Black Mountain Marathon and Mount Mitchell Challenge

I just got back from Black Mountain, NC, which is one of my favorite places.  It is a small town, nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains, just outside of Asheville.  The streets are filled with unique stores offering organic food and lots of original art.  This past Saturday was the the Mount Mitchell Challenge and Black Mountain Marathon.  Both races start in downtown Black Mountain at an elevation of 2,360 feet and follow the road until the runners reach Montreat.  Once there, the course turns onto the trails and heads uphill.  Marathon and Challenge runners stay together until the course reaches the Blue Ridge Parkway, just outside Mount Mitchell State Park at 5,340 feet.  (That's a 2,800 foot elevation gain in 13.1 miles.)  Here the marathoners turn around and head back down into town.  Those fortunate enough to have gotten a slot for the Challenge continue on to the summit of Mount Mitchell, which is the highest point east of the Mississippi River at 6,684 feet.  Once there they turn around and head back down to the finish line for a total of just under 40 miles.  The race website does its best to prepare entrants for what to expect on the course.  Potential runners are greeted with the following disclaimer:

DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE DANGERS OR THE DIFFICULTIES INHERENT IN THIS EVENT!

This will be an extremely demanding course run over rugged mountain terrain under potentially life-threatening weather conditions. Participants must understand that their safety is paramount in the minds of the organizers and that while all reasonable precautions have been taken, it will be the competitor's ultimate responsibility to insure his or her own safety.

 

I ran the Challenge in 2010 when they had a first come first serve approach to registration. That year the race filled up in less than 20 minutes. The Challenge has become so popular that the Race Director instituted a lottery for entry this year.  Those who wanted to run to the summit put their names in a hat, crossed their fingers, and waited to hear.   I had hoped to run the Challenge this year but was not selected.  So I signed up for the Marathon, still excited to run a great race in a great setting.  My friend and long time training partner, Tim, managed to get a slot for the Challenge, his first.  Our plan was to start out together and see how we felt.  More on that later.  

I took of Friday afternoon and arrived in Black Mountain right after 5 and headed for packet pick up at the Monte Vista Hotel.  I asked the Race Director if there was any chance of getting a spot in the race to the summit.  Unfortunately, he said there had not been many cancellations and my fate was sealed.  26.2 it would be.  I spent the weekend with an old friend and her family.  We had dinner at a friend's house. As I have the palate of a 12 year old, I was able to eat enough to be polite, but not enough to store enough calories for the next day.  So with a quick phone call, I got my hands on a pizza from My Father's Pizza and Pasta. As I headed upstairs to bed, the wind was howling through the trees at what sounded like gale force.  I gathered my gear and settled in for a decent night's sleep . . . after setting 5 different alarms, between two cell phones and a watch.  I am always afraid that I'll oversleep and miss a race start.  

Special Thanks to Raleigh Running Outfittes for their continued support.

I woke up after the second alarm to a cold, windy morning.  I quietly got dressed and headed out in the dark.  I had decided to park at the race start in downtown and walk back to my car from the race finish instead of the other way around.  I figured I could enjoy the warmth of the car until the last minute this way and could use the walk back to the car after the race to help loosen up the legs.  I got a text from Tim who was at The Dripolator Coffee House for a dose of caffeine.  He soon met me in my car, where we waited until about 6:50 or so before venturing out into the cold morning.  The sun was starting to rise, and the temperature was about 30 degrees.  The crowd was milling around trying to stay warm and handle their nervous energy. The race started at 7:00 with a run through the streets of downtown and then on into Montreat.  The rabbits took off at a pace that prohibited me from seeing them until after they had turned around and were heading back. 

Moments before the start.

