UltraJumper

I'm moving... to ultrajumper.WORDPRESS.com

2010-01-08T09:28:00.000-05:00

With one of my new year's resolutions being to blog more, I have enticed myself to do so by putting together a nicer looking blog. As much as I love everything that is Google, I am saying goodbye to Blogspot and hello to Wordpress! From this point out, I will be posting all my new entries over at ultrajumper.wordpress.com. Some of the formatting from my old Blogspot posts appear a bit wonky over at Wordpress, but don't worry all new posts should look fine.

Please direct your browser there, and while you're perusing this new masterpiece (ok ok, work in progress) make sure you subscribe to the blog via email or RSS feed for the easiest access to all of my latest entries. See ya there!

2009 Recap

2009-12-31T15:26:00.000-05:00

2100 miles for the year. Not too shabby, but nowhere near what I thought I'd be running. Last year I ran 1962, and it was my first year running, so clearly I thought I'd surpass 2000 with ease, possibly even hit 3 or 4. Looking back, here were my 2009 goals (and the resulting outcomes in bold):

First 100-miler (MMT on 5/16) Fail. DNS due to ITBS in the weeks leading up to the race
Complete the Beast Series Fail. DNF at Grindstone due to AT tendinitis
Eat healthier so as to be better prepared for above mentioned races Kinda held up this one, moreso towards the end of the year but not as much in the beginning
Become more flexible to prevent annoying little running injuries Fail. A visit to the PT recently suggested that THIS is what might be causing all my injuries.
Skydive more, or at least do more fun jumping (as opposed to work jumping) Fail. Did about 60 jumps (but no working jumps so I guess that's a plus?)
Blog more often (because let's be honest, I'm an engineer not a writer, so it's hard to sit down and type willingly) Fail again.

Well looks like I had a successful year, huh? 1/2 out of 6 ain't too bad! In all seriousness, it was somewhat of a bummer year for accomplishing pre-specified goals, but I have to say I definitely had my good share of races. I started the year off with a bang, running a 4:10 PR at Holiday Lake 50k. That's when injury hit, but I recovered (not in time for MMT sadly) and had a good summer crewing at Badwater and running my first 100k out in Oregon at Where's Waldo. Despite my DNF at Grindstone, I'm proud that I was able to hold 9th place and be on pace for a sub-24 difficult 100 miler with only 15 miles to go. In the past month or so I've started doing more strength-training, cross-training, and I've started eating a paleolithic diet (which is anti-inflammatory among other things), all of which should greatly help my 2010 running.

So what does 2010 have in store? Well, the exact same thing as 2009. Just copy and paste those exact same 2009 goals (though the amount of skydiving will probably stay the same, but it's a nice thought). I really think I can redeem myself this coming year. 2009 was my first full year of ultrarunning, and although I was able to get my run training up to snuff, I was lacking in the associated strength, flexibility and nutrition areas. I think I've got it figured out now, but come back in a year and we'll see!

Happy 2010 everyone. Stay healthy!

Magnus Gluteus Maximus 50k

2009-12-30T22:53:00.000-05:00

Oops. Looks like I once again forgot to blog about an ultra. A few weeks ago was the VHTRC's Magnus Gluteus Maximus FatAss 50k. Great times were had by all. I ran 24 miles to be "conservative" while recovering from my Grindstone/Masochist tendinitis (which I am happy to say is long gone). Anyways, here are a few shots since I'm not going to get around to writing more about it. We ran. We drank. We were festive. THE END.

The rest of my pictures from the event can be found here.

MMTR 50 - I'm Still Broken Apparently

2009-11-20T15:19:00.004-05:00

You may last recall reading about my case of anterior tibial tendinitis that forced me to drop at mile 86 of the Grindstone 100. Sad, I know, but you shouldn't have had that much pity for me since I had planned in advance for a week of recovery in sunny Hawaii (Ironman World Championships were going on at the same time, coincidence?). Lo and behold, three days post-DNF and I was back to walking and running like nothing had happened. There must be some magical healing properties in those Hawaiian waters!

Being all healed up, I now had a chance to complete the Lynchburg Ultra Series (LUS), with it's final race being the Mountain Masochist Trail Run 50 miler in Lynchburg, VA. In the interim four weeks I did some light running and got up to a long run of a mere 14 miles (in comparison to the ~50k training runs that had been frequent in my schedule). All was feeling good and I was ready to redeem my DNF, just had to make sure I took it easy and didn't hurt myself.

Fast dudes at the start line

Easier said than done. The race consisted of many open jeep and fire roads with only marginal climbs, which of course leads to lots and lots of fast and hard running, sort of like those pesky road marathons that I keep hearing so much about. Well, having run 86 miles only four weeks prior, my legs started to fatigue pretty early, probably around mile 20 or so. But no worries, fatigue is tolerable and I know how to deal with that beast.

Chris Miller (Beast Series leader) and yours truly

The real problems came around mile 26 when the tendinitis from Grindstone started to come back ever so slowly. Now this wasn't the excruciating pain that made me drop and left me unable to walk, but it was in the early early stages of its progression from what I could tell, so I paid careful attention to it. After a couple miles the pain became more evident and I could clearly see that it wasn't going to go away. Yes, I could have run on it for a few more hours and made it to the finish and gotten my LUS award (a sweet sweet Patagonia puffy jacket nonetheless), but forcing myself into greater injury and a longer and longer rehabilitation process during the winter months did not seem like the right decision for someone like myself who yearns for a long and fruitful ultra career.

So, at mile 35 I DNF'ed from my second race in a row. It sucks, but I like to think that these DNF's are the result of a good head on my shoulders and I will prosper in future races from making the right calls in those of the past. There is always next year.

I had a good time hanging at the finish line, and this allowed me the chance to grab some pics of friends coming in to finish. Oh, and there was a common saying that I heard from those who had just run Grindstone: "Ouch!" Oh yeah, looking forward to next year's pain already!

Me, Sophie, Jenny and Justine at the finish

Annette Bednosky showing off her entry in the Best Blood category

And there you have it, the less than stellar end to my less than stellar 2009 race season. I have decided that even though the tendinitis pain has once again disappeared and I'm back to running like normal, running the Hellgate 100k in a few weeks would not be wise. Instead, I'm going to cross-train and strength-train while keeping the mileage low for a bit. 2010 will be my redemption year!

Here are the rest of my photos from the race on Flickr.

RIP Scott Doyle

2009-11-18T17:56:00.010-05:00

I know most of my content on here is ultra-related, but I just wanted to post a brief tribute to a good friend of mine who passed away today after battling a coma for six months.

Scott and Steph after their first antenna jump

I first met Scott Doyle (aka "Moose" or "Other Scott") at Bridge Day '07 where Scott and his lovely wife Steph were both enjoying the six hours of legal BASE jumping that happens every year at the New River Gorge Bridge in Fayetteville, WV. As it turned out, Scott was a fellow Marylander, so he was quickly indoctrinated into the MD BASE Crew (which I am not technically a member of because I do not BASE jump).

The day after Bridge Day, some folks headed out to a local less-than-legal antenna where Scott and Steph both did their first antenna jumps. I hung around and took pictures. Fast forward a couple months to the beginning of skydiving season '08 and who else is joining me in the ranks as staff members at Skydive Delmarva? None other than the safe, caring, and funny tag-team of Scott and Steph Doyle. Scott and I were both somewhat newly-licensed tandem instructors while Steph taught AFF students. Over the course of the year we had our share of fond memories - the overweight students, the puking students, the close call malfunctions and the late-night dropzone shenanigans. It was all good fun that we shared together, and as per usual in the sport, we grew closer as part of the Delmarva family.

Since ultrarunning has come into my life, I have spent a significantly less amount of time at the dropzone, but that didn't make it hurt any less when on May 10, 2009 I got a call saying that Scott had suffered a Traumatic Brain Injury and had gone into a coma while BASE jumping in Idaho with Steph. For six months he fought his hardest to wake up, at some points showing movement and responding to external stimuli, but today his body had enough of the fighting and decided it was time to move on to a more peaceful place.

It is with great sadness that I remove my "Wake up Scott" wristband that I have worn these past six months and add it to my desk alongside a picture of Bert Brooks, another good skydiving friend who lost his life while BASE jumping with his loved one. Scott wasn't the first skydiving/BASE friend to go, and unfortunately he won't be the last. BASE truly is an unforgiving sport.

As a tough-as-nails firefighter saving the lives of others and also as a skydiving instructor sharing the gift of flight with those looking to experience something new, Scott definitely earned his angel wings. Fly free my brother. I will miss you...

-----------

Here is the LINK to Steph Doyle's blog from the past 6 months.

Grindstone: My first 100, My first DNF

2009-10-06T13:48:00.006-04:00

Showing up to Camp Shenandoah on Thursday evening, everything was quiet and there wasn't a soul in sight. It seemed as though I was the first runner to arrive and that gave plenty of time to scope out the best location for our campsite. After setting up, crewmember Derraugh and I wandered around camp and eventually found some folks working in the kitchen area. Not wanting to use the camp stove, they graciously let me heat up my dinner in the microwave (salmon and sweet potatoes). Camp and dinner plans were right on track, everything looking perfect for the following big race day. Shortly thereafter we ran into Clark Zealand, David Horton, Jeremy Ramsey and Rebekkah Trittipoe who had all been working hard to get the course marked. Rebekkah shared some knowledge of 4 bears she had spotted up near Dowell's Draft earlier in the day, Jeremy praised Hellgate for all the good schwag, Clark discussed race logistics, and Horton was his usual troublemaking self. It was a good way to kick back before getting a good night's sleep.

Ten wonderful hours of sleep later, I woke to find that the empty camp had transformed overnight into a bustling community of ripped quads and drop bags. I joined in on bag-organizing fun, had some breakfast (2 hard-boiled eggs and a sweet potato since I know you were dying to know), and wandered around some more to share the anxiety with my 100-mile brethren. I checked in, lounged in the hammock, found the rest of my crew (Jen Jacobs, Kristine Davis and coach Mike Broderick), got dressed, applied liberal amounts of BodyGlide, and did whatever it took to kill time before the 6pm Friday start time.

Jen, Derraugh, Me, Kristine and Coach Mike

Clark wishing me luck before the start

With a couple minutes to go, we all gathered behind the start banner. The giant totem pole stood just ahead of us as if to say "come on, hug me... but please run 102 miles first." I was raring to go and the nerves were as strong as ever. With just a couple seconds before the gun, Karl Meltzer turned around to ask "Joe Clapper's not here, is he?". (Background: Joe Clapper has led every 100 miler he's ever run for at least some portion of the race... this usually consists of him sprinting ahead like a Kenyan for about 5 seconds, then dying back down to 100 mile pace. Bragging rights are bragging rights, yes?)

And then everything got real... 3, 2, 1, see ya!

And they're off!

We ran across the field and clockwise around the lake. Coach Mike had advised me to go out fast the first few miles so as to avoid any traffic congestion as we approached Elliott's Knob, the first and probably toughest climb of the day. Even with this advice, I was still surprised at just how fast folks were pushing it in the first couple miles. The terrain looked flat, but judging from the perceived effort and elevated heart rate, there was definitely some incline to be had. "Not so bad" I thought to myself. "This will make for an easy downhill to the finish." If only...

Not remembering the exact mileages from the training runs, I expected to hit the climb up Elliott's within a mile or two. Then we hit Aid Station 1 (AS1), Falls Hollow, at 5.18 miles in. My heart-rate had been up there since the get-go. Ok, so maybe pushing it until Elliott's wasn't the best idea after all. I topped off my pack with some water to prep for the 9.45 miles until the next aid and headed out. Talking to Jared Hesse for a bit, we both agreed that although the pace was easily runnable, it would not be sustainable for 24 or so hours. Time to slow it down a touch.

The climb up Elliott's was welcomed with open arms. Truth be told, my uphill running is lacking compared to those at my level, but where I lack in ups I compensate on the flats and downs. Such is the life of a 175-pound ultrarunner, taking advantage of gravity when the opportunity arises. Gotta play your cards how they are dealt. Making it through Dry Branch Gap, AS2, was rather uneventful, just trying to normalize the pace and heart-rate. Slowly but surely I was getting there.

Dowell's Draft aid station, minus all the people

Coming into Dowell's Draft, mile 22

Approaching Dowell's Draft, As3 (mile 22.1), the trail finished with a short uphill climb into a sea of lights and spectators. Being the first opportunity for runners to meet with their crews, everyone and their mother was there, packed tight and still full of energy. Not wanting to waste time at aid stations and still being early in the race, I quickly found my crew, swapped my Nathan pack (water) and handheld bottle (Hammer Perpetuem for calories) for fresh ones and off I went. In and out without actually stopping, faster than them fancy schmancy Nascar drivers! Mike ran with me for 100 yards or so to check on how I was doing and offer advice. I relayed my heart-rate concerns but assurred him I was not getting into the groove. All was well.

And into the groove I got, so much that I honestly don't remember Lookout Mountain, AS4. I do however, remember coming into the following aid station, North River Gap, or as those of us in the VHTRC affectionately know it - The TWOT Lot. Running down the brief section of road and into the aid station, I gave a holler so my crew knew it was me. Ok ok, I may have yelled out "I love TWOT!", but who said you couldn't have some fun at these things? Knowing that the long sections between aid stations were now over, I switched my Nathan pack and handheld for my 2-bottle GoLite waistpack. It was a nice relief on the shoulders. I declined the offer for the iPod and opted for the calmness of nighttime wildlife. Coach Mike ran ahead with me once again, this time warning of possible trail sabotage up on Little Bald. Although concerning, Little Bald was one of the few spots in the race I have run past on multiple occassions, so I wasn't too worried about getting lost.

Refueling at TWOT

Switching to my waistpack at TWOT

The climb up Little Bald was steep but manageable. I made a conscious effort to "hike with a purpose", pumping my arms as I made my way up. When I arrived at the top of Little Bald, just as expected the course took us off to the right. Ok, so the aid station should be right around here somewhere. My GPS says I've already covered the distance and I've only got a sip or 2 left from my allotted fluids. Sadly, the trail kept going and no aid station was appearing. Scenarios ran through my head. What if there was some funky turn to get you to the aid station and my assumed knowledge of the trail made me blow right past it? Should I backtrack? What if I re-ran that small section on my way back? Would I have enough fluids for the 4.5 miles to Reddish Knob?

