Left, Right, Repeat

Migration

2009-12-30T10:15:00.000-05:00

I'm in the process of switching my blog over to wordpress. Click on the link below to visit the new digs.

http://jeffhaight.wordpress.com/

2009 Year In Review

2009-12-29T18:33:00.000-05:00

This is my second annual “Year In Review” post. In last year’s YIR post not only did I revisit the events of 2008, but I also set some goals for 2009. This year in addition to reviewing what I did in 2009 I’ll need to look at how what I did compared with what I said I was going to do. 2008 was a banner year for me so I set some lofty goals for myself in 2009. The first goal on the list was “run when I can and have fun doing it”. A little vague but that just makes it easier to fudge the results. I would say I did not meet that goal, but went above and beyond that goal. I competed in a record 23 events in 2009. Did I have fun? You bet I did.

2009 started out well enough with a PR at Resolution-Revolution, but in March I began having some issues. While running the Sam Costa I pulled my left calf at mile 9. My pace slowed a little, but I managed to hang on for a half marathon PR. I thought the calf was healed, but then it flared up again at the Mini. This time I was smart enough to ease off the pace and not totally trash my calf which was good because the following weekend I was going to need my calf at the Dances With Dirt 50k. I guess a good romp through the mud and hills of Brown County is all my calf needed, because it did not bother me again the rest of the year.

My next goal was to do a sprint triathlon. I actually started prepping for this in December when I dusted the cob webs off my 1991 Specialized Allez and took it in to the shop for some badly needed, long overdue preventive maintenance. I bought that bike back in 1992 with the intention of doing a triathlon. Good intention, poor execution. In January I was making regular visits to the Avon Intermediate School Pool. One day in January one of my friends asked me to do him a favor. He wanted me to agree to do a triathlon with him, he had never done one either. This was his lucky day because I was already planning to do just that. Well, then the bottom fell out, my job was eliminated on February 3^rd. Making plans for summer triathlons suddenly wasn’t a top priority. Fast forward to June, I was still looking for a job, but my economic situation wasn’t as dire as I feared it would have been. I again started thinking about the Indy Sprint Tri at Eagle Creek on July 18^th. I only had a few weeks to prepare. I started riding my bike. I went to the pool and tried to swim 500 meters non-stop. I made it. Now confident I could finish the swim; I signed up. Doing that triathlon was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. It blew the needle off the fun meter. I was hooked. I almost immediately signed up for the August event. I shifted my focus from just running to riding and swimming. The second tri was even more fun than the first one. My son did this one with me. We even crossed the finish line side by side. I will never forget hearing Don Carr say, “It’s the Haights from Avon, Jeff and Konrad”. It was awesome. I managed to squeeze in a third tri in September. For this one the swim was in a pool. I can’t wait for next summer. The other day while running the snow covered trails along the bluffs overlooking Eagle Creek Reservoir I was day dreaming about swimming in that lake.

The last goal didn’t turn out so well. This goal was to run a 100 mile trail run. I guess I could say this goal fell victim to the economy, but the truth is more like I just lost interest in doing it. Whatever the reason even now I don’t have a burning desire to do a 100 miler. Maybe some day, but no immediate plans.

As I stated earlier, I did 23 events in 2009. Five of those events were 50k trail runs. Actually one of those was supposed to be a 50 miler, but I DNF’ed at 34 miles. I only ran one marathon, that being Tecumseh. If you are only going to run one marathon, Tecumseh should be the one. I ran three half marathons, setting a half mary PR at the Sam Costa in March, I love that race. I also PR’ed the 9 miles at Resolution-Revolution, I think that course is a little short of 9 miles, but still there is no better way to ring in the New Year. I also set a 15k trail PR at the DINO race at Ft Harrison. Lot’s of highlights during the year, the triathlons, running the Indy Half with my son, priceless. Total miles for the year was down a bit from last year, 1056 miles so far I’ll probably squeeze in one more run. Of course this year in addition to the running miles I managed to work in over 40,000 meters in the pool and more than 300 miles on my bike.

So, what’s coming up in 2010? Good question. As always, run when I can and have fun doing it. I will definitely do some sprint triathlons this summer and I definitely want to up the ante and do an Olympic distance or half Ironman. I’ll need to spend even more time in the pool and in the saddle to make that happen. I thought I might do fewer events this year and focus more on training, but that thought flew out the window when Brooks unveiled the 2010 I.D. Race Series. The more races I run the more points I get, the better my chances of winning prizes. Top prize, not that I have any chance of winning it, is travel, hotel, and entry to one of the Rock and Roll marathons. Looks like rather than running fewer events this year I’ll be trying to beat last year’s record of 23. The only other goal I have is to run a spring road marathon and try to qualify for Boston. I don’t want to actually run Boston, but I would like to qualify for it.

As always, make the New Year a happy one! See you at the races!

Good News, Great Joy, Etc...

2009-12-17T18:18:00.000-05:00

Good news! Brooks renewed my membership in their ID program. This year they'll be giving us a team singlet and shorts. Also there are more incentives to run races. For each race I run I get points. At the end of the year there will be a grand prize winner, 10 regional winners, and state winners. I can't imagine I would even come close to winning the grand prize, but it's a nice prize a rock and roll vacation package for two, as in travel, hotel, and entry into one of the rock and roll marathons. Brooks is the exclusive apparel supplier for the rock and roll marathon series. There will also be random prize drawings throughout the year. I'm very excited.

Had a couple nice runs and a swim so far this week. The frigid wind on Tuesday was trying to form snotcicles on my face, but I was generating just enough heat to melt them into a gooey mess. Much warmer run today. Shorts and t-shirt.

I decided to skip HUFF again this year. I'd rather give my knees some recovery time. I also decided against running the 5k's of Christmas race. After the good showing at the Drumstick Dash I was thinking I could finally break my 5k PR, but I haven't really been training for it. Maybe next spring, after getting in some good speed workouts. Besides, with the Brooks incentive, I can see myself running lots of races next year. One race I won't be skipping is the Resolution-Revolution. It isn't really a race, but I always run it as though it were. I can't think of a better way to start off the New Year.

Tecumseh

2009-12-07T12:19:00.001-05:00

In a typical year there are very few days that would not qualify as good days to run in the forest. Snow, rain, hot, cold do not automatically disqualify a day from being a good day to run in the forest. Seriously, who wouldn’t rather be out running through the forest than sitting at a desk regardless of the weather? While I might not describe this past Saturday as a perfect day; it was an absolutely beautiful day to run in the forest. This was fortunate since Saturday was the 7th running of the Tecumseh Trail Marathon. It was my 4th Tecumseh. For the first two I was neither a trail runner nor a marathoner. I missed last year’s race only because I was in Sacramento that weekend running the CIM instead.

Tecumseh is a challenging race. Dean Karnazes, who ran the course as part of his 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days challenge described it as “Hardcore”. There are plenty of hills, rocks, roots, and creek crossings. The water in the creeks seemed to be a little higher than normal this year. Many of the crossings had stepping stones to allow for dry passage. But not all had such luxury. At one crossing I walked across on a half rotted log about 6 feet above the water. I used that same log three years ago. I doubt it will still be there next year. At other crossings I just resigned myself to my fate, a cold wet foot.

The sun was shining brightly at the start and there was little or no wind so it actually felt warm despite a temperature in the low 20’s. It is still hunting season so the race instructions say to wear bright colors. I was wearing my Brooks Nightlife top which according to Ed was blinding in that sunshine. One thing that makes Tecumseh so challenging is getting the pace right. In a typical road marathon I can knock off mile after mile at a consistent pace and know from the start it is a pace I can sustain to the end. Not Tecumseh. I often make the mistake of starting out too fast. This is a huge challenge for me at Tecumseh, because a sustainable pace at the start will feel ridiculously slow. I started out at what felt like a pretty easy pace. Only after it is way too late did I discover it probably wasn’t easy enough. I reached the aid station at 9.7 miles about 6 minutes faster than I ever have. I’m not sure exactly where the half way point is, but I hit the top of Indian Hill Road in 2:07. I still felt pretty good at that point, but that hill definitely sucked some of the life out of me. By around mile 15 I could feel I wouldn’t be able to sustain my pace to the finish. Still I kept pushing myself. At the aid station around mile 18 there was still a glimmer of hope for a sub 4:30 finish. When I reached the aid station around mile 21, I knew there was no way I would beat 4:30. I didn’t give up completely. My legs were trashed and cramping, my tank was empty. I ran as much as I could from that point which wasn’t much. I was making frequent stops to allow others to pass me. The last few miles on the west side of Yellowwood Lake are some of the toughest miles of the race. There aren’t any big hills, but lots of little ups and downs, lots of roots, lots of little creeks. I jumped over one creek and my calf cramped up so bad I’m not sure how I managed to land on my feet. Also, there are several spots where you can see that darned dam, so you know just how far you have to go. Of course the base of the dam isn’t even the end; there is still a little over a mile to go from that last aid station. It is gravel road all the way except for the last hundred yards through the campground. I was determined to run all the way to what is always labeled the “last hill”, literally painted right there on the road, but I didn’t quite make it. I had to take a walk break before the hill, which by the way is NOT the last hill. I guess it depends on your definition of hill. At this point in the race anything going up no matter how slight is a hill and there are a couple rolling hills after the “last hill”. Once I reached the top of the “last hill” I think I ran all the way to the finish, maybe a half mile? It was all adrenaline at this point pushing me. In the last 50 yards or so I heard someone yell out “good job Jeffro”. Not sure who it was, almost no one actually calls me Jeffro, but it’s always nice when someone is there to cheer you on to the finish. 4:53:53. Not my best, not my worst, but as always a great day to run in the forest.

When Thinking Negative Is Good

2009-11-27T09:18:00.001-05:00

Yesterday was Thanksgiving. I have so many things for which to be thankful. Of course all the usual stuff, family, job, etc. All of which can be gone in the blink of an eye so I try to be thankful every day and not wait for one specific day to give thanks.

I slept in until 5:30 which is pretty darned late for me. My alarm was set for 5:55 so I wasn’t missing out on much sleep. I’m just happy Dino, Romo, and Kooper didn’t try to wake me up at 3 or 4am. Today I would be hitting the pavement early for a 4.5 mile run with my son, niece, and several thousand of my friends. The Drumstick Dash is a 4.5 mile race in Broad Ripple. This year there were over 8,000 signed up. I’ve always thought this would be a fun race, but every year I was either too busy cooking or out of town. Not this year. After feeding the dogs and cleaning muddy feet I sat down for breakfast. I opted for the usual old fashioned oatmeal with prunes and natural peanut butter. About half way through I started feeling nauseous. I stopped eating, drank some water. Thankfully the feeling passed and I finished eating.

The race wouldn’t start until 9, but I knew the parking would be a problem in Broad Ripple so I thought we should leave around 7am. It was actually 7:15 before the wheels were turning. Then the entrance ramp to 465 north from 10th street was closed so I quickly calculate a reroute in my head. No problem, traffic was light and we made it there in time to still find a spot in the Broad Ripple High School parking lot. Plenty of time to use the porta-potties and build a good case of nerves. Ever since returning to work in early October my training hasn’t been very focused so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I was hoping to be able to average 7 minutes per mile. With this large a field, I knew the start would be pure chaos. The organizers were prepared though with large pace signs to help people self seed. I was standing right next to the 7:00/mile sign. Unfortunately there were a large number of people ahead of me who either can’t read, don’t know what pace they run, or just aren’t considerate of others. Oh well, I’m just out here to have fun right?

I zigzagged my way through the crowd to a first mile time of 6:54. Perhaps a little fast, and with the slow start I knew my actual pace at that moment was faster, but I felt good so I figured I would just try to maintain. At the 2-mile sign my watch said 6:45. Still feeling good, but I thought I better take it easy in mile three to save some gas for the last mile and a half. At the 3-mile sign my watch says 6:38. I guess I just don’t know how to take it easy. Now I’m starting to have negative thoughts, as in negative splits. Running negative splits just isn’t something I do. What I usually do is burn myself out early so that I can spend the latter part of the race trying to recover enough to be able to count the people passing me. I can see the 4-mile sign. The seconds are ticking away I’ll have to hurry to beat my last mile split. I just make it at 6:37. Now only a half mile to go. I’m focused, high cadence, short stride, slight forward lean, controlled breathing. I complete the last half mile in 3:03. I feel great! Earlier while eating breakfast I thought I might be spending the day getting up close and personal with a porcelain bowl. Now I’m on top of the world and for that I am indeed very thankful.

Highs and Lows

2009-11-15T04:32:00.005-05:00

This photo is one of my favorites. It's from the 2009 Mini. This is around mile 7 or so and by the time this image was captured my race was already over because of a pulled calf. I was limping my way to the finish. It wasn't my worst time for a half and I wound up getting a nice gear bag from Brooks for being the fastest ID member in the over 40 age group (probably the only one running that day).

So, last Saturday I was supposed to run the Owen-Putnam State Forest 50k. Well a not so funny thing happened on the way to the race. I was driving west on I-70 when all the sudden there was an object in the road. Not sure what it was, tool box, cooler, I don't know it was dark blue and I didn't see it until it was too late to avoid hitting it. I think it probably fell off the small pickup that was ahead of me but who knows. From the comfort of my drivers seat it didn't seem as though it had done much damage. It was very dark and our exit was just up ahead so I decided to not stop there on the interstate to inspect. The car was still running well when we exited the interstate, so we kept going. After a few miles the check engine light came on and very soon after the engine just died. It was still very dark and almost immediately a guy in uniform on his way to weekend guard duty stopped. He had a flashlight and we could then see that the radiator had been badly damaged. I called a tow service to come rescue us. About two hours and $160 later we were back in Avon at Terry Lee Honda. There wasn't much else I could do at that point so Tom and I headed down to Morgan Monroe State Forest and ran two laps of the Low Gap Trail. It was a beautiful day for a run in the woods. It turns out that the engine was completely fried. The repairs should be finished by Wednesday. Small ding in the front bumper and a slightly used replacement engine... just over $5000. Thank God for insurance.