There are several things that make this race challenging beyond the elevation change.  One of them is the weather.  I was cold when I got up so I layered up with a pair of 2XU compression tights and top, a pair of running pants, a t-shirt, a running jacket, a skull cap and some thick fleece gloves.  I knew the weather could be challenging from my run in 2010.  About 45 minutes into the run I thought I had overdressed.  I unzipped my jacket and took off my gloves.  As we gained elevation, the temperature dropped.  The cold temperatures were compounded by the wind, which was still howling.  The drinks at the aid stations were freezing on the tables.  Needless to say, the jacket was zipped up and the gloves went back on.  Tim and I started off together at a comfortable 10 minute pace.  We slowed as the trail turned up, walking the steeper sections.  The final aspect of this race that makes it challenging is the terrain.  Running uphil in the cold would be a piece of cake on smooth, even ground.  That is not the case.  The course if full of rocks.  Big rocks, small rocks, medium sized rocks, loose rocks, wet rocks, slippery rocks, rocks with ice.  What I'm saying is that there are a lot of rocks on the course.  While the race leaders seemed to float effortlessly over them, I had forgotten to fill up with helium and found floating difficult.  On the way up I spoke with a woman who had a friend from Florida who had trained for the Challenge in a parking garage a couple of years ago.  No one told him about the rocks.  He made it into the Challenge, but missed the cut off for the summit and finished the marathon in seven hours.  At the finish he said he hadn't prepared for the rocks and they really slowed him down. 

I quickly realized that I was not going to have a great day, or set any sort of PR so I decided to enjoy the scenery and the experience.  The photograph below is an example of the trail.  This is actually one of the less rocky sections of the trail.  Here is a link to an awesome video by Tim Weed, who placed third overall in the challenge.  RACE VIDEO  This video does a good job of capturning some of the course conditions. 

Another video is available here that actually does a better job of showing off the rocky sections of the trail that both the marathoners and the Challenge runners faced. 

Tim and I continued to run together for the first one hour and forty three minutes of the race.  I know exactly how long it was because I remember looking at my watch when I stopped to walk on a steep section, and he kept going.  I then played catch up with him at the aid stations until we hit the turn around for the marathon.  In order for Challenge runners to be allowed to continue to the summit they had to reach that point in three hours or less.  Tim got there with about 10 minutes to spare, and I was a couple of minutes behind him.  By this point we were at 5,340 feet, and it was cold.  I don't know what the temperature was, but here is some evidence of the cold not far from the turn around. 

Let me just take a minute to say how incredible the volunteers are in this race.  They were standing out there in the freezing cold for hours.  (I heard later that the temperature at the summit was 9, with 30+ mph winds.)  All of them had smiles and words of encouragement for every one of the runners, even the back of the packers like me. 

Typical view along the trail. Looking out over Old Fort.

The fun thing about an out and back course is that you get to see people coming and going.  The bad thing about an out and back course is you get to see people coming and going.  Not only did I get confirmation that I was getting my ass handed to me in the marathon, I was even passed by the two lead challenge runners on the way back down the mountain.  Although I didn't have a great day on Saturday (I was 30 minutes slower to the turn around point than in 2010), I did get the chance to run a negative split.  If you want to run a marathon where you can be almost guaranteed to run the second half faster than the first, this is the one.  It took me about 2:53 for the first half and 2:26 for the second half.  The run down is fairly gradual until the 5 mile mark.  Right after the last aid station on the mountain the altitude plummets.  Imagine a hill as steep as a flight of stairs that keeps going down for 3/4 of a mile.  Now, run down that after you have already run either 21 or 35 miles.  That's good stuff.  My quads are still not happy with me.  Once runners make it off the mountain they find themselves in Montreat, where they run for a mile or so on a nice level trail that follows a beautiful mountain stream.  The last two miles run through some residential neighborhoods back into Black Mountain to the finish area at Lake Tomahawk.  Finishers approach the lake and can see the finish line but are told they have to run around the lake clockwise before crossing the finish line. 

Lake Tomahawk

After crossing the line, runners are sent inside to get their finisher's fleece and then upstairs for a meal. Hot dogs, chili, chips, cookies, water, coffee, and soda, are handed out to hungry runners by enthusiastic volunteers.  I crossed the line in a little under 5:20 and tried not to throw up, having pushed too hard across the line.  I got my fleece, ate a hot dog and some chips, chatted with a few runners, and then headed back to the car.  I had time to head back to the house, shower, change and make it back to the finish in plenty of time to see Tim finish the Challenge.  His wife and kids were there and he got to run across the line with his son, Lucas.  A great moment for any father.

