Roosters Running

Under the Knife

2013-04-11T15:53:00.002-04:00

On Monday I will have surgery on my right hip and two/three month’s later will likely have the same surgery on my left hip. It has been a long and painful road to get to this point, but hopefully this is my final path to becoming completely well again.

I have been dealing with pain in my groin and hip area for about 18 months. I’ve been to several doctors and followed a very conservative approach to fixing what was wrong. Unfortunately the hips and pelvis are an extremely complex area and it is very hard to properly diagnosis the source of pain, especially when there could be multiple pathologies. I would not say that I was misdiagnosed; it just took too long to find the proper cause of the problem. My initial diagnosis was osteitis pubis, which is extremely painful and was what first led me to seek medical advice. However, osteitis pubis was an effect not the cause of my problems. So after very conservative treatment of rest, PT and core strengthening did not show much improvement I received a very powerful steroid shot to the pubic symphysis (yeah ouch!!!). That was this past winter and it immediately took away quite a bit of the pain.

After the shot, and a bout with strep throat and the flu, I was able to run again. I started building up the miles and complementing it with biking and core training. I finally thought that I was starting to overcome my problems, when I woke up one morning with shooting pain in my lower back down to my upper hamstring. It hurt to simply walk. One of my doctors thought it was SI Joint inflammation, so I followed the standard conservative protocol. But not only did it not get better; the pain in anterior hip and groin was coming back. After doing some research I found a hip specialist who has treated many professional athletes including marathon runners and went to see him for an opinion.

He ordered another MRI, this time an arthrogram (where they inject dye) as well as a cortisone shot into the hip joint. The MRI revealed a deformity known as a Femoral Acetabular Impingement (FAI) caused by a CAM deformity; basically the ball of my femur in my hip joint is shaped funny and has an extra knob of bone on it. This was causing chronic labral tearing. Additionally, my sacrum, which is the bone next to the SI Joint had a fracture. According to the doctor, my impingement was causing strain around the entire pelvis – pulling it apart in the front leading to the osteitis, and compressing it in the back leading to the SI Joint pain and stress fracture. Not very good news, but at least I have a diagnosis.

This is basically how my hip is shaped, they need to shave down the extra bone

I basically had to limit all activity to allow the fracture to heal and scheduled hip arthroscopic surgery to reshape the hip joint, remove the impingement and repair the damage to the labrum. I will likely have to have the same procedure done on the left hip as soon as my right hip is recovered enough. Unfortunately, they cannot do both at the same time because you have to have one stronger leg to properly rehab.

After the second surgery I will have at least 10 weeks of intensive physical therapy in order to re-teach my body proper running mechanics. I have been dealing with this for so long and overcompensating for the injury that they will have quite a bit to fix. The good news is that my surgeon has a 95% success rate in returning athletes to competition. So baring any setbacks, I should be back running by the Fall and slowly begin to regain my fitness.

This has obviously taught me quite a bit. Hip and groin injuries are nothing to mess around with and there are very few experts in this area. You really have to do your research. The body will only let you compensate for so long. Being an ultra runner you get used to pain; dull, achy pain is very common in this sport so it is easy to overlook the beginnings of a much larger problem. I had to go and actually break my back before I finally found out what was wrong.

I really have to thank my family, especially my wife, for putting up with me through all of this. Yes I get cranky and a bit nasty when I can’t run, but I am even worse my activity is completely limited. I have a million interests and lots to do, but nothing brings me peace and balance like running. I also have my two boys who can’t wait to go running with me again. I am confident that I will be able to run again and hopefully at the same level I was at before. Sometimes the path is hard; we can either dwell on how hard it is or put our head down and push through. To borrow a phrase “it never always gets worse.”

This is a running blog and obviously with my lack of running I have not had a lot to post, but I will periodically post about how my recovery is going. Also I have done a lot of research on the hip and groin (pretty much read every scholarly journal on FAI, hip impingement, groin disruption, osteitis pubis, sports hernia, and athletic publagia), so if anyone has any questions or thinks they might have an injury, I’d be happy to share what I’ve found out – email jeremy.pade@gmail.com

Rebuilding

2013-01-08T16:59:00.002-05:00

As I have returned to running in the past few weeks (with a minor flu induced setback), I anticipated it would be like starting all over again. In some ways it is, but in many ways it is not - it is just different. It did not take much to bring back my aerobic fitness, and the muscle memory in my legs has allowed a return to running fairly quickly. What does take time is rebuilding the base – getting to the point where it all feels completely normal (using the extremely skewed view of the ultra runners “normal”). I also need to work on rebuilding my anaerobic threshold. I've never been one for doing a lot of speed work; typically choosing distance over speed. However, it is important for overall fitness and does have benefits for racing longer distances, so I am going to have to devote some time to pushing that threshold back a little further. Hill repeats, fartleks and I may even hit the track once in a while:)

Mentally it has been tough to get back into the groove as well; trying to overcome the thoughts of injury or becoming re-injured It is often hard to distinguish the difference between soreness and real pain and then interpreting what that pain is telling your body. Do you need rest or stretching? Or maybe it is just the body adjusting to the training? Maybe it is just paranoia? Prior to being injured these thoughts rarely entered my mind – I just went out and ran. Now I think about them quite a bit and I imagine I will continue to until I run a race again, which always has a way of changing perspectives.

I am beginning to think of racing in 2013, but will not nail down a schedule until I am a little more comfortable with my fitness and training. Now that races seem to fill-up in a matter of minutes I will likely not have a lot of choice anyway. I am on the wait-list for MMT and have a pretty good shot at getting in, so hopefully I will be able to return to run on the rocks;) I also will be running local races as part of the PR Racing Team. So if you are in the D.C. area you will start seeing me again on the weekends - foolishly trying to keep up at the short distances with the fast boys.

"No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path." – Buddha

Finally on the Mend?

2012-12-12T16:42:00.002-05:00

I think I am finally, after more than a year, getting over this injury. It has been a most frustrating experience. Having one of the worst injuries a runner can get and having very few places to turn to get help. Most doctors are completely unfamiliar with this type of injury. The worst part is that resting didn’t seem to make it any better and none of my doctors knew of a treatment. I ended up talking with a doctor in San Francisco, who helped find someone to conduct a procedure to help alleviate the pain. This was several weeks ago, and despite some lingering tightness everything is finally starting to feel normal. Know we will see what happens when I am able to start training again. If the pain comes back, then I will likely be heading out to California for surgery and another few months of recoveryL At least I have a path moving forward and there seems to be light at the end of this very dark tunnel. I’m hoping that the running gods will treat me more kindly in 2013; no matter what I will have a newfound appreciation simply for the ability to get out and move.

Not Quite Ready

2012-04-30T14:56:00.000-04:00

This past weekend I went down to run the Promise Land 50K. Normally, I would have been very excited to compete in a race like this – a long, semi-technical trail run, a healthy amount of gain and decent; with a field of some of the fastest East coast runners. However, due to injury I have not raced all year and knew I was in no shape to compete, but since I have been back running for several weeks I wanted to gauge where my fitness and health were. It was also my 30^th B-day and I thought running 30+ miles would be a fun way to celebrate. I emailed Dr. Horton on Tuesday and he was kind enough to let me in, as well as seeding me with bib #8.

I got to the Promise Land Camp Friday night and had a good time chatting with many running friends. Exchanging stories, talking of future plans and of course the race the next day – would the mountains break the superfast marathoner, will experience triumph over pure speed? The next day would reveal the answer as Eric Grossman surpassed 2:19 marathoner Kalib Wilkinson on the final ascent and broke the course record by 5 minutes! I was just happy to be there and figured even if my injury didn’t rear its ugly head, my lack of training would come back to bite me at some point. So with that, I was looking forward to the pleasure found in running in the mountains and yes even the pain from sore calves and trashed quads. After a night of very little sleep in my tent, I got up the next morning ready to run – for the first time sporting my PR Racing Team singletJ

At 5:30 AM we were off. The pace was very fast starting out for the first 4 miles of climbing. Eric, Kalib and one other runner took off to the front. I felt pretty good on the climb, and tucked in behind Shaun Pope to take advantage of his headlamp during the first 30 or so minutes of darkness. After the climb, the sun had come up and I was really enjoying running as quickly the 10+ minute/mile pace on the climb turned into sub-7s. Neal Gorman and a few other runners caught up to me coming into the second aid station before mile 10. At this point my legs where holding up OK and I thought the rest of the day would unfold quite well. Then I hit the down hills….

