace, and 5:40 interval pace. 12 months ago I was struggling to stay up with the 9:30 pace group, and was THRILLED with my 3:30 fall marathon! A lot can change in a year…

Sorry this probably wasn’t the best read and was a little self indulgent, but it’s my blog after all : ). Like I said earlier, I’m the type of person who has to set high goals (maybe even unachievable) or else I get complacent and lazy. One of the things that makes me a good runner is that I'm never satisfied. These goals might be lofty but if I don’t believe in myself than whose going to?

4th of July 5k

2009-07-04T12:45:00.000-04:00

Well I didn't hit my goal. I'm just not in 5k shape. I haven't really done any track work in the build up to the ultra distances so I don't have the quick leg turnover. That being said, I ran an 18:09 and I have no excuses for not hitting my goal. I certainly could have knocked 10 seconds off that time and broke 18:00. I got complacent 1.5 miles in and settled in with a group of runner and didn't realize that they were slowing down a bit. 2.5 miles in and I realized that I'd fallen 20 seconds behind my goal. I only made 10 of those seconds back in the last 1/2 mile for a 18:09 finish. The positive thing is that I KNOW I could have run quicker...my legs felt awesome but I'm not used to running in oxygen debt, having focused on marathon's and ultra's recently. Hopefully I have a couple good 5ks in these legs this summer, if I get on the track and get used to running in oxygen debt I might be able to run mid 17's. I did place first in my age group, which was a shocker. There were a lot of guys that looked to be my age but the age groups were broken out just right. 15-19 (capturing all the high schoolers), 20-24 (capturing all the college guys), 25-29 (my group), and 30-34 (always fast guys here). I got a $20 gift card to Fleet Feet for the age group win, so that pretty much paid for my entry...nice consolation for not getting my goal.

I hope everyone did well in their races today and enjoyed their 4th of July holiday!

Back on the Horse!

2009-07-02T10:33:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was my first real run since Mohican and it felt great to get back out there. I ran/jogged 6 miles with my running club on Saturday, but took it very easy. I’ve wanted to get back out there and run, my legs have felt great, but someone’s always yelling at me to take more time off, so I’ve taken it easy up until yesterday. I’ve always been a proponent of listening to my body. If I’m sore or too tired I’m never afraid to take a day off or a day easy. For those that follow my blog, it’s pretty apparent that I’m not afraid to take days off, in fact I probably take too many days off for someone running marathons/ultras. With that being said, my body was telling me to go out and run just a couple days after Mohican. My body felt much better after Mohican than it does after a marathon, and I’m usually back doing speed work three days after a marathon, so why the need to take so much time off? Well, because to non-ultra runners, regardless of what I say, have this belief that 100 miles must wreak havoc on the body. Even seasoned marathoner runners who do twice the weekly mileage I do on a regular basis, are adamant that I need to take more rest. We’ll people, I’m done listening to everyone else’s advice, it’s time to listen to what my body is telling me…”GET OUT THERE AND RUN YOU LAZY ASS!” I couldn’t feel better after yesterday’s run, not only did it feel great to get that heart pumping and legs moving, but all the stress I’ve built up at work over the last couple weeks was finally lifted off my shoulders.
So let’s finally get to the recap of yesterday’s workout. After a 1 mile warm-up we arrived at the base of a 300 meter hill (about 15% grade). The workout called for 8 x 300 meter hill repeats with a walking recovery back down to the start, sounded pretty easy for a speed workout. We completed the first 300 meter hill in under 0:55, which was a pretty good effort and we turned to walk down the hill. About a 1/3 of the way down we were all exchanging looks and we were clearly all thinking the same thing, “are we really going to walk all the way down?” About ½ way down we were all jogging to the start…it would be a running recovery the rest of the way. We typically only give ourselves 60-90 seconds of recovery so it seemed crazy to take a much longer recovery on such a short effort (300 meters). All the repeats clocked between 52 and 58 seconds and the recovery was anywhere from 90-100 seconds. I ran pretty relaxed the whole time but my cardio was getting taxed after 4 or 5 and the recovery wasn’t enough time to catch my breath. I was completely out of breath the last three and it took a concentrated effort to not slack on my pace. My legs felt strong the whole time (Mohican hills had me well prepared for hill repeats) but my cardio is a bit behind, tonight’s workout was a great workout to whip my cardio into shape pronto.
After the hill repeats we did a relaxed 3 mile recovery and I finished up with 8 x 100 meter strides on the track, just short of sprinting speed. I’m going to be doing some 5k’s in the next couple of months and I need to do these strides to remind the legs that they are not only capable of going long, but that they can go fast too J. I got a few laughs from my training partners when I expressed my nervousness about my first 5k race in some time, which I’ll do on the 4th. There response was, “you just ran 100 miles, I think you’ll survive!”
A 5k cannot be taken lightly though, if done properly you should be in immense discomfort ½ mile into the race and than force the body to, “pick up the pace!” I literally have to be yelling at myself during the race, “faster, faster, harder!” By the time I cross the finish in a 5k I’m in gut wrenching pain and discomfort, it’s a real mental challenge to keep pushing the pace. I hope my experience with marathons and ultra’s gives me the mental edge to keep pushing the pace and get the sub 18:00 goal I’m aiming for. One great thing about a 5k, unlike longer races, is that you recover very quickly. About a ½ hour after the race you feel pretty good and are typically ready for a nice extended cool-down.

For everyone doing a race on the 4th, Good Luck!

I Survived Mohican!!!

2009-06-21T21:30:00.000-04:00

I can't believe it! I survived my first Mohican experience and earned a belt buckle! I've never had so many highs and so many lows in one day. The Mohican 100 is a very humbling experience but it's also very empowering. My race started out exactly as planned. I went out very comfortably, running with Kevin and Damien for pretty much the first ten miles. I stopped at Landoll’s and ate some food, filling up my bottle and being very careful to make sure I was hydrating. It was so muggy and I knew fluids would be crucial (more on this later!). Just before Rock Point Kevin and I caught up with Michelle, Regis, and a few other very solid runner. Again, I ate and refilled my bottles at Rock Point and was on my way. I was feeling very good and actually pulled away from people on the loop, being very careful to grab something to eat at each aid station and stay on top of my e-caps. I made a conscious effort to take the purple slow and brought a baggy of food with me. I was shocked to hear from Rob on the purple loop that I was only 25 minutes behind the leaders and was in great position. I was feeling great, running smooth, and things were looking up.
The first mile of the orange is brutal, I took it very easy and probably drank too much water and Gatorade. By mile 28 I was sick to my stomach and had already thrown up. My damn stomach! It gets me every time! I really struggled into Hickory Ridge thinking my day might be a short one. I was considering dropping. I took at seat at the station and took 10 minutes to get some fluids in me and started to feel better. I took some food for the road and off I went. I rallied a little bit but still couldn't keep fluids down or each any solid foods. I sucked on my bottle and just concentrated on keeping my mouth moist. I struggled on to Rock Point (through the Mill, Bridge, and Bridal) and was in very bad shape at this point (legs and feet felt great but the lack of fluid and food was killing me). I spent a 1/2 hour at Rock Point struggling to eat. Damien gave me some Pedialite at the aid station which gave me some relief after a few minutes. I made it 50 feet from Rock Point and threw up again and then dry heaved for a few minutes (it's a 100 mile race report, there are going to be some gory details). I filled a bottle with Pedialite and took a baggie of food and kept moving...I had to keep moving.
Half way through the loop I started getting really terrible headaches to go with my vomiting. I actually had cell coverage and called my wife, telling her to pick me up at South Park...I was done. The Pedialite started to kick in a bit and I actually felt like I might be able to walk a few more miles. I thought, if I drop at Fire Tower I can feel good about making it 100k and I can apologize in person to the pacers who came all the way to to Mohican to run with me. I left South Park before my wife even arrived. Roy Heger played a big part in lifting my spirits on this leg. We talked for quite some time and he shared a couple stories with me. I honestly couldn't tell you exactly what we talked about but the company was great and I came into Fire Tower thinking I can walk to the Covered Bridge...I’d reevaluate once I got there.
I picked up my first pacer at Fire Tower, Roger Honan, and we worked our way to the Covered Bridge. I tried to get some fluids and food down but still had no luck. At the bottom of the big decent I lost it. I was dry heaving...there was nothing to come out, my stomach was killing me. I thought, “there's no way I can continue, I'm in too bad of shape”. We struggled to the aid station and I took a seat thinking that's it. I told Kathy Ross to throw everything at me; if I couldn't figure it out here and then I'm done. She made me try everything. After a 1/2 hour at the aid station my stomach pain subsided and Roger talked me into walking. Only 5 miles to Hickory Ridge he said! I had a major meltdown a mile up the trail (straight uphill). This time it was just as much mental as physical. I was done, couldn't go any further and started walking back down the hill. Roger was brutal. He was yelling at me and cursing up a storm, telling me I'm not a quitter and that I could walk. I told him that I hadn't held down any solid food in 11:00 hours and that the headaches were starting to worry me. I didn't want to die out on those trails (I might have been a little over dramatic). We got back to the bridge, I tore off my race number and handed it to Kathy Ross. I thanked her for all her help and told her that was it for me. She said you still have two hours to cut off, lay down, rest, try and drink something, because you're not quitting. Roger was feeding me ice chips, I was like an infant laying at the bridge for another 30 minutes. Someone was getting coffee and I told Roger to get me a cup...I hadn't tried that yet, what the hell. One sip and my stomach was happy. Was it the caffeine, the warmth or familiarity of the beverage? Whatever it way my stomach was liking it. I downed two cups, filled a bottle with ice and coffee and duck taped my race number back together. I was alive and rallying.
Roger and I probably passed 10 people on our way to Hickory Ridge, where I ate some ramen noodles, filled our bottles and headed towards Grist Mill. Still going strong we passed another 10 people and were cruising. I met up with my friends Vince and Sandy at the mill, admittedly a little sad to see Roger go. He and Kathy Ross single handedly saved my race at 64, refusing to let me quit. I owe them both so much.
I was very tired at this point, we covered the distance back to Covered Bridge pretty easily but we were about an hour from cutoff! I knew we'd lose more time going towards Bridal Staging, there's just too much ascent to keep up a good pace. Luckily we rocked that leg and only lost 10 minutes. We refueled, potatoes were great, and we headed out towards Rock Point. I almost got lost on this section during the day and I was worried about running it at night. I was so tired and it was dark. Sandy and Vince did an awesome job keeping me company, keeping my mind off the pain, and pushing me on towards the aid station. About 1/2 the way through, the sun rose (it did not give the life I hoped it would). I was feeling sick again and was afraid to drink/eat anything. Once again caffeine was the answer, this time in the form of a energy jelly bean. I told Sandy and Vince that the only thing stopping me at this point was being struck by a truck on the road (with the way people drive and my alertness it was a real possibility). I thanked them for their help, I couldn’t have made it without them.
I picked up my dad at Rock Point, who paced me the last 10, and got a boost of energy by seeing my entire family there. Along with Julie and her husband my family ran the aid station and it was awesome knowing they were a big part of my finish, helping me out at a couple crucial part of the race. My dad was a hell of a pacer. He may have told me a couple little white lies about how close certain people were to me, but he knew just what to say to motivate me to the finish. He forced me to run when I didn’t want to, and was not satisfied with me just finishing. He wanted me to finish strong and that I did. Brad Compton and I were yo-yoing back and forth the whole way from Rock Point. He was hammering the down-hills and I was powering up the up-hills with my speed walking. When we turned on Wally Rd he was about 100ft ahead and I was just trying to stay with him. When he ran I ran, when he walked I walked. With approximately a ½ mile to go he started running and I said, “shoot, he’s probably going to run it in…I’ve got to catch him now”. Brad thank you for that extra motivation. I lengthened my stride for the first time in 70 miles and my legs said, “it’s about time you tried something different!” I flew to the finish…I must have been running 6 minute pace. Who knows where the energy came from for that finishing kick? In fact where did the energy come from to run 70 miles with almost no food or drink? The human body is capable of incredible things, you just have to push through the mental hurdles.