And then, like an oasis in the desert, an aid station appeared in the middle of the trail, nowhere I thought it would be. Coming in I had no idea if it was Little Bald aid station or Reddish Knob, all I knew is that it was fluid and calories. It was in fact Little Bald and I hadn't missed a step. Definitely a relief! I grabbed my dropbag, refilled the Perpetuem and downed 2 cups of Mountain Dew to get a different flavor in the mouth (plus some caffeine even though I was feeling perfectly energized).

Adam Casseday, the #2 seed, was leaving the aid station as I was coming in. I knew something was up. He shouldn't be this far back. After a couple minutes I caught up and he explained that he was having trouble keeping things down and he was just going to make it to the next aid station and drop there. He hadn't taken in any calories in 20 miles and he was well on his way to a serious bonk. I offered some ginger root capsules to help settle his stomach, and he reluctantly accepted. With the ginger caps also came some words of encouragement and a plea to not drop, at least to give the ginger some time to work its magic. It was, in fact, a little less than halfway into a 100-miler and things could still make a full 180. Rest assured, Adam went on to finish 9th place overall and under 24 hours! Talk about a comeback. [Remember that one the next time you're feeling like crap early in a race!]

I let Adam do his thing and he encouraged me to go on ahead. After a little more downhill came the paved road section of the course. I'm not normally "against" running on roads, but wow did this pavement hurt. Every step was a painful thud reminding me why I love trail running so much, and also reminding me that I had run a very difficult 40-something miles thus far. I had expected Karl to pass way earlier, but to my surprise I didn't see him until mile 46.5, about 10 hours in. Thinking about it now, that timing makes perfect sense as he was continually gaining his lead time on the rest of the pack. Either way, Karl was looking strong as could be expected. In the #2 position was my good buddy Mike Mason, and as I passed him yelled out the same words of encouragement I did at MMT: "Mike Mason I want to have your babies!" Don't ask why, it just seemed like the right thing to do at the time, and he laughs when I say it.

The Reddish Knob aid station was a glorious sight, not only because it signified the near-end of the pavement, but it was also an opportunity for me to stop and get out the pesky debris that was rubbing on the bottom of my right foot. Despite this sitting down, I blew on through and made it up the summit of Reddish Knob. Horton happened to be there at the time, standing at the ledge of the parking lot and looking out at the beautiful harvest moon. I ran up behind him and gave him a big, sweaty, man hug - his favorite! (That was the running gag for the weekend, by the way, so feel free to give Horton man-hugs anytime you see him!)

I headed back down to the Reddish aid station, didn't stop this time since it had only been 5 minutes since I last past, and within 2 miles I met my crew at Briery Branch Gap. This was not an aid station, but crews were allowed to access runners here since it was the closest they could get to the turnaround. Briery Branch was last year's turnaround, but it had now been extended 1.4 miles out to Gnashing Knob due to recalculation of distances... or maybe Clark just felt like he needed to add in some Horton miles. Either way, it was more climbing and more miles. Fun! I dropped my waistpack, picked up a single handheld bottle and made it quickly up to Gnashing Knob. Halfway done and 11:13 in!

My first time through Briery was quick, but the second time through I took my time, for no other reason then to spend some quality time with the folks who were going through a sleepless night just for me. I did some stretching, ate some mango slices (my new favorite aid station food of all time, so delicious!) and of course had to listen to some heckling from Q who had now joined the late-night crew party (who invited that guy?)

Stretching and eating at Briery Branch

Sadly, the return to Briery meant the return to additional pavement on the way back to Little Bald (now mile 58.7). It was, however, great seeing all the familiar faces on the way back, cheering everyone on and getting encouragement in return. This was also an opportunity to gauge how far back and how strong those were looking behind me. If I was seriously competing (which I wasn't, #1 goal was to just finish), this would have been great logistical intel to plan out the second half of the game.

I made it back to the Little Bald aid station right as the sun was starting to light up the sky. Perfect timing because I had planted my sunglasses and hat in my Little Bald drop bag! Not knowing if I was to be running when night fell again, I kept my headlamp and flashlight in posession so I could hand them off to the crew when I next saw them at the TWOT Lot. It was a bit awkward running with sunglasses, a hat and a headlamp but I managed. Also awkward at Little Bald was me trying to force down a breakfast burrito. I knew it would be questionable to try and stomach such substantial food, but let's be honest I'm a fat kid at heart so I couldn't say no. It made it's way down, and so did I (down the trail that is).

About a mile outside of Little Bald I passed Gary Knipling, one of the most fun and genuinely nice and caring people in the sport. Gary is the true essence of ultrarunning. 65-years-young and going for his 22nd 100-mile finish with the biggest smile on his face. If that doesn't make you love life then I don't know what will. He cheered me on, I did the same for him, and off we went in our separate directions.

Life was good, I was in 9th place overall on my first 100-miler, feeling great in terms of nutrition, energy and fatigue levels, and on pace for a sub-24 hour finish at possibly the hardest 100 on the east coast.

And then it hit me, pain in my left anterior tibialis tendon.

Effin A. I sat on my feet to stretch out the tendon, and while it seemed to help a touch, it didn't put out the fire. Then came the extremely steep descent down Little Bald. 8 miles of anterior tibilias tendon pounding. No bueno. No bueno at all. Again, effin A! (I did, however, notice that I shaved 10 minutes off my 100k PR as I made my way down the mountain.)

I came into the TWOT Lot aid station (now mile 66.5) and instantly knew the game was changing. I was still in 9th place, I was still on track for a sub-24 hour finish, but there was now a big honkin' wrench thrown in my spokes and it would be questionable if I could remove said wrench over the next 35 miles. I immediately sat down, explained to the crew my concerns and tried to massage out the pain... to no avail. Oh well. I knew that finishing my first 100 was going to require some serious toughness, so here comes the time to grit and bare it. I knew that this would possibly mean throwing out hopes of maintaing my top-10 position, but the #1 goal was to finish and I was determined to finish, even if it took me the entire 38 hours. Coach Mike appeared, ready to start pacing, and off we went, not knowing what to expect.

Coach Mike taking care of me while I apply duct tape on a nip

Pain, that's what I should have expected. As soon as we headed out of TWOT the pain got increasingly worse. I was, however, able to run through the pain without significantly slowing down my pace. So far so good. Still in 9th, still moving forward. As they say, If the bone's not showing, keep going... right?

Well, as we trekked the 5.45 miles to the Lookout Mountain aid station (now mile 72), it was painfully obvious (no pun intended) that ice was going to be necessary. "Nope, our ice guy just left to go get something so we don't have any right now." NOOOOO!!!!! "Oh wait, yes we do, nevermind." Phew, close one. We put some ice in a baggie, then a trash bag around it, then loads of duct tape. The cold seemed to numb the pain a bit, but clearly I was still facing a huge dilemma. Hopefully the ice would be enough to last the 8.35 miles to the next aid at Dowell's Draft.

I knew the last 3.5 miles of trail before Dowell's were smooth rolling singletrack, but those 5 or so prior just kept throwing endless amounts of small but relentless hills that I was having one hell of a hard time negotiating. " Nonetheless, we pushed forward, albeit slower and slower with every step. Mike gave me his iPod, cranked some Grateful Dead, and I was able to get into a groove that resulted in a solid 40 or so minutes of strong running down into Dowell's Draft aid station.

Dowell's was also the first time during the race that I was able to see my mom, dad and sister who made the long trek to come cheer me on. My sister proudly displayed a sign that said "we love #7" and I was greeted with the loudest cheering section of the race thus far. If only I could have greeted them with the same enthusiasm I had carried up until my descent off Little Bald. Instead, I sat down and begged for more ice. Lots and lots of ice (ooh, and some mangoes too).

My momma loves me, awwwww

The gimped foot

I seriously considered dropping right then and there, but what kind of ultrarunner would I be if I once again had to ditch my 100 miler goals for the year (the first time being MMT, dropped 3 weeks prior due to ITB injury), and to top it off, ditching my goal of finishing the 2009 Beast Series. Well, the answer to that question is "a smart ultrarunner". Moving ahead exacerbated the anterior tibialis pain beyond belief.

It was 7.5 miles to the Dry Branch Gap aid station. I was able to swing another good 30 minutes of hard running, surprisingly still in 9th place and only slightly slower than 24-hour pace. Perhaps my injury wasn't as bad as I had imagined? No, definitely not. The ice melted and I was now able to feel how intense the pain actually was. It was clear that every step I took, although closer to the finish line, was also another step towards a longer recovery once this whole fiasco was over. The climb up Crawford Mountain put me at a snails pace, literally planning each and every step.

Running (for the last time) up Crawford Mountain

Folks behind me finally started catching up and passing as Mike and I slowly walked up Crawford. Adam Casseday blew by, running at a ridiculously fast uphill pace! I was so proud to see that after the condition I had last seen him 10 hours prior.

When we reached the top of Crawford it was 2.8 to the aid station. Ok, we can do this. Mike decided that the name of the game was now "get to the aid station, rest, ice, elevate, immobilize the foot and reassess my capabilities". Sounded easy enough, but it wasn't.

Descending Crawford was possibly the most painful movement I have ever experienced. I was unable to plant my left foot on the downward slope. I tried walking sideways, but that was only marginally less excruciating. I tried walking backwards (yes, honestly) and the pain was still just too unbareable. I tried butt-sliding, but that only got me a few feet. Mike then found me a big walking stick that I could use like a crutch. Still, only marginally less excruciating.

Me and my stick, coming down Crawford

An hour after starting our descent down Crawford and we still had 1.7 miles to the aid station and 15 until the finish. Mike and I both knew what the right call was. I had given my absolute 100% best and pushed through the pain. Injury is the only thing that should ever stop you in a 100-miler, and I was now faced with the option of maybe finishing Grindstone and maybe being able to run again, ever, or call it quits at mile 85 and live to see my 100-mile dream come true another day.

"If I go ahead and get outside assistance that disqualifies you."

"Go ahead, Mike. I'll try to make forward progress in the meantime."

And just like Mike disappeared into the distance, so did my dream that I had worked so hard for all year long...

C'est la vie. Not every race is perfect, and everyone has to DNF at some point. For me, I guess I got my DNF out of the way early, and in this case it didn't just stand for Did Not Finish, it also stood for Did Nothing Fatal (to my running career). You live and you learn. I learned that even though I didn't do it on this attempt, I have what it takes to conquer a 100-miler, and I have the ability to do it fast and strong. I have tasted the 100-miler and I absolutely cannot wait to taste it again. My injury will heal, I'll crosstrain, do extra strength training and stretching, and I will be back...

...I will be back with a vengeance.

Useful race links:
My race splits
Photos from my crew (Flickr)
Photos from Wendy Marszalek on the course (Flickr)
Photos from Coach Mike (Facebook)

And of course, a huge thank you to my extremely supportive, helpful and understanding crew: Jen Jacobs, Kristine Davis, Derraugh Ewchuk and Mike Broderick. Without you guys I would not have made it as far as I did as fast as I did. I am eternally grateful to each one of you!

Grindstone 100 preview

2009-10-01T10:22:00.005-04:00

It's t-minus 1 day until go-time for my first ever 100-miler, the Grindstone 100. I've been scrambling to get things prepared, and as of last night at 11pm I think I have everything packed and ready to go. I'll be ducking out of work early today and heading down to the race start to set up camp, then hopefully sleeping as much as I can before the 1pm pre-race briefing. After the pre-race briefing my crew will start arriving, I'll hand off my bags, and at 6:00pm EST the show starts.

"Beginning at Camp Shenandoah, this out-n-back course ascends and descends Little North Mtn before climbing over 2400ft in 4 miles to the summit of Elliot Knob. The course then proceeds north following the ridgeline of Great North Mtn crossing over to and following the Wild Oak National Recreation Trail before continuing north to the summit of Reddish Knob. Runners continue north to Briery Branch Gap before retracing their steps (without summiting Elliott & Reddish) back along the course to Camp Shenandoah."

Aside from MMT, Grindstone is dubbed "the hardest 100-miler east of the 100th Meridian." It's 100.73 miles and 23,200 feet of net elevation gain and pure mountain-climbing, quad-busting fun. Actually, using the pace sheet given out by Clark (the Race Director), adding up distances between aid stations totals 101.85 miles. I would guess that these discrepancies are due to remeasuring and the fact that the course has been extended roughly 1.4 miles at the turnaround, adding extra mileage and extra climbing. Hoorah!

Am I prepared? I sure as hell hope so. I've been seeded with lucky bib #7, so if that isn't motivation to kick some ass, I don't know what is. Training went very well, as shown with a strong run at Where's Waldo 100k and a quick recovery thereafter, and now that temperatures have cooled down a bit with the arrival of fall, running feels much much easier.

Here is a rough plan of my gear and nutrition for the race:
- Nathan HPL 020 pack with Camelbak bladder for carrying water
- Ultimate Direction handheld bottle filled with Hammer Perpetuem (cafe latte flavor) for calories
- S-caps every hour or 2 to balance electrolytes
- Brooks Cascadia 4 shoes with blue Superfeet insoles
- Drymax socks (these will be a blessing for when the rain comes)
- GoLite packable windbreaker for rain protection
- Moeben sleeves in case it gets chilly at night
- Brooks Element shorts
- Brooks running hat
- Tifosi sunglasses
- Garmin Forerunner 310XT (19.5hr battery) and 305 (14hr battery) for heart-rate, time and mileage
- Petzl MyoXP headlamp and Fenix L2D flashlight
- and of course, my blue VHTRC shirt. gotta represent!

As for race goals, it's my first 100 miler so priority #1 is just to finish. Aside from that, I'm shooting to run somewhere in the 26 hour range. I've been seeded as bib #7, and last year runner #7 ran a 23:11... yeah I don't know about that one! But honestly, it's a honor to be seeded at such a high placement and I don't expect to finish that far up front. Then again, I tend to have pretty conservative estimates on my race times, so you never know what might happen. Just need to make sure there's fuel left in the tank for Masochist and Hellgate so I can finish up the Beast Series!

Welp, here goes nothing...

My First 100k - Where's Waldo

2009-09-02T21:37:00.021-04:00

Where's Waldo 100k
Willamette Pass, OR
August 22, 2009

Actually 62.5mi. Very surprised the GPS battery lasted 14 hrs.

