MannaAdventure

Drymax Max Protection V4 Initial Test

2011-08-08T14:36:00.000-04:00

I had a full day to dedicate to running in Shenandoah National Park. I have run here numerous times and really enjoy the long climbs and mix of rocky trails and old forest roads. The week before I ordered a pair of Drymax Max Protection socks from Running Warehouse. Drymax has a 100% satisfaction guarantee. I have been wearing there standard running socks for a year now and love them. This lead me down the path of spending $25 for a single pair of socks. If I was not satisfied I would contact Drymax and take them up on their offer.

Location: Shenandoah National Park

Weather: 80+ degrees down low and raining off and on all day

Time/Distance: I covered around 38 miles / 9000 feet of ascent and descent. I was away from my truck for a total of 11 hours including refilling water out of streams, talking to people, changing socks, and taking pictures. (Think enjoyable day, not race pace)

Details: My feet were wet all day and the socks worked wonderfully. Around 20 miles in I started to feel a little pain behind my second toe and on my one heal. This is a very normal place for me to get blisters. I ran down 2000+ feet of rocks and sat down to change into a standard pair of dry drymax socks I had in my pack. My feet looked like they had been soaking in water for 2 days, but no visible blisters or damage. The new socks felt great for an hour but then the pain started to come back. I stopped one more time before a 7 mile descent down some very runnable fire roads. I was going to put some body glide on my feet to see if this would help prevent any additional damage. I ended up taking off the standard socks and putting back on the wet and dirty max protection socks. I ran out and the pain did not get worse. The next day once my feet were dry I had very minor hot spots that did not bother me at all. Much, Much better than I would have expected with wet feet all day. I believe if I had a second pair of max protection socks I would have been even better off.

Recommendation: I cannot speak of their durability or long term usage. What I can say is that if I need a goto sock for long distance this is my sock. I highly recommend them to anyone with blister issues. Do not bother spending your hard earned money on them for every day use or the mid week run, but when the big and wet miles are calling break them out. You will not be sorry!

Jennifer Pharr Davis AT Speed Record

2011-08-02T14:18:00.000-04:00

UPDATE: She Did It! On Sunday July 31, 2011 at 3:26 PM she reached Springer Mountain setting the new AT Speed Record. I recommend taking the time to read through her blog. Her husband Brew Davis did a wonderful job of bringing the adventure to us all. I really enjoyed his writing style (humor) and pictures. Check it out at http://jenniferpharrdavis.tumblr.com/.

A few weeks ago I was reading through Karl Meltzer's Hardrock 100 odds. After the odds I saw a paragraph on Jenn Pharr Davis's speed record attempt on the Appalachian Trail. Pharr Davis already owns the women's record at 57 days 8 hours and 33 minutes (2008). This time she is after Andrew Thompson's record of 47 days 13 hours and 31 minutes (2005). You can look up these records and read about them and others at the Fastest Known Time web site.

She is traveling north to south. At the time of this post she has completed 1257 miles in 28 days. She is somewhere in Shenandoah National Park. This puts her at an average of 45 miles per day. The last few days she has been logging over 50 miles per day. She will need to average around 47 miles per day the rest of the way to break the record.

I remember first hearing about and seeing Jennifer at the pre-race briefing for the Holiday Lake 50k. David Horton introduced her and told us about her planned AT record attempt. She was there to run the race and promote her book "Becoming Odyssa". I remember thinking how great it would be if she could pull it off and one up all the guys out there.

You can follow her progress on her blog. Her support crew is posting daily updates (I believe they are a few days old when posted for safety purposes). Follow her on Twitter @JenPharrDavis. You can also check out her progress on Whiteblaze.net. Type her name in the search box to find the discussion on her attempt. The blog and the discussion boards are great reads and will give you some insight into what goes into such an endeavor.

This ultra runner is pulling for you Jennifer. GODSPEED!

6 Reasons to use a Treadmill

2011-07-22T12:07:00.000-04:00

Treadmills have been around for a long time. There is nothing polarizing about them. The "I hate treadmills" camp is strong, but I have a hard time finding anyone in the "I love treadmills" camp. There is also a strong opinion that running on treadmills is easier than running outside on pavement. I am not here to argue this point one way or the other. I for one am on the opposite side of this and think running on a treadmill can certainly be harder than running on pavement outside (given the conditions outside are similar). It is fine if you disagree and I will not say you are wrong or right. What may be harder for may certainly may be easier for you.

There are some major advantages to treadmill running:

1. Uphill Training - Unless you live in the mountains you probably do not have access to a hill that theoretically never ends. A treadmill gives you this. If you do have access to long hills you will have to run down after getting up. This may not always be ideal if you are going for just an uphill workout. I am an ultra runner and love mountainous races. I live in an area with 0 hills. The treadmill is essential to prepare me for the long 1000+ feet climbs of most of the races I run.

2. Speed / Temp Training - A treadmill allows you to hit a pace and stay there. You can turn your brain off a bit and just focus on pushing through the workout. You can easily measure your effort and improvement over a time period based on the same or similar workouts.

3. Mental Toughness - Most people will agree that running on the treadmill takes some mental toughness due to the boredom it brings. With no change in scenery you can quickly get bored. In my opinion (at least in ultras) being mentally tough is just as important as being trained properly. Hanging in on those tough treadmill workouts when your mind is bored and you can easily quit without having to walk 3 miles back to your house or car builds that toughness. Ultras that consist of loops are tough because of this car factor. A few years ago I dropped out of the Umstead 100 miler after 87 miles. I was at my car and a warm fire. If I was feeling that bad at a different point in the race I still would have had to walk it in and who knows, maybe I would of felt better. It is always easier to quit when you can quickly have the creature comforts we are accustomed to.

4. Race Simulation - Treadmills allow you to simulate a race course and reduce its length. A coach I had a few years back put me onto this idea. Break down your race into %incline of every segment and then simulate those climbs and flats/declines on the treadmill. This has really caught on as some treadmills now have a capability to upload a gps track and they will automatically change the incline based on real world data. I am going to write a post on this sometime soon and go into more detail about my manual way of doing this.

5. Time Saving - Unless you live near the hills or track you want to train on a treadmill can save you time (especially if it is in your home or at your work). I have a treadmill at my house and my office complex has one in its workout room. I can easily do a run at lunch or anytime at home. This gives me more time due to less driving, money savings on gas, and more time with my family.

6. Climate - Sometimes the weather is not cooperative even for experienced mountain runners. My former coach had a top of the line treadmill because he lives at high altitude in Colorado. The winters are snowed in, but he still had a need to get in quality workouts. This guy is no slouch as he has won the Vermont 100 and Leadville 100 twice. In my case the summers are hot and humid. This weekend the low is 80 with a "real feel" of 90. The high is 100 with a "real feel" of 115. I am sure I could go out and hit my long run in this weather if I ran at night and went really slow. I am choosing the treadmill instead. I know I will get a better workout this way and not be exposed to the heat and all the possible ailments it brings. I am not training for a hot race so why should I expose myself to this extreme heat when I can run a Race Simulation instead?

I hope you will consider the treadmill as just another tool to help you reach your goals. It can hold a key place in most runners training and can be very helpful in reaching your goals. In the following months I am going to continue to expand on each of the above points and hopefully give some more insight into how the treadmill can be a useful training tool. So what do you think, are treadmills useful to you or are they nothing more than "dreadmills"?

UPDATE: Yurbuds Ironmad Earbuds Review

2011-07-18T10:38:00.000-04:00

I have been through a lot of headphones. I listen to music or podcasts 100% of the time I am running on the road and probably 75% of the time I log on trails. It is very discouraging to pay big $$ for headphones to have them sound poor or fall out repeatedly while running. The Yurbuds Ironman headphones are “guaranteed” not to fall out. The looked pretty cool the first time I saw them at the store, but at $50 they were pricey. I had been running in and loving the Nike Sport Flow headphones, but after wearing out 2 pair it was time to try something new.

The Yurbuds come in an impressive package that includes a storage pouch, the headphones, and a set of replacement ear pieces. I tried them on and they fit well. I took them out for a short run and as advertised they did not fall out. At first they felt a little weird and I could hear a noise almost like they were making some microscopic movements in my ear. After a while it went away. I am not sure if I just zoned it out or it stopped all together. That is really my only issue and after I have used them a few times the noise is non-existent.

I established they worked well for shorter runs, the next test was a 50k race. If I could wear them for 5 plus hours while pushing hard they would be a winner in my book. The Yurbuds worked flawlessly and I did not touch them once during the race. They stayed in place and after a while I forgot they were even in my ears. At one point I turned off the music for some silence, but just left the buds in.

$50 is a lot of money to spend on headphones, but for me the Yurbuds Ironman series are worth every penny. I am not sure how durable they are and will report back once I get some more time in them. If I can get 6 months out of a pair of headphones I am happy and will gladly pay for another pair if they last that long.

Yurbuds has a lot of pictures and technical specs on their website. If you are considering buying a pair you should check it out at http://www.yurbuds.com/.

UPDATE:

I have now been using the yurbuds for 3 months. I have used them on 7 mile mid week runs and on 20+ mile mountain runs. They have held up well and sound quality appears to still be the same as when they were new. I cannot recall any time when they fell out of my ears and overall I am happy with them. At first I was not very impressed with their perceived durability, so far they have not let me down. I really think the jury is still out on this one. I have inadvertently pulled them out of my ears with no ill effect. Will they last for 4 months or a year or more? Time will tell. For the cost I am hoping I can get a year out of them. Well see………

I Hate Strength Training, But Its Important

2011-04-21T14:28:00.000-04:00

I consistently lifted weights from the time I was 16 until I was in my late 20s. Then I started training for Ultras and my passion for throwing around iron quickly transitioned into covering miles. I have tried time and time again to get back into strength training as I believe it could make me a better runner. Time and time again I have pledged to do better and take time from running to cross train. The problem is I always fail. I LOVE to run. I can wake up at 5 am to run in the dark and watch the sun come up, no problem. Getting up pre-dawn to lift weights, no thank you. I will take my sleep any day over that. Maybe my problem is rooted in the lack of progress I see when lifting. If I run consistently I see measured improvement in energy, endurance, resting heart rate, body fat, and the list goes on. When I would lift consistently I did not see any real improvement. So what if I could bench press 10 more pounds this month than last month. Big deal, what does that get me in the real world, nothing. Covering miles, now that is something useful in the real world.

It is not my intension to get scientific here. I am going to go on the assumption that strength training can make you a better runner. There are many extreme cases of this. Here is an article on a guy who only did the basic crossfit workout each day (with no additional running) and was able to run 80 miles in 24 hours. On his blog, http://ultratraining101.blogspot.com, ultra author Neal Jamison has written about and shared others experience with crossfit and ultra running numerous times (here and here) including Adam Eidson's 5:19 finish at Holiday Lake after running only 7 miles in the prior 3 months. Those are some pretty amazing feats for non runners and there has to be something too it. I am not about to go and take up crossfit. No time or desire for that, but I think we can learn a lesson from this. Strength training is important.

Backing up that notion is an article written by Dr. Bill Henderson over on irunfar.com. Dr. Henderson sites some studies where strength training of the legs made the subjects better at running. This is attributed to better running economy. I think we are on to something here.

So where does that leave us runners who despise lifting weights? I am a firm believe that to be a better runner you need to put in the miles. So we must find the balance between running and strength training. The balance where weights do not interfere too much with running and everything else we all have going on. This is a question we all must answer. I am taking the approach of more is less. My main strength workout is based on research presented by author and Master RKC Kenneth Jay in his book Viking Warrior Conditioning. Kenneth lays out protocols for increasing strength and VO2Max using the kettlebell snatch. Unless you have trained with Russian Kettlebells in the past this may not be a good fit. You must be proficient in the RK style of snatch or you will get injured. I am also going to do some basic movements, including pull ups, pushups, and squats. I will count this a success if I can get these workouts in twice a week. Ideally you would do the VO2Max 3 to 4 times.

I will keep you posted on how this goes for me. Hopefully it will work out and I will not fall off the strength wagon as my mileage and time on the road/trails increase.

Fun With Numbers - Analysis of my Average Weekly Mileage

2011-04-13T14:43:00.000-04:00

I have been battling a calf injury for the past 2 months. This has left me with a little extra time to look at some mileage data. I started training for my first ultra in the fall of 2007. Since then I have kept track of my weekly mileage. I decided to produce some charts based on my 16 and 32 week averages. Below are those charts.

16 Week Average

32 Week Average

As one can quickly see my average mileage per week is at a low point right now. Part of this is due to some time off from injury, the rest is due to taking most of last summer and a few scattered weeks last fall off. On the contrary my race times are getting better. The last Ultra I ran was the Holiday Lake 50K and I cut off around 25 minutes from 2 years ago (also the catalyst of my injuries). Maybe if I can stay healthy and get my mileage back up I can make a run at a 100 this fall. Injury is going to dictate this. The first part of 2011 is lost, but God willing the rest of 2011 will be better.

If your interested - I produced these charts and keep my weekly mileage log in Google Documents. This "cloud based" service works well for non-technical spreadsheets and allows me access from any web-enabled computer or device. Drop me a comment if you want to know more about my setup.

2011 Holiday Lake 50K++

2011-02-15T14:45:00.001-05:00

Three long years ago Holiday Lake was my first ultra. I remember that weekend vividly as I packed up my wife and 5 month old daughter for a weekend journey into the unknown. I had no idea the adventure, pain, struggle, will power, and pure joy that day would be the catalyst for. People often ask me why I want to run such long distances by myself in the woods. I honestly do not have an answer for them. I don't know if you are born with it, or if it is like a healthy virus that infects you when you are around other like minded runners. Once ultras get their hooks into there is no turning back.

Much has changed since that cool and sunny February day back in 2008. My little girl is now 3 and refuses to give me a hug when I come home from a run if I am sweaty (she asks if I was racing and says "Daddy, your all wet!"). My fitness level and race knowledge have also grown through training and race experience. So I decided to come back to Holiday Lake once again to try and quantify how much things have changed.

My other motive for running at Holiday Lake was getting in a 30+ mile training run in for my upcoming 100 attempt. Ideally I would have made this a training run, but it is a race and to give less than 110% would be wrong in my mind and somewhat disrespectful to all the volunteers and one legendary ultra runner/race director. I knew that conditions would be ideal from Dr. Horton's emails and the weather forecast. I had set a reasonable goal which would give me a nice course and 50k PR.

The race started as normal and I ran up the road at an easy clip. Once into the woods I stayed close to those runners with headlamps since I did not have one. I was feeling pretty good from the start and decided to push it a little and see what happens. My plan from the start was to run the first lap, but not to push too hard. I wanted to have something left for the second part of the race. It was a good plan, but I failed to execute it. As I was running up the shallow grades of the race I watched my watch tick down my average pace. I thought that maybe it should be ticking up the pace, running a little slower on the ups would be wise. It just did not register in my brain for some reason. I slowed down somewhat between aid station 3 and the turn around. This section is a little more technical and passing other runners on the narrow lake trail makes it even more difficult. I looked at the clock as I grabbed some more fuel out of my bag at the turn and it read 2:37.

I was feeling good still and figured I could easily run under 5:20 for the race. That is when, as has become the norm for me, the wheels started to fall off. Somewhere around the mid point of my recent races I go through a sharp mental down. If I look at the split times of races these periods often are minutes per mile slower on average than the rest of the race. This down hit me hard right after the turn and lasted for 8 miles. When I finally hit the middle aid station on the back portion of the race I had pulled my self out of it and ran most of the way in to salvage my original goal time of 5:45.

I believe we learn something from every experience we have in life, ultras included. I take away 2 lessons from Holiday Lake:
1) Slow down at the beginning, even if I would not have had the down period the second part of the race would have been over a minute per mile slower in the second half of the race.
2) I must determine why I get so down, this is clearly mental because I almost always pull myself out of it finish much stronger than the down period.

These are both lessons I have been taught in numerous ultras, maybe this time they will stick.....

2010 in Review

2011-01-05T13:36:00.000-05:00

2010 was good to me. I only logged 1465 miles, down from 1856 in 2009. I did not put in a ton of miles, but my workouts were of a higher quality and my overall distance per run and pace per run were both significantly up from 2009.

I ran 4 ultras in 2010:

Umstead 100
Promise Land
Laurel Highlands
Mountain Masochist

Umstead was my second attempt at a 100 and my second dnf, so right now I am 0/2. More on rectifying that situation in a later post. I ran my best race at Umstead with a PR for 50 miles, but in the end did not have enough in the tank to start the last lap, so at 87.5 miles I called it a race. My feet were beat up bad and my body had shut down. I got the idea in my head of running under 24 hours and simply went to fast.

Promise Land is always a great race and this year was no different. I was not fully recovered from Umstead, especially my feet. I was still able to set a 18 minute PR.

Laurel Highlands was longer this year by 7 or 8 miles because of a detour around a removed foot bridge. I had a good start, but my feet really suffered (probably still not right from spring races) and I walked in the last 25 miles or so. A good experience, but not how I had planned it.

Mountain Masochist was, as always, a great event. I picked up some a new brand and style of shoe and took the chance of wearing them for the start of the race. My dad was crewing so I could change out if need be. It was a gamble but it paid off (I do not recommend new shoes and new socks on race day!). I changed socks once early on and had no hot spots or blisters the entire day. My feet felt great for having run 50+ miles. I set a course PR too.

Hopefully 2011 will be even better.