I have so many people to thank for this great accomplishment:

Thank you Dad for helping me find running, a true passion of mine.
Thank you Ron Ross for inspiring me to do ultra races.
Thank you Jen (my wife) for putting up with me and my crazy endeavors. I love you.
Thank you Rob and Michelle for talking me out of doing the 50 and encouraging me over these last few months.
Thank you to Kevin, Terri, Roy, Patrick, Damien and all the other runner who have helped me along the way. Whether we were just doing training runs together or you were giving me sage advice, you all contributed in your own way. The running community is truly a special group of people.
Thank you to all the aid station volunteers who kept me alive. Especially Kathy Ross who literally wouldn’t allow me to quit.
Thanks for Julie Miller and my family who did an awesome job at Rock Point. From all the runners, thank you for keeping us going!
Thank you Roger. You got me through the lowest of lows, and you wouldn’t give up on me even after I had given up on myself. I don’t know how to thank you for that.
Thank you Vince and Sandy. You kept me going when I had nothing left and didn’t let a single negative thought enter my head. I’m lucky to have such great friends and I thank you for helping me achieve my goal.
A big thank you to all of my MIT teammates. You are a big part of my success and I credit you all for helping me fall in love with running again.
To everyone that contributed to my fundraiser, http://runningforknk.blogspot.com/, thank you for making a donation towards such a great organization. Your generosity kept me motivated to keep going during some rough patched. I knew that each mile covered meant more money for such a good cause.
To anyone I forgot. The list of people who contributed to my finish is too long to list in a blog. Thank you for anyone who offered me encouragement along the way!

Final Pre-Race Thoughts Before Mohican

2009-06-15T18:59:00.000-04:00

I’m only a few days away from my first 100 mile race and I’ve got a million thoughts running through my head. My goal has always been simple, just finish! The more I think about the best way to accomplish my goal of finishing I keep coming back to the same basic principle; efficiency. I want to cover as much ground as possible while exerting the least amount of energy.
I’ve settled on a three part strategy to get me home.
The first thing I have to do is walk up every hill. It takes too much energy to run up hills and you can hike up them without loosing too much time, but saving a ton of energy. When I’m walking I have to remind myself to walk with a purpose and maintain my effort.
The second thing I have to do is take care of my food needs and my body’s needs. I have to come through every aid station with a game plan. Even if I’m not hungry or especially thirsty early on I must stop, I must eat, I must drink, and I must take aid with me. If I have any ache, pain, discomfort, or stomach issue I have to address it early on before it becomes a bigger issue. It could be an hour or two until I come upon another aid station and I have to make sure I’m 100% ready before I move on.
The third thing I have to do run as comfortably as possible during the flat and downhill section. Don’t run too fast, it’s 100 miles there’s no rush, but also don’t run too slow. From what I can tell I’m actually a more efficient runner when I run 9:00 pace as opposed to 11:00 pace. When I try and slow it down too much my form gets sloppy and I develop a lot more aches and pains. I know it sounds crazy but my most efficient stride is somewhere in the 8:30-9:30 pace. When you factor in all the walking up hills and time at aid stations this will probably work out to 13:00 average pace, which is right about where I should be.
Regardless of my pace early on and no matter how well I take care of myself at the aid station I’m going to be hurting after so many hours out on the trail. That’s just a reality I’m ready for. I want to make sure I cover as much ground as possible while I’m feeling well so that I’ve got fewer miles to struggle through late in the race. The key words are run comfortably and efficiently (I promise I won’t be out there pushing the pace, which is typically my tendency).
I feel very lucky to have such a good group of running friends that have stepped up to help pace me during the race. The plan is to have my friend Roger pace me from 61-75, Vince pace me from 75-90 with Sandy joining us from 82-90, and my dad brining me home from 90-100. My friend Dave is also joining me for some miles as well, but he’s going to be a floater. I may even have my wife’s friend Jeanette join me for a few miles. My hope is that they really enjoy their time out of the trail and help out another runner if someone is in dire need of a pacer. They are all accomplished marathoners and well conditioned to pace for long stretches. I know some of you are probably laughing and will tease me about bringing an entourage, but I want to share the Mohican experience with as many people as possible. I want people to fall in love with trail running like I have. I’m sure I’ll want to go the tough-man route without a crew for a 100 eventually, but I’m happy to share the experience for my first 100.
I’ve been looking forward to this race since 1995 when I was 13 years old cheering Ron Ross on, as my dad paced him to a Mohican finish. At the time I flippantly thought, “I’ll run Mohican one day, this looks cool”. I haven’t been able to get that thought out of my head, even 14 years later. I can’t wait until Saturday morning at 5:00 am, when I get to create my own Mohican experience.
Mohican I hope you’re ready for us!

1 Week Until Mohican!

2009-06-13T17:17:00.000-04:00

I'm officially in the training home stretch and will probably do only a couple more short runs before I toe the line next Saturday for the Mohican 100. This was another pretty easy week. On Monday I met a friend at Sharon Woods for two loops at about 7:30 pace, for about 8 miles. On Tuesday I met another friend at High Banks for an 8 mile fartlek run; 6 minutes at tempo (6:30 pace) and 2:00 recovery. High Banks is very hilly so 6:30 pace is a pretty good effort. On Friday I did an easy 4 miles at Blacklick Woods just to get in a couple miles and not take too many days off. I met up with my group this morning for a 10 mile run, averaging 7:30 pace, with the last few at 6:40. I'll probably run 3-5 miles tomorrow at an easy pace, which should put me at about 35 for the week. Next week should be about a 110 mile week, with about 101 coming on Saturday and Sunday!

Lazy Week but Only Two More Weeks Until Mohican!

