Steven Tursi

cranberries without sugar experiments, part 1

2009-11-11T10:00:00.001-05:00

Walking through the vast halls of my local Costco the other day, I came across this 3-lb bag of fresh (not frozen) cranberries.

Intrigued (and without much thought), I grabbed it. I knew that cranberries are one of the healthiest foods around, and the opportunity to get them fresh only lasts a couple of months per year.

Now I have never cooked with cranberries before, but I knew from years of thanksgiving dinner experience that these little morsels of health were usually served in a super-sweet sugar glaze that makes them.. less healthy. A few internet searches confirmed this, recipes typically added a whole cup (8-oz) of sugar to a 12-oz package of berries. Wow!! And sugar-free recipes were usually sweetened anyway, just with sugar substitutes.

So, living by the rule to "approach love and cooking with reckless abandon," I did the unthinkable: cooked cranberries completely without sugar. I boiled them for ten minutes until most of them "popped", then let them cool for an hour. Then I force-fed the result to my wife and kid.

The water had turned into a thick glaze, but without sugar.

Steve, unusually tolerant of unsweetened bitter flavors (I eat 100% chocolate.. and prefer it to milk chocolate): "This is ok. I can learn to like this."
Alex, "It's not as bad as I thought it would be. Which isn't saying much."
Joe (5-years old), "Um, it's ok." do you want more? "No."

Verdict: too tart for most tongues.

I decided to add a little sweetener to what was left. The last time we made pancakes, we used half of one of those little cracker barrel bottles. The remaining half was sitting in our cabinets, waiting to become a science experiment.

It seemed to me, and I was hoping, that when it came to sweeteners, "a little bit goes a long way." So I added that little bit of maple syrup to that big bowl of cranberries, and repeated the force-fed taste-test.

Steve: "Cranberry taste and tart still present, but the overall flavor much more pleasant."
Alex: "Much better. I like it."
Joe: "Um, it's pretty good." Do you want more? "No."

Verdict: not inedible. would serve with dinner.

I have 3lbs of this stuff, so I will experiment more and report back here.

New entries for Steve's blog are published every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 10:00am NY time and can be seen at http://www.tursi.com

Ultra Listserv Gold Part II: Does running 100 miles ever get easy?

2009-11-09T10:00:00.001-05:00

The wisdom of Lazarus:

Sat, Nov 7, 2009 at 12:31 AM

i dont know that it becomes easier, so much as you simply adapt.
as you extend your boundaries, distances get easier.
50 miles makes 50 k easier.
100 k makes 50 miles easier.
100 miles makes 100 k easier.
and the first time you are excited to have "only" 100 miles left,
nothing is the same any more.

i look back on my earlier ultras,
and some of the reasons i felt i had to slow down... or drop out,
and i am amazed that i gave in so easily
when i later discovered how much more i could survive.

you learn to take the pain
wall it off in a corner of your mind
and just keep moving.
it doesnt matter if you are having a good day, or a bad day.
the only difference in the two is your time.
you dont think about quitting
you dont think about finishing.
you just keep moving.
because that is what you do.
that is who you are.

it is a useful skill,
knowing how to simply endure.
it is the ultimate reward for running ultras.

i think some people come by it naturally.
but everyone can acquire the skill.
if i can, anyone can.
no one is less inherently tough than me.

laz

New entries for Steve's blog are published every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 10:00am NY time and can be seen at http://www.tursi.com

2009 is a wrap

2009-11-06T10:00:00.000-05:00

I seem to have caught a cold. It's been with me all week, and hasn't gotten any better. I waited until Thursday, but I reluctantly withdrew from this weekend's 50-mile race.

Which means - 2009 is probably finished, at least with marathons and ultras. The highlight of the year was the PR at Caumsett 50K, and the finish at Grand Teton 50M - I persevered in the latter, and had a really good solid run in the former.

As soon as I get over this cold, I want to dedicate a few months to running faster speeds and shorter distances, because I really feel like that kind of training makes me better at longer distances. Marathons and Ultras are "easy" after a few really hard efforts at sub-half-marathon, and all of my best performances have been in periods of short training runs.

Also, short intense training seems to be the best fat-loss strategy for me, as the "long slow burn" only seems to increase my appetite in compensation.

But for those of you who crave ultra content on this blog, don't fret! With the Umstead 100-mile a mere 4½ months away (crap!!), I'll be certain to be writing plenty about going long as that approaches!

New entries for Steve's blog are published every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 10:00am NY time and can be seen at http://www.tursi.com

Meb is not an american?

2009-11-04T10:00:00.001-05:00

This is just an educated guess, but I'll bet that most the people who complain that Meb Keflezighi is not really american, have something in common - they're the ones who've never heard of Meb Keflegzighi before he won the NYC marathon. Letsrun.com cretins notwithstanding, they're not the running fans. Only running fans bothered to watch the 2008 olympic trials that were not televised, but were streamed over the internet. I don't think many fans who watched him struggle with the stress fracture he had and ultimately drop there said, "well, he's not american anyway."

This is what I'm talking about: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/03/sports/03runner.html

These people don't deserve to have their opinions printed any more than I'd deserve to have my opinions on Cricket printed. I don't know anything about Cricket. Why should my opinion matter?

Fortunately, at least the talking-head haters are getting what they deserve: http://www.businessinsider.com/cnbc-on-nyc-marathon-winner-of-course-he-is-an-american-2009-11.

New entries for Steve's blog are published every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 10:00am NY time and can be seen at http://www.tursi.com

What I learned at the NYC marathon

2009-11-02T10:00:00.001-05:00

1. I'm fat
2. I'm hopelessly inconsistent in my training
3. The best way to make your legs feel like they ran a 50-miler without actually running a 50-miler is to run an ashpalt/concrete marathon in trail running shoes.

My official time was 6:10:53, a half-hour off my PR.

great race, btw. crowds were amazing, especially in brooklyn.

full race report later.

New entries for Steve's blog are published every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 10:00am EST and can be seen at http://www.tursi.com

Race Preview: NYC Marathon

2009-10-30T10:00:00.001-04:00

I'm finally in. I applied for the lottery 4 times, was turned down all 4 times. This may be the reason I hate race entry lotteries - I just have no luck with them. This year, I got in not in the lottery, but on a "three consecutive year loser" rule. At any rate, I finally get to run it.

There is an aura around NYC marathon unlike anything else. Oddly, most of my non-running friends acknowledge it as an enormous accomplishment, with greater reverence than any of my ultras, even the 50 milers. I find this fascinating.

Because of this reverence that people have, I won't bother with a race description, because everyone already knows all about it. It's the NYC marathon.

My plan for the last couple of months was to have a great time with it. My buddy Fraioli, also a fat Italian guy, and I were going to take the opportunity to have a slice of pizza in each boro during the race. How cool would that be? However, as of this writing, it seems that he's going to ditch the race for lack of training, meaning I might have no excuse to avoid actually having to run this thing..

Which, frankly, wouldn't be so bad. A 5:45 finish would allow me to experience the crowds that NYC is so famous for - crowds that would have dissipated for the 6:45 finish I probably would have had with Fraioli.

Either way, I really am looking forward to the whole NYC marathon experience. Come back next week for a report.

New entries for Steve's blog are published every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 10:00am NY time and can be seen at http://www.tursi.com

People who think I shouldn't run marathons exist, get NYTimes ink

2009-10-28T10:00:00.003-04:00

(This is the 400th post I've written to this blog)

Years ago, I finally internalized the futility of arguing politics with people, especially on the internet, and thus almost never do it even though I retain very very strong opinions. I mostly keep them to myself and reluctantly tolerate others' political rants. Avoiding these arguments has helped me keep friends that I would have otherwise lost. It's a nice perk.

Having learned that lesson, in the past couple of years I have tried, and sometimes failed, to avoid online debates in particular. I'm getting better at it, I swear. But every now and then something comes up and I just can't resist writing about it, or at least spending some otherwise valuable productive time reading people's comments and getting emotionally vested in it.

So when this article in NYTimes came through my feed reader, I knew that if I wasn't careful, the ensuing conversation would descend into a rapidly-downward-spiraling argument that would accomplish nothing. The reason is, this article was talking squarely at me. The Times was printing opinions of people who'd prefer I NOT run marathons.