My left leg, specifically the hip flexor and adductor began to flare up, ugh! The last time this happened (at Stone Mill) I ran another 20+ miles through the pain and caused extreme inflammation that kept me from racing for months. I had promised my doctor and more importantly my wife that I would bail if the pain came back. All this was starting to weigh on my mind as I came into the third aid around mile 13, and before the long descent back down the mountain. Heading down the trail I quickly accepted the reality that the pain was not just soreness from lack of running and the more I tried to run, the worse it was getting. I slowed considerably, and eventually decided to just walk it out rather than risk any additional damage. Many runners began to pass me with offers of help and asking if I was OK – it is hard to answer this accurately and politely “no I am not OK, but you can’t help unless you have magical healing power.” At least the trail was beautiful and I even stopped at a bridge for awhile to watch as the water flowed down the mountain and over the rocks. Realizing the simplicity of nature that triggers complexity and relating it to life. Aspects of life that at the core are very simple become quite complex and so often we lose focus on what is important. We live, we love and we die. It is the middle that determines nearly every aspect of who we are. What you love (your wife, children, running, a career)? How you love (giving your time, devotion, attention)? A person can lose everything, and still be content as long as they have love. I see this even more as my boys get older and I remember what it was like when I was a child and realize that I am the man I am today because of the love I have been shown and have shown as well. I guess turning thirty has made me even more introspective. To relate this to running – I love to run and in order to continue to do what I love I need to make the appropriate decisions to ensure that I don’t jeopardize running in the long term in order to meet short term aspirations. My musings were quickly snapped back to reality as a runner passed with a confused look of “why is this person staring at a river in the middle of a race?” I soon returned to my walk and made it to the aid station. Dr. Horton quickly handed me some ibuprofen and encourage me to get going until I explained my injury and quipped that the last mile took longer than my average 10KL

I caught a ride back to the camp with one of the radio crew members and got there in time to see the top guys finish. Then I headed back home making it just in time for my own birthday party. As I write this a couple days later I am again pain free, but I will be giving it even more time. Even a few months ago, I likely would have headed out the door the minute I started to feel better, but I have learned a lot from the injury that will hopefully make me a better and smarter runner in the future. Although I was not able to finish, I am glad I was able to go and run for the time that I did. I was also able to gauge where I am and how far I still have to go to get over this.

Up next – I am not quite sure. I am very disappointed that MMT looks to be out of the picture. I really like MMT and was hoping that I would at least be healthy enough to finish it even if I couldn’t compete. I’ll still be out there, but as a volunteer or maybe a pacer helping others achieve their goals. Hopefully, I can resume training soon and start racing again in June. Maybe the North Face 50 or Laurel Highlands. For now I am just going to continue to take it one day at a time.

Patience and Persistence – Dealing with Injury

2012-03-29T12:00:00.000-04:00

Dealing with injury is very similar to running an ultra. To get through it you need to be both patient and persistent. The better you are at this, the more likely you are to heal (or finish) quicker. Since last fall I have been dealing with chronic pain in my lower abs and groin. I would try to train; feel good for a few days and then crash. It progressively got worse to the point that the pain would wake me up from sleep. As my luck would have it, it turns out that this area of the body is one of the hardest to diagnosis for injury. There are so many different muscles, ligaments, tendons, joints and bones all trafficking through the same area and anyone of them can produce similar pain and symptoms as another. After initially thinking it was a sports hernia, I had an MRI that revealed significant edema of the pubic symphysis - a condition known as Osteitis Pubis (I know, great name for an injury). It is a condition commonly seen in rugby/soccer players and occasionally long distance runners. My best guess for what caused it was when I injured by hip at UROC last fall; I did not let it fully heal and the large amount of running/racing I did afterward caused the shearing of the bone leading to the inflammation.

The MRI did not completely rule out a sports hernia as well, but it was likely that this was the cause of all the pain. The recovery time was listed as one month to up to 2 years! I was definitely going to focus on being closer to the one month side. As is my nature, I poured over every piece of information available on the subject from blog posts to advanced medical journal articles. Unfortunately, there is not a whole lot of definitive research on this condition. The best seems to be regarding Australian Football League players. The overwhelming consensus was complete rest, with the goal of getting the inflammation down. Once the inflammation is down, core exercises aimed at strengthening the hip/pelvis to help gap the imbalance between the strong leg muscles and the relatively weaker upper body/core muscles; then a graduated return to activity. Fortunately I have great doctors, who like me, are advocates of active recovery. So with that, I took a layoff from running for almost a month and took NSAIDs for 10 days. I did begrudgingly hop on the bike most days in order to maintain some fitness (I really don’t like to bike).

It may take awhile to get back into shape - and trim up the body hair:)

The inflammation did go down and the referred pain began to subside. Finally, last Friday I went for an easy run pushing my son Gavin in the stroller. The next day I hit the trails for about 90 minutes and it felt good. I took the next day off as a precaution and have been able to run every day since. I have been supplementing this with plenty of core strength and stretching exercises. I occasionally feel a deep ache, but no real pain. The trick is to continue to progressively and consistently continue activity, while being patient – not doing too much, listening to the body and trying not to get frustrated. It takes a lot of mental strength - at times I was so fed up with the pain that I thought about just giving up running altogether. But just like that feeling of despair 60-70 miles into a 100, you have to put your head down, push through and know that eventually things will get better. It also helps to have a wife that knows when to support you and when to give you a kick in the assJ

I go to the doctor again tomorrow for a checkup; hopefully everything is progressing as well as I feel it is. I still have to build back slowly; taking it one day at a time. Hopefully, I will be back to full strength real soon - healthy and running again.

“Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.” – The Buddha

Getting Back At It

2012-02-09T16:13:00.001-05:00

Been a while since a post, but I really haven’t had much to post. The past two months have been pretty lackluster as I have been dealing with some issues. Essentially, after the series of Ultras last fall culminating with the “death march” at Stone Mill 50, I was pretty beat up. After taking it easy for a few weeks things started clearing up, but I had chronic pain and tightness in my adductors through my groin and into my hips. Obviously an overuse issue, but this seemed like it might need a little more attention than usual. I eventually took some time completely off and went to go see Dr. Park. After a few sessions with Dr. Park, as well as some massage and taking a few real easy weeks (read frustrating), I am finally starting to feel better; just some occasional tightness. The past few days I have started to get some real running in again and other than the noticeable loss of fitness and some muscle soreness it feels really good to be “out-and-about.”

Over the next few weeks, I’ll continue to see Dr. Park and work on strengthening my adductors and hip flexors. I plan on running in some local races mainly to get my fitness level back up and hopefully be prepared for some real racingJ

As for the rest of 2012, I am still trying to figure it out. Hardrock is still a possibility, but I won’t know if I get in off the wait list until later this Spring/early Summer and I would really like to get in some training at altitude before then…There are plenty of other races/adventures I am looking forward to including a low-key stage race across Virginia (not sure I can get the time off for that though). Too bad I can’t make a living off this running thing. At least I can have fun doing something I enjoy, see beautiful scenery, and compete against others and myself to see how far I can push myself. We’ll see where the year goes, but for now I am just looking forward to getting back at it.

“Behind every beautiful thing, there’s some kind of pain” – Bob Dylan

Saw the finale of this tour in New Orleans last year - Awesome!!

Big Easy Express Official Trailer from S2BN Films on Vimeo.

Looking Forward

2011-12-13T14:22:00.000-05:00

It’s been a while so I thought I should post an update. My last race was the Stone Mill 50 (actually about 55). I went into the race pretty beat up and after 20 or so miles knew I wouldn’t be able to push it at all, so it turned into more of a fun day jogging on trails. Still good enough for a 4^th place finish, but nowhere near what I should I have run it in. The race itself is great – well put on, good aid stations, and the course is almost entirely single track trail in Seneca State Forest. It’s also the same day as the JFK 50, so if you are looking for an alternative at a much cheaper cost ($35 entry fee) this is your race.

Since the race, I have cut back my running trying to get fully healthy for 2012. No real injuries, just tweaks, pulls and strains that accumulated over the course of the past year’s races. I did head down to the Hellgate 100k+ this past weekend to crew for my friend Brad. It was an interesting experience being on the other side of a race (especially a Horton race). I learned a lot and it was fun to watch the race unfold. Brad ended up with a 5^th place finish, despite having a rough patch most of the second half of the race. It’s always inspiring to see someone dig deep and push through to the finish.

I am still trying to put together my schedule/goals for 2012. I did get into MMT 100, so I plan on going back and (hopefully) finish much faster and compete for the overall win. I am also 36^th on the Hardrock 100 wait list; in many years that will get you in, but it’s 50/50 from what I’ve heard. There are many other races I am considering, but have not yet decided on.

Maybe I'll be here in July?

Next year I will be running for the racing team of my local running store, Potomac River Running. This means I’ll get my fair share of speed work at local 5K, 10K and half-marathons. I am also glad to be sponsored by Hammer Nutrition for 2012. I have been using Hammer products exclusively since I started Ultra running and it has worked great for me. Many people are familiar Hammer gels and Endurolytes, but Hammer has many other products to help endurance athletes perform including Perpetuem, Sustained Energy, FIZZ and Recoverite to name a few. Now with Hammer’s support, I will be able to get an even better handle on fueling and recovery and should see continued improvement in my performances for 2012.

“Life’s battles don't always go to the strongest or fastest man, but sooner or later the man who wins is the fellow who thinks he can.” - Pre

What a month!

2011-11-10T13:58:00.001-05:00

The last month of running has been interesting, fun, exciting and in the end perhaps a little too exhausting. About a week after my effort at Oil Creek, I felt for the most part recovered. So, I decided to head up to run the USATF 50 Mile Championships at Tussey Mountainback. There was some really good competition and I like to support USATF races. Anne, Logan and I went up on Saturday and camped with our friends Rebecca and Evan (who was also running). Sunday morning was cold and we shivered at the start line. I wasn’t really sure what to expect, but figured I’d give it my best shot. The race started and I ran with the lead pack that included Wardian, Dave James, Todd Braje and Michael Arnstein. After about 15 miles we hit the first major climb of the day and the pack broke up. Wardian made his move and the others followed. Knowing I did not have quite the road speed as these guys I was content on falling back a bit. Around mile 20 I started feeling a bit bad and did slow down a little. Sometime between miles 25 and 30 Mark Godale and Joshua Fingers passed me. I kept Joshua within my site, hoping to catch him and Mark when we hit some of the later hills. Around mile 40 I started feeling pretty good again and I nearly caught Joshua on a major climb around mile 41. After the aid station at mile 42 there is another climb on an out and back section, I passed Joshua here and saw Mark was probably about 10 minutes up on me. Feeling pretty good I started chasing Mark, while trying to hold off Joshua. I hit the last aid station with 4.2 miles to go at around the 6 hour mark. A sub-6:30 was within reach, so I pushed about as much out of my legs as they would give me and finished in 6:28:42.

