30 October 2011

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Today's workout called for a slow 20 miles at minimum 8:30 minute per mile pace. Not what I would call slow, but I neeed to stick to my marathon schedule. Richard wasn't in the mood for 20, so I decided to run from my house to his to add 4 miles and to do the same on the way home to add another 4. That left us to run 12 together.

29 October 2011

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A very cool and appropriate tech shirt!
What an awesome race! This felt like my most important race in the last 2 years since I started racing "seriously", obviously aside from my first ultra marathon, my first 50 mile race and my first 100 mile race. Why, you ask? Why would a 5K road race be that important to me? Let me explain, I'd been trying for two years to better my official PR of 20:10 that I set at the 2009 Frosty Freeze 5K in Decatur, AL. Two years, also referred to as eternity.

27 October 2011

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Once again, I opted to run in the afternoon. That also allowed me to convince Rich to join me. Little did he know that my training plan called for a fast one, one mile warm up followed by 4 miles at sub 7:18 minute pace and a one mile cool down.

26 October 2011

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Today, I waited until after work to get my training run in. I hate procrastinating and postponing my runs from the morning to the evening, but I just didn't feel like it this morning. I got home just before 5pm, changed into my running clothes that I had already laid out, grabbed my old and trusty 305 and took off.

25 October 2011

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5:30AM came fast this morning, even though I'd adjusted my sleep schedule to ensure a full 8 hours of sleep. It didn't help that it was getting colder by the day. Then again, today's training plan would require hard effort and colder temperatures would probably help us not overheat too quickly.

24 October 2011

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Today kicked off the second week of my "accelerated" sub 3:15 marathon training in preparation for the Rocket City Marathon in December. Since I was unable to get in the easy 4 miles required on Sunday, I shifted my entire training routine by one day, eliminating my off day this upcoming Thursday. Oh well, who needs rest days anyway, right?

22 October 2011

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A cool tech shirt, an even cooler beer glass and a nice 3rd place medal.
Race Day
I signed up for this one on a whim, just earlier in the week. I had never participated in the XTERRA Trail Race Series and figured this 15K would be a great replacement for the half marathon my marathon training schedule called for today. I met up with Jason in the parking lot of the Monte Sano State Park main picnic area and we lined up to pick up our race packet and bib with disposable timing chip at 7:45AM, 45 minutes before the race would start.

There were many of the usual local suspects around, as well as a lot of non-locals that were here to garner points for the Alabama Trail Series (one of a series of trail races in Alabama, Georgia and possibly other states culminating in a "Championship Race" in Hawaii), so I very quickly decided that there was no need to worry about finishing in the top three of my age group as it wasn't going to happen...or was it?

Race start: I'm moving too fast (bottom left corner) for the photographer.

The race was started at exactly at 8:30AM and we were off. I had checked the course online and realized that we would enter single track trail very quickly and with a major descent in the first 2 miles. I figured I'd
do my utmost to get out front with the faster runners, so I wouldn't get stuck in a Congo line going down the single track trail. My plan worked like a charm, but I was clearly going way too fast to be able to maintain this pace for the entirety of this race. So when I hit the first climb to the "Stone Cuts" after running the first mile at 7:14 pace, I decided to slow it down to a more manageable pace.


We were still bunched up during the first mile.

The field spread out very quickly and I continued to try to figure out my game plan for the race and while the course was marked very well, it appeared a couple of folks ended up doing some bushwhacking rather than run through the Stone Cuts. I'm still not sure if they missed a marker or if that was an alternative bypass of the Cuts and I think they still don't know either;-)

After about three miles, I did something I had never done before. I made the decision to forget about my pace and to forget about elevation changes as race tactic indicators. Instead, I would monitor only my heart rate. I decided to try to keep it steady and to keep it at 175 bpm, roughly 20 bpm below my maximum heart rate. I figured if I could maintain that heart rate, I should be able to continue to move at a decent pace without blowing up while also allowing me to save some energy for a final push on the final stretch of the race (including the final climb).

I continued with this new plan while passing a couple of guys in the process, just before the only aid station on the course at 5.5 miles. Prior to arriving at this aid station, I had to climb up Warpath trail, which is extremely steep. This was the only section that forced me to walk for just a moment just to make sure I kept my heart rate in check.

Once I reached the top of Warpath and the aid station, I did squeeze down a chocolate Gu that I washed down with a small cup of Powerade and a cup of water before continuing on my run. That very short break gave me new energy, just in time to pick up the pace as we headed down a section of the Mountain Mist trail. I knew there was one last climb to go and I wanted to make sure I had time to spare when I got there.