Stated simply, I have no patience for these people.

I have to leave it at that and resist writing a three-page angry rant here. It would just be a waste of time, as nobody would read it anyway. Instead, I am going to go right into light-hearted mode, and quote some of the funnier opinions of folks who happen to agree with me.

JMF: ...you know you're closer to being Joe Six-Pack that you ever will be to being Paul Tergat. You think Paul is cramped behind a pc someplace ranting about how he's a 'real runner' who can't stand that some people jog the whole way and can't finish in less than 3 hours? But for you 'Real Joggers" - in your little gel pak addled minds, walking it in six hours constitutes being a wooly mouse, and jogging it in 3.5 hours equates to racing through bomb craters and hailstones...

SG: If someone runs a 3:00 marathon, they are still 55 minutes (8 miles back) off the world record. Does that make them a slowpoke fatty?

Shawn D: I'm all for the back-of-the-packers. I say take 10-hours! That way my slow ass times appear all that more impressive :)

Mark: I'm going to have to stop telling people I "run" 100 milers.

legallyillegal: so when some fatf**k does something other than sit at home and have donuts, you're there telling them to go home and have another donut?

B: Shhh!!! If you eliminate the 'casual' or 'walker' marathoner, then you won't get an ego boost comparing yourself to pros & elites that ran past you like you were standing still. How will you feel coming in DFL at 3:10?

There were no shortage of less funny but very insightful comments, either.

Laz: an inherent desire to belittle less talented athletes is a sure sign of an athlete who does not respect his own performance. as a coach, you find that every athlete has their own particular needs. the athlete who belittles others needs to be taught the worth and value of his own performance. the athlete who believes in himself treats other athletes with respect.

Spurgeon Hendrick: Snobby runners can all bite me. Fast runners who complain about slow runners need a reality check. The lady at the end of the article who tells 6+ hour runners, "that’s fine, but you didn’t really run it" ... who does she think SHE is? She's snooty just because her 4:05 time beat somebody by two hours? The elites beat HER by two hours ... Does that mean she "didn't really run it?" And to say, "a six-hour marathoner is simply participating in the event, not racing in it" ... is just plain stupid. Is a four hour marathoner "racing it?" Uh ... no. Is a three hour? Hmmm ... let me think ... the elites will beat him by an hour ... so .. uh .. no. Although I would argue that ALL of the runners are racing against themselves, either against their old PR or against that little voice in their head telling them to quit.Do these elitist numb nuts realize that for some people running the race in 6+ hours requires more effort, more hard work, and more determination than it does for them to run a four hour marathon?

Ed Parrot: But exactly what is the point of saying that someone didn't really run it? I mean, is someone suffering from an insecurity complex or what?

Byron Lane: I've won races that I can't even remember doing, but I can tell you stories from each one of these days on the road with my dad, and so can he. It's my favorite race each year, and probably his, too. Other people can call it a run, a non-race, a fast shuffle--I don't care.

MN: I ran along with a guy who was well into his 80's and had finished every single TC marathon since it began. Started running in his late 50's to keep him off the bottle and from smoking. Hell I'm prayin I can pull that off in 40+ years too and I don't want some douche whose a "real runner" telling me that if I'm not sub 4 hours I shouldn't be there.

New entries for Steve's blog are published every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 10:00am NY time and can be seen at http://www.tursi.com

Fat people who exercise healthier than skinny people who don't

2009-10-27T10:00:00.001-04:00

(I just realized I made a typo in the publish date, so this is Monday's post on a Tuesday. Sorry.)

via Amby Burfoot's Peak Performance blog

Here's Why Exercise Counts, Even If You're Fat
More and more studies are finding evidence for the "fat by fit" finding, first uncovered by Steve Blair and his many studies at the Cooper Clinic. In case you've forgotten, this line of research has found that overweight individuals who exercise regularly have roughly the same health profile as lower weight people who exercise, and a better profile than thin people who don't exercise. In other words, exercise is the uber-health-enhancer. This review looks at the "how's" of fat-but-fit, and finds that the exercise has significant effects on inflammation, insulin sensitivity, visceral ("belly") fat, and cholesterol even if you don't lose weight. Powerful stuff. Source: Current Opinion In Lipidology.

Here's the study

having said that, i'd still rather be a thin runner than a fat runner.

New entries for Steve's blog are published every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 10:00am NY time and can be seen at http://www.tursi.com

Ultrarunning Listserv Gold - How to run 50 miles in 12 hours

2009-10-23T10:00:00.002-04:00

A bit of wisdom from Joe Judd of Colorado, who writes,

You are more than ready. I think that 50 miles in 12 hours is very
attainable, especially if it is a flat course.

1) Focus on keeping moving for the whole 12 hours.
2) A run/walk startegy works well for most people. Something like run for 5 minutes, then walk for one minute. I just run at a comfortable pace for as long as I can, then walk when I feel I need to have a break. Getting exhausted is hard to come back from.
3) Don't stop for too long. Keep aid stops to a maximum of around 5 minutes, maybe 10 minutes around dinner time. Remember, if you stop for 5 minutes every hour, you've lost a total of an hour of the race.
4) Most of what you need to overcome is in your head. It's not terribly hard to run a pace of 14:30 per mile. Doing it for 12 hours is another issue.
5) Stay in the moment. It is not a good idea to think of how much longer you have to run. Focus on how you're doing at THAT moment. The hours and miles will take care of themselves. Relentless forward motion!
6) It will get bad. But, then it will get better. It's never a consistent downhill spiral. No matter how bad you feel, you WILL bounce back.

BTW, pretty much all of these things I have learned from the ultra list. Of course, I've had to wade through some bad jokes.

The signal-to-noise ratio on the listserv is pretty darn low, but when something great does come through, it really makes it worth reading.

New entries for Steve's blog are published every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 10:00am NY time and can be seen at http://www.tursi.com

knee update and winter race plans

2009-10-21T10:00:00.006-04:00

The good news is that I think my knee will be ok for the NYC marathon, which is a week from Sunday, and then for Stone Cat 50M a week from that. The bad news is I'm not 100% sure.

* I haven't tried running on it yet
* I have not felt pain by walking on it since Monday night, including stairs
* I still feel pain when I touch it
* It feels "fragile" or "glassy", if that makes sense.

I have no idea what would have happened had I attempted to continue running on it at the 50K. My gut tells me the odds are 50/50 that it would have been fine or I would have made it worse. I would have been pulled from that race anyway, so it doesn't really matter.

After Stone Cat, the only thing on my calendar before Umstead is a 50K fatass in the new year. I am not sure what I'll do with the downtime. Tony and I are working on something fun for mid-november to early december but that's not set in stone. If I can get a killer airfare deal, I might head to las vegas for the marathon there to see some friends - that's also early december. I promised Rizzo that I'd go do Rocky Raccoon 100 if he'd man up and do the 50, but you should hear him cry on the phone. "I can't do that!"

"So certain are you. Always with you it cannot be done. Hear you nothing that I say?"

Those three things notwithstanding, I pretty much have nothing going on for this winter - and I'm kind of happy about that, because that frees me up to spend lots of quality time with Joe on the ski slopes, and focusing on dropping some weight for umstead..

New entries for Steve's blog are published every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 10:00am NY time and can be seen at http://www.tursi.com

Race Report: Mountain Madness 50K - DNF

2009-10-19T10:00:00.004-04:00

I'll keep this one short:

* Slept in ('til 7:30)
* 10 minute drive from home to the starting line.
* Cold but not rainy
* Got under way at 9am
* ran with my VT50K buddy Frank for a short distance
* Was going slow on the hilly technical terrain but feeling good & comfortable
* Nice view at mile 5
* Frank passed me at mile 7.9 (or so)
* Ran off the course at mile 8. Spent 15 minutes finding my way back.
* Found the course where I left it, shocked at how I ran off (it was clearly marked)

(here's where it gets important)

* Mile 10: tripped on a root. Rock meets kneecap.
* Steve curled in fetal position for 60 seconds, got up and started walking
* Pain went away after 2 minutes. started jogging again.
* Pain came back after 5 minutes. started walking. Pain didn't go away
* Hit a short asphalt section. continued walking. Pain didn't go away.
* Sat on rock and rubbed that groove at the inside edge of the kneecap. Pain got worse.
* Look at watch. I was on pace to miss the cutoff 10 miles down the road, and even if I didn't, going 20 more miles on that knee didn't seem prudent.
* Called my wife to come pick me up. Started walking to the starting line.
* Dropped.