A few months back I had learned that a couple VHTRC friends were heading out to Oregon to race the Where's Waldo 100k. Having never been out to Oregon, hearing wonderful things about Oregon and the race, and with the race being 6 weeks out from my first 100 miler, this was looking to be the perfect chance for me to get in some good time-on-feet, shock the endocrine system a bit, and experience what it's like to run for more than 50 miles before I go ahead and double it. Fast forward to 2 weeks before the race and I still hadn't booked my tickets, rental car, hotel, etc. Yikes. Luckily I work well under pressure and the logistics problem was solved in no time.

Mitchell and I spent Thursday in Portland (PS - my new favorite city), then drove 3 hours to the race start on Friday afternoon. There we met up with Amy and the Leesburg Mafia guys, all of whom were looking to dominate and show the Oregonians that they're not the only ones that can run fast. Myself and Mitchell, well we were just out to have a good time and get our bang for our buck while exploring Oregon's glorious trails.

After an extremely frigid night camping next to Waldo Lake (oops, I didn't realize Oregon could get cold in the summer), the gang all gathered in the Willamette Pass Ski Lodge. There we ran into former-Virginian and ultra-badass Jenn Shelton. Amy had disappeared for some last minute getting ready, but we took a picture of all the VHTRC members (past and present) anyways.

Mitchell, Sean, Schmidty, Me, Zach(?), and Jenn

Just prior to the gun

We headed outside, all of us slightly shivering from the surprisingly cold weather (40F), and at 5:00am we were off. The first 2 miles greeted us with a 1000 foot climb, a perfect opportunity to spread out the field while forcing me to take it slow which was the name of the game for me today. This was by no means a focus race for me, just a training run. I knew I'd be tempted to hammer it out, but with a soleus muscle that had just returned to 100% after too much barefoot running too soon, taking it easy was what I had to do if Grindstone is the real goal.

Just prior to the race start I realized that my headlamp was giving the low battery signal, so I piggybacked off of other runners' lights during the climb. After we crested the top and the pace picked up, I turned on my light and started getting into my own flow. In no time the sun came up and off went the headlamp. Nothing totally eventful for the next couple miles, just soaking up the sights of the gorgeous tall ponderosa pines and the feeling of the lovely soft bed of pine needles that made up the trail. At a few points during this stretch I got conflicted with how to deal with the temperature, but after a few games of longsleeve-on longsleeve-off, I finally opted for longsleeve-only-on-one-arm. Hey, whatever works, right?

Leaving aid station #1 (AS1), we started the 2000 ft climb up Mt Fuji. (By the way, "we" at this point is the collective "we", not "me and the other VHTRC'ers". They were elsewhere.) The front runners started appearing on the trail, bombing back down the mountain right at us. In the lead was Eric Skaggs (who went on to break the course record by almost an hour in 9:11), followed close behind by Sean and Schmidty, and not too far behind them was Amy. They all looked good, fast and happy, and this was the last I'd see of them all race. And then, after seeing a bunch of Virginians and just when I was forgetting which state I was in, I saw this guy and instantly remembered I was in Oregon...

Trevor biked 70 miles through the mountains to the race start

I hit AS2, stripped off the longsleeve, headlamp and handheld bottle, put on my Nathan hydration pack, and continued up to the summit. In a little over a mile I reached the top, stopped for a quick photo-op (it's a training run after all) then started back down.

Summit of Mt Fuji

Coming down from Fuji I ducked off the trail to "scrape some leaves" as Gary would say, then got back at it and picked up the pace to make up for any lost time. Much to my surprise, I came across Mitchell. He was apparently right behind me and passed when I was off-trail. We ran together for about a mile or so, but still being early in the race, I wanted to get into my own groove so I went ahead.

After another 10 or so miles, I started seeing signs that read "Head Bangers Ahead". What in the hell? And then I saw it, a heavy metal themed aid station. Sweet! A busty woman wearing leather and carrying a whip came to my assistance (I can live with that), refilled my bottles and gave me some snackies. This happened to be an aid station we hit twice, so I went off on my way knowing that I'd be back for more in about 20 miles.

We started a loop around the second of three mountains during the race, The Twins. A bit more climbing out of the aid station, then a good portion of downhill to open up the legs. At this point my quads were already feeling pretty trashed. In all honesty, they started feeling it around mile 12, most likely because they were still recovering from the beating they got two weeks earlier at the back-to-back long training runs on the Grindstone course. I accepted the pain though, because after all, it's not often that I get to beat up my legs with any sort of real elevation profiles.

After 5 more miles I came to AS5, Charlton Lake. Here they had mango slices for us, and let me tell you that these were hands down the greatest thing I've ever eaten during an ultra. I probably ate 10 pieces of sweet juicy mango, and although my stomach wasn't too happy with that decision, but my tastebuds surely were.

Charlton Lake aid station, gorgeous and delicious

I was now halfway through my first 100k, and aside from some serious leg fatigue, I was feeling pretty good. Earlier in the day I had been running thoughts of "is 50 miles good enough for a training run?" through my head. The mind tries every excuse in the book when it knows you are pushing it through some serious stuff, but I am glad that I successfully quelled these thoughts and kept pounding out the miles.

I took a long walking break on a flat section to regroup for the second portion of the race, and as I was sitting down fixing some shoe issues at AS6, Mitchell once again caught up with me. We were obviously running very similar paces, and we had both traveled across the country to run this race, so I made the decision right then and there that I was going to run the rest of the race with my buddy Mitchell. He actually ran with me for a good portion of my very first ultra, the Potomac Heritage 50k, so in some strange way it was actually fitting.

Mitchell running through some fine fine trails

Me running through some fine fine trails

Mitchell and I ran together with another guy whose name I never got, but he had been running ultras for nearly 20 years and he looked rather young. Mitchell actually commented to the guy "What did you start running ultras when you were 8?". No, but I guess there's hope out there that running ultras will be my fountain of youth down the road. We then reached the closest point to the top of The Twins that we would get all day, but sadly it was not the summit. The race used to summit, but the race was 64 miles back then, so they cut off the summit and made it a legit 62 mile 100k.

Shortly after the Twins pseudo-summit we descended back into the heavy metal aid station, now AS7 and mile 45, where we each grabbed a popsicle (so awesome and refreshing) and a peanut-butter-topped pancake (also awesome and delicious). We took it slow out of the aid station to digest a bit, then continued to open it up and run the downhill before our final climb of the day, the killer Maiden Peak.

I had no idea what I was in for with Maiden. We climbed almost 2500 feet in a little over 3 miles. I guess that didn't sound too bad to me before the race, but once I experienced it on trashed legs I was singing a different tune. Mitchell, myself and our new friend Larissa made the slow painful climb up. Lord knows how long that took, probably something embarrassingly slow, but it definitely involved me taking a break about 3/4 of the way up. They didn't sit, knowing that if they did there wouldn't be any getting up.

Slowly heading up Maiden Peak. Very very slowly.

Seeing a group of volunteers up ahead, we thought we were hitting the summit, but for some sick and twisted reason they were just there to point us in the right direction... up. Luckily, this time the summit was only a couple hundred yards ahead, and within a few minutes we were there. From the top of Maiden Peak you could see everywhere we had been through the previous 53 miles, including breathtaking views of various bright blue lakes that we couldn't really see from the trail.

Larissa, me, and Mitchell - finally at the top of Maiden Peak

Larissa didn't stay to enjoy the summit views as long as we had, but within a few minutes we too made our way back down. Having now bagged the final climb of the day, running 9 miles downhill to the finish shouldn't be that bad, right? WRONG. The first mile or so coming down Maiden was full of small loose rocks and was such a steep decline that it was impossible to run. Instead, we shuffled down until the grade flattened out a bit. When designing this course, I think they added this part to make sure that, in the rare event that your legs were feeling good at mile 53, they definitely were not going to be feeling good for long.

Shuffle, ouch, shuffle, ouch

After a bit of downhill jostling, we came into AS9, the last aid station of the day. My original plan was to get in and out quickly so we'd be done with the race, but once we arrived we were treated like royalty. "Would you like a wet wipe to wash off your face? How about a neck rub?" Ummm, hell yeah!

Getting the royal treatment at AS9

After a few minutes of pampering, we forced ourselves to keep going. The pampering was nice while it lasted, but the thought of being able to sit down and be done was muuuuch more appealing. We continued to run as best as we could, and even though this was all downhill, we still had to take the occasional walking break. No worries though, we were running 100k so these things are expected. Perpetual forward motion was all that mattered.

The final miles of the race

The last couple of miles were mostly flat with a slight decline here and there, perfect for finishing off a race. The last 3 or 4 miles we ran without taking any more walking breaks, and then once the trail opened up to show us the gorgeous finish line across the field, Mitchell and I ran full speed ahead, happy as can be, hands together to the finish line. Amy was standing at the finish line cheerig us in, so that was a very pleasant welcome to see a familiar face. I had now finished my first 100k, and Mitchell got himself a new 100k PR. 14:02!

I guess it was dirty out there? No blisters though. Thanks, Drymax Socks!

It was a tremendous feeling to be done, but since I came into the race with a "training run" mindset, the accomplishment of running my longest run to date didn't seem as grand and I wasn't overwhelmed with emotion as I had been at my first marathon and 50-miler. My previous longest run was 50 miles and 8:32 (a very fast course), while this was 62 miles and 14:02 (on a tough course with already-trashed legs). Oh well, it still felt awesome to run through such gorgeous trails and I was extremely grateful that I didn't drop earlier when I was considering it.

I went to go shower, only to discover that there were none. Not wanting to live in filth, I awkwardly bathed in a sink. It wasn't pretty, but it got the job done!

Mitchell, me, and Amy after getting cleaned up (in a sink)

Mitchell, Amy, myself, and some of Amy's Peace Corps friends all camped out at Lake Waldo again. I was much more comfortable this time around (I wore more layers to bed), and in the morning we sat around the campsite eating delicious food and lounging.

Our home for the weekend

Later in the day someone brought out a (very small) kayak, so we each took it out for a spin on the lake. I won't get into the story about how I rolled it and had to search the lake floor for my sunglasses for a half hour, but needless to say it was a fun day out on the lake, and the forced swimming even got me to move my legs around a bit!

Fat man in a little boat...

My first 100k was a success. Oregon was absolutely wonderful. I think I'm ready for Grindstone. Bring it on!

To see the rest of my Waldo pictures click HERE.

4 posts in 1 because I'm lazy!

2009-08-11T22:43:00.015-04:00

Yikes! Where has the summer gone? For those religiously following this blog (ha, yeah right), it probably appears that I've dropped off the face of the Earth since Badwater. Quite the contrary, I've been pretty busy and once again have been slacking on the blogging. To catch up, here's a quick summary of four recent events: Catherine's FatAss 50k, Riley's Rumble Half-Marathon pictures, Coach Mike's Impromptu 50k, and Grindstone Training Runs Weekend.

Catherine's FatAss 50k
July 18, 2009

Having been back from Badwater for only a day, I made my way out to the usual spot (Massanutten Trails) with the usual suspects (VHTRC crew) for some more pounding on the legs. What better way to kick off my 100 miler training than 30ish miles pacing at Badwater, 22 miles on Mt Whitney and a 50k, all in one week?

Michelle, Sophie, myself and Marc on Bird Knob overlook

The weather was beautiful, although a tad too humid for my liking having just been in Death Valley. I ran with Sophie for most of the day and we chit-chatted about training, Badwater, and people who need people. At one aide station we came across a strange looking creature that I've never seen in the woods. It moved slowly, had an odd looking white head, and seemed keen to eat whatever was in sight. Oh wait, nevermind that was just Alisa Springman wearing her Badwater sun hood while she worked the aid station!

Alisa, post-Badwater, trying to cool me down for a change

All in all, it was a sweaty good day of running (no joke, probably the most I've ever sweated in my life... thanks heat acclimation training!) that ended with a phenomenal BBQ and party at the finish line. Thanks to Tommy and Kirstin for manning the grill, and Jeff for organizing the whole event and providing the grub and tasty adult beverages. This is really what summer is all about!

Finish line BBQ and party... great times!

See the rest of my CFA pics HERE.

Riley's Rumble Half-Marathon pictures
July 26, 2009

I once-again pretended to be a photographer while spectating at the Riley's Rumble Half-Marathon in Gaithersburg, MD. It started pouring right after the start, but luckily the camera survived and I was able to get some cool shots once the skies opened back up. Check out all the pictures HERE.

Kelly Hunsecker finishing Riley's Rumble Half

Ominous Mark Zimmerman before race start

Coach Mike's Impromptu Monday Morning 50k
July 27, 2009

My coach, Mike Broderick, has been slowly but surely planting the ultra seed into a few road runners that he coaches. Most gullible... errr... willing to partake our wonderful sport were Renee Bates and Eve Mills. Mike asked if I wanted to partake in the fun, and not having any pressing deadlines at work, I took the day off and went for a nice 31 mile jaunt on the Seneca Greenway trails. We started at the crack of dawn from Mike's driveway, headed a block to the trailhead, and off we went, passing various aid drops that Mike had made the night before.

Can you hear me now? Good!

Renee and Eve seemed to enjoy themselves on the trails. As road runners, I think it was the walking breaks that they seemed to enjoy the most! Ahh the joys of ultrarunning.

Eve leading Renee through some nice open Seneca Greenway trails

Back-to-Back Grindstone Training Weekend
August 8-9, 2009

Clark Zealand, RD for the Grindstone 100, put together a nice little training weekend for those of us who needed to familiarize themselves with the race course. With the race being 50 miles out and 50 miles back, we were able to see every step of the race course while only running half the course.

We camped at the Shenandoah Boy Scout Camp, the race's start/finish, and carpooled to our starting location each morning. Saturday morning we started at the race's turnaround, which has been extended a tad from last year's course after recalculating distances. Day 1 consisted of 30 miles, ending at Dowell's Draft and taking us through miles 50-80 of the course.

Day 1 at the (yet to be named) turnaround point

Jeremy Ramsey, Jared Hesse, Clark Zealand and myself held down the front of the pack all of Saturday, marking the course as we went. David Horton was with us for the first mile or so, but he was still recovering from his Colorado Trail Speed Attempt so he made the smart move and dropped off. Running with these guys was tough at times, but being able to keep up all day was a huge boost of confidence, showing how much endurance/speed I gained back after all my time off from the ITB injury.

