31 December 2012

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Another title could have been "How an ultra runner was diagnosed with high cholesterol, became a pescetarian, then fractured an ankle and tore a tendon before being diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE), all in less than seven weeks". If that doesn't give away the content of this "little" blog post, just looking at the label list makes one think of a medical dictionary, from (A)nkle fracture to Blood Clot(z).

27 December 2012

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Though I have not fully processed my recent health scare, I figured it was time to briefly reflect on the wonderful year that has been before I capture my thoughts on my blog in greater detail before year's end.

12 November 2012

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After laying off running for a full week, I decide it was time to see if my feet and my legs had recovered enough from the disappointment that was the Pinhoti 100. I still haven't fully come to grips with that race and all of the stuff that went on inside my head during the event, but I hope to put "pen to paper" in the near future to close that final chapter of 100 milers of 2012.

03 November 2012

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One of my favorite race logos.
I've been procrastinating over this one for weeks now and rather than things becoming clearer in my "running life", they've become more complicated. Rather than continue putting off my thoughts on this race, I decided to close off this chapter on move on.

This was my second attempt at the Pinhoti 100 in three years and all things considered, I felt much better prepared this time around that 3 years ago. After all, 3 years ago, I attempted Pinhoti as my very first 100 miler. Since then, I had completed four 100 mile races, two of them this year and on other sections of the Pinhoti trail. To be honest, I felt more than ready. I had put in the miles and the climbing and I had done so on pretty technical terrain for the most part. So even when my mind started to wonder if I was really ready (just like before any ultra marathon race), I reconsidered all of these things and all of my previous finishes. I even considered the difficulty levels of some of these races and how Pinhoti 100 seemed much more runable, etc. Granted, I had dealt with a couple of little issues, a tight muscle here, a little pinched nerve there, overall nothing that I would consider race ending.

When I finally lined up for the 2012 edition of the Pinhoti 100 along with Ed Johnson, a fellow training and crew partner attempting his very first 100 miler, I had put all doubts aside and I was ready to have a great race. After all, this was meant to be the highlight of my 2012 racing year, completing the first unofficial "Pinhoti Slam" by running the Double Top 100, Georgia Jewel 100 and Pinhoti 100 all in the same year. To make a long story short (and as the title already indicates), I fell about 35 miles short of 300 miles total. Somehow, it all fell apart for me early on.

About 15 miles into the race, previously minor twitches (tight groin muscle and sciatica) had turned into major pain factors, leading me to favor one side over the other. This caused hotspots and overall muscle soreness and pain. My physical issues affected me so badly mentally, that I was ready to tap out just 20 miles into the race. Thanks to my very good friend Ronnie Hines (who was crew and pacer for Kena this year, but still managed to take care of all kinds of other people), I was able to recover mentally with the new goal to just make it to the next aid station. I plugged into some AC/DC and I was off running. What was so remarkable about this is the fact that I had been walking for over an hour up until this point. I was already eyeballing cutoffs after 20 miles, which had never happened to me before. Yet, here I was running again, jamming to AC/DC and making up some serious time.

I knew things could and would change again later on, so I just enjoyed a good bit of running. I'm sure the Advil had a little bit to do with my "recovery" as well. As it happens very often in a 100 miler, I started to feel the pain again a few hours later and things went from bad to worse in a hurry. I was already formulating all the excuses I would tell Ronnie the next time I saw, when I ended up catching up to Kena and Perry. Wow, if they are struggling, maybe I should just stick with them, you know, misery loves company. I figured if anyone can keep me going, it would be them. I stuck with them for quite some time and even went ahead
for a few miles. Unfortunately, by mile 65 all of that energy and will had evaporated into thin air. As Perry approached, I waived him off. I was done. My buddy Ed had quit a few hours earlier and so had Enoch, both of whom were hanging out in my car while I was trying to muster the energy to continue. It wasnt gonna happen. I did not want to be out there any more.

As these things ALWAYS go, by the time I woke up the next morning, I was extremely disappointed in my decision. No reasoning and comparison to other who had failed along with me helped. I was just slightly short of disgusted with myself. I knew I had encountered a lot more problems physically than ever before, but I now thought that maybe I could have done it.

P.S.: I finally made peace with my decision, well sorta. It appears that I was indeed more seriously injured than I initially thought. One of the pain spots during the race has now turned into something more serious. I am still awaiting the results of the MRI. I suspect a stress fracture or torn ligament/tendon in my outside left ankle. Heck, what else could it be? My main concern now is to get a proper diagnosis as well as a treatment and recovery plan so I know how this will affect my plans for the remainder of the year as well as early 2012. To be honest, I am extremely concerned that this is worse than any previous ankle injury I've dealt with. However, keeping my fingers crossed and my thoughts positive...mostly!

Lifetime 100 mile race score: Buckles 4 - DNF 2

31 October 2012

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Nice and easy run with my wife this afternoon after laying off for a week. A couple of nagging aches and pains made me take it much easy and rest more than usual. Hopefully, this was the right decision in anticipation of the Pinhoti 100 this weekend. We just logged 3.5 miles at an easy pace. Temps are starting to be very cool, which has actually been kind of nice for a change.

23 October 2012

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I've been taking it easy for a couple of weeks, so it was time to stretch my legs again. My sciatica was still acting up, but I needed to do something. Rich and I met up at my house to do an easy 4.5 miler around the UAH campus at 6AM. We went at an easy pace. The weather was a littler cooler with temps in the low 50s.

At 5:30PM, my wife decided it was time for her after work run and since I took it easy this morning, I figured I'd join her on a short run. We did 3.5 miles on the UAH campus and temps were much milder at this point, probably in the 70s. My legs felt good, but sciatica is ever present.

20 October 2012

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Team M&M was race team #8.
This was my first adventure race in a while and my very first event ever where I have teamed up with my 13 year old son. It was a lot of fun. My son participated in his first big endurance event and he did absolutely fantastic.

This adventure race is an urban event, meaning we didn't race on trails or off-road but rather on city streets. The race organizers had split teams and single participants into two waves with the first group starting at 8AM and the second ground starting at 8:15AM. We were in the second group, while Pteam Pterodactyl, a team including James Duncan and Dan Brooks who have raced and trained with me many times, took off at 8AM. Gunter and is wife sent us off in "authentic" traditional German dress.

A bit cold but still all smiles just before the race.
The picture above shows us just before the race start. The first challenge consisted of collecting our map and clue sheet to figure out where to go first. The first leg had us riding our bikes to the first challenge site, a Crossfit-esque workout. While my son struggled a bit with the cycling and hill climbing on our bikes, he handily beat me in the Crossfit challenge.

We got back onto our bikes to proceed to our next challenge, but first we had to head back to the start for a couple of challenges, including a game of "beer pong" which I managed to win (I think i was the only one or one of to actually complete this challenge). Next was an Angry Birds-style slingshot challenge and Mace took care of that one. A quick chicken dance with Gunter and his wife and were were off on foot for the first time, though I can't exactly remember, if the chicken dance came before or after the other challenges.