On the drive out, I came across Frank and two other guys walking back towards the starting line. They were told they ought to turn around, they had little chance of making the next cutoff. Because he passed me right before I got lost, I knew he was at least 15 minutes ahead of me - and healthy - yet he was turned around. Reading the race results, I see the winner took 5:20, and there were 69 finishers, 1 DQ and 32 DNFs, not including DNSs. That's really high for a 50K. It's a tough course.

Maybe next year. It's a great race. I liked it.

* Rested and iced it all afternoon on saturday.
* Sunday: pain on stairs, going both up and down. Rested it all afternoon after church. Iced it at night.

BTW - I overheard a lot of people complain about getting lost. I know I did, but it's my own fault for not paying attention. I saw another guy run right off the trail (he was too far away from me for me to catch him or for him to hear me). He missed a VERY clearly marked turn. I don't know everyone's situation, but it seems to me that the RD did as good a job marking the course as can be expected - it's just, in that area, it's easy to take a wrong turn..

New entries for Steve's blog are published every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 10:00am NY time and can be seen at http://www.tursi.com

Race Preview: Mountain Madness 50K

2009-10-16T10:00:00.002-04:00

Let me tell you something - the opportunity for a mid-October 50K through the New Jersey Highlands - is not something to miss. And when that 50K's starting line is less than 10 minutes from home and on the trails I run most often, well, I'd better have a very good reason to miss it.

But I don't have a good reason, so tomorrow morning I'll be toeing the starting line of the Mountain Madness 50K in Ringwood, NJ. And like I said, I'm really excited about this one. I love running on these trails. They're the perfect amount of rocky & technical as single-track can get. Runnable but challenging. And, from the looks of the course, they're taking full advantage of the hilly topography that this area has to offer.

The only challenging factor about this race for a fat slowpoke like me is that, because of the topography, the 8.5 hour time limit might be a bit tough. I'm hoping my rather extensive experience running in this area will make up for that. Weather looks fun, too. It snowed here on Thursday (Oct 15th!) and the mercury hit 32 on my drive home from work. Saturday doesn't look like it'll be quite that cold but the weather isn't going to be bright and sunny either. No matter, as long as it's not muddy like Vermont, I think I'll be happy to be out there.

I don't think live results will be available online, but if you're in the area you might want to come out and watch a little of the race! And, I believe there's still time to register for the 50K or 7.77 mile option if anyone feels up for it! Hope to see you there!

New entries for Steve's blog are published every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 10:00am NY time and can be seen at http://www.tursi.com

Extreme Runner of the Week

2009-10-14T10:00:00.002-04:00

An internet message board about running that I frequent has a weekly feature called "extreme runner of the week", a takeoff on their "extreme running" sub-forum - intended for ultra and trail runners. A few weeks ago it was my turn to fill out the EROTW survey, and I'm republishing most of it here for posterity.

Where ya from ?
Flushing, NY. Go Mets!

Where are you now ?
Suffern, NY. They call it that for a reason.

What's Your Sign ?
Gemini

Do you have a nickname ?
Pizza!

Whaddaya do for a livin' ?
Software Developer

How long you been runnin' ?
Off and on since 1997

Average mileage per week ?
25

Trail to Road Ratio ?
3:1 in the summertime.. although a significant number of miles comes from the treadmill, as I like to go to the gym during my lunch hour.

How many toe nails ya still got ?? How many toes ?
right now, 8 toenails on 10 toes

Races per year ?
Try to average one marathon or ultra per month. I think I'll have 14 or 15 in 2009, depending on what happens in November or December. This doesn't count races shorter than a marathon.. I think I've had 3 or 4 races in the 5K-25K range so far this year. Will probably add a few more before the year is out.

First Ultra
Lake Waramaug 50K 2008. Finished in 7:43.

Next Ultra
(Updated) Mountain Madness 50K this weekend - but everything is building up to Umstead next march.

Most Notable Performance
Caumsett 50K this past march. Intending to go out slow and easy and just have a good time, I ended up running a 6:47 PR, and a marathon PR on the way to it.

Just how slow are you, anyway ?
I've never finished 50 miles before dark. It once took me 11 hours to finish a 32-mile race. Some people want more than anything to qualify for boston. I hope one day to break 5 hours.. I'm 33 (:

Ultimate Running Goal
To hang with friends in the middle of the pack during an ultra. Back-of-the pack is too spread out for hanging..

Got a dream event ??
Hardrock / UTMB

What is the most EXTREME event or training run you've ever done ?
I entered Rocky Raccoon in 2009 and didn't finish.
The most extreme race I've finished, therefore, would be Grand Teton 50 - 10'000 feet of climbing, finished it after midnight.

Do You XT ?
No.

Do you have a running idol or inspiration ?
I'm a fan of Ryan Hall and Anton Krupicka, but would hardly call them idols or inspiring.

I do find disabled runners, fat runners, old runners, and generally slow runners inspiring - and I wouldn't except the fact that I hear so often people who could be awesome runners making excuses - telling me that they can't run because their knees hurt, or because of some injury in their past, or because they're too old, or something else. No disrespect intended, but while they say that, I think of the amputees who finish badwater.

Running strengths and weaknesses ?
Strengths: Um, I smile a lot during races?
Weaknesses: Everything. I'm built to be a lineman. If I lose enough weight I'd be built to be a linebacker. I'm slow, my form must be pathetic, and I can hardly talk when I'm running at even an easy pace.

FAVORITE STUFF

A favorite frequent running route
The reason for the frequency of running routes I go to most often is more because of their proximity rather than enjoyment. Having said that, it's a real treat to head up to Mohonk and run there, or to run with Tony at Rockies (where allowed, anyway), or to do some sort of cross-country route through harriman State Park or Ramapo Reservation. But the logistics make that kind of run tough..

A favorite running event & why
Tetons. Great atmosphere, great people, just a really enjoyable event.

An out-of-town run that you'd like to do again ? why ?
Tetons

Somewhere you've never run but would like to ...
Washington and Oregon.

What does your favorite running shirt say ?? Can we see a picture of You in it ??
Sorry, all my running shirts are either race shirts or solid colors. My favorite t-shirt says "No, I won't fix your computer." It's cotton, I wouldn't run it it.

What's yer favorite running food
Before - Bagel with lox and cream cheese
During - Depends on my mood. Fresh fruit can be awesome. Other times, it's horrible and I want turkey.
After - Greasy Almost-Raw cheddar-burger with lots of bacon & extra cheese!! I want to run a race near Chandler, AZ (javelina?) just so I can have an excuse to eat one of these 8000-calorie babies:

Do you have a favorite saying, quotation or mantra ?
"Enjoy the weather, it's the only weather you've got." (Joe Bastardi)

If you run with music, what are some of you fave running songs ?
I rarely run with music. If I do, it's short high-intensity work and I find music helps - lately this has been a few moby songs. I have an hour-long playlist that I work my way through.
Having said that, I listen to a lot of podcasts Running is my TV time, because I don't watch too much of it. Podcasts are TV for me.. on topics ranging from technology to reformed theology. My favorites are This American Life, Stack Overflow, Mark Driscoll, James White, The Java Posse, Endurance Planaet, TWiT, DrunkAndRetired, Hardcore History, and Common Sense with Dan Carlin.

BEER ! !

Which’s yer favorite ?
Changes frequently. This month I'm partial to Blue Moon. I guess I'm always happy with a nice belgian ale though..

What is the most amout you’ve had
Pre ? Never. I've gotta work on that.
During ?? One can, twice - once at the philadelphia marathon, and once at chicago.

After ? 3 or 4, I guess. I've never gotten drunk after a race..

. . . running that is--

SOME MORE THINGS WE WANT TO KNOW ABOUT YOU

What is the greatest challenge you face in your running now and/or the biggest obstacle you have overcome in the past ?
I used to weigh 400 lbs. That has a rather detrimental effect on your running. Try it some time to see what I mean.
This morning I weighed 286lbs. I don't have a "magic number" where I'll feel like I'm at a weight I'll be happy with, but it's at least another 50lbs away, probably 75.