The final climb was very familiar to me. After all, my running buddies and I run this section as part of our favorite hill trail workout (Pratt Ave Ranger Station Out & Back, look it up on Garmin Connect and you know what I mean) almost weekly. As I climbed up this final hill, I spotted a photographer on the side of the trail. Obviously, I couldn't walk with this guy snapping my picture, so I continued to shuffle up the hill.


The final climb to the finish and I'm still too fast for the photographer;-)
When I reached the top and made my final turn, I noticed a line of runners just behind me. The first of them was breathing down my neck very soon after and I decided to let him pass. However, that would be the end of it. I realized that me letting one guy pass would encourage the others to try the same. Instead, I stayed on the heels of the guy that had passed me. This in turn made him speed up..and soon and so on. When we finally crossed the finish line after 1 hour 25 minutes, everyone seemed to be in an all out sprint. What a fun way to finish a 15K trail race. At the end of the day, I walked away with 20th overall and 3rd in my age group (40-44), which appeared to be the largest age group. The final results can be found here. This race did make me feel like I am on my way to faster trail times in general. I just need to figure out how to transition these faster times to the ultra distances.

21 October 2011

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Rich and I met up at my house at 6AM for an easy 5 miles at 8:30 pace. It was the coldest day of the year so far with temperatures in the high 30s. We headed towards UAH for one loop. I was actually bundled up too much, as I always do when the weather turns cold for the very first time. I figured I'd give a pair of running tights that is supposed to speed recovery a shot. Aside from the difficulty involved in putting on those darn things, they worked pretty well.

20 October 2011

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For the past 4 days, I've been watching my diet (calories) in an effort to finally drop the dreaded 10 lbs. that keep me from reaching the next PR;-) In any case, I've been trying to drop the weight and this is the umpteenth time that I am trying. No German chocolate or gummi bears until I accomplish my goal. Part of this effort and my  current goal to PR at the Rocket City Marathon in December has also been my new cross training program consisting of "Muscleworks" and Pilates two times a week each at my local university gym. Obviously, the main focus of my training schedule is still the running.

18 October 2011

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Today's training session called for 8 "slow" miles. After running an ultra just about every month for the last 2 years, I think I've lost some of my speed. Suddenly, 8:30 minute miles didn't feel quite as slow as I would have expected, which doesn't bode well for tomorrow, when I am required to run 10 miles at a minimum 7:20 minute per mile pace. Considering the weather forecast for tomorrow along with the need to maintain a fast pace (if at all possible), I'll probably opt for the dreadmill tomorrow.

17 October 2011

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With 8 weeks to go until the Rocket City Marathon in Huntsville, Alabama, I decided to give it another go at a marathon PR. Initially, I had planned to try to qualify for Boston, but since I did not stick to the actual 16 week marathon training program, instead opting for an ultra per month with lots of tapering and recovery periods in between, I am going to shoot for "just" a PR, instead. The goal is a time of 3 hours 29 minutes and 59 seconds. Anything faster than that is just icing on the cake.

16 October 2011

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Cool tech shirt provided by  my employer.
Race Day
A great race for a great cause. The eighth edition of the Liz Hurley Ribbon Run 5K set a new participation record, with over 5500 registered runners. For the first time, event organizers actually had to turn away runners due to public safety reasons once the maximum capacity was reached. I believe this was actually the largest organized race ever in the city of Huntsville. Hopefully, organizers can find a way to allow for larger participation next year, as it would be a shame if the event could not grow any further, thereby limiting the effort to raise funds and awareness for breast cancer.

A coworker of mine had once again stepped up to solicit runners to create a corporate team of runners for this race. And Again, our employer Emerson Network Power had stepped up and paid the registration fees for employees and their family members along with providing free tech shirts with a nice logo designed by another coworker for all participants (see picture above). It was nice to see every one step up again for a great cause. In addition, a lot of the runners got together at the office the week prior to the race, raising almost $1,800.00 USD with a bake sale.

Just before the race, I met up with my coworkers for a quick team picture before heading to the starting line with Jason Shattuck in time to get a spot towards the front of the field.Once again,I planned to break the 20 minute barrier and I figured I'd try to stick with Jason as long as possible to make it happen. I had never before attended this race and I wasn't familiar with the course at all. I only hoped it wouldn't have a lot of hills.

Race organizers had separated the race by gender with men starting at 8AM and women following with a 9AM start. After an intro by Liz Hurley, a local TV anchor and namesake for the cause and the race, the race started at 8AM. I stayed just behind Jason as we made our way through a slightly congested field of runners early on. I was feeling pretty good early on. I normally slowed down during the second mile only to pick up the pace again on the last mile. To try something new, I decided to push through the second mile and to try to hold the pace of the first mile. Overall, I was able to maintain the average pace I had targeted through mile 2.