That was the low, now for the high. Yesterday was the final DINO Series race for 2009. Ft Harrison is perhaps my favorite DINO course. It has hills, rough rocky ankle twisting trails, horse crap, even a creek crossing. And since it is an out and back course you get to cross the creek twice. On this course it is not a question of will you roll your ankle it's a question of how many times will you roll it and how bad will it hurt. It hasn't rained all week so the creek was only ankle deep this year. I went out pretty fast but felt pretty good at the turn around. I was starting to fade on the return, but passing everyone still heading out was a bit of a mental boost. The hills on the return were killing me, but I was still running well on the flats and downhills. With just over a half mile to go there is one last hill, not very big, but I was huffing and puffing by the time I reached the top. I glanced at my watch and thought I might be on record pace. There's no point in finishing with gas left in the tank. The downhill side is smooth grass and I was flying down it. The last half mile is mostly grass and flat. You can actually see the finish area from before the last hill and through the entire last half mile. I was pushing as hard as I could. I crossed the finish line at 1:06:00, I'm certain this course isn't quite a full 15k. Still that's a PR for this course by almost 2 minutes. I certainly wouldn't have been able to do that had I run the 50k the week before. I have been worried that I've haven't been getting in the speed work I need to, but yesterdays race is lifting my confidence a bit. I have a 4.5 mile road race coming up on Thanksgiving Day. Then December 5th is Tecumseh where, if the conditions are right, I'll be trying to beat 4:30. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, I think I rolled my ankle about three times.

Stone Steps 50k

2009-10-31T04:36:00.003-04:00

Last Saturday I ran the Stone Steps 50k in Cincinnati. The event was held in Mt Airy Forest which is a large park just north of downtown Cincy. The weather could not have been better. Well maybe a few degrees cooler would have been nice since I failed to pack a short sleeve shirt. This race is the 4th and last race in the ORRRC 50k series. Once again the ORRRC put on a spectacular event at a bargain price. I do have one suggestion for improvement. The race is run over two loops. The first loop is just over five miles and the second loop is just over 3 miles. You run the five mile loop first and then the 3 mile loop. You repeat this 3 times then run one more 5 mile loop. Both loops start and finish at the same spot so there is only one aid station. The aid station was stocked with all sorts of goodies. The one thing missing was my primary and favorite race fuel... pretzels. Preferably pretzel rods. I've already emailed the race director and volunteer to supply the pretzel rods for next year's race. That is if I return next year. I can't imagine why I wouldn't; this was a fun and challenging course.

The 5 mile loop is fairly easy for the first mile but then the trail gets pretty rocky and rooty. Then just past 2 miles you reach the infamous Stone Steps. I've read somewhere that there are 90 steps, but that can't be right because I'm pretty sure the elevation gain is at least 200 feet from top to bottom. One time up isn't too bad but by the forth trip these are killer steps. If you do make it to the top the trail back to the start/finish area is again fairly easy. At least that's the way I remember it but then I'm not sure how much brain function I had after reaching the top of the steps. The 3 mile loop is a walk in the park compared to the 5 mile loop. Part of this loop run over a Disc Golf course so the most challenging part of this loop was dodging the flying discs.

Through the first 2 circuits I was on pace to finish in around 6 hours. At the time I didn't feel I was pushing too hard. Starting the 3rd circuit I still felt pretty good and was running pretty well all the way to the stone steps. The 3rd time up seemed to suck some of the life out of me. I absolutely was determined to finish this race though so I throttled back a little to make sure I would have enough gas to finish. I used the relative ease of the 3 mile loop to recover physically and mentally. At the start of the final repeat of the 5 mile loop I felt pretty good mentally at least. I felt certain I would finish this race. I wasn't pushing hard, wasn't worried about time, just moving forward toward the goal. I would like to say I was enjoying the scenery, but I was too focused on the trail. I definitely did not want to fall on this rough terrain. Earlier on my third pass I saw another runner take a bad spill. He had hit his head and I think he may have received a concussion. I thought there was no way he would make it back to the aid station, but somehow he did. Anyway as I started up the stone steps for the forth and final time the muscles in my left leg suddenly cramped up and I stopped dead in my tracks. Call in the medivac, start spreading the jelly because I'm toast. Fortunately I still had a few Enduralytes left. I took one and within seconds the cramps eased up and I was able to continue. As I reached the top of the steps I felt lucky to have made it. I regained my senses and kept moving toward the goal. Another runner caught up to me and we walked, talked and even jogged a little together to the finish. 6 hours 42 minutes. Not bad at all. I think I can do better, but considering my lack of distance training I'm happy with it.

Next Saturday is the OPSF 50k. My plan there is to take it easy and just use the race as a final long training run for Tecumseh. If the weather and trail conditions are good on December 5th my goal will be to beat 4:30 at Tecumseh.

This is my son and I finishing the Indianapolis Half Marathon. It was his first half. He said it was the hardest thing he'd ever done, but he looks pretty happy in this picture. Next week he's doing the Indianapolis Monumental Half Marathon so I guess he's hooked. Now I just need to lure him over to the trails.

A Few More Photos

2009-10-14T19:49:00.003-04:00

Lots of Balloons

Even More Balloons

A Bee Couple, Holding Hands

A Little of This, A Little of That

2009-10-14T19:30:00.003-04:00

Balloons preparing to lift off at Balloon Fiesta

Making Hot Air

Me with Don and Aynslee at Jemez Falls

My wife and I on top of Soda Dam

And in front of Soda Dam

Well, I finally have a job, so there goes my training schedule. I'm back at Diamond Chain as Product Design Engineer and very glad to be back there.

Last Saturday I ran the DINO 15k Trail Series race at SouthWestway Park. It's a 5k loop repeated 3 times. This year they decided to run the loop counterclockwise. The RD said it was more challenging this way. I don't know. There are some tough hills either way. I actually preferred it this way. Not a big crowd so I finished 16th overall and 1st in my age group. My time was 1:12:51, 33 seconds slower than last year. I felt pretty good the whole race. Didn't start out too fast. Didn't die in the middle, had a strong finish.

Didn't get to run the Big Tesuque Trail Race in New Mexico, but did do some hiking and went to the Balloon Fiesta.

The Last Tri

2009-09-21T17:01:00.003-04:00

After last week’s disappointment with the aborted attempt of a 50 mile trail run, a little success at yesterday’s sprint triathlon was just what the doctor ordered. The FAST (Fishers Area Sprint Triathlon) consisted of a 500 meter pool swim, a 10 mile bike ride, and a 3 mile run. The weather could not have been better. It did rain a little, not until after I finished the bike segment. I was faster in all three segments, but the swim and bike segments can’t really be compared with the previous events. The swim and bike courses at this venue were definitely easier and there was less distance to travel in transition. The run course was probably the most similar and I was about a minute faster there. My total time of 1:04:26 was good for 37th out of 246 and 3rd in my age group.

The swim was in a 50 meter, 10 lane pool. They were sending us off at 5 to 10 second intervals. I’m not a very fast swimmer so I don’t rush to the head of the line. A few swimmers passed me, but I also passed a few. I didn’t use breast stroke nearly as much as I do in the lake swims. I’m guessing I swam freestyle at least 70% of the time which probably accounts for my faster than normal time of 12:14. When I exited the pool there were no more participants waiting to enter the pool. Swimming is by far my worst event. My swim time was 157th, but I’m happy with the progress I’m making.

I felt a little woozy coming out of the pool, but I quickly regained my senses and ran for my bike. I had a little trouble with one shoe, but still this transition time wasn’t too bad. The bike course was a 5 mile rectangle with a few slight inclines, no hills, no hair pin turns. One of the corners was a little tight. I pushed pretty hard in the first lap and continued pushing hard in the second lap. I was passing slower riders most of the way. I think maybe two faster riders passed me. I averaged 20.8 mph.

As I approached the dismount line I slipped my feet out of my shoes and in the process came close to clipping the curb. This slowed me a little, but it’s still faster than running with the shoes on and then having to take them off in transition. I racked my bike slipped into my shoes, grabbed my race number belt, and off I went. After all the hard pushing on the bike, I felt sluggish starting the run. By the time I made it to the 1 mile mark I felt like I had been running all day. I was starting to loosen up though and mile marker 2 seemed to come up pretty quickly. Time to start pushing it to the finish. With a little more than a quarter mile to go I kicked it into high gear. Of course this only made me think that I should have been running faster a lot sooner. My run time was about a minute faster than at the last event so I can’t complain.

Sadly that’s the last sprint triathlon for this year. I can’t wait for next summer though. I hope to continue regular swim workouts through the winter and be ready for an Olympic distance or maybe even a half IM next year.

Exercising the 50k Option

2009-09-15T16:10:00.003-04:00

Last Saturday I traveled to Caesar’s Creek State Park in Ohio for the Dawg Gone Long 50 Mile Trail Run. Twenty-four runners started the race and 15 finished. I was one of the 9 who didn’t finish. Physically I was doing ok, but mentally I just didn’t have the drive to finish. I rode there with Zach Mitchell, who won the race with a time of 8 hours 16 minutes and that’s after getting off course in the first mile and adding about 26 extra minutes of running. I finished my second loop about 20 minutes ahead of him finishing his third. I knew he would do well, but I was thinking more like 9 hours or so.

The course was pretty scenic, very rugged though, lots of roots and leg scraping vegetation. Parts of the course were on trails that had not been used in years. Not any major hills to speak of, just lots of little hills. Definitely more hills than the Another Dam loop in Englewood. A total of maybe 2 or 3 miles on pavement, including the bridge on highway 73. I didn’t care too much for running on that bridge with all the semi’s blasting past. I think I’d rather have swum across the lake.

My time for the first loop, which included a little extra out and back at the start to bring the total distance up to 50 miles, was 3:33. I don’t think that was too fast; although I was already having negative thoughts near the end of that loop. The bridge on 73 was maybe 3 miles into the loop. On the second trip across I was thinking I really didn’t want to run across this bridge again. After crossing the bridge, about a quarter mile into the woods, I was day dreaming and the next thing I know I’m hitting the ground hard. Luckily I was carrying two hand held bottles to help cushion the blow. I started paying closer attention to the trail afterward, but the fall didn’t help my mood any. Almost half way into the second loop I decided I was definitely not doing a third. From then on I really slowed the pace, taking time to enjoy the scenery. I was thinking there was no point in speeding to the finish area only to have to sit and wait for Zach. Of course at the time I didn’t know how close he was to lapping me. If not for his going off course he would have lapped me.

Even though I hadn’t trained for this event; I’m a little surprised and disappointed in my poor performance. My overall fitness level at this point is the best I can remember, but I guess training for sprint triathlons doesn’t prepare one for the mental challenge of finishing a 50 mile run.

Next Sunday I have another sprint triathlon on the schedule. The swim is indoors, 500 meters in a 50 meter pool, then 10 mile bike and 5k run. After that the only race I am already committed to is the Indy Half Marathon on October 17th. Oh, and of course the DINO 15k October 10 and again November 14th. Thinking about Stone Steps 50k and/or OPSF 50k. I’m going to Albuquerque September 30th. There is a 11.6 mile trail run north of Santa Fe October 3rd. This is the description from Active.com “Course is up and back a forest service road through quaking aspens and magnificent pines to the radio towers at the top of the ski area. Starting elevation is ~10,000 ft., summit is 12,038 ft. Total race distance is ~11.6 miles”. That sounds like a tasty little challenge. Now all I have to do is talk my hosts into driving me up there. Below is the elevation profile with percent grade.

Insanity Update

2009-09-11T16:20:00.001-04:00

Last Saturday I ran the DINO Trail Series 15k at Town Run Trail Park. It’s a very flat course, but it has lots of tight turns and quite a few short steep rises, maybe 6 to 8 feet tall. With all the turns and “speed bumps” you can’t ever get in a rhythm. It’s almost 100% very narrow single track too, which makes passing a challenge. Bottom line, this course will tear you up. Brian the RD says the course actually measured 9.5 miles. Whatever the true distance was, it was slightly longer than last year’s course and yet I managed to run it more than two minutes faster than last year. That was a bit of a confidence boost going into this weekend’s event. Since I’ve been training for triathlons I haven’t been getting nearly as many miles running as I should have, but still I seem to be in pretty good running shape. I wound up 4th in my age group. The next day though, I was at a 4 mile race that my son was running. There I ran into the guy who was 3rd in my age group. He said he had realized he missed a turn on the course and cut off some distance and that I actually should have been given the 3rd place award. My recounting of this doesn’t really do it justice, but it really was an extraordinary coincidence running into that guy.

So, tomorrow morning at 3am I’m heading east to Caesar’s Creek State Park in Waynesville, Ohio to run the Dawg Gone Long 50 Mile Trail Run. As of today only 21 brave souls are registered for this new race. It’s supposed to be a 16.4 mile loop that you run 3 times. I guess technically then it will only be a mere 49.2 miles. Only 49.2?!!

I’m riding over there with another local trail runner, Zach Mitchell. He’s using this as a training run for the Oil Creek 100. Zach is a much faster runner than I, but he says he doesn’t mind waiting around for me at the finish.

Busy week ahead too. Job interview on Wednesday, drive to New York Thursday, fly home Friday, then sprint triathlon on Sunday.

Success on Second Tri

2009-08-23T07:06:00.004-04:00

Konrad and Jeff enjoying some Chinese noodles
and chocolate milk after some hard work.

I finished my second Sprint Triathlon yesterday. It was awesome! I think I may be obsessed. Of course having my son there competing and my wife there cheering us on made it extra special. My wife even brought along her therapy dog, Dino, for extra support. Dino is a 100+ pound Chocolate Lab, a real gentle giant.

This was my son’s first triathlon and he did well. He is a much better swimmer than I, so he started well ahead of me. They do individual starts at this tri and you can pretty much jump in the start line whenever you feel like it. I might have started a little sooner, but I was chatting with a guy. For some reason he asked me if I ran marathons, well, next thing you know I’m talking about ultras and once that happens it isn’t easy to shut me up. The swim was ok. I was a few seconds faster than last time. I think I swam a little more freestyle than last time, but still swam mostly breast stroke. I guess I just like seeing where I’m going and breast stroke isn’t as fatiguing. Almost half way through the swim I literally ran into one of my friends. I suppose I should say swam into. He was back stroking and my arm caught him on the leg. He looked over and said, hey how’s it going. There was a pretty good breeze blowing across the lake which made the water a little choppy. Consequently I wound up drinking a lot more water than I would have liked.