Tim and Lucas crossing the finish line of the Challenge in 7:50

Here are the podium finishers:

Mount Mitchell Challenge:
Male:

1. 1-  Scott Williams, 4:58:37, Jefferson, NC
   
2. 2-  Paul Scouten, 5:03:05, Black Mountain, NC
   
3. 3-  Timothy Weed, 5:30:27, Fletcher, NC
   
4. 4-  Andrew Krueger, 5:45:11, Charlottesville, VA
   
5. 5-  Drew Shelfer, 5:53:16, Asheville, NC
   

Female:

1. 1-  Rory Bosio, 5:55:24, Soda Springs, CA
   
2. 2-  Allie Hustead, 6:25:42, Fairview, NC
   
3. 3-  Elizabeth Minnick, 7:01:05, Abingdon, VA
   
4. 4-  Amanda Morris, 7:15:04, Tega Cay, SC
   
5. 5-  Kathleen Cusick, 7:21:25, Knoxville, TN
   

Masters:
Male:

1. 1-  Robert Taylor, 5:50:45, Cary, NC
   
2. 2-  Mark Ledyard, 5:51:22, Asheville, NC
   
3. 3-  Cid Cardoso, 5:51:55, Cary, NC
   

Female:

1. 1-  Diana Widdowson, 7:28:18, Conestoga, PA
   
2. 2-  Julie Corey, 7:31:16, Asheville, NC
   
3. 3-  Nicole Crane, 7:37:29, Asheville, NC 
   

Black Mountain Marathon:

Male:

1. 1-  Jerad Crave, 3:09:26, Asheville, NC
   
2. 2-  Kevin Lisska, 3:13:21, Tega Cay, SC
   
3. 3-  Matt Manning, 3:25:58, Dayton, OH
   

Female:

1. 1-  Keelin Schneider, 3:40:53, Black Mountain, NC
   
2. 2-  Karen Ostergaard, 3:53:37, Asheville, NC
   
3. 3-  Diane Wilson, 4:00:46, Asheville, NC
   

Masters:
Male:
          1- David Workman, 3:18:43, Hendersonville, NC
Female:
          1- Annette Bednosky, 3:55:59, Boone, NC 

I won't lie, I was a little disappointed that I didn't run faster than I did.  It's been a few days and the disappointment has faded.  All that remains are the positive memories.  This is a fantastic race, in a beautiful setting, with amazing volunteers.  Registration for the 2013 race opens on September 1, 2012.  I've already got it on my calendar.  I'll be back. 

Finisher's Fleece

Training Cliche

It's not just that I haven't written in a while. I haven't run a step in two weeks.  You see, I am a training cliche.  I am very well aware of the dangers of increasing mileage too quickly.  I have read the books and the articles and have even experienced the problems this type of overzealousness can cause.  However, because I am a moron, I was able to convince myself that an overtraining injury wouldn't happen to me this time.  After all, I am an experienced runner. I have run races from 5k to 100 miles.  I have learned from my mistakes and the mistakes of others.  I'm tough and can push through the discomfort and soreness that comes with adding more mileage to a weekly routine.  Yup.  That's what I told myself.  That's the attitude that made me decide I could go from running 30 miles a week to 70 miles a week in a little over a month.  Like I said, I'm a moron.

Two Saturdays ago, I met Tim at 4am for a 4 hour run.  It was a good run.  It started off with some light drizzle and a lot of fog.  As we got closer to sunrise, the fog was replaced with a steady rain.  Because of the unseasonably warm winter the rain was rejuvenating and not too cold.   We plodded along nicely until about mile 19 or so.  My left hip had been feeling tight and then it started to hurt.  I don't mean a normal 19 miles of trail kind of ache, I mean it H U R T.  I couldn't run.  I had to stop and stretch and then walk for about 10 minutes. Eventually the pain eased up enough for me to run the last few miles back to the car.  I got home, took some ibuprofen and stretched, but the pain didn't get much better.