Day 2 started where we finished the day before, Dowell's Draft, and took us all the way to the finish at Camp Shenandoah. Instead of hammering it out with the Lynchburg boys again, I took the conservative route and as per usual found myself running with Sophie (she's good entertainment and we have the same comfortable pace... a win-win situation). And no, the matching VHTRC gear was not intentional, we just have club pride!

Sophie and I at the end of Day 2

The combined 50+ miles for the weekend left my quads thoroughly trashed, the perfect training for me since the flat stuff I run on around home doesn't cut it in terms of any mountable elevation gain. Seeing the course (and getting the GPS readings) was a huge confidence boost as well, so come race day I should at least have some familiarity with where I am and what is to come. Let the logistics planning begin!

About midway through Saturday, my left calf/soleus started to feel tight. The tightness continued all day so I stretched and massaged the crap out of it post-run. Sunday started out fine, but for a few miles mid-way through the day the soleus tightness came back. What was up? Apparently my 3 mile barefoot run on the Thursday prior, combined with a 50 mile weekend, was too much stress on the soleus too soon. Lesson learned, ease slower into the barefoot running! No worries though, the tightness went away after a recovery week with low mileage.

See the rest of my Gstone Training Weekend pics HERE.

Summitting Mt Whitney - my first 14'er

2009-08-11T16:52:00.019-04:00

The day after Badwater, the men of the crew decided to make a last minute stop at the Park's Visitor's Center to see if there were any unused passes to summit Mount Whitney for the day. They had all been reserved way in advance, but usually there are some leftovers from runners and crewmembers who decided they are too tired to summit after the race. Lucky for us, they happened to have 3 passes left.

Route from my GPS

The trail head up to the summit is located at 8,400 feet, right at the Badwater finishline. The trail is approximately 11 miles long (my GPS read 10.21) and goes up to 14,505 feet - the tallest point in the continguous United States. Not too shabby of a mountain for my first 14'er if I do say so myself! Having just paced 30'ish miles the day before, a 22 mile hike up a mountain was obviously a great training opportunity so I jumped on it.

David, me and Will at the trail head / finishline

Since we only had 1 vehicle available, Alisa dropped us off at the trail right at noon and off we went. The plan was to be done around 9pm and she would pick us up there. A park ranger had told us that the trip takes between 10 and 16 hours depending on the person. Being athletic, we decided 9 hours would be more than enough.

Onwards we went, with none of knowing what we were really doing. We had a bunch of Clif Bars, Gu's, full hydration bladders, headlamps, running gear and our wag bags (you know, for when nature calls... when you're in nature). Speaking of, we passed a great sign not too far into the hike:

Will makes note of serious business. The #2 business to be exact.

I was constantly amazed at how beautiful everything was as we made our way up the mountain. I guess because I'm used to dinky little East Coast "mountains", I didn't really know what I was missing. For example:

Dear Mother Nature, I love you.

We started off fast (3.5 mph) and slowed down a bit after the first hour, making more frequent stops for food, oxygen, or just resting the ol' legs.

Life is good.

As we got higher up in elevation and above the treeline, we came across our first sighting of snow. This was in stark contrast to the 120 degree temperatures we toiled in the day before.

Badwater. Death Valley. July. Snow?

About 6.5 miles into the hike, Will and David decided that pacing at Badwater and the hike up until that point were plenty of miles for their legs and that they would rather not go any further. Also, the question of how fatigued they would feel at higher altitudes and possibly hiking/running down at night did not sound all too appealing. This became tough news for me to take and I was now left with a dilemma. Do I go back down with my fellow Badwater crewmembers whom I had done everything with over the past few days, or do I go on solo and reach the summit like I originally set out to do? After a few minutes of mulling it over, the guys assured me that there would be no hard feelings if I went on without them, and with the possibility that I might race Badwater next year (and almost definitely not have the energy/will to summit then), this might be my only chance to conquer Mount Whitney. The decision was made to push on solo, and after some quick number crunching I assured them that I would be back to the trail head at 9pm.

Just before parting ways with the guys

I grabbed some water purification pills from the guys, refilled my hydration bladder from a stream and went on my way. I picked up the pace a good amount for the first mile or two, but then the altitude hit me and I was forced to slow back down to a more realistic pace for an unacclimated runner at 12,000 feet. At times, if I took a couple of really strong steps and push myself too hard, I would start to feel light-headed from the lack of oxygen. When I reached 13,500 feet, my normal skydiving altitude, I took the picture below of my Garmin since it was the first time I had been at that altitude with my feet still on terra firma. Quite an interesting experience to say the least!

4 hours to get to altitude? It's usually only 15 minutes...

Eventually I reached what seemed to be A peak, just not THE peak, and I crossed over onto the western side of the mountain which was technically considered the Sequoia National Park.

Entering Sequoia National Park

From this point I was getting pretty close. The footing along the west side of the mountain was noticeably more rocky than before, and the altitude was causing much more lightheadedness than before. And then I ran into this guy:

Danny Westergaard, almost halfway through his DOUBLE BADWATER w/ summit

That's right, it's Dan Westergaard, one of the racers who just finished Badwater a few hours earlier. But don't get confused, Dan isn't done racing, he's going all the way to the Mount Whitney summit... and then BACK to the Badwater Basin where the race began. That's 292 miles total. Mad respect for Dan on that one. Wow.

Getting closer, and more beautiful

Almost there...

Summit snow

Up near the top I came across the most amount of snow on the mountain. It was probably 2 feet deep but luckily there was already a path worn into it. Still, I was able to find the one hole in the path and my leg fell another 2 feet deep into the snow. It was actually kind of refreshing. The snow-covered portion of the trail was only 100 yards or so, and once I passed that the summit was only another couple hundred yards away.

I reached the summit after 5:30 of hiking. The views from the top were magnificent (it's the highest point in the continguous US after all), and surprisingly it wasn't cold enough for me to don the windbreaker or fleece I had stashed in my bag.

14,505 feet. Success!

I hung around the summit for about a half hour. I was all alone up there, on top of the ~~world~~ US, and absolutely loving life. Of course, I had to rep my sponsors while I was up there: Brooks Running and Drymax Socks, both of whom took very good care of my feet for the previous couple of days with no discomfort or blister problems.

Brooks shoes and Drymax socks. Only the best for me.

And of course, I signed the obligatory summit sheet which was located at the lightning shelter on the summit (another hiker finally showed up so I was able to get him to take the picture of me signing it).

Making it official

After I had enough lollygagging, I headed back down the mountain, but this time I had gravity to my advantage. Hellloooo downhill technical switchbacked oxygen-deprived running! Talk about fun!

About 1.5 miles into my descent, I ran into three other ultrarunners who I instantly recognized by their Moeben Badwater sleeves. It was Jenn Shelton, Connie Gardner and Jimmy Dean Freeman, all of whom are respective badasses in the ultra world. I'm not too sure if it was the altitude, the sleep deprivation from crewing, or maybe they just found some "special" water source, but these guys were straight loopy. They were laughing hysterically when I bumped into them, and within a minute I was too. Jenn proceeded to crawl across a narrow stretch of trail on her stomach, Connie asked to switch shoes with me (pink Nike road shoes? no thanks) and then they tried to convince me to come back to the summit with them since they were still on their ascent. Despite their begging and pleading (and perhaps some name-calling as well), I politely declined since I had to meet Dave and Will at 9pm, and re-summitting would put me way off schedule. Didn't want anyone thinking I was eaten by a bear! I took a few shots of the gang and then we headed in our separate directions.

Jenn Shelton, ultrarunner extraordinaire?

Connie, Jimmy and Jenn

Pretending they're at the summit. Pic taken from below.

The rest of the run down was rather uneventuful. Lots of running, lots of passing hikers who just hours before questioned my ability to make it to the summit in time, lots of switchbacks, the occassional somersault down the trail from tripping (oops) and lots of pounding on the legs. All in all, it felt great!

One last picture on the mountain

My descent ended up taking 2:45, exactly half the time it took me to summit. Not too shabby! I even managed to finish right as it was getting dark, so I never had to turn my headlamp on.

When I finished, it was 8:45pm so I had a few minutes to spare before the guys were supposed to pick me up. I stretched, had a Clif bar and then put my backpack up against a rock and kicked my feet up on another. Then, right as I was starting to doze off a baby black bear runs across the parking lot, about 20 feet in front of me! Where there are baby bears, there are mama bears. No bueno! Also, keep in mind I have never seen a bear before in my life and I was all alone in a dark parking lot in the forrest, halfway up a mountain where there was no phone reception. Knowing that bears have an impecable sense of smell, I quickly went over to the trashcan and dumped out any remnants of food or food wrappers that I had in my bag. That should do the trick, right?

Well, about 20 minutes later guess who comes running through the parking lot again? Yup, the baby black bear (well, he was maybe teenage bear size). This time, instead of darting off into the forrest, he stopped in the middle of the parking lot and stared me down. I shined my headlamp in his face and spoke loudly and confidently for him to go away, as I had remembered hearing somewhere before. I should have gotten big and opened my jacket, but I forgot due to the fact that I was nearly crapping my pants. The bear would take a few steps onto the trail, then stop and look at me. Then walk a few more steps, then stop and look at me. He continued this guessing game of "am I going to eat you or not?" for another few minutes. Yeah, fun stuff. He finally disappeared into the darkness, so I stood there in the middle of the parking lot constantly scanning back and forth with my light in case I saw his glowing green eyes come back. Luckily, he didn't, and after about an hour and a half my ride finally came (something about a long wait at dinner, whatever, I was just glad to be warm, safe and out of harm's way).

I had never been so happy to see a minivan...

For all of my Mount Whitney pictures, see my Flickr album HERE.

Crewing the Badwater 135

2009-08-02T20:31:00.027-04:00

My apologies for the (extremely) late Badwater write-up. I've been honing my procrastination skills lately, and as you can tell, I'm getting quite good at it, especially with this whole bliggity-blogging thingamajig. Now where was I? Oh yes, Badwater...

I flew into Vegas on Saturday afternoon with a massive head cold. I blame the air travel, but another culprit was all the loud sounds and flashy lights that overwhelmed me as I stepped off the plane. Head cold or not, I was in Vegas for a reason: to crew, pace and photograph Alisa Springman during her second running of the Badwater Ultramarathon.

For those not "in the know", Badwater is known as the toughest footrace on Earth. It's a 135 mile run through Death Valley in the middle of the summer, with temperatures in the 120's and so hot that runners need to run on the white line so the rubber of their shoes doesn't melt. Sounds like a blast, no? Well guess what - it was.

Click for larger. Start lower right (Badwater), finish upper left (Whitney Portal).

As a crewmember and pacer on Team Alisa (there were 4 of us total: Me, David, Sue and Will), our job was to meet Alisa with the crew vehicles every mile or so and re-up everything she needed. New water bottle, ice cold hat, a cooldown with the water mister, ice cold sponge on the neck, food, salt pills, etc. (and those are just the basics at each stop, more complicated matters like blister treatment, shoe changes, etc. also needed to be done, just not as frequently). Whatever she needed, we were there to make it happen.

Back to the story, after a brief stop-over at the off-strip cheapo Vegas hotel, we gathered our things and made the voyage to the one stop shop for all your ultrarunning needs. That's right - Walmart!

Alisa with $425 of food, water, ice, gear, etc.

In retrospect, we purchased more food than we could have ever needed (corndogs and BBQ pork ribs for example), but it was nice to know that when Alisa's stomach was putting up a fight in the desert, chances are we had something to satisfy the beast. After Walmart, we made our way out of Vegas, stopping at every possible Albertson's supermarket we could find in an effort to secure dry ice. After a couple hours, we emerged victorious with $100 of dry ice, enough to keep our supplies cold until Monday afternoon.

After a short two hour drive, we arrived in Furance Creek, a small oasis in Death Valley (aka a general store, gas station, hotel and ice house) that also served as the location of the pre-race activities and mile 17 of the race. Here is where the heat really hits you. Walking through the parking lot felt like a blowdryer to the face. Was this what I had to look forward to for the next few days? Awesome!

Bob from Drymax, Alisa and myself with the van signs Bob printed up

At the pre-race briefing Alisa gathered her schwag and bib number, we all filled out the "we know we might die" waivers, we saw some familiar faces and met some new ones, and on we went to prepare the crew vehicles for our impending journey. (Side note: the extremely dry desert air quickly cleared up my head cold once we got to Death Valley. Thanks, desert!)

Monday morning we awoke at 7am for Alisa's 10am start time. She apparently ran so well last year that they put her in the elite start group alongside other notable names like Jamie Donaldson, Charlie Engle, Dean Karnazes, Jorge Pacheco and the guy that wears the pink tutu (you'll see).

David, Sue, Alisa, me and Will at -282ft ASL (the start)

The 10:00am elite runners

Runners and crews gathered at the Badwater Basin (the race start) for some pre-race words by RD Chris Kostman, a singing of the national anthem by a chick wearing a dress and Moeben sleeves, some quick group pictures, and before we knew it the runners were off to embark on a journey of a lifetime (well, maybe 2 days of running through the desert just seems like a lifetime).

Most crews started meeting their runner after a mile or 2. Alisa had made the strategic decision before race start that crewing for the first few miles was pointless since she would not yet be hot and drinking a lot and it would be easier for us to drive a few miles ahead and meet and get ahead of the caravan of crew vehicles.

Dean Karnazes in the first few miles

Jamie Donaldson (and David, one of our crewmembers, in the green hat)

It was nice seeing all the runners together in the first few miles of the race. Alisa, being as fit as ever, was actually running ahead of Jamie Donaldson (last year's women's champion) for a majority of those first 17 miles. Go Alisa! However, we all knew this would come to an end sooner than later... and it did. Like the good Drymax Team Captain that she was, Jamie went on to finish as first female, again, in a time of 27:20.

The tutu guy (Keith Straw), followed closely by Jamie Donaldson

As if it wasn't crazy enough seeing a guy dressed in a pink tutu and pink shoes running through the desert, it made me have deja vu of my first ever road race - a small half-marathon in Severna Park, MD. Keep in mind this was only a little more than a year ago, but nonetheless, it was my first race ever, and as I was running along I was passed by... yup... a guy in a pink tutu and pink shoes. I recall his shirt saying something along the lines of "you just got passed by a guy in pink". Now here I am on the opposite side of the country, no longer at a small half-marathon but the toughest footrace on Earth, and here is the same guy in the same pink tutu. I gotta give it to the guy, in a sport where everyone is of questionable sanity and fashion sense, he definitely takes the cake!

