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Weymouth Woods 100k

2012-01-17T17:02:00.006-05:00

I hope my readers don't find this one too boring. When reading Ultra-marathon reports it's much more interesting when there is lots of pain and suffering going on with epic struggles to finish but I'm happy to say there was none of that happening for me last Saturday. Pain and suffering may make for better reading but I find it is a whole lot more fun running when things turn out like they did for me at Weymouth. Ok, I almost got a blister on my left big toe but even that turned out to be nothing much.

My main goal was to get under 14 hours so that I could get a qualifier for Western States in the bag early and not have any pressure later on which will help make for a more relaxed year ahead. Of course I still wanted to race this thing and run as well as possible so I lined up for the 8am start with about 75 others with a plan to get the desired results.

It was in the upper 20's and calm so I was dressed warmly but hoping to shed layers quickly. The 4.5 mile loops made it perfect for setting up a personal aid station for quick changes of gear and making sure I had everything I needed for each lap. My plan was to go out at an easy, relaxed pace for the first loop and then see how I felt. I was also hoping to get in at least a few miles with Jenn and Amy so we lined up together.

The first lap went according to plan with the 3 of us and a few other friends staying close together. I stepped on a root in the first mile and tweaked something in my upper right hamstring that would make me a bit sore for awhile but fortunately it was never an issue and went away after a few laps. I was already getting warm in my jacket so as we came in for the first time I quickly removed it and put on my vest. I was a little surprised at how long that lap took (51:48) but I was feeling good so as I began the next loop I picked up the pace as planned.

The faster pace felt good but by the time I came back around I knew I wouldn't be able to hold it for too long so although I was a a little over 3 minutes faster(48:34) I backed down to a more reasonable pace. Lap three was just about perfect for what I wanted (51:24) and I had about a 28 minute cushion to work with for the 14 hour finish so everything was looking good so far.

As I was finishing up lap 4 (54:34), I spotted my friends Margherita and Tony coming down the hill looking for me. They followed me into the aid station where I quickly changed out of my long pants into some shorts as my legs were getting sweaty. I usually just wear shorts all the time unless it is going to be below freezing the whole time and it was now warming into the low 40's.

The three of us headed out quickly to begin lap 5. I was still under the pace for 14 hours but it was already obvious I wouldn't be going much faster than that and my 12:30 fantasy goal was truly a fantasy. It was nice to have a little company along for a change. The last couple of laps I'd been a alone and when I'm racing it's hard to find someone going your pace in a small race. Everyone else was either going too slow and I would pass them or too fast for me to try and stay with. Margo had just ran a great 4:49 at the Frosty 50k the weekend before but was having no problem going with the easier pace today. Tony is not a runner but a mountain biker and avid outdoor sports enthusiast so although he struggled a bit he hung with us for that 5th lap (57:52). I did fall one time tripping over a root but it was a soft landing with no damage done and I was up and on my way.

Tony stopped after one but Margo went back out with me for the next two. We had a great time talking and getting caught up since we haven't had much time together for a long time. My time were pretty consistent but I had been slowing down about 3 minutes per lap since the second one. Lap 6 was slower but not as much time lost so I was hoping the pace deterioration would level out for awhile. On lap 7 I was beginning to feel tired and I was letting Margo do most of the talking. It's pretty normal for me to hit a bad spell somewhere between 25 and 35 miles and we were right in that range now. The good thing was that I wasn't feeling very bad at all, just a little tired and sluggish and hopefully that would turn around as my body made the transition to burning more fat for fuel. So, I was pleasantly surprised to only lose one minute off the pace with that lap in 1:00:30, giving me a time of 6:24:15 for the halfway point at 50k. That was a little slower than I'd hoped and I was also over an hour for a loop sooner than I wanted but at least I was still feeling pretty good.

I said good-bye to Margo and Tony and was back to the business at hand, getting out for another loop as fast as possible. At this point I must mention the great volunteers working the aid stations. All of them are knowledgeable and encouraging and it would have been great to spend more time interacting with them but I was a man on a mission. Although they kept offering me some of the great food that was available I had to decline and stick to my fueling strategy. I have felt my best in most ultra's sticking to just sugar, chocolate in particular when it's available in cooler weather and gels . Today I was taking a gel on the far side of the course and then when I went through the main aid station I would grab a handful of M&M"s. As each lap passed it became more tempting to enjoy some of the burgers, pizza, soup and sandwiches among other things but I stuck to my plan. I was even able to decline the grits that Doug and Jimmy had at the far side.

I was very disappointed early in the next lap to catch up to my training partner and Angel Amy. Her knee which had been giving her problems since the last week of December had flared up near the end of the first lap and she was reduced to walking most of the time now. I walked with her for a minute but then had to hurry on my way. I had checked the last time around and was happy to know that Jenn was having a good day only about 5 minutes behind me so I was hoping she would continue to run strong and get a qualifier too. When I arrived back around I was very happy to have maintained pace on that lap in 1:00:41, only 11 seconds slower than the previous lap. Six laps to go and a 35 minute cushion to work with. I was beginning to feel a little lightheaded so I begin eating a mouthful of chips to get some sodium into me and I did take one E-Cap before going out for lap 9.

That lap was uneventful as most were but I did lose some of my cushion with the time of 1:03:59. That wasn't too bad but I knew I would probably slow down a lot more once the sunset and I would have to try to get over the roots by flashlight. It was already getting hard enough to pick up my feet and not stumble over them now just from the growing fatigue. I grabbed my headlamp which I actually wear around my waist just in case. I expected to be back well before sunset from the tenth lap but was just being cautious. I was still very happy with the way I was feeling. My energy level was good, the legs felt fine and although I could feel the miles behind me I was still running well. In fact I could hardly believe when I came back around that I had actually picked up the pace a little running lap 10 in 1:01:05 ! This was a real confidence booster as I would be racing the remainder of the event in the dark.

I ran as far as I could in lap 11 before turning on the light but I hadn't gone far when I had to turn it on. I had dropped off my handheld water bottle and put my waist pack back on so I could carry a flashlight and still keep my hands warm. It had been fairly comfortable all day but never warm because I could tell my nose was cold all day. Now with the sun gone it was dropping back into the 30's and I wanted to stay as comfortable as possible and not risk hypothermia.

I was almost shocked with how well I was running here at the 45 mile point in the race. My breathing was good and I actually was feeling and running better than I had hours ago, just at a slightly slower pace and the roots didn't seem to be as much of a problem as I had expected. I was also playing a mental game with the pacing figuring out how many loops divided by the amount of cushion I had. Hmmm, 4 laps , a 28 minute cushion means I could run a 1:07. well that one took 1:05:53. Still good.

Lap 12 was another good one as far as my condition but it was the slowest so far in 1:07:44. I didn't think I could afford to slow any more but I wasn't sure I could run any faster since it was a pitch dark night and the moon was not out. I asked if Jenn was still close behind me but no one knew and I had to move on and just hope she was still running well.

About 1.5 miles into lap 13 as I was going over one of the many boardwalks over the boggy areas when I happened to notice that the sky was crystal clear with the stars shining brilliantly above through the trees. It was one of those special moments that make these things so appealing to me and I nearly walked off into the bog as I found myself wanting to just stare at the sky. But I was on a mission so I had to go !

As I came into the aid station for the last time I couldn't have felt better. Lap thirteen was a minute faster in 1:06:59 and I was ready to put the hammer down for the last lap. I grabbed a cup of coke, took off my waist pack and was on my way out in just over one minute. This was awesome. How could I feel so strong after 58 miles?!?! The last lap was amazing. I was nearly floating over the roots compared to earlier in the night and I had finally turned my handheld light to it's brightest setting thinking it would surely last to the end. Well, that didn't turn out so good. By the time I was halfway around it was about dead. I changed out the batteries at the aid station but they were DEAD ! Why did I not test them at home ? !? I was about to just run it in using the one around my waist and it probably would have been fine but if it died on me I didn't have a back up so when Jimmy Ballard offered to get me one to use out of his truck I decided to take him up on it.

I took off not knowing how much longer it would take to get back, only that I couldn't lollygag. But I didn't need to worry as I just seemed to get even stronger. I was even running hills that I had walked earlier in the day. I ran that last lap in 1:02:10 and would have surely been under an hour if I hadn't had the issue with the flashlight. I was more than happy to get my qualifier in 13:52:49 but even better to do it and feel so good all day. Amy was there to greet me having stopped at 40 miles. I asked her if Jenn was close but she said she had dropped behind further after dark and was at least 20 minutes back before the last loop. I was sad to hear that news so I went inside to change into some warm clothes and then went back out to wait for Jenn. She came along in 14:18 feeling good and she ran well but just had a hard time dealing with the roots in the dark.

Quite a few other firends from NCRC and MTC were running and most did very well meeting and exceeding their goals which makes it even that much better sharing part of the day with them.

Marie Lewis is the race director for this and she is a wonderful person and put on an outstanding event. This was a runners race put on for runners by runners and it could not have been better. Awesome volunteers and the Park staff were great. I highly recommend anyone looking for a difficult but doable 100k ultra to give it a try.

Here is a link to the results

Weymouth Woods 100K Preview

2012-01-11T18:30:00.004-05:00

Woohoooo !. I'm ready to start off my racing for 2012. It's been 7 weeks since my last race and I'm raring to go. I've spent the last several weeks getting in a lot of miles of good training so I feel well prepared for the challenge.

This is the 3rd year for the race which is held at Weymouth Woods- Sandhills Nature Preserve near Southern Pines NC. I used to train here occasionally back in the 80's and early 90's so when I heard that Marie Lewis from the Mangum track Club was going to put on the race I was hoping to get a chance to run in it. It didn't fit my schedule the first two years but I made sure to plan on it this year.

The course is 14 laps of a 4.4 mile course mostly on single track with some sections with lots of roots and some sand. No long climbs but several shorter steep hills make it a challenging course. I had a fantasy time goal of 12:30 but after scouting out the course a few months ago I think that may be truly a fantasy. The race is a qualifier for the Western States 100 and the time needed for that is 14:00. I think that is well within my capabilities at this time but 62 miles is a long way and a lot can happen. But, this is a race and I am planning to go as fast as I can. Perhaps I should take it easy and just try to get the qualifier but I will have at least two other chances in 100 milers later in the year so It's going to be all out for this one. Yeah, it''s going to make it hurt more but when it's over I'll know I gave it my best and be happy with whatever time that may be.

Several friends will be in attendance and I am looking forward to sharing some miles with some of them. Stay tuned for a race report ad pictures soon.

Here is the race website.

Looking ahead to a big year in 2012

2011-12-31T19:33:00.003-05:00

2011 was a very good year for my running and I look forward to many good times and miles with smiles with my friends. I enjoy training for the events probably more than the actual racing but as always I have quite a few fun things on the calender for the coming year.

Jan:

Things get started early with the Weymouth Woods 100k in Southern Pines on the 14th. I'm looking forward to finally running this fairly new (3rd year) MTC event. It is a WS qualifier so my main goal is to run in under 14 hours but I'm in great shape and plan to go as fast as I can.

Feb:

I'll be heading to the Central Piedmont of NC for The Pilot Mountain Payback Trail Marathon at Pilot Mountain State Park on Feb. 18th. This will be another first time event for me and I'm mainly looking for a fun day on the trails in a beautiful location.

Mar:

Nothing planned but training after Pilot Mt. until the BIG EVENT of the year on the 31st. I'm going for the 100 mile PR at Umstead 100. Although I've been doing some other things, my eye has been on this one with practice loops nearly every week since May.

April:

I will probably return to Promise Land 50K++ simply because I love the race. It's on the 28th so at least I'll have 4 weeks to recover from Umstead.

May:

Nothing for sure yet. but I'll either be doing Doug's Wild Card 50k or possibly returning to WV for the Capon Valley 50k. It is a nice little race and very pretty. The picture above was taken there in 2007, my last visit to the race.

June:

I didn't get into WS so I'll be back at the Bethel Hill Moonlight Boogie 50 miler again to challenge the heat, hills and humidity.

July:

As much as I'd love to go back to Tahoe Rim, there will be no travel out West this year so I'm looking forward to returning to one of my favorite marathons at Grandfather Mountain. And no, no double this year.

August:

No plans at this time other than suffering through another NC sweltering summer.

Sept:

One thing that I've wanted to do ever since I heard about ultra's 34 years ago was to do a 24 hour run on the track. Well hopefully this will be the year. On Sept 1st I plan to do the Badgerland Striders 24 hour in Germantown Wisconsin.

Oct:

I'm hoping to make a trip up to Northwestern Pennsylvania in late Oct for the Oil Creek 100 mile. About 10 years ago I rode a train with my son Jeremy right through the middle of the course for this one. A very pretty area and a race with a good reputation. They have to wait until the area HS football schedule is set in Feb because they use the local school to stage the event.

Nov:

No Mt Masochist since I'll be doing the 100 just a week or two before so I'll probably go back to OBX or maybe something else. Or maybe nothing else until the Derby 50k after Thanksgiving. Plenty of time to think about it.

Dec:

I usually don't race in December but if something interesting comes up I may and it depends on when we sing the Cantata.

Well, that's it. You may have noticed I'm not racing quite as frequently as I was a few years ago and I'll probably keep it that way and keep spending more time running as much as I can with the Angels. And it doesn't get better than that.

2011-Year in Review

2011-12-28T19:56:00.006-05:00

Just a few more days before we move into a new year so it's time to take a look back on what has been a great year in so many ways for me. I've been able to stay healthy again with no injuries, just the usual aches and pains to be expected for a middle age man out pushing the boundaries around on occasion.

This running life has brought me so many friends and experiences that I would have missed out on if I had never taken those first steps so many years ago. I have been fortunate to have met quite a few new people this year and strengthened many other friendships. The best part is that I continue to be able to train quite often with several of the amazing ladies that I call my Angels and I look forward to many more miles in the coming year with them.

Jan:
My main focus for the first part of the year was my training for the Boston Marathon. Part of my plan was to run several half-marathons in my buildup and the first one was very early in the year on 1-08 at Ocean Isle Beach. Met up with one of my training partners, Lisa and another Raleigh friend Laura who introduced us to John Williamson. I ran this one before in 2006 and like the course and the small race atmosphere but mother nature didn't cooperate. Despite near gale force winds, I felt good and ran a strong time but a few minutes off what I had hoped for. Considering the conditions I was pleased with the effort. 1:46:19

Feb:

Another half marathon, this time a new one in Goldsboro and once again mother nature put a damper on the festivities. A cold wet damper with a hard cold rain for about half the race. I felt good but was disappointed with my 1:47:53 time on a suspect course. Splits were all over the place. The only redeeming factor was I did win my age group. Laura and John were there again so it was nice to have some familiar faces.

Mar:

I decided to run a rare 5k for a change. Every now and the I like to run one just to see how the leg speed and training are going. This one was in Cary so there were several friends running including Lisa. This is a little hilly course so I was pretty happy with my 22:29 and once again I was 1st in my age group.

Two weeks later was the Tobacco Road Half-Marathon in Cary. I had run a Boston qualifier in the marathon here last year and was looking forward to a fast course. The weather finally cooperated with perfect conditions. I felt really good and finally ran below 1:45 with a 1:43:03. This was a big race so there were lots and lots of friends running and volunteering making this a very good day all around. Best of all were having several of my Angels in attendance.

Apr:

Boston. If only I could have felt as good here as I did in March at Tobacco Road. I still have no idea why I had such a bad race other than some days you just don't have it. And I didn't right from the start. A very disappointing and uncomfortable 4:33:43 on a beautiful day that I should have easily run under 3:45. Oh well, it was still a wonderful trip having Karla, Frank, Lisa and Mike along. It was so special having Karla there after the way things turned out 5 years ago.Pretty amazing that we both qualified in the same race along with Lisa so that we could be here together. An emotional day but wonderful having her here healthy. A big part of me wanted to run it with her again. Wish now I had.

Five days later I made the trip up to the Blue Ridge of Virgina for the Promise land 50k++. This was awesome. My first time back in several years and it was like a reunion seeing so many of my ultra friends I've known since I began running them in 2002. Quite a few first timers from Raleigh area too. This was the official kick-off of my ultra training as I began my return to doing 100 milers again. Not much chance of a fast time with beat up legs from Boston so my plan was to just run with Jenn the Ultra Angel for as long as I could keep up with her. Fortunately we were able to stay together for the entire race and had a wonderful time although my slowest ever in 8:44.

May:

Began the month with a new race, The New River Marathon north of Boone. My legs were pretty beat up after Boston/Promise Land two weeks earlier so I didn't know what to expect and my plan was really just to have fun and use it for a training run. I started out that way but felt really good so I decided to go hard and did great until the last few miles when the lingering fatigue caught up to me. I ended up very happy with a 4:18 on a tough but beautiful course.

June:

Boogie !!!

Yes it was nice to return to one of my favorite events and in good condition. So once again I go shooting for a 50 mile pr with a slightly different strategy. Failed once again but at least I got a new course pr and had a wonderful time. Seems I knew half the people there which is awesome because they are a wonderful bunch. Got to run quite a few miles with Jenn. Lisa ran a great marathon and Ultramom Amy proved I was right by running an awesome first 50 miler finishing just 2 minutes or so behind me.

July:

The real highlight of the year was the trip to Nevada for the Tahoe Rim 100. This would be my first 100 in 4 years and I picked a tough one but I love Lake Tahoe so I was so happy to be able to make the trip. It was so nice having Jenn along for company and meeting up with Karla and Frank. ( I had talked Karla into going to run the 50k). We were blessed with great weather at least for me and I had an amazing race experience. I had hoped to share most of the race with Jenn but it wasn't to be and I had to leave her behind at the 1st aid station. Jim Plant had his best performance ever and finished claiming his buckle. Overall, this was probably the hardest course I've run but I've never felt better in a 100 miler so I was very pleased with my 33:26:33 finish.

Aug:

There were no races for me this year in August but I once again headed up the NCRC Umstead Series. Had a pretty good turn out for each of the runs as folks came out for the annual heat hills and humidity.Once again I held the Ultraman Joey awards for the runner that came closest to my time which I would run a couple of hours before everyone else. They were tough as usual but I was running them much better than last year.

Sept:

In September I was finally able to fit the Iron Mountain 50 miler in Damascus VA into my schedule. A beautiful area and a great event but I made two mistakes. I underestimated the toughness of the course and I should have carried two bottles, especially with the brutal heat and humidity we had this year. DNF at 32 miles was the result. Still enjoyed the trip and visiting with some friends.

The last weekend of the month I was able to return to Hinson Lake 24 hour with plans for going after my 2006 total. Another hot sticky stifling day and I just didn't have it so I called it a day at 50 miles. Dozens of friends and a good weekend anyway.

Oct:

Yay, finally some cooler weather ! On the 15th I made the short trip to Medoc Mountain State Park with Angels Jenn and Amy for the marathon. A gorgeous day and after an easy start the first three miles I was feeling good so I put it into race mode and had a very good day. Meltdown the last 2.5 miles but I was pleased with my 4:32 and 3rd place in my age group. The Original Trail Angel Laura Mac won the womens overall !

Nov:

Started the month with another great reunion race at Mountain Masochist, the scene of my 1st 50 miler back in 2003. Made the trip up with Jenn and had a wonderful evening before the race seeing so many friends in my first trip back here in 3 years. I was feeling prepared and aiming for a course pr. Just missed by 6 minutes but it was a perfect day and I have never run stronger in the last part of an ultra before. Beyond happy with that.

Finished up the month with a return to one of my favorites, The Derby 50K. Another trip with Jenn and was happy to have Margherita along with us. Another near perfect day and I was of course going for the pr. Margo shared the 1st two of three laps with me and I was dead on pace for my goal but another meltdown and I had to coast it in nearly 20 minutes slower than last year. More great times visiting friends. Sound familiar?

Dec:

No racing in the final month of the year. My plan was to just get in some good training, easy miles and easy pace. I stuck to the plan and got in some really great mileage. In fact with one more day to go I have 248.6 miles for the month and if all goes to plan I'll run 13 on the 31st which will give me 261.6 topping my best year ever in 34+ years of running.(previous best was 2006 back in 2006) As the week began I didn't think I'd be close and wasn't going to try and I even took Tuesday off from running but then on Wednesday with me needing 47 miles in the last 4 days I decided to go for it. I was feeling good and had the time so why not? And to make it even cooler,I have already topped my best year ever. I'm at 2488.3 and tomorrow's planned 13 will give me 2501.3 ( previous best was 2434 in 2010)
How cool is THAT ?!
Set all time best for month and yearly totals on the last day of the year at age 56!!

Thanks to all of you that take the time to read my stuff on here. As I said , it's been a wonderful year in so many ways. I am so Thankful to have the good health to pursue my running passion and have the support of wonderful family and friends.

My top 10 albums/cd's whatever

2011-12-14T19:37:00.004-05:00

We interrupt your regularly scheduled running blog post with a little music talk. I was thinking the other day, if I could only have 5 cd's which ones would hey be? so I started making a list and the first two were easy but after that I was really having a hard time leaving out some so I made it a top 10. Well even that was really difficult so I finally did a list of 30. I know , the title says top 10. So I made a top ten and then a 20 runners up. Many of these artist put out a whole lot of great music and a large catalog of albums but for this list I limited myself to just one from each band or artist. Although I like a lot of different types of music, I'm a rock n roller from the time I was pre-kindergarten listening to Buddy Holly, Elvis and Chuck Berry. All of these albums are from my teens and were a major influence on me.

# 1
Captain Beyond

This was their first album and really the only one of their 3 studio albums that is any good. but this one is FANTASTIC ! I'll never forget the first time I heard it. I was in high school and at a party when someone put this on the stereo. When it got to the amazing guitar riff on "Myopic Void", I ran into the room asking who is that !?!. I was standing over the record player moving my head around in circles trying to read it on the turntable. Went and bought it the next day and have never been without it since.

#2
Spirit- The 12 Dreams of Dr.Sardonicus

An old friend Wesley introduced me to this album when I was 14. No two songs song alike on the whole album. One of the first "concept albums" but I don't think anyone knows what the concept was. Nobody cares. It's just some great music.

#3
Alice Cooper- Killer

I was already a huge AC fan with the release of the "Love it to Death" album and it was a hard choice between the two but when I finally was able to see them in concert the first time it was a life changing experience for me. I've seen him 9 times now but this was still the greatest live show he ever did and that's why I chose this album. Tough to leave off "School's Out" too.

#4
Deep Purple-In Rock

Another tough choice. this band put out some great albums. There most famous one of course was "Machine Head" and some of my favorites songs like "Highway Star" and "Lazy" are on it but the first time I saw them in concert was before that was released. the reason this one gets the nod is because of one song, "Child in Time". to this day every time I hear the guitar solo I get a chill down my spine. Richie Blackmore is still one of my all time favorites. Lots of other great albums including "Burn"

#5
Uriah Heep- Look at Yourself

Funny thing is I saw these guys the first time at the same show as Deep Purple. their first 5 albums were all fantastic but this one, their 3rd is my favorite. It had just been released before the concert. The title song is just amazing like a thundering stampede of sound with the big Hammond Organ and great percussion. And Mick box's wahwah drenched solo is just wicked.

#6
Cream- Wheels of Fire

I wasn't even a teenager (11) and still in elementary school when I heard "Sunshine of your Love" in 1967 off the "Disraeli Gears" Album but it was 1968's double album that is the top choice from this short lived super-group. The first disc was in the studio and has some great music but the second disc was from Live at the Fillmore and it was live and jamming that this band was at their best. Featuring just 4 songs but they remain some of the best jamming ever recorded. "Crossroads is the only short one and remains a staple of oldies rock stations but it's the long jam on "Spoonful" that puts this one over the top. Throw in "Toad" featuring Ginger Bakers amazing drum solo which influenced just about every rock drummer since and "Traintime" featuring some great harmonica playing by the multi-talented Jack Bruce and I can still enjoy this album 43 years later

#7
Johnny Winter-And

The first thing I heard by Johnny was "Highway 61 Revisited" from the "Second Winter" album and it is my favorite song so it was very hard to leave that album off but his next released where he teamed up with Rick Derringer is my favorite. Some great rockers, blues and a couple for just for fun tunes. Two great guitarist with distinct but complimentary styles. Close call with "Still Alive and Well" which many consider his best.

#8
Rush- Fly By Night

Saw these guys on their first American tour as the opening act for REO and Blue Oyster Cult. They stole the show and played mostly off this album. Incredible catalog of music over the past 40 years but this will always be my favorite. "2112" a close 2nd.

#9
Neil Young- After The Goldrush

Neil is probably the one artist I would choose if I had to choose just one. So many incredible albums over the years and I have about 20 of them and they are all great. Such diversity with easy listening, hard rockers, country and folk and he makes it all sounds great. So many good ones to leave off. I really like "Ragged Glory" a lot too but I had to take this one as my first choice. I'd heard a little bit of him from my cousin Theresa and I liked it but preferred the harder rock stuff like most of the above choices but then I saw him on a TV show, may have been Johnny Cash. He played "After the Goldrush", just him and the piano and it was so beautiful and I became a huge fan after that and bought the album for myself.

#10
Ted Nugent- Tooth, Fang and Claw

Uncle Ted. First heard of him with the hit "Journey to the Center of the Mind" when he was with the Amboy Dukes when I was 11 years old and had the 45rpm. Didn't hear anything from him for several years until was about 16 when I read an interview in Cream magazine. Loved his attitude so I bought his album "Call of the Wild" Total awesomeness. TF&C was the next release and it was freakin amazing. I used to have a deafening stereo in my little green Pinto and I would sit in the backseat with the speakers blaring "No Holds Barred" before heading into work in the afternoons after school. Lots of great music over the years and he puts on a great live show. Got to see him in Detroit back in 1997 on New Years Eve in his home court. Awesome !

Hate to leave off so much great music off the list but the good thing is I really don't have to limit myself to just these 10. I own them all !!!!!

here is the lst of runners up in no particular order

Joe Cocker- Mad Dogs and Englishmen

Saw the movie and it became an instant favorite. Introduced me to another great one Leon Russell

AC/DC- Let There Be Rock

First heard them in a commercial advertising them in concert at Dorton Arena. sounded good so I went. It was their first time in the USA. Paid $3.oo and only about 300 people were there. Amazing show. Bought the album and although they put out a lot of great stuff this is still my favorite. Love all of them with Bon Scott.

Rory Gallagher-Live in Europe

Never heard of him before I saw him. He was a substitute at an outdoor rock festival in 1971 and played after the headliner Alice Cooper. Most people had left before he played. Boy Howdy did they miss an amazing show. My brother brought back this album from England later that year and it is about the same set list as the show we saw.

Led Zeppelin-Physical Graffitti

Wow, it was hard to leave these guys off the top 10 list and just as hard to pick a favorite. Everyone one of their studio albums with the exception of their last could have been the one but this has got it all. "In My time of Dying" puts it over the top.

Tool-Undertow ( the only one not from the 60's or 70's on the list)

I was introduced to this band by Beavis and Butthead. Yep they were watching the video of "Sober" and I loved what I was hearing. Best stuff I'd heard in over decade from a new band at the time. I had to wait until the end of the video to see who they were and then found the cd.

Black Sabbath- Black Sabbath

Another band my friend Wesley turned me onto. Loved all of their Ozzy albums but this first one remains #1 but a tough choice leaving out "Paranoid" and " Master of Reality"

Savoy Brown- A Step Further

Yet another one I owe to Wesley. First time I heard it was at his house when I was 14. One side is a 22 minute live version of "The Savoy Brown Boogie" Love it ! A hard choice not to take "Hellbound Train"

Jimi Hendrix- Band of Gypsy's

His first ,"Are You Experienced" was his best studio album but Jimi was at his best live and this is my favorite performance. "Machine Gun" is probably the greatest guitar song ever and Joe Satriani agrees with me on that.

Blue Oyster Cult- Tyranny's and Mutations

The first time I heard these guys was at NCSU. they were a substitute for some one and me and my friends had never heard of them in 1971. Well they put on a great show and I had the pleasure of seeing them 7 times before they went pop rock with , those two hits I won't mention here. This album rocks !

Allman Brothers- The Fillmore Concerts.

Another band that's best heard live and this is the best from the days when Duane Allman was alive.

Judas Priest- Screaming For Vengeance

Ok, another one not from the 60's and 70's. Loved "British Steel" but The Hellion/Electric Eye put this one over the top.

J. Geils Band- Full House

Just a fun live album that rocks from start to finish. Wish I had been at the show this recorded at. Hate what they did in the MTV era.

Mc5-Kick Out the Jams

Would you believe another intro from Wesley?
Another live rocker from a band that influenced a lot of bands in the Motor City.

Bloodrock-Bloodrock

Their first. they put out four great albums before the singer and guitar player both left the band. All were good but this was my favorite. Some great rock and Lee Pickens piercing guitar style make the album but it's a long mellow mysterious song that is my favorite, "Fantastic Piece of Architecture"
These guys opened up for Grand Fun Railroad at Dorton Arena after the release of their 2nd album and stole the show. Oh and guess who turned me on to this band? Yep Wesley had a big influence on my early exposure to some great stuff.

Jethro Tull- Aqualung

Another band with a large catalog spanning 40 + years but this is still the best. Saw them live in Dorton Arena playing this stuff and "Thick as a Brick".

Jackyl-Jackyl

One more from the 90's. These guys just ROCK ! Nothing fancy here. No amazing virtuoso's. Just plain simple @#% kicking rock n roll. Put "I Stand Alone" on the stereo as loud as you can and if you don't like that then you just don't like rock and roll.

King Crimson- In The court of the Crimson King

Just the opposite of Jackyl, these guys are virtuoso musicians. 21st Century Schitzoid man is amazing rock and jazz but is totally different from the remainder of the album. A real head trip. One to listen too with no distractions.

Trapeze- Medusa

This is some great stuff and I love the sound of the recording. very basic with the three instruments of this trio coming out very distinct and balanced. Almost a live recording with practically no over dubs.

Ken Hensley- Proud Words on a Dusty Shelf

Almost bending the rules here with this choice. Hensley was the keyboardist, slide guitarist and sometime vocalist with Uriah Heep and wrote most of their music. He recorded this when he left the band playing everything but the bass and drums which he used his former bandmates Gary Thain on bass and Lee Kerslake on drums. Kerslake played with Ozzy on his first solo albums and Thain died. But anyway, next to Neil Young this guy remains one of my favorite songwriters and this album was very hard to leave off the top 10. "Cold Autumn Sunday" is my favorite and would probably be in my top 10 songs. Hmm maybe another list sometime.

And last,
Pink Floyd- Meddle

Why not Darkside of the Moon? Ask me sometime in private. Love a lot of Pink Floyd with these two being my favorites but I liked Umma Gumma a lot too. The wall has a few good songs on it but overall I was never a big fan.

Ok, stay tuned for more running stuff soon.

Crooked Road 24 HourRun by Guest Poster Amy Surrette

2011-12-08T12:59:00.002-05:00

Amy was running this event as a fundraiser for the Cake Family that live in her hometown in Michigan.

Friday morning my family and I headed up to Rocky Mount VA with the camper packed full. It was much like other running events where we camp and the whole family comes out there for support, volunteer and run a few laps as well. This was a little bit different though because my mom and sister, who live in Michigan, were going to meet us there and be my crew and support for the event. It was also different as I was running this event to raise money for a very special family. I had many people pledging so much per mile and I had 24 hours to run as many miles as I could for the Cake family and the baby ‘cupcakes’.

We reached Waid Park about 2:00 in the afternoon. We chatted with several of the people there including Ricky Scott who was one of the race directors. With some guidance we found a great spot to set up camp right along part of the course loop. We set the camper up so that it would be ready in the morning when we arrived. (no camping allowed Friday night). We drove to Roanoke where we met my mom and sister and stayed the night at a hotel. Had a big dinner, well, breakfast rather… we dined at IHOP and I feasted on an omelet and pancakes - needed some running fuel, and this hit the spot! (woman vs. food, woman won!)

