Mayor's Walk for Cancer

On Saturday Oct 21st, I met Karla and Frank over at Lake Benson Park in Garner for the Mayor's Walk for Cancer. It was a first year event with the proceeds going to the Susan G Komen Foundation for Cancer Research. You can see Karla in the blue hat being recognized with the other survivors in attendance. It was a beautiful morning and there were approximately 100 participants in the walk.





We were happy that our friends Laura MacLean and Alan Hughes came out to show their support for Karla and enjoy a nice walk around the park.

I grew up about a mile from Lake Benson and spent a lot of time exploring in the woods and fields surrounding it. At that time in the 60' the area was very rural with only about a dozen houses within 2 miles of my home. Mostly farmland and forest. There used to be an old boathouse and bait shop at the lake and I spent many an hour hanging out there during summer vacation. My parents still live in the house I grew up in.

Seaboard Festival 5 mile

Awoke this morning to a beautiful, unseasonably warm morning outside of West End. I was very pleased that the heavy rains of Thursday had passed on
leaving clear blue skies.
I was the guest of my friend and fellow MTC member Tony Rouse and his wife Lisa. They were kind enough to offer there hospitality to me to save the long drive down from Zebulon on race day or finding a motel. After breakfast and coffee, we made the drive down to the hamlet of Hamlet NC. The race is held in conjuction with the annual Seaboard Festival that celebrates the towns history and relationship with the railroad. Hamlet was at a crossroads of two major tracks of the Seaboard Airline Railroad and also the location of a major yard and service facilities. Over the years many mergers and aquisitions later , Seaboard is now a part of the massive CSX Transportation but the town is still a railroad town. The old depot is a historic site and a museum now but the area is still serviced by Amtrak.
The race is the 3rd in a series of Mangum Track Club events and is required running if one is interested in getting bonus points in the quest for the Mangum Cup. At the present time Tony and I are the two points leaders and barring a major catastrophy, one of us will be this years winner. Since I have become mostly an ultrarunner the past several years I seldom run these shorter road races. One reason is because to run them fast you have to hurt just about every step of the way. Especially if you don't train for it. Before I begin my quest to qualify for Boston, I had not done any speedwork in about 20 years. And since I ran my qualiifer this past Feb. I hadn't done anymore. That became painfully evident between miles 3 and 4. I had been running quite well up to that point but I could feel the bear crawling onto my shoulders. About that time I heard footsteps behind me and I was 99% sure without looking back that it was Tony. He soon passed me and although I recovered and ran the last mile back at exactly my average pace for the whole run, I never was able to close the gap. But hey, that's OK. He's not in my age-group and there are no bonus points for finishing in front of me!
Overall, I was very happy with my race. I was 9th overall and 2nd in the 50-59 age-group. Getting older doesn't make competing any easier. Mark Long and his volunteers and the town did a great job as usual allowing us the opportunity to have some fun . It was nice to hang around for awhile with my fellow MTC's. If you are interested in a well organized race that is a bargain compared to most races, come down to the Sandhills next Oct.
Here is a link to a few photos I took at the finish .
Picasa Web Albums - Joey - Seaboard 5 mile

Single-Track Heaven

Another great day in the playground known as Umstead State Park. I decided to hit the trails yesterday. I had about two hours so I chose one of my favorite routes, the Double Company Mill Trail. Company Mill is a lollypop trail, an out and back with a loop. When I do the double I run the loop once in each direction before climbing back up the spur for about a 10 mile workout.
The weather was once again near perfect, about 59F. One great thing about running on a weekday afternoon is the lack of crowds in the park. And when you are on the trails there are even less as the Mt Bikes are not allowed. This day the trails were practically my own. I only encountered a pair of hikers walking their dog on the first loop and a lone runner on the second. Although I do enjoy running with friends it is these runs that satisfy my soul. Just me alone with my thoughts and God to keep me company. I was feeling very good yesterday and with the cool weather I could just relax and have fun enjoying the sights, sounds and smells of the forest in Autumn. More than once a big smile came across my face as I played in the woods. To top it off, I set a new course PR without even trying. No , the photo isn't Company Mill. This is the trailhead to the Loblolly Trail. 