Brooks ASR7 Review

2010-07-02T12:12:00.000-04:00

Brooks has recently released its newest version of the road/trail hybrid Adrenaline ASR line. The ASR7 remains in the mold of previous ASRs with a few upgrades. The shoe is still based on the Brooks Adrenaline road shoe. It still provides some stability and is a good fit for a current adrenaline wearer looking to hit the trail. The new version is styled more like a trail runner with its overall appearance and a more aggressive tread pattern.

On The Road: Brooks markets this shoe as a trail/bad weather runner. My initial run was a 20+ miler 100% on pavement. The shoe held up well and gave me no issues. I normally would not advise running in a brand new style of shoe for this long on a first run in it. There were only 2 things that bothered me a little. First you can really feel the more aggressive thread. Think of running a car with winter or mud tires down a dry and smooth road. The ride was a little clunky, but nothing that was of real concern. Of more concern was the sweet buildup. These shoes do not breath well. Brooks has placed a water resistant liner in the upper. I completely disagree with this strategy. If moisture has a hard time getting it, it will have an even harder time getting out. This is especially annoying when crossing water in them and getting wet feet. It is not as bad or hot as a Gore Tex liner. It also does not keep water out like a Gore Tex liner.

On The Trail: I wore these shoes to run the 77 mile Laurel Highlands Ultra. This race is 90% on single track trail with a 9 mile portion in the middle consisting of dirt road, pavement, and gravel road. The shoe did very well in the race. I was happy to have the more aggressive tread pattern as some of the course was muddy. I did not slip or fall the entire race. It showed good stability throughout the race. When I came to the road section I was able to comfortably run most of it and make up some valuable time. Once again I had issues with moisture not escaping from the shoe. I have been wearing ASRs for a few years now and this is not new to this years model. Overall the shoe held up well for the entire race. I really can only point out 2 issues I had. First the rubber toe plate separated from the shoe. This has happened to me in the past with ASRs. I have gone on to wear the shoes for hundreds of miles and numerous chores around the house with no further separation. The bigger issue were my feet. I cannot blame the shoe for the blisters I suffered. My feet were not healed properly from a long spring race and as the day went on I got multiple blisters on each foot. This is partially due to the lack of breath-ability I have discussed above, and partially to me no changing socks and cleanup up my feet during the day. I am interested to see if this happens again when I take proper care of my feet or it is an issue I will have with the newest version of this shoe.

Conclusion: I like this shoe. I think I am going to love it once I get some more miles on it. My biggest complaint of the shoe was a lack of tread, which has been addressed. If you can live with the moisture issue you will be happy with the shoe. Many ultras are run on a combination of single track, road, and fire road. This shoe can handle it all and really excels on fire roads. It does not offer the protection of some trail shoes. I think this protection is unnecessary and only adds weight. If you are looking for a support trail shoe you cannot go wrong with the Adrenaline ASR7. Leave a comment if you have any specific questions about this shoe and I will try and answer them.

Laurel Highlands 2010

2010-06-25T14:45:00.001-04:00

On June 12th, 2010 I towed the line once again at Laurel Highlands. I ran this race in 2008 as only my third ultra and finished, but just barely. I was hoping for a much better day. The course was longer this year due to a detour around a bridge that had been removed. I knew I was up for it mentally and physically, the only question mark was my feet. They still were not fully recovered form Umstead and Promise Land.....

This report is taken from a writeup I did for my personal use. After each race I write up Race Knowledge for the race. Here is the narrative of my race from that document. It is broken up in from aid station to aid station.

Pre Race

Went to Moms thursday night, then to somerset friday afternoon
Slept 4 - 5 good hours before the race, up once to take wining dog out
Up at 3:30 for 3:45 pickup
Checked in around 0450,
Prayed with Dad, took pics and was off

Start - Maple Summit Road The Climb

Ran easy on the road
Missed the first mile marker
Ran with a pack of slower runners (At the time) for the first hour - Guy I was running with breaks away early on, I stick with the pack
After an hour something clicks and I pass the pack - after the first steep downhill over river and uphill - right after this is where the trail is sloped to the right and it is grassy. I always think about seeing snakes at this spot.
The climb up heartattack hill was hot and brutal. I passed a few people and got passed near the top. Did I say it was hot? Completed mile 7 2:37 faster than 08
Ran a lot on the flats after this section
Made almost 20 minutes here over 08 race

Maple Summit - 653

Ran a lot here, do not remember a ton about this section except …
Running out of water. Spent a lot of time contemplating filling up from one of the many streams, but did not, never ran 100% out, but was conserving most of the time. Would only allow myself to drink at mile markers,
Ran a lot, kept goal of sub 15 miles here.

653 - Seven Springs

Ran well for a while into this section
Aid station was a good site and filled up, saw dad 2 miles later at firetower road crossing
Really down coming up an over springs and down the other side
Had a hard time running around Lake tahoe and down the sloped ski slope
Remember crossing 27 miles and high five-ing hikers, only 50 to go
I think I got passed by 50k runner here, may have been a relay 50k guy

Seven Springs - 31

Ran pretty stong to 31, know I had people waiting to see me
Thought I could go under 20 hours If I could keep up my 15 - 16 minute miles, know it would be hard
Thought the detour was the x factor, If I could run down and climb hard up I could make up some time here to get me closer to 16 - 17 avg pace to finish
Got passed by another 50k guy. Made me feel slow
Ran hard most of this section
Got to 31 and there were a ton of family there
Spent a little time here to see and thank everyone and was off

31 - 30 The Detour

Still thinking 20 was within reach
Mile 35 is hard, 2 bigger climbs, probably hardest climbing mile outside of 7
Got to detour, no water here except for crew member, took 5 minutes to change dump out shoes and put some lube on my feet. Wish I had a change of socks…..
Ran 10-2 or better the whole way down, 37 minutes for the 3.5 mile section.
Hiked a lot on the edie bakersville road, Got really light headed while walking across the turnpike bridge, Had to close my eyes
Hiked hard back up hickory flats road, talked to some guys who were amazed at the run
Road turned into Gravel and really was hard on my feet, Man told me 2 miles to go, I think he was wrong, He also gave me some water, that was good as I was running out
Finally made it up to the top, but did not have a crew there, only aid. Filled up fluids and was off.
Caught up to Greg from Berlin and ran with him for a few miles. This was his first ultra, and he did great. He was worried about a light, he was not sure if his crew would be there at 30. Ran into Dad and stopped to work on feet again. Should have changed socks, but did not. Greg kept moving and I never saw him again.
Kept on moving and hit a real low point around beams rocks. Caught up to a man from pittsburg and power hiked the last few miles with him. His friend was up ahead. They would finish a little ahead of me. They both ran MMT 4 weeks prior in 34 hours. We would jockey back and forth some the rest of the race. Dad gave his friend a coke earlier in the day
Lots of people at 30, including bryan, mark and Jess. Mark was ready to run, I was ready to walk
Took off with mark

30 - 271

walked a ton here, feet were starting to get bad
Mark made me run some, then it got dark
Hard going as the large ferns had overgrown the trail and you could not see the footing, got almost lost a few times as we were hunting the trail in the forest of ferns.
It got dark and we kept moving. By this time my feet were pretty beat up

271 - Gasline

Dad was with me on this leg
Super dark, so dark it was like being underground, could not see my hand in front of my face
Feet kept getting worse, but I kept moving
Got passed by MMT Pittsburg guys.
Made it to road, missed a mile marker somewhere
Made it to aid station and ate some grilled cheese and soup, took a bag of cookies for the last 8 miles,
Set off with 30 min/mile to finish, needed most of it

Gasline - End

Trudged along with Dad
Ran with a lady and her pacer for a while, they took a wrong turn and I quickly corrected them
After a long time finally made it to the first powerline crossing (The rocky one)
Sat down on some rocks and ate my last 2 cookies, feet hurt a lot when I got up, had to keep moving
Mile 69 is like murder on my feet. Just kept moving, relentless forward motion
Some of my blisters popped, leaving me in a lot more pain, kept moving
Finally saw 69, knew 70 was short
Shuffled my feet, saw the lights and heard someone finish ahead of me, end was near
Saw 70, bent down and kissed her. Finally had found what I was looking for
Crossed finish, got trophy, sat down and was done

This race turned into pure willpower as my feet deteriorated. I have never felt so good or had so much energy at the end of a race of this distance. My feet really held me back or I could have ran a lot more of the last 2 sections. Hopefully I have learned my lesson on this one.

Check out the review of the shoes I wore in this race

Hellgate 2009

2009-12-25T15:20:00.001-05:00

I had run my first Ultra (Holiday Lake 50K) just 22 months ago. Prior to that my only running experience was training for and running 3 half marathons. Now I found myself standing among 116 elite runners. This is company I probably did not belong in, but I was determined to prove to myself I could and would finish Hellgate. It was like a moment frozen in time, well maybe time was not frozen, but everything else certainly was.
My friend John had volunteered to come and crew/pace with my Dad. Dad is always the first to volunteer to help and is an awesome crew captain. We met my Dad at camp Bethel and sat down to a filling pasta dinner. We then attended the brief and I headed off to my Jeep to try and catch an hour or two of sleep. The next thing I know John and Dad are in the car and we are driving to the start. I quickly got dressed for the cold and we all walked down to the start together. We prayed and sang the National Anthem and without much fanfare we were off.

Dad and I at the Start

Running to the first Aid Station was surreal. It was dark and cold, but clearly I had overdressed. As we wound our way through the woods I contemplated a quick equipment adjustment. The pack bunched up as we hit the first river crossing. It was deep and cold, but unlike some racers who were putting garbage bags over there feet I just ran through. The water was up over my knees. Someone in front of me fell in. I was just glad I made it through. At the Aid Station I quickly stopped and replaced a heavy layer with a light layer. 2 minutes later I started the climb up to Aid Station 2. Since I had been sweating my base layer was wet and I now found myself shivering in the cold. I made the decision to put on one more light layer, hoping I would find the sweet spot where I was warm, but not sweating. This took me less than 2 minutes, but as I would find out in 17 hours, those 2 equipment changes would come back to haunt me.

Hellgate Elevation Profile

My goal for the race was just to finish. Race Director David Horton had set 2 cutoffs and published “Last Runner” times for each Aid Station. I wanted to stay ahead of the last runner times. At Petites Gap, Aid Station 2, I was 15 minutes ahead of this time. The single track after Petites was very runnable for me and I was really on a high at this point, just enjoying the night and being in the woods. The climb up to Camping Gap was icy and long. In the past this may have been draining, but tonight was different, I was having a great time. The Christmas Lights at the Aid Station were a welcome sign. I had some soup and enjoyed the view before quickly heading off into the night. I now had a 30 minute cushion.

The next section is the longest of the race. Some of this section is run on the Promise Land 50k course. I ran a lot early on and was enjoying the view off the ridge and all the stars up in the sky. It was really something to look forward and back and see little lights bobbing along the trail. I then made the classic mistake of thinking I was further than I really was. We hit the single track and I had a hard time running down hill. At one point I fell hard on some Ice. I kept thinking that the Headformost Mountain Aid Station was high. I finally bottomed out on a road and started to climb. I was getting a little anxious as it was getting colder and my 30 minute cushion was slowing eroding away. I hit the Aid with 20 minutes left on my cushion. I quickly ate some piping hot tomato soup and a frozen grilled cheese. It never tasted so good. It was now after 6 and you could see the first glimpses of the sun. Daylight would be here soon and hopefully some new found energy.

The next section seemed long to me. I ran down hill forever and finally hit a road. I thought I was near Aid, but was wrong. The road just kept going down. The sun had now come up, but it still was cold. I finally could hear people, but still had a ways to run. At Jennings Creek Aid I quickly ate some pancakes and was off. I now had very little time cushion, but thought I was in good shape.

John and I at the Start

This next section was marked by a long climb to where the road dead ends. A man running in front of me kept turning around and yelling at me to hurry up, but I was giving it all I had. At the dead end the course then continued onto a trail. After a little climb I started down. I ran the entire way down the trail and onto a road and then back into the woods. I just kept pushing, knowing that every second counted. The course then climbs up another road. This was starting to be the theme of the race, climb up a road, run down some singletrack, repeat many times. At the top of the road and the Aid Station I had little time to spare. I quickly resupplied and was off.

The first part of the section leading into Bearwallow Gap was a very runnable double-track grassy road. The Aid Station workers had warned me to be careful because the footing was bad ahead. I just kept thinking what could be bad about this? I then hit the road’s end and plunged into the woods. The bad footing was now staring me straight in the face. The trail started off off camber and I struggled to stay on my feet. Things then got worse as I hit some nasty single-track. The leaves were deep and covered the softball size boulders littering the trail. I winced in pain just thinking about navigating this obstacle course. This is when I started to repeat to myself and any runner who I came upon the following: “Why does that %$&^*$ Horton pick the path of Most resistance?”. I finally descended to the river crossing. I had been thinking that since my shoes were dry I would put on some fresh socks for the final sections of the race. The river made sure they were no longer dry. Someone told me 10 minutes to go to aid. I quickly ran up the hill and found Clark at the trail head. I commented on how hard that section was, had some more tomato soap, changed socks, and was off towards Bobblets Gap. I was on a mental high, knowing that I made the final cutoff with a little time to spare. Now I could not be pulled from the race, so I should make it to the finish line. I was confident I would beat the 18 hour cutoff. This is where I made my only big mistake of the race. Dad offered to pace me to Bobblets, but I was feeling so good that I declined the offer. This would all change with a few hundred feet of ascent.

The initial climb out of Bearwallow crushed my moral. Someone passed me like I was standing still. I had lost my mental fortitude. Nothing felt that bad, but I could not force myself into anything faster than a walk. I even stopped a few times to catch my breath on some hills. I normally only stop on the course for bio breaks or aid. I was in trouble at the worst possible time. The swoops in and out of the mountain really crushed my attitude. The man yelling at me on the climb out of Jennings Creek was quickly gaining on me. He passed me and ran ahead. I struggled to keep up, but was unable to. The lack of sleep and miles had caught me. I was falling asleep as I ran. I am not sure if I ever really slept, or was just close. I am just happy I did not fall off the mountainside. I finally made it to the road and started to climb. Dad met me a 1/4 mile from the aid station. He found a beat down runner who had lost hope and was thinking of calling it a day. He talked me up some and told me I could do it. I started to tell myself I had trained too hard and my family had sacrificed too much to quit, so I would go on and give it all I had to beat 18 hours. I had survived the lowest point of the race.

John was rearing and ready to pace me through the Forever Section. John is a hockey playing,mountain biking, RKC Kettlebell swinging maniac who loves a good book and his cat. I knew he would be up to the task. We took off after a quick refuel. John had me running down the road in a 10 run 2 walk pattern. This helped me to recover and prepare for what was to come. We entered the woods and started to climb. I was able to climb ok and shuffled my feet on the flats and downs. One hill down, two to go. The second hill came and went. We came to a steam crossing and John proceeded to rip a dead tree out of the ground and press it over his head! I was laughing at his antics and it really took my mind off trail for a few minutes. I kept thinking we were almost to Day Creek Aid. I was wrong. This is not called the Forever Section because it was short. I started to complain about how long it was and the path of most resistance. John kept it positive. We finally came to the road and ran out to the Aid Station. I did not stop as we now had 80 minutes to cover the last 6 miles.

We started the climb up. John was telling me how much the last section blew because of how long it was. It was good to get my mind off of things for a bit. I settled into my fastest possible sustainable climb. The road just kept winding away. I know there were many false summits. I was mentally in it for the long haul. At first John was talking and asking me questions, but I did not have the energy to answer. We pushed hard up this road, possibly harder than I had pushed all day. 45 minutes later we reached the Blue Ridge Parkway. It was now dark. I had only 35 minutes to make it off this mountain. I started to run at what felt like a 5k pace. Looking back, I am sure it was no where near this pace, but it sure felt fast to me. Somewhere on this downhill I dropped John and quickly passed another runner who did not have a light. I just kept pushing, looking for the 1 mile to go. I finally hit the hard road intersection and took a few seconds to pick out which road to take. I finally saw the arrows on the road and was off. I ran hard down the road. My lungs and legs were burning. I had just given up hope for a sub 18 finish when I came across the 1 mile to go marker. I had 6 minutes left. I pulled all my remaining energy and took off. I could probably run a 6 minute mile on a track with fresh legs, but it was not to be on this night. I ran hard for 3 or 4 minutes until I saw my Dad along the road. He pushed me on, but Hellgate had taken all I had to give. The runner I passed coming down the mountain caught up and we ran into the finish together. So 18 Hours 3 Minutes and 30 Seconds after the start I was done. David greeted us at the line and I fell to the ground exhausted. He told us we would be finishers, just not under the time limit. I just sat there contemplating what I had just experienced. It truly was something special.

210 seconds is not a long period of time when looked at through the prism of 18 hours. If I had choose the correct layering at the start, if I would have been quicker through aid stations, if I would have ran harder into Bobblets Gap (3:00 per mile slower in this section than any other section all day). If – If – If…… The night before I had set out to finish Hellgate and I did. I would have loved to finish under 18, but I will take 18:03:30 over a DNF any day. As I look back over my Ultra career this truly was my best performance. I recovered from the lowest of lows and I pushed harder than I thought I could at then end. I left Camp Bethel fully satisfied that I left all I had in those mountains. That is all any of us can ask for when running ultras or living our lives.