It was a fun day, the weather was perfect and Anne, Logan, Rebecca and Evan (who had to drop due to injury) ended up cheering me on at various points along the course. I ran a pretty good race, with near even splits. It was fun running with some of the fast boys and I am still amazed at Wardian’s time and splits (3:00 for the first 25 miles, 2:33 for the second!).

I now had 12 days to prepare for my next race at the Pinhoti 100…

Recovery went OK during this short time, running fast (sub 6 min./miles) was pretty uncomfortable, but other than that I thought I felt pretty good. We drove to Alabama with both boys, stopping in Knoxville on the way out. The boys were fighting off colds and did not sleep well, so neither did Anne or I. When we arrived in Sylacauga, AL the hotel had lost our reservation, so we had to head across the street to the Holiday Inn Express (a nicer hotel, but a little more $$). At packet pickup I learned I was not listed to ride on the bus to the start in the morning. Luckily, Troy Shellhamer had a crew and was able to give me a ride and some early morning amusement with banter about the Louisville tri-athlete community and several references and quotes from Talladega Nights (the race was run in Talladega National Forest).

I got up at 3 AM, got dressed and headed off for the hour and a half drive to the start. After milling around a bit in the cold, the race started. Karl took off and a few others followed. I was content falling back a bit, at least until the sun came up. Things were going fine for about 10 miles. After that I just felt completely spent; not good when you still have 80+ miles and 16+ hours to go. I kept trudging along hoping to bounce back, but by mile 20 I was already in my “100 mile shuffle.” There was nothing really physically wrong; I was just completely exhausted and depleted. I trudged along a little further, but finally gave up realizing my body was telling me this was just too much.

Anne and the boys picked me up and we headed to the Mellow Mushroom for lunch - gotta love the Mellow MushroomJ Stopping when I did gave us some extra time to spend in the South and we had a good time. The next morning I talked to Karl for a bit, congratulating him on a great run with a course record 16:42 and win #31. He’s thinking about putting on a “Speadgoat 100” next year. Sounds painful, but I am definitely interested; especially if I am unlucky in the lotteries.

This month has taught me quite a bit about my running and both the mental and physical demands of frequent Ultra racing. Hopefully, I can learn and continue to improve with perhaps a bit more consistency. I’ll probably stay local for the rest of the year, and there is no shortage of races so I should be able to “get my fill.”

Striking Oil!

2011-10-11T16:26:00.005-04:00

Ever since last year’s ankle debacle had me DNF Oil Creek 100 after more than 80 miles of running, I really wanted to come back and finish this race. However, I wasn’t sure if I was going to run or not after I tweaked my hip at UROC. After taking a couple days off, I was able to get a few nice runs in the two weeks between races. This gave me the confidence I needed, so I felt good enough to go and at the very least finish the race.

We left Friday morning, Anne, the boys, Nana and me for the 5-6 hour drive to Titusville, PA. The Oil Creek 100 consists of three 50k loops and one 7+ mile “coming home” loop. The race headquarters is at the local middle school, so this made it a little easier on Anne to crew for me as there was no need to travel from aid station to aid station. It also allowed the kids to see me throughout the day; Gavin even ran the last couple hundred feet of the first loop with me.

Running by the Birth of the Oil Boom

The 5 AM start went off smoothly as we made our way up the 1.5 mile bike path to the trail head. I settled in behind another runner who had assumed the lead and we were about 30 seconds up on a group of runners that included Nick Pedatella (who had just won Bear 100 two weeks prior) and Shaun Pope. At the second aid station, Petroleum Center, the runner in front of me stopped to refill his Nathan Pack, so I led the group back to the school to complete the first 50K in about 5 hours. A little fast, but overall the pace felt good. The difficulty in running a fast time at this course is that you have to be able to run the whole thing, but there is never an opportunity to get into a “groove.” The course is about 90% single track and you are either on a short climb, descent, crossing through mud, or running over rocks and roots. The course is runnable, but the variety can really slow you down quite a bit over the 100 miles.

Nick caught up with me early in the second loop and we ran together for awhile. Heading back into Petroleum Center, a little before the half-way point, Nick had gained a few minutes on me. He was climbing much better than I was (I really wish we could live closer to the mountains!). At this point the temperature had risen to about 80 degrees and was starting to take its toll. I was also starting to have energy issues. I would take in as many calories as I could and would feel fine for 30-45 minutes and then crash. I kept my gel intake very high, but this seemed to be a common theme all day long. I ran the second loop in around 5:45 and had fallen about 25 minutes behind Nick.

Nick and I on the second loop

Trying to make up ground

Halfway through the third loop, I was still maintaining my place. However it was starting to get dark, Nick had now picked up a pacer, and I was still having energy issues. At this point I was eating anything I could at the aid stations just to try to quell my hunger. I was pretty sure there was no way I could catch Nick, but was determined to keep pressing. As darkness fell it became difficult to negotiate the slick down hills, especially since 1) I forgot to change the batteries in my headlamp so it was quite dim, and 2) my kids had taken my LED handheld as a play toy. I was still running and running well for being so far into a 100, but I just felt that I should have been going faster. At the end of the third loop, Nick had built a lead of about an hour on me. It was just time to finish.

Anne changed the batteries in my headlamp and I ate a couple grilled cheese sandwiches and some M&Ms. In order to finish sub-19 I would have to complete the final 7+ mile loop in a little a little under 1:30. My legs still felt good so I thought I might be able to do it. That is until I came upon the duly named “Hill of Truth.” About 95 miles in, you have the hardest climb of the day – niceJ I tried to run it at first, but it seems to last forever and I was relegated to power hiking most of this climb. When I made it back to the bike path, I ran pretty hard to finish in 19:16. Race Director Tom Jennings was there to award me my 2^nd place plaque and sub-22 hour golden belt buckle, as well as congratulations for coming back and finishing what I started the year before. Full results here.

After the race, Anne and I sat with Nick, his Mom and Jay Smithberger (Nick’s pacer). Apparently, Anne and Nick’s mom got to know each other fairly well as they spent most of the day together. Even after the race my energy issues were still affecting me. As we got up to leave I nearly passed out and had to lie down for several minutes before heading back to the hotel. I didn’t sleep much that night as my stomach was in knots and I had the standard “twitching legs.” In the morning, we stopped by the school to say goodbye to some of the volunteers and then hit the road back to D.C.

Oil Creek is a really good event; well organized and Tom is a great race director. The aid stations are well run and stocked with everything an ultra runner might need. The course is challenging, yet runnable, and you get to see the beautiful Fall foliage of Northern Pennsylvania.

Great Fall Views!

I am pleased with my results and that my body held together so well, especially with the issues I have had recently. I was able to run the whole time, with the exception of a few of the steeper climbs. But as always, I think I could have done better. I will have to wait until next year to see. In the meantime I am going to recover and get ready for my next race in Alabama Nov. 5, 2011 at the Pinhoti 100. I have heard Karl is going to run – I guess I am really testing my theory that you can only improve when you run against the best…

Bald Mountain Bit Me Again (UROC Report)

2011-09-30T13:46:00.001-04:00

UROC 100K was a great event and while I had a disappointing day from a performance perspective, overall I had a really good time.Gill, Francesca and everyone involved with the race did an excellent job and I think this race will continue to grow in the future.

We rented a condo at the Wintergreen Resort (where the start/finish was) with another family/friends of ours. My friend Chris would be running his first half-marathon. I talked him into doing it; little did he know it is probably one of the most difficult half's to run, especially for your first! But he finished and really enjoyed it, I think he'll be stepping up to Ultras by next year.

On Friday, I picked up my packet and was immediately the guinea pig for Andy Jones Wilkins elite interviews. I participated in the elite panel that night, MC'd by AJW. The amount of talent at the table was amazing and while I felt a little out of my league, I was truly honored to be sitting with everyone there (I was even asked for my autograph, definitely a first).

Race morning started simple enough. The 7 AM start was nice and after a short "parade" lap we were off and running. My strategy was to stay back in about 10-15th place through the first third to half of the race and then try to slowly work my way up. The course was laid out very well and the first 5.5 miles had quite a bit of climb and some technical trail to allow the runners to get a bit spread out right from the beginning. I was in a pack of runners flip-flopping positions including Ian Sharman, Michael Owen and Jason Bryant. I was climbing well and would pass people on the uphills, but get subsequently passed on the downhills (one of the weaker aspects of my running, and one that I intend to work on).

We flew through the first aid station and made our way down from the resort to the Blue Ridge Parkway. I spent most of the next section running with Chris Reed. The fog had yet to roll in and it was a quite beautiful morning running along the parkway. We made our way to Sheranodo Lake at about mile 17. Michael Wardian and several of the front runners were just leaving the lake, so we were about 1 mile back. It was starting to really get humid, so I shed my shirt as we left the lake. After the lake is the most significant climb of the day up Bald Mountain to the Slacks Overlook. From my experience at Bel Monte I knew what to expect here. I actually felt good on the climb up and the only error I made was in not realizing how far away the next aid station was; I ran out of water well before the next aid. It was on the downhill coming off the mountain that I ran into trouble (no I didn't fall like at Bel Monte), coming down I was probably going a little too fast and somehow strained my left hip flexor. It didn't feel to bad at the moment, but after the aid station we had a nice section of rolling road and when I tried to move with any sort of speed I would get a shooting pain. I was slowed to a jog/trot/shuffle and started getting passed by other runners. I kept hoping it would loosen up, and tried to press on.