Finishing the swim is a huge mental lift. I started coming to my senses and running for my bike. I heard my wife shout out “go Jeff”. Dino didn’t say anything, but I think that’s one of the reasons my wife brought him rather than either of the other two dogs, because Dino doesn’t talk much. I was a minute faster in this transition than last time. I didn’t waste time putting on a shirt was part of the difference. Other than that I suppose I just didn’t mess around, wipe off feet, put on shoes, helmet, go.

My bike start was a little slow. I was having trouble getting my shoes locked in. The start is slightly up hill and I almost came to a stop. I managed to keep rolling and eventually get clipped in. Then I was off. This was a very good ride for me. I don’t recall anyone ever passing me. I was constantly passing other riders. My average speed was 1 mph faster than last time. I’m very happy with that. As I approached the bike finish I saw my son heading out on the run. The bike course is an out and back, so I must have crossed paths with him out there too, but didn’t notice. I saved some time by slipping my feet out of my shoes before the dismount. I was a little worried about running barefoot through the rough parking lot, but I had already done it after the swim and this time around my feet were almost numb to it.

As I started the run my son was almost a half mile ahead of me. Again with the run, I was passing lots of people, but don’t remember anyone ever passing me. The run is also an out and back so when I saw my son on the return he was maybe a quarter mile ahead of me. With about a half mile to go it was past time to put the hammer down. The last couple hundred yards is slightly down hill so I was really pushing here. With about 50 yards to go I looked up and noticed my son about 10 yards ahead of me. By this point I shouldn’t have had any notches left to kick it up, but it would be an understatement to say I was determined to catch up to him. Caught him just in time for us to cross the finish line side by side and hear the announcer say, “and it’s the Haights from Avon, Konrad and Jeff”. Excuse me while I go grab a tissue.

My finish time was 4:07 faster than last time. I improved in every area, 15 seconds in the swim, 1 minute in T1, 1:42 on the bike, 53 seconds in T2, and 16 seconds on the run. I couldn’t be happier with the results. All the hard work in the last month really paid off.

"TRI"ed It, Loved It

2009-07-20T17:30:00.011-04:00

Way back in 1991 I did a duathlon. Actually, back then they called this particular event a bi-athlon. It consisted of a 3 mile run, 15 mile bike ride, and a 2 mile run. It was fun to combine running with cycling and I starting thinking about adding in swimming and doing a triathlon. I bought a book about triathlons, "Scott Tinley's Winning Triathlon". I bought a new road bike, a Specialized Allez. Before I could do a triathlon I moved to Indiana. I thought this would be a good move because triathlons being relatively new were not all that common back then, but there seemed to be lots of triathlons in central Indiana.

The years ticked by and I never did a triathlon. In many of those years I didn't even do any running, cycling, or swimming. In 2002 I started getting serious about running. I started doing marathons and ultra-marathons. After a few years I started thinking about the triathlon again. Lots of thinking, but not much doing. In December 2008 I finally made a decision, in the summer of 2009 I would do a triathlon. I wiped the dust off the old Allez, took it into a bike shop to get the bearings greased, wheels trued, and rusty cables replaced. In January a friend who didn't know of my decision asked if I would do him a favor. He wanted to get in shape and do a triathlon in the summer and wanted me to do it with him for moral support. I just laughed and told him it was funny he asked me that because I had already decided to do a triathlon. Along the way there were some setbacks. In February I lost my job. From March through May I struggled with a calf injury. It was starting to look like I might make it through another year without doing a triathlon.

In June I ran a 50k and didn't have any ultras planned until September. That was just too long to go without a challenge. My friend had said he was signed up for the August 22 Indy Sprint Triathlon. In late June I took the plunge, I signed up for the July 18th Indy Sprint Triathlon. Well the 18th has come and gone and I am at long last a "triathlete". It was spectacular! I loved it. It was about 59 degrees at the start, so between the cold and nerves and I was shivering almost uncontrollably. The water felt great, just about the right temp. I was a little worried about being able to finish the swim, but I made it. I won't say it was easy, but the swim wasn't as difficult as I had feared. As you can see from the times below my swim and transitions need a little work, but I'm pleased with my bike and run times. My overall time was 1 hour 13 minutes 27 seconds which put me in 206th place out of 555 finishers. Not bad for a beginner.

Swim 14:11.7 (432nd) Transition 1 02:34.5 (398th)
Bike 0:32:19.3 (18.6 mph/202nd) Transition 2 02:33.0 (523rd)
Run  0:21:49.0 (07:16.3/ 83rd)
Total time 1:13:27.4 (206th)

This year the Indy Sprints have changed from wave starts to individual starts. This is supposed to relieve congestion at the start and I guess it works. There was a little bumping along the way, but the start was pretty smooth. Having survived the first attempt, I signed up for the August 22nd event. My son who went along and took pictures decided he wanted to do a triathlon and so he also signed up for the August 22nd event. He even bought himself a road bike yesterday. Should be lots of fun. I can't wait.

Having bib number marked on arms.

Entering the water.

Running through transition to the bike start.

Starting the run.

I Will Tri

2009-07-08T07:50:00.004-04:00

Way back in 1993 I moved from very rural Western New York to Indianapolis, Indiana. I was a little apprehensive about the move but I was also a little excited because I had read in some Triathlon magazine (yes, magazine, this was the dark ages before I did everything on the internet heck I didn’t even own a computer) that there were several triathlons in central Indiana. I had never done a triathlon; although, a year earlier I had done a run, bike, run bi-athlon. Now these events are referred to as duathlons. Well, a mere 16 years later I have finally signed up for my first triathlon, the Indianapolis Sprint Triathlon Series at Eagle Creek Park on July 18th. Nothing too difficult, just a little 500 meter swim, 10 mile bike ride, and 3 mile run. My main goal is to make it out of the water under my own power. If I can do that I think the ride and run will be fun. I’ve done 500 meters non-stop in a pool, but in the open water of a lake with no lane markers and other swimmers kicking me?? Stay tuned…

Four More Dam Miles

2009-06-08T18:13:00.006-04:00

I finished my second Another Dam 50k this past Saturday. This race is a 7 plus mile loop repeated four times. About a mile of the loop is consumed traversing the Englewood Dam which is part of a system of five dry dams that have protected the Miami Valley from flooding along the Great Miami River since 1922. Anyway, I now have a total of 8 AD 50k dam miles. The dam is almost a mile long and the course returns along part of the lower section of the dam, so I guess that’s how they come up with four dam miles for a complete race. Of course this isn’t counting any other dam miles I may have logged in other races. I think the Germantown 50k crosses another dam in the system, but that’s only one crossing at about a quarter mile so it’s no big deal. I suppose seeing the flat straight mile ahead of you and knowing you have to repeat it four times can be somewhat intimidating especially when to sun is beating down on you.

The race started out ok. I didn’t think I was pushing too hard early on even though I finished my first loop about three minutes faster than last year. I still felt pretty good unlike at Dances With Dirt where I knew I was toast after 7 or 8 miles. After completing the second loop I was about four minutes ahead of last years pace and still feeling good. In the third loop I crossed the dam in about 8 minutes which would equate to a pace considerably faster than my average pace from last year. Then about half way through the third loop the wheels came off. I started feeling a little nauseous and my legs started feeling fatigued. Not sure what went wrong. It was warm, but the humidity was pretty low. I started drinking more water and took some more electrolytes. I soon realized I wouldn’t beat my time from last year so I didn’t push too hard through the rest of the third loop. I ran as much as I could but took walk breaks whenever I needed to. In the fourth loop I again tried to run the entire length of the dam, but even the adrenaline boost from knowing this was my last trip was not enough to keep me going. By now my only goal was to beat 6 hours and I was pretty sure I could do that. Then about half way through loop 4 I started thinking I could beat 5:45 so I tried to minimize the walk breaks as much as possible. Shortly after passing through the last aid station I started thinking that I could come within 30 minutes of last year’s finish time. These thoughts I was having may seem dopey to those who don’t run ultras, but when you are struggling you grasp at whatever you can for motivation. Anyway I finished the last couple miles with a new urgency. My finish time was 5:41:26, exactly 30 minutes and 2 seconds slower than last year.

Next up is the Germantown 50k on August 22^nd. I’m not 100% committed to it yet, but pretty sure I’ll do it.

Brown County State Park

2009-05-31T05:34:00.003-04:00

I returned to the scene of the crime yesterday, Brown County State Park. That's where I ran the DWD 50k three weeks ago. Yesterday I was there for the DINO Series 15k. It's called a 15k, but in reality the course is very close to 10 miles. Last Monday I ran a very hard 15 miles at Eagle Creek, Wednesday I ran intervals, and on Thursday I ran a short, but fast pace run. I think I was feeling good about finally feeling healthy and was ready to get my training back on track. So rather than rest up for DINO, I trained hard. I hope there will be future returns from that training investment.

The Brown County DINO race starts out with a mile up hill including a set of stairs a quarter mile in that always creates a bottle neck. I know from past experience to take it easy on this first mile and I thought I was taking it easy. After reaching the top I settled into a moderate pace behind Steve and Jim, a couple other DINO regulars. Around 4.5 miles in there is another significant hill climb. This is where I lost Steve and Jim. My legs just said enough and I walked up much of the hill and most of the remaining hills on the course. I was still able to run a good pace going down, but even then my legs felt a little shaky. I lost count of how many other runners passed me, but every time I would hear footsteps behind me I just moved out of the way. I didn't even try to stay ahead of them. Fortunately the last mile is mostly downhill so I was able to get up a good head of steam into the finish, my slowest time ever on this course, about 4 minutes slower than last year. I was in a haze at the finish and I didn't stop my watch so I won't know my exact time until DINO posts them on their website. Oh well, it was a good week of training and I somehow managed to finish second in my age group. This week I think I'll take it a little easier since Another Dam 50k is on Saturday.

Turning Point?

2009-05-11T08:48:00.003-04:00

I survived Dances With Dirt; however, a more appropriate event name might have been Mingles With Mud. Then again it was definitely more than just mud I was slogging through on that nightmarish horse trail. My performance wasn’t pretty, but I finished. Of course the ugliness was mostly, as is usually the case, self inflicted.

At the urging of fellow DINO runner Steve B. I went off way too fast at the start. I managed to stay with Steve all the way to the second aid station at about the 9 mile mark. I had to stop there to take my left shoe and sock off to clean out the mud that had built up under my toes. At around the 2 mile mark there was a long section of ankle deep mud. Running through that shoe sucking ooze wasn’t the best way to start a race, but being fresh made it seem easy. There was a lump of mud about the size of a quarter inside my sock. It was packed in there pretty hard and made it feel like I had a nail poking through my shoe. I managed to catch back up to Steve about a mile out of the aid station but then quickly realized I couldn’t go another 20 miles at that pace. At this point there were only about 9 runners ahead of me but I was suddenly making frequent stops to allow others to pass me.

Mud on the inside of my sock after the race.

I wasn’t completely wasted yet, but knew reaching the finish line would be painful. There were a few moments where I seemed to get a second wind and was feeling pretty good. Those moments didn’t last long. There were a number of small creek crossings with cool flowing water. After the second aid station I didn’t even try to avoid the water. I actually started planting my feet firmly in the rapid flow and would squish my feet around in my shoes to clear out the mud. This worked well and I never again had to remove my shoes. Also the cool water helped sooth my aching feet.

I stopped paying attention to where I was on the course because there was no point in wasting any energy on negative thoughts about how many miles were left to go. Just keep moving forward, no stinkin’ thinkin’. I hadn’t studied the course description much, but I knew Ogle Lake was the last aid station and from there it would be just less than 7 miles to the finish. I thought I might be getting close to Ogle Lake and seeing a trail sign pointing to Ogle Lake was one of those moments when I started feeling pretty good. I soon reached the aid station, topped off my water bottle, grabbed a handful of pretzel sticks, and was quickly munching my way over the dam. They had pretzel sticks at all the aid stations. Pretzels are my favorite race food anyway, but these sticks were easy to grab. This time I even thought to poke one of the sticks into the jar of peanut butter they had. Mmmm, gourmet trail running food.

After crossing the dam there was a nice little climb up from Ogle Lake. Upon reaching the top of the ridge I started repeating my mantra from the Ice Age 50 miler “walking only prolongs the misery” and starting running as much as I could. A mile or two out of Ogle Lake the course came onto a paved road. Just up ahead I saw a lady pop out of an outhouse on the side of the road. She turned around and said, “Come on I’ll jog with you to the aid station”. I said, “huh”? That was about all the conversation my brain could muster at this point. Turns out she was a race volunteer and there was indeed another aid station just ahead. She said it was a surprise aid station and a pleasant surprise it was. It was there for the half marathoners. She had hoped to be gone by now but not all the half marathoners had come through, lucky me. Water bottle topped off, orange wedge, handful of pretzel sticks, a fresh shot of adrenaline and off I went. Only 5.4 miles to go. I was feeling good. Woohoo! I was running even though my legs were screaming walk. I was running because it was smooth flat trail and at about 5 hours 30 minutes into the run I started thinking I could still finish around close to 6 hours 30 minutes. Plus that nice lady at the aid station lied to me. She said there were only about 12 runners ahead of me. (I should have known better, turns out the number was closer to 3 times 12.)

Then it happened. By it I mean the course turned onto a section of horse trail that was pure hell. This time I wasn’t fresh. I wasn’t able to just plow right through it. Every step in this shoe sucking muck was also sucking out what the little remaining energy I had, not to mention any chance I had of coming in anywhere close to 6:30. Before the start the race director said we would start hating him 20 minutes into the race when we hit that first mud section. Then I was fresh so it didn’t bother me. Now I was worn down ready to be finished. Now I didn’t just hate the race director, I wanted to hurt him. This seemed to go on forever, no end in sight. I passed another runner through this section. I even saw several horses. One pair of horses turned and came up behind me very fast. I was hoping they would trample me to death and put me out of my misery, but they missed me. Eventually the course turned off this section and soon after I could hear the sound of a highway. The trail soon opened up to an old ski slope. I could see highway 46 and a building that I first thought was Mike’s Dance Barn (the start/finish area). It wasn’t, big disappointment. I kept running though, now being motivated by the thought of maybe coming in under 7 hours. I didn’t quite make it. My finish time was 7:00:57.