Picasa Web Albums - Joey - Leadville 2006

I have posted my Leadville photos on my Picasa Web Album page now. I have added some photos I took on the way to the race. There are also some pictures that Joe and Hannah Lugiano sent me along the course and the finish. I am very grateful to them or I would not have a finishing photo. The ones from the Lugianos were scanned from prints so the quality might not be as sharp as the rest of the album.



Picasa Web Albums - Joey - Leadville 2006

Karla's last chemotherapy infusion

Friday Oct 13th was a good day this year. After 29 weeks Karla was finally getting her last infusion of chemotherapy. It was an emotional day for her. On one hand was the happiness of putting this phase of her treatments behind her. On the other hand there was a bit of sadness. Over all these weeks the wonderful staff at the UNC-Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center had taken special care of Karla and close relationships had been formed. Saying good-bye would not be easy.
Karla and Frank had invited our friend Jerry and myself to join them in saying good-bye and thanking the staff as well as celebrate the end of this phase of Karla's treatment. It also happened to be Frank's birthday. You can see in the picture the tube inserted in a port in Karla's chest delivering the last infusion.
Here are several of the caring staff that have done a great job of treating Karla. Here she is receiving her purple heart certificate for completing all the treatments. They waved the magic wand over her and sang goodbye.
The timing worked out great as far as my fundraising in Karla's honor. I let Karla choose which of several cancer charities that she would like for me to use the donations for and it was decided to give it to the Patient and Family Care Center as a thank you.


After the infusion was over we went down to their office to make the presentation. I was very happy to hand over all the checks and cash that was so genorously donated by you, our friends and family. The majority of the money came from the running community which was most appropriate since I raised the money running to honor my training partner and your fellow runner and club member.

This is Tina Shaban, the Patient Education Resource Coordinator. Pam Baker, the Program Assistant was also present. Hopefully I can get a picture of her posted soon. Due to your generosity I have now received $1,563.44 to give to them. I want to once again give out a BIG THANK YOU to everyone that made a donation, no matter how large or small. It is very hard for family and friends to watch someone they love battle something like cancer. This was just my way of showing my support for her in the way I know best.
Karla's fight against this terrible disease is not over yet. She still faces 6 weeks of radiation before she will be able to put this behind her. In the meantime she remains strong and determined. We just ran the Autism 5K in Raleigh together this morning and she did very well as we were smiling and talking the whole time. This was her best run since we finished Boston back in April. Hopefully on Nov. 12th she will find the strength to finish the Outer Banks Marathon. And I will be there to share the day with her and celebrate life and a special friendship.

DirtyGirl

Here is the "DirtyGirl" Xy Weiss, talented ultrarunner and the maker of dirtygirlgaiters. When I first started running ultra's 4.5 years ago I was aware of what gaiters were and their purpose, but never felt the need for them. Besides, I didn't care much for what I saw out there available. After a couple of years and getting tired of emptying trail debris from my shoes I started thinking maybe I should look into finding some gaiters.
So, last August while having a wonderful day on the Laurel Valley Trail sweeping with the Dummar's, I noticed both of them were wearing DirtyGirls. I had seen them earlier at the Vermont 100, which is also the place I saw Xy. Fred had been running alongside Xy when one of the horses came running by. Xy was startled and fell into the river. I think she was just looking to cool off since it was in the 90's and humid that day. Anyway, Fred and Susan both raved about how they loved their new gaiters so I decided to order a couple of pairs for myself and a gift for my training partner.
And they are great. Once you put them on you will forget you have them on.( Unless you have on blinding Hot Pink ones) They perform well and it's a snap to just roll them up to change shoes or socks if you need to.

I ordered the Hot Pink-Iron Butterfly design for my cancer fundraiser to draw attention to my cause. It worked. There was some serious gaiter envy going on at Hinson Lake so if anyone is looking to get some really cool, functional fashion trail running accessories I can highly recommend Xy's. She was kind enough to donate mine and also gave a genorous donation to UNC-LCCC in Karla's honor. Xy obviously has a lot of fun with the whole dirtygirl thing but she also has a serious side. Her job is a District Attorney in California helping to put away some dispicable characters. She is a great advocate for the victims and has donated the proceeds from her side business in gaiter making to charity.