When I got to Mile 33 at Whetstone Station, I said I was done. The aid station was run by Neal Gorman and his wife, and was the central location for an 8 mile out-and-back along the Dragon Back Trail. With all the lead men out on this section of trail, the aid station was buzzing with excitement and Gill, Bryon Powell, and several of the other runners who had dropped earlier where there. When I said I was going to drop as well, I immediately was surrounded by a group of people encouraging me to go on. "It will loosen-up" "there is still a lot of race left" "you don't want to miss the next section of trail" etc...Jason Bryant got out some Bio Freeze and I rubbed it on my tight hip while he tried to massage my thigh muscle. Finally, I decided to give it a try and headed out on the trail. Initially, I felt OK (it was probably the Bio Freeze and the difference in terrain), but this did not last long. I saw Dave Mackey walking back on the trial and shortly after Wardian came cruising by looking like he was having a blast. By the time I hit the turnaround, I was done. I could no longer really run and was definitely no longer competitive, even for a top 10 finish. I made it back to the Aid Station and let Neal know I was dropping. If this was any other race, I probably would have hobbled along for the remaining 20 miles, but the goal of this race was to compete. Once that was no longer possible, my decision was easier to make.

I made it back to the Bald Mountain Aid Station and helped out there for a bit while I waited for Anne to pick me up. We then went back to Wintergreen to watch the finish. Getting updates about how Wardian had gone off course and there were only minutes between 2 and 5th place; it was very exciting. We then waited around in the fog, while the kids played and kept stealing MMs from the snack table. While my hat is off to all the finishers it was very cool to see Jon Allen finish 5th and local running buddy Brad Hinton finish in the top 10.

I really wish I could have finished and finished well, but there will be other races (probably too soon). I was really grateful to be a part of the event and hopefully next year I will be able to come back as a better runner and compete at an even higher level.

Here is a link to a video of the race summary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=RlOhCZSe7vA

Ultra Race of Champions...

2011-09-22T11:08:00.000-04:00

In a couple days I will be lining up to race the Ultra Race of Champions (UROC) 100k near Charlottesville, VA. It should be an exciting race with the best competition I have ever run against in an Ultra. I decided to run this race because it allows me the opportunity to better myself by racing against runners that are better than me. When I started Ultra running last year, my goal was to train hard and see if I could be competitive by the time I was 30. I don’t turn 30 until next year, so I guess this should be a good gauge of where I am. I am obviously at the back end of the “elite” group, but I am just excited to have the opportunity to run with so many very talented and experienced Ultra runners.

I also think the race is good for the sport. Gill and Francesca (the race directors) have put a lot of effort into making this a really top notch event starting in Year 1. There seems to be a lot of criticism about catering to the “elite” runners and whether or not it is a true championship. My take is simply that it will be a one of the most competitive Ultras of the year, and the winner will be the best of this group of runners on this day. We don’t have a championship, and there will be a lot of elite runners that won’t be in the race for various reasons, but that is no reason to dismiss UROC.

Still being relatively new to the sport, there seems to be two distinct groups in the Ultra community: one that wants a competitive sport and one that views it as a run or an event, a challenge to oneself to run all day(s) on varied, hilly and sometimes technical terrain. I don’t see why we can’t have both. Just because you are not Ryan Hall doesn’t mean you shouldn’t run a road marathon, we all have different goals. Running 50, 62.5 or 100 miles is an amazing feat whether you are doing it competitively or doing it as a challenge to yourself. A friend of mine will be running his first half-marathon at UROC. He was inspired to run, not by the elite runners, but after attending an Ultra and seeing guys like him pushing themselves to finish the race. This is what Ultra running is about and I don’t see why we have to lose that aspect, just because there will be some more structure and support for the competitive side of the sport.

Anyway, enough of my rambling. How am I physically? I think I am in pretty good shape. I’ve been training well and my ankle seems to be nearly fully recovered. I ran the Cheat Mountain Moonshine Madness 50 Miler a few weeks ago and had a shoe mishap that cost me about an hour+ of time. I started the race with a light-weight shoe that did not have enough ankle support when we hit the trail sections, and did not have my change of shoes in my drop bag (about mile 23). So after way to much walking/hiking to protect my ankle and sitting at the aid station (thought I was just going to drop as I could not run in the shoes I had), a friend happened to have a pair of 11.5 trail shoes in his car. So I figured I would try them out. I headed back out on the course jogging along with another running friend, James Brennan. At this point I had fallen way back and was probably in 10-12 place. After jogging for a couple miles I decided to start running again, and while there was some pain it didn’t seem to be getting any worse. So I thought I would try to move back up as much as I could. I ended up finishing in third. Up and down run, but it was good to test out the ankle and realize that I need more supportive shoes on the trails still. Since then I have been running a good amount of volume and shorter, local races on the weekends to try and improve my speed and turnover. Mentally I’ve been a bit strained with school starting up again, switching projects at work and then several personal matters. How will it all pan out? I am not sure, but it should be fun and as always an adventure.

Not Running Related, but a True Example of Endurance

2011-09-19T12:12:00.000-04:00

I'll have a post soon on my running and thoughts on UROC, but below is the text from a short paper I wrote ten years ago when I was an undergraduate and had to write a character description of someone influential in your life. I read this at my Grandma's funeral last week. I look up to very few people in this world, and she was at the top of the list. Without her influence I would not be the man I am today.

MY GRANDMA

My Grandma, Evelyn Crane, is one of the greatest people I have ever known. She immigrated to America from Italy in 1920. She was eight years old at the time, but even then she made her life count. She has constantly proved that if you remain strong you can survive. She learned to measure wealth not by how much you have, but by how happy you are. My grandma has suffered many hardships, but has done so with a lot of pride, integrity, and love.

The first main characteristic of my grandma is her pride. She is an Italian-American and does nothing to hide it. She is very proud of her heritage and always has a story to tell of life in Italy, of growing up in and Italian-American community, and of the mafia (which are the best ones). She has one of the strongest wills of anyone I have ever known. She will set her mind on something and nothing will be able to stop her from doing it; most of the time she will be doing it to help others anyway. She truly is a survivor. When she came to America her father had run off, and her mother got sick on the boat and was put into the hospital. So she and her six-year-old brother had to support themselves. She went through the Great Depression and many other hard times, but she always made it through. Finally, she takes a lot of pride in her family. She married an Irishman, which was not acceptable for an Italian, but she loved him and had four kids with him. {All of whom she if very proud of}.

Another characteristic of my grandma is her integrity. Though she did not always have much she never acted like it. If you did not know better you would think she was rich. But she worked very hard for what she earned. She did not believe in doing a “half a job.” In everything she did she went all out. She never would accept charity from anyone, but she would always give to anyone who needed. She would always give a smile; you would never get a frown from her.

Thirdly, my grandma has always been a loving person. There is never a time when you can walk into my grandma’s house and not smell home cooked food. Whenever you came over you were given a meal fit for a king. This did not just apply to friends and family, my grandma would invite anyone into her house and offer them a meal. Every day, morning for her started at two A.M. with the daily laundry and moved on to baking fresh bread. Breakfast was served fresh when everyone else woke up. She did not always have a lot to give, but that never stopped her – she would give anyway. She would give food, money, a smile or a friendly comment. You never heard a negative comment come out of her mouth.

One more thing about my grandma is that she is the greatest cook I know. She always made real Italian meals like spaghetti, lasagna, rejol, and perpette (a fried, Italian-style meatball). Then there are the baked goods: fresh hard rolls, Italian cookies, genettes and scaleti.

My grandma is now 90 years old and still acts the same way. She still wakes up at two in the morning, still cooks, and is still serving others. She has taken her lot in life and used it to its fullest. She may only be 4’10,” but she has the heart of a giant. My grandma has been making impacts on peoples’ lives and has been an example to others for almost a century. I hope that if I live that long I will be able to look back and have accomplished at least half of what she has accomplished.

UROC

2011-08-17T15:47:00.001-04:00

After taking a couple easy weeks (and some PT) to heal up my ankle. I have finally been able to get back to some regular training. I would say my ankle is at about 90%, but it feels really good to be out and running every day. I've done a couple shorter, local races in the last couple weeks and have been pleased with my overall fitness level. I won a trail 10K and came in 5th place at the hot, hilly and humid Riley's Rumble half-marathon.

So this all leads to my next big race - the Trail Runner Ultra Race of Champions (UROC) on Sept. 24, 2011. After some debate about what to do in the Fall I finally decided that if I want to continue to improve I need to push myself against the best in the sport. The field at UROC is stacked with names like Roes, Mackey, Wardian, Sharman, and Meltzer; just to name a few. All of these runners are far more accomplished than I am. I am humbled to be given the opportunity to race against theses elites. My goal is simply to train hard, line-up and hold on for as long as I can without getting caught up in all the hype. Regardless of how I finish, this race should be an absolute blast. It is also in Virginia and I have had some pretty good races so far this year in Virginia. After UROC, I still plan on either running Oil Creek or keeping things in VA and running Grindstone. I'll probably decide on that in the next week or so (I like to push things off to the last minute anyway).