Saturday morning dawned clear and cool. Great morning for the run. Seems that last hour before a race flies by when you need to get so much done… All too soon it was time to start. Saw James Plant early on but he was keeping a faster pace that I was not comfortable keeping so I dropped back. Many of the early miles I was running alone. I was good with that. Several laps I would run with my sister, or walk with Andy or my mom. I was feeling good, eating well, and keeping a good rhythm. I stopped often to get the grit out of my shoes and powder my feet. I found it annoying that even with the gaiters on, I still managed to get stones in my shoes.

I was keeping an eye on the clock and on my mileage. 26.2 done, 50K done, I was well on my way to towards the 50 mile mark. Had my iPod in, playing tunes and was singing as I was running. Many of the other runners laughed when I passed by singing away. I fell into a zone. It felt great. Had a really great run/walk going with the straight-aways and hills. I knew in order to reach 100 miles by morning I needed to be at or under 11 hours at 50 miles. At 48 miles my Garmin went out. AGHH!!!! I am sure everyone in Rocky Mount heard my scream as I ascended the ‘one big hill’ without my Garmin data. I knew it was not going to last 24 hours, but I was still sad to see it go. I stayed focused and reached the goal of 50 miles in 11 hours and in that process made it onto the leader board. Oooo waaah!!! (7:00pm)

Darkness had fallen and it was starting to get cold. It was a clear night and I feared it would fall well below freezing before morning. I kept putting on the layers to stay warm. By 9:30 I had worked my way to 100K and 2nd on the leader board. I was still feeling awesome. Uncharted waters - haven’t ever run further than 63 miles before. Another milestone at 10:30pm First place overall for the women. Unbelievable! PR for distance AND slowly worked my way to the top.

The rest of the wee hours of the morning is kinda a blur. I kept eating and drinking but did not have the same energy I had earlier. I made it to 75 miles and had a meltdown. I was so cold. I had been walking many of the last few laps and not generating as much heat. I kept drinking soup but could not warm up. I was so frustrated that I could not find that rhythm I once had. In hindsight, my symptoms were hypothermia. I didn’t realize it, neither did my mom or sister. 3:00am I decide to get in the truck and try to warm up and take a nap. It was 85 degrees in there and the seat warmers were on. That did the trick. I woke up at 4:00 grabbed the blanket and headed over to the aid station. All the cups of juice and soda were frozen. It was 21 degrees out. I sat by the fire and got a little something to eat then decided to go back out. Before walking out into the night, Wes, one of the volunteers of the race, joined me. He had heard about the fundraiser and during the next loop I told him about the Cake family. This is what I heard - many people were moved by the Cakes story, by the fundraiser, and the desire I had to keep going for them. I had lost the lead, but not my determination to keep going.

“the race is not always to the swift, but those who keep on going”

Many of the next laps I spent with Dan Kuzma who at the time was the second place male. He was telling me about some ultras he ran in sub zero temps - not something I want to do, but it sounded like an amazing experience! He kept me smiling.

I took another break at about 6am. The volunteers had made hot pancakes and my belly could not say no to that. Paul and I were at the fire enjoying our breakfasts and when we were done, we looked at each other and decided to go back out again. We covered several laps together as the glorious sun finally came up! The 8:00 finish was closing in. The “stick lap” was not far away. I looked up at the clock as I came in on my last lap with Paul and saw there was about 5 minutes left and thought - “this is it, finish strong“. I took off my blanket, threw it on the fence, and started running. Together, James Plant and I “sprinted” the last lap of the run. We got to the big hill. The same one I had walked 87 times prior and I told Jim “I am running this thing this time” so we did! We sprinted down the hill, past the parking lot, down by the river (which btw was always 5 degrees colder over there the entire race), and nearly made it to the bridge when the horn sounded. Jim and I dropped our sticks and congratulated each other with a big hug. First 24 hour - 83.2 miles.

Believe it or not, my race was not done after that. I had to then pack up the camper and drive 3 hours back to Raleigh. That was tough after running that far on 45 min sleep! I got home, took a much needed bath, took a nap, then another nap, then slept sound from 10-6. I was sore Monday, but by Wednesday I had no fear of the stairs anymore.

What an amazing experience. It was a very well organized event. Aid stations had everything you could need. Volunteers were first rate. It was a great course. Many thanks go out to folks including Ricky Scott, and Pam Rickard (who I finally got to meet). My husband Andy, my mom Marcia and sister Karen for being there through it all. I would also like to thank Brooks Running for their sponsorship of me for 2011. It is great to be able to represent such an awesome company!

A big thank you goes out to all who supported me with their prayers and to those who donated for the fundraiser for the Cake family. It was a huge success - thanks so much!

I gained a lot of knowledge through this race. I plan to take with me to U100. It is not anything that anyone could have ever taught me, I had to learn it on my own through this life experience. I had some of my highest highs, followed by such disappointment, when I knew I was not going to reach 100. 83.2 is a fantastic distance. 20 miles farther than my furthest. A great stepping stone to 100. I am happy with the result. I hope it is a blessing to the Cake family.

You can still make donations here

Junk miles, cross-training, F.I.R.S.T, older runners

2011-12-01T06:52:00.002-05:00

I haven't been posting too much other than race reports lately so I decided to ramble on a little bit about a few things that come up every now and then on some training ideas. There are seemingly a zillion different training plans and many different ideas out there and the fact is most of them are going to be somewhat effective for most people. Some will work better for some better than for others and the only way to find what works for you is to experiment with different approaches.

I've certainly tried a lot of different things over the years and as my focus on different distances and events have changed over the years I have tried to use what I've learned to maximize my performances. As I approach my 56th birthday I have found that my main focus now is staying healthy and having fun but I still try to do the best I can when it comes to race day.

One thing I've been reading and hearing about for years is how Masters runners need to add more recovery time to their schedules and to add more rest days to their schedules. Usually the suggestion is to only run 4 or 5 days a week but to still maintain the intensity of the harder workouts. It is also suggested to only do one hard workout a week.

Very similar to this is the theory behind the F.I.R.S.T program developed at Furman University. The basic concept of this program is to only run 3 days a week but have all three workouts serve a specific purpose to build endurance, stamina and increase lactate threshold. This would include a long run, a tempo run and a track or interval session. The remainder of the week would include cross-training, mostly at an easy intensity. I know of a few friends that follow this program or at least try to closely follow a similar approach and have very good results.

I'm sure that the program works for a lot of people and has proven results but there is one reason why I would never use it myself and that is because I love to run. I am fortunate to have a lot of free time now and the main thing that I enjoy doing to fill that time is to run. If I feel like it and I've got 2 hours to spend running I'm going to run no matter what a schedule says I should do. I can't imagine having a perfect 55f degree afternoon free and not running if I wanted too. For that matter, I can't imagine not running if it's a miserable 95F or a freezing 17F. If I've got time and i want to go run, I'm going to run. And if I have the opportunity to run with one of my Angels, I'm going to try and make the time.

Many would refer to those extra runs as "junk" miles because they supposedly serve no training purpose. That debate will go on forever but I tend to agree with the Ray The K theory that there are no junk miles and every mile is training for something and especially for ultra running. If I've only got time for 3 or 4 miles between jobs or before some other important function, I'm going to run if I feel like it junk or not.

As far as cross-training is concerned, I find that it can be useful at times and even enjoyable but it just doesn't float my boat the way running does. Before I began running ultra's in 2002, I had been doing triathlons for several years. I had torn my ACL in 1998 playing soccer and getting in the pool and then cycling had been great for getting me into shape as I rehabilitated the knee and I certainly enjoyed competing and challenging myself in the tri's but biking and swimming as much as I enjoyed them could never replace the joy and pleasure I get from running.

I finally quit both swimming and cycling by 2005 to concentrate on ultra's and qualifying for Boston and didn't bike or swim for three years until I decided I wanted to finally enter and do an Ironman in 2009 and since Sept of that year I have not participated in either of those activities. At some point in the future I may get the urge to do some more tri's but right now I don't see that happening anytime soon.

I did find the cross training to be helpful to maintain my fitness and sanity when injured and when I took off 6 weeks at the end of 2008, swimming helped to maintain a little of my fitness but I can say without a doubt that neither biking or swimming ever made me a better runner. It was only when I stopped doing those two and focused on running more miles that my running improved.

I've also found that for me stretching, weight lifting and core work are highly over-rated. I do practically nothing in the way of stretching now and never have done a lot. When I was a younger runner I did some yoga but got really bored with it. Most of the stretching advised for runners over the years I have found to be counter-productive and served no purpose in making me a better runner or preventing injuries. In fact when I was told to stretch for the few injuries I've had over the years I found that it seemed to aggravate things more than help. All I do now is a little dynamic stretching for a few minutes to warm up.

I was actually focusing on body-building when I began running in 1977 and after awhile gave it up because I found I enjoyed running more. I dabbled in weights off and on a few times over the years and when I re-joined the Y in 2008, I began to train seriously as I was working toward my Ironman for about 1.5 years I was working out 2 to 3 days a week with weights and doing 20-45 minutes of core work 3 to 4 days week. I was feeling pretty good and I think it may have helped me some but I haven't done any for the past 1.5 years and I'm running as good or better now than I was then. I have been doing some push-ups and will try to do a little more core work a couple of times a week just because I like the way I feel doing it but I have no illusions of it making me run any better. It seems that's all you hear about now and all the PT's and running publications are pushing core work to make you a better runner but the average race times keep climbing and the average age group placement times are way slower than back in the 70's and I bet you don't see too many Kenyans worrying about their core either.

Well that's enough on that for now. If anything I've said offends anyone then, well get over it. No really, if you love to bike or swim or lift weights or only want to run 3 days a week and that makes you happy then it's all good. I'm going for a run.

Annual blow-up at Derby 50k

2011-11-28T20:27:00.003-05:00

Well, it's not exactly an annual thing. This was my 8th finish but only my 6th blow-up. The 2008 and 2009 races were very pleasant to the end but then I was not pushing the pace for a pr those years.

It was looking like a beautiful day ahead as I rode down to Derby with Jenn, Ken and Margherita. Jenn and Ken were going to be volunteering and Margo was planning to run with me. I was looking forward to that because it is so rare that I get the opportunity to run with her and she is a very dear friend to me and has always been very supportive of my running. We arrived around 7:15 and I enjoyed spending time as always meeting and greeting friends at this small event with many regulars and the majority of runners being Mangum TC members.

We lined up in the road a few minutes before the start and then Mark promptly sent us on our way. I had planned to take it easy for the first 3 miles to get up the early hills the first time and then adjust out pace accordingly. The plan was to average 9 minute miles for as long as possible and hope to hang on for a pr. Sound familiar?

The plan was working perfectly as we passed the 3 mile mark in 27:07 and everything felt nice and easy as it should this early in the race. Another part of my plan was to avoid stopping at the aid stations to save time. I was carrying a hand-held bottle and since Jenn was working at aid station two, I had pre-filled two more bottles and put gels in the holders and given them to her so I could just drop off a bottle and grab a new one each lap. This would save me a little time so I wouldn't have to wait for refills. I was also carrying extra gels in my pockets and if necessary I could grab a cup at the other aid stations.

The plan was working to perfection and Margo and I completed the first 10.5 mile lap at about 8:55 pace with no stops. It was beginning to feel a little warm now that the sun was getting high but it never seemed to be a factor although I was sweating in a few sections and a little breeze was picking up. The second lap was almost a repeat of the first as our pace stayed steady. Once again I blew through the aid stations just swapping out another bottle as I passed through.

As we were finishing up the long hill near mile 20, Margo told me she was having some hip pain and she was going to quit when we got back around to the lodge. I had enjoyed her company but I understood why she didn't want to risk injury so I continued on alone passing the 2nd lap less than a minute slower than the first and still my overall average was 8:59. Now if I could just hold on another 10.5 miles.

I continued on a with determination, feeling good but it was still a long way to go holding that pace and the effects of those first 21 miles were there. All went well for the next 1.5 miles but when I hit the hills on Pappy Rabb Road for the 3rd time the zip had gone from my legs and I was slowing considerably and by the time I turned onto Derby Road I was reduced to a slow shuffle.

Obviously the 9 minute fantasy goal was gone but if I could somehow make a decent run for it the last 7 miles I still had a shot at the pr. I actually stopped at the aid station and let Mrs' Doom refill my bottle and I slammed a cup of coke , then headed out determined to give it one last push down Sycamore Lane. Well I pushed but the pace was still just a shuffle and by the time I hit the dirt road it was over. There would be no pr today or this year.

At that point I decided to just to get to the end as comfortably as possible and began to do a run /walk. I wasn't feeling bad but there was just no energy so I just tried to keep a good attitude, enjoy the rest of the race and get to the end and the delicious spaghetti lunch and social time that was waiting for me at the finish. I sat down at Jenn and Ken's aid station long enough to make a shoe adjustment and drink some more coke before heading up the mile long hill one more time. It wasn't too bad and I crossed the line in 5:14:11.

Once again I had a great time. As always Mark puts on a great little race for us and the volunteers and locals are wonderful. Very happy to have been able to share some great miles with Margo. Hopefully she will be running more ultra's in the future. Hope to be reporting on another Derby this time next year.

On to the next one.

Another PR attempt in store for Derby 50K

2011-11-25T16:48:00.002-05:00

The question is, how far will I hold pace this time before the wheels come off?

My readers might have another question or two. Like, is he really that stupid? I don't know , maybe I'm the eternal optimist but for some reason I still believe if I keep trying one of these days I'm going to actually be able to run 9 minute pace here for all 31 miles and not for just 26 or 27 and blow up. Is he insane? He's a week away from turning 56 and after 10 years of ultra's and his 8th attempt at Derby he actually thinks he can run faster than ever?

This will be my 8th time running Derby, the only streak race I have going. It has become a Thanksgiving weekend tradition for me since it's inception 9 years ago. I didn't run that first year because at the time I didn't think I should run it so soon after my first 50 miler so I volunteered and ran one lap with the Finkles. I loved being there and regretted not running but with some luck , I have not missed one since. I almost did miss it in 2008 due to my nagging injuries that year. I was in doubt of being able to finish so I just ran slowly and got through it and then took a full year off from ultra's. A year later in 2009 it was my 1st ultra on the come back and I ran that one with The Marathon Princess, for her first ultra.

Each of the other 5 attempts were going for pr's and I was successful in 4 of those years. Last year I made it on pace through mile 27 before slowing way down and having to run/walk. The first pr was in 2004 and then I improved in 05, 06 and 07. The funny thing is that I broke all those pr's the next January each year at the Frosty 50k so I was always competing against a FF time and not a Derby time.

My first goal was to run a 10 minute pace for 50k . I finally did that the first time in 2005 at Derby and after that I set my goal for 9 minute pace. In 06, 07 and 2010 I was on pace through the marathon point but the wheels always come off or as in 2006 I got cramps and had to run/ walk the last few miles. In fact the only one of the 7 finishes so far that I ran the whole way was in 2008 when I was worried if I could even finish the distance. Although it was my slowest time since the first one in 04 I felt great.

Going into it this year I wasn't sure if I would be able to recover enough after MMTR to go for it but my training has been great and I've had quick recoveries after all 3 of my ultra's this Fall so I'm going for it once again. My course pr is 4:46:58 from 2007 but my overall pr is now 4:44:11 from the 2010 FF so it's not going to be easy. If I can just get another 3 or 4 miles before the wheels fall off.

Mountain Masochist 50 miler-Part 3

2011-11-22T19:30:00.000-05:00

Mountain Masochist 2011 _part two

2011-11-22T19:24:00.000-05:00

Mountain Masochist 50 Miler

2011-11-22T19:19:00.000-05:00

Wonderful run Through the Blue Ridge- Mountain Masochist 50++ 2011

2011-11-07T19:24:00.005-05:00

No, I didn't get the course pr but I'm still very pleased with the way the race turned out for me and I still ran my 2nd fasted time in 6 attempts. Considering I'm 5 years older I'm thinking at my age (55) that just coming close was a great outcome. But no I'm thinking that as good as I was feeling, with a little more training and a little luck I still might have a shot at that pr someday. Hmmmm, not sure about the schedule for next year.

It was a perfect day for the race with the start in the low to mid 30's and warming up to the low 50's during the day with brilliant blue skies once the sun rose. Despite knowing that I had a rugged 50 plus miles ahead of me and I was going to make it tougher by going for the pr rather than just trying to finish, I was very calm and relaxed. I was just so happy to be here lining up with a few minutes before the start knowing that I was in good shape after missing the race for the past several years.

Section 1-

Ok, there is no aid station there anymore. It used to just be a water stop anyway and really wasn't necessary. I began slowly near the back of the pack in the dark along the Blue Ridge Parkway. I thought I may run with Jenn at least for awhile since my plan was to take it easy for the first hour or so but she was running a little faster than I wanted to begin with so I just let her go and stuck with my plan. It's slightly uphill most of the way out and then turn around and back to the start. It was just beginning to get light as we crossed over the James River and I passed the old location in 33:19, about average for my times over the years.

Aid Station 1-

We now turned onto Hwy 501 N and in a few minutes I caught up to Jim Wei from Raleigh and a first timer here. Enjoyed talking to him and giving him a few tips on the course. We ran most of this section and just walked the steeper parts of the hills. We caught up to Jenn and I ran with her the rest of the way to the aid station at Cashaw Creek. Still feeling nice and relaxed and as the sun was rising I was looking forward to hitting the first trail of the day. Did that section in about 37:00(forgot to hit the split until after leaving) and was just about 1.5 minutes behind pr pace which didn't bother me at all at this point.

Aid Station 2-

Jenn took the lead as we began the first climb of the day on a trail that is like a 4 wheeler path to begin with. Normally she is a very strong climber but after a few minutes I could see she was not as fast as usual and as much as I would have liked to stay with her I knew I needed to get moving so I passed her and went ahead. Not long afterwards I looked back and didn't see her so I was a little worried knowing she had not been able to train much this year and had a swollen ankle up until a couple of days ago from a mis-hap with a pine cone.

I was climbing and running the less steep parts and after awhile it levels out a lot and is more like a narrow dirt jeep road. Lots of puddles but most were easy to run around so mud was not an issue. By now the sun was peeking over the mountains and the light was making the leaves shine like a golden tunnel for us to run through. I love this spot every time I run here. That section took right at 30 minutes for a total time of 1:45:11. I grabbed a mouthful of M'M's and was quickly on my way out.

Aid Station 3

The course began to climb again on a gravel road and I was feeling great now. I only had splits from my 2006 pr for a few key spots so right now I didn't know how I was on pace. I couldn't worry about that much anyway and so I was just going as fast as I felt I could do comfortably. After climbing awhile we get some nice downhill and I was surprised to come up on Anita Finkle. She is making a comeback from cancer and I was happy to see her off to a strong start. I spoke with her for a little bit and then pushed on down the rocky road eventually coming to the first and largest creek crossing. I arrived just in time to witness Jeff from the MTC that I had just met at the pre-race dinner take a slip and fall in the creek. That was pretty cool and I got it on video ! My time was 42:49 (2:28:00) and I felt very good as I grabbed some chocolate and hurried on my way.

You will notice that my fueling strategy for the day was to closely duplicate what I did in 06 which was to rely almost completely on chocolate. That year all I ate was Hersheys and I had a Twinkie at the halfway point and maybe 2 or 3 gels and a few potato chips. My energy level had never stayed more even during a race and I was hoping for the same result today.

Aid Station 4

The next section is a long one with surprise, ups and downs with the highlight being a tunnel shared with a creek underneath the Parkway. The water wasn't high this year so we just splashed along. Soon after passing through it Jeff caught up to me so we took pictures but then I ran on ahead again. That section was pretty uneventful and I came in at 49:58. The total time was 3:17:59 compared to 3:11 in 06. Now I was beginning to wonder a little bit about the pr attempt because I was feeling good and I had been running a lot on some of the hills that I normally would walk and yet I was still losing time. I know I ran well at the end that year so I didn't think I would be making up much time in the last third of the race but I was not discouraged just yet and planned to just keep doing the best I can.

Aid Station 5

Leaving the aid station is a quick downhill and and then a long seemingly endless climb on a well cared for Forest Service road. Time to do some power hiking and I tried to push the pace a bit with frequent running to try and make up a little time. I seemed to be running as well as I was 5 years ago in the ultra's but my power walking uphills is not nearly as strong now , mainly due to limited time in the mountains. I used to have the opportunity to get more training and racing in the mountains but now I work more weekends. The running did pay off and I was a faster on this climb by a little over a minute in 31:21 (3:49:21). Note that all references to 2006 splits with one or two exceptions were after I got home to check since I lost my cheat sheet before the 5th aid station and I could only remember the halfway and start of the loop

Aid Station 6 and 7

The next section is one of the fastest on the course with a long downhill giving back all that altitude from the previous climb. The key here is to make some time while not beating your quads to death because at the bottom you still have 30 miles to go. Did this one in 23:43. The next section is a little up and down some more to the bottom of the reservoir where you get some rare flat running for a few minutes. Good to see Charlie Hesse volunteering there and I did that section in 23:52. ( I didn't know it at the time but I made up about 30 seconds on those two sections.)

Aid Stations 8 and 9

Well, I actually can't remember if there was two aid stations in this part or if I just forgot to hit the split. I know there was one in 06 somewhere in there and it took me a combined time then of 1:00:14. This includes a long climb mostly on the gravel/dirt road up to the Long Mountain Wayside which they call mile 26.9 and the theoretical halfway point of the race. Horton always says you can just about double your time here to predict your finish if you can maintain your pace. I usually run a few minutes faster than that but with my total time now at 5:40:28 my pr attempt seemed to be over and now even an 11 hour finish was probably out of reach. I was feeling warm now in the middle of the day and had taken off my vest so when I saw Jade Wei there crewing for Jim, I handed it to her so I wouldn't have that to carry around the rest of the race. I was in a hurry and regretfully had forgotten to ask if she had been seeing Jenn. I was hoping that Jenn was feeling ok and not having any problems so she could at least finish this year.

Aid Station 10

Buck Mountain. You can see it for awhile before you get to the Wayside but then it's right there and you immediately begin the climb. It's about 2.5 miles of almost all climbing on a very rough, rutted rocky jeep path. I tried running a little bit of it and push the walking pace as much as I could and I was still feeling great so I was hoping to at least not lose any more time and I had not yet given up on a miracle happening in this 2nd half. I could only remember one more split from 06 and that would be much later at the loop so I could only push on and hope for the best.

After about a mile to go you can hear the Rocky theme blasting as always and it is such a welcome sound knowing that the climb will end soon. There is a little downhill before one last short push to the top and I reached the AS in 52:37 (6:33:06) It's probably a good thing I didn't know the pr split because despite feeling good I lost another 2.5 minutes and was now 10.5 minutes behind pr pace!

Aid Station 11

I do love this next section as it is mostly a gradual downhill from the top of buck Mt with just a few short uphill sections. I was feeling very good and sticking to my nutrition plan. My stomach was in perfect shape and the weather couldn't have been better for running at this point. I was able to run almost this entire section with only a minute or less of walking so i was hoping to make up some time from 06 because I remembered having a slight down period that year and walking a lot more of that section. My time down to Wiggins Spring was 26:59 which was 2.5 minutes faster !

Aid Station 12

I really think the next section is my least favorite on the course. It is short bu nearly all uphill on a gravel road with cars, mostly runner's crew driving up and down from the Loop. I caught up to Jeff McGonnell who was going for his 20th finish, an amazing feat to be so consistent on this tough course. I talked to him for a minute and then went on ahead. He was moving along ok but seemed not as strong as usual. that section took 23:50 which oddly was 1.5 slower than 06 so I lost more time

Aid Station 13

The Mt Pleasant Loop is actually one of my favorite parts of the course but I'd heard all the horror stories about it before my first year running. It seems most people think it is longer than advertised which is not surprising considering it is a Horton course but I have always found it to be probably the most accurate sections in the race. It begins easily enough with nearly a mile of flat smooth trail before beginning to ascend.

After awhile it goes through a very rocky boulder garden. Not much running done through this section but I love the scenery through here. After a couple of miles you get to a saddle between the two mountains on the trail and it looks like you are done with the climb but that is deceptive because in a short time it begins climbing even more for another mile before finally descending on a tricky, steep rocky rooty leaf covered section. I love it! And it's nice to hear the sounds from the aid station before you can see it.

I felt pretty good most of the loop but was really glad to head downhill. Unfortunately I was about three minutes slower in the loop than 06 so I came out nearly 12 minutes behind my pace from that year. ( 1:08:28 for the loop and total time 8:32:28) Now the pr was out of the question and it looked like I had lost the 11 hour goal too but I was feeling good and having a lot of fun so I was quickly in and out of the aid station.

Aid Station 14

As I began running onto the dirt road from the loop I couldn't not believe how good I was feeling. I was thinking, wow, who's legs are these ? I had more zip than ever after this much distance and on this tough terrain and picked up the pace and was hammering this section. It's mostly a gradual downhill with a few short climbs. I know I ran it well before but this year I came into Salt Log Gap nearly two minutes faster than before ! I grabbed a couple of pieces of chocolate and that would be the last calories I would take until the finish. ( 32:32 for that section)

Aid Station 15

This next short section is about my 2nd least favorite part of the course. A steep climb on a gravel road but fortunately it is one of the rare shorter than advertised sections and is over quickly if you aren't doing a death march. I climbed it fairly well only losing about 45 seconds. My time now was 9:24:31, nearly 11 minutes slower than 06. To set my pr or break 11 would be impossible because I know I ran the last part faster than ever in 06. Just to break 11 I would have to do the next part to the finish in 1:35. Impossible for me ! I grabbed a small cup of coke and that would be the last I would drink.

Aid Station 16

As I was heading out in this section which is supposedly 4 miles but closer to 5, I was having a hard time remembering much about it other than I knew a really nasty steep climb was somewhere out there before the last aid station. It was just about all single track and the leaves were thick on the ground making it hard to see the rocks and roots. It wasn't long before I came to that nasty climb. It was hard to get traction on the leaves so I found a walking stick to help with the climbing. I saw Eric Fogelman just ahead. We had been leap frogging all day and I know we must have passed each other 20 times throughout the race. He was stronger on the climbs and I would run by on the flats and downhills. I would pass him one more time but he finished strong and that's impressive considering he did the tough Grindstone 100 last month.

Once that climb is over the next couple of miles are fairly flat with some downhill and just some slight short climbs before taking a nice steep drop down to Porter's Ridge. I kicked it into another gear determined to finish as fast as I could and was passing a lot of people over the next several miles surprising myself at how strong I was feeling. This was AWESOME !

Aid Station 17

I blew right through the last aid station just yelling out my bib number as I continued to hammer the pace. According to Jim Wei's garmin it's 3.8 miles to the finish from Porter's Ridge and I remember most of it. Still just bombing as fast as I safely felt I could go and still passing people. After awhile the course turns out of the wild and onto a gravel road and signs of civilization and I knew the last mile was coming up soon. Just before the mile to go sign I passed two guys and one of them called my name. I didn't look back but just waved. In a minute one of them caught up to me and I saw it was Jeff Sacaroff, another of the Raleigh area first timers. I was surprised to see him and he took off and told me we had a shot at breaking 11 hours. I looked at my watch and although it would be close I would have to run a minute faster for the last mile than 06 and I ran it very strong in 9:10 that year.

I got another surprise when I looked ahead and saw Charles Akers. Jeff tried to get Charles to run with him but it didn't last long and Jeff flew on by. I passed Charles and made some comment about how stupid it was to be having to run so hard in the last mile of a 50 miler when I should be just cruising it in. But I was a man on a mission and still amazed at how good I felt and couldn't believe how close I came to breaking 11 hours. My last mile was 8:21 ! and that impossible 1:35 I needed to run from Forest Valley ? I did it in 1:35:23 ! I averaged 9:18 for the last 3.8 ! Just missed in official time of 11:00:20. despite missing the pr, i was nearly ecstatic with how good I felt felt all day and especially the last 12 miles.

Here is a link to my photos.

and here are a whole lot of pic that Jade Wei took while crewing for Jim.

I think she got just about everyone at least once.

I will have a video up soon and some more thoughts on the race later.

Training update and Mountain Masochist preview

2011-11-03T20:49:00.004-04:00

Now, isn't that a lovely picture? I took that photo of Buck Mountain at around mile 25 in the 2006 race where I set my course PR. I'm very excited to finally be returning and take a shot at lowering that pr. I've only been once since then ,back in 2008. I was not in very good shape that year with the nagging injuries but I wanted to give it a try anyway. It was Jenn the Ultra Angel's first attempt and I wanted to share as much of it as I could with her. It was a perfect day for running and we stayed together until half the way up Buck Mountain, around mile 28 when I had to let her go ahead. I would drop out about 5 miles later.

I'm looking for things to be much different this year and the forecast is once again looking like near perfect running conditions. I'm feeling very confident with my training the past couple of months. After a hot muggy day and a disappointing effort at Hinson Lake, I recovered very quickly and began trying to log more mileage in the cooler Autumn weather.

I put up some good training numbers and then had a strong run at the Medoc Marathon with no taper. A couple of easy days after that and I was right back to it and feeling great. A week later I put in 52 miles and followed that up last week with 60 more with a couple of quality workouts. And the best thing is the right achilles tendon that has been bothering me since late April just stopped hurting about 2 weeks ago. I guess I ran it into submission. This week I have cut back with just some 6 milers and each day I have felt better with more zip in my legs so I'm hoping this will mean good things are in store for the race Saturday.

Here is my report from that 2006 race with a link to some pictures

Here is a link to the race website. There should be live updates here. My bib 3 is 218.

Jenn is returning and I'll have lots of other friends running to including Dorothy Hunter who is going for her 10th finish. there are several friends from the Raleigh area going for their first so I'll be wishing them good luck and offer the best info and encouragement that I can.

Stay tuned for the results !

Wondering around Weymouth Woods

2011-10-21T21:08:00.003-04:00

In what seems like another lifetime, I used to work all over the Eastern and Southern portion of the State and when I was in the Sandhills area I would occasionally do some running on the trails of Weymouth Woods-Sandhills Nature Preserve. A couple of years ago Marie Lewis from the Mangum Track club started putting on a 100k trail race there. It didn't fit my schedule at the time but now with the 3rd edition planned for next January, I have entered and look forward to having some fun while getting in a long race in preparation for the Umstead 100 next Spring.

I've been wanting to go and check out the trails again and this afternoon I had the time so I made the drive down from Durham when I finished work this morning. It was a beautiful afternoon in the upper 60's with low humidity so I was in for some nice running weather. The biggest challenge was going to be figuring out the race course. I had a copy of the map but there would be no markings other than the normal trail signs. The problem is that the course uses several different trails as well as some bridle trails. To make it even more difficult, there are numerous service roads and fire breaks that aren't on the map.

I got off to a great start. After just .35 miles I was right back where I started. OK, that was easy to figure out. Went on the wrong trailhead a few yards away. So I started out again and this time I got on the right trail.
Everything was going well for a little over a mile when I took a wrong turn. It came to a dead end in less than 1/4 mile so I ran back and got back on course. Shortly after that I made another wrong turn but since it connected with the correct route a little later I didn't know it until I ran the the third lap. But back to this one. I had some confusion but thought I had it right and was cruising along thinking I should be within a 1/4 mile of the start when I came out on a trail on the wrong side of the park. Somehow I was right back around the 1.5 mile mark. I back tracked a ways and then took another couple of wrong turns that finally at least got me back to the start. That 4.4 miles turned into 6.

I decided to do the next lap in reverse and see if I could figure out where I had made the mistakes. All was going well and I thought I had it right but when I got back around to my car again I had only been 4 miles ! Crap ! I was wondering if my gps was screwing up that bad or had I taken a shortcut ? This was getting
frustrating but at least I was getting in some good running on some nice trails.