We did this about 100 times...

Above is a video from one of our 100+ crew stops. Kinda like a pit crew moving in slow motion, huh? Well most of the first day looked like this. Nothing totally mesmerizing, but we were efficient and we took care of our girl. Oh wait, I almost forgot about happy hour!

"Happy hour?" you might be asking yourself. Hell yeah! After spending a good portion of the day in the sun, we could tell that Alisa's spirits were down and she needed some cheering up. So we broke out the Spongebob Squarepants pinata, hats, wristbands, ribbons and bubble blowers and we had ourselves a little party as Alisa passed on through.

Crewchief Spongebob makes an appearance for happy hour

And whattaya know, after a Spongebob happy hour, we decided that once again we should give Alisa some more cheering up (I don't think she needed it, but the heat does things to your brain so we went along with the fun). This time around, Sue, the wonderful ball of energy that she is, decided to dress up in the new Moeben sun-hood *cough*lookslikeaklanhood*cough* and read Alisa some of their favorite teenage vampire romance novel *gag*. Needless to say, Alisa loved it.

Don't read and run

So like I was saying, nothing interesting happened the first day. Oh wait, and then at some point in the day Will got hungry and decided to cook up some corndogs on the hood of Sue's truck...

The nutrition of a champion ('s crew)

...and Sue did some jumping around, laughing in the face of danger.

Gotta love her

And of course, some more Spongebob fun during our limited downtime.

David and crewchief Spongebob

But yeah, that's about it for the fun we had during the day. As sunset approached, off came the sunsuits and hats and out came the reflective gear and blinky things. Alisa was holding up pretty well to this point (well, maybe some GI problems here and there but that's not too out of the ordinary). We were a bit past Stovepipe Wells, which is mile 42 and one of the 6 checkpoints, as the sun was going down. We started pacing for her at Stovepipe Wells so that brought about a nice change of pace for both her and us alike. The crew now had one less person to get everything done, but we had been through the routine enough times at this point that we were getting good at multitasking. Besides, less heat at night means less cooling down that needs to be done.

As we got further into the night, Alisa's stomach made a turn for the worse and she was having a tough time taking anything in. While pacing, I got to play the constant guessing game of "what nutrition can I trick Alisa into eating?" and also "what song is Alisa currently listening to based off of her oh-so-wonderful singing?". The singing games were fun, the food... well that was a bit trickier.

Yes we run the whole time in ultras. Well, aside from a few breaks here and there...

At one point she came to the realization that a V8 would totally hit the spot. Bad bad move. The combination of downhill running and V8 brought our running and her stomach to a crashing halt. After a good 20 minute break laying on the side of the road (well, kind of in the road but we had our blinky things so it was cool), the V8 and what looked like everything back to breakfast came out in a wonderful concoction that I'm sure cooked up into a nice looking pancake on the hot pavement once the sun came back out. Disgusting, I know, but guess what? It did the trick and she was back to feeling like a million bucks (or about as good as you can feel running 135 miles through the desert).

A few hours later, probably around 4:00am, she made it into Panamint Springs checkpoint, mile 72 of the race (it was slow going throughout the night if you couldn't tell). With all the crewing and pacing we had been doing, we were all pretty tired. It's safe to say that Alisa was quite tired as well, but this became extremely evident when she came in, requested to lay down for a few minutes, and proceeded to sleep for an hour. This was quite the pleasant surprise to the crew so we all proceeded to rest while we could and we quickly passed out in our camping chairs. An hour later, like clockwork, she woke up, realized where she was, grabbed a water bottle and said let's go. Not expecting to pace that soon after waking (literally about 15 seconds), but knowing that I didn't really have an option, I grabbed a waterbottle and off we went. Within no time we were greeted with gorgeous sunrise views as the sun peaked its head over the peaks in the distance:

Goooood mornin'

The light of day #2 brought new life to Alisa. Hell, she even started running a bit! Temperatures on this second day were slightly cooler than the first. Don't get me wrong it was still a scorcher, but they only reached 110ish from what I recall while the first day easily hit 120+. Nonetheless, Alisa had fooled herself into thinking she was invincible to the sun and she opted for regular running gear instead of the cumbersome sun-suit. What's that I hear? Ooh, another job for the crew: sunscreen application! Eh, who am I kidding it wasn't that bad.

Mmmm... melted mango smoothie

Will, David and myself rotated pacing duties with each of us doing 5-15 miles at a time. My favorite part of the entire trip occurred while pacing so sadly I don't have any photographic evidence. I was told there were usually jet flybys since there was a military base close by. Being a skydiver, I've seen plenty of flybys at the dropzone, so I didn't really think much of it. Well, as Alisa and I were running along on the white line, just over the horizon we start to see and hear a jet hugging the turns of the road and coming directly towards us. I kid you not, the F18 (F16? beats me) came screaming by at Mach Fast-as-Hell, probably only 100 feet off the ground. It was probably the coolest thing I have ever seen. I'm sure Alisa would have joined me if she had the energy to do so, but I was jumping up and down waving my arms and screaming like a little kid on a rollercoaster. When I waved my arms, the pilot dipped the wings to acknowledge us. AWESOME! By the way, this didn't just happen once, nor did it happen twice. We got THREE kick ass flybys! (Can you tell this got me excited? Ok, I'll stop now).

The runner with her water bottle mule, I mean pacer

Right around mile 100, we started to get dangerously low on ice so Sue and I took her truck (the designated gopher vehicle) to restock in the town of Lone Pine, about 20 miles ahead on the course. I drove, and with this being the first opportunity to just sit still for any period of time in almost 2 days, I nearly fell asleep at the wheel. Not good! Thankfully we made it Lone Pine alive, as did all the runners we passed/missed, and I was able to re-energize with some Red Bull. We got our ice and headed quickly back to Alisa and the rest of the crew.

Shortly thereafter, we realized that we needed to check into the hostel in Lone Pine for after the race, so Sue and I once again headed back into Lone Pine. Alisa would be running into Lone Pine in the next hour or two, so the two of us (who hadn't slept as much as Dave and Will) took the opportunity to rest and waited for Alisa to come through. While waiting around, I saw Dean Karnazes very slowly, and what looked like very painfully, walk through town. His crew brought him a big ol' milkshake from the local McDonald's, and after cheering on some words of encouragement to the man whose book got me into this whole ultra world, I too made my way to Micky D's for what would be the first "real" meal that didn't consist of PBJ and PowerGel (I know, Micky D's isn't a real meal, but beggars can't be choosers). Let me tell you, that burger and milkshake were deeee-licious!

Dean no longer does pizza on the run, just milkshakes

When Alisa finally made her way into LP (mile 122), Sue took her first steps as a pacer. With their close relationship, Sue's uplifting presence and her disliking of the heat, we had planned all along to save Sue's pacing for the last 13 miles, the final climb up Mt. Whitney, since she would be able to keep Alisa motivated and happy during this most difficult portion of the race.

Alisa and Sue coming up Whitney Portal Road

The rock formations on Whitney Portal Road were unlike anything I had ever seen, absolutely stunning structures with shapes that you can't find on the east coast. My favorite formation was obviously the big rounded rock painted to look like a monster of some sorts.

What a monstrous rock. Get it?

The sun set for the second time as Alisa ran up Whitney Portal Road. We all donned our required night gear once again, but this time the finish line was so close you could taste it.

David enjoying the view as the sun sets for the 2nd time

With just a few miles to go, we drove the van up to the finish line and walked down to meet Alisa and Sue so we could all walk Alisa in for the last mile or so (let's be honest, not even the leaders are running at this point in the race). All five of us were now together, and just moments remained before Alisa and Team would finish this epic journey. As we rounded the corner and saw the finish line in the distance, we all joined hands and started running. I had put my headlamp and Alisa's flashlight in my shorts pocket, and as I started running the weight pulled my shorts down. Not wanting to cross the finish line with my shorts around my ankles, I threw the lights off into the dark abyss. I again joined hands, and within just a few steps we were screaming with joy as we crossed the finish line of our 135 mile adventure.

She did it! 135 miles in 35:42:35

Now that's one happy team!

Alisa got her awards, we posed for a few pictures, and after a few minutes of sitting we got her up and made our way to the van. As we were walking over, a police car came screaming up the mountain with its sirens. The cop was yelling "Everybody off the mountain! The mountain is on fire! Everybody off the mountain!" Holy crap! We rushed Alisa into the van and sped down the mountain, passing a huge campfire turned forest fire. Badwater was hot enough, we didn't need to get any more burn going! Thankfully we made it back to the hostel with no fire encounters. Others were not so lucky as the finish line was forced to shut down for 9 hours right after we left, so many racers were forced to finish at mile 131. Still, everyone who made it was considered an official finisher and received the credit they rightfully earned.

To sum it all up in one word, wow. A truly unforgettable experience that far exceeded all of my expectations in terms of difficulty, beauty, comradery, fun and heat. Will I ever run Badwater? Well, that depends on if I get in next year...

;-)

For more pictures, see my Flickr page HERE.
Official webcast and results HERE.

Browtown Loop 4th of July run

2009-07-19T15:20:00.003-04:00

Independence day is celebrated slightly differently in the VHTRC than with most typical Americans. Yes, we wear our red, white and blue and we drink our beer, but instead of sitting around on our lazy butts, we prefer to take in the enjoyment of the beauty that mother nature has bestowed upon these wonderful United States of America.

The gang's all here

This was my first ever Browntown Loop, but the tradition has been carried on for 9 years now. Roughly 25 runners met at the Massie's Corner and carpooled to the trail head. Now, like some other shindigs that I've been to with the club, an organized event is not technically allowed on these sections of trail, so the disorganization of the event allowed those "in charge" to deny any sort of responsibility for the run and/or post-run party.

The course took us through the usual Shenandoah National Park, an out-and-back to an overlook (pictured below), across Skyline Drive and onto some country roads that ultimately lead us into the small town of Browntown. I ran with Brad Hinton, Brian Schmidt and John Cassilly for the majority of the run. Sean Andrish also made appearances at the beginning and end, but his knee was causing problems from a fall a few weeks back so he took a shortcut across the AT instead of heading into Browntown. Once in Browntown, we were treated to our only aid station of the day, the general store for the small town. Being the frontrunners, we purchased some ice, water, soda and snacks and left any unused goods for the next batch of runners to make their way through.

Sean Andrish, myself, Brad Hinton and John Cassilly at the overlook

Two elusive loverbirds caught in the act. Get moving, you two!

Brad, myself and Schmidty at the Browntown general store

Heading out of Browntown was a few more miles of road, followed by a nice steep climb up to the AT and Skyline Drive. After having left us many miles back, Sean Andrish caught back up and his knee was feeling better than ever. Great for him, bad for me! This dude is speedy, and for the last few miles of downhill, John Cassilly and myself struggled to keep up with Sean, Brad and Schmidty. Schmidty is actually tapering for his first 100 out at Vermont in a few weeks, so if this is his taper speed, he's gonna rock it out at VT. (Side note: I am late in writing this blog post and Schmidty just yesterday ran the VT100... 5th place!)

John and myself finished the 21-mile loop in 3:56, just a few minutes behind the speed demons. It was a beautiful run to celebrate the 4th and we were able to soak in the cold stream post-run for recovery. I am glad to say that my IT Band didn't act up one bit, and it hasn't in over a month, so it looks like I'm back in action! The mileage is slowly getting back up there and I'm feeling great.

The perfect end to a great run

Of course there was some post-race beer drinking. We are Americans afterall! For more pictures of the race and the party, check them out at my Flickr page HERE.

Pictures from Eagleman 70.3

2009-06-18T23:04:00.002-04:00

This past weekend I headed out to Cambridge, MD to cheer on some friends out at the Eagleman 70.3 triathlon. And of course, in my pursuit of becoming a better photographer (I've got a ways to go), I took pictures around the course... well, at least within a few blocks of the transition area. Check out the pictures at my Flickr page: CLICK HERE.

A few select shots below.

Bobby - Past, Present & Future

2009-06-05T15:53:00.002-04:00

It's been pretty quiet here on the blog so I figured I was due an update as to where I've been, what I'm up to, and what my future plans are.

PAST
ITB injury in February. It got better, I ran a few 50k's as MMT prep but apparently I put the mileage back on too quickly, causing it to injure again at Promise Land. I made the decision to drop from MMT and, given the epic weather that they had this year, I am happy with that decision. Instead, I helped crew for Amy Sproston at MMT and she won the women's field just under 25 hours. (I took a ton of pics and put them up on my Flickr account).

PRESENT
After some time off, the ITB is feeling great now and Coach Mike has me SLOWLY putting the mileage back on. Not going to make the same mistake we made the first time around so we're taking the conservative route. I can tell that I've lost some speed and some endurance, but it'll come back soon enough so I'm not fretting it too much. For now I'm just enjoying being able to run pain free.

FUTURE
Aside from building back up the speed and endurance (which might take a while), I'm pretty excited about what's coming up. In July I will be crewing and pacing for my friend Alisa Springman at the Badwater Ultramarathon. Pretty sweet, huh? (For those not familiar with Badwater, it's 135 miles through Death Valley in the middle of the summer). Alisa did pretty well at Badwater last year so she earned herself a slot in the elite 10am start time. I'm going to need to start heat training soon, and one option is running outside with multiple layers of jackets, sweaters, leggings, hats, etc. However, I don't really want to be that weird guy in the neighborhood, so I think I'll try to find a sauna instead. Either way, I'm not a huge fan of ridicuously hot weather so I'm not totally looking forward to it. On the plus side, it will make the rest of my summer runs seem relatively easy, so I guess I shouldn't complain too much.

So that's what's going on these days. Until Badwater I won't really have much to post in terms of ultra events, but I should be doing some more skydiving so I'll try to get good pics/video to post. Until then...

Race Report: Promise Land 50k

2009-05-08T15:58:00.010-04:00

Promise Land 50k
Race #3 of 6 in the Beast Series
April 25, 2009

Wow am I late to post this race report. Mea culpa. After dealing with an ego-crushing performance at Promise Land, I had to face the facts and make the (smart) decision to drop from MMT, thus pushing back my hopes and dreams of running my first 100. I was so caught up in this decision and worried about getting my ITB better that I totally forgot to write a recap.

I have since forgotten most of the little details from that day, so instead here are some pictures with random commentary.

Some speedy mofos - Amy Sproston, Bethany Patterson and Keith Knipling

Why do Horton's races always start so early?