The next two weeks will also be interesting to watch with Pike's Peak Marathon, Leadville, Waldo 100k and, of course, UTMB coming up. I'll be pulling for local boy Neal Gorman out at Leadville; he's been having a great year so far - 2nd at MMT 100 and 1st at Old Dominion. At UTMB, I'm hoping that one of U.S. runners can pull out a victory, but I am not too optimistic. Either way it will be fun to follow from afar. That's it for now, time to go run!

Taking it Easy

2011-07-22T12:55:00.000-04:00

Well Vermont did not go as planned. After training very hard and going into the race in really good shape, I was brought down after only 50K by an ankle injury. I started feeling some pain in the ankle several weeks ago after running a local 5K. Over the next few weeks the pain would come and go; I figured with some rest leading up to the race everything would be OK - I was wrong. I took off with the leaders at a fairly aggressive pace for a 100 mile race. After about 10 miles I began feeling the pain in my ankle and after 20 miles I could not push off it normally, and backed off from the lead group. At mile 31 I met Anne for the first time and took off my shoe to reveal my swollen ankle. At that point my race was over - only a little over 4 hours after it began. It came down to making a difficult decision, but I did not want to risk further damage to my ankle and the possibility of a prolonged absence from running. I will live to race another day.

The one positive is that Anne and I were able to start celebrating our Anniversary a little early. We had a good time just relaxing and spending some quality time with each other. When we got back home I went to the foot and ankle specialist (the same one I saw last Fall, same ankle - different problem). He determined I had damaged my Posterior Tibial Tendon, but luckily it had not completely ruptured. So some physical therapy and a little more support for that foot should fix me up.

I did pick a good week to take some time off (both work and running), with the weather being near 100 with matching humidity. I've also been able to use the extra time to show the boys how to weed the garden, make tomato sauce, and put together a train set. Although Gavin has missed his normal time in the running stroller:)

Right now I am forced to take it real easy, but I should be back to normal training in a few weeks and can begin focusing on the Fall racing season. I am currently thinking about running in the 24 hour Championship in September. It is not necessarily my preferred type of running, but the type of training I've been doing and am able to do where we currently live probably suit me well for a race like this. After that I will either run Oil Creek or Grindstone. I am getting a lot of pressure to run Grindstone, and it looks like it will have a really good field of runners. However, I really want to go back to Oil Creek after being pulled at mile 85 last year. We'll see, but first things first, I have to get this ankle back to 100%.

Prep for VT 100 and Running to Inspire

2011-07-06T14:47:00.002-04:00

About ten days until the Vermont 100 and I am starting to really look forward to this race. Now that I have completed the distance and have a better idea of the mental capacity that goes into covering 100 miles on foot, I have much more confidence. The race also coincides with our 7^th wedding anniversary. After the race, Anne and I will be spending some time relaxing in Vermont/New Hampshire (without the kids, thanks Nana!).

My training has been fairly consistent since OD 100. I took a few days off after the race; slowly got back into my normal rhythm and have been running around 110 to 120 MPW, including one eight day period of over 160 miles – this included Highlands Sky 40 Miler and the ½ Sauer ½ Kraut Marathon. I’ve also thrown in some shorter races just to try to keep my fast twitch muscle fibers somewhat sharp. Since running MMT and OD 100 my pace for these races is a bit slower, but with the focus on running a solid 100-miler a slower 5/10K time doesn’t bother me too much. Physically, I feel pretty good. The only troublesome area is my left ankle, which has always been a bit finicky. My posterior tendons just don’t want to cooperate with the rest of my body. It doesn’t impact my running at all, but there is some tightness and occasional swelling. I am now going to actually try and take it easy leading up to Vermont and hopefully I won’t have any problems with it come race day. I am happy with my training and hope that it all comes together for a great race. After Vermont, my plans are still up in the air. There are many races I want to do, but I cannot run them all…

On a completely different note, I am pleased that recently my running has encouraged others to live healthier and get into better shape. I am an extreme introvert by nature, but I have made an effort to become more involved in the local running scene (with a little prodding from my wife). It has been very cool to see that by simply running with and talking to people you can have an impact on their decision to live a healthier life. While running, - Ultra running in particular - is a fairly solitary (selfish?) activity, there are still many ways that you can use this ability to make an impact on society however small it may be. I hope that my running can continue to inspire others and those people in turn will become an inspiration.

Lost in the Sky

2011-06-22T15:49:00.000-04:00

I signed up to run Highlands Sky 40 Miler a long time ago. I ran it last year, struggled, but absolutely loved the course and the event. This year we had friends that wanted to join us for a fun weekend in the mountains of West Virginia. They have two kids the same age as ours, so the kids would have fun together. Also, they had never been to an Ultra event and were curious to see what it is like.

When I originally signed up, I did not know yet that I would be running MMT (and subsequently Old Dominion). So, I was coming off two 100 milers and this would be my third Ultra in five weeks. I obviously was not excepting my best effort, but at a minimum would have fun and enjoy the course through the mountains. The race starts on a two mile stretch of road before heading onto the trail. There was a good group of runners upfront including Aaron Schwartzbard, Jeremy Ramsey, Mark Lundblad, and David Frazier. When we hit the first major climb, I knew my legs were too tired to stay at the front, so I hung back a bit. The first half of the course is harder than the second half; with two steep climbs and more technical trail. Knowing this I was not too concerned about not being able to push through this section. Instead, I tried to enjoy the trail and the beautiful scenery. I also had a good time chatting with several of the other runners, including David Ruttum (he went on to finish Third) who will be running UTMB this year and had interesting stories from last year’s canceled UTMB.

Coming into the halfway aid station, Anne, our friends and kids where waiting for me. Seeing I was about 20/25 minutes back, Anne asked me what was wrong. I replied - “Legs are tired, not sure why” (smirk). I was feeling very good otherwise. I quickly said goodbye and headed onto the “road across the sky.” Last year I blew up during this stretch. It is a rolling dirt road that is fully exposed and you can see about a mile ahead of you at all times. Last year it was about 95 degrees and humid, which made things worse. This year it was pleasantly in the upper 70s. I was able to run this section fairly well and passed a few people. I then headed out onto the Dolly Sods, and was feeling pretty good. Legs were still tired, but over the distance they had loosened up and allowed me to run at a fairly comfortable pace.

Now comes the most interesting part of the day. About 30/31 miles into the race I start to notice that there are no trail markings. This was fine for awhile as there was really know where else to go off the trail. However, I came to a junction. The trail I was on continued straight with a sign that said private property, but there was another trail that led off to the left. I vaguely remembered the personal property sign from last year and saw footprints on the trail. So, I continued forward but soon noticed that the footprints went in both directions (someone else had run up and then run back, I was not the only one that got lost…). So I started to run back to where the last trail marking was. I now came up a couple other runners and none of us knew which way to go. There were no markings to be seen. In the distance I saw the large boulders that we were supposed to get to, but was not sure how. Eventually Bill Young, a 9-year Highlands Sky veteran, caught up to the group of now several lost runners and told us to take the trail to the left. By this point many of the runners were discouraged. I had lost at least 25 minutes, but also know that this is part of the sport and it is just another obstacle Ultra runners must occasionally deal with. I took the leap of faith and decided to run on the unmarked trail. After about two miles I finally hit the bolder section and the course markings reappeared. When I got into the aid station, the race director’s sons were there about to head out to remark this section of the course; apparently some backpackers had removed the original markings.

With that drama out of the way, I just focused on finishing well. I came into the finish in 6^th place (exactly as I had been seeded), right around the 7 hour mark. I was pleased with the finish, considering the miles I have put on in the last month. Most importantly I had fun and was able to really just enjoy a good long run in the mountains.

"Would have been here sooner if I knew where I was going"

The rest of the afternoon we spent eating, talking, drinking good wine and watching the other runners come in. Our kids had a blast running up and down the hills and seeing all the overly friendly deer (they come right up to you looking for food). Our friends also had a good time, learned a lot, and were inspired by what they saw. Next year I am hoping they join us again, but this time as participants rather than spectators.

Old Dominion

2011-06-09T10:49:00.000-04:00

Old Dominion 100 was a great experience for me. I had a lot of fun, learned a lot, and was able to finish well. I headed out to Woodstock, VA on Friday to attend the race briefing and pitch my tent at the fairgrounds; where the race would start at 4 AM on Saturday. The race has a real community feel to it. I really liked the simple race organization and the exciting encouragement given to the runners to try to finish 100 miles in one day. I spent some time talking to other runners about the history of the race, the course, and recovery (a few of us had run MMT only three weeks ago).

I woke up a little after 3 AM on Saturday, got my gear together and walked down to the start. After a short prayer we were off and running around the horse track, through the town, and up the first climb toward Woodstock Tower. A couple guys took off from the start; I stayed back a bit and ran this early part of the race with Neal Gorman, Eric Grossman, Jon Loewus-Deitch and Patrick McGlade. Somewhere around mile 14 I started up a section of trail that was well marked, but that we had already run…I discovered my error when I came upon some middle-of-the-pack runners. I quickly turned around and corrected myself, but I had lost several minutes. As I worked to catch back up, my stomach started disagreeing with me. A quick stop in the woods and I felt a little better, but now was getting nauseous when I tried to eat. In my head I was thinking “slow down, pull it together, you have plenty of time.”