2009-06-08T09:12:00.000-04:00

Boy, I took tapering to a whole new level this week. After my 29 miles last Sunday at the No Frills just Hills FA I took a couple of days off from running, with a very easy lifting session on Monday. On Wednesday I met up with my MIT teammates for a track workout, which consisted of 4x1600m. We did 6 mile repeats last week so even this was a taper of sorts. Since I averaged about 5:55 pace last week doing 6 I thought I would up the tempo this week. The downside of running even harder was that I knew I would have no one to push me, but what's the point of getting on the track if you're not going to push yourself to your limits. The first two mile repeats clocked in at 5:40, and I was pretty winded. I fell a little behind pace on the last two but managed to finish both in 5:45 for a pretty strong workout. With all the miles I've been putting in over the last month I feel stronger than I've ever felt before. Even during the mile repeats the last two weeks I haven't felt any lactic acid build up or any tiredness in my legs. Those long slow runs don't do much for my VO2 max though and it's my breathing that's holding me back on the track. All in all, I'm in better shape than I've been in in years and I'm feeling confident going into Mohican.
I planned on running on Thursday and Friday but life got in the way and I wasn't able to find the time either night...no big deal, it happens. On Saturday I got in 12 at 7:40 pace with my MIT group, spent the afternoon at the Memorial with my Dad, and then went to a good friends house in the evening who was hosting a nautical themed party in the evening (there were people in life vest and floaties...it was pretty crazy). Overall it was an awsome day. My wife and I spend Sunday together. we went to see The Hangover, which is hilarious, and we went shopping for patio furniture. Even though I didn't get in the miles I should have, barely cracking 50 for the week, it was an awsome week. All this running over the last couple months has meant I've had no life outside of my training. It was good to have some fun outside of running and spend some time with friends and family.
I can't wait until Mohican! Hard to believe it's less than two weeks away!!!

Three Weeks Until Mohican!

2009-06-01T14:45:00.001-04:00

After a high mileage weekend over the Memorial Day holiday I wasn’t sure just how many miles I’d run this weekend. My initial plan was to do the 24 hour hike in Mohican but after spending all of the last weekend in Mohican my wife made it pretty clear she wouldn’t be thrilled if I spent our anniversary weekend in Mohican too. I was able to talk her into going home to visit family over the weekend as long as we went out for a romantic dinner on Saturday to celebrate our anniversary (Hyde Park was what we settled on).
Since we were in NE Ohio for the weekend I could get in a few group runs in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park with the Burning River/Vertical Runner crowd. I rushed out of Columbus on Friday to make it to Happy Days in time for the Friday night group run. I made it there right at 7:40 which I thought was 20 minutes before the group was going to depart. What I overlooked in my email was that the group was carpooling over to the Boston Store and running back to Happy Days! So I was all alone at Happy Days and it was pouring rain and lightning. Instead of running towards the Boston Store, which would have resulted in me meeting up with the group, I ran towards Kendall Lake and looped around the trails for a two hour run. I had never run the ledges trails or the Kendal Lake trails, so it was an adventure in the rain and fog trying to not get lost. I’m not sure how far I ran but I would guess in the neighborhood of 10 miles. I honestly couldn’t tell you which route I took so that will remain a mystery.
On Saturday I planned on meeting a group of runners at Pine Hollow for a 6 hour FA run. The course included some sections I’d run the night before in the dark around Kendall Lake as well as some sound of music type hills that we ran (or walked) up and down for 6 hours. It was great weather and I was excited to see several familiar faces, including Kimba, Kevin Martin, Tanya Cady, and Terri Lemke. My dad even came out to run a couple loops with us. He’s planning on pacing me for the last 10 miles of Mohican and he’s working hard to get in shape to do so.
We set out at 8am sharp for our six hours on the trail. I planned to run quite a few miles with Kevin, since he emailed me about the run initially but he didn’t set out with the group right away so I settled into a comfortable pace with Terri and we started tallying laps. After a lap or two we met up with Kim Beher who is new to ultra running and trail running but was well prepared for the days run. Together, Terri, Kim, and I logged 10 easy 2.25 mile laps together, which put us at 22.5 miles for the day. Terri only wanted to get in 20 for the day so I had already gotten one more lap out of here that she initially signed up for, and we were right at 4 hours so Kim was going to take the 11th lap slower to recover a bit. So I was going to head out on lap 11 solo. Well Terri’s a little competitive (aren’t we all!!!) or she felt bad to leave me running alone, so she agreed to join me for one more lap which we completed without a problem.
There was a great little side story going on the whole day while we were out there logging loops and accumulating miles. My dad, who had only planned on running a couple loops, and is just getting back into running, was quietly putting together an impressive day. We passed him when we were probably on loop 7 or 8 and he was still out there. I asked, “Dad, how many loops is that? You look great, that must be more than two loops?” He quietly said that he was on lap 5 and that he would probably call it a day when he got back the car. 5 laps (11.25 miles) would be a heck of a run and he was still looking strong. So when we passed him again a few laps later and he was still running I was thrilled to hear that he was finishing up 7 loops, almost 16 miles! Although I was very happy that he had such a good run I requester that he strongly consider calling it a day. There’s no need to push it too hard too soon. After all he only has to run 10 at Mohican and I’ll be moving slow by mile 90. Awesome day dad!
After putzing around for about 5 minutes after lap 11 I was ready to head out for lap 12 on my own but once again Terri decided to join me and we were joined with Jim Chaney who was on lap 14 and finishing up an impressive day of running. I decided that if I didn’t stop Terri wouldn’t stop, and I was pretty much ready to stop after 12 so when we completed the loop Terri and I called it a day. I untied my shoes, ate some food, and laid down on the grass. After about 10 or 15 minutes Kim came through finishing up her 12th loop and with 35 minutes to go she was determined to get in a 13th. I thought, “good for you” and stayed in the grass while she stocked up for a final lap. A minute or two later she came around the corner and Terri said, “come on we’re doing one more with Kim”. It wasn’t a question, and I didn’t even think twice. I got up, shoes still untied and finished out another loop with Kim and Terri (I never did lace up the sneaks). I’m glad I did the last loop. I had no excuse to stop after 12 other than I was ready to stop running. I wasn’t tired, I was just done running. In fact the 13th loop was the fastest of the bunch, clocking in at 20 minutes flat and I felt great after the run.
The total miles for the day was 29, which is a good trail run and probably the last really long run before Mohican. I can’t believe the big day is only three weeks away! It’s going to be really difficult to taper for three weeks…I have a hard enough time with a two week taper and actually felt great with no taper for Cleveland. Enough ultra vets have spoken about the importance of a long taper so I’m going to try and stick to it, begrudgingly.
Onwards and upwards to Mohican!

1st Speed Workout in Two Months

2009-05-27T21:06:00.000-04:00

After a 75 mile weekend I wasn't sure I would be up for anything fast at my Wednesday night MIT workout, but after PR'ing in their spring marathons several of my teamates are all geared up to step up their training...that means more speed! The workout was 1.5 mile warm-up to Antrim Lake (I had already got in 2 before the group arrived), we would then run 6 mile repeats at 5k pace, and finish with a 1 mile cool down.
Since everyone's 5k pace is different and I haven't really run 5k's this millenium I wasn't sure what pace that would translate to for me, so I just decided to run on feel. After all the miles I put in I would have been happy if I could manage 7 minute miles, but I actually felt pretty good. All my mile splits were under 6:00 with the majority in the 5:52-5:55 range. I actually felt stongest on the 5th and 6th and probably could have pushed it faster or done more but I'm afraid of pushing too hard and injuring myself this close to Mohican. All in all it was a great workout.
I haven't run mile repeats since picking up running again last summer and haven't run any short distances since really picking up my training intensity this spring. I was surprised that it was so easy to run sub 6:00 miles...maybe I'm in better shape than I thought I was; especially after doing so well at Mohican last weekend. I'm getting the urge to toe the line in a 5k later this summer just to see what I'm capable of. After tonight's workout I think I could go out and run sub 18:00 this weekend if I had to, but I have to focus on overdistance for the next month...eye on the prize!
The plan this weekend is the 24 hour hike at Mohican. I'm not gonna lie, after spending all of last weekend on the trails at Mohican, and being away from my training group for several weeks I would rather just stay in Cbus and run this weekend. I think my wife would prefer it to, dissapearing for a few hours in th morning to run is one thing, being gone a full day is another. On top of that my best friend is going to be in NE Ohio this weekend and I haven't seen him for months (he lived in Rhode Island). Maybe I should go home for the weekend and just do the No Frills Just Hills FA on Saturday to get in my miles. I'd feel bad backing out on Mike at the last minute but after hearing that there will be 10+ people out there with him doing the hike maybe I should just opt out. Hmmm...I'll think it over another day before I make up my mind.
Onwards and upwards to Mohican!