Except for the mud I liked most of this course. There weren’t many big hill climbs and most of the trail was very runable. I think if I had started out at a sensible pace I could have run this course under 6:30 maybe even close to 6 hours. Also on the positive side is the fact that my left calf gave me no trouble at all. I’m now cautiously optimistic that I can get this year turned around and headed in a positive direction. I have three weeks to find some speed for the DINO 15k May 30th at Brown County which is run on some of the very same trails as DWD (thankfully not the extreme mud sections). Then exactly one week later is Another Dam 50k at Englewood MetroPark in Englewood Ohio.

Mud on my Dirty Girl Gaiter.

Polar Opposites

2009-05-07T12:07:00.002-04:00

Without a doubt 2008 was my most productive year of running, just an awesome year full of great challenging races and lots of PR’s. Well, 2009 is slowly starting to stagger 180 degrees off awesome. The year started out ok, but I’ve been fighting a left calf injury for a little over a month now. This has put a huge dent in my training and is giving me a bad attitude.

Last Saturday I ran the Mini Marathon. The calf felt ok at the start, but I was afraid it could give me trouble. For the first few miles I was on pace to hit my goal, but by mile 4 I starting thinking I wouldn’t have the stamina to maintain that pace. Then at mile 6 the calf started acting up. I probably could have pushed myself a little harder, but with the Dances With Dirt 50k coming up this Saturday I decided it was smarter to try and save myself. That was one of the smarter decisions I’ve made in quite a while. I finished the run and posted my slowest half marathon time since 2003. The day after the Mini my calf felt great. On Tuesday I ran six miles. I wouldn’t say the calf was 100%, but it was ok. The lack of training was proving to be a tougher hurdle. Then today I ran another six miles and felt much better. Without even trying I ran the course almost four minutes faster. Calf felt pretty good.

So now the big question is, do I take it easy this Saturday or do I push myself? Smart thing would probably be to start out slow and then if I still feel good 20 miles out start to kick it up a notch. Of course taking it easy at the start of a race has never been my forte.

DINO at Avon - Photos

2009-04-20T19:41:00.005-04:00

Photos by Michelle Craig Photography
www.chellecraig.zenfolio.com

DINO at Avon

2009-04-18T06:07:00.004-04:00

Last Saturday I ran the DINO 15k in Avon. Once again the weather could not have been better. The course is a 5k loop repeated three times. The course was changed a little from previous years. I liked the new course. The changes made the course a little longer than it was last year so comparing results is impossible. My main goal was to stay conservative at the start, to not get burned out in the first quarter mile like I have a bad habit of doing. I started a little further back in the pack than I normally do and since this course gets bottled up in single track trail within a couple hundred yards taking it easy was, well, easy. I wasn’t able to start putting the hammer down until past the one mile mark. This strategy seemed to work out well for me. I didn’t burn out early and the first lap was my slowest. Laps two and there were about the same. I think I ran well and finish in 1:10:11 which was good enough for 2^nd place in my age group. My time was a little slower than last year at this race, but it was a different course so I can’t really compare the two.

Next race is the Mini Marathon in Indianapolis in two weeks. Unfortunately last Tuesday at the Indy Runners Mini Training program I pulled my left calf. We were at mile 5 of a 10 mile run when it happened. Fortunately there was a water stop set up at 5 miles and I was able to get a ride back to the start area. I’ve been nursing it all week with ice, ibuprofen and “The Stick”. It is feeling better, but definitely not 100%. We have an 11 mile run this Tuesday which I probably shouldn’t do, but we’ll see. I had planned to do about four hours on the trails today, but that’s not going to happen. I’m ready for the mini, but haven’t been able to train as I would have liked. Of course a bigger concern is Dances with Dirt the week after the Mini. I don’t know if I’m ready for that.

Sam Costa

2009-03-30T09:01:00.001-04:00

I ran the 40^th Annual Sam Costa Half Marathon Saturday. It’s the oldest road race in Indiana. Weather was great, cool and overcast, perfect except for a little too much wind. I started out ok. Maybe a little quick, but not too bad. I soon settled into a nice steady pace around 7:13 or so per mile. After passing the 7 mile mark I started to pick up the pace. I was passing people and was feeling pretty good. Then just past the 9 mile mark my left calf suddenly started to cramp up. I stopped for a moment to massage it. This helped a little, but I knew I was in trouble. I started running again, but very tentatively. With every step of my left leg I had to pull my toe up to keep the calf stretched. This is no way to run, but I was somehow able to run the next two miles at 7:30 pace. As I hit mile 12 I realized if my calf didn’t completely disable me I could still squeak out a half marathon PR. Well, I made it to the finish in 1:36:14, a little more than 2 minutes faster than my previous best which was run on this same course in 2007. I think I lost around two minutes to the calf problem so if I can get healthy I can shave some more time off that PR.

Spring Means DINO

2009-03-17T12:55:00.004-04:00

The first race of the DINO Trail Series happened last Saturday at Eagle Creek. The weather was perfect and the trail conditions were pretty good too. A little mud in a few spots, but otherwise dry. Very large turnout, in fact the largest ever for a DINO Series event, 202 finished the 15k and 195 finished the 5k. I'm glad the economy isn't keeping people from racing, maybe we're all just running away from our troubles.

The course was a loop that was repeated three times for the 15k. The course was modified slightly this year to shorten it. Last year the course was a little longer than 3.1 miles. This year it was a little short of 3.1 miles. I ran a pretty good race, didn't start out too fast and was able to maintain a good steady pace the entire race. Lots of fast runners though and I wasn't able to crack the top three in my age group. Still I'm happy with my effort and the finish time of 1:05:44. I'm still plagued by this respiratory infection, but I didn't let it get the best of me this time.

This morning I did a set of 75 burpees in 12:53. Not a record time for me, but still a good effort. Tonight is Indy Runners Mini training at Butler, an easy 6 mile run.

Bubble Burst

2009-03-10T11:07:00.002-04:00

I was really bummed out after my poor performance last Saturday at the Spring Fling 15k race. I ran almost four and a half minutes slower than last year. Today though I am taking some consolation from the fact that I've had a respiratory infection for about two weeks now and I guess that took more out of me than I thought it would. I didn't think about this until this morning when I went out for an easy six mile jog and my legs were extremely sore and lifeless, much more than they should be from a mere 15k. I have another 15k race this Saturday, the first race in the 2009 DINO Trail Series. I hope this infection is cleared up by then.

Twenty-One Redux

2009-02-23T08:57:00.001-05:00

It’s been just over two months since I’ve tackled twenty-one. Since that time I’ve been working a push up program to improve my push up endurance. That program is supposed to get you to the point where you can do 100 consecutive push ups. Well, I’ve not reached 100 yet, but I’ve definitely improved my push up endurance and it shows in the results for twenty-one. On December 16th I needed just over 33 minutes to complete 21. Today I did it in 19:16. For those who don’t know, twenty-one is a push up and crunch workout where you start with 20 push ups and 1 crunch, then 19 push ups and 2 crunches and continue until you do 1 push up and 20 crunches. I do a leg lift crunch where I lift my legs and curl my knees up into my chest. You can do whatever type of crunch or sit up you are comfortable with. Enjoy.

By the way, I followed twenty-one with 100 squats for good measure. Squats are a quick way to burn lots of calories and you can quickly do 25 or 30 at work even. Contrary to popular myth, squats are good for you knees, just make sure you a doing them properly. Go to http://www.crossfit.com/ to see a video demonstration.

Lovin' the Hills, Kentucky Style

2009-02-17T12:56:00.000-05:00

I felt really good going into this race, was well rested, and slept good the night before. So naturally I went out a little too fast at the start. Dumb, dumb, dummy. When will I ever learn? I ran the first loop about four minutes faster than last year and the second loop about 12 minutes faster than last year, but at the Scott’s Gap turn around I was only a few minutes ahead of last year’s pace. From Scott’s Gap to the finish I was still able to run the flats and down hills, but didn’t have the steam to really push it like last year. Also on the return from Scott’s Gap I was having trouble running fast down hill because my toes were so sore. It’s too bad I blew it this year because I can’t ever expect to get better weather and trail conditions than we had this year. I have to give a huge thanks to all the volunteers who made this race possible. The ice storms from two weeks ago and the wind from last week knocked down so many trees there was a good chance the race would have to be cancelled. Fortunately many people worked their butts off to get the trail ready. I have never seen such devastation; there were trees down everywhere, but with a couple minor exceptions the trail was cleared and in great shape. For finishing we got a wood medal shaped like a heart and a Colorado blue spruce seedling. Not sure where I’m going to plant it, but it should make for a lasting reminder of a great day on the trails. That is if I don’t kill it.

Still leaking, but keeps on ticking

2009-02-12T09:12:00.004-05:00

Two years ago a cardiologist told me I had a leak in my aortic valve. He told me to avoid lifting heavy weights, but running should be ok. He also told me to come back in two years for another cardiac echo. In the two years since then I’ve lost at least 15 pounds and have set new PR’s for just about every race distance with one annoying exception, the 5k. I had another cardiac echo done a couple weeks ago and the cardiologist says everything looks great, of course the leak is still there, but it isn’t worse. He said I’m in excellent shape and just keep doing what I’m doing and of course come back in three or four years to drop off another wad of cash.

This is all good because this Saturday is Louisville’s Lovin’ The Hills. LLTH is one of the toughest 50k’s around. My 50k PR is 5:11, my best time at LLTH is 6:30. This year my goal is to beat that time. It won’t be easy, but if I’m patient and don’t go out to fast at the start I know I can do it. Then again if I'm slogging through mud the whole way forget about any goal other than just finishing.

Good News/Bad News

2009-02-06T15:01:00.002-05:00

The good news is that I now have lots of time to train. The bad news is I won't have the money to sign up for races because my job was eliminated on Tuesday. I'm now looking for a job as a "Certified Internet Surfer" with a salary in the low six figure range. If anyone knows where I can find such a job let me know asap.

Actually I've been pleasantly surprised by the amount of jobs that are posted.

Bayonet 7

2009-02-03T06:10:00.002-05:00

The Groundhog 7 was only the second time I’ve ever run a 7 mile race. Seven seems like an unlikely number of miles for a race. The first was back in 1984 at Ft Ord, home of the 7^th “Bayonet” Infantry Division. They had a seven mile race called the “Bayonet 7”. I don’t remember much about the race other than seeing guys running in combat boots and fully loaded rucksacks. I was wearing shorts and running shoes, no rucksack. I also remember the Commanding General standing at the finish line shaking everyone’s hand as they finished. I don’t remember my exact time, but it was almost certainly slower than 48:18.

I belive this picture was taken after the race. All the hardware belongs to the girls. They were pretty fast runners. I don’t remember how three girls came home with five trophies, but they did. We were all students at the Defense Language Institute, Foreign Language Center (DLIFLC) at the Presidio of Monterey. The Monterey Peninsula was most definitely a runner's paradise. I imagine it still is.

Back row: Sgt. Steve Lefavour, me, SSG Rob Pinnell

Front row: June Parsons, Debbie Hamilton, Michele ??

2009-02-02T04:29:00.002-05:00

I ran the Groundhog 7 yesterday afternoon. The weather was just about perfect and after last week's snow storm the roads were in great shape. There were a few spots on and around the rail trail that still had some ice and snow, but they were not a problem. As usual I went out a little too fast in the first mile (6:30) but managed hang in there and ran all but the 4th mile (7:05) under 7 minutes.
I finished 31st out of 270 with a time of 48:18. My goal was to keep it under 49 minutes, so I'm pretty happy with the result.

Louisville's Lovin' the Hills in two weeks.

Stairs, Ugh!

2009-01-24T12:57:00.004-05:00

I struggled with the stairs today. I don't have my official time yet, but my watch has me about 25 seconds slower than last year. Not sure what the problem was. I think I'm in better shape than I was last year, but it was rough going today. Last year I got faster on each trip up. This year I slowed each time. Probably pushed a little to hard on the first trip. I've been doing a lot of strength training lately and have put on a few pounds. That could be a part of it. Even though I think the weight gain is mostly muscle it still has to be hauled all the way to the top. Still it was fun. Met some new people and ran into some old friends.

Update: Ok, my time was only about 18 seconds slower than last year and I came in 5th place.

The Fun Begins

2009-01-21T13:59:00.001-05:00

Last night was the first run for the Indy Runners Mini Training program. Nothing special, just three miles. I’m one of two leaders of the 8:30 pace group. The other leader, Bryan, lead the pack while I stayed back with the stragglers. Bryan did a pretty good job keeping the pace, finishing maybe 20 seconds ahead of the pace. I stayed with the last straggler and finished a minute over pace. I guess that’s not too bad for the first night. I didn’t get an exact count, but I think there were a little over 20 runners in our group. I actually got there early did my pushups and then ran the course alone to check it out. I pretty much stayed on an 8:30 pace. Next week I’ll do the same thing, but I’ll do the first run through at a much faster pace, maybe 7:00 or so. Of course I’ll do my pushups first. I’m working through this program designed to build up to doing 100 consecutive pushups. It’s a six week program, but based on my initial test result, I started out at week three. There are proscribed sets of pushups I’m supposed to do three times a week. If at the end of six weeks you can’t do 100 consecutive pushups then you cycle back through the last week or two. Seems simple enough.

Coming up this Saturday… Bop to the Top, Triple Step! I’m really looking forward to it.

Unbelievable!

2009-01-01T13:08:00.009-05:00

I ran the Resolution Revolution again this morning. This was my third time to run it. It was quite cold, probably about 20 degrees at the start. That's me on the left and my friend and former co-worker John D. on the right. John is a Blackhawk pilot in the National Guard and is leaving for Iraq next week. John was responsible for turning me on to the Resolution Revolution a couple years ago. He is hoping to be back in time for the next Res-Rev on January 1, 2010. God bless you and keep you safe. Both of John's sons were also there this morning. At the moment their names are escaping me; I'm wanting to say Eric and Brian? If that's correct I think it's Eric on the left and Brian in the middle of the second photo.

I hit the first mile marker at 6:46, pretty quick for me but I felt good so I just went with it. I finished the first lap in 19:38. Ok, I'm now thinking I can crack this nut in under an hour. First mile of lap 2 is again at 6:46. I'm in the zone. Second lap down in 39:24. Lap three, I didn't feel like I was slowing, but first mile is a 6:55. No stinkin' thinkin' now, I can do this, don't let up. I've been lapping walkers and slower runners for a while now and that is helping me to keep pushing myself. I turn the last corner and head for the finish. I can finally see the numbers on the clock, keep pushing you can do this. Yes! 59:17! Somebody pinch me; I must be dreaming. Nine miles in under and hour. That's 4:04 faster than last year! That is what I call starting the year out right. Praise God from Whom all blessings flow!