We headed to our next two challenges, purchasing a cup at a farmer's market and continuing on to the pavilion named after the only female Alabama governor. There we had to climb a nice steep trail and hole-punch our map before engaging in a math/physics challenge. With some help from a fellow team, we managed to get the right answer.

Now, we ran back to home base again, before taking to our bikes and continuing on to the next challenge. This time, we headed to the chamber of commerce (see pic below), before leaving our bikes and heading into town on foot. 

The host city for the Grunt 'N' Grind.
The picture below shows Mace near one of the sites we had to take a picture of. Our next stop was the post office in the center of Guntersville's main street. Once there, we had to solve a riddle to find out our next destination. We were headed straight for the harbor. That meant we would be canoeing next. Awesome!

One of the "clues" we had to locate.
But rather than just get into our canoe and take off, we had to carry it down the pear to "port it". At least I think that's what it's called. We had to paddle across Lake Guntersville to arrive at our next challenge, a short 75 yard swim followed by a 1.5 mile trail run. Once we completed this part, we got back into our canoe to cross Lake Guntersville once more.

The Map.

Once we arrived back at the harbor, we ran straight for our bikes and on to our next challenge. But first we had to bike back to home base for a fun little beer keg roll challenge. We got back onto our bikes once I completed that challenge and on to the final stretch of challenges. While we had been pretty much in the back of the field early on, we were now firmly in the middle of the pack of racers.

We pedaled to the local high school stadium, where we had to complete a football throwing challenge (dang, being a soccer player, I had really hoped for a field goal challenge). Thankfully, Mace hit the target right away. We had to run the stadium stairs before getting back on our bikes and moving on to the local museum, where we had to find a particular item before moving on. We kept  steady pace and arrived at our next stop, where we would leave our bikes before continuing on foot on a levee towards the local fire station. Once we arrived, we had to do a few physically challenging tasks to earn our race bracelets. Once again, we passed with flying colors, even though we had to drag a gigantic tire across the field for one challenge. This tire was bigger than Mace and I together.
The Clue Sheet.
We ran back to our bikes, passing a couple of teams on the way. We knew we had just one challenge left before heading back to the finish and that gave us both extra energy. We headed to a pumpkin patch, where we had to scour through a bunch of pumpkins to identify one that contained our final clue.  As soon as we found it we headed straight for the finish. Unfortunately, that straight line included a serious climb. But we pushed on to the finish, crossing the finish line in 4 hours and 40 minutes, 9th overall. Not bad for a first time father-on team:-) I can't wait to register u for next year's event.

Happy Finishers, 9th out of 17 overall:-)

17 October 2012

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Richard, James, Ed and I met up at 6AM to run the Cotton Row Run 10 K course in reverse. The temps were in the low 50s and our pace was anything but fast, but it allowed all of us to catch up with each other as it had been a while since we'd all run together. Ed's still recovering from a foot injury, but I expect him to be ready to rock his first 100 miler at Pinhoti. I plan to continue to take it very easy to allow myself to recover and "reload" for Pinhoti.

15 October 2012

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Ed, Rich and I met up for a short 5 mile trail run this morning. We took off just before 6AM to run a trail loop Richard had worked out around the Railroad Bed Trail on Monte Sano Mountain. During the entire run, all of us continued to wonder how in the world an actual train has used these now extremely rugged trails to transport people and goods up and down the mountain. I had a hard time imagining mules pulling wagons along these trails, let alone an actual locomotive. Unless I see actual footage of this train, I continue to be suspicious;-) We ended up having a very fun, very slippery run with mild temps in the low 60s. Thankfully, we didn't have to deal with any additional rain during our run.

13 October 2012

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Very nice new tech shirt this year...and the 15K State Championship no less.
Yet another perfect day for a race atop the beautiful Monte Sano Mountain. However, unlike my usual adventures on the local mountain, this 15K race course is run entirely on roads. It starts and finishes inside the Monte Sano State Park. Runners are lead on a couple of out and back sections on State Park roads before exiting the park and entering the adjacent neighborhoods. While this is a road race, it is definitely a challenging course that leads runners along rolling hills throughout the entire race.

Me on a picturesque road section inside Monte Sano State Park just after the race start.
Anya and I had registered for this race a couple of months ago as part of Anya's training for her first 25K race in Nicaragua in Februrary 2013. While she had been dealing with severe bone bruising and swelling in her right knee along with severe plantar fasciitis in her right foot, she still wanted to toe the line. I had offered to pace her, but she wanted to stick it out alone at a pace comfortable to her. I had sincerely hoped she would let me pace her as the alternative meant that I had to battle it out with my usual "foes".

Anya looking very relaxed early in the race.
When we arrived just about 30 minutes before the race start, the place was already buzzing with tons of people warming up and getting ready. It was foggy and just a little chilly, perfect temperatures for the race. I quickly spotted Jason Shattuck as well as Mike DeHaye. Oh boy, I really had hoped I wouldn't have to "man up" and try to race these guys. As it turned out, it wasn't much of a race anyway as both guys left me in the dust very early on in the race.

As the race start approached, I decided I would try to stay with Jason as long as possible and if I couldn't maintain pace, I'd lust drop off and take it easy. However, I was still running with him with a mile to go, I was going to give him a run for his money. RD Mike O'Melia signaled the race start with the traditional musket (or whatever that riffle is called) and we were off. BTW, it was absolutely great to see Dink Taylor out there looking just like his old self (minus a few pounds). From what I hear, his recovery is going rather well and I am extremely glad to see and hear that.

I was feeling pretty good very early on running sub 7 min pace. Jason was just ahead of me and Kathy Youngren and Dana Overton were just behind me. I figured it would only be a matter of time before they'd pass me. As usual, Mike had taken off like a rabbit. He never faltered and had a strong race. Congrats Mike! I kept Jason right in front of me, but at just 3 miles into the race, I started to feel pooped already. I immediately turned inside and started to argue with myself. "Why am I even out here? I just ran a 50K and a 100 miler just 3 weeks ago. I have neither the pace nor the mental fortitude right now to turn it on, so why don't I just walk it in. Seriously, who cares." Well, I care, so while I slowed down significantly, I decided to treat this as a tempo run. I allowed myself to slow my pace to at least talk to fellow racers or shout words of encouragement, but I more or less maintained this pace til the finish.


I crossed the finish line in 69 minutes, about 4 minutes slower than my goal. Oh well, it was still a course PR and a fantastic race nonetheless. I actually got to enjoy the scenery this time, able to take it all in. The view just after the start with the sun breaking through the fog and the trees and hitting road and us runners below was amazing. I look forward to running this race for the fifth time next year and hopefully, I get to battle it out again with my running buddies, cause this time it was no contest! Congrats to Jason, Mike, Andy, Kathy and all the other runners who finished this race.