Mohican Training Weekend

2009-05-25T19:07:00.000-04:00

Mohican is such a magical place. I was so nervous going into this weekend. Up to this point the most I had ever run in a weekend was 40 miles and I was really hurting on the second day. I had no idea how I was going to survive 60 miles over three days.
The plan Friday was to run an easy 20 mile night run, roughly following the first and last 10 miles of the Mohican 100 course. I knew it was going to be a long weekend so I started out slow with Roy Hedger, who was coming off a Massanutten finish just 5 days earlier. We took are time and eventually caught up to the main group at sunset. It was incredible running through the wilderness in the dark...only your headlamp to guide your way. The run went really well and we finished up around midnight having completed our 20. We shuffled back to out cabin and quickly headed to bed; knowing that in only 6 hours we'd be up again for another 25 miles.
We started Saturday with a breakfast at Mellor's, the home of the all you can eat pancakes for $1.99. After eating all I could stomach we headed to the covered bridge to start our 25. I started off the purple loop slow, pacing my dad through the loop. When we got back to our cars after finishing the purple loop we were way behind and Kevin and I worked together to try and catch the group in front of us. Coming into bridal staging we were just behind the next group and would soon have other runner to guide us through the trails, since neither us knew them very well. Well we never did catch the group right in front of us because we got lost, skipped an entire section of the trail and came upon Ron Ross and his possee, which was about 10 strong. It was just our luck that the whole group then headed down the same trail Kevin and I had just run but in the opposite direction. After about a mile down the trail we ran into another group of runner who informed us we were heading in the wrong direction. We didn't believe them and kept running, but soon realized that they were right. We turned around and headed back up the trail...this was the third time Kevin and I ran this section of the course, but we were still a little shot. The rest of the run was great. No wrong turns, no aches, no pains and we finished strong. A few of us ran to the dam and back to get in our 25 so we weren't short for the day. After chatting for a bit with the runners I went back to the cabin and rested up for Sunday.
Sunday's run as uncharted waters...three long runs in a row. We started at the Covered Bridge again and the plan was to run the entire orange loop. Not much to report here because the run went like clockwork. We completed the loop without getting lost, I felt great...no aches or pains. In fact I felt better Sunday than I did Friday or Saturday. I think think ultra trail running agrees with me. I was feeling so good that I ran the last 2.5 miles along the river at 8 minute pace. Man is it fun to fly through the trails at a faster pace. I felt like I was going 80 mph... After finishing the orange I was still feeling good so I decided to get in a purple and without too much trouble was able to talk Michelle into joining me, Brandon Russel and Courtney, for a grand total of 21 on the day (66 over three days).
Jen joined me at the campground on Sunday and it was nice to have some time with the Mrs. after a long weekend of running. I was so pumped up at how well the weekend had gone that I agreed to meet Michelle on Monday for another 10 (purple, 50k green and 50k red). Jen hiked the purple while we ran and I think she got a little taste of why Mohican is such a special place. What a great weekend. 76 miles, four days, and not a single ache or pain. I went into the weekend thinking that a finish at Mohican would be a long shot but I have quite a bit more confidence in myself after a great weekend of running. I can't wait until the big day!

Thoughts on Cleveland and Goals

2009-05-19T17:04:00.000-04:00

Now that I’ve had a couple of days to reflect on my race at Cleveland I thought I’d include some post race thoughts and set some goals going forward. Going into the year I had three goals, and they fall in this order: 1. complete the Mohican 100 Mile Trail Run, 2. qualify for the Boston Marathon, 3. break 18 minutes in a 5k. I admit that I stole these goals from Kevin Martin who shared his 2008 goals with me during a run in the Cuyahoga Valley. Although the goals may be contradictory in many ways (all these races require very different training) I thought that I would feel good about myself as a complete runner if I could accomplish all three goals. The most important goal is definitely Mohican and my thinking was if I really get in shape for Mohican than a 3:10 marathon would be no problem. I’m not going to say that Sunday’s run was easy, but with no speed-work since March and more of a focus on over-distance runs I was not training specifically for Cleveland.
A few thoughts about the Cleveland Marathon and 10k… Maybe it’s just me but the race atmosphere and turnout were a big downer for me. When I was a kid I used to come out and cheer my dad on in the marathon or the 10k and I thought the Cleveland Marathon and 10k was the most important and biggest race in the whole world (remember I was very young and didn’t realize there were other crazy people like my dad who actually ran races). When I was old enough to run the race myself, starting in 5th or 6th grade, the whole “Cleveland Experience” blew me away. Here I was toeing the line with 10,000 other runners, some of which were the top runners in the world. There were world records being set on a regular basis and it was such a thrill to just be in the company of runners like Khalid Khannoucchi and other top international stars. In my high school years I was always happy when I could take a weekend off from track and go run a 10k with my dad and my brother. My brother and I even did quite well a couple years, breaking 35 and 36 minutes respectively and bringing home some hardware. I dreamed of someday running the marathon myself and Sunday's run was very special to me.
I remember overhearing that registration was way up this year, but I expected way more. Maybe my memory is failing me but I remember a much bigger turnout in the 90’s. Not that the 10k course back then was the most scenic route (this was before the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the new Browns Stadium) but for Gods sake at least we did more than loop around North and South Marginal! If I had run the 10k this year I think I would have asked for my money back. There’s something to be said for flat and fast but come on, how about a course where you can actually have a little crowd support!!! I can’t speak to the atmosphere of the marathon course in the 90’s because I never ran it, but with the exception of W. 6th, Lakewood, and the Finish there was 0 crowd support (and no, PA speakers every mile does not count). Let’s encourage some neighborhood parties and maybe run through some neighborhoods that people aren’t afraid to come out and cheer in. If we went all the way out to MLK Ave why not loop around University Circle and return downtown via Euclid? At least it’s all been repaved and it’s not as sketchy as St. Clair. I’m sure we’d get some crowd support going by the Clinic. It seemed like people on St. Clair were irritated to have the marathon running through their neighborhood. Cars at intersections were yelling at police to let them through the intersection instead of yelling support towards the runners. Coming through mile 23 Connie Gardner nearly got ran over by a white pick-up who had total disregard for her safety. Oncoming traffic was a problem all day, usually people are respectful of the runners, but not on the east side. It was disappointing.
With that being said Cleveland has an awesome local running community. It seemed like all the runners knew each other and that’s a credit to all the great clubs and local running stores who promote running in the area. The problem is that Cleveland is no longer attracting the out of towners or elite for the race like it used to…the “Cleveland Experience” isn’t what it used to be.
Alright I’ll get off my soapbox and get back to my goals. Mohican is only a few weeks away now and I have to pack a ton of miles in the next 2 ½ weeks and most importantly stay healthy. I’m really looking forward to the upcoming training weekends at Mohican. This weekend includes three days of running, covering all sections of the course, which totals 60 miles. Next weekend will be the 24 hour test, where a group of us plan to walk the course and just get used to being on our feet for that amount of time. After that the taper and then the race…it will be here before I know it. Just finishing Mohican is going to be a huge challenge. I’ve been averaging about 40 miles a week, which is nowhere near the 80-100 that most people seem to be running. These next few weeks will be the highest mileage weeks I’ve ever done so I have to be very careful not to over-do it. If I’m going to finish Mohican I will have to run a very smart, conservative race…unlike my 50k run.
My fall goals really hinge on the outcome at Mohican. If I survive Mohican in one piece, with a buckle, I’ll probably turn my attention back to the marathon and get serious about speed-work. I would like to get back into the kind of shape I was in years ago, which would put me under 1:20 for a ½ and 2:50 for a marathon. I know that’s a huge leap from the 3:09 I just ran at Cleveland, but I truly believe that if I dedicate myself to getting out on the track and doing some 400’s and ladder workouts that I can get my speed back. I’m taller, stronger, and more determined than ever (if you knew the 5’0” 95lb me in high school you would understand) and I should be able to easily eclipse my times from my teens. If I dedicate myself to this type of training a sub 18 minute 5k should be no problem…in fact a sub 17 5k is a real possibility. We’ll have to wait and see.
If I don’t complete Mohican but have a good experience I’ll probably look towards Burning River 100 or North Coast 24 for another attempt at an ultra. Better not get too far ahead of myself though…onwards and upwards to Mohican!

Shipping Off to Boston!

2009-05-17T21:17:00.000-04:00

I finally did it, I qualified for the Boston Marathon with a 3:09:25 finish at the Cleveland Marathon! Even though I know I can run faster given the proper training I was really pleased with my day. My race plan was simple...stick with the 3:10 pace group and just knock out the qualifying time. I tend to get carried away at races and go out too fast so I figured the pace group would keep me in check. The pace group was 0:30 behind pace all day long and at mile 17ish one of the pace leaders decided to get a handful of us back on pace so we picked it up a bit. 3 miles later there were about 5 of us left in the pace group and we were cruising and picking off a decent amount of runners in the last 10k. At about mile 23 the legs started to get heavy but with only three miles left I knew I could gut out a qualifier and not much more. I had this vision of running a super fast last 5k and finishing around 3:07 but I was thrilled to cross the line in 3:09 with a qualifier in the bag, and an 11 minute PR. With a high mileage week ahead it was probably for the best...can't afford to be too sore this week. Onwards and upwards to Mohican!

Less than a week until Cleveland

2009-05-11T19:46:00.000-04:00

I haven't posted much recently because to be honest, there hasn't been much to report. I've been focusing more on milage and building up my strength and not so much on the speed work, which is more exciting to write about. Aside from my routine milage throughout the week I did get in a nice hilly fartlek run this week at Highbanks park, my new favorite place to run in central Ohio. I'm hoping to repeat the workout every Monday until Mohican because it's one of the only parks that has real hills (and it's close to work). The workout is rather simple: one mile warm-up, and then 3 or 4 loops around the 2.25 mile Overlook Trail; running 6 minutes at tempo pace and 2 minutes at recovery pace. I didn't wear my garmin so I don't know what type of pace I was actually running...I just went on feel. I was able to get in three intervals for each loop, so I could probably calculate that out if I really wanted to. All I know is I was beat afterwords...intervals on hills are taxing. I got in another good workout on Saturday, which is the last time I planned on getting the heart rate up before Cleveland. The plan was to run 13+ miles as a marathon walkthrough, although I incorperated hills and as I understand it Cleveland is pretty flat. The run went exactly as planned, after a couple of miles at 8 minute pace I settled into 7 minute pace for the rest of the run, which I ran very relaxed. I think I'm ready for a PR at Cleveland this upcoming weekend. Although I haven't done any speed-work I've got a better base and I'll definetly run a smarter race than I did at Athens. Boston qualifier here I come!!!