Thank you to all who helped me along my journey, Aid Stations workers are the best. Thank you David for organizing a great race. Thank you John for coming along to crew and pace. I am so glad you had a good time (John now wants to train and run Promise Land). Thank you Dad for always being there for me, whatever my endeavor. I know if I need a crew or a pacer you will always be the first one there. Hopefully some day I can figure out a way to repay you for this. Lastly thank you to God for giving me the ability and the courage to set high goals and then achieve them. I now know why everyone says Hellgate is so special. I just cannot figure out how to put it into words.

The Importance of Warming Up

2009-10-06T11:03:00.001-04:00

I have heard it said that a dog can teach you many things and over the weekend my 1 year old yellow lab Jack taught me a valuable running lesson on the importance of warming up. Jack is a puppy stuck in an adult dogs body. Since he will turn one on Halloween and it has not been humid and hot I have decided to take him on some short slow runs. These runs normally occur at the beginning of a workout.

This weekend called me to run back to back 3 hour runs.
Saturday Morning: My legs were sore and tired from running hard last weekend in the mountains and the kettlebell workout I did on Friday afternoon. I headed my local state park and started off on the 1.7 mile paved trail up into the park. I started way too fast and before I knew it I was sweating up a storm and had a little touch of blurred vision. I quickly slowed up, but the damage was done. The rest of the run was horrible as I walked for long stretches and ran intermittently. After an 75 minutes of this run some walk a lot pattern I finally pulled together and managed 8 ok miles of running. With my next race only 5 weeks away and the training I have been putting in I was just a little concerned about this run and my confidence took a hit. How could I run so well the previous Sunday and so poorly today? How would I run the second part of this back to back weekend?

Sunday Afternoon: Today was a little warmer than I would have liked and my legs were shot. I had planned on running in the morning before church. When the alarm went off I got up and my legs and body said back to bed. Shortly after lunch I convinced myself it was time to get this run out of the way. Since I was running the roads around my house I leashed Jack up and off we went. Running with Jack is interesting. At first he wants to stop and sniff everything. After a few minutes he gets over this and falls into cadence with me. Since it was warm out we slowed down a lot. After a few miles I took Jack home. I then ran two and a half hours of rock solid effortless running. My legs felt great, my heart rate did not spike and was steady, and my breathing was perfect. At first I was not sure how it could all come together like this on a warm afternoon with very tired legs. As my run went on and on I realized that I had Jack to thank for my successful run. By running slower than normal with him I had inadvertently completed a thorough warm up.

Elite ultra runner and my coach Paul DeWitt has always told me that if you warm up properly your legs will feel good on the second day of a back to back. I just never listened to him. It took a crazy yellow lab to get through to me. I described my findings to Paul in an email after my runs and he replied "I often say that going 15 seconds a mile slower in the first hour can translate to going 2 minutes per mile faster the last few hours". I am now a believer. He also noted that I learned a valuable lesson over the weekend. In hindsight this makes total sense. I can normally perform at a pretty high level during my shorter midweek workouts. I always do a warmup before these runs. After years of running I never would have thought my dog would be able to teach me about running.

There is a lot of information on how warming up effects endurance sports. Almost everything I have read says warming up has a positive effect. You can check out these articles for more information on the benefits of warming up:

Mountain Dew Commercials

2009-10-01T15:37:00.000-04:00

I love Mountain Dew. Someone sent me this Mountain Dew cartoon commercial the other day.

I took the liberty to find Mountain Dew commercials and post them here. Enjoy! In the future I may research and post the year each commercial aired. Anyone have more commercials? - add a link in the comments and I will add it to the post.

Nike Flow Sport Headphones - First Impressions

2009-09-30T11:48:00.000-04:00

I have been on a quest for the perfect headphones for running. There are so many options on the market and everyone is different. I like to use my IPOD when I run, but the headphones that came with it are garbage when it comes to running. I have tried numerous products with the latest being "gummy" ear buds. These buds were like a set of earplugs with a speaker in them. In the end they quit working after a few months and were not a good fit. Thus I came upon this headphone review. I decided to purchase the Nike Flow Sport Headphones. The headphones are an ear bud with an ear wrap. The headphones ride nicely on your ears and do not fit inside your ears like a traditional ear bud. I ran for an hour last night with them, including some fast striders, and had no issues. They never fell out of my ears or lost the position I placed them in. They feel lose on your ears because they are not secured inside the ear. Here are my pros and cons.

Pros:

Stays in place on your ear
Decent sound quality for a sport headphone
Nice looking design
Does not drown out external noises (good for situational awareness)

Cons:

Price
Weird feeling to not have them secured in ear

Stats:

Price - I paid $30 at a local sporting goods store. I found them on amazon for under #25
In the Box - Headphones, Cord wrap coil, Storage pouch

I highly recommend these headphones for runners. The ear clip is not noticeable. They stay in place. One of the biggest issues with picking headphones is finding ones that "work for you". The ear clip makes the risk in them not working for you less.

SIgnal Knob Loop

2009-09-29T14:59:00.000-04:00

Last Sunday I ran a 15 mile loop in the Massanutten Mountains. I had run some of these trails before, but some of it was new or in a new direction. This loop turned out to be around 15 miles. I started at Elizabeth Furnace and ran up the Tuscarora Trail to Meneka Peak. Then I headed over to the Massanutten Trail on the connector trail. It was pretty foggy so the view were non-impressive, but this trail was brutally rocky. Maybe the rockiest trail I have experienced in this region (which is saying a LOT for Massanutten). After I hit Signal Knob I ran down the Massanutten Trail to Mud Hole Gap. I took this trail back to the car. The first 5 miles of this run took the same amount of time as the last 10. This was due to a combination of elevation change, but more because of the rocky terrain.

Signal Knob Fog from Justus Stull on Vimeo.

The highlight of the trip was watching the fog roll over the mountain and the 2 bear sightings. The first sighting took place near Signal Knob. I had just talked to some hikers and was only a minute down the trail when I heard something and looked off the trail. No more than 30 feet off the trail was a black bear 15 feet up a tree. We made eye contact and he charged down the tree. At this point I started to yell, hoping to scare it into running away. Luckily when it bottomed out of the tree it headed down the mountain away from me, but in the general direction I was heading. The second sighting occurred half way down Mud Hole Gap. A cub crossed the trail 20 feet in front of me. He got 30 or 40 feet off the trail and stopped to have a look at me. I quickly assessed the situation to make sure he did not have a sibling or his mother with him and went for my camera. By the time I got it out he was gone. Not more than 2 minutes later I ran across a couple with 2 dogs. I told them to watch out for him and was on my way.

Rhine River Run

2009-09-24T12:07:00.000-04:00

I was recently in Bonn Germany and had a great run along the Rhine river.

Running along the Rhine river in Bonn, Germany from Justus Stull on Vimeo.

UPDATE-3 - Montrail Hardrock 09 Review

2009-09-01T03:18:00.000-04:00

This review was updated on April 30 to reflect my experience with the Hardrock at the Promise Land 50K .

The Montrail Hardrock 09 is a completely different shoe than previous versions of the shoe. I am surprised that Montrail did not change the name. According to a write up by Jon Webb (Montrail Factory Rep) the folks at Montrail contemplated the name change. That being said I must qualify my experience with both the old and new versions of the shoe. I have run around 250 miles in a size 11 old style hardrock. These miles include the first 20 of the Laurel Highlands Ultra and various other training efforts when I knew the terrain would be very rocky. I have run 80 miles in the Hardrock 09. These runs inlcude a 2 mile "test" run on a flat smooth grass surface, a 5 mile run on the same grass surface with some pavement thrown in, a 38 mile training run in the Massanutten Mountains, and the 2009 Promise Land 50K. The run on Massanutten was completed after a few days of rain had fallen and a lot of the trail was flooded with calf deep water pools and stream like flowing water. Massanutten is notoriously rocky and this run included a trip over the notorious Short Mountain. The running surface conditions at Promise Land consisted of around 7 miles or gravel road, 4 miles of nasty down hill single track, with 2 stream crossings, many miles of grassy fireroad, and over 8000 feet of elevation gain and loss. I feel these experiences qualify me to review the Hardrock 09.

Jon Web's review does a good job of describing the shoe in general and is worth a quick read. Jon points out that the Hardrock has a medial post for stability control, something that was not apparent to me upon inspecting the shoe and reviewing its data on the Montrail web site. Lets look at a few key areas and see how this new Hardrock stacks up to the old Hardrock:

Weight: The new hardrock has an announced weight of 11 oz for a size 9, the old had an announced weight of 15 ounces for the size 9 - you may think this is not a big difference, but I believe that a pound on the foot is equivalent to 10 pounds on the back. I could tell a significant difference here.
Breathability: I do not have enough wet experience with the old hardrock to comment on it, but the new version is highly breathable and dries pretty quick. I am used to running in trail runners that started as street shoes and were "beefed up" for the trail. Road shoe companies have a bad habit making the upper water resistant, thus the shoes get wet quickly and never dry. This is not the case with the new Hardrock. Even with my leather and foam orthotics my feet were fairly dry shortly after running through calf deep water. There was no sloshing around shortly after exiting the water as well. At Promise Land the stream crossings were a breeze and my feet were dry very quickly.
Flexibility: The new Hardrocks are much more flexible than the older model. They have a different flavor of rock shield than the older version and feel closer to a road trainer than before. While on the rocks I could feel the rocks more than the old version, but it was not a hindrance. I prefer the feel of the new model as the stiff older model feels too much like a boot to me. The road running at Promise Land was a breeze and at no time did I think I was in a trail shoe. They are more than adequate to cover the few road miles you may encounter in training or racing.
Size: I had to order a 1/2 size smaller to get a similar fit to the older Hardrocks. Try them on somewhere as other people have reported the sizes are similar to the older model.
Lacing System: The new Hardrocks have a superior lacing system to other shoes. Montrail has done away with the traditional hole design and replaced it with a loop design. This allows for the lacing to adjust easier and distribute weight more evenly across the foot. I just tied them like normal and did not have to adjust the lacing tightness at any time. The laces stayed tied for all of Promise Land (I did remove and retie them once to clean rocks out).
Cushion: Little to no cushion is present in the new Hardrock. In my opinion this is a desirable feature for a trail shoe. I have logged a few pavement miles with no discomfort, but unlike a beefed up road shoe I would not want to wear them to run a road race. They work fine for short pavement sections you may encounter in some trail races. (See Flexabilty bullet) At Promise Land I had a little pain on the ball of my right foot, no blistering just a little discomfort. This is not unusualy for me in any trail shoe.
Traction: The tread pattern is not as aggressive on the new model as the old. Traction was good in the mud and on the leaves. I did take a hard fall on a flat wet rock as my foot slid out from under me as I pushed off. Traction on dry rocks was great. I had no traction issues at Promise Land.
Fit: Out of the box the new Hardrocks feel great, with no real break in required. The only issue here was a slight rub on the seam above my little toe, due to a shallow toe box. It was just a nucence and never turned into a hot spot. I believe that if I trimmed the seam a little this issue would go away. I had no such issues at Promise Land.
Durability: The shoes held up great over the rocks of Massanutten. I noticed a little wear on the heel strike region of the shoe after a few road miles. I suspect they would not hold up for a long time on the pavement. At Promise Land the shoes held up great and after 80 miles of trails and mud the shoes look like new after a good cleaning. I see no issues with durability.

Pros:

Medial Post for stability control (if you need this)
Great draining
Good traction
Lightweight
Lacing System

Cons:

Traction on wet rocks
Durability on pavement
Possible toe rub because of shallow toe box

In summary I recommend this shoe as an all mountain running shoe that should hold up for longer races and training. Do not judge it based on the older versions as it is a whole new shoe.

Legend David Horton's Comments: At the Promise Land pre-race briefing Race Director David Horton commented on the new Mountain Masochist and Hardrock shoes. He thought it was pretty cool that Montrail named a shoe after his 50 miler (Mountain Masochist). He also stated that both shoes are great and the Masochist would make a good race shoe and the Hardrock is a super stable and durable shoe.

Personal:
I require a medial post as I am an over pronator. I also have been wearing a pair of custom orthotics that require a wider base shoe to work properly and not cause blisters on my arches. Both the old and new Hardrocks worked well with the orthotics. This is one of the only trail shoes that I have successfully been able wear to accommodate my stability needs and swallow orthotics. If you wear orthotics and need some stability you should take a hard look at this shoe. After Promise Land I had none of my normal foot pain I experience after running a race. This is a real plus for the Hardrock in my book and if you wear orthotics they are definitely worth consideration.

Update-2:
I wore the Hardrocks for the 65 miles of Massanutten I completed and they worked great. I had a few hot spots, but no blisters or other external foot issues. The only problem I had was my little toe rubbing a little on the roof of the shoe on my right foot. When I changes shoes at 40 miles to another pair of 09 Hardrocks I had no toe issues. I also logged around 10 miles on hard or dirt roads and they worked great. I highly reccomend these shoes to any long distanc trail runner.

Update-3:
After Massanutten I decided to not wear the custom orthodics. I feel them made my feet week in general and I would have pain after walking around bare foot or in sandals. This issue has since gone away as my feet have regained the strength they lost while using the orthodics. This being said I was left was a few pair of the 09 Hardrocks. Wearing the shoes with the factory inserts left a little too much room for my heal to wonder. I would develop hot spots while running extended periods down hill. I decided to purchase a set of the moldeable Dean Karnazes Sole inserts. The inserts work perfect with the Hardrock 09s. If you like inserts then these are the ones to use. Here is a review of the Sole Inserts on irunfar.com.

Massanutten Mountain Trails 100 Race Report 2009

2009-05-19T16:03:00.000-04:00

I knew in the back of my mind that sooner or later I would have my first DNF. Going into MMT I was 6 for 6, but I had never attempted a 100 miler and certainly had never faced a beast of a course like MMT. I was confident going into the race, or at least I thought I was. My wife confided to me after the race that she had a bad feeling going into it because when I talked about MMT I would always say I would give it "my best shot" and "if I finish". I guess subconsciously I had given myself an out if it got to hard out there.

My longest race going in was Laurel Highlands in 2008. I gutted it out and did not quit when it hurt bad and I was mentally drained. I thought that experience would prepare me for MMT, but was wrong in that assumption. If I can describe MMT as another sporting event it would be a heavy weight fight. This course just keeps coming after you, body blow after body blow after body blow and then finally a hay-maker meant to knock you out. The experienced fighter/runner survives the hay-maker and suffers through the night to the hope that Sunday morning's sunrise must bring. My hay-maker came in Duncan Hollow on my way from 211 back to Gap Creek/Jawbone II.

My MMT story begins back in 2008 on the Laurel Highlands course somewhere around mile marker 32. I was really down at this point and an older gentleman caught me and I muster the strength to keep up with him. We talked and I learned that he worked the Edinburg Aid Station at MMT. He said it was a hard long slugfest of a race and not to run it. Of course I took this as a challenge. After a few miles I was feeling better and moved out past this man, never to see him again. I wish I would remember his name to thank him for helping me get to the start of MMT.

MMT is perfect logistically as my parents reside a mere 10 minuted from Skyline Ranch Resort. I have spent many Saturday mornings running the Signal Knob loop and other trails in the area. I have always been fascinated by the Massanuttens, from her rocky trails, great views, and rich history. So when it came time to put my name in the lottery I filled out the form and let it up to God to decide if I would attempt this race as my first 100. I hit the lottery and promptly sent my check in. I trained pretty hard for this race and ran most of the course (everything north of Gap Creek/Jawbone Aid Station).

As the race neared I had lined up a crew and a few pacers. My Dad started running right after crewing me at Laurel Highlands and was once again crewing this race along with taking pacing duties for part of the night portion. He even went and ran a 5k after he got me started at MMT (he set a PR, Good Job DAD!). My brother in law (we call him HD) was also on board for the long task of crewing and some pacing duty. I also had many others along for some pacing / crewing / support (Tope, John, Mark, Rex, Mom, my wife and daughter, Ashley, hope I did not forget anyone).

Round 1: The first few road miles were very uneventful, I just remember how hot and humid I was already feeling. I climbed up Buzzard rocks to Shawl Gap, and though about how good it will feel when I see this spot again on Sunday. I made it to the aid station 15 minutes ahead of plan, but was not worried as I did not work very hard to gain that advantage on my plan. I won round 1 of the fight.

Round 2: I put on my Ipod and cruised down the road to Veach Gap. This was another victory for me as I ran the flats and downs and walked the hills on this dirt road.

Round 3: The climb up to Veach Gap was not difficult for me, but some small body blows were being landed by MMT. Once on top there is a one mile section of rocky abuse, few more body blows landed here. I reached aid pretty unscathed, but man was it getting hot out here.

Round 4: The run down the Indian Grave trail is very steep. The trail designers forgot the switchbacks and my quads paid for it. I was pretty tired at the bottom and ran along with another guy who had finished Laurel Highlands last year just ahead of me. At the road to Habron Gap this man and a pack of runners ran away from me as I was getting a little tired. This road has very beautiful views, but was uneventful. I saw my crew at that aid station. I fueled up and was off. This round was a draw as MMT was wearing me down even more.

Round 5: The climb up Habron was very hot and very steep. I thought it would never end. At the top I sat down to empty my shoes out and met MMT veteran Gary Knipling (My crew kept referring to him as the Yoo-Hoo guy because of his jersey and consumption of that chocolate beverage). After this climb I was hot and made poor time getting off the mountain and into Roosevelt. Many runner passed me and I felt like quitting at this point. My crew fueled me up and sent me back on the trail just as the sky began to darken up. The rain was coming. I have not felt this bad in a race ever. I did not feel this bad when I dropped. I was totally drained after this section. MMT had landed many body blows here and the damage would be felt for the rest of the day. The climbs were beginning to wear on me.