A few days before the race I was out on an easy 8 mile run when my ITB started to act up again. I thought it had been fully healed since I was able to run Terrpain Mountain a few weeks back with no problems. I guess I was adding on the weekly mileage a bit too fast. Knowing that the ITB was being problematic, I knew that today was going to be a tough one, but I also knew that if I wanted to stay in the Beast Series, I had to at least finish under the cutoffs.

My two goals for the year were to 1) finish MMT as my first 100 and 2) complete all 6 Beast Series races. Running Promise Land was going to possibly exacerbate my injury, but if I didn't run it then I was definitely out of the Beast and there was no guarantee that I'd be healed for MMT just three weeks away. I decided on running Promise Land to at least stay in the Series, and if all went well then I could still do MMT.

I forced myself to start towards the back of the pack so as to not be tempted to run fast. It also was a nice chance to run with folks whom I normally don't see until post-race activities. So off I went, slowly making my way in hopes that the pace would please the knee.

Heading into Aid Station #1 after climbing for ~4 miles right from the start

The first few miles weren't that bad. It was dark but all the runners were pretty close together. I found myself running/walking with Martha Wright and Q. They both promised to crack the whip and keep me running at a conservative pace. Taking it slow seemed to be working and I wasn't losing too much ground because it was all climbing and everyone was walking. After a few more miles though, despite my best efforts the ITB started to ache with every step. Crap.

I have to give it Promise Land, it was a nice looking course.

Me. Smiling despite the pain.

The ITB pain would come and go a few times during the first 15 or so miles, and during the times when I was able to run it was actually pretty enjoyable. There was a very scenic section of rolling jeep roads that I recall being gorgeous, but somewhere around this point I noticed an unusually high amount of moisture on my back? "Why am I sweating so much? Wait, why is my sweat cold??" Apparently the bladder in my Nathan pack had sprung a leak and was slowly draining itself down my lower back and soaking my shorts. Awesome!

I did my best at the next aid station to make an impromptu repair with the ever-useful duct tape. Unfortunately duct tape doesn't hold up well in wet conditions so I was stuck wearing a useless pack (ok ok, it did a graet job of holding my gels). Luckily my good friend and fellow Brooks athlete Alisa Springman came to the rescue and lent me one of her handhelds. I was saved!

From this point on I did a mixture of running (with pain) and walking (when the pain was just too much). This was quite frustrating because I felt fine in terms of cardiovascular and muscular endurance, but the acute ITB pain had become so intolerable at times that I wasn't able to bend my leg, so I looked like a peg-leg pirate with a totally straight leg that had to be swung around. I'm sure it was fun to watch, but it definitely was not fun to endure.

Again with the nice views

I ran with Q and Alisa for a good while. Q is someone I don't normally get to run with, so that was nice, and Alisa is normally a speedy one but she had just run 100 miles at McNaughton 2 weeks prior and then 50 miles at Bull Run the weekend before this race. Alisa and I discussed plans for Badwater (I'll be pacing her there this summer) and Q and I discussed... who the hell knows, probably making fun of people and talking about bourbon (he's quite a fan). We actually did talk some serious stuff though, and when discussing my injury and race plans, this is where I made the decision to drop from MMT. Q agreed that this was a smart move, and from that point on I felt like I had lifted a huge weight from my shoulders because now there was no pressure to perform in the coming weeks. All would be well and I would be recovered soon enough.

Me and Q resting at the waterfall.

Waterfall commentary

These bastards came after the waterfall... and with my pegleg it seemed like they went on forever.

A few miles after the waterfall and the steps, we made our way back to the wide open aid station on top of the mountain pictured below. We had been there earlier in the day as well (sorry I don't know names or mileages at these points, I'm more of an MMT guy myself).

Alisa and some others refueling after a long climb, getting ready to start running again.

After topping the mountain we headed back down for the last quarter or so of the race. Most were relieved to be given the opportunity to run once again. I was not so lucky, and proceeded to walk down.

After passing the final aid station, the pain in my ITB magically disappeared and I was able to run for the first time in what seemed like ages. It was roughly 4 miles to the finish, all downhill, and I ran every step of the way. This is probably the only time during the day when I felt the horrible heat that I was expecting so much from. It wasn't all the bad, but after conferring with others afterwards, I think my experience was the exception.

Crossing the field and approaching the finish line

As I approached the finish line, I could hear Horton on the microphone announcing "Here comes Bobby Gill - living up to his #9 seed". Not really the greatest of things to hear when I was enjoying a rare brief moment of satisfaction just for being finished with the damn race under the cutoffs. I clearly was nowhere near #9, probably more like 109, but whatever, I was still in the Beast Series (although with some pretty slow times) and the only pressing goal I had was to rest and heal up.

My finishing time was 7:30:05. This is actually faster than I had thought I would run. I was anticipating more of a death march and coming in right under the cutoff. I guess my walking pace is quite fast, so that helps.

So there you have it, my Promise Land race report. Very anticlimactic and it was only a month late!

Gear Review: Sole Ultra Insoles

2009-05-03T22:55:00.000-04:00

iRunFar.com is currently premiering a series of gear reviews that are tested and written by the loyal readers. As part of this series, I received a pair of SOLE Ultra Softec Heat Moldable Custom Footbeds (insoles).

The insoles are constructed with a moldable EVA base, open-cell polyurethane cushioning and a perforated polyester weave topsheet for moisture wicking. Of the seven available SOLE insoles, the Ultra Softec's are the thickest with 3.2mm of cushioning.

Testing supplies - Brooks Cascadia 3s and SOLE Ultra Softecs

While these insoles could be slid into your shoes straight out of the packaging, for optimal results you should first heat-mold them. To do this, you pre-heat the oven to 200 F and pop them in for 2 minutes. On the bottom of the insole is a box that changes color when they are soft enough for molding. When I removed mine from the oven the box hadn't changed color so I put them back in for another 2. Still nothing. Either the indicator was malfunctioning or my oven was. It is entirely possible it was my oven, but I really don't know. I decided 4 minutes had to be plenty of time and they had to be ready so I removed them from the oven and inserted them into my Cascadias. I laced the shoes up and stood in them perfectly still with a neutral stance shoulder-width apart for two minutes, just as the instructions say. Molding process complete.

Before I get into the performance of the insoles, I should give some background on my particular biomechanics and typical footwear choices since both of these factors influence my assessment. I have a fairly neutral gait and wide (ok ok... fat) feet. Because of my wide feet I prefer the wide toebox of Brooks Cascadia trail running shoes. I normally run with blue Superfeet insoles per the recommendation of my physical therapist to give my arches some added support during foot-strike and hopefully prevent injury. Below is a visual comparison of the Brooks Cascadia factory insoles, my used blue Superfeet, and the SOLE Ultra Softecs that were tested.

Various Insoles top view (L-R) - Cascadia 3s, Superfeet and Ultra Softecs

Various insoles bottom view (L-R) - Cascadias, Superfeet and Ultra Softecs

Various insoles side view (L-R) - Cascadias, Superfeet and Ultra Softecs

I tested the Ultra Softecs for two weeks on multiple trail runs ranging from 4 miles to 16 miles. On my first run with them my intial impression was that they were relatively comfortable, but after putting a few miles in my metatarsals started to get noticeably cramped. Thinking this may be due to the switch from Superfeet to SOLEs, I kept wearing them but the cramping never ceased. This produced serious discomfort on my runs that I definitely would not be able to tolerate in an ultra.

I believe the cramping of my metatarsals was due to the increased thickness of the Ultra Softecs compared to my Superfeet. They are approximately three times thicker and I apparently need all the space I can get to keep my dogs from barking. Because of this metatarsal cramping I was unable to get a good feel for how the molded footbed performs supporting the foot. SOLEs are popular insoles so I imagine I might have better luck with one of the thinner insoles in the SOLE product line such as the Softec Regulars or the Slim Sports.

Overall, I would not recommend the SOLE Softec Ultras to someone who has wide/fat feet and needs space in their shoe, but I wouldn't not recommend them to someone with normal sized feet since it is possible the molded footbed could provide valuable arch support.

Training Run Report: Chocolate Bunny 50k

2009-04-12T21:02:00.009-04:00

The days leading up to this year's Chocolate Bunny were somewhat nerve-wracking. The Park Service had scheduled to do a controlled burn in the area we were to be running, so we didn't know if the usual Chocolate Bunny route would be runnable. As if running a 50k on MMT trails in the dark isn't hard enough, I don't think a cloud of smoke and smoldering tree branches would have worked to the runners' advantage. After careful deliberations with the Forest Rangers and a good rainfall the night prior to the race, Race Director Tom Corris got the email out indicating that the original Bunny route was a go.

The route was to take us from Route 211 East to Powell's Fort Camp, aka miles 58.4 to 89.3 of MMT100. This run is perfect training to get accustomed to running the nighttime portions of the MMT course. You get to run it on fresh legs and rested (if you like), but still in the dark so when you're hallucinating at 3am on race day, you at least know that the dancing gnomes up on Short Mountain were not there during your previous encounter.

View Larger Map

Runners gathered at Powell's Fort Camp and carpooled to the start at Route 211 East. We got in a quick group picture, contemplated how much the temps were going to drop throughout the night, and we were off at 7:45pm.

2009 Chocolate Bunny runners

Robin came up from GA to visit DC and run the Bunny for her MMT training

We had 9.3 miles to cover before our first aide station (by the way, I am noticing I spell it "aide" and not "aid"... is there a difference? Do I care? Do you? Didn't think so...). We had a decent climb for the first 5 miles or so, then some downhills and a nice easy cruise up Crisman Hollow Road, followed by another ascent up Jawbone Gap Trail. Amongst others, I was running with John Cassilly during this section, and previously during MMT Training Run #2 he led us off-course at this very spot. Needless to say, we were very astute to make sure we didn't do any unnecessary miles as we came up Jawbone.

Vince Bowman and Robin Meagher running on one of the few MMT road sections

I got into the first Aide Station of the night (Moreland Gap) in a little over 2 hours. Robin had fallen back a tad, so I waited for her to catch up since I knew Short Mountain was next on the agenda and it's never fun going that alone. I spent probably 15 or 20 mins at the aide station, plenty of time to cool down and realize how cold it actually was outside. I thew on my longsleeve, refilled my hand-held bottle with Hammer Perpetuum (possibly using this as my nutrition during MMT), admired the unusual sight of Kiristin Corris wearing bunny ears and posting to Twitter with race updates, then headed back out onto the trail.

Me to Kirst: "Did I just get twotted?"

Short Mountain is notorious for the ungodly amount of rocks that cover the trail. The climb up Short Mountain isn't difficult in the slightest, but after 8 miles of closely-spaced and deliberately-placed steps (wow, that rhymes) and some serious inversion/eversion of the feet, it is obvious to see why a good number of people drop from MMT immediately following this section.

Heading up Short Mountain

So sue me, it was dark.

A few miles into Short Mountain, I noticed that I was starting to get into a funk. Perhaps it was the combination of the late hour and not moving at my preferred pace, but I knew that I needed to pick up the pace a bit and zone out to get back into the game. I pulled away from the group and was now alone with my thoughts (and my flashlights too, I guess). At one point as I was running along the ridgeline I looked out to the west and saw the lights of the houses in the valley. It reminded me of a skydive I once did at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve in Eloy, AZ - silent, dark, and with a gorgeous view of the lights below in the distance. After a minute of staring out into this, I remembered I was supposed to be running and I got back to it.

Typical view for the night, although the flash lights the trees too much and takes away from the beauty out in the distance.

Coming down off of Short Mountain and into Edinburg Gap for Aide Station #2 of the evening, the crew was noticeably more quiet. Maybe it was the lack of twittering? Perhaps, but at this point I knew I too was starting to feel the late-night drowsiness so I sat down and popped a caffeine pill (along with a ginger root pill and an electrolyte pill - if only I had glowsticks to make the picture more complete). The caffeine seemed to perk me up and the ginger calmed the hints of an uneasy stomach, so off I went to make the ascent up to Woodstock Tower.

Camera flashes in the eyes do not help with night vision, FYI.

The initial climb out of the aide station was a bit slow moving, but once on top of the ridgeline the footing was noticeably easier than Short Mountain and that equated to a much quicker pace. I got into a nice groove, passed a few folks and sang to myself to keep my brain from wandering (the rocks were turning into turtles, so I could definitely tell I was getting tired). At one point I ran into Brad Hinton running towards me. He had been holding down the #2 spot in the race, but apparently had gotten lost and turned around, losing over an hour due to backtracking. After passing a few runners and wondering why there were so many hikers out at this time of night, he finally recognized me as a familiar face and quickly turned himself around and headed in the right direction. He later dropped at Woodstock Gap, the next aide station, but I don't blame him with all the extra mileage he got in.

Aside from the frequent tripping on rocks and dropping of my flashlight and almost losing it as it rolls down the mountain, I made it through Woodstock Gap aide station rather uneventfully. I took another video during the final 5 mile stretch, but forgot that my headlamp looking into the cmaera wouldn't make for the best footage. Oh well, at least there is some commentary to go with it.

Blah blah blah, it's dark and I'm tired.

The final few miles seemed to go on forever, but I eventually came to the final (and steep!) downhill section. I had been able to run down almost all of the downhills of the night without disturbing my ever-healing IT Band, but this section was just too steep so I was forced to walk. I arrived at the Powell's Fort Camp parking lot a little after 3:00am, received my chocolate bunny from Tom (hence the race name), and finished with a time of 7:25. Not my best time for a 50k on MMT Trails, but given the darkness, my healing ITB and Short Mountain, I'd say that I'm pleased with it. It was an absolutely gorgeous night out and the Bunny went off without a hitch.

I enjoyed the spaciousness of my new car and rested for a bit while I waited for Robin to finish up. As you can see from the bloodshot eyes in the shot I took on the drive home, I clearly could have used a bit more rest, but I made it home safely so no complaints. Right now it is way past my bedtime on Sunday night and I should be sleeping to make up for last night, but I have priorities and I need to please my adoring fans (ha!). Thanks to Tom, Kirstin, Kris, Kristine, Walker and all the other volunteers for sacrificing their Saturday night (and Easter morning) so that we could enjoy our jaunt through the woods!