Picasa Web Albums - Joey - Hinson Lake 2...

Below is a link to some more photos taken at last weekends Hinson Lake 24 hour. These were taken by Karla using her camera.
Frank and Karla have been using Picasa to organize their digital photos and introduced me to the program. It is in my opinion a wonderful tool and makes downloading pictures and organizing and editing easy for a former luddite like me. Just recently Picasa added the web sharing feature . I was glad to see this option because now I can do everything including uploading photos to my blog all in one program. There is a link to Picasa (google photos) in the sidebar of my blog now if you would like to check it out. It is a free program and downloads in seconds if you have hi-speed internet.






Picasa Web Albums - Joey - Hinson Lake 2...

Hinson Lake 24 hour Report

Here is my report on the Hinson Lake 24 hour race held the weekend of Sept30th/Oct 1st.

Click Here to go to Mike's ncultra website.


Here is a link to some photo's Karla took with my camera.

Go here for the photo album

Flickr: ncultra's photos tagged with 24hour

Here is a link to some photos Mike Day took at this past weekends Hinson Lake 24 hour run.
It was a great weekend for running and there were many inspiring performances. I hope to have my report and some more photos posted later


Flickr: ncultra's photos tagged with 24hour

It takes a "real" ultraman to wear Pink!
Certainly got a lot of attention for my fundraiser

The Lonely Princess

This is a short story I wrote in April 2005 after pacing at the Umstead 100 miler on the back of a scrap sheet of paper. It was a rough draft and I never finished it and now I don't know where it is so I am re-writing now while I sit here in front of my computer. Hope you enjoy it.

   He was a mostly normal boy who enjoyed doing normal boy things. But even at an early age he could sense that he was a little different from most of his friends and although he enjoyed playing with others, he enjoyed spending time alone with his thoughts. Many hours were spent in the woods behind his home, sometimes just sitting in a tree thinking.

  And he loved to read. He was quite good at reading at an early age and although the school library only allowed two books at a time to be checked out, they made an exception for him and allowed him to take home three at a time. History, biography, science, mystery, fantasy and fiction were all pored over and absorbed to feed his voracious appetite for knowledge, entertainment and yes, escapism. His favorite books were of the fantasy genre, especially those having to do with knights and dragons and brave, adventurous deeds. He was mostly a happy child, but a part of him always felt there was something more out there and he was afraid he was missing out on it.

    After a while it was becoming harder to find books that would be of interest that he had not already read in the school library so one day, not having much luck finding anything of interest, he appealed to the librarian for help. She replied, yes I think I have just the book that you are looking for. She went to a nearby closet and returned with an old dust covered book that obviously had not been touched for years. As she handed the book to him, he cast a skeptical look her way. The title was " The Lonely Princess". Yes, he did enjoy reading of castle's and kings and knights in shining armor, but this looked like a girly book to him. The librarian insisted that he give it a look so he stuffed it into his book bag and went to class.

   There the book stayed for several days until boredom led him to retrieve the book and give it a look. Just as he suspected, there were no jousting knights or dragons to be fought in the book but what he did find was a story more compelling than he could have imagined and it became his favorite book, one that would be read and re-read over and over again.

   It was the story of a beautiful young Princess who was mostly normal. But she was not content to sit around in the castle looking pretty. She had a yearning for adventure that needed to be fed. All of her court could not understand why she couldn't be happy like a normal Princess would be. She had all the finest clothes, jewelry and people waiting on her hand and foot.  But she was not happy. She felt there was something more out there and she was missing it. She dreamed of leaving the castle and seeing the world, seeking adventure and slaying her own dragons.

    So one day she slipped out the castle , into the forest and began to run. And it felt good. So the next day she ran again only further. And soon she was spending nearly all day just running. Through running she was finding the freedom and adventure she needed . Of course the King and Queen didn't understand her strange behavior and tried to discourage her but this only made her desire to run even stronger. She didn't understand it either. She wished that she could explain but it was no use. So she just ran and ran.