I went out for lap three in the normal direction again hoping that I would find where I could have made a mistake. By now I was confident of most of the route but I still had some questions about it and was hoping to finally get it right. Thankfully I was able to clearly see this time where I had made the shortcut at a confusing intersection that was not on the map and I had no trouble the rest of the way.
That lap measured right on 4.4. Reassuring to know my gps wasn't that far off.

So I got in a nice 14.4 mile workout and had an enjoyable afternoon. I must say the trails are a bit more difficult than I remember but then everything seemed easier when I was 20 years younger. Lots of roots in several sections. Sandy in places and it's pretty thick in a few spots. No big hills but several shorter ones and some are steep. This is not a fast course by any means. Looking forward to the challenge next year !

Here is a link to the park website

Medoc Trail Marathon

2011-10-16T20:31:00.002-04:00

It's nice to post a report on a race that went well for a change. I'm sure the near perfect weather conditions played a big factor in this being a more successful outing for me. It seems no matter how much acclimating I do to the heat and humidity, I never run well until the cooler temps of Autumn return. But I did learn many years ago that if I train hard and suffer through the miserable heat and humidity of the NC Summer I will be rewarded with days like this past Saturday.

I was able to leave early enough to the park to set up my campsite well before dark and packet pick-up. I only made the decision to go ahead of time about a week ago and the cooler drier air was a big factor in that decision. It is less than an hours drive to the park from home but I knew it would be fun to hang out with lots of my running friends. It was fun but I still needed some rest so I was in the tent by 9:30. It was a chilly night and the ground is hard so sleep didn't not come easily. I did get some sleep because I remember having one really wonderful dream but that was followed by a nightmare. It was pretty cool hearing the coyotes and the lone moowing of a cow way off in the distance.

I finally crawled out at 6 and made my coffee and enjoyed a delicious breakfast of frosted brown sugar cinnamon Pop-Tarts. ( the breakfast of champions and secret to my success?) With only 15 minutes to the start we finally made our way over to the starting area where I found quite a few of my NCRC, MTC and and other friends. By now the sun was peaking up over the trees, it was in the low 50's and just a gorgeous morning.

I was feeling confident and I had a plan. Now was the time to see if my feelings were justified and put that plan to the test. As I mentioned in the preview post, I had originally signed up for this as a training run but now I was hoping to lay it on the line. I love racing ! My friend Charles West had suggested when I told him I planned to race it that he thought I should just run it easy and save it for MMTR but my mind was made up and I know with my current level of fitness I will have plenty of time to recover for a strong effort there.

So I lined up with my training partner Amy Surrette and explained my strategy to her. We were both hoping that she would be able to share at least some of the miles. That plan was to take it easy the first 1.5 miles to get warmed up and see if there was some zip in the legs, then get over the summit climb at about 2.5 miles into the race without pushing the pace and if everything felt good then I would open it up and see what I had.

That is exactly what we did. I felt very relaxed but after the first mile in 9:46 Amy questioned whether or not this was an easy pace. It did feel very easy and relaxed to me but she wasn't feeling quite as spiffy as I was. Once we began the ascent to the summit she began to drop behind. I turned around and took a picture of her just behind me as I neared the top but when I reached the summit it was hammer time. Now I was committed to the challenge. I was either going to have a good race or blow up trying.

It didn't take long for me to realize that it was indeed going to be a good day for me. I knocked out a couple of miles in 8:55 and 9:05 as the course was mostly gradually downhill or flat for the next several miles. It was so sweet to find myself in the zone for the next couple of hours. I was very relaxed but focused and looking back now I am amazed at how I just seemed to float over the rocks and roots. I was soon back down to the bottom land along Little Fishing Creek and some flat running for awhile. The plan the remainder of the race was to run strong and steady on the flats, bomb the downhills and then use the uphills to recover by slowing the pace and keeping the effort spread evenly. This was working perfectly as I completed the first of three laps on the course just a little faster than my fantasy goal pace.

I headed out on lap two with confidence but still aware there was a long way to go so I resisted the urge to push any harder. By now the race was spread out quite a bit and I would have no more 10 milers coming up on me. There was a group of several runners that had been around me for most of the race and for the next few miles we would continue to leap frog. I would pull away on the flats and downhills but because I was backing off the pace on the hills, they would catch or pass me. As we came into the aid station around mile 12, I stopped to have my water bottle refilled and headed out before any of that group and I took off bombing down the single track once again throwing in a 9:38 and 9:24 mile back down to the Creek.

I had not seen another runner in front of me since leaving the aid station and when I got back to the bridge I was joking with the volunteers that I must be winning the race now. All the way to the next aid station at the beginning of the Bluff Loop and still no one in sight. I continued running well but slightly slower than the first loop and by the time I finished that second loop I still had not seen another runner in front of me.

As I headed out on loop three I knew I would not get my fantasy goal but my realistic goal of 4:30 was still within reach if I could just hold it together. As I left the aid station and headed back into the woods I would run my last sub 10 mile in 9:59. Soon afterwards I was a little surprised to have a young lady pass me on the first climb of the tough Dam Site Trail. She obviously had paced herself well and I encouraged her onward. Soon after I began the last climb up the summit and was happy to still be able to run a portion of it. I caught two guys at the top and was still able to push the pace once again albeit slower than the previous two trips and quickly left them well behind. By now I was really having to dig deep to keep up the pace. I was certainly slowing down but still able to hold a decent pace.

I stopped briefly at the aid station for a gel and some water before heading off on the single track once again. Bryant Dukes passed me here which surprised me. Not that he passed me but that I was ever in front of him to begin with. I was now past the infamous "wall" but still feeling pretty good. I was sill able to push the pace down to the creek. I met Charles West coming up the trail doing volunteer duty and it was nice to see him and get some encouragement. Even with the brief stop I ran that 21st mile in 10:12.

I ran over the bridge for the last time and was hoping to continue to push a steady pace along the flat creek section but it was soon obvious that the zip was now gone. The roots I had floated over earlier had now become obstacles that took extra effort to lift the feet over and I was having to step much more carefully adding precious seconds to my pace. I made it into the last aid station with 3 miles to go knowing I would not be able to slow any more if I was going to get that 4:30. A young man passed me and I tried to keep him in sight as I made an effort to push the pace on the gently sloping trail back down to the Creek.

Well, the effort was there but the pace was not and I was getting ever slower and slower. I was very surprised again that I passed Byrant back in these last few miles but he was having some cramping issues. Despite the slow down I still had only been passed by three people since mile 12 and I just passed one of those back but my main concern was trying not to slow any more and hopefully still squeak under my goal pace. I was still holding out hope for an age group placing although I had figured that was a long shot some of the volunteers had told me I was first of the old guys but I thought there were probably a few that just didn't look as old as I do with my very thin, grey hair.

Well, mile 25 took me almost 12:30 minutes and that was the end of my chance at 4:30 and then to add to the insult, I was passed with 1.5 to go by a man that I was guessing had to be in my age group. As slow as I was I was still going as hard as my body would allow over these last couple of tough rolling miles determined to finish as fast as I could and place as high as possible. and then finally I was out of the woods and onto the meadow with the cheers and finish line in sight. I was able to cross over in 4:32:53 and although it was not quite my goal I was very very happy with it and my effort. So sweet to be able to give it a good effort all day. The time is especially satisfying considering I ran 50 miles at Hinson Lake three weeks ago and have put in a lot of solid training miles since then with no taper for this race.

I spent the rest of the afternoon hanging with my running buddies and watching the rest of them come in to finish. I was happy to take 3rd in my age group and yes, the gentleman that passed me was 2nd. He obviously ran a well paced race. The 1st place guy was from another planet and ran under 4 hours.

I was very happy that The Trail Angel Laura was able to win the women's overall title and just a week after winning the New River 50k. She is awesome !

Amy had some struggles out there but as always toughed it out and was surprised and happy to find she had won 3rd in her age group. Unfortunately my other training partner and dear friend The Ultra Angel Jenn, who was running today with her trail name Bat Girl and had the shirt to go with it was having a tough time out there. I was getting worried when it was well past her expected time but she brought it home with some company from our friend Rhonda and was all smiles so everything was good.

Lots of other friends had good and bad days but all had fun. In particular we were very happy to see Ben Dillon finish his first marathon in nearly two years after back surgery and two cataract surgeries.

This was a wonderful day and I have to say many thanks to all the race committee and their volunteers and sponsors for putting on a quality event.

Here is a link to the results. I'll try to post some pics and videos soon.

DSC_0381

2011-10-16T18:19:00.001-04:00

DSC_0381, a photo by Triple F on Flickr.

DSC_0103

2011-10-16T18:15:00.001-04:00

DSC_0103, a photo by Triple F on Flickr.

DSC_0104

2011-10-16T18:14:00.001-04:00

DSC_0104, a photo by Triple F on Flickr.

Medoc Trail Marathon Preview

2011-10-13T20:43:00.003-04:00

Looking forward to running this race for the first time. As you may know if you follow the blog, I have trained on the the trails at Medoc many times in the past. I don't find my way up there too often any more but beginning back in the late 80's it was a frequent stop for training runs on the way home from the Roanoke Rapids area.

I finally made it to the Medoc Meltdown this summer and now I am an entrant in the marathon race. When I originally signed up for it my plan was to use it as a long training run for Mountain Masochist. The timing was perfect with it being three weeks after Hinson lake and three weeks before MMTR. However , with my shortened run at Hinson I have recovered very quickly and have gotten in some solid training the past two weeks. Everything seems to be going well, I'm feeling good and with a forecast for great weather I have decided to give it my best effort and race the thing. That of course depends on how my legs feel after the first couple of miles which I plan to start at an easy pace.

Here is the race website.

2011-10-01T06:55:00.002-04:00

Hinson Lake 24 hour 2011 Preview

2011-09-22T07:01:00.007-04:00

Getting excited and looking forward to returning to this wonderful event courtesy of Tom Gabell and family. This will be my 3rd attempt at running a 24 hour event, all here at Hinson Lake which is located in Rockingham NC.

here is the race website.

My first year I was able to go for 103.36 miles and my goal is to exceed that amount with a target of 106. Hopefully I can use what i learned from that experience and other events since then to pace myself a little better in the earlier miles and keep up better with the fluids and nutrition. I hope that if I can run that far it will place me in the top 10 overall. In 2006 there were about 69 runners and I finished 8th. this year there are 277 entrants and at least 20 have run over 100 in a 24 hour event and several others I know that have gone under 24 hours in 100 mile races so that may be a hard challenge for me.

here is the report from 2006.

I returned in 2007 but was not having a good day and quit after 69 miles in just under 16 hours. Here is that short report.

some pictures.

Iron Mountain 50, errr, 32 Miler

2011-09-16T20:42:00.006-04:00

It's a lot more fun to write reports for races that go well but just because things didn't go like I had hoped doesn't mean that I didn't enjoy it.

I made the drive out to Damascus early Friday afternoon, alone on this trip. I took the scenic route enjoying driving over roads that I haven't been on in probably 15 years. I used to make frequent trips through the area in the late 80's into the early 90's with an old job but haven't been this way since then. I found my way to the town gazebo for packet pick-up and talked to Kevin and Anne for awhile before heading to Abingdon for the night.

I was not too happy with the forecast for the race this year. I never perform well in heat, even with a whole summer to acclimate and it was already near 70f and the high was heading to about 90F and humid. Yuck ! This was going to be tough enough without having to deal with that. I lined up with the camera going just a few seconds before the start and then Kevin yelled go and off we ran across the grassy field and onto the old railroad bridge of the Virginia Creeper trail. As soon as I crossed the bridge I stopped to let most of the faster runners go by. This was going to be a long hard day and I didn't won't to get sucked into starting too fast mixed in with the 16 milers.

After about 1.5 miles I caught up with one of my good friends in the sport, Anita Finkle. We would run together for the next several miles on the flat Creeper, enjoying the scenery and catching up on things. By two miles I was already drenched from the humidity and we could all tell it was going to be a sticky , hot day.

After 5 miles we hit the first aid station, then crossed over the road and onto the first single track section. This was a really nice trail, some rocks and roots but overall in good shape as we climbed steadily up the mountain. I said later to Anita and picked up the pace a bit, feeling good and climbing strong. The climb continued for a couple of miles with a nearly level section every now and then so I could do some running. Near the summit the sun was rising over the mountain and it was a beautiful morning. The only bad thing was with the heavy foliage there were no real views to admire so I focused on the trail. It was nice to get in some nice running on the ridge line with gentle ups and downs. Pretty rocky in places but a really sweet section of trail.

The runners had already was spread out quite a bit but there was a small group of us close together. A couple of young ladies in the 16 miler and one in the 30 had been a bit stronger than me on the climbs but I would catch up on the flats and downs but now as the trail turned down toward the aid station on some really sweet , tight single track winding gently downhill we had come together. This continued for about a mile but I finally had to go around as I was running much too slow now when I needed to be making some time. It was hard to pass in this narrow section and the fast 16 milers were coming back already but I finally got a chance to pass and moved quickly ahead. Another mile later and I was into the aid station, FSR 90. Good to see Tammy Gray helping out there. I took over 1.5 hours to get there.

I was really surprised at how long that section took considering some good running over a portion of it. At that rate it was going to be hard to chase the cut-offs all day. I didn't waste anytime and headed out on another bit of climb. The rest of the day would be pretty lonely out there. I passed the one lady that was in the group earlier that was in the 30 miler and then I would not see anyone else for quite a while. The next section was a lot of up and down with some single track and some rally washed out rutted double-track. After a couple of miles I was caught by a guy named Killian with a thick Irish accent and we ran and talked for a mile or so before he pulled ahead. It was really getting warm out there now and I was sweating profusely and trying to drink as much as I could.

This section took about 1.5 hours too and I was thinking I should have carried two bottles for this race, especially on a hot humid day like today. 1.5 hours is just too long for me with just 20 oz. and I think that was the main reason that would lead to my eventual dnf. Anne was working this aid station so I talked to her while getting my bottle refilled and I drank some extra while I was there before heading out again.

The next section started with a climb of course, up a gravel road. After awhile it turned into more of a jeep road and eventually a double track. grassy, weedy undulating trail that reminded me of some of the Promise Land course. It was feeling powerful warm by now and I welcomed every little hint of a breeze but there wasn't too much of that. There had been someone behind me for a long time and a young man finally caught up as we reached a summit. I stopped to drink and let him pass but he stopped too looking just as tired as me and so after a drink I began running down and never saw him again.

I finally made my way into the Hurricane Gap aid station and grabbed some food and some coke and plopped down in a chair for a short breather because by now I was feeling the effects of the weather. I didn't feel bad but I sure didn't feel good either. That section had taken around another 1.5 hours and although I didn't know what the cut-off was I knew I was not very far ahead of that pace. They told me it was 7 miles to the next aid station which would be water only and then 3 miles back to this location so I put a little extra food in a baggie in my pocket and headed out.

The next section started out on a smooth gravel road, mostly a gradual downhill with just a little climbing so I was able to run at a decent pace. After a mile or so we made a turn onto the Barton Gap trail. It was another really nice section of single-track with gentle ups and downs which continued for a 2 miles before dumping me back onto another gravel road. This was predominately downhill and I was happy with that thinking I could make up some time. I caught up to Killian but only because he had slowed thinking maybe he missed a turn but when I assured him we hadn't he ran ahead again.

As I was walking up a short hill I saw four young teenage boys sitting by the ditch, a couple of them had guns . I spoke to them and one asked me if I had seen any squirrels. I told them no, that the squirrels were probably smarter than me and hiding in a cool spot somewhere.

Once the road turned downhill again I began to run and was moving along at a nice pace and actually caught up to and passed a guy. By now I was out of water and really looking forward to getting to the next water stop and getting out of the sun on this road. I caught up to Killian again and by the time on my watch that we had run since hurricane Gap I told him we should be seeing it soon.

And then finally after more than another 1.5 hours it came into view and I was so happy to see that it was not just a water stop but a full service aid station. Even better than that it was being serviced by a beautiful bee and a lovely fairy/butterfly? No it was not a mirage but Jennifer Nichols and Beth Minnick. Robin Grossman was there too and she took the photo of me resting on what seemed to be a very popular rock for weary runners. I really thought I had stumbled into trail heaven when Beth offered me a popsicle. Oh yeah, that hit the spot.

I was hot and tired but had been running well although the last mile I was beginning to drag before coming upon this oasis. With 3 miles to go back to Hurricane Gap I was confident that I had plenty of time to make the cut-off and would finish this thing. I talked a little to a nice young man named John that was sitting on the next rock. He seemed to be having a tough day in his first 50 miler but was training for a 100 miler in a few weeks. This one would certainly toughen him up for that.

Popsicle done and it was time to move on up the Rowlands Falls trail. It started of innocently enough but quickly began to climb and I was surprised at how hard it felt going up. I had been running so well most of the last section but the downhill pounding and dehydration had caught up to me. I was gasping as the trail turned steeper and after about a mile or so I had to find a rock and sit down to let my heart rate go down. This was really the best section of trail on the course that I had seen but it was hard to enjoy it right now. Very gnarly single track , narrow and twisting with steep drop-offs in some places. Very rocky at times and we had to cross the creek probably a dozen times. The water was low so I didn't have to get the feet wet too much but they were already soaked with my sweat anyway.

Anyway, I was feeling like crap and moving at a turtle pace, watching my time cushion tick away. I couldn't believe this was happening to me. I really did want to finish this thing but unless the aid station miraculously appeared in the next few minutes I knew I would miss the cut-off. I passed by the falls and would have loved to get closer to take some pictures but I didn't have the energy to make the short climb down to them and I couldn't afford the time. Shortly after that the trail turned to double track and much easier to negotiate but still a steady climb and I was toast.

Eventually I emerged into the clearing at the top, well past the new cut-off that Kevin had just updated this week but 4 minutes under the old cut-off. Even with this 4 minutes, in the condition I was in I would never had made it to the next one and I really had no desire to punish myself by trying. John was just ahead of me and he dropped out too so I was able to hitch a ride to the finish with him and his crew, the wife of his best friend that was also in the race. It felt sooo good to get into the A/C and relax in the ride back to Damascus.

One I made it back I enjoyed the next several hours sitting in the shade eating hot dogs and cheeseburgers while hanging out with the Finkles. Also enjoyed talking to Melinda while we waited for Mike to finish. It had been a rough day out there with Mike and several of my friends finishing but way slower than usual and a lot of dnf's by some good runners. Amazingly even under these conditions, race founder Eric Grossman set a new course record !

Thanks to Kevin, Anne and all the volunteers for putting on a wonderful low key event with first class aid and post race picnic including ice cream !

here are the pictures I took

Onto the next one.

Iron Mountain Endurance Run- part 3

2011-09-10T20:01:00.000-04:00

Iron Mountain Endurance Run-part 2

2011-09-10T19:58:00.000-04:00

Iron Mountain Endurance run- part 1

2011-09-10T19:57:00.000-04:00

Preparing for The Iron Mountain Trail Run-50 mile

2011-08-31T21:09:00.004-04:00

During the late 80's and early 90's I had to make frequent trips into Western Virginia for work and one of my favorite places to visit while I was out there was Damascus VA. At the time I had never heard of the Virginia Creeper or the Iron Mountain Trail but I was very happy to find them as well as the Appalachian trail which I already knew about.

I did some running on all three trails and really love the area so when I heard Eric Grossman was starting a 50 miler there a few years ago I was excited and hoping to run it sometime when I could squeeze it into my schedule. Well, sometime has come as I will be heading out there this Friday afternoon for the race on Saturday. Eric moved but some others wanted the race to continue so Kevin Townsend stepped up to be the new race director.I met Kevin at Holliday Lake several years ago and many other of Horton's races since then so it will be nice to see him and run his race.

It will be a tough one,with about 8,000ft of climbing over a mix of single track and jeep roads. It also has a 12 hour cut-off making it even more difficult for getting an official finish. Even Horton has said it is harder than MMTR. We shall see. I know that one thing that will make it harder for me is the warmer weather. The high is going to be in the mid 80's and will probably be humid. MMTR is usually cold with really nice mid day temps.

Unfortunately none of the Angels or Princesses will be making this trip but I will have several friends there that will be running. My goal is really just to finish and have fun. There will be no online updates. This is a low key event with aid at a bargain price, much like the MTC events.

Here is the race website. Check out the race video. I will have some pics and a report for you soon afterwards.
Stay tuned

August training update

2011-08-16T20:09:00.002-04:00

Recovery from Tahoe Rim has been a little slower than I had hoped for but I finally feel like I can began to train normally again. I had taken off 4 days from running and then slowly worked my way back into it. By the end of the 2nd week I thought I was ok but after one or two good runs I would have a bad day. Attempts at moderate distance longer runs (12-13) the past two Saturdays were failures. I quit at 10 and felt wasted the first time and this past weekend was worse , quitting at just 8.2.

It has now been four weeks and it seems that this is about the way it was after Leadville in 2006 so I guess it is normal for me after running one of these tough mountain 100's at altitude. My recovery after my other 100's has been a lot quicker. After OD in 2006 I ran the Boogie 50 just two weeks later and even after my first one at Umstead I did the tough Promise Land 50K++ just three weeks later.

The good thing is that I had and have had no pain or injury issues. Just the normal soreness for the first week and the blistered areas were fine within a few days.

So I rested again on Sunday and then went out for an easy 6 on Monday. Nothing great but I got through it feeling ok. Today was the real test. I went back out to Umstead to once again attempt a 12.5 miler this afternoon. Success ! I felt good the whole run and after I was done I felt like I could have easily kept going. The lower humidity helped I'm sure.

Now I think I can finally resume my training. I have several more ultra's on the schedule for the year and I plan to do as well as I can in each of them with at least some specific training geared to each one but the main focus is to build toward a PR attempt at the Umstead 100 next March.

A few more thoughts on the Tahoe Rim

2011-08-01T21:00:00.003-04:00

The slogan for the race is " A Glimpse of Heaven, A Taste of Hell" and you will find it inscribed on the finisher's belt buckle. For me the race turned out to be a lot more than a glimpse of heaven and the only taste of hell if I could call it that would be the climb up the ski slope. Even that offered a heavenly view every time I took a look back.

It seems odd to me that although this was definitely one of the toughest things I've ever done, I can truly say I have never felt better from start to finish than I did in this race. As I chronicled in the long winded race report, I did encounter a few challenges along the way. Falling down is never a good thing but in both cases I escaped with minor damage and was able to continue with no problems resulting from them. I did have a few blisters and a couple of them were very painful but the pain faded quickly and the worst one at least waited until just two miles to go.

I am still amazed at how good I felt throughout the race. Not once did I ever regret being out there or have to fight off the urge to quit. There was never any doubt I was going to continue. Usually at least for a while I reach a point where all I can think is how stupid it is to run 100 miles and if I ever do finish I'll never do another one. There were no "oh God I'm tired, this sucks" moments. My energy level was good and my stomach was completely happy the entire race. I could eat or drink as much as I wanted at anytime with out worrying about nausea or lack of desire. Although I could feel the altitude up above 8,000 ft it didn't affect me other than cause me to slow down more than I normally would at sea level.

I had averaged a little more mileage leading up to the race but not a lot more than in 2006 and 2007 when I did most of my other 100's and I had not done nearly as many ultra or marathons in the past couple of years so I don't know how any of that explains it. The weather was certainly perfect for me at least. It was just the type that I perform my best in so I know that it not only helped me physically but mentally. And speaking of mental I think that my race preparation, attitude and strategy going into to it were the biggest factors in my success.

It was so nice to have Jenn and Karla and Frank along for part of the trip. It's especially nice to know I have two of my special Angels and Princess Team there to wait for me to finish. We sure have put in many miles on the trails and roads together over the past several years and they are such a Blessing to my life. They each have their story to tell of this amazing weekend experience. Despite some problems with the altitude early on , Jenn was able to complete 50 miles before making the wise decision to drop. The next day she didn't look like she had just run 16 of the hardest hours of her life and was moving along so well.

Karla had completed the 50k, certainly her hardest race to date on much less than ideal preparation and was looking fresh as well. I am so proud of both of them.

This is a fantastic event. The directors and their staff of volunteers do an outstanding job facilitating the race for our enjoyment. I can recommend this to anyone looking for a great race and a gorgeous course. But if you do decide to give it a try, you need to make sure you bring your "A" game. This is a tough one and it wouldn't have taken too much to go wrong and my great race could have been a dnf.

Frank was able to get some pictures of Karla at the start and finish and then came back and got a few of me at my finish. Karla also ran with a camera and took some nice shots along the way. I have added several from them both to my album so if you desire , here is the link again with the added photos .

Tahoe Rim Endurance Run 100 miler-Part 3

2011-07-28T20:11:00.000-04:00

tahoe rim endurance run 100 mile, part 2

2011-07-28T20:00:00.000-04:00

tahoe rim endurance run 100 mile, part 1

2011-07-28T19:54:00.000-04:00

Tahoe Rim Endurance Run 100-Part 2. The last 50 miles

2011-07-23T21:33:00.015-04:00

Halfway to Hobart- Miles 50-56

I took nearly a 20 minute break to take care of business, change my socks and eat some food so when I started to head back out my legs had stiffened up quite a bit. I was not happy to see that the skin on my left forefoot had peeled off, probably from some damage at the Boogie 50 miler last month. I could only hope that the tender new skin would hold up for the next 50 miles. I was looking at a cold night ahead with the forecast for the low to mid 30's so I put on a short sleeve shirt over my long sleeve to give me some extra protection. I had my vest stashed at Tunnel Creek but thought I could get there before it got too cold. The sun was setting as I began my journey into the evening and I began walking to get the legs to loosen up and then started running toward the Marlette Lake trailhead for the second time.

I was warming quickly once I began running so I took the extra shirt off and tucked it in my waistband. It didn't take long for it become dark enough for my light so I settled in for a long lonely night on the trail. The only sounds were my own breathing, the wind in the trees and occasionally the sound of rushing water in the small trail side creeks. Life was good. Just ahead on the trail I caught a deer in my flashlight beam and after standing his ground for a moment he moved off the trail.

The long climb passed without further interruption and soon enough I was dropping back down to Marlette Lake. I was surprised to see someone in a pickup truck that worked for what I think is a small fish hatchery on the banks of the lake, the only person I had seen since leaving Spooner Lake. From there the time passed quickly as I resumed climbing and soon I was back into Hobart. It was cold and windy again up here at 8,000 ft so I went inside their tent to warm up for a few minutes and get some chicken broth.

Hobart to Tunnel Creek- Miles 56-61

The extra shirt went on and I headed back out into the cold wind to continue the climb up Marlette Peak. I was shivering in the strong wind as I reached the top and was looking forward to getting back into the trees, but the view of the moon over Lake Tahoe was incredible. I was not looking forward to getting back into the snow and trying to navigate in the dark. The next few miles would be very tricky and I found myself losing the trail several times but I was very cautious to not wonder far and each time I was able to find my way back on track. I was very happy to find that some volunteers had cut some steps into the biggest snow drift that I'd had to butt slide down earlier.

It helped that another runner was around and we helped each other to find trail markers through this section. My little light was malfunctioning and he was kind enough to loan me one until I could get to Tunnel Creek where I had my main light in my drop bag. He and I would leapfrog for the next 10 miles or so. Once we cleared the snow and started the descent I was moving faster on the downhill and moved on ahead. Once I reached the aid station I picked up my main light and handed his back to him as he came in just as I was about to leave. I decided not to get my vest just yet because I expected it to be warmer and less windy back down in the Red house Loop.

Tunnel Creek to Tunnel Creek - Miles 61-67

Running down the steep quad buster was really not fun this time around. My quads were already so sore, the first time I think I've felt like I had DOMS in the middle of a race. This forced me to be much slower than I wanted to be because other than the painful legs I was still feeling pretty good overall. When I reached the first water crossing I was beginning to wish I had put on the vest after all. It was cold down here and there were some windy sections and the freezing cold water made it worse. Unlike during the day, the cold water made my feet numb and hurt like soaking in an ice bucket chilling me to my core. Fortunately I warmed up again once I got moving again.

I had to smile as I came back in sight of the Red House aid station. They had a generator going and had strung Christmas lights in a tree and several other decorations. They had also placed some Halloween decorations around to cheer up the runners. All but one of the volunteers were asleep so I quietly took what I needed and headed back out into the darkness.

I hadn't gone far when suddenly without warning I had a big blister form on my left big toe. The pain was intense and I couldn't believe this had happened to me. I rarely get those type of blisters and I really didn't want to deal with this kind of pain for another 35 miles. I was going to have to have it tended to and I hated to have to waste anytime. I hobbled along and amazingly the pain quickly subsided and I was able to return to my normal stride after just 10 minutes or so of intense burning pain.

I reached the steep climb back out of the loop and my flashlight friend caught back up to me so we climbed up together. I had to weigh in again at Tunnel Creek and I was back to my pre-race weight again which impressed the doctor. I grabbed my vest out of the drop bag and took off without bothering with the blister since it was now just a dull aggravation.

Tunnel Creek to Bull Wheel- Miles 67-70

With the Red House loop behind me now I was looking forward to the next 10 miles. I would be alone for almost of of this time and was enjoying being alone with my thoughts on this cold , dark evening. A recurring topic of my thoughts were that Karla was able to safely finish her 50k and hoping that Jenn was somewhere not too far behind me on her way to a buckle finish.

The trail climbed again for nearly all the 3 miles to the Bull Wheel and was almost all above 8,000ft. The wind was very strong and it was very cold but I was loving it. As long as I was moving everything was fine. As the trail crossed over to the East facing side of the ridge line I could see the lights of Carson City to the Southeast and way off to the Northeast Reno was glittering, both cities about 3,000ft below me.

This section seemed to pass quickly and after another trip through the boulder garden I was back onto the Bull Wheel. The wind was really howling over the ridge here and all the volunteers were sleeping in their tents now at about 4:30 am. I quickly refilled my bottle and moved on to get out of the cold wind.

Bull Wheel to Diamond Peak Lodge- Miles 70-80

I enjoy running in the night and the full moon was spectacular but by now I was ready to have some natural light to run by. The next several miles were mostly a steady climb to the 2nd highest point on the course around 8,800 ft so progress was slow. The good thing was that I was still feeling very good overall. After a few miles I began catching up to and passing a few people, Dawn was just beginning to break when a woman ahead shouted back and asked if we had seen any markers. She was concerned that she had missed the sharp left turn to head down the mountain. I remembered the turn was very well marked and had a big sign and I knew I hadn't missed it so I kept moving confidently ahead while she continued running back down the trail. Soon enough a man ahead said he spotted a marker and within another 1/4 mile I came upon the turn.

It had now become light enough to turn off my flashlight and I was eager to begin running this sweet section of trail again. Despite having a good energy level for running, my quads hurt so bad with every step that I had to take many more walk breaks than I would have liked to give them some relief. Once again the early morning views of the lake down below were spectacular. The moon was still above the lake and the sun behind me was just casting a golden haze onto the distant snow covered peaks on the California side.

I was getting hungry and I was hoping that the aid station would have some type of breakfast food as I made my way down through the parking lot and onto the deck of the Lodge. While being weighed once again and still at my pre-race weight, a volunteer ask me if I would like a pancake. Yeeeeesssss ! Oh happy happy joy joy, exactly what I wanted. I scarfed it down and begin to prepare myself for the 2nd trip up that awful ski slope.

Diamond Peak Lodge to Bull Wheel- Miles 80-82

I was really not looking forward to this climb again but I felt if I could get over it without losing too much time and using up too much energy that I would have no problem finishing under the cut-off. I began slow and steady and was surprised at how relaxed I was climbing in the early portion. As I began to climb higher I was looking back down toward the aid station and hoping so much to see Jenn come into view. I was also wondering if Jim would catch up to me again on this climb. He was doing so well the first half and I was hoping that he would continue to have a good race and claim his buckle too but as I climbed higher I never saw either of them.