A special congratulations goes out to my wife and better half Anya for completing her first 15K road race and for doing it not only in style, but extremely well. Running negative splits on a challenging 15K road course like this one is no small feat. I am extremely proud and excited to see that her training and hard work is paying off. Nicaragua, here we come!

Anya crossing the finish line looking strong!

12 October 2012

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Ed and I met up with Richard at his house for a nice 6 mile trail loop that Richard worked out. Of course, as soon as we entered the trail it started pouring down. Oh well, we hadn't been on a sloppy muddy trail run in a while and the temps were just right as well. Since I was wearing racing flats, I had to watch my step on the slippery rocks, but my shoes were surprisingly grippy on this terrain. The weather combined with the technical terrain did affect our pace, however, and it took us well over an hour to complete the 6 mile loop. Tomorrow is the Fleet Feet Monte Sano 15K and I'm not sure if I have my legs back yet to actually "race" it. Either way, I will treat it as a tempo run.

10 October 2012

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Finally got together with half of my usual running crew, James and Richard, to do an easy UAH loop this morning. We met up at my house at 6AM to "stretch out" out legs. James has been taking it easy and Richard just rode 400 miles on his bike in three days, from Orange Beach to Huntsville. And I, well..., I was clearly still recovering from the Jewel, because the StumpJump50K last Saturday still kicked my butt and my upper hamstrings (sciatic nerve) were still bothering me.

We ran 4.5 miles at an easy pace and the temps were nice and cool. Im going to keep my runs easy to allow myself to recover properly for the Pinhoti 100 in three weeks. I decided to opt out of the Mystery Mountain Trail Marathon, even though I've been wanting to do that one for the last couple of years as some very special peeps organize and run that event....next year for sure!

06 October 2012

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Nice swag, tech hat, tech shirt and finisher´s medal.
I don't know why I ever think a race is going to be "easy" or that it can't be "that difficult", but I do. Maybe it's because I figured I couldn't push the pace anyway because I was still recovering from the Jewel 2 weeks earlier, or maybe I figured if I'd just take it easy, it was going to be easy, I'm not sure. Needless to say, I was wrong...again.

Don't misunderstand my comments here, please. While this race was tough on account of its technical terrain with lots and lots of climbing, it also provided some of the most beautiful single track trails and vistas in the Southeast.

The first challenge began before I had even left my house on race morning. Even though I lived more than 2 hours away from the race start, I decided to drive up the morning of the race rather than stay at a hotel to save some money. I knew I had to be at the race start by 7AM at the latest in order to pick up my race packet, so I set my alarm for 4AM, giving myself an hour to get ready before leaving the house. Incidentally, I woke up at 3:45AM. I almost decided to turn around to go back to sleep when it dawned on me...Crap! Crap! Crap! I turned to my wife who was dead asleep as any normal human being would be at 3:45AM. "Honey? Is Chattanooga on EST or CST time?" "EST" she responded half asleep and not happy with me right now. "S___, f___, d___" (edited to protect innocent ears, but feel free to enter expletives of your choice in English or German). That's just great, so much for a relaxed start to an early morning that was going to be anything but to be gin with.

Pack your racing stuff (yes, I am that much of a procrastinator when it comes to packing), take a shower, have a coffee, get dressed, TCB. 10 minutes later, I was on the road to minimize the amount of time I needed to make up on my drive.

2 hours later, I arrived at Signal Mountain Middle High School, the venue for the 2012 StumpJump 50K. I had made this trip alone, but I expected to see many familiar faces from Huntsville and the surrounding areas. While I still missed quite a few of them both before and after the race, I did manage to meet up with Cary "Bartman" Long (once again, edited to protect you know who, the innocent. Cary, your actual nickname rhymes with Bartman, let's just leave it at that). Christy Scott, and Megan Nobriga has also arrived already and Christy's husband Tony was nice enough take a quick pic of all of us just before the race got underway.

There must have been a total of 800 runners lining up for the 11 mile and 50K distances and there really is just one way to truly capture all of that excitement at the starting line...you guessed it, via helicopter. Oh, you didn't? Well I didn't either until the downdraft of the chopper or whatever it's called messed up my perm while it was hovering above us, taking video footage and pictures. Very cool indeed!

As promised by the RDs, the race started on time and the first couple of minutes consisted of walking across the starting line. Thank goodness for timing chips, cause every second counts in these short distance events. Christy pretty much took, Cary tried to fall in behind her and I did the same with Cary. Megan settled into her own race pace pretty much rigght away, which really is the proper strategy for any runner, especially a first time ultra racer. Congrats on your finish, Megan!

Christy set a decent pace and at least to me it felt pretty fast. I was clearly not fully recovered yet from the Jewel 2 weeks earlier and it would become evident later in the race. Cary settled in behind her and before we knew it, we had hit single track trails working our way towards some beautiful vistas. I tried to stay relaxed and focus on just that. Having Cary to run with made time fly very early on and before I knew it, we had completed the first 10 miles. The scenery was beautiful and most of the trails were actually pretty runable, but there were some very technical sections. The rock garden comes to mind as well as some rocky and extremely slippery and slanted section of single track trail along the ridge. 

We continued to maintain pace and I kept reminding myself to keep something in the tank for the final 10 mile leg that included the return across Suck Creek and Suck Creek Road, a course section that included a quad busting steep downhill section as well as the climb back out of that "gorge" (that's what I call it anyway). The final 10 miles were indeed the toughest part of the race for me. Exhaustion started to overcome me rather quickly 22 mile into the run. I started to barter with myself. "it's okay to walk some, especially the uphills. No need to run everything, you don't want to be completely spent when you get to the finish." Who was I kidding, I was going to be spent no matter what. I was spent already. My legs were heavy and now it was time to convince myself that if I moved just a little faster and I tried to run most of the smaller hills, I could be done sooner. Ahh, that sounded so good! I remembered Cary talking about some amazing cheeseburgers at the finish. When I arrived at the aid station at Suck Creek, I downed about 4 cups of Coke before moving on. It was time to dig deep, starting with this "little" climb out of here. I passed a couple of guys and was passed by a couple of guys during this section and I was wanting for it to be over. I enjoyed the scenery, but I really wanted to be done running. 

I was lost in thought when out of nowhere, I got chicked! 3 miles to go and I am getting chicked? You've got to be kidding me! "Wait a minute, I know you. I've seen you before. You're from Huntsville, too! No way you're going to chick me now." It was Beth Barry and she was looking a heck of a lot fresher than me. Ugh, I gotta run. I started to push on the hill and Beth decided to walk. "Catch you on the downhill" she shouted. No way, I am going to run this pace all the way to the finish and no one is going to pass me. I passed another couple of guys that had just passed me minutes earlier and I was now on a mission...no more getting passed and no more slowing down. Then I came to the road crossing and a volunteer does the unthinkable. He shouts "just a little under 2 miles to go". Say what? This is a joke, right? You must be mistaken, I am certain I am almost there. I basically sprinted the last 15 minutes and I must have covered a lot more ground than that. 

