Race Report - 2014 Hot To Trot 8 Hour Run

A sea of pink during the pre-race briefing.

Day #2 of my back to back adventure
I woke up at 5AM to get ready for part 2 of my weekend adventure in ATL. I did my usual morning routine and headed from my hotel in downtown Atlanta to Lithia Springs State Park. I've been there a few times for different ultra events and this time I was headed there for my first "Hot To Trot 8 Hour Run". However, my goal was not to run for 8 hours the day after the Stone Mountain repeats. Instead, I set a more reasonable goal for a 50K distance, giving me back to back long runs with lots of elevation gain.

Race Report - 2014 Stone Mountain F@t@ss Run

GoPro group picture minutes before the start of the inaugural Stone Mountain FA Run.

My first Fat Ass
I must admit, when I first received the Facebook invite from James Suh to the Stone Mountain Fat Ass Run, I had no idea where and what this mountain was, but since I was in the middle of preparing my training schedule for Pinhoti in November, I thought, "What the heck, sign me up!" he promised repeats of steep climbs, sounded like great training to me:-) I also looked forward to the opportunity to see some of the Nashville, 'Nooga and ATL ultra peeps again.

Race Report - 2014 Silver Rush 50 Miler

Arrival in Leadville just 3 hours after landing in Denver, Colorado.

It didn't go according to plan...but definitely worked out for the better
Originally, I was registered to run the Bullet Creek 50 Miler. Unfortunately, that did not pan out as the RD for that race took our money and ran. However, that is a story for a different post, maybe another Facebook rant? Who knows. All I know is that I am actually glad that race fell through, even if it did cost me 60 bucks. If it hand't, I would've never even considered registering for the Silver Rush 50 Miler in Leadville, Colorado.

Race Report - 2014 Rockin' Choccolocco 50K

One happy boy at the finish line! 6th OA and 1st Master.

Another Cheap Motel...

As has become a recent practice of mine, I try to find the cheapest hotel possible for the night before any race that requires more than 2 hours of travel. This time was no different, except that this place was actually kinda nice unlike previous establishments I resided in. It had a working A/C unit and TV remote and I didn't feel like I had to put the chair under the door handle to prevent drug dealers from entering my room...which I have had to do on similar trips in the past. Just as well since my wife was with me this time to enter her first trail race ever. After a recent road half marathon we ran together, she decided it was time to take the next step and check out trail racing. So when I decided to run the Rockin' Choccolocco 50K, she went online as well and registered for the Half.

Crew Report - 2014 Thunder Rock 100 Miler

First tip: You should always make use of drop bags in a 100 miler, even if you have a crew.

"Lessons Learned" - How To Crew (Not To Crew) A Runner During Their First 100 Miler...Or Any 100 Miler

While this crew report will largely refer to this specific race, the Thunder Rock 100, this crew (Jerry Abbott, Scott Bell and Martin Schneekloth) and its runner (Sir Fartsalot aka Hot Wing Runner aka Cary Long), many of the topics discussed and issues encountered would apply to other races as well. However, this report is merely meant as a personal lessons learned and as the ultra saying goes "We are all an experiment of one" so what works for one doesn't necessarily work for others as well. With that disclaimer out of the way, there are certainly takeaways in this report that should be useful to anyone considering to crew/pace/run a 100 mile race for the first time.

Training Log - Ancient City Wall & Big Wild Goose Pagoda (Xi'an, China)

The ticket for the "City Wall", RMB 54.

Day #1

As soon as I arrived at my hotel in Xi'an, China I made sure to grab a city map in preparation of my first run in China. I always make a piont of going for a run while on business travel and the more exotic the place, the more eager I am to get out and do a "destination run".

Race Report - 2014 Strolling Jim 40 Mile Run

Super cool medal, participant shirt and finisher's shirt!

I was looking forward to my "birthday run" this year. After all, it has been 2 years since I was able to toe the line at this event. As usual, the field of runners at this year's Strolling Jim 40 Mile Road Race was as impressive as ever. It also seemed that lots of local runners were using this race as their final tuneup for a new 100 mile race taking place just two weeks later. That meant a field full of runners ready to race. While I still consider myself on my road to full recovery, my training had been going well, but I just didn't have a lot of long distance events under my belt just yet. This race would be my longest event in 2 years, which meant that I would likely have to suffer late in the race, IF I miscalculated my level of fitness and target pace.