Have any Trail & Ultra Running fears ?
Not really. Nighttime running used to freak me out, but once I did it a couple of times I was ok with it.

How do you handle the dreaded “DNF” ?
I'm at a point where if I DNF, there's a really good reason for it. The one time I did DNF and later realize I could have finished had I kept moving, I went back the next year and finished the sucker. That was Grand Teton on labor day.

Trail & Ultra training takes up a lot of time. How do you manage to ...
It doesn't take a ton of time in my case. I can run at lunch, or in the morning before the wife and kid are up. Weekend LSDs are a different matter, particularly because I'm so slow (the 20-miler you can do in 3-4 hours takes me 5).

Do you think we need a reason "WHY" to run ? Do you have one ... or more ???
No. I started running to lose weight, and to run a marathon (took me 9 years before I actually ran one, but that's a different story.) Once I got into trail running, I wanted to lose weight so I can run more trails. For me, trail running is the perfect wilderness experience. Hiking is just too .. slow. for me. Plus, the people who run ultras are awesome.

Do you have any rituals or carry any lucky charms or amulets for your races ?
Nope

UltraRunning pets or pet peeves ?
I'm pretty free-going, you run your race your way, i run mine my way. I've never seen anyone behave in a way that bothered me - except for bothered people. In other words, the only thing that can bother me is seeing a person get worked up over some other runner's way of doing things.

Enjoy or Hate The Taper ? How do you survive it ?
My whole life is a taper. I never taper. I haven't decided which is true.

Besides running and working out, what other stuff do you like to do ?
I'm a software developer, so I like to think I enjoy that, and sometimes I do. I used to be an avid skier, and would say I still am except that this last season I didn't ski at all.. which bothers me. I love skiing. Running, however, is cheaper. (:

FILL IN THE BLANK

I started running because __I was fat, wanted to lose weight, and wanted to run a marathon__ .

I don't like to run when __I'm away from my family__ .

I am so proud of __a lot of things__ .

My wife/husband/SO thinks I am __neat__ for running trails 'n ultras.

I'd like to run with __anyone__ , because __I love the company__ .

My best line of BS said during a race to encourage a fellow UR consumed in self-pity and thinking of dropping was “__you guys look great__”. (sorry for the boring answer. I'll start working on a better one.)

--Back in the 80's I'd rather be __learning BASIC on my apple ][C__ than sweatin' it out on on some dumb trail run. Of course, now i know better !!

New entries for Steve's blog are published every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 10:00am NY time and can be seen at http://www.tursi.com

Race Report: VT 50K part 2

2009-10-12T10:00:00.004-04:00

If you haven't already, please read part 1 here first, for this post is a continuation of that.

After a 1 mile period of running with the 50-mile mountain bikers and super-fast 50K runners, the 50K course once again splits off briefly before rejoining the 50-mile course. It was at this point I started to feel a bit fatigued on the uphills. It turns out that the aggressive powerwalking I did early on in the race was a bit too much for my modest level of fitness, and I started bonking on these hills. I ended up letting Frank get ahead of me on a very beautiful section of singletrack which meandered and switchbacked through the mist in the relatively open forest. I remember thinking that this is the reason to come up and run in New England, because, even on a mediocre day weather-wise, Vermont offers up its own unique beauty and it's really special to be a part of it. I stopped to shoot a short panorama video in this section, and you can find it in the only non-shaky part of the youtube video that goes along with part one of this report.

As nice as that interlude was, however, I was still in the midst of a pretty dramatic bonk, and I was glad at this point to take a hundred brief rests to step aside from the trail and let the numerous mountain bikers pass. To make matters worse, I forgot to check the distance from the last aid station to the next and it seemed it would never come. Finally, the drama of my bonk peaked at a steep uphill at mile 16 or so where I'd have to take numerous breaks to rest, until I crested it and saw that glorious aid station in an open field. I must have spent ten minutes there, sitting and eating a ton of trail mix and just trying to take in as much energy as I could.

There were four miles to the next aid station, and once I did finally get up, I walked a downhill and soon started feeling ok again. Problem was, I ate too much before and my stomach was giving me problems! This was a frustrating part of the race for me, but it actually rather typical in my experience - I'm just a slow learner, I guess.

Once we got to the next aid station, the second-to-last, I tried to "relieve myself" to calm my stomach but was unable to, so ate a little bit (they had grilled cheeses there and it was wonderful!) and went on my way. Before going, however, I overheard someone say something about "lots of gnarly single-track mud to the next aid," and let me tell you - he wasn't kidding. This was where my experience of Vermont went from just another typical long run for me to something "stupid." And, as I said in the previous post, that's the only way I can describe it.

The mud was overwhelming. At Damn Wakely Dam this year, the mud was pretty bad- at points i sunk nearly to my knee. But there, traction was never really a problem. The people who maintain those trails do an incredible job at putting boards and logs over the sections where forward progress would be difficult due to traction. Those boards and logs were slippery to be sure, but at least you could traverse them without too much trouble. In Vermont, the trails, many private and without boards, were literally impossible to run, and walking was difficult. The trails were destroyed and, while I'm by no means an expert on these things, it seemed to me like the damage was such that they were permanently widened due to this event alone. Hundreds of mountain bikers, who's bikes were so gunked up with mud that many were inoperable, were hiking along side us ultrarunners, pushing their bikes. All of that traffic made it a mess that was very frustrating to hike on, and as I said, running was almost impossible.

I finally got to the last aid station with three miles to go and took a seat. The volunteers, who were obviously dealing with frustrations of their own, didn't see me there as I sat for 5 minutes just drinking and eating. I finally asked someone where the water was because I had an empty reservoir in my pack and they pointed me at the correct jug. I hobbled over there, refilled it, and went on my way.

I should have quit.

The last 3 miles of the course was much worse than the previous 6. It's hard to describe. Take the description of that paragraph and multiply it by ten to get an idea of what the 3 miles were like. I won't go into too much detail, but suffice it to say that it was bad enough that I pretty much lost it out there, and it unfortunately colored my experience of the entire race, even though the first 22 miles were relatively pleasant.

When I finally got on the solid footing of the grass ski slopes, I walked all the way back in even though the trail was now runnable, and my only reason for this is I was literally angry at the trail, as if the trail was something worth being angry at. But that's where I honestly was. I finished a rather unpleasant experience and the finish itself didn't make it any better.

Which brings me to the lesson I learned that day:

if a race sucks, DNFing can be a more pleasant than finishing.

I finished, and even now wish I hadn't. It's kind of an ironic statement because I can't tell you how many times I've read about people either regretting their DNFs, or justifying them by saying they don't regret them. I've been there myself, and I know exactly what writing that kind of report is like. However, it turns out that finishing when it wasn't so much a physical challenge, but rather just something to finish, isn't very rewarding when the experience itself isn't pleasant.

After the race, I grabbed something to eat and dried off by the fireplace at Ascutney, hanging with a group of 50K finishers and 50M'ers who missed cutoffs. Those of us who finished were able to ease the disappointment of those who didn't with our stories of the last nine miles. The bottom line for pretty much all of us was, "it just wasn't worth it."

Perhaps on a better year Vermont is an amazing race that isn't to be missed. Some people certainly seem to love it tremendously. But when I come back from nearly every race with a positive story to tell, I'm afraid to say I'm 0 for 2 with Vermont and not all that interested in going back a third time. The first time, I saw a "no-love-for-the-back-of-the-pack" attitude that reminded me so much of several NYRRC races that I won't go back to, and in the second time, I saw that when a race mixes runners with something else, in this case MTBers, it can work out in ideal situations but if anything goes wrong the problem gets intensified by the mixture. Mixing runners with others on the same course just doesn't seem to be a good idea to me. Perhaps I'll expand on this thought in a future post.

Anyway, my official finish time is 8:38, but my actual finish time is almost 10 hours - over 3 hours off my 50K PR. The reason for the discrepancy is they don't have me as having started with the 50-mile runners. I made sure they knew before the race and also emailed the RD directly afterwords to make sure he was aware of the mistake, but it hasn't been changed. Whatever.