Year In Review

2008-12-31T09:31:00.007-05:00

Abraham Lincoln said, “And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.”

I had a lot of life in 2008. This was probably my best year yet as far as running is concerned. I ran in 19 races and set a new PR in 7 of them:

5 mile – 33:51 RT Turkey Run, Rochester, NY

9 mile – 1:03:22 Resolution Revolution, Indy

15k (road) – 1:03:21 Spring Fling, Plainfield, IN

15k (trail) – 1:07:49 Dino Ft Harrison

marathon – 3:37:36 I Indianapolis Monumental Marathon

3:31:26 CIM, Sacramento, CA

50k – 5:11:24 Another Dam 50, Englewood, OH

Technically I suppose I lowered by PR in the 50k twice if you count the 6:30:34 at Lovin’ The Hills in February. That was only my second 50k and the first was such a disaster it was no feat beating that time. Each trail race is different so comparing times from one event to another is somewhat dubious. Just because the race is called 50k doesn’t mean it’s exactly 50k and total ascent/descent can really throw a wrench into the works. I suppose I could say the same goes for the 15k trail PR. It’s possible the Ft Harrison course is shorter than the others, but I believe I ran very well there, who knows? The only certainty is that I ran the Ft Harrison course faster than last year under slightly worse conditions and I had a better time there than on any other course.

Six of the 19 events were marathon or longer; two marathons, three 50k, and one 50 miler. The 50 miler was my second attempt at the distance and my first finish which was very satisfying; however, I’m going to say the highlight of the year was the La Luz Trail Run in Albuquerque. Sure, it was only 9 miles, but except for about a quarter mile around mile six it was up hill all the way, 4578 feet of ascent.

I’m not a high mileage runner. In 2008 I ran 1,365 miles for a weekly average of 26.25 miles. The highest mileage week was 53.9 miles in week 19 which included the 50 mile trail run. This was my highest mileage week ever and only the second time I’ve ever exceeded 50 miles in a week. The lowest mileage week was zero miles in week 35 which was the week my mother passed away. I don’t know how people run 100 miles a week? I couldn’t do it without causing serious problems in other areas of my life. My wife already thinks that all I do is run. In the last six years I’ve averaged 1049 miles per year so I’m happy if I can manage to run more than 1000 miles during the year. I’ve been able to increase my speed and for the most part remain injury free with low mileage. Lord willing that will continue. The key I think is cross training that includes a lot of core strength work and interval training.

So what are my goals for 2009? Run when I can and have fun doing it, do a sprint triathlon, and run a 100 mile trail ultra. 2008 will be a tough act to follow so this is no time to be resting on laurels. I plan to continue my low mileage training and to focus even more on core strength and with the triathlon looming on the horizon I’ll be spending some time in the pool too.

I’m not going to tell you to have a Happy New Year. Saying have a happy new year to me that sounds as if there is some element of luck to it, that you can only sit back and take what comes hoping it all turns out ok. Instead I’m going to say make it a happy and fruitful New Year!

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain

Merry Christmas

2008-12-25T07:57:00.001-05:00

"Age is just a number most people forget that. I hear I'm to old to do this or that..That's a bunch of crap." - Catra Corbett, Dirt Diva

I Think I Can

2008-12-23T10:08:00.004-05:00

I swam again on Sunday. Swimming is a humbling experience for me. My goal is to do a sprint triathlon this summer; 5k run, piece of cake, 10 mile bike, child’s play, 500 meter swim, BIG PROBLEM! Last Sunday I swam somewhere between 500 and 750 yards. I didn’t maintain my senses enough to be able to keep track of the laps. I followed up the swim with a 4 mile run. This Sunday I maintained my senses enough to count the laps. I swam a mere 800 yards. I was in the water just over 20 minutes. I was able to make it to 500 before I stopped to rest. The first 500 yards took about 14 minutes. I’d like to get that closer to 10 minutes by summer. I think I am improving a little. This week the swim was followed up by a 6 mile run.

On a more positive note; last night I did burpees again. Burpees are an excellent workout. One exercise works, arms, legs, and abs. They are a great way to prepare for Bop To The Top. It’s been some time since I’ve done burpees. I like to do them in the winter months. Anyway I did 75 in 12 minutes 25 seconds. A year ago I needed over 18 minutes to do 75 burpees. Definitely some improvement there. After the burpees I spent 60 minutes on the Wii Fit trying to beat my wife’s time in the ski slalom. Couldn’t do it. Next time I need to do the slalom first then the burpees.

Twenty-One

2008-12-16T17:55:00.002-05:00

The weather was not nice here today. Roads in the neighborhood were to icy to run and I didn't feel like driving to the gym because ice was making traffic horrible so, I finally got around to doing "twenty-one" again. Lowered my time to 33:03. This time though instead of doing sit ups I did what I'll call "leg lift crunches". I did 25 squats before "21" and after I did 75 more squats and 80 bicep curls.

I'm thinking about running a 5k race this Saturday. Next up after that is Resolution-Revolution
January 1st.

6 Minutes 10 Seconds Or 27 Seconds

2008-12-07T23:28:00.001-05:00

Had a great weekend in Sacramento even if the weather was pretty crappy. It was cool and foggy the whole weekend. Great for running, but not so great for sightseeing and race spectators. The marathon was very well organized. The expo wasn’t huge, but it was nice. They had several good seminars throughout the day Saturday. Unfortunately I was only able to sit in on one of them. My wife and I were out walking all over. I think we walked at least three miles probably more. I met Catra Corbett at the expo. She is an ultra runner and cross-fit fanatic. I sometimes read her blog for inspiration. I have set numerous PR’s this year in part because she inspired me to push myself harder than I used to think was possible.
The race went pretty well for me. I slept great the night before. Woke up about 4am, ate some pretzels and a hammer gel for breakfast, got dressed and boarded the bus to the start at about 5:15. There were plenty of port-a-potties at the start area. I managed to make use of them twice with very little waiting. I bagged my warm-up suit and then got back on the bus until about 15 minutes before the start. I had a little trouble finding the 3:30 pace runner, Lee Mckinley. By the time I saw him there was no way to get near him, but I was only about 5 yards behind him. After the start I didn’t see him again until about mile 2. I finally caught up to him around mile 3. I started to pull away from him around mile 8 or 9. He caught and passed me around mile 18. I tried to keep up with him, but just didn’t have it. Still, I felt pretty good up to about mile 21 when I started to tighten up a little. I kept pushing though, tried to stay positive. All through the race I kept telling myself “no stinkin’ thinkin” anytime I started to have negative thoughts. I slowed a little in the last 5 miles, but kept pushing. I ended up with a 3:31:26 finish time, cutting another 6 minutes 10 seconds off my PR from a month ago. Ok, I’m a little disappointed about missing a BQ by 27 seconds, but I’m pretty happy with my performance. I ran the first half in 1:44:20 and the second half in 1:47:06. Right after the finish I was sure I was going to throw up and my wife says I looked pretty bad, but I feel pretty good now about 10 hours after finishing, no major aches or pains.

RT Turkey Run

2008-12-01T12:26:00.006-05:00

On Saturday November 29th I ran in the 31st Annual RT Turkey Run 5 Miler. The event is put on by the Genesee Valley Harriers Running Club. It was a small low key event, but for only $15 I got a nice t-shirt and knit cotton running gloves. I was not expecting the t-shirt so it was a pleasant surprise.

Saturday morning I got up early to make the hour drive to Rochester with my dad. Unfortunately we discovered there was no hot water so we spent some time investigating the problem. It was looking like I might not make it to the race. Turns out pilot light would not stay lit. We could not do anything about that until later anyway so off we went with the plumber’s phone number in hand. While in Rochester my dad called the plumber and by the time we returned home there was hot water for a much needed shower.

The race started on the main drive in Camp Eastman and ran slightly downhill to the Lakeside Trail running along the Lake Ontario Shore. The Lakeside Trail is a paved multi-use trail. Running along the shore was nice with a couple rolling hills. There is a nice sandy beach there that I imagine on warm summer days is crowded sun bathers and sand castle builders. The lake was mostly calm but you could still hear the sound of waves splashing onto the beach. After about a mile the trail turned away from the shore and crossed a swamp on the boardwalk shown in the picture. The boardwalk was iced over so I had to slow a little going over it. The next half mile or so was all up hill. At the top of the hill we did a loop through neighborhood streets and then returned to the trail and headed back toward Camp Eastman. My PR pace for 5 miles was 6:51 per mile and I went into this race hoping to beat that. My first mile was a 6:25, but that was fueled mostly by the downhill start out of Camp Eastman. The big uphill in mile 2 really slowed me down at 7:08 and mile 3 was only a 7:01. I didn’t give up hope of a new PR, but I knew I needed to take full advantage of the return down that hill to do it. Of course right at the bottom of the hill was the icy boardwalk. I ran mile 4 in 6:39 so a PR was within reach, but I would have to push it for the last mile in the rolling hills along the lake shore. Listening to the waves splashing onto the beach was inspiring and somehow the power of

the waves fueled me to the finish line with a last mile time of 6:38 and a new 5 mile PR of 33:51. I finished 15th overall and 5th in my age group, so I have some work to do. Fellow Hoosier, John Poray, finished 2nd overall with a time of 26:00.

This was a nice event and a nice course if you are ever in Rochester on the Saturday after Thanksgiving I would recommend this event.

Exciting Developments

2008-11-26T14:51:00.004-05:00

Great news! A couple weeks ago I sent in an application for the Brooks Inspire Daily Program for 2009. Yesterday I got an email from the program manager, Steve Dekoker, saying my application had been accepted. They have varying levels of product sponsorship which will be announced in late December or early January. The higher the level the more free product you receive. I assume I will come in at the lowest level which means I won’t get a lot of free stuff, but I will get a 40% discount on my favorite running shoes and apparel. Actually I’m not yet very familiar with Brooks apparel as I don’t believe I currently have any Brooks apparel; though, I once had an awesome Brooks mesh running cap similar to the one shown above. It was very nice, white with the Mini Marathon logo embroidered on it. I loved that hat. Unfortunately, one day my wife’s “therapy” dog used it to floss his teeth. I’m all for good dental hygiene, but that was a little over the top.

More great news! I volunteered to be a pacer for the Indy Runners Mini Marathon Training Program even though I was not planning to actually run the Mini. The program takes place on Tuesday evenings starting January 24th at Hinkle Fieldhouse. I’ll be pacing the 8:30/mile group. I’m very excited about this opportunity to help others train for the Mini and to meet other experienced runners who will be pacing other groups. I think other runners can benefit from my experience, but ultimately I’m sure I will receive even greater blessing from this in return.

I said I was not planning to run the Mini this year, but I guess I became intoxicated on all the excitement of the Brooks ID Program and Indy Runners Mini Training Program and this morning I actually signed up for the Mini. Oh well I suppose there are worse ways to spend a Saturday morning in May.

I just can't help myself

2008-11-23T16:49:00.003-05:00

Ok, I was going to take it easy over the next two weeks and rest up for the CIM December 7th. Plans change. We are going to New York for Thanksgiving and today at church some friends who are also going to NY for Thanksgiving talked me into running the RT Turkey Run in Irondequoit on the 29th. It's only a 5 mile race so I guess it probably won't ruin me for the marathon. Irondequoit is a suburb of Rochester. It's a little more than an hour away from where I'll be, but I have relatives in the area I can visit after the race. I think it will be a relatively flat course so if there isn't deep snow or ice maybe I can set a PR for 5 miles. Have a happy Thanksgiving!

2008 DINO 15k Trail Series

2008-11-16T20:08:00.002-05:00

The last race of the 2008 DINO Trail series was held yesterday at Ft Harrison State Park. The trail is an out and back with a nice mix of hills and difficult trail conditions. The trail also has a creek crossing about four miles out, which was about a foot deep. I think it took me three or four steps to get across. Because it was raining the entire race my feet were soaking wet even before the first trip through the creek. I ran a pretty good race. I didn’t go out too fast, didn’t fade in the middle. I ran out in just under 34 minutes and back just a few seconds slower. My finish time of 1:07:49 was my best time ever for a DINO race. I like the out and back format because you can see everyone who is ahead of you and behind you. Ft Harrison is no longer military post, but I guess the National Guard still uses a firing range out there. On the return trip you could hear machine guns throwing lead down range. Maybe that’s what made me run fast.

I finished the series in 8th place over all and 1st in my age group.

Last winter I increased the amount of strength conditioning I was doing and I think that made me a better runner this year. This winter I intend to focus even more on conditioning and cross training. Today I did a crossfit WOD called “Twenty-one”.

20 push ups, 1 sit up
19 push ups, 2 sit ups
18 push ups, 3 sit ups
17 push ups, 4 sit ups
16 push ups, 5 sit ups
15 push ups, 6 sit ups
14 push ups, 7 sit ups
13 push ups, 8 sit ups
12 push ups, 9 sit ups
11 push ups, 10 sit ups
10 push ups, 11 sit ups
9 push ups, 12 sit ups
8 push ups, 13 sit ups
7 push ups, 14 sit ups
6 push ups, 15 sit ups
5 push ups, 16 sit ups
4 push ups, 17 sit ups
3 push ups, 18 sit ups
2 push ups, 19 sit ups
1 push up, 20 sit ups

You do this for time. A really fit person can do it in less than 20 minutes. It took me 38:09 and my arms feel like lead which doesn’t make typing very easy.

Outback Scramble

2008-11-08T21:18:00.000-05:00

Ran the Outback Scramble today. First time I've ever run this race. It's a trail run, but without the trail. They just use pink tape to mark a course through the woods. Up and down steep ravines, through creeks, over/under downed trees, through fields of tall goldenrod, just about anything goes. I don't even know what goldenrod is, but those were some really tall weeds. They mark a new course every year. Some of the hills had ropes to help with the climb up. I wound up sliding down some hills on my butt. Along the course they distribute various hats. If you pick up a hat and are wearing it when you cross the finish line they deduct a minute from your time. I picked up a viking hat very early in the race and had to carry it the whole time until I approached the finish line. The course was somewhere around 4 miles. This event is all about raising money and food for Gleaners Food Bank. If you bring in canned goods you get $5 off your entry fee. The three entrants who bring in the most food get a head start. The three brought in 57, 39, and 21 pounds. I took in 15 pounds. I ran a pretty good race and managed to finish 10th place over all out of 316 and 2nd in my age group.