And them I slowed down....and Beth passed me...again...this time for good. I continued to move, trying not to slow down too much. When I finally turned left for the half mile road section to the finish, I was feeling much better mentally. My body was tired, but I was excited to be completing this race. I crossed the finish line in 6 hours 30 minutes and 9 seconds, exactly my goal time to the minute. Not as fast as I would've hoped for a 50K race, but the right pace during my recovery.

Thanks to a great team of organizers and volunteers, who kept this entire event running smoothly without any bottlenecks whatsoever, which is an amazing feat considering the distance and the large amount of racers. Thanks also to my fellow racers for adding entertainment and conversation to am amazingly scenic course and congrats to all finishers. Finally, a shoutout to Joe Fejes, who I had the pleasure of meeting very briefly before the race. I've been following his amazing ultra performances of late, especially his participation in the 24 Hour World Championships in Poland last month. Due in no small part to his performance, the men's US National Team was able to win the Bronze medal. I wish I had had more time to pick his brain before the race, but I'm sure that feeling was not mutual;-) No worries Joe, I will chase you down at the Pinhoti 100 next month (before or after the race, of course) to make up for that.

My Garmin FR showed almost 6000 feet of climb, but that must've been a mistake, right?

03 October 2012

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It was time to say hello to the local mountain again. Richard and Mike kicked off their annual 500 mile bike from the gulf coast back to Huntsville, AL and James was out of town as well. Thankfully, Ed was still in town and rearing to go for a run as well. We met up outside Richard's house just after 5AM to run our usual Ranger Station out & back run. Since I was still in full recovery mode from the 100 miler just 10 days ago and Ed was dealing with an ankle injury and plantar fasciitis, we decided on an easy pace. For this purpose, it actually helped that Ed forgot his headlamp as it kept us from going to fast. We did, however, discover another use for the Samsung Galaxy phone as Ed used its video camera light as his trail light. It got him all the way to the top of the mountain. Yet another reason never to leave your home without your cell phone when going on a trail run;-)

The temps were almost a little chilly to start, but I quickly started sweating in my half-zip top that I chose to wear over a short sleeve tech short. Still, I kept it on. Temps never got above the high 50s or low 60s on this run and when it was all said and done, Ed and I had completed close to 10 miles in just over 2 hours. Slow and leisurely, but fun. I have the StumpJump 50K on the agenda for this weekend, but it will be a mere recovery/tapering effort for me with the Georgia Jewel 100 just behind me and the Pinhoti 100 just ahead of me. It's going to suck not to be able to push, but I have to be smart about and keep my eyes on the big prize.

01 October 2012

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First stop, White House!
After having laid off from running for the last 8 days after completing the Georgia Jewel 100 Miler last weekend, it was finally time to get my legs moving again, even if ever so slowly. What better place to do so than the capital of the US of A, Washington, D.C.?

Second stop, The Capitol!

This run has to be my second most favorite big city run of all time. My favorite run of all time was a similar run in the center of Berlin, the capital of Germany, my home country. Yeah, I know, not really a fair comparison when you're biased like that. My third favorite city run of all time was a run through Central Park in the center of New York City.


Third stop, the Washington Monument!
Only the run in Berlin felt as awe-inspiring in a historical sense as the National Mall loop in Washington did. Every building and every site along this run was an important part of U.S. history in every sense of the word.

I had worked out a 10K loop that started at our hotel just one mile north of the White House and would lead past and around the Washington Monument as well as past multiple properties of the Smithsonian Institution (including the Museums of Natural History, American History and Air & Space and the Smithsonian Castle, to name a few). At one end of the loop, I stopped to take a picture of the US Capitol.

I continued my loop on the other side of the National Mall, this time passing the Washington Memorial, this time to my left. I stopped yet again to snap a picture. I had picked the perfect time for my run. At 7AM, almost all sites were still closed and there was very little traffic at any of the monuments, yet. I continued my run past the Word War II memorial and the reflecting pool until I reached the Lincoln Memorial. Again, it was time for a quick pic before moving on.



Final stop, the Lincoln Memorial!
On the way back to the hotel, I passed many other culturally historical sites, but rather than just continue to keep listing them here, I strongly encourage you to take this memorable trip to D.C. and to make time for a "once in a lifetime" run along the National Mall. It is well worth it as I am sure others that did this run before me can attest to. And one last thing, I have never in my life seen that many people out for a run, ever. Throughout the day, I would see a runner every few seconds. DC is definitely one of the more active cities I've ever been to. The one thing I wondered about the most: Are most of these runners visitors like me or are they locals that are lucky enough to get to do this every day, week in and week out...

23 September 2012

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2012 Georgia Jewel 100 Mile Endurance Race Finisher Buckle
Road Trip

I am one lucky guy. Ronnie Hines, James Duncan and Ed Johnson all agreed to crew and pace me at the second edition of the Georgia Jewel 100 Mile Endurance Run. After running the inaugural Double Top 100 Mile Race in March, Ronnie and Dan "The Man" Burstein put a bug in my ear. "Why don't you go for the "Pinhoti Grand Slam"? While there is no official event of that name, we all decided that running all 3 100 mile races on the Pinhoti trail in Georgia and Alabama in one calendar year should constitute an unofficial "Slam". I thought it was a cool idea. I already had enough reason to attempt the Pinhoti 100 again after failing at my first attempt two years ago. But since I had already run the inaugural Georgia Jewel 100 last year, I needed an additional reason to run that one again and this idea fit it perfectly.

I went through my usual logistics planning weeks ahead of time, only to wait until the day of my departure to actually pack my stuff. The GPS in my car was loaded with the aid station locations for my crew and my pace chart was laminated and safely stuck into my running pack. I basically tossed almost all of my running gear into the back of my car, so that my crew could just access whatever was needed when I'd hit the aid stations. Not having to pack drop bags made my planning a whole lot easier.

Ed and I left Huntsville, Alabama just after 1PM and headed for Dalton, Georgia. James arrived there a couple of hours before us as he was already in Atlanta on a work related project. Ronnie would join up with my crew Saturday around noon after flying into Atlanta and driving straight to one of the aid station to meet up with us.

Ed and I arrived in Dalton around 4:30PM. We met up with James, who had already checked in to the Courtyard Marriott and we walked to the race hotel for the official check in and packet pickup after dropping off our stuff in our room. I picked up my packet, met a few old and new friends and listened to the pre-race briefing. Afterwards, we headed to the Dalton Depot, where a couple of other local ultra runners from Huntsville (Cary Long, Eric Fritz, Rob Youngren and Blake Thompson) joined us for a carbo dinner. By 8pm, we were back in the hotel ready to catch some shut eye before our 2:45AM wakeup call. Well, i guess that wasn't meant to be. After rolling around, my mind racing and consumed with the race, I managed a whole 3 hours of sleep.