Most of my friends finished the 50-miler between 11 and 12 hours. It was a long day for everyone. After the race, Tony and I got cleaned up and drove back home. Since there wasn't much food left for them at the finish line, we stopped after an hour of driving in brattoboro and had huge dinners before continuing through Mass and Connecticut before arriving in white plains sometime after midnight, and finally suffern about 1am.

New entries for Steve's blog are published every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 10:00am NY time and can be seen at http://www.tursi.com

Race Report: VT 50K part 1

2009-10-09T10:00:00.006-04:00

(if you can't see a video here, please click for the youtube version.)

I started writing this report the day after Vermont. Looking at it now, I'm am trashing that entire document and rewriting - it's amazing what a few days separation will accomplish. I also revised the video above, the current music is not the original music.

To say I didn't enjoy Vermont is an understatement. The entire last 9 miles was generally unpleasant, and I hated every inch of the last 3 miles. Never have I had a more intense "I just want this to be over" urge, and the conditions were not exactly helping me finish faster. I lost my mind out there, and I'm not trying to be dramatic. I really, literally, & completely lost my cool. I was actually angry at the trail and I didn't hide my emotions.

So. yeah. It wasn't pretty and I'm not proud to say that I finished. If I had it to do over again, I would have dropped with 3 miles to go.

----

Bright and early saturday morning I was dropped off at Tony Portera's house, for together we'd be driving to Vermont and rooming there. After an uneventful and fast drive up on a beautiful day, we checked into the race and then into the hotel, sat back and watched some college football. Soon others arrived, and before long a large group of us, 7 or 8 strong, were eating dinner at an italian restaurant in Claremont, NH where I ordered a stromboli and got a bit more than I bargained for.

Monster Stromboli. I finished the thing, too.

It was not lost on anybody at all that, weather-wise, Saturday would have been the perfect day for Vermont. But we were running on Sunday. At some point that night the rain started and when the alarm went off we sheepishly peaked outside, hoping against hope that the torrential downpours at Virginia Tech we saw on TV football game earlier that afternoon hadn't made it up to New England, but of course they did. I was still optimistic about the day, reminding my friends of the Joe Bastardi quote, "enjoy the weather, it's the only weather you've got." Little did I know that, in our group I'd be the one enjoying the weather, or at least the mud that resulted from it, the least.

Since most everyone in my group was running the 50-miler, and since the 50-miler started over an hour earlier than the 50K start, we were there a couple of hours before my scheduled start and the race organizers were ok with me starting with them - I'd rather just get started rather than waiting around in the morning. There was a light mist/drizzle which would not only stop all day for periods of downright rain.

The first 3 miles of the course are mostly downhill, something that I kind of like about Vermont. It gives me a chance to warm up without really exerting myself, and since it's downhill, if I go a bit too fast it's not that big a deal. I wasn't going to fast, other than another 50K runner or two behind me, everyone went out faster, and I was all alone without a soul in sight within 2 miles. Soon we arrive at the first hill, a 1.5-mile continuous road climb, which I aggressively powerwalked, which I'd regret later. Halfway up this climb I spotted two runners ahead of me and that only increased my pace - I can't resist the opportunity to reel someone in if I have the chance.

Shortly after the first aid station we get on a trail and it becomes very steep for a short distance. This is where I finally caught a guy in red, who turned out to be my trail companion for about the next ten miles. Coming from Minnesota, His name was frank and he had run over 400 marathons, and was working on his fourth completion of the 50 states marathon club. What an interesting fellow. I didn't slow down my aggression on the uphills, however, and we'd go through a period where I'd lose him on the uphills only for him to catch me going down. We'd chat on the flats.

The 50K course splits off the 50-mile course before aid station two and once we got to the aid station at about mile 8, we were told we were the firs 50K runners to come through. We held this first place position up to about mile 10.5, and shortly after we rejoined the 50-mile course with a few of the faster mountain bikers, well ahead of all 50-mile runners.

please click here for part 2.

New entries for Steve's blog are published every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 10:00am NY time and can be seen at http://www.tursi.com

Steve's Bucket List: Highest point of 50 states

2009-10-07T10:00:00.006-04:00

This is part of a series of posts where I discuss items on my "bucket list." the introduction to the series is here.

denali, highest point of alaska

Many of you know that, for longer than I've been an ultrarunner, I have been a card-carrying member of the Highpointers Club, a club solely dedicated to the preservation & promotion of the highest points of all 50 states, and support those who wish to climb them.

Harney Peak, South Dakota - my favorite highpoint (so far.)

Certainly the longest-term item on my bucket list, I've thus had a goal to climb to the highest point of all 50 states for at least the last 4 years, and have been making steady progress to that end. I won't be finished for at least several years to come, probably decades.

As of this writing, I've been to the highest point of 31 states, including all but two east of the mississippi river

The hardest work, however, has been saved for last. Without exception, all of the highpoints west of and including the continental divide are over 11,000 feet high (only mount hood, oregon is below 12,000'), and all but Hawaii's highpoint involve strenuous hikes with lots of climbing. This is in contrast to the highpoints east of the divide; most are either very low, or if they are high involve little or no effort to climb 'em because they have roads to the top. There are exceptions - Maine, NY, Texas, and to a lesser degree South Dakota, Virginia and Vermont involve at least a couple of miles of hiking with at least 1000' of climbing, but by and large the states east of the Continental Divide are logistical challenges rather than physical. My fitness 4-5 years ago was insufficient to climb most of the states requiring any degree of physical fitness, and it still isn't adequate for some.

On the highest point of South Carolina in November 2004, weighing at least 350lbs.

Needless to say, having completed a couple of 50-milers, including one at altitude in the mountains of Wyoming, the weight I've already lost and the fitness I've already gained will allow me to attain most but not all of the highpoints that are left. Here's a quick summary of what I need, sorted from easy to hard:

Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota, Hawaii
These are the only states state highpoints that I'd describe as physically easy. None of them have hike longer than a mile. They're just hard to get to.

Virginia, Minnesota
States that are also very easy, but they do have hikes of around 5-8 miles RT, so it's not fair to lump them with the super-easy ones.

Texas, Maine
These more difficult hikes bridge the gap between the "moderate" and "very difficult."

New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado, Idaho, California, Utah
All are very long days, especially Utah - where it would take an ultrarunner's level of fitness to complete in a day. The easiest routes up all of these are all pretty serious undertakings, and can offer problems with altitude, exposure, steepness or sheer distane.

Oregon, Montana, Washington, Wyoming
Here we add the element of specialized technical knowledge. All but MT involve glacier travel, and in Washington's case, crevasse rescue skills. MT has a technical rock climbing section at the end. Wyoming is 40 miles round trip.

Alaska
Multi-week expedition up to the highest point in North America. Ambitious by anyone's standards.

Humphreys Peak, AZ - Over 12,000', it's the highest state highpoint I've been to.

So the 19 I have left will certainly take longer than the 31 I've already done, but I would like to start picking off one of those big western highpoints every year. I also hope to complete the Eastern USA in 2010. If I do those two things, chances are I'll above 45 highpoints and learning glacier travel skills by the time I'm 40, just to get those last few elusive states.

I maintain a separate web site dedicated to this little project of mine. You can view it here: http://turzman.com/projects/highpoints/.

New entries for Steve's blog are published every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 10:00am NY time and can be seen at http://www.tursi.com

Quick update from the double 50K weekend

2009-10-05T10:00:00.006-04:00

Bright and early on Saturday morning I cleared the back of the car, threw a sleeping bag in and headed down to delaware for the first part of steve's double-50k.

6 of these 8 people started & finished the 50K

A full report on the delaware race will be up in a couple of weeks, but I finished in 7:55, over an hour off my PR, in 7th place. I received the highly coveted Team Slug International "Crazy Horse" award for my DFL finish.

Making a long story short, however, the first 10 miles went very well but I deteriorated after due to the fact that I ran a really tough 50K only 6 days prior (that report will be up this friday, btw.)

Later that night, enjoying a post-run celebration dinner at Waffle House, I realized that yet another 50K the next day would be impossible to finish with the cutoffs. The 6-day separation from vermont would have kept me from finishing Blues Cruise under their 7:30 cutoff, and I definitely would have been pulled early from the sunday race.

If alex and joe were with me, I definitely would have stayed and at least started the race, but since they were not, it just wasn't worth being apart from them another day just so i can get a 10-mile run in, if that.