Kept forgetting to take off the headlamp

At the 50K mark I had caught up to Sean Andrish (who amazingly finished the race in a great time, despite recently having pins removed from his thumb and minor brain surgery). Running through Duncan Hollow I fell a couple times and started getting frustrated. Then the heat of the day started rising. Luckily it never got very hot, but it was hot enough to get dehydrated if you were not careful. There was supposed to be a water station along the trail, but it had not yet been set-up. After this section is the first medical check in and I was disappointed, although not surprised that my weight was down quite a bit. There is a lot of road running in this race and as I headed off the trail and back onto the roads, my right knee started to lock-up making it very difficult to run. As I came into the Four Points aid station at mile 47, I really wanted to drop. I had not been running the race I wanted, was well off the time I was shooting for and it seemed that everything that could possibly go wrong was going wrong. I decided to press on and walked for a long time. It was very depressing to be walking across the big "50" painted on the road. Halfway through and I felt like crap.

Yeah, that's how I felt mid-race:(

I kept walking for awhile and eating as much as I could. At some point I started running again and it didn’t feel great, but I was moving. I came up on Ron Shriver and Jon, who was having quad problems and slowed to talk to them for a few minutes. Around this time I started feeling really good and began really running again. As I came into the aid station at mile 55 I had caught back up to Patrick. I quickly headed out on the ATV trail section and was moving along very well. Around the 100k mark I came up on Dave Ploskanka, who had been leading the race earlier. He was having some stomach issues, so I offered him some ginger and kept pressing on. A little while later I passed Jon Allen – through 65 miles I was back into 4^th place. The next section went very well and I was cruising along until I started coming up on the road before Elizabeth Furnace and realized I did not see any course markings. I ran back up hill to where I saw the last one, but there was not another marking to be seen. Apparently, vandals had ripped down two miles worth of markings. After about 25 minutes of wandering, a race official came out and started remarking the course and told me the right way to go. This 25 minute detour ended up effecting 3 of the top 4 runners (Karsten Brown was familiar with the course and luckily knew the right trail).

Feeling good again!

Heading into the Furnace at mile 75 I saw Anne and the boys for the first time; this was a big boost after the demoralizing effect of my 25 minute detour. I quickly refueled and headed up over Sherman Gap. I can’t complain about this section too much after MMT, but it was much steeper and rockier than I was anticipating. I saw Anne again at mile 87 and from there to the finish it was all roads. These rolling hills took a bigger toll on me than I would have thought, but I was able to run them, albeit slowly. I came back into town, ran to the fairgrounds, did a big loop around the horse race track and crossed the finish line, where Anne and Logan were waiting for me. This was by far the best part of the race – finishing early enough for him to see me cross the finish line in 18:10.

Best part - sharing the finish with Poker

Lessons Learned: MMT helped with this, but OD really put a stamp on my belief that it is possible for me to run all day long. Also, I guess three weeks is enough time in-between 100s - not that I want to make a habit of it. I also have a lot more confidence moving forward in actually racing the distance. If I didn’t go off trail and had run better in the first half I could have run sub-17. I know I am capable of it, and hopefully I can use this experience at Vermont next month.

Gear Talk: I had a hard time deciding which shoes to wear. The course is mostly roads (gravel, paved, jeep or ATV), but there are a few technical sections as well. The NB 101s worked at MMT, but I do not like running on roads with them. I decided on the Montrail Rouge Racers, they are a little more shoe, but still lightweight and do have some cushion. They worked OK – I am just glad it was fairly dry on the course, because my biggest complaint with this shoe is that it does not drain well at all. My feet held up well and just like MMT I had no blisters or toenail issues. I really attribute this to Balega socks. Since I have been running in them I never have foot problems; despite many 100+ mile weeks and running 90% of the time in minimalist shoes.

Overall, I think OD is a fun, low key race that has a great community/family feel to it. It is a race I would recommend and will probably come back to in future years. My hope is that it can reclaim its spot in the Ultra community as one of the traditional, premier 100s in the country without losing the genuine nature of the event.

Special thanks to Bobby Gill for all the great pictures. I swear every time I made a turn on the course there he was snapping pictures:)

Time to Run Again

2011-06-03T09:59:00.001-04:00

Three weeks after finishing MMT, I'll be toeing the line again at the Old Dominion 100 in Woodstock, VA. Same basic area as MMT, but the course does not use the same rocky trails. It is supposed to be a much more runnable course. I feel pretty good going into the weekend. I recovered well from MMT and was able to put in some "normal" training last week. My speed has not fully come back, but that is to be expected and is not really that necessary for a 100 mile venture. I suppose I won't know for certain how ready I am until I am well into the race, but I plan on following the basic tenets: start slow, drink a lot, eat a lot, and keep moving forward.

The weather forecast seems to have improved from what was originally supposed to be highs in the mid-90s to now in the mid 80s - still hot, but much more manageable. It should be a very good race with some really talented runners: Neal Gorman, Eric Grossman, Karsten Brown, Sean Andrish, Keith Knipling, Dave Ploskanka, and Jon Loewus-Deitch to name a few. There will likely be some very good finishing times, and will hopefully bring more publicity to this race (it used to be part of the Grand Slam of Ultrarunning). It will be fun to see how it plays out.

MMT 100 - Silver Belt Buckle and Solo Division Champ

2011-05-18T09:53:00.002-04:00

I jumped full steam into Ultra running just last year. I did the normal progression for marathon: 50K to 50 mile to 100 miler, however I tried to do it all in the manner of months. This turned out to be too much, too soon and led to several 100-miler DNFsL My wife kept telling me that MMT would be my first 100 mile finish – obviously since it would be the hardest one. Everything seemed to be going well leading up to the race. I had a good spring with many races and remained injury free (other than the knee banging at Bel Monte), I got in several really strong 100+ mile weeks of training and I actually took it easy the week leading up to MMT. So there would be no excuses…

I decided to do the race solo because 1) I had no crew and did not want to subject Anne to driving around the GW Forest roads chasing me around the mountains and 2) I seem to do better when I just focus on the run and not worrying about a crew, logistics, etc. I headed out to the race site at the Caroline Furnace Lutheran Camp on Friday afternoon, got my packet, ate some dinner, pitched a tent in the muddy field/parking lot and tried to get some sleep. I awoke around 3 AM to the sound of 80’s music blaring from the start line. I got my stuff together and lined up to for the 4 AM start.

The race started on a 3.6 mile road section. Dave Ploskonka led the pack; with consensus picks for a 1-2-3 finish, Karl Meltzer, Neal Gorman, and David Frazier right behind. I stayed with a pack not far behind the front runners with a group that included Keith Knipling, Jason Lantz and Evan Cestari.. As we entered the trail up Short Mountain things began to thin out. The rain the night before led to some slippery rocks and the fog in the early morning darkness did make it a little hard to navigate. I was happy with the pace through this section though and just started to feel like I was waking up as I hit the first aid station where I had a drop bag; just before mile 20.

Early in the Race feeling good!

I downed my first bottle of Ensure, changed out my empty gels, and headed back out. It started to get very humid, so I decided to shed my shirt at the next aid station and upped my intake of liquids and salt. The next 30 or so miles went very smooth. I ran with several other runners, eventually working my way up to 6^th place. I ran a good portion of this section with Mike Mason, and had a good time chatting with him as we moved along the course.

Mike and I covering some road miles

We hit the half-way point in about 9:30. I still felt pretty good. If I was smart it looked like I definitely could go sub-24 and possibly break 22 hours. I decided to get a little more conservative with the second half of the race as I wanted to make sure I finished well (and simply finished). I took it easy on the uphills and with my quads starting to “fire-up,” I didn’t force the downhills too much, but still ran everything that was relatively flat.

Coming into Camp Roosevelt

At Camp Roosevelt (mile 63) I had my first relatively “low” point of the race. Nothing too bad, just a little low on energy; I took in some extra calories and before I knew it I was in-and-out of Gap Creek 1 and on my way up Jaw Bone. I was very glad to be running this section in the daylight, as the top of Kerns Mountain is one of the more difficult sections of the course. It is full of little ups-and-downs and is very rocky – seemingly lasting forever. I made it through this section and into Visitor Center Aid Station feeling pretty good. On the way up to Bird Knob, Eva Pastalkova came bouncing by me – smile on her face, looking like she hadn’t yet run a mile, let alone 80. She is a really strong runner and I would end up never getting any closer than within about 5 minutes of her the rest of the race as she went on to smash the women’s course record.

By now it was dark, my quads were very sore and this was farther than I have ever run. I knew I was on pace to finish very well and just needed to keep moving forward. I shortened my stride a bit and kept on going. At the aid stations, everyone was telling me how “great” I looked compared to everyone else. I did feel pretty good, but I knew I was not moving any faster than anyone else and did not want to screw anything up by pushing myself any harder. I just wanted to enjoy finishing my first 100.

As I hit Gap Creek II, and started up Jaw Bone for the second time I ran into Dave Yeakel, who was on his way up for the first time. I met him at one of my previous DNFs, and he asked how things were going (thinking I was on my first climb as well). When I told him I was glad to be within 6 miles of the finish, he was surprised and told me how happy he was for me. This gave a little surge of confidence and I picked up the pace a bit as I came down from Jaw Bone and onto the last section of road.

I crossed the finish line in 22:45 – Kevin Sayers, the race director, was there to shake my hand and confirm that I was in the Solo Division – "Did you use any headphones?" "No" – “congratulations you are the Solo Champ!” This came as a surprise and was a great way to top off the run. I immediately sat down had some soup and a grilled cheese before hiking up to the showers.

At about 3:30 AM I crawled into my tent, but was not able to sleep much with my legs twitching and turning. A few hours later, Anne showed up with fresh coffee and donuts, I was so glad to see her. We went down and watched the other runners finish for a few hours and had a good time talking with other runners and enjoying the beautiful weather. I have nothing but respect for everyone who finishes MMT; it is a challenging course that requires true patience and endurance. Also, I have to thank Kevin Sayers and all the support crew and volunteers throughout the day and night who put on a wonderful event.