I was supposed to run 20 the next day with Wendy, but decided that I should take an unscheduled rest day.  Monday morning, my hip hurt so much that I felt like had to drag my leg as I was walking across the parking lot to my office.  The pain was constant for the first few days, even sitting at my desk. I tried doing some light calisthenics at home, but even that aggravated the problem. Lots of rest and ibuprofen followed.  By the end of two weeks I was pain free, except for a few strange twinges every now and then.

Yesterday I was supposed to run 30 miles with Tim, starting at 5am.  I had told Tim about my difficulties and that I would only be good for 15 or so.  When the alarm went off at 4:15, I knew I wasn't going.  I was afraid of what 15 would do to me.  Per Tim's request, I waited until just before 5 to send him a text, so as not to tempt him to bail as well. I was not happy with myself all morning.  I hated that I had bailed on the run.  I hated that I hadn't run in two weeks.  So about 1pm I laced up the shoes and headed out for a quick 40 minute run from the house as a test.  I felt tight and awkward for the first several minutes. I kept telling myself to take it easy and not put too much pressure on the leg too soon.  My plan was to run out for 20 minutes then turn around and head back.  By the time I turned around I had loosened up and was feeling pretty good but still very cautious. As I got closer to the house it started to rain.  Running in the rain is one of my absolute favorite things to do.  I have always loved rain. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a vibrant blue sky as much as anyone, but a rainy, overcast day just makes me smile. I long to be out in it, listening to the rain drops pop off my hat as my feet splash through the puddles forming on the ground.  I heard it said once that there is no such thing as bad weather, just inappropriate clothing. I couldn't agree more.  So as the rain started, I didn't want the run to end so I added a loop around the block before heading in. When I got inside I checked my route on Map My Run and was very pleased to discover that I had run 5.13 miles in 43 minutes.

Feeling encouraged by my success, I wanted to try a little more distance, so this morning I went out to Umstead and ran the 12.5 mile loop from the Umstead 100 course. I finished in 2 hours and felt pretty good.  I'm pleased with my recovery.  I was tentative and relaxed but had several moments of feeling light and easy on the trail. I have to remind myself to take it easy and not be too aggressive too soon.  I'm still planning on running Black Mountain Marathon in 3weeks. (I am on the waiting list for the Mount Mitchell Challenge, which is the 40 mile option that summits Mt. Mitchell before turning around.)  I initially had some serious aspirations of running a fast (relatively) time there. I have been forced to adjust that down to an injury free finish.  However, because of my flat learning curve and propensity for moronic decisions and delusions of grandeur I'm pretty sure when I get there I'll decide I can set some sort of absurd PR. Oh well.

Urban Pioneering on the Run

Last Saturday night I met my friend Tim at his house in Durham for an evening run. We usually run at Umstead park or in Raleigh, but occasionally, when time is tight, we'll meet at his place.  Saturday night found us starting our run a little after 8:00 p.m.  We have done this a few times now, and I always enjoy seeing new sights around Durham.  It's also nice to start a run at night after being up for the last 14 hours or so.  We ran around Duke University's east campus and then over to west campus where we did about 9 miles on a dirt trail that runs through a golf course. On the way back to Duke Chapel we stopped at Wallace Wade Stadium, which is generally left open to the public in an increasingly rare gesture of faith in humanity.  We decided to go down and run a comfortable mile around the track, just to mix things up a little bit.

As soon as we entered the stadium I had one of those vivid childhood flashbacks. I was in middle school and really into running so my parents took me to see a track and field meet at Wallace Wade.  I have no idea who was competing, but I remember being in that huge concrete bowl, looking down on those athletes and thinking how cool it was to be there as a spectator and how awesome it must be for them to be competing.  My folks bought me a white cotton tank top with DUKE on it that day.  Even though I didn't have the physique to wear a tank top, I loved that shirt and wore it quite a bit. (Sadly, I still lack the physique to pull off a tank top but continue to wear them while running.)   I hadn't thought about that shirt or that day in years. As soon as we entered the stadium it all came flooding back to me.  We had a nice run around the track, completing 4 laps at an easy pace.  It was pretty cool to round the bend and hit the straight away looking up at the giant cement horseshoe that encircled three quarters of the track, with Duke's campus towering above in the background.  I was quickly brought back to reality when I looked at my watch and discovered that mile had taken just over 10 minutes.  Like I said, comfortable, not fast.