Long Run (5/2)

2009-05-02T16:16:00.000-04:00

Quick note about today's long run. I woke up at 5am and was out the door at 5:30am. The plan was simple: run the 14 miles down Broad St to downtown Columbus to cheer on the 200+ MIT teammates running the Cap City 1/2, then turn around and run back home. The run went off like clockwork. After a couple miles at 10:00 pace to I settled into 8:30 pace and reached the Cap City start/finish in 2 hours. After cheering like crazy and loosing my voice in the process I stocked back up and ran home. Same as the first 14, finishing in 2 hours (with the last 4 at 8min pace). Total miles for the day: 28. Total time: 4:00. First day using my CamelBak. Hydration was great and I managed to eat enough to stay strong throughout. I feel like I didn't ever run today...big confidence booster. The plan tomorrow is to run 12...I'd like to log 40 for the weekend.

Weekly Recap 4/26

2009-04-28T12:09:00.001-04:00

It’s been over a week since my last blog entry so I figured it’s about time to post my workouts. Since I don’t keep a training log my blog has been a good way for me to track my workouts. As Mohican approaches I’m going to have to be more conscious of my training strategy. I’ve always been the type to just listen to my body with no regard for my weekly mileage. On Saturdays I go long, anywhere between 15-25 miles, and on Sundays I do an easy 6-8 with friends. My training during the week is lacking. I typically run around 10 miles on Wednesdays, with at least 5 at tempo or yasso pace (with a group). On Mondays and Thursday’s I lift and do a 40 minute intense elliptical session. Tuesdays and Friday’s are typically rest days. For most people this would be a heck of a weekly workout regiment but I feel like I’m not getting in the miles in that I should. I need to be out pounding the pavement 5 days a week instead of the current 3, but it’s so easy to jump on the elliptical and watch the Tribe while I work out. I read other peoples blogs about 80-100 mile weeks and I’m luck if I get ½ that. I need to step it up, that’s all there is to it.
The week after the Mohican 50k was pretty easy. I lifted on Tuesday and Friday, I worked out on the elliptical on Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday (for 2 hours!), and I did an 18 miler on Saturday in the heat. That’s right, I only ran once. I spent a lot of time on the elliptical, but not much time on the pavement. I had to skip my normal Wednesday workout because I had a speaking engagement at OSU’s Fisher College of Business. It killed me to not be out there with my teammates for my regular speed workout.
The plan this week it to run more and spend less time on the elliptical. With that being said, Monday’s workout consisted of a lifting session and 40 intense minutes on the elliptical. I’m not someone who sweats, I’ve gone entire marathons without breaking a sweat, but there’s something about that damn machine. I crank up the resistance and incline and grind out a 40 minute workout and I’m soaking wet afterwards. Hopefully I can get my but outside and run a few times this week, I know I’ve got a speed workout on Wednesday. The plan for this weekend is to run the 14 miles downtown from Blacklick (home) in time for the start of the Cap City ½ Marathon. I’ve got hundreds of teammates running this so I want to be there to cheer them on. After spending 2+ hours cheering people on I plan on running the 14 miles back home. My MIT coach is the medical director and will be at the finish, so I’m hoping he’ll let me help myself to a banana and bagel to refuel. On Sunday I’m heading to Pittsburg to cheer on more teammates who are running this weekend’s marathon. I’ll report back next week to let you know how the weekend went.

p.s. I really wish I could have talked my wife out of buying the elliptical and convinced her to get a treadmill…alas, she hates running and wouldn’t even consider it. If her company wasn’t chipping in $500 as part of their wellness program I might have had more say in the decision. I’ll admit the elliptical is a nice machine but I’d love to be able to run and watch the Tribe (did I mention that I’m an obsessed baseball fan??!!!).

Forget the PR, Mohican 50k Recap

2009-04-19T18:39:00.001-04:00

So today was the big 50k in Mohican. Even though I had no intention of 'racing' I was still excited to get out on the Mohican course in a race environment. Rob did an awsome job organizing the race, every little detail was taken care of, and it was great to see so many familiar faces. The race started quite well. I went out at a comfortable pace, averaging 8:30 miles through the first to aid stations. I was told by a few people at the Covered Bridge that I was in running in fifth position, but I'm not sure how acurate that was. The purple/blue loop is a little more technical and there are quite a few big hills so I decided to conserve energy on this section of the course. I ran a relaxed pace and came through the lodge in 5th but Wyatt was right with me and that was pretty much the last I saw of him all day. Wyatt looked strong and I wasn't going to let myself get sucked into a fast pace. At about mile 18 I started to get a little nausious and by mile 20, as I arrived at the Covered Bridge again, it was really starting to bother me. I was averaging 9:00 miles and my legs felt really strong so I pushed on even though I was really not enjoying myself at this point. Onward to the Fire Tower! I ran pretty well up to the Fire Tower and I only got passed by one runner (in 7th at this point). Since my legs felt so fresh I decided to climb up the Fire Tower, which caught just about everyone off guard. I got a lot of cheers and I think everyone really loved that after 25 miles, and in the middle of a race, that I took the time to climb the tower. I got overtaken by another runner while I was climbing the tower but it was totally worth it...it's a memory I'll cherish. The red loop should have been a relief after all the uphill on green but my stomach problems finally caught up with me. I wasn't able to drink or eat anything since mile 20 and I was pretty dehydrated and sick. I walked a lot on the second half of the red loop and a few runners passed me...at this point I wasn't concerned at all with pace or position, just grinding out a finish. When I came through the Covered Bridge again, with 4+ miles to go had pretty much decided to just walk to the finish...I was really really feeling sick and couldn't get myself to run. The first two miles of this section were the longest miles I've ever covered. Alright, if you've got a week stomach this is probably TMI, so skip to the final thoughts. I felt so bad that at 29 miles I decided to just make myself throw up. I had been sick for 9 miles at this point and was desperate to feel better. I was on my knees for about 5 minutes, pretty much dry heaving because there was nothing in my stomach. Several people passed me and I could have cared less. After a few minutes a guy named Seth walked by and asked if I'd walk with him. He was so nice about it and I was feeling a little better at this point so I agreed. After about 5 minutes of walking he asked if I was up for running a bit with him...I said I would try. After 4+ miles of straight walking it felt GREAT to run. Seth and I ran the 1/2 mile to the north rim trail and walked up the hill. Once we got to the top of the hill Seth wasn't ready to run again but he insisted I run if I was able to. Well I felt great so I pushed on, running 7 minute pace to the finish (I passed a couple of the people who passed me while I was on the ground throwing up...that was nice :). I ended up finishing in 5:50, which was much slower than it should have been but I learned A LOT from todays race, so in retrospect I'm really pleased with todays run. I learned the following things:

1. When you feel sick in an ultra run make yourself throw up and refuel at the next aid station, instead of struggling through 9 miles.
2. Heed Mellow Mellon is not a good fluid choice for me. I'm sure it's got all sorts of great ingredients in it but the flavor was not for me. I don't know if it had anything to do with me being sick but just the smell of it made me nausious when I wasn't feeling well.
3. Even when you feel like your on deaths door there might be a second wind around the corner. Someone told me after the race that this is one of the big secrets to the 100 mile runs. There will be times when you feel like you are going to die, keep walking, keep hydrating, and you will get through it.

If I had run a great time without pushing myself too hard I would have walked away being overconfident. In a 100 mile run things are going to go wrong and you have to be tough enough to endure through it. If I have a bought of sickness in the 100 I'll know how to remedy it and I'll know that I can come through it.

I've got to give another shout out to Rob who put on a top notch race today. The aid stations were well stocked, the course was well marked, and he even held off the rain...well done Rob!

Two Posts in One Day? This Must Be Good...

2009-04-16T10:58:00.000-04:00

I’m only a few days out from the Mohican 50k and the excitement is starting to build. I know Rob has put a lot of time and effort in organizing the race and it’s going to be a great event, rain or shine. Instead of tapering for the race, like I did for my most recent marathon, I’ll be training through the 50k. I have to keep pushing my mileage up each week and I can’t afford to let it drop off every time I have a race coming up. With that being said I feel better now and have more confidence in my fitness training through a race than I do after a taper.
I will not be racing the 50k this weekend because I don’t want to risk injury or push myself so hard that I’m sore for days. This does not mean that I’ll just be out there for a Sunday stroll. I will certainly push myself but I won’t be worried about my pace, at least early, and I won’t be worried about what other runners are doing. I tend to get sucked into a fast pace early because I’m to worried about the runners in front of me…I’m going to make a conscious effort to go at my own pace Sunday.
Whatever I’m doing seems to be working, I feel healthy and every time I decide to push it my body responds positively (with the exception of my most recent marathon...). I can’t explain why but I can settle into 6:30 pace comfortably 5 or 6 miles into a run but when I rush into that pace from the start I’m in oxygen debt after a couple miles. I don’t know whether it’s psychological or physiological but that’s just the way my body responds. Because of this I’m better suited for longer races that allow me to work into a pace, unlike a 5k where you don’t have time to make up for a slow start. One thing I need to be careful of is increasing my mileage too quickly. After my marathon in the fall I went from running twice a week to running 4 or 5 days a week in preparation for my winter 50k’s and before I knew it I was injured. Hopefully mixing in weight training and elliptical training helps me stay injury free during the build-up to Mohican.
One last note: I was talking to Mike Keller this week about doing a 24 hour training walk/hike at Mohican. He made a post on the Mohican message board about him and Kurt O doing this for Burning River and if seemed like a really great way to simulate a 100 mile run without all the pounding. We are still trying to figure out when’s the best time to do such a training event, working around the already planned Mohican training weekend and the Cleveland Marathon weekend. Having never run 100 miles before I’m not sure if doing this 24-hour hike three weeks out from Mohican is too close to the event or not. The other alternative is doing it one of the first two weekends in May. The plan is to start at 5am from Mohican Wilderness and walk for 24 hours. Depending on our pace, which is a big unknown, we may be able to get each loop in once, or we may skip some sections but we’ll play that by ear. If anyone’s interested in joining us for a certain section of the course or the whole shebang let me know, the more the marrier!