Round 6: The rain would be welcome as long as it would not last too long. I was climbing strong as the rain began and I continued to climb hard to the top of Gap Creek. This section would have been wet without the rain, but this made it worse. My feet had been dry to this point, but not any more. I know I would get wet here from training runs so I was mentally prepared for it. The run down gap creek into the aid station was very wet, but not too hard on me. I arrived at Gap Creek/Jawbone in good spirits and feeling really strong. This 5 mile section made a huge difference in my mood. Man did I feel good at Gap Creek. The climb had wore on me some more, but I definately won this round.

Round 7: I had climbed Jawbone in training and was prepared. This is where I first felt slow as race winner Karl passed me running up the road section of the climb. I finally made it up onto Kerns Mountain and was not prepared for what I would find. I had heard that Duncan Hollow was hard and Kerns Mountain was possibly the worst section of the course. Consensus seams to be that Short Mountain is the hardest (this though helped knock me out of the race). Kerns Mountain is hard and I was not mentally prepared for it. I made some good time at first, but then slowed down. Eventually I was caught by a group of guys including Gary. I ran with them for a while and enjoyed a great overlook with them. I asked Gary how we were time wise and he said ok. If you could make it to Bird Knob before the sun goes down you will be in great shape to finish. This became my new goal. I had to make it up Bird Knob in the daylight. Kerns Mountain finally gave away to a nice wide trail as we winded down the road and then onto the forest road for the final descent through the hairpin turns and out to 211. I felt pretty good at this point and was ready to attack Bird Knob. Thunder could be heard off in the distance and I knew it was only a matter of time until we got wet again. MMT had definitely won this round, but I had recovered nicely in the last few miles and was still eating and still feeling pretty good.

Round 8: Since it was after 6, Mark joined me for the climb up and down Bird Knob. Just as we started to climb the skys opened and it poured hard. This rain lasted for a little while and we finally made it off the steep part of the ascent. We ran most of the top portion to the aid station and made it there well before dark. I quickly had some soup as I was getting cold. I wish I had my jacket for the rain. We started down the trail and by the time we hit the steep descent darkness had overcome us. I was very cold on this descent. At this point I was not eating as much as before and my energy levels suffered from it. I wish I had a coat and gloves as every time I put my hands down on a rock to help my descent they would instantly fall asleep. We finally made it off the mountain and I ate some more soup and put on a dry shirt and my rain coat. The rain was still falling, but at this point it was only a light mist. I spent a long time at the picnic area. On descent from Bird Knob the idea of dropping first entered my head. I was so cold and wet, and the car was so warm and dry. MMT had just set me up for a knockout blow.

Round 9 - The Knockout: The trip down to the 211 crossing was not difficult, but it was time consuming as I had lost a lot of speed and I was getting really tired. I now had my dad with me. He kept us moving and pushed me along. We crossed 211 and started to climb. Once we got onto the trail and I knew I was in trouble. It was so muddy and wet. There were numerous places where the trail was a river and many crossing where we were in water almost to our knees. This was demoralizing to me. I saw a sign and thought we would be at the road soon, but I misread it. Dad tried to correct me, but my mind was made up, we should be at the road soon. Of course my tired mind was wrong and we had a long way to go. I sat down one or more times to rest, the first time of the day I had done this outside of an aid station. Dad did a good job keeping me moving and motivated. We finally reached the road, but the damage had been done. MMT had delivered the hay-maker and I was not strong enough the bounce back up from it. I sat down for a while by the fire and ate. Then I walked to the car and HD cleaned up my feet. They looked pretty bad and were swelled up. At this point I unpinned my number from my shorts and instructed dad to give it to the aid station captain. My race was done, 21 hours and 65 miles was enough for me on this day.

I had convinced myself I would not be able to make it in time. In hindsight I think I had time to get to Edinburg and the sunrise. What I do not know is if my feet would have taken another 35 miles. I am happy I was able to make a decision when it was not my day. I will be back to remove my name from the visitors list. Above all I gained more experience in this one race than all my other races combined. It was a good run while it lasted. They say that "Massanutten Rocks" and I definately agree, but possibly harder than all those rocks are all those climbs. You do not realize it until you race it, but you climb in almost every section. This constant clmibing pattern is demoralizing. It was not the water or rocks, but the climb from 211 to Gap Creek aid that really did me in.

Thank you to all who helped me, my crew, my pacers, my cheerleaders, my cooks, and everyone else who has helped me along the way. Thank you to all the volunteers who make this great race possible. I could not have made it as far as I did without all of you. I will be back next year to finish what I started.

Promise Land 50K 2009 Race Report

2009-04-28T08:55:00.000-04:00

As I was driving to Promise Land Friday afternoon I pondered how far I had come in a short period of time. One year prior I had only one ultra under my belt (2008 Holiday Lake) and was really wondering if I would be able to make the cutoff time and finish. The elevation profile had scared me and I had contemplated not running the race for fear of failure. Now I was not thinking about finishing, but how much time I could shave off last years time. My only concern was the weather forecast, HOT HOT and more HOT.

I pulled into the camp around six and set up my tent at the bottom of the field by the stream. What a great spot to camp. I went to check in, got some pizza, and talked to some friends that I have not seen since past races. After the pre-race brief I crawled into my tent, made final preparations for the morning, set my alarm, and was off to sleep. I slept pretty well and was up before the alarm went off at 4:40. I walked to the start while eating pop tarts and drinking mountain dew, ready for this adventure to begin.

We sang the national anthem and were off. I forgot how steep the road section was and after a mile or so was walking with a pack of runners. As we reached the first aid station and hit the trail I was warmed up and ready to go. I remember running a great deal more of this section than last year. I hit the turn at the top of the mountain in 1:06 and was off down the hill. I ran pretty hard on this section, including running some of the moderate hills. I heard the water rushing below and knew that I was near needed aid. I had only brought one bottle on the course and wished I had two as I found the bottle dry numerous times during the day.

The climb up Apple Orchard Mountain was pretty uneventful. I talked to a gentleman from Michigan about races in the mid west. At the top I found out that I am a slow downhill runner. All the people around me opened up a large gap running down the road. I could also see people behind me closing the gap. The trend of being passed on the downs and passing on the ups continued throughout the day.

View Larger Map

The next section of the race is rocky single track. It was made difficult by the loose softball size boulders littering the trail. I managed to only lose a little ground to the faster down hill runners. I stopped at one point to clean out my shoes. They were full of rocks from the road at the beginning of the race. At the second river crossing a lady fell in up to here knees as she tried to cross on some large boulders on the downstream side of the crossing. Then it happened, the road section that I hate! I ran down it and finally made it back onto the trail. After a short section I had come frozen lemonade and was off again.

After a little more road I was back onto the grassy surface. I ran over the rolling hills and finally down the hill to the aid station. It was time to climb. The sign said 3 miles, but I believe it is more like 3.5 to 4 miles up. I climbed hard and was really focused for this part of the race. I passed a few people and saw some runners sitting along the trail who were clearly suffering. I dipped my head and back into the cool water and felt like a new man. After the climb I knew I was almost done.

I pushed hard down the hills towards the finish. The road was as brutal as last year and I suffered my way down it. I forced myself to run down as the sun heated up the earth. It was hot, but I knew I was almost done. As I hit the one mile stripe I pushed a little harder and finally made the right turn into camp and sprinted down the hill to the finish. Another Ultra in the books.

This was a great race and I really enjoyed it. Promise Land is a great event and I recommend it to any runner. I want to thank Dr. Horton for putting on the race, all the volunteers for their hard work, and David's family for cooking up all that good food at the end of the race. Hamburgers and fruit never tasted so good! This race has a special place in my heart and surely I will be back to test my physical and mental ability against those mountains for many years to come.

Oh, in the end the climb up Apple Orchard Falls was not that bad, and I beat last years time by 51 minutes. Hopefully I can knock another 51 off next year.

Week of Running April 13 - 19 - pre Promise Land 50K

2009-04-23T09:05:00.000-04:00

Back on track! I ran 65 miles this week, including a tempo interval session and a interval speed session. The highlight of my training was a great 23 mile run at First Landing State park. It was a great day to run and I put forth a worthy effort, taking a few short walk breaks not because I had to, but to ensure I slowed down and not burn my legs out one week before a race. My original plan was 80 miles this week, but sometimes commitments get in the way of training. Not hitting my mile goal was not because I was tired.

Next Saturday I will compete in the Promise Land 50k. I have run 4 different ultras (5 total) in my short career, but regard this one as a favorite, maybe only second to Masochist. Here are some reasons for running promise land:

Location - Everyone camps in a big field at a youth camp - with a bond fire Friday night who could ask for anything better
Food - Runners pitch in for Pizza Friday Night and Race Director David Horton and his family put on a huge cookout after the finish (fruit salad, burger and hotdogs with Mountain Dew!)
Terrain - Nice mix of it here - a little dirt road running, a lot of grassy fire road running, some single track, and of course some river crossings
Elevation - Tons of climb and descent - better warn your quads they are in for a nasty day
Scenery - Good all around, apple orchard falls is as beautiful as the trail is steep
Ending - A 2 mile run down the steepest gravel road you will ever encounter (you run up this bad boy to start the race)

Stats

Weekly Mileage: 65
Month To Date: 125
3 week average: 52

Week Of Running April 6 - 12 2009

2009-04-15T09:42:00.000-04:00

Tired week.... I had 2 exams this week and was up late studying most nights. This left me tired and not mentally or physically prepaired to run like I wanted too. This was all topped off on Saturday when I slept through my alarm and managed a meager 13 miles at First Landing before running out of time. The first 5 was horrible as I walked a bunch. I had some caffeine and felt much better and ran pretty hard the last 8 back to the car. At least I salvaged it a little bit.

Speaking of caffeine, there was an interesting article in the New York Times about its performance enhancing abilities. I have been tracking my caffeine input prior to some key workouts (long runs, tempo intervals, and speed intervals) to determine how it effects my pace and level of effort. I have also been tracking the weather, time of day, and monitoring my heart during the interval workouts. I have turned my training into a science report. Once I gather some data I will discuss how caffeine MAY effect my performance and level of effort.

Stats

Weekly Mileage: 46

Month To Date: 60

3 week average: 45

Montrail Claims Prestigious Awards

2009-04-08T05:22:00.000-04:00

Montrail has just received two highly coveted awards from prominent outdoor publications. The Mountain Masochist shoe has received Gear of the Year Award from Outside magazine in the trail running category, and the Hardrock 09 was given the Best Run/Hike Crossover in Backpacker’s annual Gear Guide. Here is a link to the press release.

As you may know Montrail was purchased by Columbia. There has been a lot written and commented about how Columbia has ruined the Montrail brand of shoes. After testing the Hardrocks and looking at the new Mountain Masochist along wiht the above stated awards Montrail has addressed these concerns. I believe that Columbia has brought Montrail into the present with well designed shoes that meet the needs of the average trail runner. Once again this is my opinion and time will tell if I am correct. I believe that a large company like Columbia understands marketing and competition very well and based on competion from companies including Inov-8, Pearl Izuma, and Stumptown, has made the necessary changes to stay relevent and hold market share. I know that the trail runner does not care about market share, but a good product will lead to higher market share, especially in this market. I have no brand loyality when it comes to shoes, if It feels good I wear it. Most of us probalby feel the same way. So do not judge Montrail until you check out the new line of shoes and give them a try.

Week of Running March 30 - April 5 2009

2009-04-07T06:32:00.000-04:00

Disappointing Lazy Slacker Tired Injured Un-Motivated - These words and more can all be used to describe this week of running. First off I was really hoping to just run an easy 40 miles this week. It had been a planned easy week to allow my body to recover some before I make the final push to MMT. I should be fully recovered after this week where I ran a total of 17 miles and walked 1 mile. 4 of those miles were very slow recovery runs early in the week. Then I just bonked and did not run for 3 days in a row. I have not taken 3 days off since after Mountain Masochist last November. The rest of the miles were done on a spirited 12 miler Sunday afternoon. I ran hard in the middle 10 miles and was pretty sore the next day.

The race is now less than 6 weeks away and I have 4 big mile weeks planned up until the taper 2 weeks out. Wish me luck, not only in running but getting my mind wrapped around training and the challenge of mmt.

Stats

Weekly Mileage: 18

Month To Date: 14

3 week average: 51

Week of Running March 23 - 29 2009

2009-04-01T03:30:00.000-04:00

We are now less than 7 weeks away from MMT and I am excited. Running has been great and this week was highlited by a 38+ mile run on the MMT course on Saturday. I also enjoyed a great hike on Sunday in Shenandoah National Park with my friends. I covered around 70 miles this week, the most miles I have run any week except for Laurel Highlands Week last year. My foot was sore after the run and hike, but it is now feeling better. I wore the new Montrail 09 Hardrock for the run and they worked out great. I will be posting a full review on this shoe soon.

Weekly Mileage: 70

Month To Date: ~250

3 week average: 49

The Importance of Quick Aid Station Stops

2009-03-26T09:17:00.000-04:00

Check out this clip dealing with the Ultramarathon culture and the importance of getting in and out of Aid Stations fast. MMT Race Director Stan Duobinis even talks about how it is one of the aid station captains main jobs to get runners out fast. The race director and aid station captains goal is to have no runner be pulled from the race because of the cutoff time. A race like MMT has 16 aid stations, so the time can add up fast. It is normally my goal to be in and out in less than 2 minutes, unless I need medical or equipment attention.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqKc3FOeJ78

Montrail Hardrock 09 Preview

2009-03-25T12:35:00.000-04:00

I just picked up a pair of Montrail Hardrock 09 trail running shoes. I plan on wearing them this weekend when I complete a 40+ mile training run for MMT. A few quick look / short run observations and comparisons about the shoes:

Feels much lighter than the old version (I will post actual stats in the forthcoming review)

Appears much more breathable than the old version

Feels much more flexable (think running shoe, not hiking boot) than the old version

Size run large (I wear an 11 in the old version and a 10.5 in the new)

New lacing system distributes weight better

Less "beefy" tread pattern than the old version

Same width or maybe even a little wider than the old version

One other glaring difference I noticed in just a 2 mile run on grass is that my feet did not fall asleep. When wearing the old version on long stretches of flat non technical terrain (think fireroad) my feet would fall asleep. This eliminated me from wearing the shoe in most races. The other quick observation is the toe box could be higher. When wearing them with thicker socks I noticed a little rub on my right little toe. This did not happen when I was running in them, but I am anxious to see if this is an issue after many miles on the trail.

Look for my full review sometime early next week.

Week of Running March 16-22 2009

2009-03-23T06:22:00.000-04:00

There are 7 weeks and 5 days left until the Massanutten Mountain Trail 100. I just had one of my best ever weeks of training. I am feeling strong and like I am rounding into ultramarathon shape. My week was highlited by a 24 mile run on the trails Saturday afternoon. I ran/walked a total of 65 miles this week, which I believe is the most mileage I have completed in a week except for last June when I finished the Laurel Highlands Ultra. I also had a great tempo workout and many medium length runs this week.

Now it is time to step it up even more. This week I have planned a 73 mile week, highlited by a tempo run, an interval session, and a 40+ mile long run over the weekend. I am also hoping to get some good hiking in on Sunday. This will be a really nice change of pace from the usuall running all weekend I have been doing.

Weekly Mileage: 65

Month to date: 175

Year to date: 443

3 week average: 58

Captain Sig and Ultra Dream

2009-03-23T04:04:00.000-04:00

I was looking at some old posts and come upon this one about a dream I had a few weeks before Laurel Highlands last year. It was never published until now. ENJOY!

Last night I had a very strange dream. It started with me in the middle of a 100 mile ultra, normal enough. When I hit mile 25 I found myself at the top of my old Driveway, Melva Lane. The field that used to stand there was now a lake. In real life there is a lake 1/2 mile down the road from this spot.

There in a cabin that resembled a ship wheel house was Captain Sig Hansen, of the Deadliest Catch. He barking out at me that I had to get in this Kayak and paddle on the lake doing maneuvers. I had to turn it around and roll it from side to side. Once Sig was satisfied he ordered me out of the Kayak and told me to continue. I finish the race strong. I do not know where I placed, I just know that I did really well. Next I find myself in a classroom with Captain Sig teaching us something. At this point I realize that I did not complete the race registration form properly and that I would now be disqualified from the race. I was missing 2 sections which read -

Have an educator ask you these questions and sign off on this. I wish I remembered the questions, but I do not. They were very easy, like what is 2 + 2, and name parts of a sentence.

Citizenship quiz - have a patriot ask you these questions and sign off on this. Once again I do not remember the question

I was going to be disqualified and yelled at by Sig for not completing my application correctly. I thought about cheating, but could not pull it off.

Weird dream. On the new Deadliest Catch commercial Sig is screaming at the crew from the wheelhouse.

Very weird dream, it was almost like a nightmare.

First Landing - Perfect Weather

2009-03-21T14:59:00.000-04:00

Last night and this morning I attended a mens conference titled "Becoming a Man of Valor". This speaker was Bob Reccord, a powerful and dynamic speaker. It was great time, but left me running this afternoon, which was a nice change of pace. I did not have to get up super early and hit the trail in the pre-dawn hours.