Bloodshot eyes - a byproduct of running, my natural high

Race Report: Terrapin Mountain 50k

2009-03-29T20:35:00.008-04:00

I took a risk this weekend and raced knowing that my IT band was still in healing mode. I had to because Terrapin Mountain 50k is the 2nd race in the Beast Series and, aside from finishing MMT, finishing the Beast Series is one of my goals for this year. With plenty of visits to the PT and equal amounts of time spent stretching and foam-rolling at home, healing has steadily moved along and two days prior to the race I was able to get in an 8-miler with little to no pain.

This was the inaugural 50k at Terrapin. Last year they ran a marathon, but in actuality the mileage was a bit higher than 26.2, so instead of shortening it to be legit, Clark Zealand (the RD) did what any decent ultrarunner would do and he added an extra mile or three to make a nice challenging 50k.

That's me - #5. I guess they didn't realize I'd be taking it slow(er) today.

Rain was forecasted for all of Saturday. As I slept in my tent the night before the race, I was constantly awoken by loud surges in the rain's intensity - never a good sign. By some amazing turn of events, mother nature called it quits just before daybreak and we were graced with a dry start. I snuck in to the middle of the pack, hoping it would trick me into running a conservative race, but as we made our way out of the lodge and into the mountains I slowly found myself passing a good number of people. I was somewhat expecting to be passing folks though. Coach Mike had formulated an ITB-friendly gameplan for me: run the uphills and walk the downs. So I did, passing everyone who sticks to the normal ultra routine of walking the uphills. It was actually quite entertaining because going up I would pass the same 10 or so people and then on the downs they would all pass me. We yo-yo'd back and forth all day long, and eventually, to qualm the "this idiot doesn't know how to run an ultra" thoughts that were most definitely running through their heads, I would explain that I in fact had a method to my madness.

Trying to walk the downhills is tough, so I shuffled/power-walked instead.

The course itself was challenging yet fun. Plenty of climbing, roughly 8k feet of it, and despite all the rain from the night before, there wasn't nearly as much mud as anyone had thought. Contrary to what the attached pictures show, most of the day had us running through jeep roads or single track. There was even a section towards the end that was MMT-esque with jagged rocks that made for impossible fotting. The final ascent up Terrapin Mountain was steep and gnarly as well, and to prove we were there we had to punch our bibs with two different orienteering punches that awaited us at the top.

The course was well marked and, being a first-timer on these trails, it took me onto portions of the Promise Land 50k and Hellgate 100k courses, both races in the Beast Series that I will be running this year. I don't remember much of the specifics from the course, probably because I was concentrating so hard all day on my ITB to make sure it wasn't hurting, but it definitely felt great to be out there running in the mountains, and it especially felt good to be running pain free. On some of the downhill sections, the gradient was so steep that I couldn't help but move at a not-quite-walking, aka running, pace. When I would do this, my ITB would quickly chime in with a hint of pain as if to say "No no, remember what Coach Mike told you!" I quickly got the picture and went back to shuffling downhill, repeating to myself my mantra for the day: "It feels good. Don't f@#k it up."

FOG, FOG and more FOG... all day long.

Speaking of f@#cking it up, I somehow managed to drain my GPS battery before the race and I also forgot my camera battery sitting on the charger at home, so if you were wondering where my usual array of pictures, maps, and elevation profiles are at... sorry boss, not this time. (By the way, all pics courtesy of eco-X Sports).

Clark cheering me on as I finish. The camera guy missed our sweet high-five.

I finished in 5:41:43, 27th place out of 148 starters. Not too shabby for just trying to complete the dang thing under the cutoffs to stay in the Series. All in all, I'd have to say that Clark and the rest of the eco-X crew put on an extremely well organized race with great schwag and cool logos (who doesn't love cool logos?!). I am definitely looking forward to running more out on these trails and running more eco-X events in the coming future.

And now that I've got my legs back, it's time to make up for that month of lost training!

Links:
Results
Photos

Catawba Run-Around 2009

2009-03-10T21:42:00.010-04:00

This past weekend there was an "unorganized" and "unofficial" ultra on the Appalachian Trail in southern Virginia, the Catawba Run-Around. (Organized events are not allowed on the AT, so technically this event doesn't happen. Shhhh.) My IT Band is still recovering from Holiday Lake so I went out to this un-event looking to get in some time-on-feet from hiking and check out the stunning views that I had been hearing so much about.

Lots of ultrarunners who happened to be at the same place at the same time

After dropping more than 9" of snow on us just a few days before, mother nature decided to cooperate and bless us with temperatures in the 70's, something that is extremely rare for early March. I had planned on hiking 13 miles, but with the amazing weather and an IT band that wasn't feeling all too bad, I opted to do some additional mileage and logged a total of 18 miles of hiking with some light running thrown in for good measure. Rebecca Byerly (of the Libyan Challenge 1st American Team) was taking it easy since she too was having some ITB issues, so I had good company for the day.

After the runners headed out, a group of us headed out to the Aide Station #1 and set up shop. After sitting around for a bit, Rebecca and I got antsy to go explore the sights so we decided to hike up to Dragon's Tooth. Talk about a good idea. Check out the view!

The view from Dragon's Tooth

On the way up to Dragon's Tooth we passed all of the runners as they made their way down to the aide station that we had just come from. (Check my Flickr page for all of my shots from the day.) We spent just enough time gazing off into the distance and taking pictures to make it back down as Keith and the rest of the crew were packing up and ready to move to Aide Station #2. This was great timing too, because as soon as we pulled into the next parking lot the front-runners were just arriving. Hands down the fastest aide station set-up I've ever done! Then again, it was only the second aide station I've ever set up...

Front-runners Mike Mason and Clark Zealand refuel at AS#2

After a few minutes of hanging around eating oreos and pringles, Rebecca and I realized that we had to get out onto the trail before our inner fat-kid ruined our intentions any further. We headed out, albeit slowly, and started to once more enjoy some gorgeous hiking on the AT.

Good times on top of Tinker Cliffs

Rebecca, in typical fashion, was only carrying a single water bottle for a 4 hour stretch out on the trail. Luckily there was some leftover snow on the ground that could be used for melting into a hydration source. Rebecca also realized another less practical use for the snow - snow angels!

Sophie caught up to us at McAfee's Knob

Tommy C. caught up on McAfee's too, but he opted for some water instead of posing for a pic

For the most part we hiked it, but when the legs were feeling good (read: dying to move due to recent inactivity) we ran the downhills and select flats. Hiking proved to be a wise decision because I only felt minimal pain throughout the entire day and that was in the final mile or 2. In total we got in 18 miles with 3 good climbs in just over 6 hours. I found a murky but cold pond close to the finish and sat in there for a bit since I knew an ice-bath would be out of the picture for the evening. Let's hope there wasn't any giardia in there!

The post-run activities once again proved to be a great time with good VHTRC friends. We all hung around the finish line consuming recovery beverages of the adult variety as runners trickled in. Somehow an AT through-hiker found his way to our gathering and he partied with us for a bit. Interesting.

Aaron, myself and Sophie enjoying the good life

We spent a lot of time in those chairs

Once night fell and all runners were in (and our stomachs started rumbling), we headed over to the Homeplace, an all-you-can-eat restaurant that is heaven to a through-hiker looking for a warm meal, or in our case ultrarunners looking to replenish depleted calories.

The Homeplace

We ate to our heart's content and had a great time heckling the wait staff (all in good fun, of course). What a great way to wrap up the day. With fantastic views and freakishly warm weather, it was a pleasant reminder that Spring is right around the corner. Let's hope my IT band heals up quickly and allows me to run the whole thing next year. Can't wait!

Trail Paparazzi Links:
Charlie's pics
Kirstin's pics
My pics
Sophie's pics

MMT Training Run #2

2009-03-01T20:47:00.006-05:00

The second MMT Training Run of the year was this past weekend, running south from Camp Roosevelt thru Gap Creek and north up to Woodstock Tower. I have been having some IT band pain in my left knee for the past two weeks, a result of running too fast (if that's possible) at Holiday Lake. I had hoped it would be well enough to run all 25 miles of the training run, but unfortunately that wasn't the case and instead I dropped at mile 16. I like to think that my decision to drop was one based off of sound reasoning for my health rather than the fact that there was beer at the mile 16 aide station. I'll let you be the judge on that one.

The gang

The run itself, when not in pain, was pleasant. I ran with Phil Rosenstein and got to hear stories and strategies from Badwater and his recent trans-American run. Shortly after leaving the first aide station at mile 8 my IT band pain came back and I was having a hard time lifting my left foot over/around the jagged MMT rocks (see below). I knew that backtracking to the aide station would be useless since they would have moved on to aide station #2 by that time (gotta love roaming aide stations), so I just kept moving forward and eventually made it to the next spot to drop, mile 16.

MMT Trails

Most of the day's fun was had after I stopped running and got to hang with Tom Corris and the rest of the drinkers... err... aide station volunteers. Tom found a deer hoof and it was immediately put to good use.

High five for the aide station crew!

Captain Hoof

And then of course the fun continued once we made it back to the finish line. Rick Kerby one-upped Tom's deer hoof and found a mounted toilet seat in the woods. Clearly it needed to be brought back to the parking lot social gathering.

Duty calls

Unsure of how to react to Rick on the crapper

All in all, another good day with the VHTRC crew. Sad that I didn't get to run the whole thing, but I went to physical therapy today and my therapist thinks my IT band will be good to go in no time. Until then I'll just try to enjoy my forced downtime.

Link to Kirstin's pics from the day.
Link to Q's pics from the day.

Libyan Challenge

2009-02-22T21:55:00.006-05:00

My good friend and fellow VHTRC'er Rebecca Byerly is competing in the Libyan Challenge Master Trek starting this Tuesday. Basically it's a 125-mile foot race through the Libyan portion of the Sahara, self-supported and self-navigated via GPS. This race is NO JOKE. What makes it more significant of an accomplishment is that this is the first American team to compete in the event since relations between the US and Libya have improved drastically in the last year. Check out the press release below, and be sure to track the runners online starting Tuesday.

On February 24th the first team of Americans will compete in the Libyan Challenge Master Trek, a 125-mile foot race along an ancient camel caravan in northern Africa's Sahara desert. Participants will be self-supported, carrying all of their food and medical supplies with only a GPS to navigate between waypoints where they can refill their water supplies. Runners have 75 hours to complete the grueling event. Along the way they will pass prehistoric rock paintings depicting Libya when it was a lush jungle teeming with wild life. Now one of the driest places on earth, the Tuareg's desert-dwelling people are one of the only inhabitants of the desert. Known for their hospitality, it is not uncommon for runners to be invited for a cup of tea beside a Tuareg campfire on an all night desert hike. Clambering over volcanic rock and towering rock formations, the American Team will not only be tested to their physical and mental limits, but they will also have the opportunity to be ambassadors to their country during a time when relations are being built between the US and Libya.

American runners include Bob Lashua 45, Howard Cohen 50, Isabella De La Houssaye 45, JB Benna 29, and Rebecca Byerly 25. Howard Cohen will compete as an individual while Bob, Isabella, and Rebecca will compete as a team. Filmmaker JB Benna and journalist Rebecca Byerly will video the race and cover the story for National Geographic, Al Jazeera, and other media outlets.

"Last September a Libyan friend told me about the race and put me in touch with the Libyan consul here in Washington, D.C.," Rebecca recalls. "Not only did the consul assure me that he could get visas for the team but we also began training for the race together. I thought this was a unique opportunity to learn about Libya while engaging in an extreme sport. Though I had no idea how everything was going to come together, I was determined to have an American team in this year's event."

This it the fourth year the Libyan Challenge has been held but it is the first time Americans have had the opportunity to participate. After three decades of sanctions, the first American Ambassador was recently appointed to Libya and the country was taken off the terrorist watch list. Relations between Libya and the West had deteriorated in the 1970's as a result of Libya's leader Muammar Al-Qaddafi's confrontational foreign policies. In 1986 Libya was allegedly involved in a terrorist bombing in a discotheque in Berlin frequented by American military personnel. As a result the US imposed economic sanctions and retaliated militarily against targets in Libya. In 1988 Libya was also allegedly involved in the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, which killed 270 people. In 2003 relations improved dramatically after Libya fulfilled UNSCR requirements and publicly announced its intentions to give up its pursuit of weapons of mass destruction. Sanctions were lifted in 2004 and in 2006 an embassy was set up in Tripoli. In November of 2008 Libya settled its remaining financial debt to the families of Flight 103 and now the US and Libya are working together to bridge gaps and foster new relationships between the Libyan and American people and businesses.

"One of the most inspiring aspects of this race has been watching the mentality of the American team change," says Rebecca. "At first they were hesitant and worried about traveling to Libya, but through research and keeping an open mind their reservations about Libya have lightened." "The opportunity to break down fear and cultural barriers by approaching the country in a very humble way, on foot, outweighed any hesitations," JB says. Bob has similar sentiments, stating "I do not have any reservations about running in Libya, although if I were to listen to friends and family... maybe I should! I've traveled enough to feel comfortable wherever I find myself. I fully anticipate the Libyan people to be warm and welcoming."

Training for the race has been a challenge in its own right. Bob, a Massachusetts native, trained through one of the coldest winters on record. Howard and Rebecca battled injuries and Isabella, a mother of five, barely had time to get the mandatory gear required for the race. "Many of my training treks were done in sub freezing temperatures on roads that had been narrowed by snow and ice" recalls Bob. "It was not uncommon for my water and food to freeze during a training session." Rebecca was only able to begin training in mid January as she was coming off a knee injury and Howard took a bad fall on a training run and wound up in the emergency room. "This could have been a devastating neck injury and I was very worried as I sat in the emergency room waiting for the x-rays to come back," Howard said. "Thoughts of a permanent disability ran through my mind and how it would change my life. But in the end I was okay." Isabella had to juggle being a full time mom, working, and training for the run. One of the best team memories was when she took her 16-year-old son Cason to train with the team on a mountainous 27 mile trek.

"Some people wonder why we are doing this race," Rebecca said. "It definitely takes a special person to take on an event like this. But we take on these kinds of challenges because they offer an opportunity to not only grow as a person, but to make life long friends, and to take steps towards improved understanding between nations. When you are out in the desert it does not matter what country you are from, which God you worship, or how much money you have. We are all out there suffering together with one goal in mind - to cross the finish."