As we continued our run we decided to stop at a gas station to grab a quick drink and a snack.  We went to the same one we have stopped at the last few times we have run in Durham in the evening.  The last time we were there a man in the parking lot asked us if we were both doctors.  Confused, we told him that we weren't.  He went on to say that he thought we must be doctors because we had lights on our heads.  That's right.  In his mind, doctors wear shorts, are dripping with sweat and have lights on their heads in gas station parking lots in the middle of the night.  While this individual was very polite, I suspect he was only loosely tethered to reality.  This is what happens when you stop in a gas station around midnight in any urban area.  You get to meet interesting people.

This past Saturday wasn't quite as eventful, but we did get flirted with by a middle aged woman buying gas station wine.  As we pounded down our sodas in the parking lot I commented on her flirty demeanor and Tim agreed that it wasn't just in my head.  As he took a swig of his drink, I stretched out my arms, puffed out my chest and said, "Yep, I've still got it."  This caught Tim off guard, causing him to choke on his drink and spit it across the parking lot.  At mile 18 at 11:30 at night you take your comedy where you find it.

We finished up right around midnight with somewhere around 21 miles. I had hoped to do 24, but it was a good run and was nice to see Durham, which is a great town.  Lots of people ask me if I felt safe running in Durham at night.  Let me take this opportunity to say that I felt completely safe and that Durham has an undeservedly bad rap. Just like any location, urban or rural, have a plan and be alert and aware of your surroundings and you can almost always avoid trouble.

Sunday, I was supposed to do 12 with Wendy, but we pushed it off until Monday, which was a holiday and made for easier child care.  We went to Umstead and ran the 12.5 mile loop that is used for the Umstead 100 Mile Endurance Run. It has 1,000 feet of vertical gain in 12.5 miles.  We both felt good and finished in an hour and 54 minutes.  (Wife/editor commentary: I explained to Ashby that my 8-year-old sports bra, which was the only one I  had clean, chaffed me within an inch of my life that day -  somehow he interpreted that to mean "felt good" - that, or he thinks this blog is just about him and not my bra issues . . . )

Yesterday after work I ran 12 and got faster with each passing mile. It was a nice, mild night and I had the chance to listen to some great tunes as I ran 3 laps around my neighborhood.  It was one of those runs where I could just feel the stress bleeding off of me.  By the time I got back to the house I was in a great mood.  We put the kids to bed and then did 30 minutes of core work to finish off the day.

If I can keep from falling apart and keep anywhere close to my proposed training schedule, I'll run just shy of 80 miles this week.  That's the most I've ever run in a week, if you don't count races. We'll see how it goes.

Frosty Fifty Race Report

On Saturday I ran the Frosty Fifty 50K in Winston Salem, NC.  I ran this race in 2010 as my first foray into ultra marathoning.  On that first occasion, it was 19 degrees and the lake the course circled was frozen.  I was very pleased with my time of 5 hours and 25 minutes.  Since that time I've run a lot of distance and was really looking forward to going back.  This year was different in that it warmed up to 60 degrees, and they had added a 25K and relay option.  This meant that the crowds were much bigger, but the race still kept the same small, community feel it had the last time I was there.  It was well marked, well organized, and well supported.  For the price, $30 for the 50K before Dec. 15th, it's hard to beat. 

The course is 25 miles of dirt and about 6 miles of asphalt green way that circles Salem Lake in a double out and back course.  I ran with my frequent training partner, Tim, and my neighbor, Rob.  We left Raleigh at 5am and made it in plenty of time to get a good parking spot, pick up our packets, and get organized before the 8am start.

Moments before the start.

I had set three goals for myself but hadn't articulated them to anyone.  First, I wanted to break 5 hours.  If that didn't work, I wanted to be faster than the first time I ran it.  Finally,  if the wheels fell off, I just wanted to avoid a DNF.