Just as I began the steeper section I was surprised to see Rob Apple coming down the mountain. I thought he was in the race but he didn't start and was just out on the course. I spoke to him briefly and he was very encouraging as always and then I trudged on. For a while I actually thought I might climb faster this second time but as I neared the top it was getting to me again and my progress slowed considerably. Several people were passing me and by the time I made it to the top I was beginning to think I may be in last place.( I think I was told at one point I was 3rd from last that were still in the race)

I was so happy to finally reach the top and make the short run back down to the Bull Wheel. They were packing things up after a long cold night and morning so I thanked them and hurried on my way.

Bull Wheel to Tunnel Creek- Miles 82-85

I had recovered quickly from the climb, I was feeling great and looking forward to this nice predominantly downhill section back down to Tunnel Creek. The morning was gorgeous and warming up nicely. I felt confident now that as long as I didn't do anything stupid that I was going to finish this things in good shape. I was moving along well and passed a couple of folks that had moved by me on the ski slope and in no time I was heading back into the aid station for the 6th and final time.

Every time I had come through here I was happy and smiling, even when I had my hand bandaged and when I climbed on the scale for the last time and weighed in exactly at my pre-race weight once again the doctor just said I love you man. You are awesome. I thanked everyone one final time, emptied all the stuff from my pockets and dropped off the extra shirt and vest. Traveling light the rest of the way.

Tunnel Creek to Hobart- Miles 85-90

Heading out I had some easy running for about 1/2 miles before some steady climbing back up Marlette Peak. It was really starting to get warm now and I was very thirsty for the rest of the race in the dry high altitude. It was during this next section that I began to have some really cool hallucinations. I knew what was going on and have had the same thing before so I was just going to enjoy them. The only other 100 that I had this experience was at Massanutten and they started there at about the same time in the morning of the second day. As each one would occur I knew they weren't real. Well one of them had me fooled. I was convinced that the guy sitting in the Gator 4 wheeler was real but he too turned out to just be a debris pile.

I finally got most of the climbing behind me after being harassed by a Stellar's Jay for a couple of hundred yards and was soon back in the snow fields. I was just being careful but also noticing if I looked higher up to the ridge just how much snow there was still up there. Sure glad we didn't have to try to climb up there. Once I was out of the woods and back over the treeline I was enjoying soaking in the views once again and since I had been over all this part several times now I could really look around and figure out where I had been and where I was going over a lot of the course. I could actually see the bull wheel off in the distance now, 8 miles away by the trail.

A little dip back down into Hobart, feeling great and looking forward to just one more climb as I once again refilled and fueled quickly one more time.

Hobart to Snow Valley Peak- Miles 90-93

As I ran out of the aid station I was feeling a lot of excitement. Everything was going great, I felt as good as one expect after 90 tough miles and it was a beautiful day. It just doesn't get much better than this. Just one more long but not too steep of a climb back to the high point of the race and then I could cruise it on down to the finish.
I was careful not to poke myself climbing over the twin dead trees blocking the trail this time and continued on my way passing a few more people now. Funny but I don't think I saw a soul between Tunnel Creek and Hobart.

As I climbed back out above the treeline towards the summit I began to look back down the mountain still holding out hope that I would see Jenn come into view. I wanted her to finish almost as much as I wanted it for myself and it would have been so cool to run this last portion together but she was nowhere in sight.

Over the last snow drift and into the aid station I was now a man on a mission. I refilled quickly and was out of the aid station in less than a minute, even turning down the offer of some sorbet that they are famous for.

Snow Valley Peak to Finish- Miles 93 to 100

Alright ! No more climbing and some sweet downhill single track running down the mountain to claim my buckle. And it was looking like my finish time was going to be a lot better than I had figured 20 miles earlier as I climb the ski slope.
I began running carefully down the narrow rocky section along the side slope of the mountain when suddenly my race nearly came to an end barely half a mile from the aid station. I was having a hard time lifting my tired legs over some of the larger rocks when I felt my foot snag on a rock and I knew I was going down. Normally I know how to fall to avoid injury but as I was going down I knew I was going to land on a big rock so I tried to land on all fours. I was successful but the force of the fall caused me to slam the side of my face into the rock.

Which brings us back to the beginning of this long winded report. Fortunately what could have bee a disaster turned out to just be a deep bruise so I put my glasses back on straight and stood up slowly assessing the damage. Once I was sure everything was ok and I was steady on my feet I began moving again. I decided to walk the rest of this rocky section but as soon as the trail smoothed out I was off and running well once again. The next several miles are just some awesome trail gently moving down nearly 2,000 ft over the next 5 miles.

I was almost giddy with excitement as I tried to push the pace a bit. A guy caught up to me and was pacing off of me and we had planned to continue that way when out of no where with just over 2 miles to go I had another blister bomb go off, this time on the left forefoot. How does this happen !! No warning that a blister is coming on, just wham OUCH !!!!!!. The pain was so bad I couldn't walk normally. This was ridiculous ! I really didn't want to have to hobble the last two miles especially considering how good I was feeling.

I tried running slowly on the side of the foot for awhile and then finally the pain eased off enough that I could resume running normally if not comfortably. I came into Spooner Summit and was happy to see they had a cold water cooler there because I was really dry and hot now but there was only 1.7 miles of flat running to go. As I approached the lake I could see and hear the finish line on the opposite shore and I tried to savor the moment. Over 4 years since my last 100 mile finish. I felt that now with probably my hardest one yet, I was officially back to being Ultraman.

Half a lap around the lake and then the trail went back into the woods for a http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifshort distance before once again heading to the shoreline and 100yds to go. I could see Frank taking pictures and there was the Lovely Marathon Princess cheering for me. And somewhat sadly Jenn the Beautiful Ultra Angel was waiting there for me. I would much rather have seen her come in behind me soon but it was just not to be.

I ran across the line and was greeted by some nice hugs from the ladies and a hearty handshake from Frank. I found a chair and sank down into to it wondering immediately how I was able to just run 100 miles and now I'd be lucky to walk far enough to get something to eat. The ladies took good care of me as we moved over to the medical tent. I wanted to get a clean bandage on my hand and sit in the shade for a few minutes and get my shoes off. Ahhhhh, it just doesn't get any better than this !

Here is a link to the photos I took along the way

Tahoe Rim Endurance Run 100-Part 1. The first 50 miles

2011-07-20T09:45:00.008-04:00

I was stunned, down on all fours and afraid I was going to lose consciousness so I didn't move. Did I know who I was? Where I was? What I was doing? Yes to all three. There was no blood, teeth seemed to be ok and I could move my jaw and the cheekbone was still intact. I adjusted my glasses and slowly stood up and begin walking. My head was clearing quickly now so I resumed running down the mountain. I had friends and a buckle waiting for me just 6.5 miles away and time was wasting.

Excitement was in the air at Spooner Lake State Park as we stood in the darkness awaiting the start of an adventure of nearly a day and a half of running up and over the trails of the Sierra Nevada on the Eastern side of the Tahoe Basin. Jenn,The Ultra Angel and I were lined up together along with our friend Jim Plant, trying to stay warm. At 43F it was a lot cooler than we have been used to in NC so far this summer but it was a refreshing and welcome change.

Start to Hobart AS. 6miles

We began promptly at 5am and headed out into the darkness with about 111 others. The first mile was on a dirt road, mostly flat but we began very slowly and soon enough we were among the last few on the course. That was of no concern because I knew if I finished at least half of them would end up behind me or out of the race. A lot can happen in 100 miles.

After about a mile we entered the Marlette Lake trail as it became light enough to see where we were going. The next several miles were quite enjoyable as we warmed up to the task ahead. We had began at about 7,000 ft of elevation and would climbing steadily for the next several miles. This section was through a heavily forested area with an occasional meadow to cross and snow melt streams beside us. The trail climbed very gradually with lots of switchbacks and was runnable for most of the climb but we still choose to do a lot of walking. The three of us were just about alone already with just a few others in sight.

After about 3.5 miles we were at 8,200 ft and began a decent down to Marlette Lake, about 300 ft below. It was as beautiful sight as I had imagined and we all stopped to take photos before turning onto another dirt road and the final climb up to Hobart. It was very runnable to begin with but then became steeper and as we moved above 8,000 ft again all three of us could feel the strain of climbing in the rare air. I had not really notice it so much until now but for the rest of the day going uphill above 8,000 was very noticeably more difficult.

Although we had been taking it easy I felt we were moving along at a decent pace but there was no aid station in sight and we were getting much to close to the cut-off already. I began to pick up the pace and quickly put some distance on my friends. Jenn is usually a very strong climber and as I looked back and saw her falling behind I was worried that she wasn't keeping up with me. I knew it had to be the altitude. I hadn't planned on trying to stay together the whole race but had really been hoping to share as much of it as possible with her but I had to let her go and hope she could possibly catch up later. I finally reached the aid station just 5 minutes ahead of the cut-off, quickly refilled my bottle, grabbed some snacks and began the climb out.

Hobart to Tunnel Creek. Miles 6-11

Just beyond the aid station the trail crossed the first snow drift on the side of the mountain. I looked back and Jim was a minute behind me and Jenn was just leaving the aid station. I crossed the snow carefully and began the climb up Marlette Peak. I was really looking forward to the view from up there of the two lakes but a cloud was moving over us and as I rounded the turn I was disappointed that all I could see was fog. The wind was howling from the west and it was very chilly as we crossed the meadow.

The next several miles would be some of the most difficult terrain with numerous snow crossings over the next several miles. Some were just a few steps and over but a few went on for hundreds of yards. They were very slick and slow going so I just had to take my time and be careful. One in particular was quite deep, at least 12-15 ft and very difficult to get up. I was worrying about how we would get down that one coming back later. The race volunteers had worked very hard to try and mark the snow and cut some steps in it but there was no way they could do all of it. It was cold up here too, probably in the upper 30's and windy.

I was really surprised at how quickly the leaders of the 50k and 50 mile began to pass by considering we had an hour head start on them but by 7 miles I was getting passed. Amazing ! The course continued to climb for awhile and we ran through a lot of rocks before finally beginning the descent into Tunnel Creek. I was wearing my "Too Dumb to Quit" shirt and half the people passing me in the other races the remainder of the day would comment on my shirt as the went by.

Near 9 miles I was feeling great and running on a sweet section of trail and was about to pass a lady but a fast 50k runner was coming up behind me. I was trying to decide whether to pass then, let him go or wait until he passed us both and as I sneaked a peek over my shoulder to see how fast he was coming I snagged a stick and down I went. It was a soft landing, more like a head first slide into 2nd base and I jumped up quickly and took off running knowing nothing was hurt. Well nothing other than two scraped up legs, a bruised left arm and a chunk of skin torn off my right hand.

The next couple of miles were quite enjoyable, easy downhill running mostly and the pain in the hand was subsiding and soon enough I was coming into the aid station. I handed off my bottle to a volunteer , dropped off a couple of items in my drop bag and then walked into the medical tent to get some gauze on my hand. The Doctor said I was his first customer as he quickly taped it up and I was out there door and headed down the trail.

Tunnel Creek to Tunnel Creek via Red House Loop. Miles 11-17

Tunnel Creek sits at about 7,900 ft and from there we headed down the first real quad busting descent on a rocky, washed out dirt road on the way to the low point of the course around 6,800. I was really not enjoying the pounding and was glad to reach the bottom. Along the way we had one creek of ice cold snow melt to cross which was refreshing to my feet. This was followed by a steep climb ,still on a dirt road, before another little descent to the Red House which gives the loop it's name at about the 14.5 mile point. Just below the house was another cold rushing stream to cross. I was surprised to see an aid station here. We had been told there would not be one but some volunteers decided they wanted to set up and camp here anyway. I took advantage to refill again and headed out quickly to began the climb out.

After a short bit it became flat or gently rising for awhile on a nice trail, through a meadow bursting with wildflowers and some nice views. It had warmed up to the 60's down in this lower section and was a very pleasant day. This was a keyhole loop and soon I reached the convergence point and the very unpleasant steep climb back up to the aid station. Ever since I had seen how difficult some of the course was I had been worrying about my Marathon Princess Karla in the 50k. She had been slow in recovering from a foot injury and was not in her best shape yet. She also is not a very experienced trail runner and has never done anything even remotely as difficult as this. I worried for her safety and hoped she would speak to me again for getting her into this. with the out and back spur here I was hoping perhaps I would see her coming down the hill as this would be the only opportunity to see her until after the race, but by the time I was in and out of Tunnel Creek again I never saw her.

Tunnel creek to Bull Wheel Miles 17-20

By the time I left tunnel Creek I had an 1.5 hour cushion on the cut-off so I was quite relaxed now and settled in for the long haul. My mood was great and everywhere I looked I was awe struck by the beauty of the course. I feltso thankful for just the opportunity to be here having this amazing experience and to make it better everything was going great with my body. My legs felt good and the energy level was steady. It just doesn't get much better than this.

The next few miles were one of my favorite parts of the course on some very sweet single track climbing up the ridge through several really cool boulder gardens. At times there amazing views of Lake Tahoe and then on the other side we could look down into Carson City and Washoe Lake with Reno way off in the distance. The wind was whipping around pretty strong up hear and it felt much cooler again. I was in heaven and loving life as I came into the Bull Wheel at 8,000 ft.

Bull Wheel to Diamond Peak Lodge, Miles 20-30

I knew I needed to get some calories in so I grabbed some things and half of a peanut butter sandwich and hurried out of the wind and back onto the trail. Normally I walk and eat but the trail was climbing and with the 8,000 foot altitude I was breathing too hard to eat so I found a nice rock to sit down for a few minutes while I ate. Up quickly and back on the trail, more nice single-track which continued to mostly climb reaching about 8,800 feet at the race marathon mark.

I was was looking forward to the next descent and a chance for some sustained running. The course finally took a hard left turn and headed down the mountain. This section was AWESOME ! The Tahoe Rim Trail is very popular with mountain bikers but a lot of what I saw I would not care too much for trying to ride, but this 4 miles down to the valley was amazing. Gently weaving it's way with bermed turns and butter smooth. A few jumps had been built but were easily bypassed. The views were amazing too and I intentionally stopped to take some pictures to give my quads a break. It wasn't very steep most of the way but with 75 more miles to go I didn't want to trash them so early in the race.

All too soon I had reached the bottom and ran onto the only pavement in the race, 1/4 mile down to the Diamond Peak Ski Lodge in Incline Village by the lake and back down to the race low point of 6,800 ft. Once again it was feeling warmer, probably near 70 as i came into the aid station. I was weighed for the first time and was down just 2 pounds which was no problem. I had my bottles refilled grabbed some food and sat down for a few minutes to get in the calories and prepare for the ordeal ahead.

Diamond Peak Lodge to Bull Wheel- mile 30-32

Many races have legendary sections that sometimes seem to fail to live up to their reputations. This is not one of them. this was every bit as hard as I had heard it would be and maybe worse.

It doesn't look that bad as you head out of the aid station onto a dirt service road. A steady climb but not any steeper than say, powerline in Umstead but as it climbs it does get gradually steeper climbing 600ft in the 1st mile. But then the real fun begins as you go around a tight switchback and see what lies ahead.

It was at this moment that I heard Jim call out my name and saw he was just behind me. I was a little surprised to see him but he was obviously having a great day and it was nice to see him climbing so well. I asked if he had seen Jenn lately and I was relieved to here him say she was only about 10 minutes back at the last aid station. I was really hoping she would come on strong and finish this thing too.

But right now I hard a hard task ahead. As I looked at the tiny dots of the runners just up ahead and waaaaaayyyy up there on the ski slope words like ridiculous and insane were the only things I could think of to describe the scene. This was beyond steepand to make matters worse it was a loose sandy surface making it very hard to gain traction. I was quickly reduced to a near crawl as the hill at times climbed at a 35% grade. The higher I climbed the more I gasped and my heart rate was reaching max. Jim had moved past and found a shady spot to sit so I moved over and sat next to him to allow my heart rate to return to near normal before resuming the climb.

The sun was bearing down on us making it even more fun. The only way to keep moving was to switch from climbing on my toes to walking back wards for awhile to use different muscles. Then it was side step to the left and then to the right and then repeat the process. To make it even more cruel there was a false summit hiding another 1/4 mile of the steepest climbing. If there was any saving grace for this little bit of torture, it was the incredible view of the lake behind us.

As I was finally approaching the top a helicopter began circling overhead. when I reached the top there was a runner who was a firemen signalling to it to land in the clearing near the bull wheel. He said there was an injured runner and we needed to get out of the way so the helicopter could land. I was very happy to move on and head back into the aid station. That last mile covered 1,200 of climb and I was looking forward to running again. That 2 miles took me 1:14 !

Bull Wheel to Tunnel Creek = miles 32-35

What a relief to get back out of the sun and on to that nice section of trail heading back to Tunnel Creek. It would be even more fun this time because it was predominately downhill in this direction. I had recovered completely from the climb and overall I was feeling great and loving the day. I quickly passed by Jim in what would be repeated for most of the remainder of the day. He was climbing strong and would move ahead but then I would pass by running faster on the flats and downhills.

I was able to relax a bit and let my mind wander and my thoughts were going out to Karla and Jenn. Both of these ladies are very dear to me and would be in my thoughts all the way to the end of this long long day and night. I was hoping for a safe finish for Karla and that Jenn would be right behind me and on her way to a buckle finish. I was also thinking about my friends and family each time I went through a checkpoint knowing that many were tracking my progress online. I was having so much fun and overall I couldn't have felt better or enjoyed myself anymore than I was right now.

Tunnel Creek to Hobart- miles 35-40

I was weighed in again and was dead on my pre-race weight. That made the Doctor very happy and I was quickly on my way out once again. The first half mile wasn't too bad but the course would climb again to 8,600 feet over the next couple of miles and once again I could feel the effect of the altitude. I was way ahead of the cut-off so I was content to relax with many more miles to go so I just tried to enjoy the views.

Soon I was back up into the snow sections and was dreading the big drop off the tallest drift. When I got there it didn't look like there was any good way down and after a few tentative steps i just slid down on my butt. Apparently that is how most folks made it down too judging from the chutes going down each side.

I finally emerged from the forest and back onto the slopes of Marlette Peak. I was very happy that the clouds of the morning had passed and I finally got that gorgeous view of Marlette Lake with Lake Tahoe in the background. After many pictures I made my way down into Hobart once again.

Hobart to Snow Valley Peak- miles 40-43

Leaving Hobart I was looking forward to seeing another 10 miles of the trail that I had not seen yet. Snow Valley Peak is the high point of the course at just over 9,000ft but I couldn't help but think that didn't sound too bad after climbing 1,200 in just one mile earlier. Still it was nothing to sneeze at so I settled in for a hard three miles. Most of the climb was quite gentle and I was making good time. There was one place with two dead trees across the trail and I poked myself in the calf on a piece of a branch. I would learn that Jenn hit the same tree.

As we neared the top there were a few more snow fields to cross but these were not nearly as bad as the ones in the last section. Jim had pulled ahead on the climb and I could see him just ahead crossing the last snow as we reached the summit. I finally made it to the aid station which is "manned" by a boy Scout troop every year and they would send one scout running up the trail to greet each of us as we made our approach.

Snow Valley Peak to Spooner Lake- mile 43 to 50

I was quicker once again than Jim leaving the aid station, feeling great and looking forward to the next 7 miles of mostly downhill and flat running. The first few miles were above the trees along the side slope of the mountain on a narrow rocky single-track. Brush and weeds were grown up over the trail brushing up against my legs and irritating the scrape on the side of my left leg from the morning fall so I was really glad when the trail widened a bit as we entered the forest once again.

From this point on the running was sublime. Gently downhill on mostly smooth trail. It just really doesn't get any better than this. At the 48.3 mile mark we passed by Spooner Summit which was a checkpoint with just a water cooler for a quick refill and then beyond that it was basically flat over to Spooner Lake. We had to make about half a lap around the lake on a smooth flat trail to the halfway mark. I was feeling still feeling great and the only negative was that my time was slower than I had hoped for. I had hoped to come in at 14 hours or better but my time was 14:35. This was the slowest first half of any of my previous 100 milers by far. This had been a very hard day and it wasn't going to get any easier.

Tahoe Rim 100. Coming up July 16th

2011-07-11T20:37:00.003-04:00

The elevation profile above if you noticed is just for the first 50 miles. We get to do two loops ! Woohooooo !

Hmmm, wonder what I've gotten myself into here? And why Tahoe Rim you might ask?

There are a few reasons why I chose this particular race for my return to the 100 mile distance after an absence from the distance for several years. The first reason is simply because I think it is one of the most beautiful places in the country. I had always enjoyed seeing photos of the lake and I finally got the chance to see it in 2007 on my trip out to Western States. I spent a week in Nevada and California that year and took a day trip over Mt rose and down to Lake Tahoe. It was every bit as gorgeous as I had imagined and the mild summer temperature and lack of humidity caused me to fall in love with the place. I would be so happy to be able to spend my Summers there and get away from the oppressive heat and humidity of North Carolina.

My friend, The Ultra Angel Jenn had been wanting to do a big beautiful 100 out West after having run at Umstead a couple of times so we agreed to look for one that we could both run. There were a couple of others we considered but the timing for this one and the chance of getting in easily made this one an easy choice. It also turned out to be a race with a 50k option that The Marathon Princess could run and is close enough to one of Frank's old friends home that we were able to convince them to make the trip too.

Although I knew it would be a difficult race, it wasn't until I began to research it a lot closer that I realized we had signed up for one of the most difficult 100 milers in the USA. The race has 24,000ft of climbing making it one of the the top 5 most difficult races out of the 90 or so on the calender in the USA. The elevation is mostly between 6,500 and 9,000 ft so it's high enough that we flatlanders will feel the lower air pressure. Although it is not nearly as high as Leadville which I ran in 2006, it is a much more difficult course. fortunately it doesn't have the terrible rocks like Massanutten or I don't think I would be able to finish this one

Here is the race website.

and here is a link to Realendurance.com's section on Tahoe Rim. It takes a little bit for this page to load but it has a world of information and it's really cool because my blogpost appear on it !

This should keep you busy for awhile. I'll have another update before we leave.

Tahoe Rim , Bonanza and The Ponderosa

2011-07-05T20:29:00.005-04:00

The countdown continues until I head out West for the Tahoe Rim Trail Endurance Run on July 16th. Right now I am tapering and doing some planning. I'll have some more updates and info on the race in the coming weeks but in the meantime let's talk about Bonanza.

Being a baby boomer and a child of the 50's and 60's I grew up watching the show every week. I was 4 years old when the series began it's 14 year run on TV and like most boys I was a huge fan of Westerns. I almost felt like the Cartwrights were friends of the family. As I prepare to head out to Nevada I was remembering the map of the Ponderosa from the opening credits and from frequent references to Virginia City I knew it was close to Lake Tahoe. That made me wonder just how close I would be to the fictional ranch while running in the race.

Upon examining the map, it looks like the entire race is held within the boundaries of the Ponderosa ! How cool is that ! You have to note that the map is turned wrong but if you notice the compass is turned with North off to the left then you can get the proper bearings. The little blue lake near Lake Tahoe is Marlette Lake which we run by several times. The 30/80 mile mark in the race is just above Incline Village which is where the opening credits of the family riding up on their horses was filmed. A replica of the Ranch was built there and still stands today but is no longer open to the public.

So as I run around the course I will imagine Ben, Adam, Hoss and Little Joe riding along on the trails welcoming us to their Ranch. And maybe Hop Sing will be cooking something for the aid stations.

ultra training-Part 2

2011-07-01T21:20:00.003-04:00

Ok, here is the training plan all of you have been eagerly awaiting. Well, maybe one or two of you.

I hope you aren't too disappointed because there isn't much to it and I don't have a "schedule" to present to you with the details of any particular plan. I could just continue doing things the way I have over the years and probably do well in my upcoming races but I'm curious to see how a slightly different approach will work for me.

High Mileage. Yep, that is the plan. High mileage is a relative thing I guess. For many , averaging 45-50 a week would be high but I've been at that level for most of the past 7 years or so other than the injury year so my body has reached a plateau and there just isn't much possibility or room for improvement staying at that level. There have been a few weeks with higher totals and I did have that one week experiment last October when I ran 102 but that was just one week.

So over the next few months I will be putting in a lot more slooowwwww miles with some longer than usual runs. Unlike when I'm in marathon mode, these runs will be more like long excursions, with walk breaks and not caring about the time or pace at all. I would like to see my weekly average creep up over the next couple of months to about 70 and see how my body reacts to that. If things go well I will gradually bump that up and hopefully by next Spring I'll try and handle 80 to 90 for awhile. The fact is unless something changes drastically with my work situation I have plenty of time to get in as many miles as I want.

I will still include at least one run a week with some miles at half-marathon to marathon pace and I'll throw in some strides on some runs occasionally to keep the fast twitch fibers alive but the focus now is on building a monster aerobic base. tThere will a day or two a week when I will double up with 2 workouts in a day. I have experimented a little with this in the past and it worked out well.

In addition to adding more slow miles I will still tailor some workouts to the unique demands of the next event on my race schedule. Right now that next one is Tahoe Rim 100. Well, not much I can do about that one now but taper so the high mileage plan will actually have to wait until after I recover from that one.

When I'm healthy I always try and plan my racing about a year in advance and I usually have one or two events that I hope to be in peak condition. Right now the big long range goal as I stated in an earlier post(go here for plans)is to get a 100 mile pr at Umstead next year and about everything I do between now and then is geared toward helping me achieve that goal. My race schedule is always there in the margins of my blog home page so you can see what I'm up to and as always I'll have previews and reports for those that are interested.

I am very excited moving forward and I can't wait to get out there and make these goals a reality !

ultra training-Part 1

2011-06-29T20:40:00.003-04:00

I can't say that I have not ever focused my training on ultra's but in a way I haven't. At least not in the way I'm planning to over the next year. After my first ultra in Feb. 2002 I went back to training for triathlons which had been my main focus for a few years since tearing up my knee playing soccer in 1998. I had entered that ultra more or less on a whim and was only running about 20 miles a week on average and had done two runs over 13 miles in the year leading up to it.

I ran my next ultra in Jan 03 but was still mixing running with tri training. I had a more ambitious plan for the year including the Lynchburg Ultra Series but was basically just using one ultra or marathon as training for the next one. By the time I ran my 1st 50 miler that November I was only averaging 25 miles a week of running and really had no plan.

When 2004 rolled around I was entered in my first 100 at Umstead. The only thing I did specifically for that was to do at least one practice loop on the course each week planning my race strategy to go under 24 hours. Once after my practice lap I walked a second lap just to see how it would feel to walk one. My weekly average in the 6 months leading up to that race was a whopping 29 miles. Really cranking out the miles.

After that I did become a bit more serious and began to lose interest in tri's so I entered more events and increased my mileage to around 45 miles a week over the next few years. The only thing that I did do differently other than add more running was to try and do at least one workout specific to the demands of the next race.

By 2005 I had quit swimming and biking but rather than doing ultra training I was doing a lot of ultra's while beginning to train like a marathoner. That is when I started running with Karla after Massanutten in May. I think I did 10 ultra's that year while doing my long runs like a marathoner and doing twice weekly track workouts on the weeks I wasn't racing. It was hard but I knocked 25 minutes off my marathon pr by 2006 and saw big improvements in my ultra running setting pr's and course pr's all the way through the end of 2007. Of course 2008 was the year of pain and injury as most of you know, 2009 was the return to tri's and Ironman. 2010 to the present was all about Boston training with a return to trackwork, tempo and marathon pace runs. Which brings us up to date.

Now I have decided it is time to get serious and try training specifically as an ultrarunner for the next couple of years and see what happens. No tri training and no marathon training. Details in the next post. Maybe. Stay tuned.

In the meantime , here are some pictures from my "first" long ultra training run last Saturday with The Ultra Angel

Halfway through 2011 already

2011-06-28T20:42:00.002-04:00

With all the training I'm looking a lot younger and more fit it seems.

Ok, nothing else happening this month so lets look back and see how things have gone so far this year.

Things got off to a pretty good start with a decent time on a terribly windy day at the Ocean Isle Beach Half. That was followed by a faster time on a cold wet miserable day at the Goldsboro Heart and Sole Half. Then things got even better when I finally had some good weather at the American Tobacco Road Half in March and ran better than expected with my fastest time since 2006. It was a bit unusual for me to run 3 half marathons in 3 months. I usually don't run that many in a year but this year I had a different focus than in years past.

After coming off the injuries of 2008 I spent June 08 through June 09 foucsing my training on doing my first Ironman. After that I changed my focus until March 2010 on getting a qualifying time for Boston. From that date to this April everything revolved around Boston so the half marathons fit into my plans. But as I posted in April, all the planning was for naught and for some still inexplicable reason I had a very bad day from the beginning.Oh well. Thats life.

But it was now time to move on and I was already eager to move into a new phase and renew my focus on getting back to doing lots of ultra's again. I jumped in head first with the tough Promise Land 50K++ 5 days after Boston and had a wonderful day running with Jenn, The Ultra Angel. Slow time but I felt great and it just doesn't get much better than a beautiful day on beautiful mountain trails with a beautiful friend.

Had a great trip and a fun time in the inaugural New River Marathon in May. I felt much better than expected and got in some good training. After that I spent the rest of the time getting in some good run/walk training in Umstead and started spending a little more time on single track trails, something I had avoided for most of the past two years with my emphasis on Boston training.

I finished up the last of the competition for the first half of the year with my best Boogie 50 miler. And now it is time to really kick up the ultra running and training as we move into the 2nd half of 2011. I'll have that promised blog post on my training for you soon. Stay Tuned.

Lightning, bugs and other notes on the Boogie

2011-06-17T20:32:00.003-04:00

Lets start with lightning bugs. They were out for awhile this year before the rain but I feel sorry for folks that have only run the Boogie in the past couple of years. That's when the super bright light was installed at the boat landing which now shines all into the trees on the opposite side of the road. Before they had to go and screw that up it was nearly pitch black in that section and it looked like a million stars flashing from the river up to the top of the canopy. What an amazing show it was. I don't guess there is anyway we'll ever get them to turn that light out for the Boogie in the future.

And speaking of the storm, as I mentioned in my report I was never worried about the lightning but that's not to say that I don't have a healthy respect for the power it possesses and I have had times when I was certainly very nervous. It was certainly a spectacular show for awhile and being out on those lonely roads around midnight may have made it seem that more intimidating to some but there were always several seconds between the flashes and thunder so I never felt in danger. As a child I was always fascinated by lightning and my Mother always remembers when she would look in to check on me during a storm, thinking I may be afraid, would find me on my knees with my head through the curtains staring out in wonder. Sometimes I still just open the curtains and watch the show.

Over my 34 years of running now I have been caught in many thunderstorms where I did feel a bit scared, including a couple times in the NCRC August Umstead Series. I remember once in particular a year or two before I started hosting it and the course still ran down powerline hill. Lightning was crashing all around as I began the climb back up and I was actually trying to duck down a little (like that did any good)to avoid getting hit. Last year we got out of the park just in time as a major thunderboomer hit the park and flooded Glenwood Ave.

But the scariest event had to be back in the 90's when I was working in Columbia SC. I was planning an easy 4 miler out and back on a greenway along the river. Just before heading out I could see that a storm was brewing off in the distance. I figured I would be done before it reached the area so I headed out. Bad decision. It turned out to be a fast moving storm and hit just as I got to the turnaround. Violent crashes were hitting in the trees all along beside me and I was nearly sprinting the whole way back and praying the whole time. It stopped just as I finished. Later back in my motel room I heard on the news a couple were killed on the opposite shore of the river at the zoo.

A couple of years ago I was driving to Durham during a violent storm when suddenly a huge bolt hit a tree on the side of Highway 70 right beside me and the concussion was so strong it moved my car like a gust of wind and I could feel it inside the car. Yep that got my attention.