Solo Division Award

Lingering Thoughts and Lessons Learned: Me to Karl - "How do you run so fast on those rocks?" Karl's response - "practice." His accomplishments are really amazing - thirty 100-miler wins, 12 straight years with a 100 mile win, 3 MMT victories (most all time), and the list goes on...

My nutrition worked well for this race. My stomach was great all day. I drank about 5 bottles of Ensure and supplemented it with vanilla gels. The only solid food I had was some soup, boiled potatoes and little pieces of PB&J, but this was much later in the race when I was moving slower and knew I could digest it. I also drank as much as I could. Mostly water, but I did mix in some Gatorade and took salt tabs at every aid station. My shoes did not hold up too well. I wore the MT 101s and felt fine in them, but they were chewed up (soles ripping off, and cuts in the fabric) and my feet were pretty swollen. However, I did not have any blisters and I did not fall once:)

It was also good to have a plan in my head for this race and be knowledgeable of what to expect on the last half of the course. I had the second half of the course broken down so well in my mind that as I reached my “little goals” along the way, I knew I just kept getting closer to the finish. Also at night, the more light you have the better – I didn’t pick up my hand-held flashlight until the last section – having more light definitely makes it easier to navigate on the rocks and boosts your confidence. This is also a course that requires a lot of experience and practice on technical terrain. I wish I had more of it heading in, as I feel it would have made my time better. But I am happy with my performance, and I know I can only improve at this distance and as an Ultra runner in general.

Pride

2011-04-20T16:48:00.001-04:00

I had my proudest moment as a runner this past weekend and it had nothing to do with my running performance.

Every year at the end of April my local running club puts on the Pike’s Peak 10k. They close down the Rockville Pike and several thousand people run down the fast, flat course. Because it is fast, and has a pretty good purse, it draws some very fast runners (East Africans and other sub-30 minute runners). There is also a huge festival with pizza, bagels, doughnuts, music, kids’ games and fun runs. I have run this race every years since I started running and had already paid the entry fee, so when I woke up on Sunday with a head cold I decided to just suck it up and do the best I could. I ran from our house to the start (about 5 or 6 miles), did some light stretching and lined-up for the race. I felt horrible from the start and had a real hard time breathing with my congested sinuses. I knew the 5:15 pace was too fast, so I slowed down and pushed through. I ended up running in about 35 minutes flat, which looks better than how I felt.

Afterwards, I met Anne and the boys at the Festival, where Logan had signed up to do the kid’s run. We had quite a bit of time to wait and Gavin (the 2 year-old) started getting cranky, so we walked across the street to the brand new Rockville Whole Foods. I could spend all day at Whole Foods. After some shopping and “samples” tasting, Logan and I headed back to the Festival to get ready for his run. He had the choice of running the 50 meter sprint or the 1K. Wanting to be like dad, he chose the longer distance. This meant we had about 30 minutes to wait while they did “heats” for the 50 meter runners. Logan, in true Ultrarunner fashion, took this opportunity to down a slice of Potomac Pizza!

After polishing off some pizza, Logan went through a string of active stretching (or close to it), which I am assuming he learned from watching me get ready for a race. We lined up at the start with a bunch of other 4-8 year-old's and a good mix of parents, who would serve as pacers and ensure that the kids don’t run over each other. They started the race and we were off. I ran next to Logan as he sprinted through the crowd. I tried offering some advice: “save some energy for the final kick” but I don’t think he really understood or cared. He was simply running and having fun. We reached the turn around and his little face was bright red. I asked if he was OK and needed to slow down and he said “no, this is fun.” As we approached the finish line he went into an all-out-sprint and gave me a big “high-five” as he crossed the finish line in just over 6 minutes (not too bad for a 4 year-old). Afterward, he had me grab another slice of pizza, but this one he would eat later because he was too exhausted:)

Seeing my son run made me very proud. It was very exciting to run with him and see the look on his face as he crossed the finish line. He didn’t care about splits, heart rate, or pacing. He simply enjoyed running. There is something very wholesome about it, and it reminded me of why I started running to begin with. It is very freeing and one of the most natural things we can do. Just go outside, run and enjoy it. It is not that I do not enjoy competition, and I am interested in all the stats and science that comes with the sport. However, when you strip everything out, I am just the little kid out there with a beat-red face - running, living in the moment and enjoying life. That is what my son reminded me of and it was special to see that spirit in him – that is what I would call my proudest moment as a runner!

Potawatomi - DNF

2011-04-14T13:25:00.002-04:00

My bad luck in 100 mile races continued last weekend. After taking a nasty fall at Bel Monte two weeks earlier my knees were still slightly bruised and sore, but my muscles felt good so I figured I would be OK. I took it fairly easy the week before the race; trying to ensure that I was as healed as possible. There was also a lot of outside stress heading into the race (looming government shutdown, term papers due, etc.), and I was looking forward to not thinking about this for a good 20 hours or so out on the trails.

The race started out at 6 AM, just after a thunderstorm swept through adding some fresh mud to a course that is known for mud. The first 10-mile loop was quite sloppy and it was hard to avoid a "butt-slide" on several of the 13 hills on the course. I found the mud here much different than the mud out east. This was actually clay and instead of sticking and sucking you feet in, you slipped and slid around (doing whatever you could to remain upright). The first loop was a little fast at around 1:30 and the top three runners in the 100 miler where all within a couple minutes of each other. I decided to slow down a little on the second loop and it was rather enjoyable. The sun had come out and the early morning mist was rising as the temperatures started heating up.

I finished loop 2 closer to the 1:40 mark, and Anne and the boys had arrived to brighten my mood. I downed a bottle of Ensure and headed back out, still feeling pretty good at this point and running in second place - just a few minutes off the lead. About half-way through this loop I hit a really down point. I started feeling pain in my knee and had a hard time being positive. I came in after the third loop in around 1:40 again and told Anne how crappy I was feeling. She quickly made me eat as much food as I could stomach, and feeling a little better, I went back out for loop 4.

Coming down the second hill of the loop the pain in my knee started becoming intense. The pain was right on the bone, where I had hit it on a rock at Bel Monte. The rest of this loop consisted of a struggle to find a way to run that didn't cause pain. It had also climbed to about 80 degrees - a very warm spring day in the Midwest. I had slowed a bit and the third place runner had caught up to me. As I came to the end of the loop, I had a noticeable limp in my gait. Anne immediately asked what was wrong. We discussed what to do for a few minutes. My muscles still felt good, my time was good, but my knee was hurting bad and I would be running "funny" for the next 60 miles, which is an invitation for injury. The choice became head out and risk an injury and possible DNF later or stop now and make sure I heal up properly (I was not thinking that clearly at this time, so any logic thoughts a credited to my caring wife, who knows me better than I know myself).

A couple minutes later I informed the race director that I would be dropping. His initial reaction was "you are in the top three and only a few minutes back," but then when I showed him my swollen knee he understood. I then laid down in the grass for awhile; emotionally upset for DNFing and trying to convince myself that I have to take the "ups" with the "downs" in this sport. We then went back to the hotel and spent the rest of the day letting the kids play outside and enjoy the wonderful weather.

Lessons learned: Take care of your body. Pushing the limits is necessary in ultra running, but everyone does have limits. Running a 100 miler two weeks after a 50 may not have been a smart idea to begin with, but trying to run it after an injury (even if not exactly running related) is borderline stupid. Now I need to heed my own advice and ensure that I am fully healthy and prepared to run MMT next month.

Bel Monte 50 Miler - The Art of Falling

2011-04-02T18:11:00.000-04:00

This past weekend I ran in the Bel Monte 50 Miler in Sherando Lake, VA. It is known as a rather difficult course with a lot of climbing and a good mix of trail from very rocky/technical to runnable jeep roads. I decided to run this race last minute, as the timing of this race did not fit very well into my schedule, but I really wanted to get some time out in the mountains to help prepare for MMT in May. My legs were a little tired from the heavy training/racing I have been doing, but I still felt pretty good.

On race morning, Anne and the boys drove me to the start and then went back to the hotel to get some additional rest. As we waited for the race to start I found Brad, who was running and would win the 50K, at the front of the start line. I knew that one really fast runner, Mark Lundblad, would be running and also found out that another very good runner, Brian Rusiecki from Massachusetts was running. My plan was to start conservatively and if I felt good start pushing later in the race; finish in under 8 hours and hopefully compete with Mark and Brian. This plan would not pan out...

As we started out into the early morning twilight, I was running with a group of runners behind Mark and Brian that included Brad and Amy Lane, Brian's girlfriend who is also a very accomplished runner and would win the women's 50k. Within the first mile I took my first fall. It wasn't that bad and I was able to crack a joke about it and keep moving. This was my first race wearing Montrail's Rouge Racers, which provide more comfort than my normal MT 101s, they do not allow me feel the ground the same way, so I think I had not yet adapted to running in this shoe. Everything was going well through our first climb up Bald Mountain. I was still running with Brad, the sun was coming up and I was only a couple minutes behind the leaders. As we began descending Bald Mountain we hit a very rocky section of a pseudo jeep road. This is where I would fall a second time and it would not be as pleasant as the first. I hit both my knees on the rocks and then rolled several feet down the trail. I popped up and kept moving; deciding to assess things as I moved along. I had several cuts and quite a bit of knee pain. I decided to calm down, slow down and just keep moving to get through it.