The weather was perfect for this run. It was 50 degrees and there was not a cloud in the sky. I decided to run for around 4.5 hours and to take it pretty easy out there. I started out running for 25 minutes and walking for 5. This carried me through the first 12 miles pretty easily, but I did not feel very well and my legs were pretty tired from this weeks miles. Then I decided to run the second lap non-stop. This turned out great and I effortlessly ran down the sandy root covered trails. What a great feeling to be out on the trails with the sun shining down on you. I could not have asked for a better day or a better run.

I am feeling pretty strong and this run was a big confidence builder. There are only 8 weeks left until MMT, but I feel like the last 4 or 5 weeks have done a good job hardening me up a bit and my body has responded well to the miles. I am so far ahead of where I was last year at this time. It is amazing how much progress you can make with some effort and dedication.

Massanutten Mountain Trail 100 (Pain or Pleasure?)

2009-03-20T07:53:00.000-04:00

Since my last post (last year) I have won the lottery. Maybe I should be more specific and say I won the pain lottery. I have gained entry to the Massanutten Mountain Trail 100 (MMT). Lucky for me! I have been training pretty steady now and have loggeg 40, 50, 60, and hopefully 65 miles per weeks in the last month. I feel pretty strong going into this race. I also ran Holday Lake in February almost an hour faster than last years time. I really fell apart in the second lap, but I also did not have the mileage in to finish it strong. I believe that the mileage is coming and will be there by MMT. I will run Promise Land 50k 3 weeks before MMT. This will be my larges mileage week in training and then the taper will begin.

I will be posting more on MMT in the weeks to come.

2009 Plans

2008-12-08T11:50:00.000-05:00

Today I officially started my 2009 season training. I signed up for the Massanutten Mountain Trail 100 (MMT) lottery. As it stands right now I have a greater than 50% chance of getting into the race and not being placed on the waiting list. Since I have never attempted this race before and never put my name into the lottery there is little chance I would move off the waiting list if I am not picked outright. The backup plan is to go and run Laurel Highlands Ultra again.

If I get into MMT I am going to try and put together a Laurel Highlands relay team and run it that way. Anyone interested?

I will likely run Holiday Lake and Promise Land in preparation for my bigger race. This will give me a benchmark on my condition as I can compare times on these courses.

Tomorrow at 4 PM I will know if I get into MMT. Wish me luck!

Thoughts

2008-09-12T10:05:00.000-04:00

I realize that it has been a while since I have posted. My training has been average and I need to ramp it up as there are only 2 months left until Mountain Masochist. This weekend I am competing in an adventure race. This is something I have never done and am really looking forward to completing the 4-hour race. I will report back on how it went.

Now for some housekeeping. I have taken down my lame ultra training page. After Masochist I plan on publishing a proper guide that takes into account all my experiences in training. My knowledge about the sport is still in an infant stage, but when I originally posted the page I was a premature baby in the sport. I also plan on reviewing some of the products that I have started to rely on while running distance. The larger undertaking I want to start is a weekly post of how my training has been going. I am not just talking about miles, but how I have been feeling and what I have been thinking while wearing my running shoes.

I am giving up the artificial sweetener aspartame (also called NutraSweet). I am now looking at labels to prevent myself from ingesting it. The hardest part of this is giving up diet soda. I love diet soda and aspartame may be why. I am on day 2 right now and though I have occasionally craved a diet coke, I have felt no ill effects. I am still partaking in saccharine sweeteners for my iced tea. Saccharine has been around for over 100 years and is considered much less harmful than aspartame. I will discuss all this in a future post.

I want to dedicate a large post to the tarsal coalition condition that will serve to help others with this condition gain confidence that they can still compete. My foot has felt well the last couple of months. I have begun Chiropractic care and that seems to really help.

Sorry for the very random post, but I had a bunch of stuff on my mind.

No More Big Toenail

2008-07-18T08:14:00.000-04:00

5 weeks almost to the day after the Laurel Highlands Ultra my right big toenail gave up and finally separated from the toe. This morning while putting on my pants I had a funny feeling in my toe. Upon inspection it was very loose, so I clipped it back almost to the cuticle. Recently it had turned to a milky color, so I know it was going to happen soon. Enjoy the pic!

[caption id="attachment_110" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Missing Toenail "][/caption]

Laurel Highlands Ultra Action Pictures

2008-07-18T07:24:00.000-04:00

A fellow Runner, Paul Rudman sent me this link to the pictures he took while running the race. This should give you a real feeling about how bad the terrain is, and how wet it really got that day.

Tarsal Coalition and Me

2008-07-15T09:21:00.000-04:00

The day after I completed The Laurel Highlands Ultra I could not put weight on my left foot / ankle. This was not uncommon as I have had similar pain to a lesser extent before. After a few days the pain level went down, but not away. I decided to see an Orthopaedic specializing in the foot and ankle. After a lot of X-Rays he determined and diagnosed me with a Tarsal Coalition. The bones in the back of my foot do not work properly and cause pain. Under normal circumstances I do not have any pain. I did not have pain during or after any previous 50k races, but the 70 at Laurel Highlands put it over the top. It is now 5 weeks after the race and I am still in a small amount of pain. The doctor recommended that I stop running on trails and only run on the road. To me this is a bad option. He competes in ironman length triathlons and recommended that I start doing that as well to take stress off the foot. I have no plans to stop running on the trails. Surgery is an option, but it may or may not help. My next race is in 16 weeks. I have not been able to resume training properly yet, but hope to get my mileage up to a higher level soon. I am not sure why I am sharing this, but I am. Please pray for me and my foot.

Foot Issues

2008-06-25T04:15:00.000-04:00

I went to see Dr. Stewart today at Virginia Sports Med to see what is going on with my ankles/feet. After a round of xrays I found out that I have a condition where 1 bone is too large and fills a hole up. This does not allow a ton of lateral movement or rolling of my feet, thus I easily roll ankles. This puts stress on the muscle band that runs over the foot and under the outer ankle bone. Dr. Stewart suggested that I run on roads only and I should be ok. This is not an options as I love the trails and mountains. We could do orthodics in my shoes, maybe would help, wear the correct shoes will definitely help a lot. The last resort is a surgery where he would remove part of the bone and then put some tissue in the hole. This has worked for some, but not all patients. This is probably the long term solution once the pain is not stop and prevents me from running.

C25K - The Couch To 5 Kilometer Plan

2008-06-23T08:22:00.000-04:00

Running is a huge part of my life and thus impacts all those around me to a degree. I wish all of you would pick up a pair of shoes and head out the door for a joyous run. It is a true stress reliever and builds confidence like nothing else I know of. For those of you who want to start running I recommend the 9 week couch to 5K (C25K) running program. The official site is located at http://c25k.com. The actual plan is located on the cool running site.

This program is designed to take you off your couch and put you on the road. You will start off with alternating between walking and jogging. Do you worry about pace. Most of the workouts are based on time. The ones based on distance can be easily measured with the odometer on your car. Nothing to precise here, do not worry about running exactly 1 mile, just get close. Give it a try and in 9 weeks you will be running 5k, or 3.1 miles. YOU CAN DO THIS. I know you can.

One last note: If you get a few weeks in are going to stick with it go and invest in a pair of running shoes. Go to a running store and get fitted for the correct shoe. They will measure your feet and watch you run and recommend a shoe. I know it is more expensive this way, but your health is priceless and the correct shoes will make it so much more enjoyable.

DISCLAIMER: Running is addictive. Try this at the risk of -

Waking up early on the weekends to run

Wondering why I missed my run this morning

Getting wet while getting in your miles on the road

Making your whole family healthier from you lifestyle choices

Laurel Highlands Ultra 2008 Fact Sheet

2008-06-22T14:56:00.000-04:00

Temp: 60 - 70

Weather: Rained for 12 hours straight, heavy at times

Weight: 183 lbs. pre taper and eat week

Health: It all feels good going in

Trail Conditions: Course was wet before it rained, very wet and muddy afterward, my feet were wet for all but miles 19 - 23, I changed shoes at 19 and it started to pour at 23

Injuries: I fell once - it did not hurt anything
- IT Bands - Both knees hurt when running down hill in the middle miles, this went away, I took advil and did not run so much, did not hurt at all after race
- Left Ankle - hurt from wearing hardrocks, not to bad in race unless I landed awkward on it, really hurt next day - I was on crutches until wed after race
- Blister on the heel of right foot - hardrocks (maybe, new socks could have also caused it)
- Feet - as beat up and sore as to be expected
- Toenails - right big one is very black and sore, I may end up losing it soon
- Overall soreness - very sore for 2 days, muscles felt ok after that
- Fatigue - Very tired entire week after the race, still tired 8 days out

Equipment - ASR4s and injini toe socks rock - I wore these for majority of the miles with soaked feet and no blisters, this is the winning combination from now on. I love this combo

Food - Shot block every 10 minutes for the entire race - 200 cals per hour + gator and some food from aid stations

Hydration - 2 to 3 nuuns every 8 miles, carried hpl 020 for entire race and one hand bottle for 40 miles or so, could have got buy with just hpl 020 I think and nuun

Lights - Petzil tikka headlamp (sucked) and princeton tech led hand light (rocked

That is it in a nutshell - I need to run more and get faster on the hills and downhills

Next year I want to finish in 16 hours - this is my goal and my drive, first I need to do masochist is 11!

Total Time: 21:43 for a 19:00 avg

HR Max = 186 Avg = 143, I stopped monitoring at 53, it did not register anymore

Splits:

13:13

13:39

17:38

15:18

14:48

13:09

22:36

20:38

14:52

12:23

14:05

18:22

14:00

15:28

12:02

14:56

15:01

17:29

20:58

16:50

12:37

17:28

16:16

14:43

17:45

14:32

20:06

16:03

19:29

16:04

15:34

20:44

19:45

20:39

20:41

18:43

17:56

21:08

23:12

16:44

14:35

17:26

15:32

19:51

18:56

27:01

19:31

16:36

19:43

18:33

19:53

19:00

17:11

18:55

19:41

18:34

36:29

20:53

21:38

22:18

23:37

21:27

19:58

21:14

23:00

21:31

21:58

21:27

25:53

13:50

Laurel Highlands Ultra Race Report

2008-06-19T08:16:00.000-04:00

The Laurel Highlands Ultra is a 70.5 trail race that takes place on the Laurel Highlands Trail. The trail's southern terminus is located in Ohiopyle, PA, with the north end completing just outside of Johnstown, PA. The trail is single track for all but 1 mile that follows an old dirt road. It runs across the top of the Laurel Ridge in the Appalachian Mountains. Its highest point is located at Seven Springs Ski Resort.

This race had been my focus since reading the book Ultra Marathon Man. I had just run a poor race at the Rock and Roll Half Marathon and was pretty down on running. I had no desire to run any distance over the half. I was in Barnes and Noble one day and picked up The Book. It changed my life and after reading it I decided to run the Laurel Highlands Ultra. I trained hard and ran 2 50Ks in preparation. I, like many others had my life changed by ultra running and Ultra Marathon Man was the catalyst that started the fire burning.

The Friday before the race Kathy and I headed to her Moms house to meet up with my brother in law who would also complete the race. We arrived and I prepared for the day ahead. Luckily my Dad and Kathy were going to crew me and I gave them last minute instructions and directions to the areas they could meet up with me to lend moral , equipment, and nutritional support.I did not sleep much the night before the race, maybe 3 or 4 hours of actual sleep. We arose at 3:30 and left to drive to the start at Ohiopyle at 4:10 AM. On the ride we did not talk about the task at hand but instead discussed the latest shows offered by the Discovery Channel. We arrived and checked in and within a few minutes the race director had us all line up and we were off.The Sun quickly arose to illuminate the trail and reveal a foggy overcast day. The first 8 miles of the race were all up and down, with the miles 6 to 8 being the hardest climb of the event. I walked up this 2 mile stretch and made it into the first aid at mile 11. It was great to see Dad and Kathy waiting for me and the staff at this station was great.As quickly as I hit the aid station I was off again.

The next 10 miles were rolling hills and very runnable. The trail was very wet and my feet were soaked. I was wearing a pair of Montrail Hardrocks and they were giving me a hot spot on the side of my right heel. My left ankle had also started to hurt a little. At the 19 mile mark I met up with my crew again and this time my Mom was there to lend her support. I quickly changed shoes into my old reliable Brooks Adrenaline ASR4s. I taped up the hot spot and was off again, only now with dry shoes and socks.

4 miles of dry feet was great, but it would not last, around mile 23 it started to pour down rain. It sounded like a freight train rolling through the woods as the storm approached. At first it was a big moral booster that cooled me off and rejoiced me. As the rain continued my mood changed. I hit the next aid station in Seven Springs Ski Resort and quickly refilled my water and ate some food. Another 1/2 mile down the trail I saw my crew at the top of the mountain. I was now at the highest point on the trail. My feet were very wet, but feeling good. The Injini socks seemed to address the issues I had with wet feet and blisters. I pondered how I felt with only 27 of 70 miles completed. I was wet and tired but pushed on.

After Seven Springs the train wonders across the top of the mountain and I quickly passed the sign for the turn-off and end of the 50K course. I wondered what it would feel like to pull into that finish line and relax a little, but pursued on. I was now entering a new mileage territory. I had run 31 Horton Miles before, but never further. I crossed PA route 31 and hit the next aid station. I had more support at this aid station. Family and friends had shown up to cheer me on.

I left the aid station feeling good but this quickly changed. I was noticing a pattern where I would feel good for a few minutes after aid, but then quickly fall into a mental down cycle. This section was the hardest as I was really feeling bad and my progress slowed for a while. Eventually 2 other runners caught me and I filed in behind them and struck up a conversation. We talked about other races and I asked a lot of questions about future races I wanted to run. Finally we passed the coveted 35 mile mark. This really raised the moral and as I crossed the turnpike I was out ahead of these two runners and feeling better. At this aid station I quickly re-fuelled and grabbed my lights. It was 11 miles until I would see my crew again and I knew I would not cover that distance before it was dark. My Aunt Donna and Uncle Brian greeted me and said they would see me at the next aid. As I left me Dad voiced concern about the next cut-off time. He said keep up your pace and you will be fine. I had not come all this way not to finish.

The next 7 miles passed pretty quickly as I climbed some hills and pushed hard to make progress before the sun went down. This section was very scenic with deep fern filled valleys, but loneliness was about to take over my mind as the sun quickly took away the light from the forest. I pushed hard and made it to mile 53 by dark and then pulled out my lights. I had planned on using a pacer the last 13 miles of this race, the Dark miles. This did not pan out as my pacer was not able to prepare for the event and bowed out a few weeks prior to the race. This did not phase me as there was no way I was not going to finish, but I knew in the back of my mind It would be very comforting to know I would have company on the last stretch. The rain had finally stopped, but the trail was a muddy mess. I had only fallen once and wanted to keep it that way. My shuffle slowed to a walk in the dark on all but the smoothest sections of trail. My ankle was hurting when I landed on it in non-conventional ways and the hot spot on my heal was now a full up blister. After 4 miles in the dark I heard a generator off in the distance and saw a light. My crew cheered as they saw the light coming towards them was held by me. I quickly decided to change shoes and socks for dry ones and I put on a dry shirt. My Uncle Brian asked me if I wanted some company on the last 13. He did not want to slow me down, but I was in position to finish even with a slow walk and I knew he was in good shape and up to the task. There was not a lot of running left in me at this point. I happily said YES to him and he quickly changed into some spare running clothes my crew was carrying for me. We were off.

We made pretty good time in the dark and were quickly passed by a relay runner. Brian commented that that guy left the aid station at least a 1/2 hour before I was there. After talking to him he got lost and a ride back up the mountain to a spot before the place he was lost. Another racer was behind us trudging along. He kept within light distance the entire 13 miles. At mile 60 we came upon a road and followed the signs up the road to the aid stations at mile 62. My crew could not access this aid. I quickly had a grilled cheese sandwich and we were off again. My ankle and blister were getting worse as I prayed for up hill sections. Downhill was not easy to negotiate and I had to shuffle down hills rather than walk. As the miles ticked by and I realized we would easily make the cut-off I felt good. Mile 68 - 69 was very difficult as the trail weaved downhill through a maze of mountain laurel and over many rocks and roots. This was the hardest and slowest mile for me all day. I hate this mile. Finally we could here a man on a loudspeaker and hit the best mile marker, 70. I managed a run through the finish shoot and was greeted by the race director. He handed me my award, a 16 inch high wooden mile marker with a 70 burned into it.

As I sat in a lawn chair eating chilli and reflecting on what I had just done I felt a peace. I knew the next 48 hours were going to be painful to get through. I ended up on crutches and will lose a toenail or too, but I was all worth it. I am more addicted to this sport than ever. Thank you to everyone who believed in me to all my family and friends for coming out to support me throughout the day. Bigger thanks goes out to Kathy and my Dad for crewing for me all day and driving countless miles and waiting countless hours in the rain to see me for 2 minutes. Thank you Brian for pacing me the last 13. You made a damp muddy night trek much more enjoyable and achievable. Lastly thank you to God for giving me the strength, ability, and drive to get though this ordeal. God and I talked a lot that day he was with me every step of the way.

Laurel Highlands Ultra 2008 Race Report Preview

2008-06-18T16:59:00.000-04:00

The Laurel Highlands Ultra is a grueling 70.5 mile ultra-marathon. The race takes place in SouthWest Pennsylvania along the Laurel Highlands trail. The course consists of rocky, rooty, hilly, muddy single track for 95%, with one small 1 mile section on a dirt road with pot holes large enough to swallow up a Jeep. For some reason I ran this race last weekend. I finished in 21:43. I have a new respect for this trail that I grew up backpacking on. I am going to post a full up race report soon. I promise......