   Years past by and the boy grew into a man. The book was packed away and over the years became a distant memory. And life began to take it's toll on the man. But even through all the hardships he still dreamed of adventures and exotic locations even though he knew that's all they were. Dreams.

  And then one day he stepped out the door and just began to run. And it felt good. So the next day he ran further and then further still. And through running he found something that was missing in his life. His friends and family didn't really understand it. Why the need to run so long and far? He wished he could explain it to them but he wasn't really sure he understood himself. But as he ran he smiled to himself for he knew that long ago and faraway there was a beautiful Princess that understood.

Running 24 hours for Breast Cancer Research

The weekend of Sept 30th/Oct 1st I will be participating in the Hinson Lake 24 hour race in Rockingham NC. The race is being directed by Tom Gabell, a member of the Mangum Track Club of which I am a member. Recently Mike Day suggested that I solicit pledges for my fund raising efforts for Cancer research. As many of you know I tied some of my Spring ultra's to fund raising to benefit the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life, and also the Susan G. Komen Foundation's Race for the Cure in honor of my training partner Karla Werner. The photo is from the RFTC in June. That is our friend Jerry running with us.
For those of you new to the story, you can find the background information in my story "Dreams Can Come True" located on this blog. First let me give you an update on Karla. As of today she has 5 more weeks remaining in chemotherapy. That will be followed by 6 weeks of radiation. She is hoping that her Doctors will allow her to take a break in between so that she can run/walk the Outer Banks Marathon on Nov. 12th. I will be by her side the whole time just as we were together at Boston. If she has the strength and courage to do it, then I will be there to support her. We just ran the Stanley Cup 5k last Sunday and she did well. I was so proud of her.


This photo was taken there. That is her husband Frank who also ran with us.

Which brings me back to the fundraising. All proceeds will go to the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center's Patient and Family Resource Center. These are the people that have been taking care of Karla's treatments. If you click on the title of this story it will take you to the UNC-LCCC website.
I hope that all of you reading this will consider making a contribution. I do plan to run over 100 miles in this race so keep that in mind. .10 cents a mile or $1 per mile, any amount would be welcome. And if it will help you decide to give, I will be proudly wearing Pink in the race. I invite everyone that is in the area to come down and watch some of the race and run some with me. All checks should be made out to UNC-LCCC. Earmark the funds to go to the Patient and Family Resource Center. You can e-mail me and I will give you my address. just click on my profile at the top of the blog and it will show you my e-mail. For those of you that can't find it in your heart to contribute to anything with UNC in front of it, I will also accept contributions to the Komen Foundation. Thank You for helping in the fight against breast cancer and helping me to honor my friend .

Ultra Adventures - Leadville 2006 Report

Here is the link to my report.
Ultra Adventures - Leadville 2006 Report

I hope you enjoy it. I hope to go back someday and correct the mistakes I made and have a faster time, but it will have to wait a while.

Here is a link to some pictures I took in Colorado if you missed them.

www.flickr.com/photos/runjoey/sets/72157594246515448/

View from Hope Pass

Here I am crossing Hope Pass the 2nd time.
What an amazing event. I did it!!
Look for a complete report and pictures soon. 

Heading off to Leadville

This is a view I hope to see this coming Saturday. It was taken from atop Hope Pass, about the 45 mile mark. Down in the valley off in the distance you can see Twin Lakes andbeyond there is Turquoise Lake. Leadville is just out of the picture a couple of miles to the right of Turquoise Lake.
I have several friends already out there acclimating. Joe Lugiano from Cary and Bill Squires from Raleigh and Doug Dawkins of the MTC from Rockingham. Also Gary Knipling and his son Keith from the VHTRC are hoping to finish the Grand Slam this year. I am really looking forward to seeing and running with Anita Fromm. She is a young lady I met while pacing at the Umstead 100 in 05 as I mentioned in the story on volunteering. We had so much fun, I paced her again this year when she ran a PR sub-24. Anita is now living in Manitou Springs so she should be used to the altitude. I hope I can keep up with her for a while at least.
All my drop bags are packed and I'm ready to go. I'm sure I'll have a report and some pictures when I get back.

