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 !
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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.

Things change so go with the flow

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

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

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?

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

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

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.

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

( 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

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

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

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?)