Brooks Adrenaline ASR4 - UPDATE

2008-06-16T10:54:00.000-04:00

The Brooks Adrenaline ASR4 are a great trail running shoe. They are a natural for me since I wear the Brooks Adrenaline GTS line of road shoes. I feel the ASR4 are build using the same technology / design as the road version.

The main difference between the two shoes are:

The ASR4 have a larger toe box - this is a much needed feature for running down steep hills

The ASR4 have a more durable "water resistant" upper - they do not keep any water out, this is a bad feature as they do not dry out as fast as the road version and your feet remain wet longer while running, but they are more durable

The ASR4 have a much more aggressive tread pattern

The ASR4 have a beefier toe guard

The ASR4 are somewhat stiffer than the road version, but not too stiff as you can used them on the road with no regrets

The main similarities between the two shoes are:

Brooks MOGO cushioning

Similar pronation control characteristics

Stability shoe

I have wore the ASR4s to train on trails and asphalt. The normal local trails I run require a few miles on the pavement prior to hitting the trail. The shoe has proven itself and I would wear it for easier trail running or even road running. It is a great crossover shoe that can meet all your needs. If you can only have 1 pair of shoes for trail and road these are the shoes.

In addition to training I have wore the ASR4s to run the Holiday Lake 50K ++, the Promise Land 50k, and for the majority of the 70 mile Laurel Highlands Ultra. These shoes did not let me down. These races go from easy fireroad terrain at Holiday Lake to nasty rocky rooty single track at Laurel Highlands. I had no issues with the shoes. In fact at Laurel Highlands I started off the race with Hardrocks and was kicking rocks at least once per mile, upon switching to the ASR4s at mile 19 I stopped kicking rocks (Hardrocks are heavy) and me feet were much happier. I am a backpacker and there is an old saying that a pound on the foot is like 10 pounds on the back. This proved to be true as the lighter ASR4s served me much better than the heavy "bomb proof" Hardrocks.

PROS:

Great Crossover Shoe, wear on the road and the trail

Fairly Light and flexible

Brooks technology

Great fit and feel

Large Toebox

Good Traction

Just enough protection

CONS:

Water resistant upper does not allow fast "on the run" drying of the foot.

Note: I wore the ASR4s with smart wool socks at Promise Land and developed bad blisters on the balls of both feet after a stream crossing. I switched to Injini socks for Laurel Highlands and had wet feet for the entire run with no blisters on the balls of my feet. Problem solved for now.

Promise Land 2008 Fact Sheet

2008-05-23T04:02:00.000-04:00

Distance: 32 - 34ish Miles or 31 Horton Miles

Time: 8:39:15

Temp: 65 at start, 80 at finish

Humidity: Normal

Weight: 184 lbs

BF%: ?

BMI: ?

Pre-Race Nutrition:
- Morning of - Bottle of Gatoraid - and life cereal with milk good choice!
- 1 Day out - eggs toast, pot of mac and cheese, Wendys, Lots of Papa Johns at prerace dinner, Gatoraid
- 4 days up to race → lots of mac and cheese and carbs, I love eating prerace!

Race Nutrition:
- 8 Nuun tabs with water or conquest
- 2 gels
- 3 shot block packs THESE THINGS ARE MONEY, I LOVE SUCKING ON THEM CONTINUELLY
- 12 chips ahoy
- Turkey sand
- PBJ
- Banana
- Lots of gator aid, conquest, clif shot and who know what other drinks

Notes

this race was a blast, tons of run

weather was perfect

Water running causes blisters, avoid water when possible from now on, do not be a man and do not run through when there is an easy way around it.

** I had big blisters on both balls of my feet from getting them wet. It was hard to run downhill on them and I took 6 I at 20 and 27 miles into the race to help deal with the pain

It will always get better → it did get better during the climbing of the falls, best part of the race

I did not listen to my ipod much, maybe I do not need it? → leave this in the car for ultras, no need for it, All it did was cause me to climb down a steep cliff to pick it up after it fell off my belt and I kicked it over the edge. Headphones got in the way all day.

The volunteers were great

I hit the albuterol prerace and had no issue the rest of the race, do I need this when it is warm outside?????

Experiment with taping balls of feet prerace to help ward off blisters

Look into a different sock for running when my feet will get wet

Race Equipment

Belt with 2 pouches
- Inhaler
- Light, needed it at the beginning of the race, next time drop this in the box
- TP and Wipes, use wipes from now on, these work great on the trail
- Gels and Shots
- Nuun Tube
- Ipod
- MoleSkin
- Butt Cream - do not need this for 50K, put in drop bag if longer distance

Training

Trained hard following healing after HL, See wiki and see training log.

I did not lift weights and need to do this to get better. I did get a ton of long runs in at First Landing and a 33+ mile back to back in on LH a couple of weeks out, This really helped I think.

2008 Promise Land 50K Race Report

2008-05-02T02:43:00.000-04:00

How I arrived at Promise Land

How did I arrive at the start of the 2008 Promise Land 50K? I was pondering this question as a drove home after finishing the race. The short answer is that I drove to the Promise Land Youth Camp on Friday afternoon, but that is not how I arrived. It all started back in September of last year when I read Dean Karnazes book “Ultra Marathon Man”. I know it sounds like a corny movie script, but that book ignited something off deep inside of me. Up to this point I was a 2 hour 1/2 marathon runner. I had always loved backpacking and hiking in the mountains so this Ultra Marathon thing seemed like it would be a good fit for me.

I immediately started to consume as much information on training for Ultras as I could find. Luckily I happened upon irunfar.blogspot.com and Bryon's posts on choosing a first ultra and training for your first ultra. My goal was and still is to complete the 70.5 mile Laurel Highlands Ultra. Bryon's writings made me realize that I need to start a with something shorter than 70 miles. I trained hard all winter and very anxiously started and finished the Holiday Lake 50K++ in February. As I researched this race I came very familiar with a new unit of measurement primarily used in Ultra Marathons around Lynchburg, the Horton Mile. If my calculations are correct 1 Horton Mile is approximately 1.1 standard miles.More…

As I ran the second loop of Holiday Lake I happened upon and chatted with a man about the Promise Land Race. I had so much fun at Holiday Lake and he spoke so highly of Promise Land I decided to sign up for it. This is truly how I ended up at the starting line of the Promise Land 50K.

Pre-Race

I left Virginia Beach early Friday Afternoon and drove to the the camp. I arrived right before the sky opened up and dumped heavy rain. As I drove down through the field to a spot to set up camp I thought about how far I had come in the last 8 months. I set up camp and ate some pizza and talked to some fellow runners. That night I turned in early knowing what lie ahead the next morning.

As I slept I found myself dreaming about getting up in the morning and packing up and heading home, no running. Lucking that was just a dream. I awoke to my alarm and chattering on the loudspeaker. I opened my tent the the camp was alive with activity. I quickly ate something and got dressed for the day.

The Run

All the runners anxiously lined up under the glow of portable floodlights. We sang the National Anthem and had a blessing offered for the day. Then as quickly as the rain had stopped we were off. It was quite a site to see all the runners snaking their way up the steep and rocky mountain road. I ran some, but fell into a steady walk after I was the 1 mile marker. The first aid station came quickly as the sun was starting to light the mountain and usher in a beautiful day. The climb to the top of onion mountain through the mountain laurel was interesting and I felt very good as a man announced that we had reached the top of Onion Mountain. The next section of the race was very enjoyable, a great view and a perfect running surface. I really enjoyed this section. At one point I accidentally kicked my ipod down the steep bank to the right. Luckily I saw where it fell and was quickly able to retrieve it. Next time I am leaving it in the car as I only listened to it for 1 hour. God provided a much better race soundtrack of birds chirping, water running, and wind blowing through the trees than any human creation.

After aid station 2 we climbed up to the Blue Ridge Parkway and Apple Orchard Mountain. I started to feel strong on this climb and passed a bunch of other runners. Sunset Fields brought a lot spectators and a large frog to sent me off into the woods. This run down Cornelius Creek was my strongest section of the race. I thoroughly enjoyed running down the rocky single-track. As I hit the first stream crossing I had just passed some ladies. One commented they would watch where I cross. I think I disapointed her as I just plowed through the middle of the river.

Aid station 4 brought a strong lesson. I had a cup of Mountain dew and paid for it for the next hour. I really hated running on the paved road and was passed by many faster road runners. I was very happy to get back onto the trail. The ice cream at aid station 5 was wonderful. By far the best food all day and my new favorite running food. After leaving this aid station I felt like I had rocks in my shoes and I stopped to clear them out, but alas there were no rocks, just soggy feet with developing blisters. Nothing to do about it at this point so I trudged on. Eventually the pain started to get to me, but I was able to put it out of my mind and endure.

Aid station 6 was a blur as I quickly refuelled and started the climb up to the falls. This was a major highlight of the day. At first I was spent, but once I saw the falls I was inspired by such an awesome creation and got a third wind. I plowed back up to Sunset fields and quickly refuelled. Only 5 miles to go with lots of time to spare. I started to run down towards aid station 8. The run was easy and I felt great except for the blisters on the balls of my feet. I had to just put it out of my mind. As I hit the aid station I grabbed some chips ahoy and started down the road.

The road was a lot steeper than I remembered. My quads felt good and normally I could of ran pretty fast down it, but the balls of my feet were on fire so I had to tread lightly, running 1 mile and walked 2 minutes. I repeated this the whole way back to Promise Land. When I saw the 1 make marker I ran with all I had to the finish. As I crossed the line David greeted me. I love his enthusiasm for the finishers, even a back of the pack runner like myself.

It felt great to sit down with a burger and a cold Mountain Dew. I talk to some other runners and then retired to my tent just as it started to storm. I fell asleep for a while and when I woke up the field was pretty empty of tents and racers. I quickly packed up my things and tore down my wet tent. As I drove out of Promise Land I saw the glamour of being a race director. David was dragging a trash bag across the field. It appeared he was policing the area for garbage. It made me think, why can't we all just pick up after ourselves? This goes for in camp and on the trail.

I enjoyed this race and will be back next year. It is a quality event that is well planned and challenging. I felt very alive while running and cannot wait for my next race.

Olympus Sylus 850 Sub-Compact Digital Camera

2008-04-21T03:44:00.000-04:00

I am thinking of purchasing the Olympus Stylus 850 camera. It is small enough to fit in a pocket and is waterproof to 15 feet. I think this could be the ideal camera for the avid outdoorsman / woman. It does not get the best review for picture quality and only has a 3X optical zoom, but at 8 MP I think the digital zoom could be used some as an option. Any opinions on this camera?

Promise Land 50K is THIS WEEKEND

2008-04-21T03:40:00.000-04:00

I know it has been almost a month since I last wrote, but I have been really busy running, schooling, and being a family guy.

The PL is only a few days away and I am getting excited. I have felt better before a race. Yesterday I ran 10 miles, with 90% in grass or very easy trails. I really need to work on running endurance as most of my no walking-break runs have been 7 miles or less. I struggles sustaining my pace at mile 8. I think I should follow a marathon type program this summer for a few months before I start ramping up long runs prior to the Masochist. Hopefully this will help me get faster and stronger, while building up a long RUN to 16 - 20 miles. I know I could run without waling that far now, but I want to really increase my pace through this distance. I am thinking about following the Hansen program that Steve Runner talks so much about. Anyone have any opinions on this program?

24 Miles At First Landing

2008-03-18T04:13:00.000-04:00

I ran at First Landing on Saturday. It was a beautiful day and I had a great run. The run was highlighted by a spirited sprint the last 2 miles as I was using another runner who had passed me as a pacer. This day was completely different than last week. The weather was perfect and I saw a lot of squirrels and birds in the forest. I was listening to a Steve Runner on the Phedippidations podcast talk about "who do you run for". I have been thinking a lot about that lately. Who do you run for?

Week Summary:This week was pretty disappointing. I missed 2 easy days of running and was 10 miles below my goal mileage. I did get my hill, fartlek, and long run in. I did not lift any weights, which was a priority.

Weekly Total: 38 Miles 3 Week Running Average Mileage: 32 Miles

Plans: We are going to Pennsylvania for Easter. I am planning on running the first 20 to 30 miles of the Laurel Highlands trail one day and the last 10 in the dark another day.

Promise Land 50K Preview

2008-03-12T05:57:00.000-04:00

My next planned race is David Horton's Promise Land 50K. This is the second race in the Lynchburg Ultra Series. It takes place on April 26 in outside of Bedford Virginia. The Holiday Lake 50K++ was so well organized that I am now a huge of Dr. Horton's race directing abilities along with his ultra running accomplishments.

The Promise Land 50K is a much different style of race than the Holiday Lake 50K++. Holiday Lake is very runnable with not a lot of elevation change, where Promise Land is run in the mountains with a lot of elevation change, as you can see below.

I have started to run at Mount Trashmore City Park once a week in preparation. There are no hills in Virginia Beach so my options are limited. I have been running hard up one side and even harder down the other. Most runners drop out of ultras from suffering from Dead Quads. This condition is caused by downhill running. The downhill part of the race is the best opportunity to "make up time" from all the uphill climbing. My training also consists of a weekly 6 to 8 mile Fartlek run, daily easy runs, and a 20+ mile long runs on the weekends. I like to do the long runs at First Landing State Park. I feel this race is going to be perfect preparation for the Laurel Highlands Ultra, which takes place on similar terrain, has less elevation gain, but is twice as long.

Is anyone up for a Saturday long run in beautiful Bedford Virginia the end of April?

Blue Ridge Mountain Sports Rocks

2008-03-10T15:37:00.000-04:00

Blue Ridge Mountain Sports is great. I bought a pair of Montrail Hardrock shoes there last week. I ran in the shoes over the weekend, the signal knob run. They did not work out and my feet were hurting 5 miles in. Then I place a second set of insoles in them with the arches cut out and ran 3 miles in them again. My feet fell asleep. These shoes are not for me.

I called up BRMS and asked if I could return them. I felt kind of bad returning used shoes, but he said clean them up and bring them in for us to look at. The next day I returned them for a full refund. What makes this even more remarkable is the fact that I bought them on clearance at 50% off. This store rocks. I will be a lifelong supporter of them. I just bought a pair of La Sportiva Fireblades on sale form there website. Support Blue Ridge Mountains Sports!

First Landing State Park

2008-03-09T16:22:00.000-04:00

First Landing State Park is a real gem located in the North Eastern most part of Virginia Beach. I highly recommend checking it out and going for a run or hike. There are a few trails, the main one allows bikes. It is very busy here on the weekends but do not let that discourage you. I always see many Birders with their binoculars and cameras. There are also an abundance of dogs and there owners roaming the trails. For trail runners there are not a lot of options in this area. This is by far the best trail system I have found close. It is pretty flat, but you can find some hills on the Long Creek Trail. By running the Long Creek Trail and the Cape Henry Trail you can make a 10.5 mile loop. Another advantage to running here are the water fountains and bathrooms located at either end of the Cape Henry Trail.

I often run my long runs at First Landing State Park. On Saturday I ran there in the afternoon once the local Tornado watch was lifted. It was extremely windy and there was a ton of branches and debris being blown from the trees. Limbs were literally falling all around me. I took these pictures with my phone while running. It ended up being a wonderful 21 mile run. I forgot my Ipod at home and that too was a real blessing as I was able to spend my time with God in his creation with no outside distractions. I love how these things turn out sometimes.

Last Weeks Mileage: 42

Next Weeks Projected: 45 - 50

3 week average: 20

Signal Knob Trail Run/Report

2008-03-05T03:10:00.000-05:00

Signal Knob lies on the north-west tip of the Massanutten Mountain range. It is located in the George Washington National Forest, just west of Shenandoah National Park. During the Civil War Confederate Soldiers held an outpost on top and had a birds eye view of the valleys below. Signal Knob is the large mountain to the east of Strasburg, VA. It is a dominating feature as you drive south on Interstate 81 towards the Strasburg exit. There currently is a large broadcast antenna on the top of the mountain. This antenna is located a few 100 feet east of the official "Signal Knob" overlook. The trail-head is located on Fort Valley Road and can be accessed via Route 55 from Front Royal or Strasburg Virginia (Lat/Long 38.934577, -78.320203).

When hiking the Signal Knob loop you will actually hike on the Signal Knob Trail, the Tuscarora Trail, and the Massanutten Mountain Trail. The Hiking Upward site does a great job describing the trails and has a map.This area is known for its rocks and this trail is no exception. There are sections where I had a hard time walking and there are very few runnable sections. The initial ascent up the Signal Knob trail is 1500 feet in 3.5 miles. I was able to run some up the ascent if the trail was not to rocky. The next mile is a little descent and flat. This is the most runnable trail section. I ran along this ridge and hit the Signal Knob overlook. After taking some pictures I continued on. The next 1.5 miles are a steep descent on a fire road. This was by far my fastest section due to the even terrain and downhill running.After a left on the the Tuscarora Trail I climbed up over the a ridge again. This is the steepest climb on the trail, 600 feet in 3/4 of a mile. It is all down hill from the top of this ridge. At this point I started to have issues with my new Montail Hardrock trail runners. It was a long trip down with the foot rubbing, but I made it to the car. Bailey was very tired at this point. I got the the car and changed shoes and ran 2 more miles before calling it a day. I covered only 12 miles in all, but the elevation and rocky conditions made it feel like 20.It felt great to get back on the trail again after almost 2 weeks off with my foot injury. My foot is feeling 100% again and has not bothered me at all. In hindsight I am glad I took the time off and now feel fresh and ready to train hard for my next race.Stats: 12 miles 3:10 / 10 mile loop in 2:36 / Time to tower 1:13
Links: Signal Knob Elevation Profile, Signal Knob HR and Pace

Ultra Training Guide

2008-02-25T04:00:00.000-05:00

I have started an Ultra Training Guide. You can get to it by hitting the link at the top right of this page or clicking here. This guide will serve as a resource to anyone who is or wants to train for an ultra marathon. It is a work in progress so hang it there. I will be adding to it as I have time.