Back to the Boogie. As I said in my report, Doug and all the volunteers are wonderful but this year was even more special thanks to the support of a contingent of Raleigh area cheerleaders. Andy Surrette and the kids were down to crew for Amy and Angela Dukes was there for her husband Bryant. And Amy Schimmel and Lauren Wilkins came down just for the fun of it spending some time riding bikes on the course before dark. All of them offered help but I am used to be self-sufficient at these things after 60 or so ultras without a crew but it was still great to have more smiling familiar faces cheering me through each time I passed by the main aid station. Thanks for the support everyone.

I am also very happy to report that all of my Angel Team did an outstanding job. Lisa "Mountain Girl" Howell improved by 3 minutes over last year and was first woman Grandmaster in the marathon. And in the 50 miler my ladies went 1st,3rd and 4th place overall with Trail Angel winning and improving over last years time by a considerable amount. Ultra Angel in her first 50 mile Boogie was third and Ultramom Amy in her first 50 miler ever did outstanding in 4th. I take no credit for this of course. One of the reasons they are on my Angel Team is because they have proven to be Superwomen, tough as nails mentally and physically. Just wish the Marathon Princess could have been there. She and I ran the marathon together my first year when we had just started training together and I was hoping she would be there again. We need to get Margo down for some Boogie fun sometime too.

I guess that's enough of the Boogie for this year. Next year depends on whether or not I get lucky and have a chance to return to Western States. Stay tuned for more on that.

here are the Boogie results for this year

Bethel Hill Moonlight Boogie 50 mile 2011

2011-06-13T17:27:00.005-04:00

OK, I give up. This is not the race to run a 50 mile pr. But is is a race to have a lot of fun sharing a unique experience with a community of wonderful running friends. This year was made more special by having a large contingent from the Raleigh area come down just to offer support.

I rode down with two of my Angel team, Lisa and Jenn. We arrived early so I had plenty of time to meet and greet with a lot of friends before getting dressed to run. Especially enjoyed the excitement that the first timers were showing. It was hot and a little humid, near 92 but not nearly as bad as last year and the forecast was for it to be cooler during the night too so I was hoping for at least a strong run.

Loop 1

Just before the start there was a storm off in the distance and a breeze kicked up and dropped the temperature several degrees. I hadn't really planned on it but found myself running with Jenn early on. We train a lot together and our easy pace is about the same so it just seemed natural. We spent some of the early miles running with Robert Crosby which was nice. I've seen him at ultra's for many years but never have run with him before. We also had the company of Jimmy Ballard in these early miles. As we made our way to the far side of the first 6 mile loop the road was wet from the shower and now steam was rising from the road and the humidity had become oppressive.

We just caught a few sprinkles but as we made it back up to the church, the road was soaked so we had all just missed out on the first storm. Now the skies were clearing and it was just warm and humid. The Surrette kids, Kayla, Drew and Ashlynn were waiting to squirt runners down with there water guns so I let them hose me down before heading down the hill. My plan was to take it a lot easier the first loop this year, so despite feeling pretty good I went ahead and walked just about all of Bethel Church Hill. Finished the first lap about 8 minutes slower than last year and everything was going well. My shirt was doing me no good just being soaked with the humidity so I took it off after letting the kids squirt me again.

loop 2

After a mile or so I began to pull away from Jenn and soon caught back up to Jimmy. We would share the next loop and it was mostly uneventful. As the sun set the moon was out and bright so I was really enjoying having a true moonlight Boogie. However there was lightning in the distance and it seemed another storm might be on the way. We ran a bit of the hill this time but my left foot had been bothering me for a while so I decided to check it out now before it got worse. I have a plantar wart that bothers me sometimes on long runs especially when my feet get wet but there was something else going on. I took off my shoe and saw nothing but when I took off my sock I found a large piece of debris that I had been carrying around since the beginning. Ahhhh, it felt so much better now.

I was a little disappointed that I had slowed down from the first lap and knew the pr attempt was not going to happen so I now planned to just run as well as possible and not worry too much with the time.

Loop 3

While I was sitting Jimmy had gone ahead and Jenn had caught up and continued on. I was still feeling good overall, legs were great and my energy level was fine so I was able to run well over the next several miles. By the time I hit the dog pen aid station the clouds were now covering up the moon and it was getting dark with lots of lightning flashes getting closer. I finally caught up with Jenn at the church at 26 miles so we started off down the hill together. The rain started about halfway down and by the time we reached the bridge it was coming down very hard. Lightning was flashing all around but it didn't seem to be right on top of us so neither one of us worried too much as we walked back up the hill.

Loop 4

We began this loop with the rain still pouring down. I had gotten a little chilly walking and thought about putting on a shirt but it would just be soaking wet and I don't know that it would have helped hold in any warmth so I decided not to put one on just yet. As we began running again though I warmed back up nicely. I was really glad to have Jenn's company at this point. It would be real easy to get discouraged being alone in the dark in the middle of a thunderstorm and it was really nice having her along because in many ways she is a female version of me. We were both fine with the storm and not worrying at all. There were always a few seconds between flashes and thunder so we felt no fear this evening.

As we ran down the road though my fear was I wouldn't be able to keep up with her. She was the one pushing the pace now and I must say I would have probably walked a bit more of this loop had I been alone. She is a natural at this ultra stuff and so efficient and consistent in her running style. Just before turning back up to the hill at the church and the 36 mile point I was beginning to feel my energy waning and my head getting a bit out of it. I realized I had not been taking in many calories over the last couple of hours. We stopped at the car long enough for me to grab some gels and put a Nunn tablet in my water bottle before hurrying on our way. By now the rain had slacked off to a sprinkle and the clouds seemed to be thinning. We talked to Lisa while getting ready and was happy to hear she had improved over her time from last year in the marathon.

We headed off down the hill but Jenn was running stronger than I wanted and kept pulling slightly ahead. Finally as we reached the bridge I had to let her go. I backed off on the flat section but as I began the climb up Bethel Hill I began to feel better again (amazing what a little sugar to the brain can do) so I was running about half of the time going up the hill. I could see Jenn's light up in the distance and was actually gaining ground on her. With about 1/2 mile to go Laura MacLean ran by strong on her way to her finish and repeat her win. I was so happy for her because she had some knee pain and wasn't sure she could run the whole thing let alone win.

Loop 5

Just as I finished loop 4 I caught Jenn in the aid station but she ran on and didn't see me as I stopped long enough to drink 2/3rds of a can of Pepsi. Ahhh it was so good and gave me a boost of energy going into the last loop. I congratulated Laura and headed out into the darkness once again. I was really happy with the way I was feeling and felt I was running as strong as ever. I didn't need anything at the Dog Pen so I just thanked the volunteers one last time as I continued running up the formerly dirt road. Just before I had noticed that the stars were coming out and the moon had set so I was enjoying looking at the skies in the total darkness of that lonely stretch of road. I ran the entire race without a light once again except for the miles with Jenn.

By now I had just about enough fun for one evening so I was happy to reach the church and see the cheering squad one last time. I told them I'd see them in a few minutes, I just had one more little hill to go. I was pushing the pace a little now heading down. With only four miles to go there was no reason to save anything. I had not looked at my watch since finishing loop 2 so I had no idea what my time was now. I was hoping to at least get a course pr and go under 11 hours and felt I should be close to that goal considering how much better I felt compared to last year.

When I reached the turnaround at mile 48 I looked at my time and saw it was 10:19 so I smiled knowing I had the course pr in the bag. I had not even gotten as far as the bridge when I saw Amy Surrette, another of my Angel team and Charles Akers less than 4 or 5 minutes behind me. Wow, they were really doing great and were moving along at a strong pace. I continued up the hill running about half the time once again and crossed the line in 10:46:05. I was picking out my finishers mug when I was shocked to see Charles and then Amy. I was expecting to wait a few minutes to see them finish but they had killed it coming up and were just over a minute behind me. Woohoo ! So proud of those two running an amazing time in their first 50 miler and finishing so strong !

Every boogie, even the ones that hurt are fun but this one was great and I have never felt better. What a great venue to hold a special event like this. Boogieman Doug does a wonderful job putting this together and the volunteers that come out in all kinds of weather to spend the night helping a bunch of crazy runners are awesome.

Here is
a link to some pictures that Laura took along the way

and here is a link to a bit of un-edited video I took the first two laps

I do believe it's a lovely evening for a Boogie

2011-06-11T10:56:00.004-04:00

Well, I was hoping for "normal" temps this year but it looks like another hot one although it should be a few degrees cooler at the start and hopefully cooler overnight than last year. Forecast is for 92 high and low around 68 with a chance of some showers.

Like last year I am once again attempting a 50 mile pr. Yes, I know that is really a dumb thing to do but I'm going for it anyway. I do hope to employ a slightly different strategy this year so that is some evidence that I'm not insane. Not completely anyway.

Whatever the outcome I do plan on having some big time fun once again. As always there will be quite a few of my ultra friends, MTC friends and NCRC buddies joining in the festivities. I especially like to see the ones coming down for their first Boogie experience. Ultramom Amy Surrette will not only be doing her first Boogie but her first 50 miler. I look forward to seeing one of my Angels getting her first finish here. It has been fun to watch her come so far after sharing a small part in her first marathon 2 years ago. Ultra Angel Jenn is going for her first Boogie 50 after doing the "fun run" aka marathon in 2009. She is an experienced ultrarunner with a couple of 100 mile finishes so she will do great.

I'll be riding down with Mountain Girl Lisa who will be trying to improve on her outstanding debut in the marathon. The Trail angel Laura is returning to defend her title from last year. Good luck to all my friends in both races!

It's Hot !!!

2011-06-05T21:10:00.002-04:00

And I hate it !!!

I don't like summer. I don't like being hot. I don't like running in the heat. For a little over a week it has been in the 90's with high humidity. Nothing out of the ordinary for NC this time of year but I still hate it. I was born and raised in it and this will be my 55th summer in it and I still hate it.

For many years I would hardly run in the summer. Almost never more than 3 or 4 miles and usually in the morning or early evening hours. I hardly ever did a long run and probably never more than 10 miles and hardly ever a race over 5k. (funny thing though my 5k pr was set on July 4th)

With that said you are probably wondering why I now run 5 or 6 days a week, sometimes 12-13 miles a couple of times a week during the mid afternoon heat? And why am I running as much as 4 hours or more on Saturday mornings. And why in the world am I getting ready to run a 50 mile race AGAIN that is known for high heat and humidity ? Well, I've said it before and I'll say it again. I guess I'm just not too bright, or maybe I killed off too many brain cells when I was younger. (Shhhh, don't tell anyone , I'm really from another galaxy).

Well, back in 2002 I ran my first ultra. I didn't go long again until the next year and started meeting some really cool people and finding out about a lot of really cool events but in order to be prepared for doing extra long distances in the Fall I would need to train in the summer. So,it was my desire to push beyond my self-imposed limitations and try to succeed at longer and more difficult ultra's that made me make the decision that I would embrace the conditions, whatever they may be to prepare myself for anything a course could throw at me. One of my favorite lines in a song called "Bottom" by Tool is spoken by Henry Rollins. "I've gone to great lengths to expand my threshold of pain" I think of that line often when it's 97F, 90& humidity, the sun is beating down on me and I've got miles and miles to go.

No ! I have no desire to do Badwater !!! Noooooo !!!!! Is it almost October ?

OK Ultraman, then what is the plan ?

2011-05-19T13:46:00.003-04:00

Pr's and course pr's.

Pretty simple plan huh?

Yes, call me crazy. Go ahead. All lot of people have and the rest are thinking it I'm sure but it hasn't stopped me yet. See, the goal for the next 10 months (no plans beyond next April so far) is to either run a personal record time for each distance or a personal best time for each particular course. An ambitious goal to be sure but I am confident that as long as the body will hold up I will be able to accomplish these goals.

It has been said that running ultra's is 90% mental and the other 10% is mental and I am totally mental so I should have it in the bag. I just have to show up and run. No, seriously I feel that I am physically prepared to be successful going forward as long as I am able to stay healthy and focus my training on each upcoming event.( and the weather cooperates). I look forward to the challenge and as always I like to put it out there for all to see as it helps to motivate me to succeed. Having all my family,friends and followers behind me helps to make the effort worthwhile in success or failure.

Other than I love taking on the challenge and having goal oriented training, there is another reason why I intend to make this a big year. Time. Yes time is catching up with me and I have accepted the reality that I will not be able to achieve pr's much longer at any distance. Don't get me wrong. I do not intend to quit training hard and try my best after this experience over the next 10 months but it is just a fact that I cannot continue to improve much more at age 55. Although I have had an amazing year including a 50k pr last January at age 54 I can tell a big difference from just 5 years ago. I have trained more miles and just as hard as ever only to basically stay at the same level and it's not getting any easier.

Over the next several months I will be changing the focus of my training from a marathon type program to more ultra specific workouts. One of the main things I need to work on is my speed and strength power walking up long steep hills. That is one component that I have not needed or used for the past 3 years and it shows. Success in the mountain ultra's is dependent on a strong hike and even running a fast time at Umstead requires it. I will still be doing some types of tempo running and occasional mile repeats to maintain speed but the focus now is on mileage, time on feet and race specific workouts.

First up is the Bethel Hill Moonlight Boogie 50 mile in just 3 weeks. I hope to deny the definition of insanity by not only once again going for a course pr but an overall 50 mile pr at this one. Not much in the way of training I can do for this one now. I'm in shape to make the attempt but the weather will play a role in the success.

Tahoe Rim 100 is a first for me and probably will be among the toughest things I've ever done. So just finishing will be a course pr !

Iron Mountain 50 miler is another first time and so another course pr just finishing.

By the time Hinson Lake 24 Hour rolls around I hope to really be back in ultra shape because I will have to be to top my 2006 performance of 103.3. miles

I look forward to returning to Mountain Masochist in November and go for a course pr there. It is one of my favorite races and one of the inspirations for getting me into the sport.

I hope to recover enough over the following three weeks to go for another 50k pr at Derby. It has worked in the past and I have set my 50k pr there several times although my current pr is at the Frosty Fifty.

In January i will do my first Weymouth Woods 100k for a course pr but I will also be going for a distance pr there. If I just finish that should happen because my only other two 100k's were on extremely hard mountain courses.

In February I return to Holiday Lake 50k++, the site of my first ultra. They have changed the course I believe since my last time there so I just hope to have an event pr.

And this whole plan leads up to a big pr attempt at the 100 mile distance next March at the Umstead 100 Mile Endurance Run. They should be prepared with TV camera's because it will either being an amazing story and finish or a really big crash and burn.

But right now I gotta go run. Stay tuned

Return of Ultraman

2011-05-17T20:52:00.002-04:00

The time has come for me to get serious about my ultrarunning once again. Well, not so serious that I can't continue to keep it fun as the top priority but it is time to focus on the long distances again.

After a great 2007, I went into 2008 struggling with nagging pain. I had a decent race at the Frosty 50k in Jan but over the next few months I was not able to train like I wanted. This lack of training was a big factor with my DNF at Umstead after 69.4 miles and I was burned out mentally as well as physically. there was more frustration when I had to drop at just 10 miles at the Boogie because my legs and butt were in so much pain. I tried to run Mt Masochist with Jenn in November even though I knew I wasn't prepared and dropped out at 33 miles. Running very slow and easy I was able to get only my 2nd ultra finish of the year at the Derby 50k and then I quit running completely for the next 5 weeks to allow some healing. This was after having completed 10-12 ultras' a year for the past several years.

2009 was a re-building year and the only ultra I ran was the Derby 50k again in Nov.

In 2010 I focused on the marathon and qualifying for Boston but I did begin the year with a 50k pr at Frosty Fifty thanks to the marathon training. After getting my qualifier in March I was able to run a few more for fun while still focusing on Boston training. I had one 50 miler at a miserably hot Boogie which tested my will to go long again and then I had two more 50k's at New River and Derby.

Now that Boston is behind me I am eager to get back to training for the long stuff and particularly getting back to doing some 100 milers. If you've been keeping up then you know I kick started my ultra training with the Promise Land 50k 5 days after Boston and then used the New River Marathon as further training. Unlike in the past though, I am planning to do some different things in my training than just running more events. More on training specifics and goals later.

New River Marathon

2011-05-11T20:58:00.000-04:00

I wasn't really expecting too much out of myself for this one. After Boston and then Promise land 5 days later the body was feeling pretty beat up and I was still sore the week before this one. I was just hoping to get in a good workout, and not feel bad again using this race as training for my next couple of ultras. Lisa had gotten sick so she didn't make the trip and there was no Princess to run with either so I was planning on going out easy and then see how I felt. I hoped to run a decent pace and thought about at least 10mp, around a 4:20 would be great but expected a lot slower with the difficult hills coming late in the race.

I saw Angela Dukes from the NCRC just before the start and she was planning to try and run with me. I thought that would be nice to have the company so we lined up together along with Don Smythe. The start was actually on a bridge over the river. Due to some problems getting everyone parked the start was delayed for about 15 minutes. It was in the low 40's and so I wasn't too happy with that having just a singlet to keep me warm. I saw Doug Blackford just before we began.

Once we got underway I was letting Angela set the pace. I was feeling ok considering I did no warm-up. I was wishing I had on some gloves but otherwise was comfortable as we headed down the road parallel to the river. We passed the first mile in about 9:14, probably faster than I would average but comfortable pace at this point. 1/4 mile later we crossed over the river and began the first climb of the day. This hill would be about a mile long and gain around 300ft. It was steep in a few places and I walked just a bit to keep the heart rate down but most of it was runnable. I had pulled ahead of Angela and after taking a picture I waited for her but she quickly fell behind again so I just decided to go ahead and run how I felt. I looked back a couple of times but it was obvious we weren't going to be running the same pace today.

Even with the hill I had kept the pace below 10. That mile reminded me a lot of the early climbs at Grandfather Mt and it made me think the The Trail Angel should be here. After the climb we had a sweet downhill and back down to the riverside. By now my hands had finally warmed up , it was sunny ,a gorgeous day and I felt great. I was enjoying cruising along easily and caught up to a guy named Tim and we had a nice conversation over the next 1.5 miles. After mile 5 I noticed the pace had relaxed more than I wanted so I decided to kick it up a notch. I told Tim I may regret it later but I feel good and I'm going to see what happens.

There was one more climb of about 100ft to the next aid station just before mile 6 but after that the next 7 miles were pretty flat along the riverside and I was cruising along easily at about 8:35 to 8:40 pace enjoying the view and snapping some pictures along the way.

The course turned away from the river at mile 13 and began the tough part of the race. I was very happy to pass the half in 1:58 but I knew there was no way I could hold that pace over the next 4.5 miles. I had driven the course Friday night and I knew what was coming. The next half mile was a climb with one part quite steep gaining about another 100ft followed by half a mile of downhill.

Then the real fun began. Over the next 2.25 miles we would gain nearly 500ft as the road became gradually steeper. And just when you thought it couldn't get much steeper we turned onto a gravel road at the 16 mile mark and it became steeper than anything on Turkey Creek for you Umstead runners over the next 3/10ths mile. A little downhill and then right back up just as steep for another 3/10ths to the summit. It was a fantastic view (picture above story)but the best thing was knowing there were no more major hills. The next 2.7 miles we dropped back down into the valley but there were a couple of small uphills so it wasn't a total quad smasher like coming down at Promise Land.

I still felt good but was beginning to notice the energy level was dropping and my feet were getting tired. No surprise considering the past few weeks but I was still holding out hope that I could pick the pace back up on the flats again like before the climbs. Well reality set in quickly as my pace had dropped considerably at the same effort as before. No problem though as I was well ahead of the pace I had hoped for. All I had to do was relax and hold steady. Well that worked for a couple of miles but then I was just tired. Still moving along ok but I had to start taking some walk breaks which ticked me off a bit.

Finally reached the finish and was very very happy to exceed my goal and other than slowing more than I wanted the last 4 miles, I felt better than I could have hoped. Now why couldn't I have felt half this good at Boston? I think I'll stop tapering for races.

Here is a link to the pictures I took.

And here are the results.

On to the next one

New River Marathon Preview

2011-05-04T20:59:00.002-04:00

I'm looking forward to running the inaugural New River Marathon in Brownwood NC this Saturday, May 7th. In case you have never heard of Brownwoood , it doesn't have a zip code but is close to Todd NC or just a little North of Boone in Ashe County.

My main reason for signing up was for some fun and training. I'm not really looking to run a fast time this soon after Boston and Promise Land but with the 100 miler coming up this summer I was looking to run some distance and I would rather do it in races rather than long solo training runs. I was hoping I would be able to run it with The Marathon Princess since we haven't run a marathon together since last July at GMM but with her foot injury over the Winter she doesn't feel like it's in her best interest to run another one so soon after Boston.

Lisa "Mountain Girl" Howell will be making the trip. She was raised in Ashe County and her Mom still lives there and hopefully will be able to see Lisa finish.

The race is in a beautiful area and I hope to get some good pictures but that depends on how the race is going. My plan is to go out easy and see how the body responds. If it feels good I'll pick it up and run a decent time but no PR attempt I promise ! Otherwise I'll just enjoy the scenery while getting in a good workout.

here is a link to the race website

Stay tuned for the results !

Promise Land 50k Part 4 to the finish

2011-05-01T21:29:00.000-04:00

promise land 2011, part 3

2011-05-01T09:49:00.000-04:00

promise land 2011, part 2

2011-05-01T09:47:00.000-04:00

Promise Land 50k part 1

2011-05-01T09:45:00.000-04:00

I have seen the Promise Land (and it's beautiful ! )

2011-04-27T08:10:00.007-04:00

After 4 long years I was really looking forward to returning to the site of one of my favorite 50k mountain ultra's. I had raced here 4 times and in 2005 swept all but the first and last 2.6 miles segments on the gravel road as a training run. Due to nagging injuries and then concentrating on first doing an Ironman and then qualifying for Boston , I have been away from the trails for too long.

Now that Boston was behind me I was almost giddy with excitement as I met with the Ultra Angel Jenn for the ride up to the camp in the Blue Ridge Mts of Va. Rain put a damper on some of the Friday night socializing but it was still wonderful to see so many of my ultra buddies that I had not seen in 3 or 4 years in some cases. Many that I met and shared many miles in these very mountains. It was also good to see the excitement of some of my Triangle area friends that were getting ready to experience these gorgeous but challenging trails for the first time.

The rain continued through the night but I slept well in the tent. I wasn't too excited to get out in the morning at 4:30 am though but it wasn't raining too heavy and the 47F temperature wasn't bad so I climbed out and tried to stick to my normal routine to get ready for the start. Because of not training on the trails and just having run the Boston Marathon 5 days earlier I had no plans to race the course this year. I just wanted to get back and use this as a kick start for my training for the Tahoe Rim 100 miler in July and what better way than to do a difficult 34 miles in the mountains on tired legs?

With that in mind I had two goals for the day. #1 was to get to the finish and not suffer. #2 was to try and stay with Jenn for as long as possible while still concentrating on goal #1. Jenn was hoping to improve over her time from last year but her training has not been what she would like so she wasn't too confident.

The race started promptly with nearly 300 starters and I was happy to find that the rain stopped shortly afterwards. It is also dark for the first 45 minutes or so of the race so after a short distance running we fell into a powerwalk as the gravel road leading to aid station #1 gets progressively steeper and we don't want to burn up too much energy this early in the race.

I will spare you the blow by blow account of this race since I wasn't really racing. If you want more of a course description you can read my blog in the archives from April 2007. I also was carrying my camera and took nearly 30 minutes of video so you can see bits of most of the sections of the course. I'll be posting those on youtube soon if you haven't already seen them on facebook. Look for a post with the links soon.

Anyway in summary, after the first long climb I felt ok but was worrying that they may not hold up so well by the tougher climbs later in the day. I had no splits from my previous years so I had no idea how our pace was looking compared to years past. It didn't matter to me but I would have liked to have known so I could tell Jenn how things were going. We were having a splendid time and I was enjoying spending the day with my frequent training partner and dear friend.

By the time we reached the top of Apple Orchard Mountain the first time around 13 miles I was feeling fantastic and taking in all the sights that I am usually in too much of a hurry to appreciate. It's hard to sightsee and run here with all the rocks and roots along the trail. My energy level was steady thanks to an intake of Pringles, Cheez-its, M&M's and Hersheys chocolate.

In the latter mils of the race it was obvious that Jenn was not having a great day but a steady one. At this point I could have pushed and moved on ahead but I was in no hurry. She was getting blisters on both feet too which was causing her to slow down. After the final climb she told me I should go on ahead but I told her I was content to stay with her. A little later she sat down to tend to her blisters so I sat down to clean out my shoe which had a total blowout. Amazingly I had no problems with blisters even with so much debris going into my shoes the last 12 miles or so. Finally we got up and ran the rest of the way down the last 4.5 miles to the finish.

It was my slowest time ever but I thoroughly enjoyed spending the day on this gorgeous course with The Beautiful Ultra Angel. I never imagined I would feel as good as I did. My legs held up great and it wasn't until we had reached the final downhill on the gravel road that my quads were hurting. I sure wish I could have felt this good at Boston last weekend!!!

A fantastic weekend. So wonderful to see so many friends and hopefully I will be seeing many of you more often now as I once again turn my focus on being Ultraman again.

video part 1.

video part 2.

video part3.

video part 4 to the finish.

Heading to The Promise Land 2011

2011-04-22T09:20:00.004-04:00

Getting very excited about traveling up to the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia for my 5th time running the Promise Land 50K. This is one of David Horton's races and part of the Lynchburg Ultra Series and Beast Series. My 1st time was in 2003 as I began my real 1st year in ultra running and it was the toughest one I had done up to that time. It took me over 8:30 that year and I didn't think I would ever make it up that last climb. For those of you unfamiliar with the race, it is a very difficult trail race over several mountains including twice over Apple Orchard Mountain and across the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Race website

I have not done a trail ultra since my dnf at Masochist in 2008 and very little single track running since then and since I just ran Boston 4 days ago, I don't expect to run fast this year. Mainly I just want to return for the fun and beauty of the course and see a lot of ultra buddies that I have not seen in years. This is also the kickoff of my training for the Tahoe Rim 100 miler which I am doing in 12 weeks. Yep, marathon training is behind me for awhile now although I will continue to do some speedwork and tempo runs as part of my ultra training.

I'm traveling to the race with the Ultra Angel as she goes for her 2nd run here. I wasn't able to make the trip last year as it didn't fit the plan. A couple of other Raleigh area friends from the NCRC will be making there first attempts at this tough course, Mike Walsh and Charles Akers. It's going to be big fun. I hope to shoot some video this year since I'll be taking it "easy"

here is my race report from 2007

here are the pics from 2007

My Boston Performance (or the lack there of)

2011-04-21T14:46:00.002-04:00

Everything was perfectly aligned for me to run a great race on Monday as I wished the ladies luck and headed towards my starting corral. My training had gone great ever since I had laid out the plan last December. I was feeling wonderful and confident and the weather was exactly what I had hoped for, around the upper 40's with a tailwind. Surely this would be one of my best races ever.

I entered my corral with about 5 minutes before the start and spotted Jeannie Craig, a runner from Virginia I had met at Promise Land several years ago. We chatted for a few minutes and then the wave of runners began moving forward. Although I was behind 9,000 runners in my wave, we reached the starting line in just a few minutes and were able to run immediately. I planned to run very conservatively the first mile and not worry about the pace. Even with the crowd I had only minor problems running evenly because they do a good job of seeding the runners at Boston. The first mile begins with a steep downhill and then a small hill up to the one mile mark. I hit that in 8:44 which was fine and then decided to kick it up a notch the next mile and try to get close to my goal.

My fantasy goal was a pr which would be an 8:11 overall pace or anything under 3:35:15 which I ran in 2006 at Myrtle Beach. I knew that was probably out of reach so anything under my 2nd best of 3:44 would have made me very happy. Mile two was getting close to goal in 8:17 and I had 24 more miles to go to to gradually chip away at the pace. Mile 3 was 8:18 and I was a bit disappointed in that because I had tried to pick it up a little more and it felt like I was running much faster. Finally I hit mile 4 in 8:12. I was thinking that it was too hard to run that fast but I know sometimes in a marathon it takes 7 or 8 miles to get settled in comfortably.

Well, mile 5 took 8:36 and I now knew that I was not going to run fast today. Already I was struggling with a pace that should have felt like an easy workout so I made the decision then to relax and be happy to settle for something between 3:40 and 3:45. I don't know what was going on but I felt as if I were running a minute per mile faster in a 10k race. I could only hope that things would take a turn for the better. Of course I wasn't totally oblivious to what was going on around me. I was running the Boston Marathon after all and I was remembering sights along the course and how it was with Karla 5 years ago.

I was approaching the 10k split which would be the first time my friends tracking me could see my time and it was very disappointing to already be 1:30 slower than I'd hoped but even worse was how I felt and I was still slowing down. The next few miles were a struggle. There was no resurgence of energy and as I passed 10 miles it was obvious that I would not even be close to a 3:45 today. In frustration I slowed down and the only question now was how much would I blow up and suffer the last 16 miles. I just decided to spend the remainder of the race trying to take in as much of the experience as possible.

I made my way into Wellesley and was listening for the roar as I approached the gauntlet of college girls. If I had been on record pace I don't know if I would have taken the time but since I was just slogging along now I would make sure I picked out a pretty one and get me a kiss. They were out in full force and about halfway down the line I spotted a beautiful blonde young lady and she planted a nice one on me. I was happy with that but just as I neared the end of the line I spotted a stunningly beautiful brunette so I had to get another kiss for good measure. Actually the way I was feeling I think I would have rather stayed there a lot longer getting kisses than running but it was time to move on.

Just past the ladies I went through the half in 1:54 but every mile was getting slower and the next one took me 10:10 and I was feeling terrible. Nothing was helping. No gels or gatorade could save my race today and by mile 15 I was already taking some walk breaks. Just as I approached the 16 mile mark I spotted my buddy Fred "Doom" Dummar up ahead escorting Ivan Castro. I knew then if I was catching up as slow as I was going that Ivan wasn't having a good day either. We were entering into the Newton Hills now and it took me 3 more miles to finally catch up to them. I ran along talking to Doom for a few minutes. I had done some calculating and figured that if Lisa was having a good day that she would probably pass me near the 20 mile mark. I told Doom that she should be by soon and then I moved on ahead.

Sure enough just a short way past the 20 mile pint, Lisa went by looking strong. It would have been nice to try and run with her for awhile but there was no way today. Heartbreak Hill comes in this mile and when I got to it I was determined that I was not going to take a walk break here. It was slow but I made it to the top and then hit the downhill to mile 21 at Boston College. They were by far the biggest crowd and loudest spot on the course. I soaked up as much energy from them as I could and slogged on my way. For many miles now I was wishing I had known I would not be running fast. It was so tempting before the start to not even try and just run with The Princess again and now I was really wishing we were together.

The next couple of miles were just awful as I continued to move even slower and by mile 23 I was ready to just give up running at all and walk it in from there.I have actually felt better at the end of some 50 and even 100 mile races than I felt at this point. The only thing keeping my mind off the discomfort was remembering the sights and emotions of my last time here 5 years ago. i finally spotted the Citgo sign way ahead but you can see it nearly 1.5 miles before you get to it, but at least I knew how far it would be when I got there. I was now having to walk more often to fend off cramps in my calves.

Finally I made it to Fenway Park and the 1 mile to go point in the race and knew that it would all be over soon. Kind of sad to work so hard for two years to qualify, hope to run a fast time only to be wishing now it was all over. As I approached the turn onto Hereford St, the crowds were loud and encouraging but no amount of cheering was going to make me feel any better. In fact, sad to say it was annoying me at the time and I just wanted to be left alone in my misery. I know they meant well and I appreciate that but my motivation comes from within. I walked that block and then began my run to the finish on Boylston Street. And then finally it was over. And I beat Batman by a couple of steps I guess that is something.