FIRST LEG

We all started off together, and I felt really great.  I wasn't pushing at all and was running very comfortably, with no pain or effort.  I was a little surprised when we hit the first mile marker right at 8:30.  We kept that pace for the entire first leg, hitting the turn around in about 1hr 7minutes.  I carried a handheld bottle full of Gatorade and my own nutrition, eating a little something every 30 minutes.

SECOND LEG

On the way back I managed to maintain almost exactly the same pace without too much effort.  By the time I was about 5 miles from the start/finish I had finished my bottle and was getting noticeably hungry.  I failed to recognize the prophetic foreshadowing that my hunger represented.  Still, I made it back to the second turn around in 1hr 11 minutes, only three minutes slower than the first leg.  What I chose to do next was the beginning of my downfall.

Prior to the race I had decided to experiment with nutrition at the halfway point of the race.  I have read lots of accounts of ultra marathoners who use Ensure or some other type of liquid meal replacement during races.  I thought this might not be a terrible idea, so I decided that I would leave a drop bag at the start/finish with an 8oz. bottle of Ensure to see how my stomach would handle it.  I hit the turn around, topped off my handheld bottle, and drank the Ensure.  It went down really well and tasted good. 

THIRD LEG

About a quarter mile into this leg, I could tell I had a belly full of very calorie dense liquid.  I felt full and sloshy.  I decided to just take it easy and give myself 30 minutes or so to digest.  Even taking it easy, I still hit the first mile marker in just under 8:40.  I could tell that I was having to work a lot harder to maintain a pace that had seemed very easy just 20 minutes ago.  I managed to maintain just under a 9 minute pace until the turn around, but it was no longer easy.  I was starting to suffer.  My stomach felt off and I was getting nauseous.  The muscles in my things and lower back were starting to cramp some but nothing too bad.  I was still harboring ideas of a 4:40 finish with a marathon PR in the process.  This all came crashing down on the final leg of the race.

FOURTH LEG

I turned around and started back and was just out of energy.  I knew I needed to eat, but I didn't want to take any nutrition.  My Gatorade tasted sickeningly sweet, and I could only make myself drink a very small sip every now and again.  I was slowing down and my legs were starting to feel heavy, but I was still running somewhere around 9 minute miles.  I hit the 26.2 mile mark of the race in about 3hrs and 59 minutes.  Not as fast as I had thought I would do after the first leg, but still good for my second fastest marathon time.  shortly after that I knew I was going to be sick.  With just over 4 miles to go I stopped, walked over to the edge of the trail, and heaved the contents of my stomach into the woods.  Yes, this was just as unpleasant as you imagine.  Ultra runners being who they are, those who passed me asked if I was OK and even offered salt tablets.  I told them I was fine and declined any assistance.  After a minute or two, I stood up and ran about 20 feet before vomiting again.  After that second round my stomach finally felt much better. The problem was by that time I had no nutrition and was a little dehydrated.  I completely bonked with 3 miles to go.  I had pulled away from Tim and Rob on the first lap and was running by myself until just before the 3 mile marker.  At that point Tim caught and passed me. (Tim went on to finish in 4hrs 56 minutes, achieving his goal of breaking 5 hours and besting his old time by almost half an hour.)  I knew he was putting time into me with each stride and that Rob couldn't be far behind.  Even with that as motivation, the best I could do was run for 3 or 4 minutes and then walk for a minute or two.  I was actually relieved when Tim passed me and then again when the 5 hour mark came and went.  I knew I was going to finish and that I was going to beat my time and no longer had to worry about pushing to break 5 hours.  I crossed the finish line in 5 hours and 4 minutes, 21 minutes faster than my last attempt.  Rob came in just a few minutes behind me. 

All finished and ready for the drive home.