I want to point out one important resource that I used. The blog titled "I Run Far" by Bryon Powell. Bryon is a very experienced ultrarunner who has countless valuable posts. Two of these posts rise above the rest when it comes to Ultra Training: How to select your first ultra and Training for your first ultra. I highly recommend reading these posts as I used them as a guide for my training program for Holiday Lake. You can see how I trained for Holiday Lake at BuckeyOutdoors.com, the online training blog that I use. If you have any questions you can ask me, or check out Bryon's blog and post comments to him. He was very responsive to me and willing to help.

Added Photos Page

2008-02-22T08:49:00.000-05:00

I just added the Fotobook plugin. This allows for wordpress to integrate with my Facebook photo albums. Click on the red box titled "Photos" at the top of this page to view the photo page.

Spirit of the Marathon

2008-02-21T15:22:00.000-05:00

I just got home from watching Spirit of the Marathon. It is a documentary that follows elite athletes Daniel Njenga and Deena Kastor along with a handful of middle to back of the packers. It is centered around the 2005 Chicago Marathon. It starts 4 months out and chronicles the athletes as they prepare for the race. There are many interview scenes with Marathon greats which keep the flow of the movie going.

I enjoyed the movie and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys running. It really portrays the triumph of the human spirit. It is worth the rental fee when it comes out on DVD.

A Pain in the Foot

2008-02-21T09:15:00.000-05:00

It is strange how pain suddenly creeps up on you. I ran the race on Saturday. My body was sore, especially my legs, but it was all dull microscopic muscle tear pain. All joints and tendons felt 100% by Monday morning. That is the day the foot pain began.

I was at Walmart with Sydney getting some supplies and suddenly I had this sharp shooting pain in my right foot. It starts right in front of the heel and ends before the ball, all on the outside. Are there any Podiatrists reading this who can help diagnose it? I had been wearing crocks all Sunday evening and Monday. I feel that the lack of support and stress from the race led to this injury. I have been wearing shoes since then.

It is now Thursday and it is feeling ok, but not 100%. I am planning on running on it tomorrow morning to test it out. Hopefully all will go well. There are only 9 weeks until Promise Land 50K. I really need to run some hills to get ready for the elevation I will face.

Ultra Challenge

2008-02-20T15:10:00.000-05:00

I challenge any and all of you to get out and run an Ultra. If you enjoy God's creation they why not spend a Saturday running in it? You will meet many new and interesting people and experience a truly meaningful event. An event where the race director will take time to talk to you and answer your questions, the volunteers will all smile and gladly fill you bottle up, and where the other participants, even the front of the pack, will cheer you on. I am not an elite athlete by any stretch of the imagination. If I can do this then so can you!

So lets go and leave the pavement behind. No more sucking exhaust fumes and dodging cars. This is something that is worth a try.

Farmville Super Meth, No I Mean Super 8

2008-02-19T06:43:00.000-05:00

The Super 8 Hotel in Farmville, VA is horrible. DO NOT STAY HERE. Kathy, Sydney, and I arrived Friday night before the race and checked in. The first thing that should have raised a red flag was the "Meth Watch Participant" sticker on the front door. I guess they have a meth problem in Farmville. The room was dirty and there were stains on the chair. The bed was very uncomfortable and the pillows were flat. We tried to go to bed early but were kept awake all night by the guy or girl upstairs watching a loud tv and jumping around, and the people running up and down the stairs. I finally fell asleep around 2AM, only to wake up for the race at 4:30. This was one of the many times in my life I wish I had a gun with me. Kathy commented that she did not feel very safe here.

Kathy dropped me off at the race and had to go back to this hole in the wall. When checkout time came she had to make multiple trips to the car with Sydney in tow. A rude man asked her if she was done in there. The clerk tried to kiss Sydney. I would have went off at this. The meth residue may have gotten on her! That is the last time I stay at a super 8. I would rather stay in my car.

If you see either of these as you go to check in to your hotel get in your car and drive away as fast as possible.

Holiday Lake 50K++ 2008 Race Report

2008-02-19T02:57:00.000-05:00

Friday evening I loaded up my wife and 5 month old daughter and we headed to Farmville to spend the night at a Super 8 motel. We arrived with no problem. I tried to sleep but the race was dancing through my head and the person in the room above us was watching a loud tv and jumping around. Finally around 2AM I fell asleep only to be woke up by my alarm at 4:30. I woke Kathy and Sydney up and got dressed. It was 10 degrees warmer than I first thought it would be, a great sign. We drove the 40 minutes to Holiday Lake and Kathy dropped me off in the parking lot. I was very anxious and nervous. This was my first Ultra, I have never even run a marathon before, but I had trained hard and was 100% injury free. I walked to the dining hall to find a busy scene of strong looking athletes. I remember feeling a little out of place at that moment and not sure about what I was getting myself into. I checked in and got my race number. Then I prepared for the run. I started talking to a man named John and he eased my nerves. We all went down to the start line and Dr. Horton called out names of those people who had not signed in yet. One lady yelled from the parking lot "I am coming". Then without any fanfare we were off.

We ran up the road and hit a large bottle neck were the course turned into single track. It was slow going until we crossed the dam. Then things opened up a bit. I was feeling good at this point. I was carrying two water bottles, which was one to many. This gave me the luxury of skipping the first aid station all together. I ran hard down the hill after this aid station and into the woods. I was taking an occasional walk break, mainly on the uphills. This was all part of my race plan. As we hit the pavement I was running hard again downhill. I was thinking about how much fun it was going to be coming back up all these hills in lap 2.

I arrived at the second aid station and filled up a bottle. I quickly ate some food and continued on to the first water crossing. I crossed on some rocks, next time I will just run right through. We ran down a long hill and then back up the other side. Aid station 3 was more of the same, fluid and food. I was still feeling great. I was at 12.3 miles when I passed Bradley Mongold, the eventual winner. Of course he was going the other way! I was announced as I entered aid station 4.

I was feeling good about making the first loop in 3 hours and hopefully on pace for a 6:30 finish, but the extra distance I heard rumors about had other ideas. The last few miles of the first loop was difficult as I was passing other runners on steep and narrow single track trails. I finally hit the start finish and had plenty of time to spare. I dropped a water bottle and continued into the second loop.

The second loop was like a late round heavy weight fight. I was on the ropes for a while, but as they say things do not always get worse. The trip back to aid station 4 was long and brutal, but I fought hard and made it. On this section I saw a lady running in a long heavy dress. She looked like she belonged in another era. I thought I was seeing things for a while, but my wife and I saw her on the road as we were driving away from the race. Very strange experience.

After I saw the lady in the dress I tucked in behind an experienced runner named Pete and struck up a conversation. We ran together to the next aid station. Soon after this he passed me and I never saw him again.

The trip from aid station 3 to 2 was almost all uphill and I walked a lot of it. Pete had told me not to walk to much because it gets addicting and before you know it you will be walking for 10 minutes. This section is where it began to feel better running than walking. Aid station 2 to aid station 1 was another struggle, but overall I was feeling better. I stopped at one point to clear the debris from my shoe and then continued on. I heard the cow bell ringing as I approached aid station 1. Only 3.5 miles to go!

Everything was feeling good now. I had weathered the storm and made it to the last round. I realized that I could make it in under 7 hours if I picked up my pace a little. I started to run as hard as I could. I was not going to walk, I wanted 7 hours bad. I dug deep inside myself. I wish I could of found this inner strength 10 miles ago, but at least I had it now. As I neared the dam a lady passed me. She looked fresh and was moving very fast. I crossed the dam and soon could hear the finish line across the lake. I was running hard now. I passed another runner named Sam who had been leap frogging me most of the second loop. He said "looks like you get the last pass". I told him to follow me and we can make it in under 7 hours. He started running hard behind me down the trail.

I pushed hard up the last hill and onto the road. I knew I was going to make 7 hours. As I sprinted down the hill I saw my wife and daughter, video camera in hand cheering me on. What a great way to end the race. I finished in under 7 hours and Sam finished right on my heels. We had done it. It was a great feeling to shake Dr. Horton's hand as I finished and congratulate Sam. It felt great to hug my wife and hold my daughter.

Thank you Dr. Horton for putting on a great event. Thank you to all the volunteers for giving up a beautiful day to make this possible. Thank you to Kathy for always being my number one fan. Lastly and most importantly thank you Jesus for giving me the ability to complete such a task. I now have the Ultra bug. I could not have asked for a better race or better weather (50 and sunny) to run my first Ultra.

Full Photo Albumn

Results
Professional Picture

Quick Thoughts

2008-02-18T07:14:00.000-05:00

I will be publishing a full race report soon and a report on our "Meth Watch" hotel experience Friday night! I just wanted to get these quick thoughts down for now.

It was a perfect day. 40 - 55 degrees and sunny with litte wind

The race ended up being 34 miles (measured with my Garmin Forrunner 305)

I finished in 6:58 and change

I had my best run the last 3 miles after a grinding second lap

Chips Ahoy Cookies taste great while running

Never stay in a Super 8 hotel

I do not like Clif Shot sports drink

I am now officially addicted to these races, most fun I have ever had running by far

Only once thought "The fun level has reached an all time low!" This quote was made famous by my friend Steve during a backpacking trip

Middle age women can kick my butt

I could go on forever with my list here, but I will save the details for the next few posts. Hopefully I will have some time tonight to complete my race report, hotel report, and a "what I ate" entry.

T - 1

2008-02-15T07:22:00.000-05:00

It is not Friday and tonight we are off to a hotel near the race. I have to check in at 6AM. I got a lot of sleep last night and feel great today. There is a flu going around work, but so far I have managed to avoid it. I have enjoyed eating Kraft Macaroni and Cheese last night and today. I am going to eat pretty heavy today early and then light tonight. This is something new I am going to try. I feel pretty sluggish on most race days I have experienced so far, maybe this will help. The weather is looking so so. The high for the day is 40 with a start temp of 32. Ideally it would be 45 to 55. I will have to make a decision on what to wear and weather or not I should carry both bottles.

Wish me luck. More after the race....

Trail Running Tips

2008-02-15T03:36:00.000-05:00

Here is a new feature to Justus On The Run. I am now going to include videos on this site. The first is a news cast on Trail Running Advice. Hope you enjoy!

T-2

2008-02-14T08:47:00.000-05:00

I ran this morning for the first time since Monday morning. It was cold and snowy here, well sort of snowy. I decided to run through 2 large areas of standing water that formed in the grass where I run. They were about 6 inches deep and Baily loved them. I though he was going to roll around in them. That dog loves cold water. This exercise was to simulate the stream crossings I will face on Saturday. It was COLD, but only for a few minutes and then my feet started to warm up. I really do believe that within an hour of a soaking like that my feet may be dry. I will have to test that theory out. The SmartWool socks are great.

The run felt good, even though it was only 4 miles. I was pretty effortless. Now I just need to sit back and relax and eat a lot of carbs. I cannot wait for Saturday to come.

Here is a pick of Baily hanging out at the beach. Proof that he loves to be wet and dirty.

T - 3 Until Race Day

2008-02-13T07:21:00.000-05:00

It is almost here! I am run down this week and tired. I ran 3 miles Monday morning and felt good, but have not run since. Tonight I am going to put in 5 or 6 and maybe I will run 2 on Friday morning. I do not perform well with more than one day off at a time. Somehow I have been seeded at number 55 / 260 (see for yourself). I believe these seeds are based on predicted finishing order. I guess I have some high expectations to meet. Last night I had a scratchy throat and did not sleep well. I feeling pretty good today but it is a wait and see pattern for now. I am going to take it really easy on tonights run. More soon, I promise.

Let The Taper Begin

2008-02-04T09:10:00.000-05:00

From the week after my last race (Rock and Roll Half Marathon, Sept. 2, 2007) until today I have ran 635 miles. I really did not get dialled in and hit my stride until the middle of December. In January I had weeks of 32, 50, 52, 52, and 33. Last week I did not hit the planned 45 miles, but it was not a bad thing. I look at it as a week of extra taper time. My body did not respond well to running so I took 3 days off from running.

This weekends long run showed the dividends. I just ran 18 miles on easy trails, but the speed and ease of the run shocked me. I was able to cover the distance in just over 3 hours. I ran the last 2.1 miles at a pace under 9 minutes per mile. Maybe not fast for most, but fast for me, especially after 16 miles.

Now I will officially begin my taper for Holiday Lakes. I am only going to run 30 miles this week, with a 12 mile long run on Saturday. I will rest on Friday and Sunday. Next week I will run 3 on Monday, 6 on Tuesday, and 3 on Thursday. It is going to be hard to not run, but the excitement of running and the extra sleep should leave me more than rested and ready for the race. I feel that my fitness level is growing and my weight is slowly dropping.

This morning I ran a 3 mile loop around my subdivision. I started off at a 9 minute per mile pace and was laboured for the first mile. Once I was warm I fell into an 8:30 pace with no problem and I feel like I could have held this pace for quite a while. I want to run a half marathon this spring to gage how better off I am now that I was last spring. We will see how that fits into my training, schedule, and wallet.

25 Mile Run

2008-01-29T03:42:00.000-05:00

Last weekend I completed my key training run for the upcoming Holiday Lake 50K+. I ran a 25.5 mile run at first landing state park. I ran 2 loops around the parks main 2 trails. The last 5 miles was brutal. I ran a lot faster than last weekends 23 miler. I did not restrict myself based on heart rate this time. The day was perfect, 40 degrees with some sun and no wind. This run build the confidence that I need for the race. I also am figuring out how to push past the pain. I know that I had a lot left in the tank and could push much harder when properly motivated.

I wore my Camelback Alterra hip pack to try it out on a long trail run. I also had an Ultimate Direction Hand Bottle. I am going to sell the Alterra on ebay. It did not work out well and left red and irritated skin where it rode on the tags in my briefs and shorts. I had to pull it pretty tight to prevent the bounce and keep it up above my butt. I guess if I had a bigger butt it would work ok. I ordered a second hand bottle yesterday. I plan on using two bottles and an Amphipod belt with a medium size pouch to carry food, keys, id, etc. I used to use this belt with two small marathon type water bottles. I could strap then back onto it if I need an extra fluid reserve.

I am starting to understand the mentality needed to push back the pain and just take it mile by mile. I am really trying to get my mind around running 70 miles. I feel this is important to really grasp it now. I listened to an interview with Scott Jurek and he talked about this strategy and how he must do this to do well.

Summary for last week:

52.5 miles with a 25.5 mile long run

Plan for this week:

40 - 50 miles with a 20 mile trail long run. I am starting to get a little tired and have not been getting enough sleep. I am really looking forward to two easier weeks as I taper down.

I have started experimenting with embedding flash into this blog. The first result is below, my hr and elevation profiles for this run.

Holiday Lake Course Map

2008-01-25T07:44:00.000-05:00

Race director Dr. David Horton emailed out a map of the race course. I have attached it below for your viewing pleasure. It is not the best quality, but does show aid station locations. Today I ran 3 cold miles, it was around 28 degrees outside and my run felt good. My heart rate was low while my pace was faster than normal. I feel things are coming together. More after my long run tomorrow.

Holiday Lake 50K Preparation

2008-01-24T07:05:00.000-05:00

It is now only 23 days until the race. I am getting excited about it and my miles are going up. Luckily I have remained uninjured and feeling pretty good through this mileage increase. This week my mileage will spike at around 56 miles and then a slight taper will begin. I hate the idea of the taper, but deem it necessary to success, especially with my less than gradual mileage increase. I cannot wait to get out there and test out my body. I have been doing mainly base training lately and keeping a sharp eye on the heart rate monitor. It will be very satisfying to just go out and run with heart, run as fast as my legs will take me! Trust me this is not very fast. I am a work in progress.

I now present my training plan leading up the the race:

This week -> Today 2 recovery Miles; Friday 4 easy miles; Saturday 26+ trail miles for a total of 56 on the week- all of this at base training pace

Week of Jan. 28 -> total of 50 miles with a 20 mile trail long run

Week of Feb. 4 -> total of 40 miles with a 12 mile long run (hopefully this short of a long run is not a mistake)

Race Week Feb. 11 -> Runs of 2 to 3 miles every day leading up to the race. I do not do well with days off, so I will run every day up to the race, once again hopefully not a mistake.

That is the plan for now. I must then focus on the build-up for the Laurel Highlands Ultra in June. I think I will put down some more base and then start to work on other things. I do not anticipate my mileage going much above 50 - 60 per week.