I slowly made my way to get my space blanket. As soon as I stopped the wind began to feel cold. Next I got some water, claimed my finishers medal , and my food bag. then I had to find my drop bag and then a long walk to the family meeting area to wait for Karla. If I'd had a good day I had planned to go back up the course until i found her and run the last couple of miles with her but now I could barely walk and just wanted to sit for awhile. Tried to change into some warm clothes and the legs were cramping horribly. A nice lady helped me stretch my right calf and then as long as I sat still I was ok. As I sat waiting , I was hoping that Lisa had continued on to a pr and praying that Karla would make it through with no problems. Finally after about 45 minutes, Karla walked up looking ok but she didn't see me sitting on the curb until I called her name. When I saw her smile and knew she did ok, I felt 100% better.

I still don't have a clue what could have caused everything to fail me on this day. For some reason it just wasn't meant for me to run well. I know the training was on track, I had tapered and I was hydrated before the start and even ran with a 24oz water bottle the first hour so I wouldn't have any problems with crowding at the water stops. I even checked my bioryhthms when i got home and they were positive too. The only thing I can think that caused it was not buying those negative ion shoe inserts at the expo !

Boston 2011, a celebration of friendship

2011-04-20T17:20:00.002-04:00

Looking back now, it is still a mystery exactly why I made the decision to pace Karla in the Myrtle Beach Marathon in Feb 2005. I had not signed up for the race , had no intentions of going to the race and had a full slate of ultra's to run including the Uwharrie 40 miler the weekend before. I barely knew her and had just run with her once on Jan 1st of that year. Our lives are guided by the decisions we make but sometimes and I certainly believe in this instance my decision was guided from above. That one decision led to my miracle of qualifying for Boston in 2006, sharing that day with Karla and the very special friendship that led to this past weekends celebration of life in Boston.

Although my race didn't go as I had hoped (the gory details will follow in another post) I am still very pleased with the trip and sharing the long weekend with great friends. Once again her husband Frank was along as well as his son Eric and his girlfriend Andrea to cheer us on. Lisa our wonderful training partner the past two years and her husband Mike were along too. Lisa as most of you know qualified in the same race as Karla and I last year.

While we were at the Athlete's Village in Hopkinton I had just enough time to wait in the port-a-potty line with the ladies before heading over to my start since my wave would begin 20 minutes before their wave. As I headed off I gave Karla a hug and despite my best effort , we both got choked up for a minute. 5 years later and I still get emotional every time I think about it. Sometimes I wonder if I ever will be able to not get emotional about it. I hope not. But that passed quickly and
it was all smiles now. this was and is a celebration after all and we were back at The Boston Marathon and healthy !

Here is a link to some photos from the 2006 race. I ran with Karla's camera and Frank was able to take a few at a couple of points along the way.

Race strategy

2011-04-15T19:14:00.002-04:00

I've been trying to come up with a plan on exactly how I would like to run the race but I'm having a difficult time. when I began almost 34 years ago, running seemed so simple but nowadays it just gets more and more complicated.

First off is what to wear. I used to just pick out a pair of shoes that worked, some socks, a pair of shorts, a shirt and I was good to go but now I guess I have to accessorize to maximize my potential. So, to start I'll get some kinesio tape. Then I'll have to get some compression leg sleeves, maybe some like these from zensah and while I'm at it I should probably wear the compression shorts too. I'll probably need one of these bandana's too.

I have learned in the past couple of years that we were "Born to Run" which means we're suppose to run barefoot or at least in some $100 "minimalist shoes" In case you haven't read the book I am quoted in it so I guess I should give it a try. I'm thinking I'll start the race in these Vibrams Five Fingers, then about half way I'll stop and take them off and barefoot it the rest of the way.

I've have also learned that I am obviously too dull and incapable of running for hours without some form of electronic entertainment. I guess actually being in tune with myself and taking in all the senses of the race environment isn't good so I need to listen to music to keep me motivated. In fact I am so dumb I don't even know what music to listen too so there is a website that will make up a playlist for you ! It will not only make me faster but smarter as you can see from this quote on the website.

"Studies have shown that listening to music during exercise works wonders on the mind and body. Not only can it improve results by acting as a motivational tool and as a distraction from fatigue, but it can help improve lung function and it might even make you smarter."

I won an ipod at a race two years ago but it is still in the box. I'll have to get one of my sons to help me figure out how to use it and put in a playlist of songs that I will probably hate. That should motivate me to run faster and by the end I'll be a genius !

Now, as far as the correct way to run, I'm really having a problem deciding which way is best so I'm thinking of a three pronged approach here. I always thought the fastest way to run was to run all the way but according to Jeff Galloway I should take walk breaks. It doesn't make sense to me but when asked by a lady in his monthly Runners World column if she should try to run the whole way in her next race, he answered , no that many of his runners ran faster with the breaks. Hmm, I wonder how many walk breaks he took when he qualified for the Olympics? But who am I to question.

I think what I'll do is use the Gallowalk plan for the first 10 miles. Then for the next 10 miles I will switch to the "Pose Method". Obviously my running form has been completely wrong all these years and it's a wonder I have ever been able to finish a race let alone nearly 400. I will probably be getting tired the last 6 miles and have a hard time holding form dso I will switch to some "Chi Running" the last 6.2.

Well what do you think ? will my plan get me to the finish line in record time?

Shipping up to Boston

2011-04-15T08:24:00.002-04:00

Half a day of work and then packing up for the trip to Boston for the marathon. I hope to be able to keep everyone updated on all the fun this weekend and I will have some more post up on my blog, www.runjoey.blogspot.com. Many of my friends and family have expressed an interest in keeping track of us in the race so here is what you need to know.

The race begins on Monday the 18th with the elite women at 9:30 and then the elite men and wave one starts at 10 .I am in wave two and start at 10:20. The race will be televised on Universal Sports but don't look for me since I won;t be running with the Kenyans this year. There will be athlete tracking on the race website ,

http://www.baa.org/races/boston-marathon.aspx

You can also sign up to have text or email messages sent to you courtesy of ATT. It is quick and simple to sign up for that. go here.

http://www.baa.org/races/boston-marathon/participant-information/att-athlete-alert.aspx

My bib number is 17486. If you want to follow anyone else it's easy to look up their bib number on the website. Just go to entrants and put in their name.

I want to thank all of you in advance for all of your support and encouragement as I make these final preparations. Whenever I am running these long races of marathon or beyond I always think of my family and friends that are thinking about me and find strength and comfort knowing that people really care about me. And now with facebook to keep so many of us in contact so easily, it is really cool to have the support of hundreds of you from so many parts of my life.

Why Boston ? Part 2

2011-04-09T20:48:00.004-04:00

Over the past 33 years I have competed in nearly 400 races and triathlons. Many of these have been in beautifully scenic races, big ones little ones, short ones and 100 milers as well as an Ironman. There have been too many wonderful experiences to pick a list of favorites without leaving out a lot of them but without a doubt the Boston Marathon 2006 was the greatest experience of my running life. But it wasn't the history or the tradition or the time I finished the race that made it so special. No,it was because I had the honor and privilege of running the race beside and witnessing the courageous effort of my dear friend and training partner Karla. Most of my friends know the story but for those new readers that don't know it, she had just under gone two surgeries for stage 3 breast cancer 6 weeks before the race and was about 3 weeks into chemo therapy as we lined up for the start of the race.

It was actually a miracle of sorts that I had even qualified and without her I never would have been able to do it. I'll never forgot the sick feeling in my stomach when I got the call from her to report that the biopsy was positive just 9 days before I was to run my last chance for qualifying at the 2006 Myrtle Beach Marathon. My pr was 3:47 and I would have to knock 12 minutes off that time. Now we didn't even know if Karla was going to be able to run at Boston but if there was any way possible and the doctors would allow it she was planning to run. And after all the miles we had run together in every kind of heat and cold, dark and rain, I knew I had to be there for her.

Of course I did pull off the miracle and just barely qualified but as I crossed the line with a huge pr and a BQ instead of smiling I burst into tears, my heart breaking for what I knew The Marathon Princess was facing a week later.

In the end all turned out well. We had the wonderful experience together at Boston.

If you haven't read the stories , here are the links.

Part 1 tells of of the beginning of the plan and my first attempt to qualify at Richmond in Nov. 2005.

Part 2 covers the Myrtle Beach qualifier

Part 3 is the Boston 2006 race report.

Karla and I made an agreement that when she was able to return to full strength that we would once again train to qualify and return to Boston to celebrate and race it hard. Her treatments took nearly a year and then it took another full year for her to recover back to normal after the ravages of chemo-therapy and radiation. Finally in 2009 we decided it was time to start planning to comeback as soon as I got my Ironman finished in June. By now we had a new friend and training partner, Lisa "Mountain Girl" Howell working towards the same goal and in a near storybook tale all 3 of us qualified in the same race at the 2010 Tobacco Road Marathon. Fortunately we were all three able to get into Boston this year despite the race filling it's entry limit in 8 hours !

Karla just had another checkup and after 5 years since the first diagnoses is cancer free and strong as ever. Sadly she has been struggling with foot injury issues since last Fall so she will not be in top shape but at least she is well ! And that my friends is why I'm so excited to make my return.

Why Boston ? Part 1

2011-04-08T22:04:00.003-04:00

So whats so special about the Boston Marathon some of you may ask. Perhaps a legitimate question today with probably 500 marathons in the USA alone and many overseas. Every major city in the USA has one with many having more runners than Boston. And amongst all those marathons there are certainly more scenic routes, easier courses , harder courses and many are extremely well organized.

Lets look back to when I was just a lad born in 1955. As I was growing up I was only aware of the marathon when the Olympics would roll around and in those days coverage of the event may have just been a few moments. It wasn't really until Frank Shorter won in Munich in 1972 that most of America became aware of the marathon and that event is credited with the start of the first running boom. And then there was the Boston Marathon which I vaguely remember seeing a small report in the newspaper each year. It really wasn't until I saw an article with a photo of Jerome Drayton winning Boston in 1977 that spurred me to begin running.

By that year there were still just a couple of dozen marathons and 25,000 runners completed one in 1976. There will be more than that in just this one race this year alone. And of all those Marathons, Boston is the oldest having began in 1897 after the first of the modern day Olympics. By the 70's when I began running it was still one of the top competitive races in the world and with it's tough qualifying times it was the dream of nearly every serious runner to one day be able to compete.

Of course the standards to get in are much easier than they were back then but it still takes either a great gift from God or for most of us a whole lot of hard work and determination along with some luck to make it in.

So the history and tradition is a big part of the reason why it means so much to me to be able to go and race Boston this year. The fact that the race was a part of the reason I began running in the first place and that to participate you have to run a quality marathon makes it that more exciting that I will once again have a chance to participate

I would suggest to anyone with any interest in running to read as much as you can on the early history of the race and marathoning in general.

Part 2 coming soon !
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35,000 miles and counting

2011-03-30T19:03:00.005-04:00

During the last 2 miles of my long run this past Saturday, I passed another milestone in my running surpassing 35,000 miles since I began running on June 7th 1977. I had actually attempted running the summer before but after a couple of weeks I stopped. When I made the decision to start again I was committed to continuing with it and recorded my 1st run on the chart pictured above. I chose to make the chart like a calender and have been using the same loose leaf charts now for almost 34 years and I am about to fill up page 178.

At the time I began, things were a whole lot different than they are now. Although I was aware of the Boston Marathon and had been a fan of the Olympics, I did not know a single person that was a runner.I was aware that "jogging" was used by some as a way to exercise. If you notice the points I was recording on the chart, that is from a system devised by Dr. Ken Cooper in his first book "Aerobics" There had been an article in Readers Digest magazine back when the book was written in 1968 and my family had bought the book after reading the article. I was 12 at the time and my brother was 16. Being competitive siblings we of course tried to score the most points counting our basketball , tennis, walking, biking and for a short while our running. Yes,we took a wooden yardstick and measured a 7 lap to the mile course around the perimeter of our 2 acre yard. That didn't last long before we moved on to other things.

So fast forward again to 1977, I re-read the book and devised a plan to add an aerobic component to my fledgling body-building routine. The book really had no instruction on running that I recall, just a study of how aerobic exercise was good for the heart and with charts placed a value on different activities such as bicycling, swimming, tennis , basketball, walking and of course jogging. It would be about 4 months before I would find a Runner's World magazine. It was about 6 months later that I found Jim Fixx's Complete Book of Running and there was no internet so I was having to learn to run completely on my own.

It would not be until March of 1978 that I heard of a "fun run" in North Carolina. Of course there had been other races and there was the beginning running boom, it's just that I had no way of knowing about it. In addition to the charts, I began a running journal a couple for days before that first race. It began as a loose leaf notebook, but in 1979. I started using 6x 9 notebooks. It would be over a year after I started running that I found out about the North Carolina Track Club. I did join but was intimidated by these "real runners" and despite running sub 8 minute pace in club fun runs I would usually end up in last place.

Things are a whole lot better these days. I have so many friends in the NCRC, MTC and VHTRC. I have several regular running partners, mostly my beautiful angels and Princess. There are more races and fun runs every weekend than I could ever possibly run in. With the internet I have a whole online community of runners on Facebook, Daily Mile, and the ultralist among others and limitless resources to peruse at my convenience while relaxing on my couch.

An interesting fact pertaining to the accumulation of those 35 thousand miles is that half of them have been run in just the past 9 years.It was in 2002 that I was bitten by a radioactive spider.No that was Spiderman. Umm, I was zapped with an overdose of gamma rays. No, that was the Hulk. Ok my home planet was destroyed and I escaped to earth and the Sun gave me super powers. No that's not right. Oh yeah ! Due to a small brain and a lack of rational thinking I ran my first ultra while averaging about 20 miles a week with maybe 3 runs of 13 miles and one 16 and one 17 miler in the year leading up to it. And so was born ULTRAMAN !

Looking forward to the next 35 thousand.
Stay Tuned.

Tobacco Road Half Marathon 2011

2011-03-21T19:47:00.003-04:00

You gotta love it when things go just like you planned and you really have to love it when they go even better than planned. The one big thing I didn't have control over was the weather and it turned out that if I could have, I would not have been able to plan for it to be more perfect than what we had on race morning.

Woke up at 4am and followed my usual pre-race routine and then made the 45 minute drive to Cary to meet up with Ultra Angel, Mountain Girl, Marathon Princess and Mr Minimalist, aka Jenn, Lisa, Karla and Frank, to shuttle over to the race starting area. The temperature was a near perfect 44F and calm, ideal for racing. About 20 minutes before the start, Lisa and I ran a warm-up mile and then made our way to the starting corral. Although there were over 2,000 starters hardly anyone was near the front so I lined up near there behind 1:30 pace group although I was aiming for 1:45. Due to issues with buses bring runners from the satellite parking area we had a 15 minute delay to get started.

Finally we got the command to start and I used my experience of over 300 races to stay calm and go out at a relaxed pace. the first three miles of the race are on roads leading to the American Tobacco Trail. We have trained on the course a few times as well as my running the full marathon last year so a big part of my plan was to use my knowledge of the course to maximize my pacing strategy. I knew the first mile had a few small hills and as always it's good not too go out too fast. To run my goal of 1:45 I would need to average 8:00 per mile pace so I was very pleased to hit the first mile spit in exactly 8:00. Ultraman, the human metronome !

Mile 2 has quite of bit of nice downhill so I hoped to use gravity to an advantage and get a little time cushion without having to increase the effort. By now I was warmed up and everything was feeling good. Legs had some zip and breathing was controlled and relaxed the energy level was great. hit mile 2 in 7:31 and it felt easy. Sweet!

The main reason I wanted to run mile 2 well was because mile 3 is mostly a gradual uphill. As soon as the climbing began I eased off the pace and relaxed enough to make sure I maintained an easy effort and not worry about the time. Once again the plan was perfect as I passed mile 3 in 8:03 for a total time so far of 23:34. As we turned on to the trail I knew that the next mile over to White Oak had an ever so slight incline so I was going to just relax, make sure I was completely recovered from the hill and not worry about pace yet.

Went through mile 4 in 8:13,a little slower than I liked but I knew that for the next couple of miles there is a slight decline so I worked my way around the congestion of runners slowing at the water stop and kicked the pace up a notch. Fell into a nice groove and when I passed mile 5 in 7:46 I was already feeling very confident that I was going to make my goal and so I just put it on cruise control. The next couple of miles were just awesome. what a wonderful feeling to be moving at a slightly faster pace than needed and it seems almost effortless. Days like this are pretty rare and I was really enjoying the day. Mile 6 was 7:49, and then mile 7 was a quick 7:35.

In the next mile the trail would once again begin a slight incline so i was careful to back off the effort just a little bit. Even slowing down I went through mile 8 in 7:53, still adding a little to my time cushion which now was over a minute. Just a little further and we made a u-turn and headed back in the other direction. I hadn't gone too far when I saw Lisa a few minutes behind me . she looked strong and I estimate that she was close to her pr pace.

I was still just cruising along and enjoying looking for other friends coming towards me. Hadn't gone far when I saw Ultramarathon Mom Amy running with Gary and the 2:00 pace group. She was a last minute entry but her training with me is paying off and she looked strong and relaxed. After awhile I was worrying because I hadn't seen a 9 mile mark. a glance down at my watch showed over 11 minutes since my last split so I knew I either missed it or there wasn't one. the course was on a little incline again and I could feel the effort now but hoping I wasn't slowing down.

Finally went by the 10 mile mark and couldn't help but smile to see that I had ran the past two miles in 15:32, a 7:45 pace. Oh yeah ! Just past that mark the course turns off of the trail and onto roads for the last 5k. There are a couple of small hills and now I was feeling like I was racing instead of just cruising along. I could have easily backed off and coasted it in with a time under my goal but that is not in my nature. This is a RACE and if I've got anything I'm going to use it.

Mile 11 was an 8:08 but then I knew the next two were predominately flat or downhill so I pushed it up a notch again and was able to drop it back down to 7:50 for mile 12. There's one very short but at this point a nasty little hill in the last mile but after that it is smooth sailing to the finish. hit mile 13 in 7:55, then made the turn and ran the last .1 strong. 1:43:03 ! Woohoo ! 2 minutes under my goal time and if I had known I was going to be that close I could have found another 4 seconds to go under 1:43.

I quickly made my way through the finish chute and grabbed my camera and ran back to look for Lisa. She was right on schedule and got a new PR, but the battery was dead in my camera so I missed the shot. We had plenty of time before Frank and Karla would be in so we went to put on some warm clothes since it was still in the low 50's and the wind had picked up.

After awhile we went back to look for Karla. She ran well considering the foot injury and lack of training and look relaxed and smiling as she finished. A few minutes later Frank was done. We spent some time hanging out and visiting with so many of our friends that were there. That's a great thing about these local races. I can't remember how many times I heard people cheering for me at so many places along the course but it was inspiring and greatly appreciated. Thank you all for your support ! And thanks to John Tate for taking the picture above just before the 12 mile mark.

After awhile i took Lisa and the Werners back to their car and then return to wait and watch Jenn finish the full marathon. Sat around with Amy and Charles until it was about time for her. She didn't run as well as she would have liked but as always she ran well and looked great.

On to the next one which just happens to be BOSTON ! Stay tuned

Getting ready for another test at tobacco road half

2011-03-18T21:31:00.002-04:00

This Sunday I'll be returning to The Tobacco Road Half Marathon as a final test run before the final phase of Boston training. Last year I did the full marathon where I got my qualifier along with my training partners Karla and Lisa. It just happened that the timing of this race fit perfectly into the schedule building up to Boston so the three of us planned and entered it early to guarantee a spot in the race which once again is full.

As I noted in a recent post , my training has been going well and I just completed another great week of running. Although I haven't focused on this race I would still like t perform well so even though I haven't done a real taper I did back off on the mileage a little bit this week. It looks like we will get lucky with great weather again like last year, with the start in the mid 40's and warming up to the upper 60's but probably no higher than the 50's by the time I finish.

Frank will once again be running the half and since Karla has been dealing with foot issues since last Fall they will probably be close this year. The Ultra Angel Jenn will be running the full as well as Jerry. There are lots of other friends and a big presence from the NCRC so I'm looking forward to a lot of fun Sunday morning !

And in case you're wondering I'm going for the sub 1:45 again. Hopefully with no being sick and no gale force winds I'll be able to do it.

Stay tuned

5 weeks until Boston, a training update

2011-03-12T20:29:00.002-05:00

Although not the highest mileage week I've done I feel that this one may have been one of the most intense and rewarding. After running the 5k last Saturday I had decided to skip my usual Monday marathon pace workout on the greenway and instead just put in some easy miles out at Umstead. But once I got started out there on a perfect day for running and was feeling pretty good after the 1st mile, I got the crazy idea to hammer the course. I was running what I call the "T" route which I have probably done over 50 times in the last 7 years and my best time on the route was set back in 2007. I have not come close to that time since then and was not expecting to come within a few minutes of it on this day. Boy howdy was I surprised when I just kept clicking off the miles and running up the hills like they were bumps. By the end of the run I had beaten my best by nearly 4 minutes ! Talk about a confidence booster !

So Tuesday was suppose to be my day for mile repeats. Probably not a good idea a day after hammering 12.4 miles of hills and I was really hoping Amy would want to wait until Wednesday to do it. No luck, so we met on the greenway with my depleted and sore legs. Amazingly once we got started about halfway through the first repeat I felt great and we did all of them faster than the same workout 2 weeks ago and added an extra one.

Wednesday was tough. I was tired and felt beat up so I just ran an easy 6. Maybe I should have just rested but I wanted to run. Thursday I was feeling a little better and had a fun 10 miler in the rain.

On Friday you would think I would have run easy again but at the last minute I thought it would be a good idea to go ahead and do a tempo run while at Umstead. Ok. So I did 2 x 2mile repeats at 10k race pace. Once again I felt great !

Finished up the week with a very nice 12.3 miles on the greenway with Jenn The Ultra Angel. 53 miles total for the week with 3 hard but very satisfying workouts.

Back in November of last year I made out a training plan for Boston that I would begin a week after resting after the Derby 50K. So far I have been able to stick to the plan and have not missed any of the key workouts and on all of the those I was able to complete them at the planned paces. The only workout I had to cut short was a planned 20 miler that I quit at 18 because I hadn't recovered completely from being sick. It seems the timing for getting sick worked out ok because it hit me on what was suppose to be an easy recovery week anyway.

Hopefully the next couple of weeks will continue to go as well as the past three months. After that I'll have 3 weeks to taper before the big one. Stay tuned.

WakeMed Cary Distance Festival 5k

2011-03-06T09:26:00.003-05:00

A little chilly and foggy on the drive over to Cary but after checking in it looked like it would be a nice morning for the race. I found Lisa and with about 30 minutes before the start we went for a warm up mile. By then the sun was shining , with perfect temps in the 50's so it was singlet running weather. Today would be my debut racing for The Athlete's Foot Cameron Village Racing Team.

A few strides minutes before the start and we were ready to go. I had noticed while warming up that there were some hills I didn't remember from running the 10K eleven years ago but was hoping the rest of the course may be flat. A look around showed there were probably a little over 100 starters (124 finished) and I didn't notice any really fast looking old guys. Looks can be deceiving though but I felt sure if I ran well I would get an age group award.

I was able to get off to a good start since there's a nice downhill for the 1st 1/4 mile. I used it to get up to speed and was very happy that the legs were feeling good and had some zip in them. Reached mile one in 7:01. I was hoping to be a little faster but that was fast enough to go sub 22:00 which was my goal for the day. The 5k course is an out and back so as we approached the turn around I could see everyone ahead of me and at that point I was in about 15th overall. As I began the return trip I saw Lisa coming. I thought she may have been a little closer the way she has been running lately but she looked comfortable.

My hope that the remainder of the course would be flat was not to be. Although there were no really big hills in the middle of the course there were several small ones and at 5k race pace they hurt and make a difference. I was a little disappointed to hit mile 2 in 7:21. I was still feeling good but I knew now my time goal was not going to happen. No worries though. I was still determined to run as fast as possible and beat as many people as I could.

Just past the 2 mile point a young lady passed me but I couldn't go any faster to respond so I just dug in pushing as hard as I could. As we reached the half mile to go sign it it was now time to have to payback the fast start with the hardest climb on the course back up the hill to the starting line. As expected it hurt, had me gasping and groaning and slowed me down but I knew once I reached the top it was the turn for home and a 2 block downhill finish.

As I made the turn I could hear someone coming up fast behind me. I didn't want to get passed but I was already going hard and didn't want to sprint. Fortunately with about 50 yards to go the footsteps faded. I looked back after crossing the finish and saw it was a teenager. So I finished in 16th place overall, 1st in the 50-59 age-group with a time of 22:29. Very happy with the effort and placing.

I waited for Lisa to finish and then after a little water and catching our breath, we went to run our cool down. That was fun because we ran back onto the course with the 10k runners that go right by the 5k start and run the 5k course for the 2nd half of their race. Our cool down pace was very close to the pace of the runners in the race at that point and because of the out and back we were able to see and cheer for all the runners in that one.

Overall a very good morning.It was nice to see many friends and acquaintances , many which also placed in their age groups. Lisa was 2nd in hers.

Here are the results

On to the next one which will be the Tobacco road Half Marathon in 2 weeks, a last tuneup before Boston

A little test and a little fun

2011-03-04T07:30:00.004-05:00

My training is back on track and I'm feeling 100% after getting sick 3 weeks ago so I'm feeling confident as we move into the Spring racing season. Of course the focus is on being in my best shape for Boston right now and so far I have been able to stay on the schedule I laid out last Fall and haven't missed any key workouts.

This Saturday, March 5th I have decided to run the Wake Med Cary 5k for a little fun and as a test to see how the speed is going. I had not included this one in the original training plan but saw a couple of months ago that the timing was about perfect for it. I have never run the 5k at this race before but back in 1999 and 2000 when I was on the comeback from my knee injury (soccer) in 98, I ran the 10K version. I haven't raced a 10k in almost 2 years but decided that the 5k fit the plan a little better.

You may have noticed that the picture above is a little old. I haven't had that dark hair in a very long time. It was taken at the Zebulon Freedom Run 5k on July 4th and I'm almost positive that it was in 1982, maybe 83. If it is 82, then I am in the process of running my 5k pr of 18:40. At the time I was still living in Fayetteville before I had moved to Zebulon. Another cool thing about this race was that my Mother, brother and wife also ran that day. I will not be running anywhere close to 18:40 in Cary this Saturday but you can bet I'll be giving 100% effort.

Stay tuned for the results

Oh, and for you NCRC and Raleigh area runners, that is Jim Young, former NCRC President and owner of Young and Associates timing company just behind me with the cool socks. He will be timing the race this weekend.

Things change so go with the flow

2011-02-18T19:54:00.003-05:00

It seems a bit strange to be sitting home this weekend with no race on the calender. For the 1st time since 2005 I am not entered in the Myrtle Beach Marathon and prior to that I had been to Holiday Lake since 2002. But neither one fit the plan for this year with my focus on racing Boston. I am really missing Holiday Lake since it was the site of my first 50K. Even when I started going to MB I could still go and volunteer but then a couple of years ago they started being on the same weekend. This year they happen to be separate again but I am at neither. Another odd thing is that I had not really planned on ever going to MB. I only decided to go in 2005 to pace Karla in her first Marathon a week after I ran the 40 miler at Uwharrie. After that I got talked into trying to qualify for Boston so I targeted MB in 2006 for that attempt. If everything goes to plan next year I will return to Holiday Lake.

So, since I am not racing I'll catch you up on how the training is going. If you read my last race report you know I had a cold the week leading up to it but still had a decent race running only 1.5 minutes slower than at Ocean Isle Beach last month. But then on Monday following the race I was hit with the evil stomach virus that is going around and it knocked me down hard. It took me all week to regain most of my strength but it was until this Wednesday that I finally was able to get back on track with the training. As it turns out if I had to get sick the timing was about right because last week was suppose to be a rest week anyway before moving into the final phase of training. I would prefer to rest some other way.

Anyway, two weeks ago I finished up the speed phase of the training in my modified marathon training plan I put together. Beginning this week with a set of 1/2 mile repeats I have now moved into the stamina phase which will consist of 1/2 mile and mile repeats between now and The Tobacco Road Half Marathon on March 20th. The first workout went very well and tomorrow I will be meeting the ladies for a 20 miler on the ATT race course.

Stay tuned for further updates

Goldsboro Heart and Sole Half Marathon

2011-02-06T11:37:00.005-05:00

Well, I have to say I'm mostly pleased with the effort this morning. I had been hoping for a better time but considering how yucky I felt all week leading up to this with a rare cold I'm very happy to have run as well as I did.

With the temps in the 30's and a 100% chance of rain in the forecast I wasn't really too excited about running anyway. Drove through a lot of rain on the way but was very happy that it had stopped when I arrived. Just before my arrival I got a voice mail from Lisa saying she would not be coming so I was a bit disappointed she couldn't join in the fun.

I picked up my race number and then saw Laura Frey and John Williamson briefly before heading off to do a warm-up mile. Then I barely made it to the start on time. By my watch they started 3 minutes early. I was just making my way up near the front when all of a sudden they said go so I just relaxed and worked my way up into position and settled in to pace.

I was hoping to average 7:59 pace or better and hit mile one in 8:18. Too slow but no worries. I was relaxed and just gradually piked up the pace. I was feeling pretty good but I could tell my chest was a little tight and I couldn't breathe too deeply. No problem now but as the race wore on I knew this could become an issue. We ran down a bit further and then did a u-turn. This was nice so we could see he rest of the runners in front and behind, but by the end there would be 6 of these u-turns which is a real annoying momentum killer. Saw Laura in 2nd place for the women and around 7th overall and John not too far back int about 12th.

I passed two miles in 7:26. Hmmm, I didn't feel I picked it up that much and was beginning to already wonder about the accuracy of the course. Passed by the first aid station just before 2.5 miles and it was not set up yet with just a case of gatorade bottles sitting there and no cups. I'm glad I don't usually drink in cold weather races less than the marathon. The 3 mile mark came on me suddenly but then I realized it was on the wrong side of the street and facing the wrong way. We had another u-turn just ahead and it was suppose to be facing us after the turn. Passed mile 3 in 7:56 and that felt about right and now I was settled in.

I was getting warm by mile 2 and had removed my vest and gloves and threw them by the road at some volunteers at an intersection. Now I was just cruising along and feeling pretty good. Passed mile 4 in 8:02 and then mile 5 in 8:01. It was obvious now that I would not be running any faster but hopefully I could hold on for a decent time. But then I passed mile 6 in 7:36 and another Hmmm, moment because I didn't feel I had changed my pace at all and with the flat course I can usually tell a difference. They call me the human metronome for my ability to pick and hold a pace. And then mile 7 was an 8:17 and I knew something was wrong because I'm sure my pace the last 3 miles had been very even.

Mile 8 was 8:38 and I was getting mad now. No way my pace was changing like this. I may be gradually slowing some but not these wild fluctuations. And now it started to rain, slowly at first but within a few minutes it was coming down pretty hard. Passed mile 9 in 8:32 and then mile 10 in 9:32. I just threw up my hands in dis-belief. Now freakin way I just ran that slow. I know I was still moving at at least 8:30 pace. Now I was getting really mad and my desire to push the pace had waned. How long is the race going to end up actually being?

I decided to just keep plugging along. By now I didn't care what the time was knowing what ever it would be screwed up. It's really hard to pace when the feedback is so out of line but at least I was still getting in a good hard workout. but really the only reason I didn't just coast it in was because it was still a race and I was still hoping that I may still place in my age group.

I passed mile 11 in a ridiculous 10:24. Now I was soaked , cold and ready to get this over with. Well, the next mile I had an amazing resurgence and ran it in 5:50. Yeah, right. I haven't run a sub 6 mile in 20 years. Just cruised it in and got my finish time and went straight to my car to change out of the wet clothes and get warm.

Warm and dry I made my way over to the community building to wait with John and Laura for the awards. Laura held on for 2nd woman overall. John was first master overall and I was surprised to find I had won my age group. There were several men I had noticed in front of me that looked like they may have been my age but they turned out to be younger.

Now I hope to recover completely from the cold and continue with the training. Next up will be a 5 k test on March 5th.