CONCLUSION, LESSONS LEARNED, AND EPILOGUE

I was hoping to be able to post the results and top finishers here, but as I write this the race website has not posted the official results.  I do know that there were some rockets out there, as usual. I will update this as soon as I have the finishers' information.  I learned that I will not be using Ensure again in the middle of a race as we do not seem to get along well.  I have always heard that you have to eat before you are hungry and drink before you are thirsty, and Saturday really proved that point to me.  From here on I will make more of an effort to have a plan for, keep up with, and monitor my caloric and fluid intake during races. My training schedule called for a 10 mile run on Sunday.  While it would have been very easy to come up with an excuse that would have satisfied me to skip it, my legs were sore and I figured it would be a good way to work out some of the lactic acid.  I expected it to hurt and be slow so I had no pressure or preconceived notions of pace.  I started off with a brisk walk to get warmed up and then launched into a 6mph jog.  As the miles ticked by, I began to loosen up and was able to pick up the pace.  It felt good to stretch out the legs and run fast again.  I'm still a little sore but none the worse for wear and looking forward to another week of running.

UNBREAKABLE, well sort of...

I was very excited last week when my copy of UNBREAKABLE arrived in the mail.  It is a documentary by Journey Films about the 2010 Western States 100.  It focuses on Hal Koerner, Geoff Roes, Anton Krupicka, Kilian Jornet and Gordy Ansleigh.  Here is a short, yet compelling trailer that does a great job of capturing the spirit of the movie. 

The race coverage is exceptional.  Journey Film has managed to run along with the leaders during key moments of the race and really deliver a sense of what the trail is like.  I recommend it to anyone who enjoys ultra running.  I have already watched it twice, and it has served as a great motivator to me. You can find information about the movie here.

The last week of running has been a perfect metaphor, especially for running an ultra.  It had highs and lows and points where I stood in the woods, broken, defeated and said to myself, "I'm done."  (Of course, I wasn't, but it sure felt that way at the time.)

If you have been reading this blog regularly, and come on, why wouldn't you?  You'll remember that Tim and I ran the first annual Boxing Day Trail Marathon, also known as 26 on the 26th, last Monday.  On Tuesday, I did a short run/walk on the treadmill for about 5 miles.  I spent a fair amount of that workout with the incline set to 12% and the speed at 4mph.  While this may be easy to some, it kicked my ass and I was huffing and puffing and sweating up a storm.  On Wednesday I decided to take my rest day, since I had run on Monday.  Thursday night was incredible.  I got off of work late, picked up the kids from camp and headed home.  My wife got home, and the plan was for me to head out for an 8 mile run around the neighborhood.  I was tired and cranky and didn't want to go, but I knew I would feel better if I ran and would be upset with myself if I didn't so I changed clothes and headed out before I had too much time to think about it.  I have a 4 mile loop mapped out from the house and started off nice and slow, with the plan to take it easy and just run comfortably for two laps.  I finished the first lap in 31 minutes and felt great.  I decided to see if I could run a negative split for the second lap.  I got back to my mailbox in 29 minutes.  Needless to say, I was very pleased with myself and all things began to seem possible. 

I met Tim on Saturday morning with a plan to run about 24 miles.  From the time I got up, I could tell there was something wrong with my right hip.  It felt tight and ached.  I decided I had just slept on it wrong and that it would loosen up.  I was wrong.  I didn't have one comfortable step during the run and when we hit the single track things got worse.  After a couple of miles of the trail I came down on a rock and rolled my right ankle enough to make me stop.  I was tired, hurt, disappointed and frustrated.  I figured I'd just take the most direct route back to the car and call it a day.  I told Tim I was shot and he should finish his run, that I was just going to head back.  He refused to go on and walked with me back out to the bridle trail.  Once we got out onto the main trail I was able to run again and ended up running about 16 miles for the day - quite a bit less than I had planned, but I was still on track for 65 miles for the week. 

I got home and cleaned up and made a trip to Raleigh Running Outfitters and picked up a foam roller.  This is a great shop that I have been fortunate enough to run for since 2007 or so.  While most of the people who are on the team are super fast, I was able to convince Jim, who owns RRO, that if he sponsored me he would get lots of advertising bang for his buck, as I am generally on the race course for an extended period of time.