Leadville 100 Miler.

The time is fast approaching for my departure to Leadville Colorado for what may be the most difficult run for me so far. The course is not as difficult or as technical as Massanutten but the high altitude will present a very tough challenge for this lifetime resident of sea level central NC.
My training has been going very well. I don't have the luxury of being able to travel to CO early to acclimate to the high altitude so I will have to just hope to be able to handle it as well as possible. To help prepare for the lack of oxygen I tried a couple of special workouts. On my long runs at Umstead, I would hold my breath and run as fast as I could until I would pass out. After waking up I would repeat for the duration of the workout. I was able to cover 3 miles in 4 hours on my first attempt. Only 97 more miles to go but I will have to pick up the pace to make the cut-offs. I also suffered quite a few bruises and scrapes but it was worth it to get in the training. Sleeping at altitude is suppose to be one of the best ways to acclimate so at night I duct tape my mouth and nose shut and insert a small coffee stirrer straw into one nostril. I haven't slept very well lately but hopefully I can catch up on some sleep this week before leaving.
Ok, just kidding. Actually my training has been going well and I have been tapering for a 3 weeks now. I feel confident in my ability to accomplish the task and look forward to the challenge. Got to head to work now. More later.

Great Eastern 100k 2005

Hello Friends,

I hadn't planned a report. This was a message I composed last night for my training partner but several of you have asked how it was and congratulated me on my time so I decided to send this ever so slightly edited version out to the world or a small part of it at least.

I am Truly Blessed to have such wonderful people out there that care about me and share my stories with.So here it is.

Well, I survived but just barely. Next to Massanutten, this was definitly the hardest thing I've ever done. In a way it was even harder but, I don't think I can explain it in words that you can understand. More on that in a minute.

This race is essentially two totally different courses combined for one race. The 1st 11 miles are run on roads, mostly paved.Slightly uphill the 1st 2 miles, mostly down the next 2 and then a downhill plunge for about 4 miles. Then flat in the valley for the next 3. You return to this point at 50.8 miles and finish the way you came. The remaining 40 miles are predominately trail. Very steep, rocky trails. The total elevation change of 14, 200 feet is mile for mile more than Massanutten.

Not only was the course two totally different ones but so was my day. Actually about 4 differnet days for me. The 1st 16 miles I was feeling great but then my stomach started feeling bad and for some reason I was having a hard time getting a deep breath. The sad part was the next 5miles would have been the most enjoyable section of trail on the whole course. Instead of having fun though, I was struggling with whether or not I would be able to continue. Once again I found myself struggling with dehydration like at Vermont but I couldn't drink anything. I finally dragged into the 21.8 miles aid station, barely able to think. I sat in a chair and was able to drink some ginger ale and that seemed to sit well with me.. After about 5 minutes I got up and headed for the next trail. Slowly I began to feel better and able to drink. By the time I was halfway around that 3.8 mile loop I was on top of the world, feeling great and running as well as ever in an ultra.

In spite of my bad spell, I was now in the top half of the field which is very rare for me and I was on pace to run under my fantasy goal time 16 hours. The next several hours I was as happy as an Ultraman can be. At 37 Miles I began the longest segment. It was a long slog up a rocky dirt road that went on forever. I climbed for 1.5 hours before it leveled out enough for me to run any but out of the 8 miles in that segment, I was climbing at least 6.5. To make matters worse it was during the warmest part of the day and exposed to the sun for a good part of the time. I was passed here for the first time since mile 17. It was pretty lonely out there most of the day. One of the people was David Snipes. David always is very encouraging to me and we were close together for a good part of the remainder of the run, usually meeting at the aid stations.