Getting ready for a cold rainy race

2011-02-04T16:29:00.003-05:00

Yes, tomorrow morning I am suppose to be racing in the 1st Goldsboro Heart and Sole Half Marathon and right now the weather report is for a start in the 30's and rain. Boooooooo !

This is the 2nd in a series of three halves I had planned in 4 week intervals in my training and build-up to Boston. I was really hoping for some nice weather to make up for the windstorm that Ocean Isle Beach turned out to be but not so lucky. I guess I'll just plan on being cold and miserable for a couple of hours and hopefully run well anyway. Running well also depends on just how well I'm feeling. I have been dealing with a rare cold most of this week. I almost never get sick and when i do come down with the occasional cold it hardly seems to affect me but this one got pretty rough for a couple of days with some fever and chills to go along with the other usual symptoms. Fortunately I am feeling much better today and it never really moved into my lungs.

I chose to enter this raced for a couple of reasons. The first being that that I wanted to get in a few hard efforts at the 13.1 mile distance in my Boston preparation. Second was that the timing fit my schedule perfectly. 3rd was the location. It's flat, fast and only an hours drive away so no overnight stay was needed and since I was born in Goldsboro so it gives me a good reason to go and visit family while I'm there. Also planning on eating post-race at Wilburs BBQ , the finest in the world for lunch.

My training partner Lisa will be running as well as Laura Frey and John Williamson,all of which ran at Ocean Isle Beach. We all have the same goal of running faster this month ! And we're all hoping for age group awards this time. I missed by one place last month. Karla was planning to run it but she has still not gotten back far enough from her foot injury to join in the fun just yet.

Here is a link to the race website.

Wish us luck and a break in the weather !

How much is too much?

2011-01-22T06:48:00.006-05:00

Seems this discussion comes up frequently when the subject of race entry fees and travel expenses is mentioned. Just the other day a friend posted on FB about entering the Chicago Marathon and several comments were generated so I thought I would expand on my thoughts of the subject.

Being a man of modest income I have limited resources to invest in my leisure activities and therefore have to budget my travel and race entries so I can certainly appreciate getting the most bang for the buck.

Some argue that there are enough events locally that traveling more than a couple of hours is unnecessary and there are plenty of free and low priced events. Yes, that is true , we are surely blessed in this area. Over the last decade I have participated in many of those. We have the shirt runs with the Mangum TC several times a year as well as many FA type runs all over the State throughout the year. One of my favorite runs is Catherine's Furnace at Massanutten Va put on by the VHTRC. Great course over beautiful mountain scenery, great camaraderie and a post run picnic all for the cost of the gas to drive 5 hours.

But sometimes a guy has to expand his horizons and see and experience new things. Seem that I was born to dream of wandering to see and explore new horizons. As far back as I can remember as a child I loved reading books about far away places, watching tv shows and movies and always wondering what it would be like to go to those places. Throw in a love of running and a schedule of races all over the country and the hard thing to do is to decide which few I can actually participate in.

So over the past several years that I have gotten into ultrarunning, I have planned my vacations around going to a couple of key races from my A list. When I do that it makes the actual cost of the event seem irrelevant to the overall cost of the trip. This has enabled me to see some wonderful parts of the country that I otherwise might not have ever seen. I have never flown to a race that I didn't spend a week away from home touring except once in 2007 when I ran the Rocky Raccoon 100 miler usually saving the weekend trips for a race within a 4 -5 hour drive at most.

I guess really the simple answer is that it's never too much if you enjoy the experience and it gives you a lifetime of memories.

Ocean Isle Bridge Run for Food Half-Marathon

2011-01-08T20:18:00.009-05:00

The defining word of the day for this race would have to be WINDY !!!

I was liking the fact that the race would not start until 9am allowing me to awaken at my normal time and not have to rush to get ready. I was staying in North Myrtle Beach, about 12 miles away. Just before I left to head over to the Island, I got a message from Laura Frey who was staying on the beach that it was a beautiful morning and mostly calm. That would quickly change.

I arrived to pick up my race number at 8am and met up with Lisa, Laura and John Williamson, who I just met this morning from Wake Forest. Already the wind was picking up with the temperature about 40f and sunny. About 8:30 Lisa and I ran a warm-up mile and as we ran into the wind we could tell a difference but it still hadn't began to blow like it would be soon.

We lined up with the 5k runners and the race got underway. I was running very relaxed and not getting caught up in the excitement as we began the first climb over the high bridge connecting to the mainland in the first half mile. I made sure to keep the effort easy until cresting and heading down the backside. I reached the 1 mile mark in 7:43, ahead of pace and feeling great. That boosted my confidence and then I saw Laura already around the turn and heading back toward the bridge. We high five'd and I continued on. Lisa was just a short distance behind me.

We were back climbing the bridge back to the Island at 1.25 miles in and once again I just relaxed until I was over the top. I passed mile 2 in 7:52 and made the turn toward the East side of the Island ( Ocean Isle Beach actually faces South as do Sunset and Holden Beaches) The wind was at my back now and I just relaxed and settled in to a strong pace. I was feeling fantastic at this point and felt I could hold this pace forever. Clicked off miles 3 and 4 in 7:53 and 7:51. Loving the even splits. About here we once again could see the lead runners coming back toward us as there was another turnaround just past mile 5. I was feeling great and got a little excited and ran that mile in 7:46 but I could also tell that the wind behind me had gotten stronger. I was not looking forward to starting back toward the west end of the Island.

Well it was worse than I thought it would be. I knew it was going to slow me a little and take more effort but by now the wind was blowing directly into our faces with nothing to slow it down. Steady 18mph wind with gust around 30mph. My time for mile 6 slowed all the way down to an 8:18 and I was putting out as much effort as earlier. All we could do was dig in and put the head down and push on. A small group of runners passed me slowly and I tried to fall in and draft but they pulled ahead anyway.

I missed the 7 mile mark but as I approached mile 8 the effort was wearing me down and the gust made me feel like I was running in place at times. I was really worried I had fallen even more off the pace but if I tried to go any harder I could feel a side stitch coming on. I was relieved at least to get to the split for mile 7 and 8 combined in 16:37 (still on 8:18 so i was at least consistently slow into the wind) Hit mile 9 in 8:26, discouraging but at least the course would turn out of the wind in another half mile for a brief time. After 4.5 miles into the headwind we turned into a neighborhood for about half a mile and I immediately felt better. I was afraid all the pushing would have zapped all my energy.

Too soon we were back into the headwind for another mile and I went through mile 10 in 8:27, my slowest of the day and the only thing keeping my spirits up was knowing the last 2.5 miles I would have a tailwind. As soon as I made the turn I had a surge in energy and picked up the pace and started reeling in a few runners. Passed mile 11 in 8:15 and I felt great. I continued to run well the last two miles in 8:11 and 8:05 and crossed the finish in 1:46:19. My goal had been 1:45 and with the tough conditions I feel confident I could have run between 1:43 and 1:44. My legs felt great all day and I was still strong at the finish boosting my confidence as my training for Boston advances.

Laura would go on to finish as 3rd woman overall in 1:31. Her splits showed the same story as mine. You could clearly see the miles that were into the wind. Lisa had a great race easily winning her age-group and setting a pr despite the wind. John would take 3rd in his age group. I was shut out of the awards myself coming in 4th. There were some very talented men competing with the winner for the 55-59 males in 1:27 !

Here is a link to the results.

Ocean Isle Beach Half Marathon Preview

2011-01-07T21:24:00.003-05:00

Time to start the new Year off with a test race and since the focus is on getting ready for Boston I chose to return to this race. As you can see in the photo , I have been here before. In 2006 as I was preparing to attempt to qualify for Boston at the MB Marathon in February, I made the trip with Jerry and the Werners to Ocean Isle Beach. I hated to skip the Frosty 50K, especially since The Ultra Angel would be making her Ultra debut but I had focused on preparing for Boston and an ultra didn't fit the plan.

It turned out to be a cold and windy morning for this race but my training was going well. Even so I must say I was shocked to run as well as I did finishing in 1:38 and winning my age-group. This was a good sign that I was on track for a marathon pr which I got along with the qualifier a few weeks later. Karla placed in her age group and ran a pr. We were both all smiles of course but at the time we didn't know that just 4 weeks later she would be diagnosed with stage 3 cancer. But that's another story.

So here I am again 5 years later but this time I already have my qualifier. No Jerry or Werners along this year but Mountain Girl Lisa is here and I expect she will probably run another pr. I know there is no way I can run 1:38 again but I will run as hard as I can and be thrilled if I can run 1:45 or better. North Raleigh Running Threat Laura Frey is running too and I look forward to her smoking the course tomorrow.

More details and report sometime tomorrow night.

2011-01-03T20:43:00.002-05:00

Leadville 2006 Report

Wednesday, August 23 2006 @ 09:39 AM PDT

Contributed by: joey

Views: 2,620

Oxygen? Who needs it? Well, I was afraid I would need to run with a canister as I prepared to leave for Leadville. The course would be difficult even at sea level but with altitude between 9,200 ft and 12,600 ft, this would likely be my toughest challenge to date. I did not have the luxury of time to go out to Colorado early to acclimate so I would just have to wait and see how it would affect me. I had been warned I would feel terrible and have headaches and nausea and that some people can have problems with HAPE ( high altitude pulmonary edema) above 10,000 ft without acclimation. There was only one way to find out. I was confident I would come home with a finisher's buckle despite the odds that usually less than 50% of starters make it to the finish line and most of those live at altitude. But those people that know me well, know that when I say I'm going to do something, it is wise not to bet against me.
I arrived in Leadville about 7:30 PM on Thursday before the race and drove straight to the condo I would staying in at Grand West Resort. I was a guest of my friend Anita Fromm, whom I had met while pacing at Umstead in 2005. We were joined by several other of Anita's friends that would be crewing and pacing for her. Another of her friends I had also met at Umstead, Vinny Swendson would be running and like me would go it alone without crew or pacer.

We were all off to bed early and then after a leisurely morning, we drove into town for packet pick-up and the pre-race briefing. We then returned to the condo to relax and prepare for the 4am Saturday start. I was anxious to go ahead and run. So far I had no problems with the altitude, but I did notice just going up the stairs that my heart rate would rise quickly. I spent most of the day sitting on the porch of the condo enjoying the gorgeous view right outside our door. The temperature ranged from 40F to the upper 50's , a welcome break for the muggy 80's and 90's I had left behind in NC.

Finally after a short night's sleep, I arose at 2am. A couple of cups of coffee and we were off to the start in downtown Leadville. I was able to see several of my friends while we waited. Joe and Hannah Lugiano and Bill and Sally Squires from the NCRC. Doug and Merrie Dawkins from the Mangum Track Club and Gary and Keith Knipling from the VHTRC as well as some other familiar faces. After a few pictures the time was at hand.

I had hoped to run as much as possible with Anita and we lined up together after a prayer and a hug. As the shotgun blasted to send us on our way, it soon was evident I would not be running with Anita today. She has been living at altitude and training every weekend on the course, so within a half-mile and the first uphill I had to let her go. I could not afford to go anaerobic this day. At this point I still didn't even know if I could run in this thin atmoshere so I was starting out very easy. As we reached the Blvd, a long straight downhill dirt road, I was taking it easy and soon joined by Doug. It was nice to be able to run a couple of the early miles with him, but when we hit the flat road leading to Turquoise Lake, I gradually begin to pull away. So far I was feeling good and not having any trouble breathing.

Soon I reached the trail along the North side of the lake. At least they say there is a lake. It was still pitch black and I was having to keep me eyes on where I was going. By now the pack of 388 starters had began to spread out. I was content to stay in line and not try to pass anyone at this point as the pace was very comfortable. As we reached the mid-point of the trail, it was amazing to see the the lights of so many runners snaking along the contours of the lake in front and behind me.

Finallly, just as it was becoming light enough to see without my flashlight, I emerged from the trees into MayQueen Campground at 13.5 miles. I was greeted by Dave Hardwick, who was out to crew for Doug. Dave is a former resident of NC and a MTC member as well as a finisher of this race. Doug's wife Merrie was also there and greeted me with a hug.Then Sally was there to cheer me in. As I enter the aid station tent, another friend from NC, Scott Brockmeier came over to fill my water bottle. Scott was there to crew and pace another Tarheel, Bobby Biles. My time in was exactly what I was hoping for. I was quickly on my way and as I headed up the road toward the trailhead to Hagerman Pass Rd, there was Hannah cheering me on. Wow, was I really 2,000 miles from home? It was great to have some support from friendly faces.

Soon I turned onto a section of the Colorado trail and my first challenge of the day. This would be the first significant climb of the race. The trail was beautiful and I passed several creeks flowing down into the lake below. Although I was breathing harder than normal I still felt fine and fell into a good rhythm on the climb. I soon reached Hagerman Pass Rd. Although it still is uphill, it was not so steep that I couldn't run a little and so I did to keep the pace up. Thje course then turned to climb up a jeep trail to the top of Sugar Loaf Pass. Looking down the side of the Mt. I could see MayQueen straight down below. As I turned to make the climb, I noticed a runner in front of me wearing a hat from Inside-Out Sports just like mine. As I caught up to him, I took a wild guess that he might be from NC too. It turned out to be Guido Ferrari from Durham NC. I had seen his name in some results before but we had never met. We talked for a while before I backed off the pace a little and he disappeared in the distance. He was a really nice person and I'm sure we will see each other in some local races.

Before long I finally reached the top of the pass and looked forward to some downhill running. It was here that I had the pleasure of meeting the lovely Beth Simpson of Wisconsin. We ran and talked for a couple of miles but then as the descent turned steeper I lost contact with her. That woman can move down a hill. I can run fairly well on technical downhills but she was soon out of sight. The last portion of this segment is a scary ,steep rutted path straight down the powerline easement into the valley. After taking a photo, down I flew to the bottom. From there it is a short run on pavement into the Fish Hatchery aid station and the 23.5 mile mark . Once again all my friends were there cheering as they waited on their runners. and I was still on pace and making time on the cut-offs. I was still feeling great and again I was out quickly eating a handful of cookies as I walked away.

The next section was a bit strange at the time but in retrospect I guess it was about normal. The course from here begins on pavement for a couple of miles and it is flat or slightly downhil. I expected to be able to run well here and make up some time, but I had to walk nearly as much as I ran. Thinking back I seem to hit a low point around this distance in all my ultra's, but then rebound and start to feel good again around 30 miles. After a couple of miles I turned and crossed a pasture and then onto the dirt road leading to Halfmoon campground. I was feeling good as I passed through the Treeline crew point and was having fun playing the crowd. I was wearing the "Too DumbTo Quit" shirt that Anita had given me to wear at Massanutten last year and it was proving to be very popular with runners, crew and spectators alike. I heard dozens of comments about it the whole day. After passing Treeline, the course continues a long gradual climb to the Halfmoon aid station. I was still on my planned pace and after a quick refill and a few bites to eat I headed out.

The course continues on the dirt road a while longer before turning onto the trail leading to Twin Lakes. It was here I almost made my first mistake. I was taking in a wonderful view and decided it would make a nice picture. I stepped to the side of the road to take the shot. There were 3 runners just ahead of me and as I was returning the camera to my pouch and about to follow after them, a runner came up behind me and yelled to the other three that they were going the wrong way. I looked behind me and I was standing in the entrance to the trail , clearly marked with several ribbons. I guess I better pay a little more attention to where I'm going.

This next section was my favorite of the day. After a little more climbing, there is a long, sweet ,mostly downhill single-track all the way down into Twin Lakes. I was feeling great at this point and running strong. I was truly in my element. It is times like these that I wish my family and closest friends could see the world through my eyes and feel what I feel so they could share the experience and understand the joy it brings me. I do the next best thing and talk to them in my mind while I run and I can feel their spirits with me as I know they are back home thinking about me. This is also one of the main reasons I write these reports. I must have passed 20 runners along this path before finally dropping steeply into the aid station at 39.5 miles. Again I made great time coming in and was still right on pace.

I was eager to be on my way and face the challenge that lay ahead of me across the valley. Hope Pass, at 12,600 ft is the make or break point for a majority of runners. Many dreams have died on that climb. It is infamous for the quickly changing weather conditions that can go from sunny and fairly warm to rain, sleet , hail and lightning in minutes. I was mentally prepared for whatever the Mt might throw at me today. I would approach it just as I had hundreds of opponents in sparring matches in my former years in Martial Arts. You might kick my butt, but first you have to show me what you've got. I know what's inside me and I'm not going down easy. Bring it on Hope Pass, let's see what you got.

But first I had to run across the valley floor through meadow and bog. There are a couple of little creeks and one major stream, Lake Creek. Today it was flowing well and just over knee high on me. Very refreshing as it had gotten warm and the sun shines hot up here in the thinner air. I was running fairly well here and after probably 30 minutes entered the forest at the base of the climb. As I began the ascent, there was a creek rushing in torrents down the side of the Mt . I would liked to have been able to enjoy the view a little more but I had a hard task ahead of me. I knew that the climbs out here would be long and slow. Wishing I was at the top would not get me there so I just put my eyes on the trail in front of me and walked, never looking at my watch or looking ahead. I would get to the top when I got there.

The climb quiclky became steep and it was obvious this would not be easy. Although I was not having any ill effects such as headache or nausea from the altitude, I was working hard to suck in as much oxygen as possible. Every step upward I took was going to have less air pressure than the one before it and already my chest was heaving like a bellows. But I continued to climb steadily and passed a dozen people as I made my determined way up. After about an hour of steady, hard climbing I was beginning to reel from the body punches the mountain was hitting me with. I was about to take a knee and take a short break, but then the trail leveled out for a short distance and that was all I needed to recover enough to continue. It wasn't much longer before I broke through the treeline and into the Hopeless aid station.

I refilled my bottle and grabbed a cup of mashed potatos and begin to look for a place to sit to eat and take a short break. I found a spot on a log next to Gary Knipling. I was not really happy to see Gary. Normally he would be a couple of hours ahead of me in a race of this length and it was obvious Gary was not feeling good. He and his son Keith are trying to be the first Father and Son to complete the Grand Slam of ultrarunning and I was worried that he would not be finishing if he didn't start to feel better. He headed up the final climb to the summit before me, but I soon passed him again. What a feeling to finally reach the summit! I was on top of the world, still feeling great and had a nice long downhill ahead. I was hit with a cold blast of wind at the top so I quickly headed down the backside. I was soon making good time and running with a young man. The trail is very steep , narrow and rocky so we were both trying to keep it in control. It would be stupid to get this far feeling this good only to be careless and get injured.

Just as we dipped back below the treeline, the Mt decided to keep it's reputation for bad weather intact. It began to rain and hail. As I ran down it rained harder and the hail got larger and was starting to sting. The trail was already a bit wet, but now was qucikly becoming slick and muddy and with the steepness of the trail, even more treacherous. Most people around already had on jackets or were putting them on. I was still warm so I decided to leave mine around my waist and change shirts at Winfield. As the young guy stopped to put on his jacket I started running behind another man. In a few minutes I was smiling to myself. The guy was slipping every 3rd or 4th step and nearly fell 5 or 6 times. I found this amusing because while he was wearing trail shoes designed for these kind of conditions, I was wearing my regular Asics road shoes that I always wear and I never lost traction a single step of the way down to the bottom even though we were running the same pace.

Not long after reaching the bottom and turning onto Winfield road, I saw Anita and her first pacer coming towards me. She was looking great and after a quick hug we went off in seperate directions to finish our runs. I was now regretting my decision to leave my jacket off. I was feeling cold and was anxious to get to Winfield and get into something dry. Finally made it in and began searching for my drop bag. It took a few minutes but I finally found it. Unfortunately I had not put a shirt in the bag after all. While I was standing there dreading going back out into the cold rain with wet clothes, I began talking to Bunny Runyon, who was waiting for Gary to come in. She said Bobby was injured so Scott was going to wait and pace Gary. About that time Scott came in. I was happy to find that Scott had an extra short-sleeve shirt in his car and he ran out to get it for me. I was beginning to question my decision to turn down an offer for a crew member before the race. I am very thankful that Scott was there and could help me. I got dressed and then went over to the food tent for some noodle soup with some potatoes floating around in it. I had spent a long time here but it worked out well because the rain stopped just as I walked out. I left at 13:02, exactly the time I had planned and was confident of a finish, although I knew it would not be easy with 50 hard miles to go.

It took a mile or so before I started to get warm again, but finally started feeling good again and I was able to run most ot the way back to the trail head. I was looking for my NC friends hoping to see them soon. I knew if they weren't in sight soon they would not make the cut-off. Right after I turned off Winfield road, Bill Squires came running down the Mt. I told him I was sorry but he only had 23 minutes to go about 2.5 miles uphill. Bill took off and gave it his best effort but missed the cut-off by about 20 minutes. Before long ,there was Doug. He was happy to finally make it over Hope Pass for the first time. Soon after that I finally saw Joe. I was really hoping he could have made it this year. I know how hard he has trained and wants to do this successfully.

The trail up the backside to Hope Pass is a little shorter and not as much elavation gain as the frontside but it is steeper and before long I was huffin' and puffin' like The Little Engine That Could. Once again, head down and get down to business. Just after emerging above treeline again , I spotted a nice rock on the side of the trail. The view was magnificent so I thought a picture would be nice. It was a good excuse to take a short break. I'm glad I did because after reviewing the photos at home, I think it turned out to be the best landscape photo I have ever taken. It was near 7 pm and the lighting was perfect for the shot. I was quickly back on the trail and ready to get the climb behind me. Just before reaching the summit I saw Beth just ahead of me again. She had changed jackets, but I recognized her black running skirt. I caught her just before we went over the top so we stopped and took pictures of each other. Once again as we headed down ,she pulled away, flying down the Mt.

I didn't waste much time at Hopeless, just refilling my bottle and snapping a picture of some of the llamas that bring the supplies for this aid station. It was great to be heading back down. I had successfully made my way over Hope Pass both directions. Woohoo!!

A little over halway down I heard Rob Saraneiro come up behind me. His was a familiar face from the VHTRC but we had never been introduced. We enjoyed the rest of the trip down to the flats. He seems to be a fine young man and kept calling me sir. It's nice to see a respectful young person but it just reminds me that I look a lot older than I feel. It was about this time that I discovered mistake #2. Rob and I had both left our lights for night running at Twin Lakes, but we had both mis-calculated how early it would get dark. It shouldn't have been a problem because I was prepared. I had my back-up light in my pocket so I pulled it out and was going to help lead Rob in. Unfortunately ,I hadn't unscrewed the flashlight a little after using it in the morning and it had accidently come on at some point during the day in my back pocket and was now very dim. We made it to the creek crossing ok, but after that it became very dark. The Moon was not out and from the lack of stars I knew it was overcast. My night vision with a flashlight is not very good and the little bit of beam coming from this one was not much help. I had to walk slowly to stay on the trail, which was very frustrating because I wanted to be running this easy part of the course. Somehow Rob was able to move on ahead. Younger eyes help I guess.

Just before crossing the road to head into Twin Lakes, it began to rain again. The aid station was crammed with people but I finally was able to find a chair and change shirts while a volunteer filled my bottle and got me some noodles and coke. I wasn't too excited about heading back out into the cold rain, but once I got started it wasn't too bad. I now had my main lights and had replaced the battery in my back-up saw I was prepared to face the night. There is a signicant climb for the first few miles but I was still moving along fine. I was amazed to have come back into Twin Lakes only 4 minutes slower than I had gone into Winfield and that included having to walk a big portion of the easy part, so my confidence level was still high.

Before long I realized I had made mistake #3 and this would prove to be the big one. The wet stream crossings and the mud had caused me to accumulate small grit into my shoes and it was imbedded into my socks now and wearing like sandpaper on the forepads of my feet. I couldn't believe I was letting this happen because I had clean shoes and socks back at Twin Lakes. 5 minutes spent back there would probably have saved me an hour or possibly two at the end.

As I walked along this climb I noticed how quiet the Mts are here. The only sound other than my breathing and footsteps were the occasional sounds of flowing water from a nearby stream. No bugs, frogs or whooperwhills here. At this time back East, you could have barely have heard yourself think for all the wildlife racket going on. I eventually made it back to Halfmoon. I had some dry , clean socks here but the damage had already been done. My energy level was finally dropping from all the heavy breathing I had been doing all day. I wasn't feeling bad but my chest muscles were tiring out on me, not being used to breathing as hard as I had been doing all day. As a result I would not be doing nearly as much running as I would like. Even the mostly downhill road back to Treeline would be hard for me. To make matters worse, walking hurt my feet more than running.

Just before reaching the Fish Hatchery, I stepped to the side of the road to pee, and Gary and Scott came running by. I was happy to see Gary was still moving and I ran into the aid station just behind them. I changed socks again and then headed out to face the final major climb, that sick , steep. scary rutted powerline and onto the top of Sugar Loaf Pass. My pace had slowed quite a bit but I wasn't concerned because I still felt I could walk it in from here and get my finish. The problem was I needed to walk fast and I wasn't. And every step my feet seemed to hurt more. I think this is probably the longest climb on the course and I began to lose my patience. Instead of climbing like I had up Hope Pass, I began to strain my eyes upwards looking for the next glow stick, only to be disappointd to see it further up. It seemed like an eternity before I finally reached the summit .

Now at last I could run some more, but no, my feet hurt so bad . The jeep road here was rocky and rutted and I had to be very careful where to place my feet. I was able to run about halfway down to Hagerman Pass road but the pace was glacial and painful. The Leadville 100 was no longer fun, but a chore to be finished and I was ready for it to be over. At least when I finally reached Hagerman Pass road, I was able to run most of it because of its easier surface. I was eager to get back on the Colorado trail back into MayQueen and the last aid station. I couldn't remember how long that section would be but it soon added to the frustration I was feeling. As I neared the bottom I could hear and see the lights just below and to my right .The trail however turned uphill and to the left. But I don't want to go this way, i want to go down there! Every step away was making me more frustrated. Finally with about two hundred yards to get to the road, I tripped over a rock and landed hard on both knees.. Just a few scratches on the left . The right was not even marked but the kneecap was bruised and throbbing. Well at least I forgot me feet for a minute. After an angry moment I setttled down and from that point on I was back to my normal good natured self again. I had just about thrown all my hard effort away by losing my patience and getting injured. God has a way of getting my attention every now and then and reminding me how good I really have it.

I wasted no time in Mayqueen as bad as I wanted to sit and stay a while. I had 4:15 to get to the finish and I knew it would be a slow 13.5 miles. I tried to run on the flat campground road but it was a pathetic looking shuffle I'm sure. I had forgotten how rocky and hilly the first few miles of the Lake Trail were. It was slowing my progress quite a bit. Gary went by me shortly and I was very happy to know he had recovered enough and was going to finish. Then I heard someone else come up behind me. It was Ray Gruenewald from Seattle. I had just met Ray here in Leadville this weekend and we had been leapfrogging each other all day at the aid stations. Ray was planning to follow me into the finish and the plan was working. We didn't do much talking In fact I hadn't done much talking this whole race. It just took too much air to talk and walk at the same time. We stayed together all the way to the campground past the Tabor Boat ramp but I heard nature's call and decided to use the facilities in the campground. I had no doubt I would make it to the finish now so I was in no hurry. The time didn't matter or who finished in front of me. I just wanted to get there with as little pain as possible. I had to wait so I filled my bottle at a spigot and adjusted my jacket and vest and pouch while I waited.

Soon I was on my way again. There was one more cruel obstacle in my way. Leaving the lake, the course crossed a road and took a short cut to another road down a very steep, rocky powerline. It was killing my poor feet as I slowly inched my way down. At last I was on the flat road heading back towards town. I ran/ walked this section as well as I could and then reached the end of the Blvd, approximately 5K to go. This would turn out to be a long slow hot climb. I don't know what the temperature was but the sun was beating down and it felt a lot hotter than it probably was. And it was all uphill to town from here so I walked and I walked and I walked. And then I walked. Finally I could spot the end ot the road and as I made the turn off of Blvd , I could hear the cheers of the crowd at the finish line. I was still walking and climbing but as the road flattened out I tried to run and felt like I was going to pass out. Now wouldn't this be great. Get within a mile of the finish and end up in the medical tent with a stupid DNF from trying to run it in. That's OK . I'm not too proud to walk across the finish line. I make the turn onto 6th street and I know the finish is just over the hill and finally there it is in sight. A little downhill and then a short uphill to the line. I tried to run down the hill but the woozy feeling instantly came back so I go back to the plan to walk it in. Just as I start up the final hill, Hannah calls out from the side of the road. "Come on Joey, you can do this. Run it in. Joe's waiting to take your picture" I just mumble something about I can't so she runs out into the road and urges me to run beside her. I slowly start running with her when seemingly out of nowhere 3 or 4 other women surround me urging me to run it in. The crowd is cheering so with my escorts I somehow find the strength to run up the carpet and through the finish tape.

Everything seemed to be a blur. My head felt like a brick and I couldn't speak in complete sentences. I remember seeing Joe and the camera and out of nowhere the RD, Merilee gives me a hug and someone puts a medal around my neck. VInny is waiting there. All I can think is that I want some coke and I want to sit down. That turns out to be exactly what they want me to do. Every finisher has to immediately go to the medical tent and let them check your lungs for fluid and check your blood oxygen levels. It only takes a minute for someone to come check me out. She says I'm fine and I smile. Yes I am. I did it. I have finished The Race Across the Sky, The Leadville Trail 100!

Here is the link to the photos

Looking forward to 2011

2010-12-31T09:44:00.005-05:00

( photo taken on Tahoe Rim Trail in 2007)

New years Eve and I am eagerly awaiting the big plans I have for the coming year. I just had my annual physical this week and the Dr. says I am in amazingly good health as usual. I am also feeling great and the training continues to go well and bring me great enjoyment. I look forward to spending many hours out on the roads and trail with my friends and making new ones along the way. So here are the big events I have planned so far.

Jan: Ocean Isle Beach Half Marathon
Feb: Heart and Soul Half marathon- Goldsboro
Mar: Tobacco Road Half Marathon
April: BOSTON Marathon !

After Boston I will once again return my focus to Ultra's

April : Promise Land 50K
May: New River Marathon
June: Boogie 50 miler ( This depends on the arrival of my 3rd Grand- Child which is due on the 10th.)
July: Tahoe Rim 100Mile, my first attempt at a 100 in 3 years.
Sept: Hinson Lake 24 Hour
Nov: Mountain Masochist 50Mile +
Derby 50K

That's all for now. I will probably add a few more events as the year progresses.

Happy New Year !

Looking back on another great year

2010-12-26T20:21:00.004-05:00

It's the day after Christmas and I'm looking at 10" of snow on the ground so while I'm snowbound with no more plans for the year, it is time to reflect on what has been another fantastic year in my life.

2009 had been a re-building year with my focus on cross-training and preparing for Ironman but after that event my focus returned to running with a long range plan of returning to the Boston Marathon in 2011. Karla and I had agreed that once she was again strong enough , we would return one more time and so now that we were both healthy it was time to focus our training on that goal.

I began the year off with a good start running a strong 5k on Jan. 1st at the Resolution Run. I followed up a week later with a 50k Pr at the Salem Lakeshore Frosty Fifty K on a frigid morning. Not bad for a 54 year old with 50+ ultra's under his belt. The day was made even more special by making the trip with 3 of my Angel Team, Karla, Lisa and Jenn.

Now the focus would be on training for our Boston qualifying attempt. Over the next two months there would be no racing but many long runs and nights running in the cold and dark on track nights. One particular workout stands out on March 2. It was 35F, raining and the wind was blowing 20mph with gust up to 30mph yet Karla and I got out in it and ran 6 x 800m. Lisa was with us on all of our weekend long runs and finally the test would come at the American Tobacco Trail Marathon on March 21st. It was a perfect day for the race and all three of us would qualify as I ran my fastest marathon since Feb 2006.