Bib #2, how did that happen?
The Early Stage

When the alarm went off at 2:45AM, I quickly fixed myself a cup of coffee and got dressed. James and Ed got ready as well and we headed to the race start. I joined 47 other runners ready to tackle the Georgia Jewel 100. I was one of only three runners that were attempting to complete the Jewel for the second time.

Yeah, I'm ready! Can you see the determination in my face?
Race director Karen Pearson sent us on our way at 4AM sharp. the 35 and 50 milers would follow at 6AM. I was feeling confident. I had my crew ready to meet up with me for the first time at the 17 mile aid station. I had my pacing plan and decided to stick to it as long as I could. After all, the primary goal was just to finish. I settled into an easy pace, chatting with some runners, but mostly ran on my own, a few runners ahead and behind me.

Laundry line...ultra style!
Normally, I would continue to ramble on about how I progressed from aid station to aid station at this point in my race report. However, I've run the race before and this time I felt it much more important to describe the best ultra running has to offer its participants and that is...drum roll...its participants.


Around mile 40, I stumbled out of the woods and onto a country road. I knew i had 2 miles to cover on this exposed road before I'd make it to the next aid station, but as it turned out, the last 6 miles (or rather 8 miles due to a missed turn) really took it out of me and I experienced overheating for the very first time. I was ready to just lay down in the middle of the road. I was spent, but there wasn't any shade, so I couldn't lay down. Instead, I continued to stumble to a bridge. I stopped, I couldn't go on. I had nothing left. I wouldn't make it another 2 miles, no way! I started looking for cars, any cars. I was just about to stick out my thumb to hitch a ride when angels appeared before me....well, it was Willy's crew, ultra runners par excellence Vikena Yutz and Philip Sustar. "Are you alright?" they asked. "No" I responded while hunched over, "I'm done".

Kena and Phile picked me up, led me across the street to lean against a bridge barrier before telling me to sit down in a tiny spot of shade. The recognized that I was overheating. Thank goodness somebody did, because I was clueless. They handed me ice packs, placed them around my neck and on my head, and handed me an ice cold blue Powerade and a bottle of sparkling water (one of my favorite beverages). I was ready to suit, I didn't think I could recover, but Kena and Phil assured me that it would pass. "You're looking better already" and "It will get better, trust us!" they said.


A Battle of Attrition

"This is a battle of attrition and you've just taken a one-two punch from the Jewel. Now it's time to get back up and show it who's boss". While those are probably not the exact words, they do represent what Philip Sustar told me at mile 40 as I was sitting there. The race would have been over right there and then had it not been for these two guys. It also wasn't the first time that they helped me out. They've helped me at other races before and I've seen them do the same for countless others. Phil and Kena are the perfect examples of what makes ultra running more than just a sport. They didn't have to help me, they certainly didn't have to hang around until I was able to keep moving...but they did it anyway.

I got off my a$$ and started to walk slowly, one foot in front of the other, until I reached the next aid station. And who was there waiting for me? My crew, Ronnie, James and Ed, guys who were out there to help me reach my goal. They didn't have to, and yet, here they were, giving up their entire weekend for me. And they didn't just provide me with food and water. They moved from aid station to aid station, getting a chair ready for me, getting me dry clothes and dry shoes. They even took care of my feet to keep blisters to a minimum. Now that's what I call real friends!

While I was struggling through the final 17 miles of the race with Ronnie as my pacer, Ed decided to take a nap while sending a text.
And when they were not tending to my every need, one of them was running with me for the entire second half of the race to pace me and to just be there to keep me company through the night.

Then there were the countless volunteers at the start and finish area and at the aid stations. For 36 hours, they selflessly provided assistance to almost 150 runners and I'm sure that they always received the gratitude they they all deserve. Hopefully, some of them will ready this and know how much I and all the other runners appreciate everything they did.

All of these selfless people are the reason I continue to participate in ultras. They are the reason why I can't wait to run my next ultra and why I want to do the same for other runners. The ultra running community is more than just a lose connection of like minded people, it is a family. Only family does for each other what these folks do for each other. Thanks again to all of you. I finished much slower than expected, but I finished...and I am one step closer to the "Pinhoti Grand Slam" nonetheless:-)

Me kissing the finish sign after 32 hours and 35 minutes, Hardrock style;-)
Ed paced me from mile 52 to mile 72, James paced me for the next 15 miles and Ronnie dragged me the last 17 miles. After 32 hours and 35 minutes, I crossed the finish. Yes, I received a Georgia Jewel 100 Mile Finisher buckle, but they are the ones that earned it. I had the easy part, I just had to put one foot in front of the other, listening to their instructions as I went. They had to listen to me whine, complain and try to negotiate my way out of running, but they persevered. As a result, I persevered.

One happy camper at the Georgia Jewel 100 finish line.
As a bonus, I got to watch Liz Bauer finish and break the world record of 100 mile ultra marathons run in one year (26). But Liz isn't done yet, she intends to add 4 more before the year is over. What an amazing performance. As an ultra runner, you're not just surrounded by great people but by great people that are great athletes, too.

19 September 2012

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Ed and I met up just after 6AM to run a little over 4 miles around the UAH campus near my house. It was the first cooler run since the beginning of summer several months ago and temps were in the high 50s. I actually wore a long sleeve fleece top as I knew our pace would be slow. At this stage, I am just trying to keep my legs loose with the big goal on Saturday in sight.

18 September 2012

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With 3-5 inches of rain overnight, Rich made the call early for a little fun mud run on our local trails this morning. I was game. We planned a short 5 mile route with plenty of opportunities for reek crossings that had turned into "ranging rivers" and just plain ol' muddy trails. We kept the pace easy, allowing us enough energy for an engaging conversation. Before I knew it, we arrived back at his house. The weather was perfect with cooler temps and a light drizzle accompanying us along the way. I plan on one or 32 more very short runs just to keep the legs lose before Saturday's big day.

16 September 2012

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The alarm went of at 3AM this Sunday morning to allow me to meet up with Rich and Ed for what was to be an easy 11 miles on our local trails starting at 4AM. I had a very busy day ahead and figured this would be the only time to squeeze in a longish run. I'm very lucky to have friends who are just as crazy as I am...or maybe they were just being pals providing a running buddy in need with some company;-) Either way, a 3AM wake-up call on a Sunday morning is never considered normal. I picked up Richard just before 4AM and we met up with Ed at the Monte Sano hiker's parking lot just after 4AM. Some chronic issues I've been dealing with in the past decided to flare up again and I ended up cutting the run short. We ended up with half the distance, but I was still glad to have gotten out for this run.