The Week Leading Up to the Mohican 50k

2009-04-16T10:48:00.000-04:00

This week has been a good training week. After my hard run on Saturday I took Easter Sunday off and spent time with the family. I had brunch with my in-laws, a four plate effort, and then had an early dinner with my family, a two plate effort…I then had two plates of desert. It was a disgusting display of gluttony but that’s what the holiday’s are for. I also discovered that jelly beans are high in carbs, so let’s just say I’ve been carb loading this week.
Monday is always a lifting day and I put in a good effort, as I continue to improve my strength. The weather was horrible on Tuesday and I just couldn’t get myself out to run so I hopped on my wife’s elliptical for 40 minutes. I was surprised at how good of a workout it was and after a few minutes I was able to get comfortable and pretty much mimic my running stride without the impact of hitting the roads. On Wednesday I met up with some friends for my MIT group workout. I got in 4 tempo miles before the group showed up and although I didn’t have a watch on they were easily sub 6:30. I joined some of my teammates who were doing interval training for a 1.5 mile warm-up on the track, which for me served as a cool down after my tempo. From there a group of us who weren’t doing intervals hit the trails for a 6 mile easy run. We were running 9 minute pace the first two miles just cruising along. One person in the group wanted to get in a few miles at 8:00 pace so we all agreed to speed up to help him along, so mile 3 was right at 8:00. As so often happens once you get out of the, I’m going to just get in a few slow miles mode, the pace quickened. Our fourth mile was 7:20, which was much faster than we intended to go but for the most part everyone was running comfortably. Now that I was warmed up again I got the itch to push the last two miles. I didn’t have a watch but my guess is that mile 5 was in the 6:40 range, which felt great so I kept increasing the pace. Again, no watch so I can’t confirm this but someone said they clocked my last mile in sub 6:00, which confirmed what my internal pace clock was telling me. The plan for the rest of the week is as follows, lifting on Thursday and another elliptical session on Friday…followed by the 50k on Sunday.

Recovery Week

2009-04-12T22:28:00.000-04:00

With only two weeks between races I took it easy this week to make sure I'm healthy and well rested for the Mohican 50k without loosing too much fitness. Not counting Sunday's marathon I only ran twice, on Wednesday and Saturday. Wednesday's run was 11 miles at a 8:00 average pace. I was expecting to be sore so soon after a marathon but I felt great, no aches or pains. I lifted on Thursday and rested on Friday. On Saturday morning I met up with MIT for a long run. I ran eight miles with my pace group at an average 7:45 pace. Most people were tapering for Boston, so I had to continue on with a smaller group to get in more miles. A few of us went out to run another 8 miles and we quickly settled into a faster pace. A mile into the run we were passed by Rob Kestner, who is a much faster runner but he was taking it easy so we did our best to keep up with him. At the turn around spot we caught up with Rob again while he stopped for a drink and I decided to give it a go and run the last four miles with him. Even though Rob was just out for an easy run it felt pretty good to run a few miles with a 2:30 marathoner and I was running pretty relaxed myself. The last 8 miles were a 6:45 average pace, which I thought was pretty good a week after a marathon. Even when we were running 6:30 miles for the last couple of miles I was pretty relaxed, so it gave me some confidence that I can easily run a 3:10 marathon and that Athens was just a bad day. Looking forward to the Mohican 50k in one week, until then I'm over and out.

Mohican Training Starts Today…

2009-04-08T13:58:00.000-04:00

Quote of the day:
"Accept your limitation and, with care, the thinking runner will have a comfortable, creditable race. But go for broke and prepare to be broken."
-GEORGE SHEEHAN

I think this quote pretty much sums up my race last weekend at Athens. At the first mile marker I decided to go for it, to go for broke, in the end the marathon broke me. At first I was upset with myself for getting sucked into a fast pace and breaking my race tactic but I’m coming to terms with the race. On the header of my blog I have the T.S. Elliot quote, “Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” I put this on my blog because I think it sums up my desire to run Mohican and the limits I’ll have to push myself to accomplish that task, but it’s applicable to a race of any distance. My willingness to push myself to the edge has produced some exceptional results, my 1:18 ½ marathon comes to mind, but it can also produce some disappointing finishes, like the second half of my marathon on Sunday. Occasionally you have to just go for broke, to see what you’re made of and accept the consequences if you push yourself past the breaking point.

All right, enough philosophizing…back to the blog. I see today as an opening day of sorts, with my failed Boston qualifying attempt out of the way today is the start of a new goal: Mohican. All of my training and racing from this day forward has a single focus: prepare me for the Mohican 100. My mileage has to gradually increase, I have to replace my track repeats with hill repeats, I have to get out on trails as often as possible, I have to train my digestive system to handle more than just Gatorade and Goo on runs; the list is endless. The two races on my calendar leading up to Mohican have to be looked at as tempo runs, not races. I can’t afford to be injured or to push myself so hard that I’m off my feet for a couple of days like I typically am after a marathon. I’m excited about my upcoming training, especially for the Mohican 50k coming up in a week and a half.

Athens Marathon

2009-04-05T15:57:00.000-04:00

Today was the first marathon of the season, in Athens Ohio. Several of my MIT teamates also made the trip down and Sandy even decided to run the full, so I wasn't out there alone today. I felt sick this morning, the car ride down definetly didn't agree with me. I think it was a combination of nerves and car sickness but I was so sick at the starting line that I was holding my knees sure I was going to loose my breakfast...not a good way to start the race. When the race started my nerves calmed and I actually felt good. My average pace was 6:35 for the first 5 miles, which is where I decided to finally slowe down because I was starting to feel tired and winded. I knew it right then and there that I made a big mistake and that it would be a long day. I hit the halfway point in 1:30 and held 7 minute pace through 18, though miles 5 through 18 were really tough miles. At 18 I hit the wall, I couldn't keep my pace up any further and I started walking through the water stops, but only allowed myself 20 seconds to catch my breath. At mile 22 I was in really bad shape, my form was awful and I was having a hard time staying focused. Luckily Sandy's husband Graham has walked to the 22 mile mark to cheer her on, which is right where she passed me (she went on to finish as the 2nd woman). Graham started jogging back to the finish and was nice enough to stop and see how I was doing as he passed me. I said I was really struggling and he stayed with me the rest of the way, encouraging me to keep running and keeping me company. This was a really isolated course and I would go a mile or 2 without seeing anyone, which was really difficult. Graham pulled me through the last few miles and helped me salvage a PR and a 3:20 finish. I missed my Boston qualifying time by a whole 10 minutes, which was really hard to swallow. All that training for nothing because I was an idiot and went out way too fast. I learned a really valuable lesson today...stay on pace. I wasn't planning on racing Cleveland, but if I'm health I might take another shot at 3:10 but this time I'll do it the right way, even splits. That pretty much wraps it up, other than my stop at a gas station to yack up my lunch I feel pretty good...sore but good.

A Quick Recap and Thank You

2009-04-02T12:44:00.000-04:00

I’m now only a few days out from my race. I’m enjoying my taper but I’m nervous that I’m loosing fitness. I just have to trust those that have done this a few more times than I have. I lifted on Monday which went well but I only did two sets. My theory is that if I’m tapering my running that I should taper my lifting as well, not sure if that’s needed but it was a good excuse to take it easy. On Wednesday I ran the 3.1 miles from my house to my wife’s aunt and uncles to meet them for dinner. They probably think I’m crazy but I thought it was a good opportunity to get in a few fast miles (6:40 average) and have my wife drive me home after dinner. I met up with my MIT teammates on Wednesday for an easy run. We ended up running 7.5 miles at 7:40 pace instead of our usual speed workout. I’m excited that several MIT runners are going down to run the ½ at Athens, so I’ll have a few familiar faces cheering me on at the finish…as far as I know I’m the only one doing the full.
The thing I’m most excited about is the support I’ve received so far for my fundraising effort for Kids ‘n Kamp (http://runningforknk.blogspot.com). I’ve already received $200 in donations from co-workers and a generous per mile contribution for Mohican from my father in-law. You guys are awesome and your generous giving is really going to make an impact on the families who have a child fighting cancer. I’ve got to give a shout out to Heather Johnson, Rachel Creager, Theresa Varanese, Judy Whalen, Patty Whaley, Christine Straub, Ron Lauber, Cliff Hetzel, Lana Hartpence, Peggy Wolf and all the people who have said they will make a pledge for future races!