For near-real time coverage of the event please visit the official race web site here:
http://www.libyanchallenge.com/anglais1.html

Within this site you can follow the race live here:
http://www.libyanchallenge.com/live2009/map.html

For more information about the race please see the website below:
http://libyanchallenge.gravityh.com/

Youtube channel for the American Team (which will hopefully be updated during the event):
http://www.youtube.com/libchallenge

Me and some of the Libyan Challenge first American Team

New sponsor - Brooks Running!

2009-02-20T13:49:00.005-05:00

I'd like to give a big shout-out to my new apparel sponsor for 2009 - Brooks Running! On a whim I recently applied to the Brooks Inspire Daily (ID) Team since I know a few friends who are on it. I wasn't expecting to hear back since I'm still new to this whole "running thing", but lo-and-behold I was wrong and I am now a proud ID Team member!

Now this is no "Scott Jurek level" sponsorship... I'm definitely not that good! But I still get a pretty sweet discount on gear while representing a brand whose running shoes and apparel I have been wearing my entire (albeit short) ultrarunning career.

I have been wearing the Brooks Cascadia 3 trail running shoes (and the 2's before the 3's came out) since my very first trail run. I shopped around at different running stores trying on everything I could find. Having a wider foot that gets cramped easily, I found that Brooks' roomy Cascadias were a perfect match for my specific needs. The 3's were a significant improvement to the 2's, offering much better water drainage, lighter weight and enhanced breathability. Being the gear junkie that I am, I continue to try on new shoes at every chance I get, but still nothing compares to my trusty Cascadias and I don't see myself switching anytime soon, even for the brutal terrain of MMT. I haven't gotten my hands on the new Cascadia 4's yet, but don't you worry I'll have my hands (err... feet) on them soon.

Cascadia 4's. Don't they just look fast?

Aside from the shoes, two of my other apparel staples are the Infiniti shorts and the Vapor Dry 3D 1/2 Zip Jacket (which has unfortunately been discontinued).

Thanks again to Brooks for having faith in an up-and-coming newbie like myself and for making simple yet amazing trail running shoes!

Race Report: Holiday Lake 50k++

2009-02-16T09:52:00.017-05:00

Holiday Lake 50k++
February 14, 2009
Appomattox, VA

On Saturday I ran the Holiday Lake 50k++, the first of six ultras I will be running this year that comprise the Beast Series. The "++" after the 50k indicates that these miles (or kilometers in this case) aren't standard issue miles, but they are in fact Horton miles. Horton miles are special because even though David Horton is a Ph.D., he apparently does not know how to measure distance properly. This particular 50k measured out to be 32.3mi on my GPS, but previous versions of the course were known to run upwards of 34mi.

View Larger Map

Runners gathered at the 4-H Center the night before the race for a pasta dinner and typical Horton antics. In addition to being the location for the race's start, middle and finish, the 4-H Center features a full cafeteria, bunkhouses and hot showers - the perfect amenities for a race.

Horton giving the Friday night pre-race briefing

Saturday morning gave us an early race start, 6:30am, so it was necessary to don the headlamp if you wanted to avoid tripping on roots in the dark. Too bad I brought my cheap headlamp that had a nearly-dead battery. It was worthless. I think I would have been better off carrying a jar of lightning bugs.

Marc Griffin and myself at the start

T-minus 1 minute or thereabouts

After a group-singing of the national anthem, Horton yelled go and we made our way into the darkness. The first 0.6mi was on paved roads so I used this time to find and situate myself behind a runner who was running my pace and had a bright light that I could mooch off of. That plan seemed to work pretty well and as soon as the sun poked its beautiful head out I started picking off runners with my favorite phrase: "on your left". Temperatures started in the low 30s and slowly creeped into the 40s as the day progressed - perfect weather for fast running.

Lately I have been running plenty of 50k's but they have all been run at a slow and easy pace for MMT training. Today I was taking a different approach and giving it my all to assess my current fitness level. My previous 50k PR was a 5:18 set at Potomac Heritage in October (my first ultra) and I know I have gotten faster since then, so my goal was to shoot for sub-5. I focused on keeping my heart-rate at the appropriate levels and not worrying about my placement among other runners.

I wonder how fast I would have been had I not carried a camera and took pics?

Sunrise on the Holiday Lake course

The first lap (a tad more than 16 miles) was flat, fast and fairly uneventful. I ran straight through the first two aide stations, quickly filled my water bottle and grabbed a piece of banana and PBJ at the third and was on my way. At one point I came across Jeremy Ramsey, winner of last year's Hellgate 100k and member of the Inov-8 ultra team that was rolling deep at today's race. Passing him seemed out of place for a newbie like myself, but I just assumed he was having a bad day so I continued on my way and thought nothing of it. As I got closer to the turnaround, the front-runners started passing by and, although I didn't care about my placement, I started counting runners to keep my mind off the somewhat hard pace that I had been holding. One, two, three... eight, nine, ten, TURNAROUND. Seriously? Just 10 people ahead of me? I thought I was going to be counting to 30, not 10. I was in 11th place?!? Well then, looks like this race just got interesting.

At the turnaround Horton was yelling something at me but the only words I heard were "top 10". Hmmm, temptation to push the pace was calling, but I held back and stuck to my plan. At the next aide station I stopped to fill my bottle and again Horton reappeared, this time proclaiming "Bobby, you're in 11th place. You're the first loser! The next guy is 1.5 minutes ahead. Go get him!" I'm not one to disregard orders, especially those coming from the Race Director, so off I went up the hill, this time with a bit more pep in my step. Screw the original plan!

Running around the lake, on Valentine's Day. Holiday Lake - get it?

After about 2 miles I caught sight of the 10th place runner. I slowly picked up my pace so that I could eventually pass him in a comfortable pace without sprinting. The overtaking occurred just after the next aide station. He had slowed for a cup of water and I kept at full speed since I was carrying all I needed. I kept a strong pace to get some distance and get out of sight so he wouldn't be tempted to re-take 10th. I looked back periodically and the plan seemed to be working.

Image courtesy of Andrew Wilds Photography

During the last few miles, the strong pace and the flat course had me wishing for a hill so I would have an excuse to walk for a bit. Ingesting a GU packet every 45 minutes seemed to be working in terms of energy levels, but now my right hamstring was just barely starting to cramp. I had been taking an S-cap electrolyte pill every hour, but with this cramp I popped another and it seemed to help slightly. Then, with a mile to go I came upon a small hill came and I relished in the opportunity to walk. It felt marvelous...

...until I looked back and saw someone just 100 feet behind me! F*CK! I suddenly got that adrenaline kick that is all-too-familiar from my skydiving. This sprint up the remainder of the hill was a good start, but with the high of an adrenaline kick comes the low as it fades. I felt the energy drain out of me as the runner (Graham Peck) slowly approached and overtook me. I had just enough energy to muster out a "damn", but with that Graham gave a wave of the hand and said "come on!" - he wanted a fight!

We busted out our 6-minute-mile paces (no joke) and gave 100% effort to the finish. He pulled ahead by about 100 feet, and as we turned onto the pavement it was a half-mile downhill battle to the finish. I leaned into the hill, and with what seemed like no fuel left in the system, I was running off of pure grit and determination in hopes of earning a top-10 finish. It was the longest half-mile I have ever run. Thoughts of tripping and the resulting carnage crossed my mind. When I thought he had won it, we approached a steeper section and I once again leaned into it, taking full advantage of gravity and the extra weight that I carry around compared to other ultrarunners. Graham looked back as I started to close the gap. With maybe 100 yards to go and 75 feet between us, reality sunk in and my 11th place finish was finalized. I crossed the finish in 4:10:50.

Finish line shot courtesy of Andrew Wilds Photography

Holiday Lake 2009 results

The feeling of defeat in the fight for top-10 hurt for maybe two seconds until I realized I had shaved an hour and eight minutes off my previous 50k PR! It was the hardest effort I had ever given in a run, probably by ten-fold, but damn did it feel good to completely blow away my sub-5 goal!

Me and Horton - the man, the myth, the runner

Justine Morrison - fellow VHTRC'er and overall female winner

Inov-8 Team members: JB, Kevin Lane, Clark Zealand and Jeremy Ramsey

Q and me sporting the lovely Valentine-themed finisher's shirts

Final standings:
4:10:50
11th of 257 starters and 248 finishers (final results)
7th in age group (age group results)

One down in the Beast Series and five to go. We'll see if my beginner's luck holds up...

Training Run Report: TWOT '09

2009-02-11T09:58:00.014-05:00

It's official. I am no longer a TWOT virgin! Now now, get your minds out of the gutter you pervs. I'm referring to my first time running The Wild Oak Trail, aka TWOT. The event is technically a 100 mile run (4 x 25mi loops), but few people attempt more than 1 or 2 loops due to the beating that you ensue from the killer climbs. Needless to say, Keith Knipling holds the course record for 4 TWOT loops with the ridiculously fast time of 27:11:10. Being a TWOT virgin and with my Holiday Lake race next weekend, I opted to run just one loop. Smart move I must say. Below is the course from my GPS.

View Larger Map
I carpooled down with some friends who are preparing for the upcoming Libyan Challenge. It was forecasted to be 60 but at 7:30am the temps hovered around freezing, so we chose to stay in the car until go-time.

The Libyan Challenge American Team and myself before the start. Why am I the only one in shorts?

2009 TWOT Runners at the start

We headed out at 8am in the clockwise direction. Within a mile it warmed up significantly and I shred my headband, gloves and arm warmers. *Sigh of relief* For the first few miles I was running with Sophie Speidel, Marc Griffin and Marlin Yoder, all of whom had run these trails before, so as seems to be the norm with my training runs I was getting a full on guided tour of the TWOT loop. Eventually this became known as Sophie's Tour de TWOT. The TdT was extremely helpful because part of the trail is run on the Grindstone 100 course that I'll be running in October. It's never too early to start training, right?

A group on our way up Hankey Mountain

Top of Hankey? Should've payed better attention to Sophie's tour.

I was relieved when we got to the top of Hankey Mountain. It was the first of 3 major climbs that we were to encounter throughout the day, but unfortunately it was the easiest (see elevation profile below).

8500ft of elevation gain. Sweetness!

As we descended from Hankey we came to the first aide station of the day (at Camp Todd I believe). This was a total surprise to me since I thought the entire event was unsupported. Thanks go out to Dennis Herr for not only organizing the run and being a definite ultra-legend, but also for the unexpected aide that hit the spot. The sandwiches, gingersnaps and gatorade were a welcome to treat to say the least.

We left the aide station and began our ascent of climb #2, Big Bald Knob. This climb sucked. Energy management with ultrarunning tells you to walk the hills, but I don't think it would be physically possible to move any faster than a slow walk up at this point. Just prior to the top we leveled off for a bit and I made an ode to TWOT in the snow.

Snowy TWOT

We also ran into Sean Andrish since he was running in the reverse direction. Even though we ran into him after our halfway point, he still finished first for the day with a time of 5:57, so he must have had a late start (either that or a teleportation device).

Sean and Marc

The descent from Big Bald was fun and fast. I took a video around this part to show how beautiful the trail was with fresh white powder on the ground. There's something about running on snow while wearing shorts and a tshirt that makes me all warm inside. There's also something about quickly melting snow that makes my shoes all wet inside, but that wasn't really much of a problem since I had on my Drymax socks and those suckers go from drenched to dry in all of maybe a quarter mile. Seriously, try a pair if you haven't already. I love those socks!

Dennis showed up with aide station #2 (of 2) right as we approached the bottom of Big Bald, and just in time to prep us for a stream crossing followed by the ascent up Little Bald.

Sophie trying desperately to not get her feet wet. She obviously hasn't learned of Drymax socks yet!

"Are we *gasp* at the *gasp* top yet?" Yes.

Reaching the top of Little Bald was a fantastic feeling. I wouldn't say I was totally beat up at this point since I had been running at a fairly conservative pace all day, but it was nice to know that the climbs were over and it was smooth downhill running for the remaining 6 or so miles. We cruised on down from there and finished our loop in 6:41. My Garmin read 27.23 miles, so it was slightly longer than the 26 I was told, but I'll gladly take extra mileage any day of the week! (watch these words come back and haunt me)

Marc, Sophie and myself after some great TWOT action

An ice cold river makes a great ice bath substitute!

Finish line festivities

These crazy fools went on to do 2 loops! Mitchell's pants provided enough light for them to run into the wee hours of the night.

Kirstin, Jill and Debbie - the Sassy Lollygagging Ultra Tarts (get it?)

Me and the JMU mountain-bikers who opted to do the loop by foot for a change

At this point you might be asking yourself "So what happened to your Libyan Challenge crew?" Well, they spent the day running/hiking the TWOT course while wearing fully loaded packs to simulate what it will be like running in Libya. Needless to say, killer TWOT climbs + heavy packs = slow pace. I hung out at the finish after everyone had left, knowing that they'd be showing up at some point. The sun started to go down and I started to worry since I knew they didn't bring headlamps or flashlights. Two runners, Barb and Vicki, had come in from their loop not too long before dark. They took a short break to put on some warmer clothes, gathered up all the headlamps and flashlights they could find and headed back out to find the Libyan Challenge crew and bring them light so they could safely navigate their way back. Barb and Vicki were no more than 100 feet onto the trail when I heard Rebecca calling from the distance. Safe and sound! Whew, what a relief! Isabella and Cason (her son) had a train to catch back in DC, 3 hours away, so we jumped in the car and booked it back. I put on my teleportation skills and got them back with 10 minutes to spare.

Libyan Challenge crew throwing their stuff into the car for the pleasantly-smelling ride home

All in all, my first TWOT was a huge success. I took it easy and still finished in a respectable time (although Tommy C gave me a hard time since he's an old man and he finished before me). Thanks again to Dennis Herr for organizing the event and bringing aide when it was least expected! Special thanks also go out to Vince for having hot soup at the finish. That hit the spot.

Honk honk!

TWOT '09 Links:
Results
All of my pics
Sophie's pics
Sophie's blog
Charlie's pics

Quick weekend update Feb. 7-8

2009-02-09T10:40:00.005-05:00

Popping in real quick to give a very brief recap of the weekend. Got in 27 miles at TWOT on Saturday in 6:41, then did 5 skydives out at West Point on Sunday. My camera with my TWOT pics is at a friend's house, so I'll post those shots and a race report on Wednesday. In the meantime, here's a quick video from Sunday's jumps. I shot the footage from my helmet-cam and Ahmed edited it all together. For not having jumped in 4 months, it's nice to see we didn't suck too bad!