13 September 2012

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I was able to meet up with the Need For Speed group this evening for planned 400m repeats. However, the Grissom High School track was occupied by it's marching band, so Shannon chose to run Fartleks on the neighboring roads across the street from the school. The layout of the neighborhood lent itself to this type of training. The grid of streets allowed us to run at near maximum pace for .3 miles down one street before turning on the next street for a 70% recovery jog. Once we reached the end of the next street, we would pick up our pace again for another .3 miles. We kept "zigzagging" down the neighborhood and back until we had about 5 or 6 pickups in the books. It was quite a challenge to stick with Shannon's pace during this workout as Jason can attest to as well, but we managed to stay with him for the most part.

When I got home, I finally had a chance to look at our pickup pace for the 5 or 6 repeats. We managed to keep a sub 5:30 min per mile pace for all of the fast legs, not too bad at all. I do not plan an major workouts for the next 8 days in order to give my body time to recharge for the Georgia Jewel.

12 September 2012

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After Ed decided to take another day to nurse his heel injury, James and I met up at Richard's house at 5:15AM to get back to our favorite Ranger Station out & back 10 miler up and and back down Monte Sano mountain. This run is mostly technical single track trail with lots of climbing on the way out (up) and lots of technical downhill on the way back. We decided to take an easy pace today, which allowed us to catch up and carry a conversation without fighting for air, which was quite enjoyable. Shortly after filling James in on my running shoe fiasco from Saturday's trail run, I decided to provide him with another tale from the trails. I decided to pick up the pace during the last half mile of technical downhill trail and ended up tripping forward, only softening the blow of the crash by hooking a tree with my right arm on the way down. The inside of my right lower arm looks like a very large "strawberry" (severe rug burn). Luckily, I received no further injuries other than a few scrapes on my left knee. I also managed once again to damage yet another pair of trail shoes, but this time it's only a very tiny tear in the cushioning around the ankle. Anyway, after that and last Saturday's adventure, I pretty much decided to keep it somewhat flat for the remainder of my 100 mile training. The Georgia Jewel 100 is in 10 days and I'm supposed to taper anyway, right?

After work, I decided to join my wife on a nice 5 miler around the UAH campus. I have to admit, it is much for fun to run with someone who is training for a race than it is to run because you are training for a race, does that make sense? It's just running for running's sake and I'm sure I'll be doing much more of that once I've tackled the Gerogia Jewel 100 and Pinhoti 100 in the next couple of months;-)

11 September 2012

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I decided to go for a short tempo run after work this evening. I felt a little bad about taking yesterday off, but I think I needed the rest. I ended up with another fastest time, running one of my trusty old running routes around the UAH campus in a new personal best, just over 7 minutes per mile. While this isn't race pace, it is faster than I usually push myself during my training runs. I usually defer those kinds of efforts to actual races. Temps were okay, just slightly warmer than I had hoped, but I was a great 5 1/2 mile run.

09 September 2012

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I had a great run with my wife Anya this morning. I had my long run yesterday morning and today, it was my wife's turn. I worked out a route that included a one mile "cross country" loop around Redstone Federal Credit Union and the usual UAH loop. We ended up with close to 10 miles. The weather couldn't have been more perfect with temps in the high 60s and no humidity to speak of. I'm really proud of Anya. She's started to train for the Fuego Y Agua 25K in Nicaragua next February and can only run 2-3 times a week due to her work schedule. Still, she's managed to squeeze in a long run of 10 miles just about every weekend. Before long, she'll be running another ultra:-)

08 September 2012

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Perfect weather for a long trail run this morning. Slight overcast and cooler temps with a chance of rain. I met up with Cary Long, Ed Johnson and a couple of other folks at the hiker's parking lot at 6AM. The plan was to run the 5 mile North loop of the Dizzy Fifties race course before meeting up with a few more runners back at the parking lot at 7AM to run a modified version of the first half of the Mountain Mist race course.

We started running just after 6:05AM and stopped at 6:06AM. One of us had their first wipeout just 50 yards into the run. Well, it's always good to get the falls out of the way early. At 6:09AM we stopped again, Ed had rolled his ankle. Just a minute later, I tripped on a tiny root that literally obliterated my right shoe, ripping two large gashes into the upper and even ripping the rubber material that the upper was attached to. Hm, this was going to be an even longer day if we continued on like this.

However, we were able to continue without problems for now and the first 5 miles went by pretty fast. Back in the hiker's parking lot, we picked up a group of runners including Jason Shattuck to continue our run for an additional 15 miles. Most runners stayed with us for about 5-8miles while Cary, Ed, Jason and I continued on. Unforeseen remaining incidents were reduced to a pitstop and an ankle roll. Jason and Ed peeled off just about a mile early while Cary and I continued to complete just over 19 miles. Intermittent rain showers kept me cool for most of the way and the pace kept me relaxed. I did go through about 100 ounces of liquids during the run and I never felt sloshy. I also took a couple of salt pills and a Honey Stinger waffle and chews to stay fueled.

All in all, it was a great run. I'm not sure how to squeeze in a long run next week, but I'm sure I'll figure it out. I plan to do easier runs during the weeks without much climbing. The goals is to keep running while allowing my body and muscles to recover in an effort to taper for the Georgia Jewel 100 in two weeks.

07 September 2012

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Ed stopped by my house this morning at 5:30AM and we headed towards the corner of Wynn Drive and Bradford Blvd to meet up with James. Once we spotted James, we ran the Redstone FCU loop (1 mile) before heading back to the UAH campus for another loop. James veered off after that and Ed and I headed back to my house to complete our run at just under 8.5 miles. We took an easy pace on a flat course. Temps were mild and the humidity, while still a factor, wasn't quite as bad as Monday and Wednesday.

05 September 2012

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After taking a day off to spend some more time recovering from this weekend, I was ready to hit the road again this morning with Ed and James. We met up at Research Park for an put and back 9.5 miler that included a nice trail loop up and down Rainbow Mountain. I hadn't run this route since last December and I was looking forward to running it again. James, Ed and I took off at a decent pace and we maintained this pace for most of the way. While the heat was bearable, the humidity was extreme. I was glad I had brought water along with me. When it was all said and done, we had run the second fastest time eve for this route. The only time we went faster was in December almost 3 years ago. Not bad for a training run in extreme heat and humidity.

03 September 2012

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After a disappointing performance at Merrill's Mile 24 Hour Endurance Run due to some stomach issues, it was time to build some confidence back and just get out running again. What better way to get out for a run on Labor Day than to run a new and challenging route. I finally had the chance to run the infamous Mt. Everest Run. This run has three climbs that are no laughing matter according to folks who'd done this run before. I met up with Cary Long, Eric Charette, Christy and Tony Scott and many others at the Weatherly Rd YMCA parking lot at 5PM to get my road climb on;-) We kept an easy pace for the most part, allowing me to run every hill without too much trouble. It was a great workout. We even got a refreshing rain shower for the last couple of miles of our run. It was nice to see that I can still run:-)

02 September 2012

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Appropriate race logo for an ultra on at an Army Ranger Training Camp.
This one was completely unplanned for me. Lurking on the ultra list as I often do, I noticed a post from ultra runner and fellow Huntsvillian Heather Whiteside regretting that she couldn't participate in the inaugural version of the Merrill's Mile 24 Hour Endurance Run that she had registered for due to a family commitment. She had asked RD Willy Syndram if she could transfer the entry to another runner for free as she just wanted someone to at least get to participate in her stead and I was the lucky winner who replied first. Thanks again to both Willy and Heather for giving me this opportunity. While I certainly didn't have my best performance by a long stretch, I did have an amazing time with lots of ultra runners and ultra friends I hadn't seen in quite some time.