Inaugural Watson Avenue Olympics

2009-03-30T17:05:00.000-04:00

If you are looking for a recap on this weeks training than you’ve come to the wrong place. I am now less than a week away from my first marathon of the spring and the nerves are starting to settle in. What better way to relax than to head down to North Carolina for a weekend of rest and relaxation (read: drinking) with all my college buddies. Ok, so a booze fest a week out from a marathon is probably not the best idea in the world but that’s just the way the chips fell. I don’t think the host and my good friend Ed would have ever forgiven me if I backed out with a lame excuse like, “I’m running a marathon in a few days.” Ed said that this weekend was more important than his wedding, the birth of his first child, and his funeral, so on Friday me and nine of my closest friends made the pilgrimage from Columbus to Winston-Salem for the Inaugural Watson Avenue Olympics. The schedule of events for the weekend included horseshoes, bocci ball, corn hole, and beer pong. Points were awarded for performance and teams were picked at random for each event. Although it rained all weekend I was able to put up a quality performance in each event. I credit all the trail running and weight lifting to give me the endurance to persevere through the elements. I’m proud to say that I walked away with a silver medal for my performance and was undefeated in each event. What separated 1st place (Carl Barkson) from second (myself) was the margin of victory in horseshoes. In two games of ‘shoes Carl managed to outscore his opponent by 35 points, while I only won my two games of ‘shoes by a combined 5 points. The most impressive team performance of the weekend was Carl and my corn hole drubbing of Todd and Sherri. We won the first game 22-2 and the second game 21-0, for a 43 point margin of victory; setting us up nicely for a medal. All in all it was a fantastic weekend, I just hope it doesn’t affect my months of training too much come Sunday. Athens here I come!

Weekly Recap (3/22)

2009-03-23T15:22:00.001-04:00

2 weeks until my first marathon of the season! I’m officially in my taper, which is great except that I really enjoy the time I spend running and for the next couple of weeks I’ll be logging less miles. This week consisted of lifting on Monday and Tuesday, followed by Yasso 800’s on Wednesday. I ran with Tim Flahaven on the track this week and he’s a little quicker than I am, meaning these were the fastest 800’s I’ve done so far. I’ve been having some shin problems when I stretch out my stride on the track, but they were quick. The intervals were as follows: 2:50, 2:48, 2:50, 2:52, 2:52, 2:53 (it was really windy on the last two). I was actually feeling really strong and could have done more if it weren’t for my shins bothering me. Tim recommended that I take it easy since I’m so close to my race, not need to risk injury. This week the plan is to hit 10 Yasso’s and then go into full taper mode. Thursday was another lifting day and it was by far the best session I’ve had all year. I did more reps than ever on bench and curl and am considering bumping up the weight again this week. I won’t reveal what that weight is because even though I’ve made drastic improvements in strength, I’m still quite weak and it’s nothing to boast about : ). Friday is always my day of rest, so my next workout was my Saturday morning MIT run. This week was a cut-back week and the schedule called for 12 miles. I was happily cruising through my run, averaging just below 8 minute pace, until the last mile when my friend Roger and I decided to do the last mike (all uphill) at 6 minute pace. We ended up clocking the last mile at 6:06 but it felt good to get the legs moving and the lungs pumping. I met up with my Sunday running group for our Tour de Columbus. Each week we meet at another local park and this week we met at Darby Creek. Boy is Darby Creek out of the way (a 45 minute drive for me) but there were a lot of great trails and we got in an easy 6. That’s my week in a nutshell. Like I said, two more weeks until my big race and one more week until I roll out my fundraising effort. Look for more details on that in next weekends post.

Weekly Recap (3/15)

2009-03-15T21:53:00.000-04:00

Another week down and 3 weeks to go until my first race of the spring. I met up with a few friends from MIT on Sunday March 8th at Highbanks Metro Park. I work right near this park but had never run there...what are the chances? What a great park! There are some really nice crushed limestone paths with lots of hills. I'll definetly have to find time to run here more often. I think we ran 7 miles, although I'd have to check my Garmin to confirm that (I should really keep track of my miles in a training log : ). After lifting on Monday and Tuesday I hit the track on Wednesday for another Yasso workout. We did a total of 8 Yasso's, 7 at 2:58 pace and the last at 2:45. I could have pushed myself a lot harder...I was a little dissapointed with my effort afterwords. I'll have to really go for it next week when we do 10 Yasso's. I'd like to do them all at 2:55 if possible. We did a three mile cooldown, and one mile warmup, which put the milage at 8 miles for the day. More lifting on Thursday and a rest day on Friday. Saturday called for 22-24 miles, which should be my longest run before I taper for my marathon. I did 9 miles at 8 minute pace and then picked up the tempo to marathon pace (7:10), this wasn't intentional I just got carried away with a fellow runner. Roger, the MIT teamate I was running with, and I held the pace for the rest of the run and I have to say I felt relaxed the whole time. So for those keeping score at home, that's 9 miles at 8:00 pace and 14 at 7:10 average pace. I think I'm ready for my 3:10 marathon...if I feel good I might even be able to negative split my way to a 3:05, we'll have to wait and see! I wanted to get a few miles in on Sunday to stretch the legs out so I met up with some friends and got in an easy 6 at Blacklick Woods Metro Park. All in all it was a great week. I'm feeling strong, fast, and healthy. I can't wait for my race in three weeks!

Weekly Recap (3/7)

2009-03-07T15:29:00.000-05:00

Another week of training down and four weeks until the first marathon of the seaon. I met up with a group of friends on Tuesday for a run, because a couple people couldn't meet for our usual Wednesday run. I did two miles on the track because I got there early, 7:00 for the first mile and 6:30 on the second. Even on a warm-up, I can't seem to take it easy on the track. I ran an hour with the group and I think the total milage was 9.5 including the two on the track. We took it pretty easy but the last two miles were around 7:00 pace. Instead of doing a track workout on Wednesday I decided to do a tempo run with Mike from MIT. We took it easy on the first mile 7:30 and then we let 'er rip. We did a total of 7.5 miles at a 6:45 average pace, with hills mixed in. We were both pretty wiped out at the end...legs felt great but I was winded. Saturday morning was another MIT workout and this week was a cut back week...the training log called for 12. Of course I couldn't limit myself to only 12 miles so I did 15 at a 7:45 average; last three were all 7:00 flat. In theory next week should be my last high milage week before the taper, but I'm pretty sure I'm only going to do a 2 week taper, not three.

Weekly Recap (2/28)

2009-03-02T09:32:00.000-05:00

After another week of training I’m only 5 weeks out from my first marathon of the spring. I kicked the training up a notch this week, adding more speed work and running at a faster pace on my long run. After my run at Mohican last Saturday I met up with a group of friends at Sharon Woods for an easy 7 mile run on Sunday. The multi-purpose path was dangerously icy so we stayed on the nature trails, which was fine by me. The more time I spend on trails, the more I dread running on the asphalt multi-purpose paths. I took Monday and Tuesday off from running but I lifted both days, which left me pretty sore the next day. The plan for Ash Wednesday was to do my second track workout of the spring, 8 Yasso 800’s on the track. Last week Mary and I did 6 Yasso’s and averaged 3:00 per ½ mile, with one minute rest between intervals. This week the plan was to run 8 Yasso’s, with an average pace of 2:55. There were four of us on the track this week: Matt Chany, Mary Dillhoff, John Herold, and myself. The first two 800’s were run at 3:00, which was the plan…I was planning on running slight negative splits. The second two 800’s were run at 2:56 each, one second slower than my goal time but solid. The next three 800’s were run at 2:52 and the last 800 was run in 2:49. All in all, I beat the 2:55 average so I was pleased but I sure was exhausted afterwards. The plan was to run a 4 mile cool down but I was so tired that I could only manage one mile. I lifted on Thursday and hung out with my sister and brother in-law who were in town for a couple days. I had planned on running on Friday, but my wife vetoed that because she thought it would be rude to leave our company at home while I trained, so I gave in. On Saturday morning I headed to Worthington to meet up with the MIT group, for a planned 20 mile run. It was a pretty weak turnout this week, with only about 6 member of my pace group showing up. The run went great, 20 miles at 7:45 pace with several hill sections worked into the run. The thing that really gave me confidence is that I felt stronger and fresher at mile 20 than I did in miles 3-8 when my knees were bothering me a bit. My 5-6 hour runs in Mohican have not only made me much stronger on hills, but they have really built up my endurance. If I can stay healthy these next 5 weeks I think I can do great things at my first spring marathon.

Weekly Recap (2/21)

2009-02-21T14:15:00.000-05:00

After a great run at Mohican last weekend I was really eager to up my milage this week. There's something about a good trail run that recharges my battery. I had Monday off work so I met up with my friend Mary for an easy morning run. We put in 10 miles at a 7:45 average pace, not exactly the easy pace we had intended but sometimes that happens. My next run was scheduled for Wednesday. It was raining and extremely windy, so what did we decide to do? Yasso 800's on the track, with Mary again...everyone else thought we were crazy so they agreed to meet us an hour later for an extended cooldown. The weather made it extremely challenging but we averaged 3:00 per 800 with a minute rest in between. We only did 6 because it was our first speedworkout of the winter so we didn't want to over do it. I was really surprised how strong I was, the last two were the easiest of the bunch. Next week I plan on doing 8 800's and I plan on setting a more aggressive pace. After a couple rest days I was ready for another Saturday run at Mohican. I met up with Rob at 7am, we got in about 4.5 miles before the rest of the group arrived at 8am. We met up with Don, Michelle, Terri, and Wayne and we headed out on the trials. Today's run included the purple loop, 50k blue loop, and an abbreviated green and red loop...following the 50k course. The highlight of the run was a climb up the fire tower, I hope to attach a picture soon. It was a great run, great weather, great company.