Unfortunately, I ended up paying the price very soon after. There were a couple of hills between mile 2 and 2.5 and while I did slow down just a bit to save my energy during the climbs for the last .5 mile downhill section, I was exhausted when I hit 2.5 miles. At this point James pulled away and I was struggling to keep my heart rate in check. I had already maxed out at 192 with another half mile to go, which was not a good sign. I opted to back off and to settle for whatever I would end up with. What I ended up with was another   finish just above 20 minutes, oh well.

Some of my fellow co-workers and I just before the start.

Final Comments
Starting next week, I plan to focus on marathon training with lots of speed work and cross training. There are plenty of local 5K races and I will continue to go for it. Hopefully, the speed work will help. I ended up 5th in my age group and 36th overall in the men's race with upwards of 700 runners participating.

11 October 2011

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I woke up at 7AM this morning and met up with Mike Mulligan to go for a quick run. We met up in the lobby of the Hyatt Regency hotel in Santa Clara, California where we are staying for a conference at 7:30AM. I had mapped out a nice trail run starting out just behind our hotel on the San Tomas Aquino Creek Trail and leading onto the San Francisco Bay Trail before looping back around.

08 October 2011

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Lots of cool swag at this race, but runners had to finish first.
Pre-Race
I registered for the Dick Collins Firetrails 50 Miler on a whim. I had just completed the Georgia Jewel 100 Mile race two weeks prior and I must have been riding the runners high still when I signed up. They also offered a point to point trail marathon on the same course and on the same day, but I didn't want to miss the opportunity to run an ultra on the West coast while on business.

Race Day
I had set my alarm for 4:15AM on Saturday morning to make the drive from my hotel in Fremont, California to the race start and finish location at Lake Chabot Regional Park in Castro Valley, California just Southeast of San Francisco and Oakland. The race course was an out and back run that started at the Lake Chabot Regional Park to Anthony Chabot Regional Park to Redwood Regional Park to Huckleberry Botanic Regional Preserve to Sibley Volcanic Regional Preserve to Tilden Regional Park and back. It is mostly run on the Macdonald Trail, Stream Trail and Bay Area Ridge Trail. The race started and finished at the beautiful Lake Chabot.

I arrived at the registration area at 5:30AM to pick up my race bib. This race was a little more unusual than others in that racers would not receive their swag bag until they crossed the finish line. I thought that was a nice touch, just in case anyone was lacking motivation to finish;-) Even though the race would start in the dark, race organizers did point out on their website that while runner could opt to use headlamps or flashlights, they were barely required as the first section of the course was run on an asphalt trail section. By the time runners would hit the actual fire trails, the sun would be up. I chose to follow their advice and went without a headlamp and had no problems.

After runners were led to the actual starting line in somewhat complete darkness (aside from some bobbing headlamps and handhelds), race organizers kicked off the race at 6:30AM sharp. After stopping at the local running shop "Zombie Runner" in downtown Palo Alto, California the day before the race and getting some advice from one of the shop owners, an experienced ultra runner and previous participant at the race, I decided to line up in the back of the pack. After all, this was a "recovery run" for the Georgia Jewel 100 and I needed to be sure to start very very conservatively.

As we ran alongside Lake Chabot and the sun started to rise, we all got to enjoy absolutely amazing views of the lake and the surrounding areas. I continued to be in awe as we climbed one ridge after another. The views from some of these spots along the course were absolutely astonishing. Even the course itself was absolutely beautiful, with pine needle covered fire trails and single track trails that were just fantastic. For most of the first quarter of the race, I kept my overall average at 12:30 minute per mile pace. After about ten miles, I experienced another first. At this point, I was still part of a train of runners traversing another hill on some beautiful single track trail, when I felt a severe sting in my right calf. I had just been stung by a wasp and 4 out of the 5 runners with me received the same treatment, one of us being stung 4 times. Thankfully, there was a good Samaritan with us, a local runner, who had experienced this many times before and who readily handed out Benadryl pills to everyone to minimize the pain and  swelling and to prevent any allergic reactions.

What a great day for a run!
After cruising for about 12-15 miles, the climbing started to take a toll on me and my average pace started to slow and continued to slow to an average just under 14 minutes. The field had thinned out significantly by now and I ran pretty much by myself at this point. To make matters worse, I took a wrong turn down a fire trail after 20 miles. This one mile detour put be behind on my target pace and I was now running at an average pace of over 14 minutes per mile. I continued to chug away until someone mentioned that we might actually be getting close to the 26 mile cut-off time of 6 hours and 15 minutes at the turn around point. That started to get me slightly nervous as I had never ever been close to a cut-off at a race, let alone been told that I had to get moving or else I would get pulled, but that's exactly what happened when I arrived at the turn around aid station and the aid station marshal announced that we had 5 minutes to get out of the aid station or else we would not be allowed to continue.