Appropriate logo for a bunch of "dumasses" running in circles;-)

I also got to witness my buddy Timo Sandritter's first ever ultra marathon finish. I used to run university loops with this guy for many many afternoons years ago when he first moved to the States. After a long hiatus from running, he had recently started to participate in a couple of local 5Ks and 10Ks after some training and decided it was time for the next step...a 24 hour ultra marathon. No not really, he just had no plans that weekend and figured, why not go along with Martin and see how many miles I actually can run, if I put my mind to it. Well, he ran a total of 40 miles in less than 13 hours....after never having run more than 10 miles in his entire life. Congrats, Timo. Your next ultra finish is just around the corner, I'm sure;-)


Camping "ultra style" in the center of the dirt track (our canopy is the green one in the far back).
We arrived at Camp Merrill early Friday evening. Pre-race check in took place a a church parking lot across the street from the main gate and RD Willy Syndram looked slightly baffled when we arrived. But why, you ask? Well, my old Garmin sent us through the woods, literally, to get to the camp. 15 miles of jeep roads at the end of which we arrived at the main gate of the camp from the opposite direction of everyone else who obviously took the lone paved road leading to the Ranger's Camp. This was only the tip of the iceberg of our little driving adventure. Instead of routing us around Fort Mountain State Park and the mountain, my Garmin sent us straight through and over. However, it was definitely the more scenic route and unlike the last time I went here (March 2012 to run Double Top 100 Miler), this time I took the time for a quick snapshot of the beautiful view (see below).

View atop Fort Mountain State Park on our drive to Camp Frank D. Merrill.
Once Timo and I got registered (Willy was kindly assisted by Kena), we headed straight for the town of Dahlonega to find our hotel and food. While I did enjoy the Italian restaurant we found, their food appeared to be the cause for the rough night I had ahead of me.

I woke up at 4AM sharp, stomach rumbling...you can guess the rest. I continued the trip the the bathroom multiple times over the next 3 hours and when it was finally time to get up and head for the race, I knew I would be in for a rough race. Regardless of how much fluids I had consumed over the past three days to "prehydrate" for the race, I knew I would be starting the race with a hydration deficit.

We arrived at Camp Merrill around 7:30 AM with plenty of time to set up our supplies and our canopy. Runners had already arrived and more continued to arrive every few minutes. We had a prime spot on the inside of the track near the start/finish area and one of the two aid stations, right next to some GUTS folks (Philip Sustar and his family). Willy and his crew of volunteers were already done setting up and Perry Sebastian was setting up his timing equipment (that Perry guy, even when he's not hosting a race,  he still finds productive ways to get involved in a race. Thanks, buddy!)

By now, it was time to get ready to race. I strapped my GoPro to my head and headed for the starting line to hear Willy send us off on our way. The race course was a 1 mile gravel loop next to the Ranger Camp airfield. The course was fully exposed to the sun for much of the day and that beat down by the sun had a serious affect on every single runner out there. Staying hydrated and avoiding overheating was at the top of the to do list for every runner.

I took a conservative pace approach at the start as I expected it to be a long day. The first 10 miles went by pretty quickly. There were lots of folks I hadn't seen in a while and I was busy catching up and making new friends along the way. Margaret Curcio, Jason Rogers, Brad Goodridge and Candy Finley to name just a few. Ronnie Hines joined us a little later for the 12 hour night time run and there were rumors that Dan "The Man" Burstein made an appearance as well. Unfortunately, I had already left at that point, but more about that later.

Between miles 11 and 20, I started to feel the urge to pee. What happened next basically put a stop to my secondary goal of completing 100 miles in 24 hours. A dark discoloration was accompanied by a burning sensation, a clear indicator that I was severely dehydrated. In an effort to try to recover, I took a lengthy break to rehydrate before continuing on. After a 90 minuted break, it was time to get going again. However, my confidence took another hit when the same issues appeared again just 5 miles later. Still, I continued and didn't stop until I completed 34 miles. It was time once more for another lengthy break. Another 120 minutes later, it was time to get moving yet again. By now it was getting dark and Ronnie had arrived. He was his usual supportive self. Immediately, he offered his help to everyone and shortly after he arrived, he took of to the local watering hole to get some of us runners some grub. That cheeseburger and fries really hit the spot, thanks again Ronnie, you are fantastic. I can't believe I will be able to rely on you during the Georgia Jewel 100 as my crew chief. Selflessly, this guy even ran a few loops to pace both Philip and Kena to their respective victories and 100 mile buckles. Even with all that, he still managed to run 50 miles himself, what a guy!

After I got going again, I continued to struggle with the same issues, but I continued on for a while. Once Timo had completed 40 miles, he decided to took a break. Who could blame him. This guy hadn't run more than 10 miles at a time in his entire life and here he was, completing 40 miles. He felt great...for a few minutes...and then the pain began. Nausea, chills and muscle aches. He was done. I took this as my signal to call it a day as well. I had a big 100 mile trail race just 3 weeks down the road and there was no reason to hurt myself any more. We packed up and headed for a cheap hotel an hour outside of Dahlonega on our way back home. I was happy enough. I got to spend a few hours with friends and fellow ultra runners at a very well run event. Thanks again to RD Willy Syndram and his amazing crew of volunteers. The support was fantastic and I will happily return for more "fun in the sun" next year.

30 August 2012

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My last "run" before Merrill's Mile 24 Hour Race in Dahlonega, GA this Saturday. I really just went out to shake my legs loose. 3.5 miles at a leisurely pace in humid conditions. Temps were in the low 80s and I caught a drizzle of rain here and there. I'm starting to get nervous about Saturday. Hopefully, my body will play along and it's going to be a good day. I've trained more than ever and while there are always things to improve upon, this is the best training cycle I've ever completed. It had its ups and downs, but overall, my mileage has been higher than ever before and I managed to get 100 feet of climbing on technical terrain for every training mile I've run. Let's see how I do on flat terrain for 24 hours. I have a couple of game plans depending on how the race develops. My main plan is to stay healthy and to have a good time.