I felt really bad for about the next 2+ hours. There was a very good runnable section of the course and I was able to run, but my knee was not letting me get into a good rhythm and I was moving much slower than I would like. One thing I have learned is that if you just keep moving, no matter how slow, things eventually do get better. As I was climbing Bald Mountain the second time I saw Mark and Brian coming back down and looking strong, running neck and neck. At this point I was at least 30 minutes back and knew that with my banged up knee there was no way I was going to be able to gain any ground.

Coming down Bald Mountain I started feeling better and was running along and just enjoying the beautiful course. At this point, I had quite trying to push myself and just focus on enjoying the day. As I came in to an aid station around mile 37 the volunteers told me how good I looked and I was only about 15 minutes back from the guy in 3rd. However, I had to climb Bald again and knew I would have to hike as my knee was throbbing at this point. Despite the pain the rest of the run was rather enjoyable and I was able to really take in the scenery and the views, which you don't appreciate as much when you are racing.

I made it to the finish line in a little over 8 and half hours. Slower than I had wanted to run, but still considered a good time on this course. My muscles felt pretty good after the race, but my knees, back and elbow were pretty beat up. I had multiple bruises and cuts and it took a few days for my knees to start feeling "normal" again. It was a good experience though. Last year I am not sure I could have dealt with the adversity and the extremely low points I went through in this race and I am glad that I stuck it out. I feel much better prepared from a mental standpoint for running 100 miles.

One final note - Bel Monte is a great race. The course is challenging and very scenic, and Gill and Francesca keep things well organized. Gill was on the course throughout the day and was there to shake your hand at the finish line. The aid stations were fully stocked and the volunteers were attentive and supportive. I may come back to run UROC (they are putting it on in September); it looks like it is going to be one of the most competitive races of the year.

Running Short and Fast

2011-03-22T17:06:00.000-04:00

I ran a local club 10K race this weekend. It is a nice hilly road race at Clopper Lake in Montgomery County called the Piece of Cake 10K. I ran this race two years ago as my first 10K ever. I finished that race in a little over 48 minutes and could barely walk the rest of the day. I guess I've come a long way in two years.

I really have not done much speed work at all this year; primarily focused on longer distances as I prepare for a string of 100 milers. Nevertheless, it is fun to go out and push hard for several miles and I was pleasantly surprised that even without specific training my speed has improved. I ended up coming in 3rd place overall in a little under 36 minutes (yeah 12 minutes faster than I did two years ago). There is a certain type of pain that is distinctly different in short races than the pain involved in running Ultras, but the mentality to keep moving through the discomfort is the same. While it is definitely not my race distance of choice - I commented to my wife on our way to the race that I wished it was a marathon, as I would have been more comfortable with that distance - I will continue to through these races in my schedule to "mix things up" and add some variation.

I am not sure of the value of speed work when your primary focus is Ultras. For marathons, 50Ks and even road 50 Milers I am sure it has some value, but for 50 miles + on trails I would argue that long slow distance and higher mileage is much more important. Personally, with the exception of occasional tempo runs I do very little "fast" running, but my times in these shorter distance races has continued to improve. Could I be even faster if I focused more on speed? Probably, but will that help me at MMT? I am not so sure. Overall, for me it comes down to doing what you enjoy and what works for you.

Next up, I'll be driving down a few hours to Southern Virginia for the Bel Monte 50 Miler. I signed up for this race last second, and I am not sure how my legs will feel about all the climbing. I have been running a lot so far this year. I'll probably take it easy for the rest of the week and hopefully I'll be rested enough for the race. While I hope to do well, I don't intend on pushing too hard, especially since I have the Potawatomi 100 coming up only two weeks later. I really am just looking forward having some fun and spending a day out in the mountains.

Nueces USATF 50 Mile Trail Championship

2011-03-08T01:21:00.003-05:00

I’ll post my thoughts on championships, USATF, etc. in a future post. For now, here is my race report for the Nueces 50 Miler.

The week leading up to this race was quite stressful with work and school, and the fact that I was having trouble finding a flight out to San Antonio for the race. It looked as if Anne was not going to be able to come with me and I had to use Priceline to find a relatively cheap ticket. So, I got into SAT around 5 PM on Friday and then had to drive to Camp Eagle a couple of hours away. I made it to the Camp around 7:30; too late for packet pickup, but just in time to catch the tail end of the pasta dinner. I quickly ate a plate of food, emailed Anne (there was no cell phone service, but they had Wi-fi) and then went down to the camp site. Since it was late and dark and I probably would not sleep well anyway, I decided to forego pitching my tent and just slept in the car. After a restless night, I awoke around 4:30 am and ate my traditional pre-race meal – a PB sandwich and an apple. I then went up to the start/finish area and got ready for the race.

The wind was howling as we stood in line for the 6 AM start. Several of us joked about the fact that we started the 100k (Bandera) at 7 AM in daylight and a 50 miler in the dark. The race started and David James and one other runner sped off into the dark. Jason Bryant, Steven Moore, Jack Pilla and myself formed a “chase” pack. I led this little group for the first 8-9 miles before we started spreading out a little bit. The course was very rocky and near the end of the loop (first out of three 16.7 mile loops) there were some pretty good climbs. Jason powered up these climbs and I attempted to do the same, but my legs did not like it. I just had no power on the climbs. I finished the first loop in around 2:13, a little faster than I had planned, but nothing to be worried about. As I went out for loop two, my legs still were letting me know they did not like hills. I slowed down some and fell off from the leaders quite a bit. My energy level never seemed to get too high or to low. My only real problem was pushing uphill and then trying to pick up speed after the hills. Near the end of this loop the sun had come out and I started sweating quite a bit, but it was deceptive because the high winds kept it evaporating, leaving just trails of salt behind. I started popping Endurolytes like candy, and this kept my electolyte levels up. I finished the second loop about 10 minutes slower than the first.

As I headed out for the final loop, I knew I was in 6th place and that I would have a hard time catching anyone at this stage, especially since I was struggling so much on the hills. Luckily, this loop seemed to go by very fast as there were many 50K and 50 mile runners on the course for their second loop, and the quick “good job” or “keep it up” provided a good distraction. Even at the end of this loop, I still felt pretty good. I wish I could have run faster, but was running real comfortably. I pondered the fact that several months ago running 50 miles would not feel this easy and it gave me confidence that - if I am smart about it – I am in good condition to run my 100 milers coming up. I finished the race in 7:14, in 6th place and actually received my USATF medal at the finish.

After the race I stayed at the finish line ,ate some food, and chatted with the other runners. Jason Schlarb won the race in a sizzling 6:28, David James came in second, Jason Bryant in third, with Stephen and Jack finishing right ahead of me. I ended up being the slowest of the “fast” guys, but just to be included in the group made me feel pretty good. Later that night I decided to check into my cheap hotel (if Anne had come with there was no way we would have stayed in a place like this), but it was better than sleeping in the car again. The hardest part of the trip was having to wait until Monday to head back home because couldn’t find a return flight on Sunday for under $600 (damned high gas prices). I really missed Anne and the boys, which made me extremely glad to get home on Monday, despite the nightmare of flights. Got on my first plane at 11:20 and, three planes later finally made it back to DC.

Lessons Learned: If you are conditioned properly, running 50 miles is not that bad. Now if my legs had let me push a little more, I am sure I would have been more sore. For the most part, the only real soreness I had was my feet after getting beat-up on the rocks. I am sure I could have done things differently and run a better (faster) race, but I am pleased with where I am so early in the season and feel comfortable putting my focus on competing at the 100 mile distance. I also am going to focus more on vertical – need to get out in the mountains more (in all my free time:).

Gear that got me through: Wore the New Balance MT 101s again, probably not the best choice given the terrain as my feet are still screaming at me a bit. I will probably need to explore something a little more sturdy before MMT. I wore my road runner shorts, Balega socks and an Asics singlet. For nutrition I ate 3 or 4 Hammer gels early on and then drank a couple bottles of Ensure, and ate a couple quarters of PB and J sandwiches. I also took numerous Endurolytes. I probably should have tried to take in a little more, but I never felt like my energy level got too low.

This has been my second trip out to Texas for a Tejas Trails run and I have been very impressed. The races are well organized, trails are exquisitely marked, and the aid stations have everything you could ask for. Hats off to Joe (the RD) and all the wonderful volunteers.

GW Birthday Marathon

2011-02-22T22:52:00.000-05:00

Just a quick post here. This was really a training run. I was supposed to run the MMT Training 50K the day before, but with two kids and a wife with the flu, this was not in the cards. So I had relatively fresh legs going into the marathon (still had 100+ miles for the week). I knew Karsten was running and it would take at least a 2:50 to win. I went out conservatively and ran with a local ultra-runner, Jon, for most of the race. It is always nice to run with a fellow ultra. We were both trying for about the same pace, so we just had a good time pushing the miles, chatting, and passing other runners as we completed our loops (it was a 3 loop course). Around mile 23 I kept the pace around 6:20 and Jon dropped back a bit. I saw Karsten in the last mile, but with two steep hills to climb, I knew I could not catch him. I came in about 4 minutes after him for second place in 2:50:45 and Jon was about a minute behind me.

It was a good day of running and I was pleased with the results. On a flat course it was probably a 2:45 effort, so I think if I actually try to run a fast marathon I could run in the 2:30s. But for now, I am focused on longer distances and endurance. The 50 mile USATF Championships are next weekend and Potowatomi 100 is April 9. I feel pretty good and am pleased with my conditioning so far. Let's hope I keep it up:)