Indianapolis Monumental Marathon

2008-11-02T12:07:00.000-05:00

I really enjoyed this marathon. The weather was nearly perfect, the course was awesome. I don’t normally pay any attention to the sights and sounds along the course, but for some reason yesterday I did and I really liked what I saw over much of the course. The volunteers were great. I was pleasantly surprised by the numbers of vocal, supportive spectators who lined the course. It all added up to produce one awesome marathon. I think I’ll run this one again next year.

At the start I lined up about 10 yards back from the front runners. Then the 3:30 pace runner came in and lined up right behind me. I was hoping to finish in 3:30 or less so I was thinking I just need to stay ahead of this guy. I did stay ahead of him until around mile 19 when I had to stop at a port-a-potty. As I stepped out and started running there he was with 4 or 5 other runners. I managed to get a little ahead of him, but then he passed me. A little later he was all alone and I passed him, not because I was getting faster, but I think he was running out of steam. I was able to stay ahead of him for the rest of the race, but unfortunately I didn’t beat 3:30 finishing at 3:37:31. Not sure when he finished. I felt really good in the first half and probably ran it a little too fast. Around mile 8 I came along a couple fellow DINO runners and chatted for awhile. One wound up finishing in 3:15. According to my watch I ran the first half in about 1:41, but the race results have me at 1:39:15. I was still on 3:30 pace through mile 23, but then the wheels fell off. My legs got really tight and I couldn’t go fast anymore. I kept running though, I never stopped running. I thought I was taking enough endurolytes, but probably could have used some more. I probably should have taken the hammer gel I was carrying, but after mile 20 I was feeling a little nauseous. I mistakenly grabbed a Gatorade cup around mile 21 and nearly gagged on it. Luckily it was a small cup and was less than half full.

I’m a little disappointed, but I knocked 23 minutes off my marathon PR so I’m pretty happy about that. I’m running another marathon in December. This time I’ll try to hold back a little more in the first half and hopefully wind up with a better finish time.

DINO at SouthWestway Park

2008-10-12T15:11:00.007-04:00

Very nice morning for a run yesterday. The course at SouthWestway Park, a 5k loop, is mostly flat for the first couple miles then has one pretty tough hill around two miles. I kept my cool at the start and didn't burn out right away. I ran hard in the flats and took it easy getting up that hill. I was running behind a younger guy who really flew up the hills. I would catch up to him in the flats. By the third loop I though maybe he would finally slow down going up that hill. Wrong! The last time he went up the hills like he had been shot out of a cannon. I ran a good race though and I felt strong in the last lap, I even managed to pass a couple others in the last couple miles. I missed the medals, finishing 4th in my age group, no door prizes either, but still a good day on the trails.

Yada, Yada, Yasso

2008-09-30T19:19:00.000-04:00

Did Yasso 800's again tonight. I know you are probably getting tired of hearing about Yasso's, but this will be the last intervals until after the Indy Monumental Marathon on November 1st. Below are the times for the ten 800's in order.

Yasso 800	400 Recovery
3:17	2:56
3:18	3:19
3:20	3:16
3:18	3:18
3:18	3:21
3:14	3:21
3:17	3:15
3:16	3:22
3:18	3:18
3:09	3:12

Ok, I'm becoming cautiously optimistic about my chances of running a 3:30 marathon.

Race Photos

2008-09-29T19:32:00.000-04:00

Listening to final announcements and instructions at the start of the Germantown 50k. It always amuses me when race directors give you directions for intersections you won't see for a few hours as if I will remember it.
This photo was taken at the 19.6 mile aid station of the Germantown 50k. It was a hot day and I was toast by the time I arrived at this aid station. Running in those open fields was not much fun.

This was at the finish of the Bret Neylon 5k back in July. It was pretty warm that day.

The Low Gap Fatass 50k wound up being a Fatass Marathon. One of the logging roads that is part of the trail had some new gravel with baseball sized rocks that were very tough on feet and ankles, so after two times around the trail we dicided to shorten the third lap and bypass the fresh gravel.

Yasso 800's

2008-09-16T19:31:00.000-04:00

Did 10 Yasso 800's tonight, all under 3:24. I'm training for the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon on November 1st. My goal for the marathon is 3:30, soooooo if the Yasso theory holds true then I should be good for the 3:30.

DINO Series and Low Gap FatAss 50k

2008-09-16T11:59:00.001-04:00

Saturday turned out to be a pretty good day for the DINO 15k at Town Run Park. Maybe a little too humid but not too hot. The trail was a little slick in spots, but very little standing water and no shoe sucking mud. I started out way too fast and by mile 2 was slowing and being passed by a number of other runners. I managed to hang on and recovered so for the last three miles or so I started to speed up a little and felt pretty strong to the finish. I even managed to hang on to 3rd place in my age group. It was a weird race because from about mile 4 to the finish no one passed me and I did not pass anyone. As a matter of fact except for where trail loops passed near each other I never saw anyone ahead or behind me. I even stopped to pee at about mile 5 and no one passed me while I was stopped. At the finish line I was almost two minutes behind the runner ahead of me and about a minute ahead of the one behind me.

Dino series races aren’t known for the post race food, but this time they had a large supply of Kolaches from the Kolache Factory. I think I had three, a cream cheese, sausage and cheese, and cinnamon twist. Very good. Next DINO series is October 11th at SouthWestway Park.

Coming up this Saturday is the 1st Annual Low Gap FatAss 50k. Tom and I are going to run the Low Gap Loop three times. That’s the plan at least. It will probably just be the two of us, but you have to start somewhere. Besides it would probably be breaking all kinds of park rules to have an organized race without getting all kinds of permits and permissions etc. Anyway, we’ll be starting around 7:45 or so. Maybe next time I’ll actually invite others and make it a semi big deal.

Dino Time

2008-09-06T14:39:00.000-04:00

Here is another picture from the La Luz Trail run. Speaking of DINO, next Saturday is the first DINO race of the fall sub-series. Peace, Love, Trailrunning. Happy Trails!

Germantown 50k

2008-08-25T20:31:00.000-04:00

Last Saturday I ran the Germantown 50k in Germantown, Ohio. Who knew it would turn out to be one of the hottest days of the summer. Fortunately the humidity wasn’t too bad. It was a tougher course than I expected. There were some very steep hills in the Twin Creek section of the course. By the time I reached those hills I was already toast so getting up those hills was a challenge. Several miles of the course were on pavement, both bike trail and roads. I don’t mind running on pavement, but the lack of shade made for some hot running. Much of the trail in Twin Creek was also in open grassy fields, so again no shade. My shoulders were lobster red by the time I reached the finish. Overall though despite the heat I liked the course, but I think I would like it much more in October or November.

I can’t really use the heat as an excuse though. The truth is I went out too fast right from the start. At the 16.1 mile aid station I was still on pace for a 5:25 finish. Unfortunately there was no keeping that pace. From 19.6 miles to the finish I was passed by at least a dozen runners. Oh well, live and learn. I think if I had taken a little slower pace at the start I would have had more gas going to the finish and could have beat 6 hours even in that heat.

I gather from post race discussions that a number of people had problems staying on the course. I ran for so long with no one in sight ahead that I guess I was being extra vigilant in looking for course markers. I did eventually miss one turn, but it was my own fault. The turn was well marked I just spaced out. I had just left the last aid station at 28.2 miles. I don’t normally fuel during a run with anything sugary, but I couldn’t help myself and I ate an Oreo cookie. I nearly choked on it and just managed to wash it down with some water. I had planned to take a handful of pretzels and head out. In all that effort washing down the cookie I forgot the pretzels. I was thinking about those pretzels and next thing I knew I was at the base of the dam. At first I didn’t know if I was off course or not, but fortunately I saw Matthew Conner up at the top of the dam, so not seeing any orange flags, I turned around and headed back up the hill and quickly returned to the trail. I guess I added maybe an eighth of a mile. Those last three miles were pretty slow going. At some point Brian from Carmel caught back up to me and we walked and talked until we were almost in sight of the finish. We then started jogging until we reached the finish.

Overall I’d say it was a nice challenging course and the volunteers were outstanding. Thanks to the Ohio River Roadrunners and especially race director Wesley Fenton and his army of volunteers for another fun event.

Home Again

2008-08-07T18:07:00.000-04:00

The vacation is over so here finally is the report on the La Luz Trail Run.

I can’t begin to describe the thrill I got from running the La Luz Trail Run. It is simply a beautiful trail. I wish I could run there all the time. I didn’t spend too much time admiring the vistas, but the little I did see was awesome.

The night before the race I was so pumped up I think I only slept for an about an hour. I had never even seen the course, had never run a race above 6000 feet, and had never run up hill for so many miles at a stretch so I had no idea what to expect. Based on pure speculative guesstimation I was thinking I could finish in two hours, maybe less. I just made it at 1:59:52. Not bad for a flat lander. I know, 8 seconds doesn’t sound like much, but the psychological difference between 1:59:52 and 2:00:00 is enormous.

The first 1.8 miles was on a steep paved road. Even though it was uphill, I assumed this would be a very runnable surface and a good place to put some distance between me and the rest of the middle of the pack runners. This strategy seemed to work ok. Once I hit the narrow single track I was able to relax the pace a little. At first I was passed by a few runners, but I later passed quite a few as well. The course was pretty much continuously up hill until about mile 6.3. Then there was a slight downhill for perhaps a quarter mile. The down hill was too gentle to get a good gravity assist and besides by then my legs were in no way ready to sprint and I really didn’t want to take a dive on this trail. At one point early in the single track a guy behind me yelled “on your right”. He passed me with no problem, but he got greedy and decided to pass the woman in front of me at the same time. Well, he lost his footing on the steep trail side and his feet came out from under him taking that woman out at the ankles as well. With two bodies in the trail I had no choice but to stop. They both got up, appeared to be unharmed and continued running. If that had been me he had taken out I’m not so sure my reaction would have been as calm and reserved as that woman’s was.

Sometime after the brief downhill came a section called the rockslide. It’s essentially a boulder field that is somehow clinging to the side of a cliff. Very rugged, very difficult to run. I was certain that my next foot plant would be the one that knocked out the keystone that was holding this whole thing together. A short time after coming out of the rockslide area there was a set of stairs, about 35 steps; my thighs were on fire by the time I reached the top step. The trail then leveled off just enough to recover from the steps. In the last mile I was still going strong power walking mostly but breaking into a trot in the less steep spots. I passed several people. As I neared the finish there was a runner right behind me, I asked if he wanted to pass me. He declined saying he was giving all he had just to keep up with me. That’s good, because I was giving it all I had just to stay ahead of him. He had run the course before and told me we were very close to the finish and still had a chance to beat two hours. You couldn’t see the finish until you were right on it, so without his encouragement I may have given out and not beat two hours.

Bottom line is this, if you get a chance to run this race, do it.

Here is a picture of me with the Sandia Crest behind me. The other picture is at Yanni's Mediterranean Grill. Left to right it's Angie, Aynslee, Donald, Regina, Konrad, and Me. Of course I need to thank Donald and Angie for putting up with me for a week as well as driving me to the start and picking me up at the finish of the race. They dropped me off a little after 6am. I then had about a half mile walk to the start. They had a 30 to 45 minute drive to the finish up at the top of the crest. It was nice to have a whole crew there to cheer for me as I crossed the finish line.

Race to Recovery

2008-07-27T14:57:00.000-04:00

Well, no 5k PR yesterday at the Race to Recovery. I finished in 20:28. I think it was just too hot; although, I’m not confident cooler temps would be enough to get me under 20 minutes. Perhaps it was the 25 miles last Saturday. Maybe I’ll try again in the fall. I need to get a few more weeks worth of 400m intervals in to prepare for it.

Next Sunday is the La Luz Trail Run. I really don't know what to expect, but I'm hoping to finish in under 2 hours.

New Plans Etc...

2008-07-20T17:04:00.000-04:00

Yesterday morning I ran almost 25 miles and knocked out 140 pushups during the run. That will probably be my last long run until the Germantown 50k on August 23rd. Next weekend I'm running Bret Neylon's Race to Recovery 5k in Brownsburg. Then the following weekend it's off to New Mexico for the La Luz Trail Run.

This week I bought plane tickets, reserved the hotel room, and signed up for the California International Marathon in Sacramento. I'm really excited about it. Of course there is a huge down side to it. The race is on Sunday December 7th which means I won't be able to run Tecumseh this year.

This is Dino our 1 year old Chocolate Lab. Dino just passed his therapy dog certification test. My wife wants to take Dino to work with her. She is a clinical nurse specialist and substance abuse counselor.

Anger Management

2008-07-18T22:34:00.000-04:00

Yesterday evening it was too hot to do intervals at the track so I decided to run intervals on the treadmill at the gym. I planned to do 10 three minute intervals with three minute recovery. It wasn’t very cool in the gym either and by the fifth interval I took my shirt off and decided to quit after 6 intervals. Apparently, it’s against to rules to take your shirt off because 30 seconds into the sixth interval a staff member came over and asked me to put my shirt back on. Since I was running at 9 mph I asked if I could wait until I finished this interval. He asked how long that would be. I said two and a half minutes. He said ok. Then with 20 seconds left some other staff dope came over and said I had to put my shirt on now! Man did he piss me off. I’m sure there was steam coming out my ears at that point. Well, no sense in letting all that adrenaline go to waste so I ran four more intervals thus completing the original plan to do 10. Amazing what a little adrenaline will do for you. I didn’t really cool down until long after I left the gym. I really wanted to ask the guy if I had to wear a shirt in the pool too.

Here's a picture of my wife and me at Avon Rib fest. Good food, good friends, good music. My wife's co-worker was the headliner. The first band that played was pretty good too. I think they were called Knee Deep in the Weeds or something like that. They played Just a Gigalo just like Louis Prima. Good stuff.

No New PR, But a First

2008-07-13T21:10:00.000-04:00

After I ran a mile warm up in a downpour complete with thunder and lightning the race director cancelled the Unite 2 Fight 5k so no new PR. My wife and I drove home, had a cup of coffee and then went to a yoga class. There's another 5k in a couple weeks, Race to Recovery. Should be a nice flat course, maybe I'll try there.