So I drove home late saturday night, took a long shower, and fell asleep.

New entries for Steve's blog are published every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 10:00am NY time and can be seen at http://www.tursi.com

Race Preview: Steve's Double 50K weekend

2009-10-02T10:00:00.003-04:00

This is going to be a fun weekend.

Tomorrow morning I will be leaving bright and early and hitting the turnpike for 3-hour drive down to kent county in central delaware to make a valient attempt at Team Slug's Russel B. Cheney 50K.

The Namesake's Description of Non-Event, "But one of my all-time favorites: the Race Director personally contacts each potential participant and conscientiously attempts to DIScourage their participation, including graphic descriptions of the deep wood’s voracious ankle-wrapping roots and the moving trail-rocks, terrible grades, horrendous bridge crossings, trail co-use dangers, hazardous lack of close aid-stations, possible perilous overcrowding, slippery leaves and pine needles. Rumors persist of strange creatures inhabiting both the pond itself and the surrounding forest (the trail never being more than a few yards from the water and virtually always within the woods, leaving the desperately-fatigued and confused runner appallingly vulnerable), of participants disappearing and later reappearing in ethereal form, of strange vapors rising from the pond at all hours, and deep snow banks." Russell B. Cheney, Torrance, California

The 10-lap course is identical to the one I ran back in June at the Booty Rumble 50K, where the slugs greeted me and my family with big smiles and bigger downpours - 3 inches of rain fell during the race. I loved the experience and immediately knew I'd be back, and tomorrow's RBC will mark my triumphant return to the swamps of Delaware.

Saturday night I will sleep in my car, Wakely-style.

On Sunday morning I will be in Reading, PA to participate in the Blues Cruise 50K, and this is going to be a tough one. Normally I'd have no problem completing a moderately hilly 50K within a 7.5hour time limit, as my 50K PR (6:47) was on a course that had several hills. But the problem, of course, is the small fact that I will have run a 50K the day before, and I honestly have no idea how my body will handle the back-to-back long runs.

Either I will finish, or I will get pulled. Whatever.

So, the weather forecast looks like fun. I am actually writing this on Tuesday night for Friday publication, so maybe this will change (and hopefully it will), but right now it looks like rain, both days. Heh, just like vermont a few days ago (just wait til you see that report.) At least I won't have vermont-style mud, at least in delaware and probably not in pennsylvania either.

New entries for Steve's blog are published every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 10:00am NY time and can be seen at http://www.tursi.com

Steve's Bucket List: Grand Canyon R2R2R

2009-09-30T10:00:00.005-04:00

This is part of a series of posts where I discuss items on my "bucket list." the introduction to the series is here.

Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim: Start at the southern rim of the grand canyon & run to the opposite side. Then turn around and run back.

47 miles, 11K feet of climbing, wide temperature variations, limited water sources, and difficult rescue.

Rim-to-rim hikes or even day hikes from rim to river and back are strongly discouraged by the National Park Service. Rescues are frequent. People overestimate their abilities and underestimate how strenuous such an adventure can be. Another key factor is the hot temperature of the canyon. Temperatures in the lower canyon are typically more than 20 degrees hotter than the rim. Many hikers end up suffering from heat exhaustion. - Davy Crockett

No, it's not something I'd take lightly, and so I probably will not attempt it until I'm a much more experienced ultrarunner - that is, I'd hopefully have a couple of 100s under my belt before attempting this. This can't be an effort where the objective is to "prove I can do it." Rather, the goal would have to finish it comfortably, which means starting it well-trained, fit and confident.

I've never been to the Grand Canyon, and I'm sure just being there is going to be an awesome experience. But, as those of you who know me can attest to, "just being there" is rarely a satisfying end for me in any place worth visiting, and I have to make a challenge out of it - a part of me believes that I can't attain a meaningful experience from the tourist's viewing platforms, rather I need to be "in" it - go down into the wilder parts of it and go ahead and let it challenge me, and possibly spank me. It's for this reason I want to return to Yellowstone. It was totally cool to see the volcanic activity, but the whole time I was there I wish I could have strapped on my running shoes and gotten out on those trails. So with the Grand Canyon, I'd like to stand on the rim and marvel with the crowds at the giant hole in the ground, but if that's all I did, I'd feel like I wasted a trip. Much better to go down in that hole, see what's down there, and see how it can challenge me.

New entries for Steve's blog are published every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 10:00am NY time and can be seen at http://www.tursi.com

Hike Report: Mt. Marcy, NY - state highpoint #31

2009-09-28T10:00:00.010-04:00

While Alex and Joe were out of town, I took the opportunity to take a quick daytrip up to the adirondack mountains of new york to climbg Mount Marcy, which is the highest in New York State.

For those of you who don't know, I am a card-carrying member of the highpointers club, which exists solely for the purpose of

promote climbing to the highest point in each of the fifty (50) states; provide a forum for education about the highpoints; aid in the preservation and conservation of the highpoints and their environs; provide a vehicle through which persons with this common goal can meet and correspond with one another; maintain positive relationships with owners of highpoints on private property; assist in the care and maintenance of highpoints; and support public and private efforts to maintain the integrity of and access to state highpoints.

I maintain a separate web site about my highpointing adventures, here to see it.

Anyway, I had been to 30 state highpoints, including all but three east of the mississsippi. I've gone on roadtrips of thousands of miles and slept on sides of roads several times to grab highpoints in remote parts of states that I'd otherwise have no reason to visit. I've hiked in the rain, the snow, the ice, and the heat to grab highpoints. Yet I had not been to my home state's highpoint, and as of this weekend hadn't bagged a new highpoint in about a year, so I figured now was about as good a time as any to go grab it.

That was the longest introduction to a report I've ever written. The actual report will be shorter. I'll include lots of photos to make up for it. (:

Grabbed my traditional bagel-with-lox-and-cream-cheese pre-long workout breakfast and hit the road at 4:15am, and made it up to the Lake Placid area in about 3½ hours. Started hiking, jogging the flats and downhill areas, which there weren't many. After 2 miles I reached Marcy dam and had 5-6 miles to go, where the trail got both steep and very rocky. I powerwalked all the way to treeline until bonking a bit and dragging my sorry ass the last 500-feet to the summit. I took a bunch of pictures, called my wife in california, and started back down after a half hour up there. Total time trail-head to trail-head was just a hair over 6 hours. Got back in the car and drove home, making a stop at cracker barrel in albany for a pancake dinner. Love the pancakes there. (:

Enough of the report. Here are some photos. Enjoy.

help us out, shlep a rock

trail register

Lots of this in muddy parts

Marcy Dam

Lots of this on the trail

And a tremendous amount of this. Literally miles of it were like this.

Nice view, still a ways to go

1.2 miles to go

Approaching treeline

summit always visible now

this is how you know you're at treeline, merely 5000' high in this part of the country.

Thought the trail was tough before?

Rock shlep complete

Made it!

From what I could tell, that little rock next to the puddle was on the actual highest point of the state. that little puddle next to the rock was the highest puddle in new york state.

dorky summit plaque shot, taken by the forest ranger paid to hang out on the summit. what a job that must be.

Nice view. I could see a lot of clouds.

To be fair, this direction had better views

The summit. plenty of company up there.

Marcy Dam, coming back

closer look at the dam

Mt. Marcy, from the dam

Typical trail at lower elevation, below the dam

More trail below the dam

More trail below the dam

And, in case you're wondering, the only two highpoints east of the mississippi i have left are now maine (Mt. Kathadin, big mountain) and virginia (Mt. Rogers, not quite as big.)

New entries for Steve's blog are published every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 10:00am NY time and can be seen at http://www.tursi.com

Race Preview: VT 50K

2009-09-25T10:00:00.010-04:00

Last year I entered the Vermont 50-miler, a month after DNFing the Grand Teton 50, with little hope of finishing. As expected, I was pulled, by race officials, about 4 hours into the race, for not getting to the mile 19 aid station in time. It's a shame too because I was running my own race and felt great, and it's a shame I never got to the mile 35-40 range to see how i'd feel then. At any rate, I came home empty-handed and was lukewarm about that race. It had been described to me as a mountain bike race primarily with a running component added almost as an afterthought, and I could definitely see why people would say that.

still, it's a pretty cool race in terms of scenery. the course is very serene if that makes sense. enjoyable singletrack, new england dirt roads, fall foliage. for months after last year's dnf, every time i saw a photo of a country road lined with colorful trees, i thought of the vermont 50.

while the vermont experience from 2008 has taught me to not enter any races where i'll be chasing a cutoff - all of that beauty wasn't enough to get me to go back to do the 50k, a corresponding race i know i can finish. the reason i decided, only a couple of weeks ago, to enter the 50k was i was invited by multiple friends to carpoolup on saturday, run the race & drive home sunday night. it should be fun. and even though i won't be running with any buddies (everyone i know will be running the 50m), i'll be content to enjoy those colorful serene new england dirt roads for a sunday in october.