Mohican!!!!

2009-02-14T16:32:00.000-05:00

What better way to celebrate Valentine's day than go for a run in Mohican? Breakfast in bed was out of the question this morning. I was out of the house at 6:30...Mohican was calling my name. I met up with Rob, Michelle, Kim, Regis, Lucas, Wendy, Debbie, and Joe at the covered bridge, all in all a pretty good turnout considering the holiday. The weather ended up being perfect, no wind and just cold enough that the trail wasn't too muddy. There was a little ice on the purple loop, some trees down, and a section of the orange loop under water but overall the trails were in great shape. We started out with a purple loop, followed by the 50k blue loop, then we started an orange loop. A couple miles into the orange loop Rob and Michelle decided to turn back and after getting verbal instructions from Rob about navigating the orange loop I was off on my own. Though I really enjoyed the orange loop I missed the company of other runners. I was a little unsure that I was staying on trail and would always stop and celebrate every time I passed a mtb 100 mile marker. I felt great and was genuinely enjoying the scenery and quietness of being out there all alone, but it seemed like an eternity between mile markers. In the end I logged just over 26 miles in around 5:50 (I didn't have a watch but the clock on my car read 1:50 when I finished up my run). I felt so good that I wish there was someone willing to go further, but I was the last one of our group still out and I had enough alone time for one day : ). Thanks to Kim for organizing the run today, and to Rob and Michelle for keeping me company on the first half of the run!

Pain Free???!!!!

2009-02-09T20:17:00.000-05:00

I don't want to jinx anything but I think I'm finally turning the corner. After two months of running with pain in my knees I finally had a symptom free run. Maybe it was just the warm weather, maybe all the time and money spent of PT is finally paying off. I don't care the reason, it's an awsome feeling to be turning the corner. Of course I have half a brain so what do I do on my first night I'm feeling good? I do a 5 mile tempo run at 6:30 pace. Yeah, I'm an idiot but when I'm feeling good I can't help myself...it's been weeks since I've been able to let loose like that. I'll get some ice on the knees just for good measure, do some PT, maybe even lift and then call it a night. Next up, a trip up to Mohican this weekend for a Valentine's FA. I don't know how far or how fast we'll be running but I can't wait !

The Big Thaw

2009-02-08T14:52:00.000-05:00

The weather finally warmed up and the snow and ice has finally melted away! It's been a long couple of weeks running on the snow and ice and the knee injury I've been working through has meant that I haven't been great about keeping up my miles. I've still been doing my long runs on Saturday but I can usually only manage one or two other runs in a given week because I'm letting my knees rest. That just means that I've focused a lot more on weight training and physical therapy excersizes that my doctor has me doing. For those that know me I've long held the title of worlds weakest man, so I'm working hard to correct that : ). One exciting thing on the horizon are the upcoiming trainig runs in Mohican! I haven't decided wheher I'll do the Valentines FA or Rob's training run this weekend but I can't wait to get out there and run on some trails!!!

Blizzard 2009

2009-01-28T19:58:00.001-05:00

Things would be much easier if I had a treadmill. I wouldn't have to go out and run 8 miles in a level two snow emergency. I wouldn't have to risk being run off the road by surprised FedEx drivers and my neighbors wouldn't all think I'm crazy. I know they think I'm crazy because they all said so when I ran by while they were shovelling their drive. With the complaining out of the way it was actually pretty fun running in the snow and ice. It's sort of like youth soccer practice in pouring rain. Once you submit to the reality that you are going to get soaked you realize how fun it is to slide around in the mud; but I digress... The road conditions were pretty interesting. In Columbus we got about 2 inches of snow, followed by an inch of ice, followed by another 3 inches of snow. There were so few people out on the roads that I ran in the middle of the road for most of my run, staying in the tire tracks when possible. I think I did get on the nerve of our local mail carrier because we were keeping the same pace when you factor in that she had to stop every 100 feet to deliver her mail. Luckily I don't think she could make out an ID because I was covered up pretty well. I'll attach a picture because I think you'll all get a kick out of my attire. The wind was blowing so hard and when combined with the snow it was very difficult to see at some points. If I had thought of it I would have gotten out my ski goggles! Alright I think I've babbled on enough. As promised I'll attach a picture from the run today and as a bonus I'll throw in a photo of one of my dogs. This is Riley on inauguration day, as you can see he's got his Capital Building chew toy!

Jan. 24th MIT Run

2009-01-24T13:57:00.000-05:00

After taking it easy this week today was my first long run since my 30k finish at the Buckeye Trail Run. Me and my fellow MIT teamates were out on the Olentangy Trail at 8am and altough it was a bit icy, and windy, it was an all around good day for a run. I was a little worried that my knees would bother me too much to put in a good run but I was able to run through the bit of pain that I did experience. It helps that my pace coach is a sports medicine physician because he's able to not only coach me through my training, but coach me through my recovery. We started out slow because of the icy conditions but after a few miles we had settled into 8 minute pace. All in all we did 16 miles on the day clocking in at 2 hours and 8 minutes, right at 8 minute pace.

Random thoughts:
I'm kicking around the idea of heading up to Alum Creek tomorrow to check out the mountain bike trails instead of running. I've had my mountain bike for years and I've never gone on a trail ride...I think it's about time. If I go I'll bring my camera and try and get some good pictures of the trails.

I was talking with Rita Barnes on my run today and she mentioned that she's doing a rogain event tomorrow. I had never heard of rogaining before but Rita quickly filled me in. These are endurance events where you have to navigate the course with a map and compass instead of following a marked trail. I might be a little crazy but I think this sounds really cool, it's like doing an eco-challenge event with only running. Rita is doing Barkley this year so I'm sure this is a big part of her preperation...if there is such a thing as being prepared for Barkleys. I may join her for a rogain event in Circleville OH in February, I just need to get myself a compass!

Buckeye Trail Winter Run

2009-01-18T21:26:00.000-05:00

Today was the 5th Annual Winter Buckeye Trail Run. This is a challenging course that offers a variety of distances to chose from: 5 miles, 8 miles, 13.1 miles, 18 miles, 26.2 miles, or the full 50k (31 miles). The course consits of two loops, the Brandywine Falls loop (5 miles) and the Pine Lane loop (8 miles). Both loops were out and back, ending at the Boston Mills trailhead. Lucky for us runners the weather warmed up a bit this weekend compared to the sub zero temperatures we experienced earlier in the week. At the start of the race the temperature was in the low 20's, which is a great for running. Unfortunetely we got a few inches of snow overnight, to go with the foot of snow that was already on the trail. This presented a huge challenge for all runners, as we were limited to running single file for the majority of the course. It was hard enough running on flat sections of the course (which are few and far between) but it was almost impossible to run, or even hike, uphill. Running downhill was down right dangerous, as most of us were just tyring to stay on our feet and avoid running into trees. With that being said my day started out pretty good. For the first 2.5 miles I stayed on the race leaders heels as he blazed the trail with his fancy yak trak trail gripping shoes. He killed me on the uphill sections, as I had no grip (it was like running up and down sand dunes), but I was always able to catch back up on the flat sections. At Brandywine Falls I was passed by another runner and the two leaders took off at a pace I couldn't match. By the time we got back to Boston Mills I was in 3rd place with my friends Kevin Martin and Patrick Fisher in 4th and 5th; we were about 200 meters behind the leaders. Right after passing all the screaming spectators (i.e. my wife, in-laws, and my dad) Kevin took over the pace and absolutely put the hammer down. Kevin was flying up the hills and dropped me immediately, but he did bridge the gap between the leaders. I eventually caught up with Kevin and the 2nd place runner a couple miles out from Pine Lane but the leader had pulled away and was out of sight. The three of us blazed on for about a mile before the runner in second pulled ahead on a downhill section...that might sound strange but running downhill on technical trails requires a lot of skill, especially in foot deep snow. After flying up the hill heading up to Pine Lane I had caught back up to the runner in second and to my surprise the leader was in sight. That was all the motivation I needed...I caught the 1st place runner right as we arrived at Pine Lane; he stopped for aid and I carried on. I ran alone in first place for the next 8 miles (what a thrill coming through Boston Mills as the race leader!). On my way back towards Boston Mills, after completing another Brandywine loop I lost my footing coming down a technical downhill section with stairs. I twisted my knee and with that one miss-step I knew my day was pretty much over. I had built up enough lead that I wasn't run down until we were in sight of Boston Mills, but he would continue on another 13 miles and my day was over after 18. I guess I can still claim that I won the 18 mile race but I had my eyes set on the 50k prize. All in all it was a pretty fun day out in the snow. Since I didn't push myself too long on my sore knee I think I'll be back on the trail after just a few days of rest. I'll live to fight another day.