On Sunday evening I went to my favorite local park to try out my new trail shoes. The humidity was way down and it wasn’t too hot so I ran almost 17 miles. The Vasque Velocity shoes performed well. Compared to my Montrail Continental Divides the Vasque shoes almost feel like I’m running barefoot. I usually run at this park first thing in the morning. You don’t see many people who aren’t also running. It’s a different place in the afternoon, lots of day hikers and picnickers. Well, I encountered a first there this afternoon. Not far off the trail I noticed a young couple leaning up against a tree. I can’t say for sure what they were doing, but the girls shorts were down around here knees.

Time Keeps on Slippin’

2008-07-09T17:29:00.000-04:00

Where does the time go? I can’t believe it’s been a month already since my last post. I didn’t run 360 at Muscatatuck July 5^th. I had to go to a picnic with my wife instead. Probably just as well I didn’t because I barely finished the 15 mile run that morning anyway. Although on that 15 miler and the 20 miler the weekend before I finally worked some pushups into the run, something I’ve been thinking about doing for awhile now. On the 20 miler I did 140 pushups and on the 15 I did 100 pushups. The pushups kick the workout up a notch, as Emeril would say, bam!

I bought a pair of Vasque Velocity trail shoes from sierratradingpost.com. I haven’t taken them for a test run yet, but they feel very good on my feet. If you haven't purchased anything from Sierra Trading Post you need to check them out. I’ve been buying all sorts of stuff from them for 6 or 7 years or more and I’ve never been disappointed and on several occasions their service has exceeded my expectations.

This Saturday I’m running a 5k in downtown Indy. It’s a little shorter than I normally run, but my wife is running so I’m doing it to support her. It should be a very flat and fast course so I’m hoping to finish under 20 minutes and break a 16 year old PR.

What an Awesome Day!

2008-06-07T21:35:00.000-04:00

PSALM 92:14 NKJ
14 They shall still bear fruit in old age; They shall be fresh
and flourishing,

That bible verse was in my daily devotion this morning. Ok, maybe I’m not that old, but I am definitely fresh and flourishing. My best days are yet to come.

Until today the only 50k I had ever run was Lovin’ The Hills in Louisville. Today I ran Another Dam 50k at Englewood Metropark in Englewood, Ohio. Comparing one trail run to another is a dubious exercise since each course is unique in length and elevation changes (hills). That being said, my only reference for how fast I could run a 50k was Lovin’ the Hills. My best time there was 6:30. It is a particularly difficult course because of the numerous long and sometimes steep hills. I knew the AD 50k would be a much flatter and easier course, but it would also be much warmer. I was expecting high temps in the upper 80’s so I thought I might try for 6 hours. The course consisted of a 7.7 mile loop repeated 4 times. The first loop had an additional .2 miles at the start to make the total distance exactly 31 miles, so said the race director Frank Fenton. I started out way too fast and ran the first loop in 1 hour 15 minutes, on pace for a 5 hour finish. I figured I didn’t have anything to lose, so I decided to try to maintain that pace. Lap 2 which was .2 miles shorter was again about 1:15. Lap 3 was about 1:19, slowed a little. The final lap 1:22. Total time 5 hours 11 minutes 23 seconds. Needless to say, I’m very happy with that time. Oh yeah, those high temps, never happened. A storm came through bringing with it rain, wind, thunder and lightning, and most importantly cooler temps.

I’d never run this race before, but the course had to be modified from previous years because of flooding. The race started in the west side of the park. The first leg ran to what is normally to only aid station. There was then a loop from and back to that aid station. Then a final section back to the start. The first two laps were relatively dry with just a couple mud patches. By the fourth lap all the rain produced mud on all the dirt trails. I’m guessing nearly half the course was pavement. There were only two hills that I walked on the first three laps. In the last lap I walked a couple of other smaller hills. I was hurting pretty good in the last lap, but was running with a couple of guys whose names I don’t even know, but the three of us kept each other going. I know if I had been running alone I would not have kept pushing. At the end though I felt pretty good and finished with a pretty good kick. Once again the Hammer Nutrition regimen is validated. I woke up at 4:30 and ate breakfast, English muffin with natural peanut butter and banana slices, about 300 to 400 calories. I left home at 5 and arrived at the race site around 7:30. The race started at 8am. During the race I drank 200 calories of Heed, ate 5 or 6 Hammer Gels and perhaps 200 calories of pretzels and potato chips. I also took in 6 Endurolyte capsules. That’s just less than 200 calories per hour. I never felt better at the end of a race. When I wasn’t drinking Heed I was drinking water.

After the race I ate a couple pieces of pizza, washed the mud off my legs, and headed for home. Of course I stopped at the Starbucks and got a venti mocha frappuccino to fuel me back to Indy. What an awesome day!

Global Warming Indeed!

2008-06-06T18:05:00.000-04:00

Ran six miles last night. Thought I was going to melt. Tomorrow is the Another Dam 50k in Englewood, Ohio. The course is flooded, so there will be a surprise alternate course that will consist of more pavement than the normal course. I just hope there is some shade because it will certainly be hot tomorrow. I looked online and found a Starbucks near the race site so afterward I’ll be able to load up on caffeine for the drive home. Probably an ice cold mocha frappuccino.

Last weekend I ran the Dino 15k in Brown County State Park. Spent the night in a rustic cabin about a mile from the start. Very nice. Same course as last year. My time this year, 1:16:21, was only about a minute faster. I had hoped to do better. I guess I held back too much early in the race. I finished the last couple of miles very strong. I wound up second in my age group, 23^rd OA. Regina ran the 5k and finished 3^rd in her age group.

Ice Age Trail 50 Mile

2008-05-11T21:30:00.000-04:00

The 27^th running of the Ice Age Trail 50 mile trail run took place on Saturday May 10^th. We arrived in Elkhorn around 1pm and checked into the Crossroads Motel. It was about 10 minutes from the start area at the Nordic Trail. We then went out for lunch at Café Calabria. I think that’s what it was called. I had angel hair pasta tossed in olive oil with basil, tomatoes, and artichoke hearts. It was pretty good. We then went to find our way to the start area so we would know how long it would take to get there in the morning. After that it was time to go to the Clausing Barn at Old World Wisconsin to pick up our race packet. I say race packet, but all it consisted of was the timing chip, number bib, and a t-shirt. The t-shirt was nice, just a small logo on the front and no advertising which seems to be typical for Badgerland Strider events. They had a nice display of race history including all the belt buckles from previous years. The buckle for this year wasn’t as nice as some earlier editions, but seeing it made me more determined than ever to get one. There was a photo of runners slogging through some nasty mud. I asked the guy setting up the display if we would see anything like that tomorrow. He said he sure as hell hoped not. That made two of us. Apparently the original route ran through a landfill. That’s where the photo was taken. For dinner we went to Sperino’s Little Italy. I think they specialize in pizza, but I had angel hair tossed in tomato basil sauce. It was ok. If I ever return to Elkhorn I’ll probably eat at Calabria again, but not Sperino’s.

I had not planned to eat breakfast. I don’t eat less than three hours before a race. I had hoped to sleep until almost 5 then dress and go run. I woke up at three, starving. I had some pretzel crisps with some peanut butter/honey spread. I got back in bed and dozed off for about 45 minutes. The morning air was pretty crisp. The TV was saying it was about 40 in Milwaukee. I was wearing shorts, a short sleeve t-shirt, gloves, and Moeben sleeves. I stayed in the car until about 10 minutes before the start. Standing at the start my teeth were chattering away. I couldn’t wait to start running to warm up. The first nine miles was a loop on the Nordic Trail. Along the way I noticed some frost in a few places. There were a few steep hills, but they were not very high. The Nordic Trail is a cross country skiing trail so it is wide and mostly very smooth surface. By the time I made it back to the start area it was starting to warm up, my hands were no longer numb so I ditched my gloves and sleeves at the car. I probably ran the 9 mile loop way too fast, about 10:35 per mile. I knew I wouldn’t keep that up for 50 miles, but I was feeling pretty good though so I didn’t worry about it too much. The southern out and back leg on the Ice Age Trail had some areas that were very easy on the feet, but also some very rocky sections that are typical of the Ice Age Trail. I carried a bottle and was filling it with Succeed at the aid stations. I don’t like it as much as Heed. By about mile 26 I couldn’t drink it anymore. So I switched to water. From mile 26 to mile 33 I felt pretty nauseous. I went for awhile with out taking in any Hammer Gels and fortunately the aid stations were close enough that I could sustain myself on the pretzels they had. By about mile 37 the nausea was mostly gone and I was able to take in some more gel. The northern out and back leg on the Ice Age Trail had some very rugged spots but also some smooth easy to run sections. After the turn around at mile 40 adrenaline started to kick in. I knew I’d finish. In my drop bag at mile 43.5 I had some espresso gels to carry me to the finish. The espresso gels taste great and the added kick of the caffeine doesn’t hurt. For the last 10 miles I ran all but the steep hills. I was really tired and wanted to walk, but kept telling myself that walking only prolonged the misery. The last aid station was 1.5 miles from the finish. I decided I was going to run all the way in. Well, there were a couple of short but very steep hills that put an end to that idea. Crossing the finish line was very emotional. It felt really good to complete a 50 miler, but also to finally be able to stop running. The time on the clock was 10:39:17. I’m very happy with that.

The Ice Age 50 Mile is a great run. There are some rugged sections and a few short hills, but also lots of smooth easy running. The aid stations are close together and well stocked. I probably could have run without a bottle. There was a nice meal at the finish. I had the bratwurst with sauerkraut and potato salad. Of course the conditions were nearly perfect. No rain, sunny skies most of the day. It rained all day Sunday so we were pretty lucky the run was on Saturday.

Be Still My Heart

2008-05-09T08:08:00.000-04:00

Wow, I can’t begin to tell you how excited I am right now. Last Saturday my name was drawn for the La Luz Trail Run lottery. I booked my flight Sunday evening. My race registration form came in the mail yesterday and I’ve already returned it in the mail. If that isn’t exciting enough, in one hour I’ll be leaving for Elkhorn, Wisconsin for the Ice Age Trail 50 mile trail run tomorrow. They say you are only as old as you feel, well right now I feel like a five year old on Christmas morning.

Sleeves and Races

2008-04-25T17:40:00.000-04:00

It’s been a little too long since my last post. Been pretty busy in the intervening weeks. I just recently received a pair of Moeben Sleeves, so although it’s just now warming up, I already can’t wait for some cooler weather so I can try them out. You might be asking, why did I buy them now. Good question. I didn’t buy them they were a gift from Moeben. To make a long story short, I had some questions regarding their sleeves and they had some problems with their internet and email. Next thing I know they are offering to send me a pair free. All I had to do was tell them the size and pattern I wanted. Not only did they send them free, but they sent them overnight delivery. They are really cool. The sleeves and the company that is.

Last weekend the Dino Trail Series came to Avon. I never run at the park where the race was held, but it’s really a pretty nice trail system so I should run there. Maybe tomorrow I will. Anyway, it was a great day for a race. It rained pretty hard right before the start of the race so there was a very slick but thin layer of mud over much of the course especially the steep hills. I ran a pretty good race. I came in 15^th overall in the 15k. That was good for 1^st in my age group. Still I think I could have run that course a little faster, but I’m happy with the result.

Regina ran the 5k, her first trail run and only her second race. I think she’s hooked. She slipped on one of the steep down hills and took on a healthy layer of mud. She doesn’t like getting wet or dirty, but she enjoyed it out there. That’s no surprise to anyone who does trail runs. The joy of running trails is one of those things that is difficult to explain to people who don’t do it; it’s just something you have to experience. Once you do you can’t help but love it. Regina is looking forward to the next Dino race in Brown County State Park and she even wants to buy a pair of trail running shoes.

Spring Fling

2008-03-22T16:48:00.000-04:00

Ran the Spring Fling 15k in Plainfield today. It was cool with some brisk winds. Finished 23^rd overall and 6^th in my age group with a new PR of 1:03:21. Lot’s of fast old guys at this race. This race wasn’t on my original schedule, but next weekend I’m going to Kentucky to watch some softball games so I won’t be able to run the Sam Costa Half Marathon. My niece is on the Missouri S&T team, The Miners. They are playing at Bellarmine on Saturday and Northern Kentucky on Sunday.

Coldest, Snowiest DINO Race Ever

2008-03-09T18:44:00.000-04:00

The first race of the 2008 Dino Series Trail Runs was held yesterday at Eagle Creek. According to the series organizer, Brian Holzhausen, it was the coldest, snowiest DINO race ever. The temperature was around 20° at the start of the 15k and the trails were covered with an inch or two of snow. Given the snow and freezing temperature, I wasn’t expecting much mud. Wrong. Mud was plentiful. The 15k consisted of three laps of a 5k course. Times seemed a little slow so I’m thinking it may have been a bit more than 5k or perhaps is was just the mud and snow that slowed everyone down. I was expecting to finish in under 1:10. That didn’t happen; however, my time of 1:16:19 was good enough for 2^nd in the 45-49 age group and 24^thoverall. My best finish to date in a Dino Series race.

Ooooo La Luz

2008-02-29T19:21:00.000-05:00

This week I mailed my entry to the lottery for the La Luz Trail Run. It’s a 9 mile trail run in Albuquerque, New Mexico on August 3^rd. The run is limited to 400 runners, so those who want to run send in a self addressed stamped envelope for the lottery. The RD, Rodger Sack, said he received about 650 envelopes last year and was able to send out about 550 of those because some of the first 400 selected chose not to participate.

Nine miles may seem like a relatively short trail run, but it’s uphill almost all the way and for someone who spends most of his time below 1,000 ft above sea level running uphill from 6,100 ft to 10,678 ft will be a challenge. See the elevation profile above. The fall 2001 issue of Trail Runner Magazine selected La Luz as one of the “12 Most Grueling Trail Races in North America”. I’m hoping to be able to finish in less than 2 hours, but since I’ll be sailing in uncharted waters I won’t really know what to expect.

Below are a couple pics from LLTH taken by kentucky backroads photography.