New entries for Steve's blog are published every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 10:00am NY time and can be seen at http://www.tursi.com

One Small Problem with Push Gmail for iPhone

2009-09-23T10:00:00.003-04:00

Here's an unfortunate consequence of Google's own push implementation of gmail: It relies on the built-in microsoft exchange support on the iPhone. The problem is, if you're already using the exchange support for work, you cannot use gmail push because, with the iphone, you're only allowed to set up one exchange profile at a time!

Official Gmail Blog: Push Gmail for iPhone and Windows Mobile

Thanks anyway, google. I appreciate the effort.

New entries for Steve's blog are published every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 10:00am NY time and can be seen at http://www.tursi.com

On typing

2009-09-21T10:00:00.004-04:00

yes, typing. (:

This one is going to be easy, and it's going to be short. And, since I can type (hehe), it'll only take me 5 minutes to write.

This is not an article about ultrarunning. Sorry. Lots of stuff in the queue on that front, I just have to "write" it, which is different than typing it. This note, which is about typing, is already written. It's in my head. I just have to type it.

Allow me to back up. An acquaintance of mine, Dane Rauschenberg(met him at a race two weeks ago, nice guy), posted a link to an article on facebook about how some school in West Virginia doesn't teach students cursive anymore, except for one year, third grade, such that by the time the kid gets to the eight grade they don't know cursive and can't sign their name. That was the article's anecdote, and it's point was that kids aren't taught cursive anymore, isn't that horrible.

Immediately the pragmatist in me remembered all the years learning cursive I had in grade school and the single semester I had in typing my entire time in school, which I believe was in the 8th grade, ironically enough.

Then, I remembered one of my favorite programming articles of all time, written by Steve Yegge, formerly of Amazon, now of Google. The blog post, intended for software programmers but applicable to all, is called "Programming's Dirtiest Little Secret" (warning - atrociously horrible & mean four-letter words) and is just riddled with epic truths and amusing anecdotes and wonderful quotes.

Wonderful quotes like this:

Touch typists can spot an illtyperate programmer from a mile away. They don't even have to be in the same room.

Here's the deal: everyone is laughing at you. Or if they're your close friend, they're just pitying you. Because you suck. If you really think refactoring tools are a substitute for typing, it's like you're telling us that it's OK for you to saw your legs off because you have a car. We're not fucking buying it.

Hell, if you're having trouble, just email me, and I'll give you a personalized pep talk. I can afford it. I type pretty fast. Plus your email will be really short.

It's long, but well well well worth your time to read. After you've read this, of course. I'll do you a favor and make this short, even though I don't have to. I can type, after all.

My whole point in writing this is this: writing letters to friends in cursive is an awesome ability to have, right up there with writing letters to friends in calligraphy. Every single one of us is sentimental to a degree and we love all that squishy stuff. It makes us feel warm in our hearts. On the other hand, typing is a cold, hard medium that doesn't make us feel warm at all. It makes us feel cold. That would be the opposite of warm.

But.. let me quote our friend Steve Yegge again:

If you are a programmer, or an IT professional working with computers in any capacity, you need to learn to type! I don't know how to put it any more clearly than that. If you refuse to take the time, then you're... you're... an adjective interjection adjective noun, exclamation.

I would extend that to say ANYONE (not just IT professionals) who'd work with computers in any capacity, needs to learn to type. That would include every eight grader in this country. Sorry, sentiment. If it's between warm fuzzy cursive and cold hard typing, well, perhaps there's an after-school program for cursive. It's right after the calligraphy after-school program.

Told you I was going to keep this short. Well, short relative to Yegge's posts anyway. You should still read this one. It's excellent.

This post has been influenced by Steve Yegge. To be fair, it took me longer than 5 minutes to type this. It actually took me 13 on a Saturday night (blogger will publish this on Monday), including proofreading (poorly) & collecting the quotes.

New entries for Steve's blog are published every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 10:00am NY time

Race Report: Grand Teton 50 Miler - 17:16:17

2009-09-16T20:20:00.004-04:00

I took care of some unfinished business on labor day weekend by returning to Wyoming and completing the Grand Teton 50-miler in 17 hours 16 minutes. In 2008, I attempted this same race and failed to finish it, succumbing to my own fatigue after 14 hours at mile 36. That kind of disappointment really occupied my thoughts for the last year; there hasn't been a day that I've not thought about going back and finishing this race.

(if you can't see the above video, please click here.)

After flying into salt lake city on Wednesday night, we drove up the next morning and arrived at the race around lunch time on thursday. i quickly noticed the altitude at 8000' with some shortness of breath sitting in the lobby of the hotel. thankfully, it wasn't a significant problem at the race, a mere day and a half later.

eating tacos out of a converted bus in driggs, idaho - the closest town to the race

we hiked halfway up fred's on thursday afternoon.

This is a doozy of a course. It's a lap-course, with each lap having two 5-mile legs and a 15-mile leg. the first 5-mile leg is a quick ascent and descent of fred's mountain, a 2000' climb to the top of grand targhee ski area. the second leg is the 15 mile, where you further descend down the mountain down to 6000' and come back up a much less steep but relentless climb to 8500' before descending back to the 8000' bast. the last 5-mile leg, called rick's basin, is a 5-mile loop through gentle rolling hills with about 500' of climb. the total there is 25 miles and 5000'; do it twice and you've got yourself a 50-miler.

"The Teton races are KILLER and those mountains will squash your soul to a bloody pulp." - Meredith Murphy, comparing Tetons to another race I was running.

We drove up from SLC on Thursday and arrived Thursday afternoon. Upon arrival, we met up with fellow NYer Tony Portera, as we had planned to hike up Fred's that afternoon. As it turned out, Alex needed a nap and Joey came with us; we made it about halfway up before turning around. Pretty good for a 5-year-old! On the walk down, we ran into Chirag Mehta (who I referred to as "florida" for the balance of the weekend) and his pacer Arthur. Chirag was in town to do his first 100! A little further down, we encountered none other than Sean Meissner (who is one of the nicest guys I've ever met), effortlessly bounding his way up Fred's like how I run downhill. It was inspiring to see. Sean was entered in the 50 miler and was a contender to win.

Later that afternoon I had the pleasure of meeting Tony's family, as well as Jen and Lane Vogel, who had come out from Georgia to run. Jen, earlier that summer, had won the keys 100 and was a hopeful to win the 100 here, too. Lane was competing in the 50 and would have a top ten finish. All of us; Chirag and Arthur, Sean, the Vogels, the Porteras, and the Tursis, would enjoy an outdoor dinner at the resort. It was a genuinely great time - the kind of thing that keeps me coming back to these things.

Race Start
My strategy was simple: go slow, finish. I would have been perfectly fine with a dead last finish, and actually kind of expected it. So, when ascending Fred's, I pulled ahead of a few people and immediately became worried that I was going too fast. I felt very comfortable, however, and resolved not to compare myself to them, just as I wouldn't compare myself to the front-runners.

Coming off Fred's for the first time

I reached the top and descended briskly, entering section B in 5th to last place. This is the part of the course where I hit a wall last year. Its 15 miles long, and the second half of which is a gradual but relentless climb that, frankly, intimidated me. I made sure to go extra-easy, and time went by quickly this early in the race. The way back up was uneventful, and before I knew it I was back in the main aid station at mile 20 feeling pretty good. I went out into Rick's, and finished that 5-mile section comfortably.

Coming back from Rick's, halfway done.