I finally made it to the 45.3 mile aid station but I was not in good shape again. My stomach was not happy and although I was starving I couldn't eat. Except for 1 gel and one cookie and half of a milky way bar, I hadn't eaten anything in 10 hours and 30+ miles of running. The only calories I was getting were from coke and ginger ale at the aid stations and it wasn't enough. I sat for 19 minutes trying to get my stomach settled enough to run. The amazing thing is I was still running fairly well on the flats and downhills, but I was dragging on the climbs. Thankfully the next 5.5 miles were all downhill and flat and I was able to make pretty decent time and recover a little until I got back to the start of the road section at 50.8 miles just as it was getting dark enough for me to need a light.

I ran almost all of the next 3 miles to the base of the long climb back up to the Parkway. I knew if i just kept moving I would still go under my realistic goal of 17 hours. The full moon was just rising above the trees at this point but I was struggling to keep moving up that long interminable climb and couldn't enjoy it. At this point I didn't want to keep going. I was not having fun, I felt like crap and I decided I would never run another ultra. Well maybe a flat 50K now and then. And I still have to run Masochist next month. and I still hope to get into Western States next year, but that's it, I quit.

Well obviously I did keep going and finished in 16:38. I should be esctatic, since I exceeded my realistic time goal and finished 39th out of about 80 starters. But as I sat around at the finish nothing seemed to matter. I felt like a beaten man. It's like I left a part of my soul out there somewhere on that course and I'll never get it back. I had to dig deep for this one, all for a time that in the big scheme of things is totally meaningless. Last night on that dark lonely road looking for an answer why, I couldn't find one.

Things are looking better today, they always do. It's amazing how low blood sugar can screw with your mind. Throw in exhaustion and feet pounded into submission from a billion rocks and it's understandable why I was a mental wreck.

On a lighter note, I had a Jerry moment for this one.( Note: Jerry is one of my best friends. If you knew him you would understand what I mean by a Jerry moment. One of these days I may write a book of Jerry Moments) It came just as we started the 1st trail climb around 12miles. The guy behind me says, are those two different shoes you are wearing? No I said, but then I looked down and sure enough I had an Asics 2090 on one foot and a 2100 on the other. At least I had a right and a left. My feet didn't seem to mind.

Joey

Hope to see most of you at Masochist

Uwharrie 40 2005

A little bit different report this time. After getting quite a few of these events behind me over the last three years, I've started to look at them a bit differently now. Of course much is the same. Ultra's challenge us in many ways. Sometimes more physical, others more mental and sometimes they dig deep us into emotionally us and reach places we either have forgotten or tried to hide. But I'll try not to get too deep here.
First off, this was a wonderful event starting with the Friday night social and all the way through the post race activities. A great course with great friends on a perfect day. But there was something weird going on out there. The first half was very normal and I felt great and having too much fun. I was mostly alone that first half after losing contact with Bill Squiers after a couple of miles when everyone was spread out. I caught up with Bea around 18 miles and we spent most of the next 15-16 miles togehter and it was nice to have some company.
It was at the turn that things got strange on me though.I was about to head back out, when a very wonderful, unexpected and very brief occurence took me completely off my game. I was surprised, confused, and speechless, so I just took off down the trail to complete my run. It was then I realized I obviously was still in my bed at the motel and dreaming. It would be just a moment and I'd wake up and be driving to the start.
I had caughtt up with Bill just before the turn and so he and I and Bea were soon running together. Bill soon dropped back and once again Bea and I were running alone again. It was nice seeing more friends heading up to the turnaround and others finishing the 20. Then things got weird again. Two very pretty young ladies that were frinends of Bea, stopped to greet her. I continued to walk away and overheard the young ladies refer to the "Hottie" that Bea was running with. Of course I had to look around to try and find this other guy because I thought it was just us two. Bea assured me they were referring to me. Oh yeah, I haven't awakend yet from my dream..
Then we get to the 29 mile aid station and I'm standing there, when this very good looking woman says "Oh you have such nice hair". So I'm looking around again trying to see where is this guy she's talking to. Then it dawns on me , oh yeah I'm asleep, but man this is a long dream and I sure feel tired. Or maybe I have somehow inhabited some young good-looking guys body.
Well, I finally do finish but I can't hang around too long because 3 women want me to go out to eat with them.So why not.You don't get to have dreams like this too often. Hey I was a little slower than I'd hoped but this is still on great dream.
So anyway I wake up and instead of waking up in the motel and getting ready to go run, I 'm at home, it's Sunday morning, I 'm tired, sore and there is mud on my nrunning clothes. It was all real after all! So thanks to everyone, the volunteers and race directors, and all my wonderful running friends are always there to encourage me. A special thanks to Bea for keeping me company and for Dorothy and Rosa supporting us on the way back.
It turns out not to have ben a fantasy or dream, but I will always treasure this ultra made special because I was truly touched by an Angel at 20 miles. I don't know that this Angel will ever see this story, but if you do Thank YOU!!
You will never know how much it meant to me.
Joey

