ultra training-Part 2

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

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

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

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

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

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 !!!

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 ?

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

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

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

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

promise land 2011, part 3

promise land 2011, part 2

Promise Land 50k part 1

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

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

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)

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

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

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

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

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

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 !
Posted by runjoey at 9:22 PM
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35,000 miles and counting

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

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

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

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

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

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.