The second ascent of Fred's was where I went from bad to worse last year, and I've been really worried about repeating that again. I came off the mountain in a really bad way and was convinced that I was going to drop. This time, however, went really well - I went nice and slow and actually made it up to the top pretty comfortably - tired to be sure, but with plenty of gas left in the tank. The promise of the day becoming very bright upon ascending Fred's for the second time came through and I was in very high spirits for the next 14 miles or so.

I was very happy to be there. Alex and Joe took the ski lift up and met me there.. that was awesome.

I made sure to walk most of the way down Fred's, trying to save my legs - yes I felt great but still had 20 miles and 3000' to go.

Joey met me coming off Fred's.

Mill Creek intimidated me the first time, and I was really not looking forward to doing it again. Last year, it was the second time at the bottom of the hill, after dark, where I dropped from the race and I was determined not to drop again - but I also knew it'd probably be dark before I returned to the main aid station and was a little disappointed by this - I had a semi-secret goal of getting into Rick's by dark just because I the woods in Mill Creek were spooky enough in the daylight.

Leaving for Mill Creek, take 2

The run down was uneventful, I spent a lot of the time trying to shoot video with my little flip video camera (the results of which you can see above). It's hard holding that thing steady! It was at the bottom, where woman's 100-mile winner Ashley Nordell, along with her pacer Jamie Donaldson passed me on her way to smashing the course record, and also in the video above there's a brief shot of the two of them walking up the asphalt road shortly after passing me.

The 3.3mile asphalt road is a constant uphill and can get hot, so is considered a pretty tough proposition by a lot of people. However, the two times I've done it before (once in 2008 and earlier in this day), I tended to have a pretty easy time there - I just kind of settle into a zone and power-walk the thing. Took me a hair over an hour the first lap, and now, in this second lap, I would ascend it in 59 minutes - a negative split. I didn't realize how fast I was going, and by the time I got to the top, 39.6 miles into the race, I was just starting to feeling pretty beat up. The sun had set and I only had 30 minutes tops before I'd be in complete darkness - but still, it was here at this aid station, at 7:36PM, that I sat down for the first time all day. I just was not looking forward to the next section.

After five minutes I pulled my sorry ass out of the chair and started turning my stiff legs over until they loosened up after a quarter mile, and chugged along the section where, last year and in the previous lap, I hit a surprisingly early wall. Darkness descended agonizingly slow, but I was making decent progress and there was still a bit of twilight when I reached the "stick" of this lollypop-shaped section - where I'd find oncoming runner traffic. Saw a couple of 100-mile runners, and, interestingly enough, also saw all but two of the 50-mile runners behind me - I thought they were less than 6 miles behind but apparently I was wrong. Before I knew it, I had passed the cat skiing hut and was ascending "lightning ridge", as I believe it's called, which is relatively short (~500 feet of gain) but just as steep as Fred's and, as it turns out, extremely hard for being 43.5 miles into this race. At this point, I was toasted. Completely dark outside, a couple of 100-mile runners coming down the hill would encourage me (notably, Hans-Dieter Weisshaar said some very kind words here), while I was bent over in exhaustion on the hill. I took close to 45 minutes to complete this single mile. Once on the ridge, it was largely downhill all the way to the main aid station but I was just too tired to run. Here, Bob Grove, the only male 50-mile runner behind me who was still in the race, caught me and we walked that last mile to the aid station. He was doing his first 50 and dealing with some issues of his own, blisters (Thankfully, that never became a problem for me.) It was good to talk to someone for a little bit of the race.

Coming into the main aid station. I was all smiles because despite my fatigue, I only had 5 miles to go and knew I was going to make it.

when I reached the main aid station, I sat down for the second time of the day and enjoyed some pizza, which the race organizers brought in. Last year, Co-RaceDirector Lisa force-fed me pizza was part of what got me back out on the trail when I was sure I would drop at mile 30. It didn't seem appetizing until I had a bite, and then I ate three slices. Figuring that my fatigue at this point at mile 45 was simply history repeating itself, I helped myself to three more slices of pizza before returning to rick's basin for the final 5 miles.

pizza was in the microwave.

Three slices of pizza.. was a mistake. It wasn't very long into that last section when my stomach started to churn as the gas pain built up. What little running I would have done pretty much became impossible. On the contrary, at least three times I sat down on the side of the trail, the first time from the stomach pain, and the last time from pure exhaustion. The split for this section - 1:40 in lap 1, 2:15 in lap 2, tells the story. But, at this point, there's not much you can do but make it to the next aid station - which happened to be the finish line!

So, 16 minutes after midnight, my wobble turned into a weak stride as I ran down the hill and finished the Grand Teton 50-miler! I received hugs from Co-RaceDirector Jay Batchen and Sean Meissner and promptly flopped down on a tarp, with only enough consciousness to use my own drop bag as a pillow.

I could have stayed there all night

This was the hardest thing I've ever done, it made ever other ultra I've finished look like chicken feed. And apparently, it was really important to me that I finish this - as I experienced an unexpectedly high level of satisfaction for a few days after the race.

What's next for me? I have a very busy 3 weeks coming up, where I'm going to go on a bit of a 50K rampage. Starting with Vermont, then a Team Slug event, then Blues Cruise, and finally Mountain Madness. Four 50Ks within 20 days, three within 8 days, and in the case of slug and blues, two 50ks in two days. Afterwords, it's all about ramping up for the Umstead 100-miler, which I successfully registered for this week.

I want to briefly mention Sister Marybeth Lloyd, 50-something years old, who completed the 50-mile event, while wearing her Habit, in 21:21:41. She was out there from 7am until 4:21am to raise money for kids who were orphaned by AIDs. Check out the charity's site.

Here are some other folks who graced the tetons with their presence, and who I wanted to give a shout to:

Byron Powell, of irunfar.com

Sarah Thomsen, fellow back-of-the-packer in the 50-miler

Dusty Hardman, who, along with Tony, ran both the 50-miler and the marathon the next day - they're the only two people ever to do this! She's also just a ton of fun to be around..

Race Report: Self-Transcendence Marathon 2009 - 5:43:59, PR.

2009-09-01T21:38:00.005-04:00

If you, dear reader, happen to like long race reports with lots of photos, I'm afraid I'm going to disappoint you today. Brevity will be the name of the game for today's edition of steve's blog. For most of you, that's probably a good thing.
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When I registered for this marathon, the most intriguing thing about it was the fact that it's on a tuesday, making it possible for me to run the marathon in the morning and go to work in the afternoon. Interestingly, this wouldn't be the first time I did this; when I ran this marathon in 2007 I went to work afterwards too - with one major difference. In 2007, I telecommuted. in 2009, I got dressed and went into the office.

What I didn't anticipate when running this race was the fact that, three days prior, I'd be doing a 15 mile hike with 3500' of climbing in the adirondacks - and that two days prior, I'd be doing a fast hike up bear mountain, which is 3 miles with about 1200' of gain.

I showed up with tired legs and low expectations. Met up before the race with some internet running friends, notably Linda, Staci, Tammy, and Andy. Staci, also a local, was more interested in having company during the marathon rather than running a fast race, so she was more than happy to accompany me for most of the race. She is a fantastic running partner and I really enjoyed hanging with her. It was awesome.

This marathon consists of 8 3/4 3-mile laps of picturesque rockland lake. It was a very nice day to run a marathon, a little humid for my tastes but you can't complain in august. I ran 95% of the time during the first 5 laps nice and slow, 12:00 MPM, before walking 20% of the 6th lap, 50% of the 7th lap, and 90% of the 8th and 9th laps. Andy had caught up to Staci and I by the last 10K, and the three of us walked together for a few miles - however, I was really hammering, walking at a 14:30 pace or so. It was really tiring and hard to keep up that pace, but I knew a PR was possible and I wanted to really put a good effort in.

I reduced my marathon PR from 5:49:46 to 5:43:59 on worked legs, and I completely attribute that 6-minute drop to the pace at which I was walking, as I didn't run any faster. My legs were trashed - even now, 7 days later, I'm still feeling that marathon in 'em. Hung out for no more than 15 minutes after finishing and got in the car and drove to work.

-steve

PS - staci has a blog, too! click here to read it: http://divaleh.blogspot.com/

COMING SOON ON STEVE'S BLOG: trip report to Mt. Marcy, something from Wyoming at the Grand Teton Races, and more bucket list stuff! yay!