There was about 5 runners at the aid station, all rushing to get in and out. I refilled my two bottles and took off. I decided that I would try to push over the next 10 miles (next cut-off) to make up some time by the time I'd get to the 37 mile aid station. I basically flew through the next two aid stations, running most of the course including much of the uphills, before arriving at the 37 mile aid station. By this time, I had made up an hour on the cut-off. I felt much better than I did at the turnaround and I had actually been experiencing a second wind for the first time ever in an ultra. I felt much better during the second half of the course and my pace reflected it.

I continued to push, passing at least two to three runners between every aid station starting with the 26 mile turn around point. I was hurting and started to develop blisters on both feet once again, but I felt good mentally allowing me to continue to push. I also didn't want to risk finishing after dark. After all, I didn't have a headlamp with me. I really picked up my pace for the final two miles and when I finally crossed the finish line in 12 hours and 4 minutes, I had accomplished a new PR (by barely 5 minutes). It wasn't pretty, but I'll take it. As soon as I crossed the finish line, I was directed to a couple of tables to pick up my finisher's awards and race swag. They handed out some great stuff (see picture on top). This was an amazingly beautiful course with  plenty of aid stations and great race organization.

Final Comments
First, I'd like to thank all of the race volunteers and park staff for putting on an amazing ultra event. I will be happy to recommend this event to my fellow ultra runners in the Southeast. Second, I'd like to thank all my running buddies and friends for their encouraging comments. Finally, I need to figure out the blister problem. The Hoka One One Mafate trail shoes worked great for me (proper personal product review will follow), but I still blistered in the usual spots. I even wore two pairs of socks (Injinji liner socks with Drymax trail socks) and I used BlisterShield foot powder. At my next race over 50K, I will need to pre-tape my feet to see if that will fix my problem. That's gonna require practice, practice, practice as it seems nearly impossible for me right now to tape the bottom of my feet by myself. Next, it is time to really rest, letting my feet heal and muscles recover. I plan to really refocus my training and to set some serious goals. You can find the latest results here.

05 October 2011

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Today, James and I were joined by my colleague and friend Mike Mulligan from Ireland, who is here visiting me on business. We picked him up at the Westin hotel and went for a nice and easy 10K run around Bridge Street Town Centre and Research Park. James worked out a route last night, trying to incorporate some of the more interesting sections of this industrial area. He managed to have us run along a small lake, across some walking bridges on the Adtran campus, across the DNA path behind the Hudson Alpha building and finally up an escalator in the wrong direction (how's that for a hill/stair workout;-).

03 October 2011

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I'm not sure what to call this week, recovery week or taper week. As I still reminisce about my Georgia Jewel 100 finish a week ago, I am attempting to rest/taper for the Dick Collins Firetrails 50 Miler this weekend in California, which I signed up for on short notice, because I am in town on business as this event takes place. How could I not jump at the opportunity to run an ultra without having to make additional travel arrangements?

01 October 2011

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Unfortunately, my performance did not match my bib number.
Well, I really wasn't going to run this thing, but when I picked up he race packet at FleetFeet Huntsville last night (just in case), they had assigned bib number #1 to me. Not because I was seeded, I wish, but because I probably registered first. I didn't really care. I just thought it would be poor etiquette to not at least show up and run, even if I couldn't quite race yet because of last weekend's 100 miler. I know, I know, I keep mentioning the Georgia Jewel 100. Sorry, but I'm going to keep bringing up this race as either an accomplishment or an excuse for quite some time to come.

US STATES WITH 100 MILE RACES COMPLETED (15)

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COUNTRIES WITH ULTRAMARATHONS COMPLETED (13)

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RACE CALENDAR

  • Mount Mitchell Heartbreaker 50M (Old Fort, NC) - March 23, 2024
  • Oak Mountain 50K (Birmingham, AL) - March 30, 2024
  • Southern States 200M (Delta, AL) April 12-16, 2024
  • Cocodona 250M (Black Canyon City, AZ) - May 6-11, 2024
  • Mohican 100M (Loudonville, OH) - June 1, 2024
  • Bighorn 100M (Dayton, WY) - June 14, 2024
  • Crazy Mountain 100M (Lennep, MT) - July 26, 2024
  • Eastern States 100M (Waterville, PA) - August 10, 2024
  • SwissPeaks 360 (Valais, Switzerland) - September 1-8, 2024
  • Indiana Trail 100M (Albion, IN) - October 12, 2024
  • Rim To River 100M (New River Gorge, WV) - November 2, 2024 (WAITLIST #99)
  • Charleston 100M (Mount Pleasant, SC) - December 27, 2024
  • The Montane Winter Spine 268M (Edale, UK) - January 12-19, 2025

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