29 August 2012

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After laying off both cross training and running for the last two days in an effort to allow my body to rest in anticipation of Merrill's Mile 24 Hour Race this weekend in Dahlonega, GA, I decided it was time to get a least a short run in. Rather than just take it easy as initially planned and going slightly longer, I went out short and fast. I went on my old UAH Loop and managed to squeeze out a new PR over the 4.3 mile loop of the university campus. I beat my previous best by over a minute and while it wasn't race pace, it still was another nice little confidence booster, which I have been in dire need of since my problems during Laurel Valley. Another short and easy loop either tonight and tomorrow and then it's taper all the way to Saturday:-) Oh, that's just two days you say?...Oh well;-)

25 August 2012

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Today was long run day and other than Laurel Valley 2 weeks ago, my long runs had been half marathons, which isn´t quite sufficient when you´re training for a 100 miler. I´ve been trying to make up for it by running higher mileage more frequently during the week and ¨getting my run on¨ at least 6 times a week. I decided to get at least 16 miles in by running my usual ranger station out and back and sandwiching about 6-8 miles in between by joining the WRH trail running group at the hiker´s parking lot at 7AM. Jason and I met at Richard´s house at 6AM and took off. I wanted to keep it an easy pace after last night´s hard run and Jason was kind enough to oblige.

We arrived at the hiker´s parking lot just in time to meet up with folks after refilling our bottles at the ranger station fountain.  was hoping that the pace would be ¨easy¨and once again, no one was in any particular hurry which was great, because it allowed me to chat with all of these guys, most of whom I´d seen out running before, but never met officially. Thanks again to all of you to letting me run with you. I made the run not only easier but also much more enjoyable.

After logging about 6 miles with the guys and arriving back in the parking lot, Jason and I took off to complete our run. It wasn´t pretty at this point. I was only too happy to go slow and Jason was too banged up to go fast, so we were running a for both of us agreeable slower pace than expected. Jason had rolled his ankle(s) multiple times and I wasn´t too motivated to push after last night´s effort. After all, not everything´s a race:-) We completed our training run in one piece...more or less...in just under 3 hours or so.

24 August 2012

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So I finally dragged my feet out this afternoon after work after deciding to sleep in this morning, since everyone else bailed on me...again.-( I decided to run with some tunes this time, which is very much unlike me these days. As it turned out, it was the right thing to do today. I felt sluggish when I took off for my run from Richard´s house, where I had parked my car to get my usual Ranger Station out & back run in. As I was running the first mile, I started to think back to when I tried to push myself on this run and realized that it has been a while. I know James started to doubt the last PR I had posted a few months ago, because we´ve been going much slower these days.

After logging the first mile at a flat 9 minute pace, I decided to go for it. I decided that I wouldn´t check my splits at all until I reached the Ranger Station atop Monte Sano. I was still feeling good when I crossed Fearn Street 3 miles in, but my lungs started to burn and I was starting to look forward to every little piece of flat trail section for a little bit of relief from pushing on the uphills. Just two more short steep climbs and I would reach the top, leaving me another .5 to .75 miles to go to the Ranger Station. Once I caught my breath and drank a sip from my bottle I pushed one final time to the turnaround point. I touched the concrete slab foundation of where the ranger station used to be before it burned down (official turnaround point according to James;-), looked at my watch for the first time to see 44 minutes (not bad at all, but I can remember at all how long it had taken me during my last PR), got some water from the fountain and continued my push back down the mountain.

I wasn´t worried about being able to go fast (well, what I call fast anyway), I was more concerned about my footing. An ankle twist at this stage of my 100 mile training would be devastating to my upcoming goal races. But no matter, I wanted to improve on my last PR. These types of pushes during training runs help me gauge my level of fitness as well as provide some confidence boosters when I´m not doing any real racing.

Other than having to break for a couple of dogs, nothing really prevented me from continuing to push my pace, but fatigue was starting to get the better of me as I was hitting the most technical parts of the Tollgate Trail as I tripped on a couple of rocks here and there, barely able to maintain my balance. I continued on, slowly gaining confidence that I would at least make it back before sunset. Oh yeah, I forgot the second reason for this PR push. I didn´t realize until after I took off on my run shortly after 6pm that the sun would set at 7:25pm. This meant anything short of a PR or close to it could leave me stranded on the trails in complete darkness. Nothing like the thought of getting stuck without a headlamp on some seriously technical trails to get your pace...and heart rate going.

I got back onto the Bankhead Parkway with about 1.5 miles to go. Time to try to pick up the pace again or at least keep it steady. When I arrived at the corner of Lacy and Pratt and hit my watch, it showed 1 hour 21 minutes and 31 seconds, a new PR by over 6 minutes. Wow, that felt great! Now it was time to get back, send my running crew a training update, get some food and liquids into my stomach and go to bed. My alarm was set for 5AM to run the mountain once again with Jason for a nice 16 miler to start off the weekend.

23 August 2012

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While I planned to do a speed workout on my own around the UAH campus (based on Shannon's most excellent "Need For Speed" workouts) this evening (which I still do), I decided to go for a tempo run this morning to get some extra mileage. I haven't been running as much as I should considering that it is crunch time for me with the Georgia Jewel 100 just 5 weeks out. I headed out just after 6AM and started with an easy 1 mile warm up. As soon as I hit the one mile mark, I decided to pick up the pace without keeping an eye on my watch. My pace felt comfortable and I decided to just check my splits instead of focusing on my pace the entire time. That worked great. I ended up with just under 8 miles at a 7:40ish per mile pace and got home in time to watch the news before heading to the office. Let's see what I've got left for tonight's training run:-)

I added another run this evening but decided against a speed workout. My legs were a little heavy from the tempo run this morning, so I opted for an easy 7 miler instead. I also did get to run a couple of miles with my wife along the way. It´s so much nicer to run with your favorite running partner than to run alone.

22 August 2012

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Hill repeats. I haven't started a training log with those two words in a while. Ed and I decided to head back to our favorite hill. Puke hill, part of the Cotton Row 10K road course, was our destination. After a 1 mile warm up, we started our 10 repeats. My first repeats was fairly slow, but considering I was still sore and that it had been a while, I wasn't too concerned. I just decided to pick it up a little on the next one.

The following paragraph contains blurbs from the conversation that took place inside my head after after my first repeat. "That was much better". I accelerated again on the third one and again on the fourth one. "Hmm, this is new. I'd never tried negative splits on any hill workout, let alone this hill. No way! I can't keep this going. How am I going to ensure I am going faster every time. What if I just go too fast too early?" The fifth and sixth repeats were faster yet again. "Alright, now I have to try! Now the 7th repeat, 1:03 minutes. OK, this is gonna suck. Scratch that, it already sucks! Number 8, 1:01 minutes. Numero 9, 58 seconds. This hurts, but what does everyone say? Your last repeat has to be the fastest one. Oh well, might as well go for broke. What was my fastest time before? 54 seconds? But I didn't run negative splits then, I took it easy and just ran even splits at a much slower pace than this! Here it goes...I think I'm gonna throw up...don't forget to push the split button when you reach the stop sign...press it...press it....dang! 50 seconds. That hurt my legs and my lungs! Does this mean I have to break 50 seconds next time?"

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