Now with the pressure off to qualify I could focus on just having some fun over the next several months. In April I ran the Tarheel 10 miler for fun with Karla and she ran a pr. Then two weeks later I traveled to Asheboro with Karla and Frank to run the 5k there where I ran a good time and won my age-group.

2 weeks later on May 2nd it was off to Cincinnati with the Werners and Jerry for the Flying Pig Marathon. I had a disappointing race but a fun trip. Followed that up a week later and ran a 21:33 5k in Garner which was my fastest time in a few years.

On June 12th I returned to The Bethel Hill Moonlight Boogie for the 50 miler. Despite one of the hottest years ever, I was able to complete it for my longest run in over two years.

On July 10th I had probably the most fun of the year making the trip to Grandfather Mountain Marathon accompanied by by my wonderful team of Angels, The Marathon Princess, Mountain Girl and Ultra Angel. This would be a special year as I planned to do the first Grandfather Mountain "Double" Marathon. I would run the race with Karla in 4:56 and then run back to the start in Boone with Jenn. Lisa and Karla would crew for me on the return trip which I completed in 11:33 to be the first person to ever do it. Woohoo , a world record !

Now once again it was time to begin focusing on preparing to get in the best possible shape over the next few months with the long range goal of running fast at Boston next April.

The remainder of July was for recovery and then training through August. On Sept 12th I made the trip to Allentown PA for the Lehigh Valley Marathon with the Werners. We had a great trip and I ran my 2nd fastest marathon ever in 3:44,another Boston qualifier.

Returned to the Selma Railroad Run 5k in Oct and was 2nd in my age group in a fairly good time of 21:57 and then a week later made the trip with Karla and Lisa to the New River Trail 50k. Not my day but it was a beautiful day on a lovely course and a great race by Annette Bednosky and her crew of volunteers.

2 weeks later I would have my longest mileage training week ever at 102 miles.

Then in November I returned for my 4th OBX Marathon. Another disappointing outcome but another wonderful weekend with friends , the Howells and Werners.

I finished up my racing year with a good time at my 7th Derby 50k running 4:55.

Overall a very good year and I am so fortunate to have some wonderful friends and training partners to share it with. But besides running this was certainly a FANTASTIC year personally as I was Blessed with the birth of two beautiful Grand-Daughters, Aurora Ann on Feb 11 and Rachel Marie on Dec 18. Now that is something to look back on with pride and joy !!

Total races so far

2010-12-10T07:31:00.005-05:00

The picture is me finishing my 1st Marathon in Wilmington NC in March 1981. I would not enter another marathon until November of 2002 after running my 1st ultra in Feb of 2002. There were quite a few other shorter races before this one and many since so with nothing else planned for 2010 I thought I would do a little re-cap of the number of races I have completed.

Total # of running races since my first 10K in March 1978 is 312.

Of those 312, 34 are marathons and 57 are ultra-marathons and all of them have been since 2002 except for that first marathon. From the first one in 78-79 I did 26 races. The decade of the 80's I did 120. the 90's I didn't do much running at all but I did compete in 24 races. the decade from 2000 to 2009 was my most prolific decade of racing years with 130.

Pr's
1 mile, 5:25
5k, 18:40
10k 39:00
10 mile, 64:42
half marathon, 1:34:42 ( always thought this was soft compared to my 10k-10 mile pr's but had few options back then to run a fast course on a cool day)
Marathon, 3:35:15 (at age 50!)
50K, 4:44:11 (at age 54)
50mile, 10:34:20 ( I've run faster several times in the middle of other longer races)
100 mile, 23:15:59. (in 2007 at age 51)

In addition to those I have completed 48 Triathlons since 1998 including my one and only Ironman at Coeur D'Alene ID in 2009

I did one Duathlon in 2002.

so that's it.

Looking forward to continuing with another great decade of racing ahead. and I may be delusional but at age 55 I think I may still have a shot at improving my pr's in all distances from the marathon up to 100 miles so stay tuned.

26 Miles To go

2010-12-09T14:01:00.003-05:00

This video is a song I wrote and recorded back in 2006. I was driving back from Virginia and it came to me while cruising down I-95 and I wrote it on a notepad as I was driving. Not the smartest thing to do but I knew if I didn't write it down while it was flowing from my brain that I would lose it. The inspiration was from the experience of training and qualifying for the Boston Marathon and the group of people who were a big part of that.

Now that I had the lyrics I was determined to make it into a song but I didn't know if I would have the necessary skill to actually pull off what I was hearing in my head. I also had no way of recording it so I used it as an excuse to go to Guitar Center and buy a Digitech GNX4 guitar processor with a built in digital recorder. As soon as I arrived home I set it up in my kitchen and began trying to figure out how to use the machine and practice the song.

I became very excited as I soon figured out that I would actually be able to do what I wanted. The first thing was to get the intro recorded and after I was satisfied with it I set the drum machine to the tempo and beat I wanted and recorded the guitar rhythm track with my Stratocaster played thru a Crate XT120R amp. If I had more time and access to a better recording software I would have been able to do more with the basic track but since I didn't I was limited to a very simple line with the drum machine.

Next I used the Ibanez bass guitar I had given my younger son to lay down the bass track. Then it was time to record the vocal track. I was not really satisfied with the singing but under the circumstances I was happy just to get it done. Next I took the whole set-up over to a dinner at Margo's house and had all my friends sitting around the dinner table to sing along on the chorus.

The next day i went back and recorded the lead fills and solo guitar to complete my first ever recording !!

here are the liner notes I added for the cd

"Once a decade someone comes along to
shake up the Rock establishment.
Anderson will affect everything you
listen to for at least
the next 10 years."
Creamed Magazine

"Each generation has it's Guitar hero
to inspire millions of young people
to pick up a guitar.Hendrix,Van Halen,
Stevie Ray
Joey Anderson is our Guitar Hero for
the 21st century"
Geetar Playa Magazine

50 years in the making. Well the wait
was more than worth it. Every so often
an artist or band comes along and
completely changes how we listen to
music. From Elvis to the Beatles.
Led Zeppelin and Arena rock. The Sex
Pistols and Punk. The re-birth of
Metal in the 80's. Nirvana and Grunge
in the 90's. Now we have, well I'm not
really sure what we have but it's really
good. And I should know.

(Insert name of your favorite Rock Critic)

Track One: 26 Miles to Go
written by Joey Anderson
Track Two: Moonlight Boogie
written by Joey Anderson
Track Three: Hinson Lake Blues
written by Joey Anderson
Track 4: I'm an Ironman
written by Joey Anderson ( are you seeing a trend here?)

Now thats more like it.. Derby 50K 2010

2010-11-30T20:05:00.002-05:00

Well, I had planned to start out slow and see how I felt but not this slow. As Race Director Mark Long said go, I looked down to start my Garmin and realized I had not turned it on and acquired the satellites. Ok, no panic today. I just turned it on and began walking veerrrry slowly until they figured out where I was which took just over a minute. This of course had me well behind the other nearly 100 other entrants but I had 31 miles to make up that little bit of time.

The morning had begun very early for me as I awoke at 4am and then headed over to Cary to meet with Lisa and Amy to carpool to the race. We made good time and arrived at the Derby Community Center where I had nearly an hour to visit with many running friends from the MTC and also some NCRC friends that had made their way down to attempt their 1st Derby. Through Facebook we had agreed that this would be a kilt run so Lisa, Amy, Ken Hamilton ,Charles Akers and myself all lined up sporting our Sportkilts.

So, now I found myself at the back of the pack and began to slowly move my way up into the field of runners. I was just relaxing and snapped a few pictures along the way. After about two miles the pack had spread out and I caught up to Lisa around the 2 mile mark. We ran together from there chatting like we were on one of our normal Saturday long runs together until we reached aid station 1 just past mile 4 where we were greeted by Mrs.Doom, Rosemary and the Professor. I was happy to see that after the 1st mile I was running 9 minute miles and it felt very easy so I just grabbed a cup of gatorade and decided to pick it up a notch over the next section to see how I felt.

The next part of the loop is the easiest and my favorite including a sweet gradual downhill on Sycamore Lane and then the mostly flat dirt road section. It is a 5k to the next aid station and I averaged 8:55 and felt fantastic. Now I just had to see how it felt going up the long hill back up to Derby Road. That felt easy too and I was able to maintain pace without trying and completed the 1st loop averaging 8:59 for that 3.25 mile section. I dropped my waist pack off by my car and quickly headed out for loop two on a mission. The PR attempt was on.

By now the weather was perfect for running warming into the low 50's. I was pushing the pace just slightly on the downhills and then easing off just a little on the climbs. I didn't want to push too much because I still had a long 20 miles to go but I was really feeling good about things and smiling to myself to be running so well and having so much fun. I was back into AS 1 a little faster this lap averaging 8:54. In and out quickly and back onto Sycamore Lane, running strong and loving life, singing songs in my head that I've been practicing lately. Unfortunately I lollygagged a little once I hit the dirt road and ran it slower than the 1st lap but still my overall pace was below pr pace.

I covered the next section to finish lap two within 2 seconds of the time for the first lap and quickly ran on gaining confidence that I could get that pr today. Back into to AS 1 for the last time and only slightly slower than lap two. Another 1.2 miles down Sycamore Lane and I passed the marathon point in 3:57:17. Now if I could just hold on for another 5 miles. I had run that last section at 8:50 pace and was moving along well on the dirt road but then the slow fade began and by the time I hit AS 2 for the last time, I had slowed considerably and things weren't looking good.

I made one last push to try and pick the pace back up but after another 1/2 mile it was over. There would be no pr today. I had to began doing a run/walk up that last mile long hill and to add insult to injury I was passed by two runners that I had passed earlier, the first people to pass me all day. And then on the homestretch I was passed by two others. But even with the disappointment of losing it the last 3.5 miles, I am still very happy to have run so well considering how the last couple of races have gone. I ended up in 24th place out of 81 finishers and 2nd Grandmaster. Even if I had gotten the PR, I still would not have beaten 53 year old Mike Riggins from SC who ran a 4:23 ! I was first kilt !

Sadly, Lisa had a bad day and dropped after one loop so we waited together for Amy. I was so happy and proud to see her finishing her first ultra, just two weeks after her 2nd marathon at OBX. Husband and wife team Charles and Blanca Akers got their first ultra finishes together and Olga Kruger from NCRC also finished her first one. Overall a great day! Thanks to Mark and his volunteers !

Now I look forward to a few easy weeks and then into some serious marathon training for Boston.

Here are some photos from the race.

Derby 50K 2010 Preview

2010-11-25T07:59:00.003-05:00

Going to the Derby 50K has become a Thanksgiving Weekend tradition for me since 2003. I regret now that I didn't run that 1st one but at the time I was still fairly new at ultra running and didn't think I had had enough time to recover from my last race and prepare for the next one on my schedule. I did however go down and volunteer and then ran the third lap with the Finkles. I have since raced every year and include myself in a small group of 6 that have raced it 6 times. My buddy Tony Rouse is now the only one to have run every year with 7 finishes.

The picture above is from 2007 with Jenn the Ultra Angel before her first one. I ran a PR 4:46:58 that year and it remained my pr until I ran 4:44 at Frosty Fifty this past January. Derby doesn't have age group awards but I was the first Grandmaster in 06 and 07. My streak of "wins" was broken in 08 when I just ran to finish due to my nagging hamstring injuries and would take off 6 weeks immediately
afterwards and then last year I ran with Karla in her first ultra.

Derby is one of the rare road ultra's and although it has some rolling hills I consider it a pretty fast course. With the way things have been going in my last two races I'm not sure what will happen this weekend. I would like to race it and go for yet another 50k pr and at my age I know I won't have too many more opportunities to do that. My plan is to take it very easy the first two or three miles and then pick it up to pr pace and see how I feel and go from there.You never know about these things so you just take the good days when they come. If I figure out I 'm not going to get the pr I will probably drop back and run with Amy (Marathon Mom) Surrette who is eager to run her first ultra. Lisa will be running her first Derby and 2nd ultra and I expect she will once again do well. Sadly, The Marathon princess won't be returning as she is resting a nagging foot injury and Jenn has to work.

Stay tuned for the results

Here is the race website

OBX Marathon 2010

2010-11-23T20:10:00.003-05:00

OK, so it didn't go quite as well as I hoped but I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I knew when I made the decision to do my 100 mile training week just 3 weeks before the race that I was probably killing any chance of a fast time but it's what I wanted to do so I have no regrets. Just make a note that when preparing for a fast marathon , do not run a 50k race 5 weeks before, followed by a 102 mile week and then do two more weeks of 49 and 48 miles and call it a taper.

The weekend itself was wonderful. I was once again a guest of Mike and Lisa Howell at their home in Kill Devil Hills, just a block away from the race course. It was a beautiful weekend except for some strong wind on Saturday which we spent goofing off all day.

Mike dropped Lisa and I at the start Sunday morning and we quickly found Karla and Amy and also spent some time talking to Bill and Sally Squier. After chatting a bit I ran a short warm up and made my way to the start. They had a lady that did the most incredible job of singing the National Anthem that I have ever heard. Simply awesome and inspiring.

Once the race started I settled into an easy feeling pace, just letting people pass me and trying not to get sucked into to speeding up. The first mile was still a little faster than I had wanted in 8:32 but at least not over my goal pace of 8:23. After that I fell into a nice rhythm and was steadily clicking off the miles , all within a few seconds of my goal pace. But just like last year it soon became obvious that I was not going to be able to hold that pace comfortably much longer.

Just as we were entering Nags Head Woods , I shut it down at exactly the same place as last year. I was surprised that Lisa passed me there ,well ahead of her goal pace. I knew she would be along shortly but not that soon. Unlike last year I was not going to just slow down and hope to still run a fast time. That didn't work out too well as I blew up hard and suffered mightily the last 8 miles or so. This year I just decided to get to the finish as comfortably as possible so I began walking the hills through the woods.

Once I came out of the woods and back onto the flat roads I took a short break and two gels at the mile 13 aid station before beginning a run/ walk strategy of walking one tenth of a mile and then running nine tenths. Each mile I began looking back to see if maybe Karla was coming so I could run some with her. I even considered just walking until she caught up to me but I was hoping she was going to have a good day and would catch me soon.

So that is how the last half went with me just trying to enjoy the day. Around Mile 20, Amy passed me looking strong and I knew she was on her way to a pr. I never did see Karla and after one more look back just past mile 25 I ran it on in to the finish. My time of 4:28 was almost exactly the same as last year but a lot less painful. I was talking to Mike and Lisa in the finishers corral when I looked back and saw Karla. She actually ran one minute faster than me but had started in a later corral or we could have been able to at least run a little together. Lisa would slow down a lot the 2nd half but still improved her pr by about 2 minutes with a 3:56 finish. Amy ran strong and got a pr in 4:06. Frank ran his usual 2:15 in the half and his son Eric running in his first half did 2:07 on less than two weeks training.

OBX is a great race and I have been happy to run it 4 times now. Unfortunately I don't know when or if I will get around to running it again. There are just too many events in November that I want to run and next year for sure I will be returning to Mountain Masochist, one of my favorite events.

Here are some photos from the race

OBX Marathon Version 4 preview

2010-11-11T20:58:00.004-05:00

I am very excited to be returning this weekend to run my 4th Outer Banks Marathon! Training has been going very well this Fall and if all goes well I hope to run my 2nd fastest marathon time. I'll be aiming for 3:40, the same as I tried at Lehigh Valley. Hopefully the weather conditions will be a lot better for this race and the forecast is promising. I really hadn't planned on running this one again this year but if things go to plan , I will not have a chance to come back for at least a couple of years so I decided to go ahead run it again.

This is the 5th year of the race and so far the only one I missed was in 2008 when I ran Mountain Masochist with Jenn, or at least the first 33 miles of it. The funny thing is that I hadn't planned on running the first one but as I explained in my race report which you can read here. I only decided to go at the last minute so I could run with Karla. In many ways that race was even more amazing than her Boston finish as this came after all the months of chemo-therapy and now she was into radiation treatments and had done almost no running all Spring and Summer. The picture is our finish in 2006.

This year I'll be racing on my own. Karla will be running her fifth and hoping to run well also. I will be staying with the Howells again and I expect my other training partner Lisa will blow out an amazing time and get a big PR the way she is running lately. And my newest training partner Amy has been making huge improvements the past few months since joining us on our long runs and track workouts so I expect she will also run well in her 2nd marathon and first at OBX.

Looking forward to some fun times with good friends and hope to see some others from the area there too. Here is the race website.

Stay tuned for the results !

Miles to run before I sleep

2010-10-25T20:59:00.003-04:00

I have to admit that after the first 15 miler on the Sunday morning that I began Monster Mega Mileage Week, I was already worrying about the 20 miler the following Saturday that I had planned to finish the week. Having never come anywhere close to 100 miles in one week of training I was expecting to be very tired and sore by the end.

I was very fortunate to have excellent weather all week other than some rain on half of my Wednesday run with Jenn which made it much more enjoyable. It was a little surprising that I looked forward to every one of the runs during the week and even though I didn't need the miles I was very tempted to get in a second workout on Friday. I did use my better judgement though and saved up for the Saturday finale.

I was expecting that Saturday would be slow and painful and I was just hoping it would not turn into a death march the last few miles. Wow, was I surprised when I actually felt great! I met Karla and Amy at 7 and it was a cold in the 30's. I had frost on my windshield on the drive over to Crabtree. After we got going I warmed up quickly and we were moving at a decent pace. As we ran along I began feeling stronger and more confident and was actually having to hold back to keep from running away from the ladies. We picked up the pace a little bit on the last 12 miles and finished strong. I was so happy to have them along to share it with me and they both said if I had began to falter that they would have dragged me to complete my goal. Glad that wasn't necessary ! I only regret that Lisa was not able to run any with me this week.

So here is the breakdown for the week:

Sunday - 15 miles am

Monday - 10 miles am, 5 miles pm

Tuesday- 10.2 am, 9 miles pm

Wednesday- 16.7 miles pm

Thursday- 10.2 miles pm

Friday - 6 miles am

Saturday - 20 miles am

Weekly total 102.1 miles

Ran 35.2 of the miles with Karla, 24 with Amy and 16.7 with Jenn.

Ran 37.1 on dirt, 9 on the track, 36 on the road and 20 on the greenway.

I don't foresee another 100 mile week in the near future but I'm glad I did it and without any problems along the way. I do hope I can get my weekly average close to 70mpw between now and Boston next April. Stay Tuned.

Monster Mega Mileage Week

2010-10-17T20:24:00.002-04:00

Darkness comes early and a chill wind begins to blow as the fog comes creeping. A full moon cast an eerie pall as shadows fall upon the path littered with the dead foliage from the skeletel shapes of the trees as the sway in the breeze. The glowing eyes of the black cat as it scurries by while unseen voices seem to moan a warning not to venture too far. Yes, it is October and that must mean--------, It's MONSTER MEGA MILEAGE WEEK !!

Well, actually it's not all that scary. But it is a step into uncharted territory for me. So, what exactly is Monster Mega Mileage Week? It will be my attempt at running 100 miles in training in 7 days for the first time in my 33 years of running. Yes, I know, I have completed 6 ultramarathons of 100 miles before but I have never come close to that in a week of training. I have done a couple of weeks of 70 miles over the past couple of years and have hit in the 60's a few more times but my average in my highest mileage years including races has been about 45 miles per week.

In order to run 100 I will need to average about 15 miles per day. I got things off to a good start this Sunday morning with a 15 miler at a decent pace on a beautiful chilly morning starting just as it began to get light outdoors. I was able to watch the fog rise off the many ponds in the area and see the sunrise. The run went well and I felt so thankful to be out and able to do this that I love so much.

Ever since I first began running I have used a chart to track all my runs and it runs from Sunday to Saturday like a calender so that is why I began this morning. I look forward to the challenge and if things go well I will be able to run quite a few of these miles with some of my special ladies from Ultraman Joey's Angels and Princesses Club or my Harem as Laura calls it. The plan is to finish up with a 20 miler next Saturday so if anyone wants to join in for some miles let me know. Stay Tuned, wish me luck, pray for me and let's see how it goes !

New River 50K

2010-10-12T19:59:00.007-04:00

I think this is one of the best photos I've ever taken. I'd like to think it is due to my skills as a photographer but it was more just sheer luck at being at the right place at the right time. That time just happened to be about 6.2 miles into the New River Trail 50K.

I liked the 8am starting time which made for a relaxing morning. Our rental house was only a couple of blocks away so around 7:30 we made our way down to the riverside which was covered in a blanket of fog and prepared for the journey ahead. With the temperature around 45F I was feeling confident that today would be a good run for me and all my friends. Promptly at 8, race director Annette Bednosky sent us off on the trail.

My plan was to run easy the first mile to warm up and then gradually pick up the pace to about 8:50 pace and hold onto that as long as possible. We could barely see the river for the fog at first and in the first mile the course is away from the river anyway so the only view was the runners in front of me. I bided my time behind a small group until the 1st mile in 9:02 and then eased my way around them as I picked it up just a bit. I soon caught up to Kathy Lee and ran talking to her for awhile but then she backed off and I picked it up a bit more and put it on cruise control.

I was feeling good as we approached the first aid station at about 5.3 miles and I was at exactly the pace I wanted averaging 8:50. From here, we had to do a short out and back section of about 8/10ths of a mile which gave me a chance to see most of the other runners behind and in front of me. I pulled out the camera for the first time and snapped a few shots of some friends but I didn't want to take the time to take too many. I wasn't even going to run with the camera since I was racing for a pr but I wanted to at least get a picture of the ladies. Lisa was not very far behind me and Karla was a little bit further back and looking comfortable. I kept the camera out because I knew I wanted to get a shot of the bridge over the river and it turned out to be nearly perfect as the sun was just coming up from behind the hills and burning off the fog.

Once I crossed the river , the course began a very slight but noticeable incline as the trail ran beside and upstream of Chestnut Creek. We would be going this way for almost the next 10 miles so I made a conscious effort to back off the pace slightly hoping that I could stay close to my goal and then make up some time on the downhill return. The only problem with that is that for some reason the pace which should have felt like an easy training run was not feeling easy. I didn't feel bad, I just didn't feel like I could go any faster. That seemed strange to me since I had run 30 seconds per mile faster at the marathon 4 weeks ago and now I had only gone about 7 miles.

I continued along enjoying the gorgeous views of Chestnut Creek and the trail until I reached the 2nd aid station at Chestnut Yard around the 12 mile mark. By now my average pace was 9:00, still good but it was not not getting any easier and I was hoping it would. It was nice to see some familiar faces at the aid station including Mark Long of the MTC. Mark was entered in the race but has been injured so he came up anyway to help out and support some of the MTC crowd.

I tried to maintain my pace as I continued up the trail but I was already gradually slowing down. I had not given up hope yet for the pr but something was going to have to change. A few miles later I could hear Lisa coming up behind me. I didn't have to look to know it was her. We have run so many miles together in the past 1.5 years that I can recognize the sound of her footstrikes. We ran together for a short distance but then she pulled away. She was doing great and I was hoping she would be able to continue in her first ultra.

I finally made it to the turnaround at about 15.9 miles and already I had slowed my average pace down to about 9:15 and by the time I got refilled and on my way it was even slower. Now it would take a miracle to get the pr but I tried to pick up the pace now that the grade would be slightly downhill. Try as I may, I just did not have it today for whatever reason. I just kept getting slower and slower. Finally at about 18.5 miles I decided to just start walking and wait for Karla to catch up with me. If I couldn't run a fast time then at least maybe I could enjoy the rest of the race with the Marathon Princess. I stopped at the next aid station for a refill and some coke and stretched my aching hamstrings for a bit and then continued walking. It wasn't much longer and after 2 miles of walking that Karla finally caught up to me.

She was still running well and we enjoyed the next 2 miles miles together but whatever was causing me to be so tired would not let me even hold her pace so she went ahead and for the next 9 miles I would just relax and do a run/walk to the finish. The plan now was to just get to the end as comfortably as possible and enjoy the views along the way. I was really glad I had chosen to bring the camera along now . The rest of the race was rather uneventful. I was passed by quite a few friends and they all asked if I was ok. I assured them that I was fine, just not having a good day and was taking it easy the rest of the way.

With little less than 3 miles to go, Tony Rouse caught up to me and we ran together for the next couple of miles. It was nice to share a little time with one of the truly nice guys in the sport. Over the years Tony and I have shared many miles in various ultra's. The amazing thing today was that Tony and 3 others, Doug Dawkins, Eric Fogelman and Rick French had just completed a 4 day stage race across NC for 145 miles.

With a mile to go I told Tony I needed to take another short walk break. He hesitated but I told him to go on ahead. I could now see the welcome sight of the finish just ahead and as I made my final approached the best sight was seeing my two wonderful training partners Karla and Lisa standing there waiting for me.

Despite the disappointment of the slow time I still enjoyed the race a lot. It is so beautiful and Annette and her volunteers did a great job with the race .Normally if I was having a bad race I would get in a foul mood but today I was able to keep a smile on my face and just make the most of it.

Here are the results.

and here are the rest of my pictures.

New River Trail 50k preview

2010-10-07T20:53:00.003-04:00

The New River Trail is a converted rail trail along the New river in Western Virginia and is one of the Virginia State Parks. Along the 57 miles of the trail it passes through Shot Tower Historical Park which you can see from Interstate 77. Just a few miles downriver it also passes through Foster Falls which is now a part of the NRT St Park. In the past when I used to travel to work in West Virgina I would occasionally stop at Foster Falls where I have run and biked on the trail and once I kayaked the falls. It is a beautiful area and a wonderful place to visit so I was excited when a couple of years ago when Annette Bedknosky, an ultrarunning friend announced she would be directing a race on the trail.

I'll never forget the first time I met Annette several years ago at the Promise Land 50k when she was just beginning to run ultra's. I was sitting under the picnic shelter with the Finkles and a couple of other friends. Most of the runners had already gone to there tents for the night when Annette walked over and said she wanted to hang out with the "cool people". Of course since then she has become one of the top lady ultra runners in the country winning many races including the Western States 100. She is a terrific person and a pleasure to be around and I look forward to finally get a chance to run her race.

My training has been going very well and with the forecast for nice Autumn weather with the start in the 40's I should run well. I am planning to go for a 50k pr. I doubt I have too many chances left to get pr's at 50k so at least this course should give me n opportunity to go for it.

Karla the Marathon Princess and Lisa The Mountain Girl will be making the trip with me. Hopefully Karla can pr in what will be her 3rd 50K and the way Lisa has been running lately I expect her to get her first ultra finish and do it well. I'm also excited that I will get a chance to see a lot of my other ultra friends that I have been missing a lot the past couple of years.

Annette's Blog.

Race website.

Selma Railroad Run 5K- 2010

2010-10-02T21:53:00.004-04:00

Well if anyone didn't run well this year , it couldn't be blamed on the weather. We had near perfect conditions in the 50's and a beautiful sunny morning. I was up early and excited so after my morning coffee, I hopped in the car and ate some rocket fuel (peanut butter and marshmallow creme) as I made the short drive down to Selma where I found parking a block from the start/finish. I picked up my number and chip and then joined Karla and Lisa for a warm-up mile.

Then about 10 minutes before the start I did another half mile with some pickups to race pace and then made my way to the line. I got off to a good start, not getting suckered into the fast pace of the young and inexperienced that always seem to go flying off. I settled into a comfortable pace and found myself just behind NCRC friend Bobby Baxter. I was hoping the pace I was on was close to my overall goal of sub 22 because I didn't think I could go any faster without blowing up later.

The first mile was good at 6:57, but I already knew my fantasy goal of beating my 2005 time was not going to happen today. So I settled in almost drafting Bobby as we continued through the neighborhood and then back onto the main road. Just before the turnaround and near the two mile mark you can see the leaders coming back and heading towards us heading to the finish. Aaron Tarter was in 3rd and Godiva's Anthony Corriveau was right behind in 4th. Clayton friend Brent George was not too far behind and then the first woman as expected was our own North Raleigh Threat, Laura Labella Frey followed by NCRC's Jordan Duvall running in his Vibram 5 fingers. Shannon Johnstone was the 2nd place woman just a little further back back in 2nd.

I went around the cone and then by the 2 mile mark in 14:12, a 7:15 mile. I was hoping I hadn't slowed but the second mile here is always slower for me. I was still just a few strides behind Bobby but he began to gradually pull away and I was going as hard as I could. I could now see the runners behind me and Lisa was not too far behind and running strong. Margo was just a ways behind her and before long I could see the Marathon Princess looking good. A little further and along came Frank.

I was really pushing now and hoping I could hold on to the pace and get under my sub 22 goal but these 5k's really hurt if you race them hard. I was able to keep up the pace and made it just under in 21:57. Woohooo !

After all my friends came in,Karla, Lisa and I went for a 2 mile cool down and got back just in time for the awards. All my friends really did well this year. Lisa was first in her age-group with a big time pr of 22:38. She is on fire these days and you'll be seeing more pr's this Fall from her. Margo was 2nd and Karla was 3rd but since they only go 2 deep with the trophies she missed out this time. I was very surprised that I got 2nd in mine but then I was :30 seconds faster than last year!

Aaron went on to place 3rd overall, and 1st in the 30-39 age-group. Brent was third in the same age group. Anthony was 4th overall and 1st in the masters 40-49. Laura and Shannon went on to place 1-2 overall for the ladies and I believe it was a pr for Laura too. Jordan was first in the 20-29 group and Frank ran strong and placed 2nd in the 60 and over. I would also like to put in a word for a fellow Zebulon runner that I just met at the race, John Goodie. John is a regular reader of my blog and a new runner and he ran what I believe was a pr for him at the 5k distance too. Good job !

I'm really surprised that more Triangle area runners don't come for this race anymore. It is a flat , fast certified course and is one of the best bargains out with just a $15 entry fee when most 5k's these days are $25 to 30 and up.

Here are the results

I would also like to proudly note that in 1981 when this was a 10k, my mother Frances Anderson was 51 years old and won 1st place in her age-group !

Going back to Selma for the Railroad Run 5k

2010-09-30T20:59:00.003-04:00

The Selma Railroad Run is one of the oldest continuous road races in the State with this years event being the 33rd annual. The photo is me approaching the finish line in 1980 when it was a 10k. I ran the event several times back then and so did my brother and even my Mom and ex-wife ran in 1980. Part of the appeal to me is the small town atmosphere combined with a flat , fast certified course at a time of year when there is usually nice weather. I was never able to run as well as I would have liked under those ideal conditions because it was always the week after my favorite race, the Virginia 10 miler, a very tough course which I ran 15 years in a row.

In 1980 I ran 43:48, then lowered that to 41:27 in 1981. When I finally returned again in 1990 they had changed it to a 5k and I ran 20:59, which was the last time I was ever under 21:00. (my pr is 18:40 from 1984). I didn't do much racing in the 90's and returned again to Selma in 1995 to see how slow I had gotten and ran a 22:26.

It would be another 10 years before I would return once more and by 2005 I was well into my new life as an ultrarunner and in training to attempt to qualify for Boston. I had began my training with Karla and although I was not focusing on 5 K's, I had run several with her trying to get her under 24 and using them as tempo runs for my marathon training. On that day on 2005 though I decided to see how fast I could run and surprised myself by running 21:12 at age 49 in the fastest time I had run a 5K in 15 years.

We returned last year and I used the race for fun again and to gauge my progress as I began on my quest to once again qualify for Boston. I was a bit disappointed in my 22:43 time on a warm muggy morning but Karla ran a pr and my friends Margo ,Maureen, Laura and Katie all ran very well and Frank and Jerry were along for the fun too.

So it looks like we'll be going back again to test our speed before going back for some more 50k and marathon action. I am hoping that by some miracle I might crack the 21:00 barrier again but I don't really see that happening and will be happy to go under 22 just three weeks after racing hard at Lehigh Valley. I think if I were to focus on 5k and do my track work at the paces needed I could run under 21 again but right now it's all about marathoning for the next 7 months and then back to the long ultras. Stay tuned for the results !