The Bod Pod

2008-02-24T18:56:00.000-05:00

Should have been a nice restful recovery week after the 50k; however, Tuesday I had a Personal Fitness Evaluation (PFE) at NIFS. Right before the PFE came a little body composition analysis in the Bod Pod. I was pleasantly surprised by the Bod Pod. I knew that I had been getting lean through proper nutrition and exercise, but I never imagined I’d be under 10% body fat. According to the Bod Pod I’m at 8.8% body fat.

As for the PFE, more good news! My VO2 max at 55.81 is “well above average” for men 40 to 49 years old. Actually it’s well above average for men 20 to 29 too. The VO2 max is calculated from my time in a 1.5 mile run, which I completed in 9:14, not bad just three days out from the 50k. All the other tests, pushups, curlups, and flexibility I scored above average or excellent. Of course this doesn’t mean I can rest now, just keep pushing harder. Yesterday I did a tough 11 miles on the trails at Eagle Creek. It was tough going because of the snow on the trails. Today an easy 6 miles on the roads. Well, it didn’t start out easy. I had just finished doing 310 squats so for the first few steps of the run I wasn’t sure my legs would be able to run.

Louisville's Lovin' The Hills - Sweet Revenge!

2008-02-17T10:49:00.000-05:00

Louisville’s Lovin’ The Hills 50k trail run was my first ultra back in February 2007. I had no idea what I was getting into. While it may not be the toughest 50k in the country; with roughly 14,000 feet of ascent, it’s pretty darned tough. I didn’t know anything about proper nutrition, didn’t even own a pair of trail running shoes. It snowed that day so the trails were pretty slick. I was nursing a sore leg. My time that day was 9 hours 14 minutes. I was pretty sure I came in last place, but a few managed to slip in behind me. After finishing I thought that was one tough run and while I’m glad I did it, I never wanted to do it again. Well you know what that means. A few days later I was thinking about possibly going back for some revenge on those Kentucky hills.

I learned a lot in the past year. I learned that my leg problem was caused by a tight hamstring. I learned that trail shoes are priceless on ice and snow covered or muddy trails. I learned proper nutrition before the run and refueling during the run. During the past year I was blessed with good health and was able to get in some solid training, not just running, but I also kicked my strength conditioning up a notch. Lots of burpees, squats, and box jumps. This year I was about 15 pounds lighter at the start of the race.

I followed Hammer’s advice on nutrition. The night before the race I ate maple pancakes at Cracker Barrel around 9 pm. I slept until 6 am, so with an 8 am race start it was too late to eat breakfast since Hammer recommends your last meal be no less than three hours before the start. Hammer also recommends taking 100 to 200 calories about 5 to 10 minutes before the start, so I ate a Hammer gel about 10 minutes to 8. Hammer’s philosophy is replenishment rather than replacement. While burning 700 to 900 calories an hour you only replenish with 200 to 300 calorie per hour. I lost count of the number of Hammer gels I ate during the race, but between those and the Heed I was drinking I’d estimate that I was taking in about 200 calories an hour. I was also taking Endurolytes capsules, about one per hour. The aid stations were well stocked with all kinds of goodies, but I only ate a few crackers and Pringles from the last couple of aid stations.

The chart above shows the elevation profile for the last 17.5 miles of the race. The website where I found it says, "Please note that the miles are close together on the chart so it is not as bad as it looks."

Most of the runners I talked to after the race agreed that it is as bad as it looks.

At the start of the run it was about 30 degrees and there was some ice and snow on the trails. The first 13 or so miles consists of two different loops with both bringing you back to the starting line. I was running with my training partner Tom. We kept a steady pace and walked all the big hills. Physically I felt pretty good through both loops, but mentally I was down a little. The last 17.5 miles is an out and back. I stayed behind Tom because he sets a more reasonable pace than I would have. By mile 16 I starting feeling better mentally and wanted to pick the pace up some, but was patient and stayed behind Tom. It was probably around mile 19 or 20 that I decided it was time to start pushing a little harder. As I approached the turn around at 22+ miles I started thinking that if I kept this pace I could beat 7 hours. Shortly after the turn I passed three or four other runners which was a huge mental boost for me. I was walking the toughest hills, but some of the easier hills I ran. I kept telling myself that runners who want to beat 7 hours don’t walk when they can run. At the 25 mile aid station I was very confident. I knew that if the wheels didn’t fall off I would easily beat 7 hours. At the 28 mile aid station I realized that if I pushed myself to the finish, not only would I beat 7 hours, I would beat 6:30. Fueled by pure adrenaline I ran most of the way to the finish except for the toughest hills. When I saw a sign that said ½ mile to go I started getting severe cramps and spasms in my inner thigh. So close and now some dumb cramp is going to cripple me. No way! I pushed on and when I could first see the clock at the finish it read 6:28. I had to run past it a short way and then turn back toward it. As I finished it read 6:30 and some seconds. I was overcome with emotion. All that hard work paid off.

During the run a volunteer along the course asked if we were lovin’ the hills yet. I said I don’t know about love, I’d call it more a deep admiration and respect. You have to respect those hills. Last year those hills chewed me up. This year I feel like I took out a little sweet revenge on the hills.

There are links to the elevation chart, videos of the course, and LLTH blog at the Headfirst Performance website. A big thanks to all the volunteers, the race directors, and the Cherokee Road Runners for putting on a great event.

Be Bop Triple Bop

2008-02-03T19:52:00.000-05:00

Bop to the Top was a blast! I did the 37 floor stair climb three times and got a little faster each time. Only 34 people signed up to do it three times. Of those 29 finished. I was 7^th over all. Had I done the single stair climb I would have finished around 50^th out of more than 1100. I had never done this before, so I didn’t know what to expect. I was hoping to complete each climb in about 7 minutes. First climb 5:46, 2^nd 5:41, 3^rd 5:37. I was feeling pretty good at that point. The T.S. Eliot quote was running through my mind; “Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go." After the Bop I returned home and ran 3 miles. After which I felt totally spent. Oh and I almost forgot to mention that I was interviewed by a news guy from a local TV station. It was fun and I don’t think I sounded too dumb, but it didn’t make their newscast. I’m checking to see if I can get a copy of it. If I do I’ll post it here; that is if I don’t look too silly. You can see all the Bop results here.

Today though I feel really good. After church I went to NIFS for my first workout there and then ran 6 miles, 2 laps around the canal in downtown Indy. During the run I did 3 sets of 15 box jumps. Wow those box jumps kicked my butt. This Thursday I have an appointment with one of the trainers at NIFS. He’ll assess my fitness level, we’ll talk about my goals, and then he’ll help me set up a fitness program to achieve those goals.

I don’t want to sound too much like a Bowflex commercial, but this week I turned 45 years young and I’m in the best shape of my life. I have truly been blessed by God.

Brrrrrrrr!!

2008-01-27T19:21:00.000-05:00

It was very cold most of this week. I’m tired of being cold. During last Saturday’s run it was about 10 degrees. It was the kind of run where you are covered with frost by the time you finish. Tom had one inch icicles hanging off his hat just below his ears. Fortunately it was a short run, only about 11 miles. Yesterday’s run was a little longer about 23 miles. It was a little warmer about 25 degrees, but I was cold the entire time. This was the final long run before Louisville’s Lovin’ the Hills. Today I ran six miles in shorts. It was sunny and about 45 degrees. Next Saturday is Bop to the Top. I don't know what I'm getting into, but since it's indoors at least I won't be cold.

The Grand Prize

2008-01-18T19:26:00.000-05:00

Finally the results of the Maintain Not Gain contest came out today. My team won the grand prize, a six month membership at NIFS for each team member. Very exciting! I’ve never had a gym membership. NIFS is an awesome facility and I’m looking forward to kicking my strength training up a notch.

My knee seems to be recovering nicely from the little mishap 7 miles into a 21 mile trail run last Saturday. I still did another 6 miles Sunday, but by Monday I was pretty sore so I finally took some Ibuprofen, prescription dosage for a day. That knocked the soreness out of my knee. I sandwiched five half mile intervals into a 7 mile run Tuesday and had a 9 mile pace run Thursday. Tomorrow is a cut back week on the long run so it will only be about 10.5 miles. I also managed to squeeze in a stair workout during lunch on both Tuesday and Thursday. Wednesday was burpee night again this week, 75 burpees. I’ve had two solid weeks of training and I feel pretty good.

My diet has changed dramatically in the last couple of weeks. I’m cutting back on sugar, eating more protein, and getting more carbs from vegetables and fruits than from breads, pastas and other starchy stuff. I wouldn’t say I’m on a zone diet, but that is in part where I’m getting my inspiration. I wouldn’t say I’m trying to lose weight, rather I’m trying to lean out a little i.e. lower my body fat percentage.

Here’s a recipe I’ve been using this week. I’ve been using some lean beef my wife broiled Sunday evening.

Saute a cup of chopped onions, clove of garlic, and a teaspoon of chipotle spice in a teaspoon of olive oil. Add 3 ounces of thinly sliced beef, ¼ cup of cooked black beans, and 6 diced prunes. Stir and cook until heated through. Pour onto a plate and sprinkle a ¼ cup of low fat cheddar on top. Very tasty. You can use whatever spices you like and you could even substitute chicken for the beef. If you don’t want meat at all then use a couple of egg whites instead and call it an omelet. Some mushrooms would be good too.

Quite Appropriate Quote

2008-01-10T21:02:00.000-05:00

This quote was on my desktop zen calendar Tuesday. It was appropriate for that day considering the intervals I ran in the rain and anyone who is an ultra runner has run through rain and snow and has been cold, hungry and weary.

"Take long walks in stormy weather or through deep snows in the fields and woods, if you would keep your spirits up. Deal with brute nature. Be cold and hungry and weary." - Henry David Thoreau

Tuesday Is Interval Day

2008-01-09T19:10:00.001-05:00

I like running my intervals on Tuesday. Intervals are one of the best things a runner can do and I like doing them on Tuesday. It fits my schedule, long run Saturday morning, recovery run Sunday afternoon, intervals Tuesday, and pace run on Thursday. Yesterday I was driving home from work and it was pouring rain. It would be difficult to talk myself into going out to run in the rain, so I prayed for a break in the rain. I wouldn’t care if it resumed raining while I was out just a long enough break to get out the door. I had decided to stay in and do conditioning then do intervals on Wednesday. I was just about to start doing burpees when I noticed it wasn’t raining. I was out the door in no time. God is so good. I had planned to do five one mile intervals. The first interval wound up being about 1.25 miles. Then it started pouring rain. I ended up doing 3 of the 1.25 mile intervals for a total run of a little over 7 miles. When I made it back to my house I was dripping wet, but I felt good. I love doing intervals.

Maintain not Gain ended yesterday. My team lost a total of 16 pounds. Nancy lost 6 pounds, Maria lost 4, John lost 2, and I lost 5. I don’t know yet how the other teams did, but we will at least be in the drawing for prizes. I’d like to lose another five pounds before Bop to the Top. I’m doing the triple step option, so the fewer pounds I have to haul up those stairs the better.

Good Start

2008-01-07T18:57:00.000-05:00

So far the new year is going well. In the first week I ran 32 miles and kicked my conditioning up a notch. Saturday morning I did 75 burpees in just under 20 minutes. That isn't much to brag about, but that was only the second time I'd done burpees. They are an excellent all around exercise and I can't wait to do more.

Tomorrow is the final weigh in for the "Maintain not Gain" program at work. The idea was to maintain your weight from just before Thanksgiving until now. As of today I was down four pounds. This is the first time I can recall where I wasn't heavier after new year's than I was before Thanksgiving. I'm on a team with three co-workers. If combined we don't gain more than 8 pounds then we are entered in the drawings for prizes. One of the prizes is 6 months membership at NIFS. There may be bonus prizes for those who lost weight. God is good.

New Year’s Revolution

2008-01-01T16:28:00.000-05:00

Started 2008 off right by running the Resolution Revolution this morning. It’s a three mile loop in downtown Indy. You make one, two, or three revolutions. I ran three, of course. It was cold, snowing, and windy, but I averaged 7:02 per mile with the first mile being my slowest and the last being my fastest. Overall I was about five minutes faster than last year. All those one mile intervals I’ve been doing are paying off.

Dino and Kooper wish everyone a very happy new year.

Trying Something Different

2007-12-29T19:15:00.000-05:00

For about three years now my running shoes have always been Brooks Adrenaline. Then after making the transition from road runner to trail runner I finally decided that I needed to get a trail shoe. Naturally I got the Brooks ASR that was practically just an Adrenaline with a sole more suited for the trails. I’ve been very happy with the ASR, but earlier this week I bought a pair of Montrail Continental Divides. I took them out for an eight mile test run at Eagle Creek and I think I’m going to like them.

Ran about 21 miles today at Eagle Creek with Tom. I’m pretty sure I had plenty of fuel, but I think I could have used a few endurolyte capsules. Anyway, during the run I hit the 1300 mile mark for the year. My goal at the start of the year was 1200 miles. Next year I’m shooting for 2000.

What a difference a year makes

2007-12-17T19:17:00.000-05:00

This is the MRI of my brain. To make a long story short, in December 2006 I passed out at home. It was obviously a result of flushing caused by the niaspan I was taking to regulate cholesterol levels. Of course the doctors had to cover their butts so they ordered all kinds of tests. Most of the tests came out OK with one exception. They found a small leak in my aortic valve. Other than that as health goes I have truly been blessed. Anyway, I no longer take and will never again take niaspan.

2007 has been my most productive year or running. I ran two road marathons, one trail marathon taking 20 minutes off my PR for that course, a trail 50k, and a 43 mile trail run. OK, I had a weak moment and ran 43 miles of a 50 mile run. I lowered my PR for the half marathon and shaved 16 minutes off my PR for the Knobstone Trail half marathon. By the end of the year I'll have run around 1,300 miles. Not a lot by ultra runner standards, but I'm happy with it, think quality not quantity. Next year I'm planning to do one road marathon, one trail marathon, one 50k and two 50 milers and Lord willing I'll reach the 2000 mile mark next year.

Prologue

2007-12-16T21:53:00.000-05:00

I intend to mostly post about running, but there’s no telling what might show up in here. Heck, I may be the only one who reads it anyway so I guess it doesn’t really matter.

At the finish of the 2007 Tecumseh Trail Marathon. Everything came together to make for a great run, training, health, weather, trail conditions, re-fueling, etc. I ran a PR for the course 4:32:55 about 20 minutes faster than my previous best.

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9