Fw: [ncrc] Fw: greetings/ellerbe

This was originally just an e-mail I sent to a couple
of friends. I was going to write a report but never got around to it so I
slightly modified this instead

That is Anita Finkle just behind me. Her husband Jay took the picture.

Hello my favorite running people,

The weather turned out perfect. I drove through a shower around Sanford
and was worried but when in got to Ellerbe it was blue skies.

Now on with the story.
I was a bit apprehensive about running this after the extremely difficult
time I had at Umstead 2 weeks ago. And my right leg hasn't been right
since Myrtle Beach Marathon and was hurting me quite a bit yesterday. I decided to go ahead
and run for fun and hope the leg would hold up. Age-group medals would
have to wait til another day.
I started out with my good ultrabuddy Anita Finkle. Jay wasn't running
because of some Achilles tendonitis so he was saving it for the 100 in two
weeks. It was great to run with her. I haven't seen them as much as usual
the past year and we haven't run together in a long time. My leg was
feeling fine so that was a relief. The pace was maybe a little quicker
than I planned that early, right at 9mp but it felt good. The first half
is very hilly. I think this may be as tough as the Boogie, just easier
because of the cooler weather than June.
We were just having a great time talking and after about 7 miles a lady
Anita knew joined us. The miles seem to pass quickly and we went through
the half, which is the highest point on the course in 2:01:15, about 9:15
pace. The hill leading up to that point is about as tough and long as
Bethel Church Hill. The next couple of miles had some nice downhill but
there were still plenty of hills left. The 2nd half is somewhat easier
than the 1st though.
At 15 miles,Jay was working the a.s. and Anita stopped for a minute and
while I was walking away drinking some water, Ruth, the other lady kept
going. I was going slow thinking Anita might catch back up but after a few
minutes I decided to pick the pace back up. I saw Tony Rouse was just
behind me at the a.s.and I was hoping he would catch me too so we could
run together. Well, he finally did 4 miles later at 19. We picked up the
pace a little more. The next few miles were a long gradual climb, just
enough to let you know you are going up hill. I commented to Tony that I
could really use some downhill soon.
Anita caught us at 22 miles. We were running about 9mp again but she
passed us in pursuit of beating other women. We had been Finkled. I told
Tony after running an 8:50 mile that we were doing good but I had to slow
down becuase I felt a stitch coming and my stomach was feeling a bit
queezy. I dropped back a little to recupe a bit. When we got to mile 23,
Tony stopped and turned back and waited for me. He said if we push it we
might crack 4 hours. I didn't think it was even a remote possibility but I
looked at my watch and saw it would be possible but only if we really
pushed it. I didn't think I could so I told Tony I didn't feel like trying
but for him to go ahead. Strange thing though, that last easy mile had me
feeling better and we started picking it up and soon were in a good
groove. This was cool. This late in a marathon and I feel great and
running faster than I have all day. Around 24 miles we passed Anita and 3
other people. ( My first reverse Finkle!) We ran mile 25 in
I can honestly say that although it was not my fastest marathon, it was
probably my best from start to finish.
What a great day. Spend it with some great people and running a great
race in a beautiful place. Got to spend some quality time with the Trail
Angel before and after the race. Always a highlight of my life.

Joey

Ultra Adventures - Volunteering at Umstead

This is a story about volunteering. Sometimes it can be as much fun as running.

Ultra Adventures - Joey Anderson's MMT Report

This is my report on the May 2005 Massanutten Mountain Trail 100