Tired Of Constantly Re-Adjusting Your HeadPhones? - Philips Surround Sound Headphone Review

2008-01-23T07:43:00.000-05:00

Finding a set of headphones that remain in place comfortably while running has been a challenge. I have tried many models, including standard Ipod ear buds, over the head headbands, behind the neck bands, Sony ear buds, and Phillips ear buds. The Phillips ear buds (model # SHE5920/27 have provided superior usability while running. The sound is not nearly as crisp and clear as the Ipod earbuds, but this is not my main criteria. The earbuds stay in place while running. I have used this for over a year with no problems. They achieve their high usability level through rubber ear tubes. These tubes hug the inside of the ear while gently expanding for a smooth and steady fit. My first pair quit working after about a year of everyday use. You cannot expect much more out of a $15 pair of headphones. The new model now comes with an extra set of rubber ear tubes and a neat cloth carrying case. This case is much better than the standard plastic roll-up case that most earbuds include. I can fit my earbuds and a 2nd generation ipod nano in the case.

I highly recommend the Phillips Surround Sound Headphones for runners. I bought mine at Walmart for under $15.00.

Longest Trail Run Report

2008-01-22T08:27:00.000-05:00

This past Saturday I ran my long run at a First Landing State Park. I normally do not run here as it is pretty far from my house, but with a lack of trails in my area I have little to choose from. I managed 23.5 miles on the trails. The temperature at the start of my run was in the low 40's and it remained there for the entire route. It also started to rain just as I pulled into the parking lot. It rained on my the entire time I was running, but I did not mind at all. This park offers trails that are sandy and muddy with small rolling hills, nothing major to speak of. Some of the trails run along Broad Bay. I saw some very nice houses on the other side of the water. Including on with a large boat pulled out of the water and a large helicopter. I guess that is how to avoid the tunnel traffic. The run was fun, but as the day wore on and I continued to grind it out my left ankle started to bother me a little. I gutted it out and now, 2 days and lots of ice later it feels fine. This run was a huge confidence booster for my upcoming 50K ultra. I did not push the pace. I set my Garmin Forunner 305 to just show time distance and heart rate. I was trying to keep my heart rate below 144 beats per minute regardless of pace. I was fairly successful at this and enjoyed not looking at pace the entire time.

Plan: Tuesday - 10, Wednesday - 10, Thursday - 2, Friday - 3 - 5, Saturday 26+

Pre Holiday Lake 50K #1

2008-01-17T10:09:00.000-05:00

I filled out my entry blank for my first Ultra attempt, the 2008 Holiday Lake 50K. I just need to finalize some plans before it goes in the mail. I am very psyched up about this race and can hardly wait for it to happen. I have boosted my weekly mileage up to 50 and have been feeling good. I slowed down my pace and am trying to keep my heart rate at 75% or lower. This is very hard, but I must keep up the base mileage routine. I am just going to train base prior to this race. Maybe this will be a huge mistake. Time will tell.

My current plan breaks down like this:

Train base mileage and some hills prior to the race

Maintain 50+ miles per week

Stretch my long run out to 25 miles, only running it on local trails to reduce impact on my ankles

Continue to strength train 3 times per week

Run 6 days a week, maybe 7 if I feel up to it

Continue to eat properly to help drop a few pounds prior to the race

Thats it. If I can stick to this I will be in pretty good shape. After this race is over I will focus on some more specific training for my next Ultra in June.

Commuting to Work

2008-01-17T09:52:00.000-05:00

I first saw the idea of running to work in the blog http://irunfar.blogspot.com. This is a great idea for those who can access public transportation or for those who live close to work. I live 10 miles from my office and have nice paved bike paths for 75% of the route. The rest of the route I can run on grass. I am really trying to avoid concrete. Because of the distance I have chosen to run home from work one night and run back the next morning, leaving my car in the parking lot overnight. It has worked out well for me so far and the two longer runs mid week have really made me stronger. I shower before I go to my office and have been "running" through McDonalds for breakfast. That is a nice reward. This run commuting also saves time. Usually it takes me about 25 minutes to drive to work and deal with all the traffic. The run takes under 2 hours and leaves me feeling great inside, unlike when I have to deal with the crazy drivers in this area. So I get in a 10 mile run in the time it would normally take me to run 6 or 7. This is great in my book. I recommend trying this out if you get a chance and it is feasible.

Trail Plans

2007-12-21T07:49:00.000-05:00

We are heading north for Christmas to spend time with family and celebrate the birth of Jesus. Along with this vacation I will have a lot of time to run and hike. There are a large number of trails close to the places we will be staying, including the Laurel Highlands Trail (home of the Laurel Highlands Ultra) and the Massanutten Mountain Trail (home of the Massanutten Mountain 100). The weather is looking ok, it is going to be cold and wet with a little snow, but not enough to hinder running. I should be a great time.

Recovery

2007-12-10T09:32:00.000-05:00

This weekend I ran with the group RunByFaith. RunByFaith is a Christian running group where I live in Virginia Beach Virginia. Dana Johnston founded the group as a ministry to reach out to runners in the community. I have run with this group on a number of Saturdays and will continue to do so. We ran at First Landing State Park. This park consists of some mostly flat and smooth trails through the woods. It is a wonderful place to run or walk and we encountered many other groups of runners. It was a nice change of pace compared to the lack of runners in my neighborhood.

I am now taking 3 to 7 days off to let my ailing left hamstring heal some before the Christmas break. On this break I am planning on running multiple 20+ mile training runs on the trails around where I will be visiting. I am very excited about this opportunity to hit the trail and want to be fresh to make the most of it. My mileage has been bounding off 36 miles per week and I fell I can push it to 40 or 45 once I am able to heal this nagging injury. I first felt it 5 or 6 weeks ago on a 15 mile run. I was limping around the rest of the day after that run, including a 3 mile walk with my family. I appears to be getting slowly better but I want to allow it a few extra days off to heal. I need to start lifting my legs and need a healthy hamstring to do so effectively.

Update

2007-11-16T09:12:00.000-05:00

Ok, it has been quite a while since I posted here, but for certain I had good reasons to refrain. My wife and I had our first child shortly after my last post and things have been hectic ever since. I have had to let certain things go in my life, running not being one of these things. I am still running and striving for higher miles each week. Last week I ran over 34 miles, a weekly mileage record for me. This week I am set to hit 36. The dream is still alive. The colder weather has been good to my pace. I am still training injury free except for a few minor aches in my left foot/ankle. I have started to lift weights again and am trying to get the courage to blast a old time leg workout. I say courage because I am afraid of what it will do to me and my running. My legs have been feeling great lately and I know the leg training will cause them some soreness. I also am working on a lot less sleep than pre-baby, but I will survive this I am sure. Remember that pain is just weakness leaving your body.

Post Race Run

2007-09-06T09:56:00.000-04:00

Thursday morning I set out for an early morning 3 miler, my first run since the Rock and Roll Half. I had to postpone this run by a day due to a sore foot / ankle. Ice does wonders for these ailments. This was an enjoyable run with no specific time or pace to meet. My dog Bailey and I ran along just enjoying life and listening to SteveRunners Podcast.

Shortly after I started running I noticed a newbie runner. Steve was talking about "this running life" and I pondered how running has changed my life and the adventure that this new runner was undertaking. If the runner keeps it up it will take them on adventure after adventure. I was excited for that person. I was the person again 2 miles later, this time walking. Upon seeing me he started running again. This made me feel good. We must always be there for our fellow man and challenge them to accelerate to great things. I believe my presence caused him to start running again, thus becoming stronger and faster because I choose to run.

Race Report Rock and Roll Half Marathon, VA Beach 2007

2007-09-05T10:15:00.000-04:00

Sunday September 2, 2007 is a day I will remember forever. This day marked the 1 year anniversary of my first road race, the 2006 Rock and Roll Half Marathon. That day I ran the race in 2:17. A PR simply because it was the only half I had ever ran. One year later I thought I was wiser and faster. I have completed 3 Half Marathons with a PR of 2:00 flat. I ran this time in both of my previous two marathons. I was hoping to set a PR in this race, but that was not the case.

The day started early as my wife and I arose at 4 AM. We met up with our friends at there house, near the start of the race. My friend Rex and I were dropped off at the shuttle bus. When we arrived at the start we had some time to kill. It was a cool 70 degrees Fahrenheit that morning. This is a large race with 20,000 entrants and I watched in amusement as peope in costume milled around the staring area. The best costumes were two Geico Cavemen, and of course Elvis. As we lined up to start the race I chugged a gatoraid. I had not eaten much this morning and that would turn out to be one of my larger mistakes of the day. As I awaited the start I had the urge to go to the bathroom, it was too late now and I would have to go during the race.

The race started and we hit the line at around 7 minutes on the clock. I ran hard the first mile and was feeling ok, but not good. I hit the first set of bathrooms and lost a good 45 seconds right at mile one. I then fell in behind the 1:52 pace group. This is where I would stay for the next 3 mile. I got a huge boost as I ran past my wife cheering for me. She is my number one fan. Over the bridge I ran. Then I started to tire. This ended my hope of running with the 1:52 pace group for the entire race.

At mile 5 I fell off the pace and began to slow down. Clearly I had not eaten enough that morning and now I was paying for it. For some reason I waited to eat a gel that was in my pocket. The long trail run I ran the past weekend was taking a toll on my legs as they felt like lead blocks by mile 6. I started walking through the water stops. Not a way to set a PR. I was quickly revising my goal to just finish in 2:05.

As I ran mile 9, back over the bridge I knew I would soon get a boost from my wifes cheers again. This kept me going as I counted streets along the Atlantic Ave. Street by street I ran, quickly realizing that 2:05 may not be achievable. It is fascinating how you can revise goals so quickly while on the run. My mile 10 goals was now 2:10. I got a huge boost by all the cheering people from miles nine to the end of the race. They really kept me pushing towards 2:10.

I felt pretty good physically. My legs were heavy, but nothing was hurting more than usual. I sped up as I made the turn onto the boardwalk and ran hard for the next 1/2 mile. Then I had to slow down again. This process repeated itself for the last 2 miles. When I was within 1/2 a mile of the finish I sped up and started to sprint with 2/10 to go. I almost ran out of energy, but was able to cross the finish in 2:07. This was a PR for the course, but not anywhere close to my pre-race goal.

I love the crowd and the noise and the other runners on the course. It feels like a big happy family out there with everyone pulling for everyone. Before I ran I did not know what I was missing. The feeling I had when I crossed the finish line was amazing. Such a feeling of accomplishment. It is strange what goes through your mind while you are racing. I went through a lot of lows in this race and never really hit a high note. I was not able to reach that place where you push yourself beyond your known limits. I just never got my mind to that place. This race is quickly becoming my rival. I just have not been able to perform up to the level I have in other races. Maybe next year I will be able to conquer it.....

Hit The Trail

2007-08-28T10:34:00.000-04:00

On Sunday I completed my first planned trail run. I have spent my entire life as an avid backpacker / hiker, but this was my first effort at running on the trail. This is a very important aspect of my training. The whole Ultra I am training for is on a trail similar to the one I ran this weekend. I ran a loop that took me to the top of Signal Knob, located just outside of Front Royal Virginia, in the George Washington National Forest. This mountain was used by civil war troops as a lookout and a place to signal from, hence the name. The trail climbs hard from the trail head and I covered over 2680 vertical feet of gain and loss on this run. The trail was approximately 11 miles in length and extremely rocky at times. I had to walk up most of the first four miles due to the rocks and grade. My biggest concern was spraining an ankle, because I have a half marathon to run this weekend. I wore my normal street running shoes and they worked well, but the trail was dry. I like to listen to music during my normal runs, but for this run I left the headphones in the car. As mentioned above I love being outside and I wanted to take it all in. At no point during the run did I miss my music.

The first part of the run left my moral low and put doubts in my mind. I made it to the first peak of the trail in just under 1:15, a very fast time for hiking, but I had to walk almost the entire way to the top. Where I live and train there are no hills or trails that match this type of terrain. This is a major concern of mine that must be addressed. I was not prepared for the beating that my legs would take. The climb left them tired and fatigued, not a good state to be in prior to running down steep rugged terrain. It did feel great to finally be on top of this mountain I have driven by so many times.

The downhill left me feeling like the best trail runner on the mountain. My moral peaked as I piloted my body down the hills and through the valley. This is where I will make up time I thought to myself. Running down the trail felt like reckless abandon. The kinetic energy that was flowing through my body was unmeasurable. This is why I choose to participate in this crazy sport. Now that I have a taste of it I must have more. Then I hit another long steep climb. This was not just an elevation roller coaster. My moral was inversely proportionate to the elevation profile. This climb was the low point of the run. At one point I slowed to a stop to rest and catch my breath. At the time I did not realize it, but looking back, as I climbed I was just loading up my potential energy for the fun downhill to come. I powered over the top and off I went running down the mountain. I passed two men backpacking up the hill and there jaws dropped as I came running past them. "Keep it up man", the one man commented. My moral shot back up and off I went.

I reached the trail head in 2:40 and was happy with my effort. I averaged around a 14 minute mile pace. As I drove off the mountain my lower legs hurt and my quads were shot. I realized that I must spend some time in the weight room strengthening my legs to take the downhill beating they will endure. I also realized that the run / walk strategy may be the best way for me to complete an ultra on the trail.

This run taught me a lot about myself. I learned that I can do this and I can succeed. The human body is capable of amazing feats, as long as the mind stays motivated and keeps all doubts out. I now know that I can do it.

Week Running

2007-08-25T02:07:00.000-04:00

So far this week I have only run on 7 miles Tuesday and 5 miles on Thursday. I am in a sort of taper mode for the Rock and Roll Half Marathon next weekend, but not exactly. I have planned a 10.5 trail run this weekend. I am really looking forward to break out of my "in town" running and hit the trail. I grew up loving the outdoors and backpacking and still do. My love for the outdoors and God's beautiful creation drives me. This is one of the reasons I am doing this.

The Weekend Of Training

2007-08-20T14:48:00.000-04:00

On Saturday morning I woke up at 6:30 and was running by 7:00. I had planned on running 12 miles, hopefully the second 6 faster than the first. I set off with my dog Bailey for the first 4 miles. Running with Bays is an adventure in itself. He is a little crazy for the first mile, then calm for the next few miles, then he starts to tire out. The big guy will run forever if you do not stop him, he will not give up, no matter how far or how hot. This is not always a good thing. After dropping him off I completed the my run. I did finish the last six miles stronger than the first and was happy to complete the 12 mile course without really slowing down much of walking.

Saturday afternoon I went camping with friends at False Cape State Park. This is a secluded place on a narrow stretch of land between the Atlantic Ocean and Back Bay. The only way to access the park is by hiking, biking, or boat. This trip we decided to bike in. It was around a 10 mile bike ride to our campsite. The site was right on the beach and by 6:00 pm we has the beach all to ourselves. We swam, rode some waves, cooked dinner, and passed out under a blanket of stars. The next morning we woke up, packed up, and headed for home.

I was tired on Sunday from all this activity, but it felt good to get on the bike and put in some miles. It also gave me legs a break from running.

My weekend totals: 12 mile run and 2 - 10+ mile bike sessions

Why?

2007-08-17T15:41:00.000-04:00

I have to ask myself why. Why do I want to do this? What drives me from within? I do not know the answers to these questions. All I know that when one is driven to do something they do it only as long as the drive stays alive. Keeping the drive alive is the hardest part. I ran a 35 minute hard tempo run yesterday. This run did not stick out as an exceptionally good or bad run. It was hot and humid and I did not keep my tempo the entire time, but I did complete the run. The drive was there, but the drive was not burning hot like the coals of a fire. How do we stoke the drive and keep it hot and burning? By answering this question correctly one sets themselves up for success. This blog is just a tool to keep the drive alive and to be an account of my journey.

The Dream

2007-08-16T11:09:00.000-04:00

I am now just a few short weeks away from the Rock and Roll half marathon and my training has taken on a new type of focus, a drive from my inner being to accomplish the unthinkable. I have crazy ideas in my head. Ideas that were planted by the book “Ultra Marathon Man”. I want to run 30 miles on my birthday, January 13, 2008. This is the day that I will turn 30 years old and I cannot think of a better way to deal with this milestone age than this. I do not like the idea of turning 30, in fact I hate it, but as occupants of this earth we can do nothing to stop aging and eventually death. These things only answer to God. Hopefully we can just slow it down and believe in the idea that you are only as old as you feel.

The crazy ideas do not stop at running 30 miles on my birthday, but that is just the beginning. Some people aspire to run the Boston Marathon, and I too would love the experience, but my heart yearns for adventure and a pure test of the human spirit. I believe that this lies in the Ultra Marathon. An Ultra is defined as any distance over 26.2 miles. This distance not achievable without precise training and planning. This is the ultimate test of the human spirit and will.

I have a goal to complete the Laurel Highlands ultra marathon. This even occurs on June 14, 2008 and is held on the Laurel Highlands Hiking trial. The trail is 70 miles long and has many harsh ascents and descents. As a youth in Boy Scouts I hiked almost all the trail in pieces, and last year I completed all but a 3 mile section, so I am familiar with the trail and terrain. With 11 months to train I believe that I can accomplish my goal in a timely manner. Where there is a will there is a way.

My number one challenge will be staying motivated, motivated to rise before the sun to train, to push on when it hurts, and to make time for all this running. I cannot lose track of my roots and strength train and lift, as it is very important to me to not lose muscle mass in the process. I think I have finally found something athletic that I may be able to accelerate in. Only time will tell. I take much comfort in knowing that most elite ultra endurance athletes are in there 30’s and 40’s. Some have not even started training until there 30’s. I know that I still have time to do it.