I spent a lot of time rolling around on the floor, working my hip, hamstrings and calf in an attempt to loosen things up.   (My kids thought this was awesome and wanted to play with my new toy.)  My wife and I had scheduled a 10 mile run on Sunday and I really didn't want to start off the new year by missing a run, especially not one with her.  The smart thing to do would have been to take a rain check on the run and let the hip rest a bit. I'm not well known for common sense or moderation, so we ran anyway.

In keeping with the Buddhist tenant of impermanence, in an ultra marathon when things get bad, it is important to remember that they can't/won't stay bad forever.  The same is true for training.  Before we left I rolled the legs some more and hoped for the best.  It was a beautiful, sunny day with temperatures reaching the lower 60's by the end of the run.  We stuck to the bike and bridle trail and covered 10 miles in a little less than 90 minutes.  My hip didn't bother me at all during the run and was only a little sore later on during the day.  We had an amazing time together and I felt better and more fresh at the end of the run than at the beginning.  I'll take it as a good indicator of the year to come.

I ended up running 65 miles last week and 231 miles for December.  With the exception of a race week, that was the most I have ever run in a week.

I'm taking it easy during this first week of January and will run the Frosty Fifty 50K in Winston Salem this Saturday with Tim and my neighbor, Rob.  I ran this race with Tim in 2010 as my first ultra.  Rob has run several 100 milers and I will be crewing for him at the Graveyard 100 in March.  Check back this weekend for a full race report.

Holiday Miles

I may not have gotten around to writing much over the last week, but that hasn't stopped me from logging some miles.  Last Tuesday I had planned to get up early and run 14 miles before work.  However on Monday night, because of various family, work and holiday obligations, I didn't make it into bed until about 1am.  When the alarm went off at 4am I surprised myself by actually getting out of bed and heading downstairs.  I was in the kitchen, in the dark, dressed like an out of shape superhero when I realized that, with only three hours of sleep, I would be able to finish the run just fine, but I would be worthless at work for the rest of the day.  I crawled back into bed and caught a few more Zs.  I  decided that I would take the last two hours off of work and take care of the run.  My wife agreed to pick up both kids from school, so I was all set.

Work kept getting more and more hectic and there were a million reasons I should have stayed.  But there were 100 very compelling ones that told me to get out the door and run.  Despite an overdeveloped sense of guilt and responsibility that plagues me every time I take off of work early, I knew I needed to run.  So, with work phone in the pack and a plan, I headed out for a slow 14 miler.  I was very pleased when I reached the 7 mile mark about 6 minutes ahead of what I thought I would be running. I managed to maintain that pace on the way home and finished with an 8:45 average.  I ran along a fairly busy road that was without a sidewalk for a couple of miles.  This experience convinced me that my time and energy is much better spent on the trails.  Sure running in the woods has its own set of hazards.  But these in no way compare to harried motorists, in their urban assault vehicles who are busy texting, tweeting or talking and can't be bothered to keep their eyes on the road or in any way pay attention to their surroundings.  In spite of my best efforts to be visible (reflective clothing and a bright LED headlamp) these "drivers" didn't seem to notice me at all.  Either that or they don't care.  I'm not sure which is worse, incompetence or indifference. Either way, I'll be staying off the roads for a while.

On Saturday, I got a respite from the self-absorbed motoring public when my wife and I left the kids with the grandparents and headed out to Umstead for a 16 mile run. The weather was beautiful and I felt really fresh once I got loosened up. We mixed single track with dirt road and covered the 16 miles without any difficulty.  (I was able to stay upright for the entire run, which was nice.)  Running single track always reminds me of my youth when I spent a lot of time in the woods and backpacking on the Appalachian Trail with my dad.  I was lost in those memories as the miles ticked away.

Christmas Eve on Turkey Creek

I normally run on both Saturday and Sunday but this Sunday was Christmas so the only running I did was from one family's house to another and in circles with the kids.   However, this lack of exercise didn't bother me because my training partner, Tim, and I had been planning a long run on the 26th.  We decided we would run our own Boxing Day Trail Marathon this year.

We met in the pre-dawn hours and hit the trail together.  We ran the Umstead Trail Marathon course, just slightly out of order.  It was the longest either of us had run since early November and we could both feel it as the miles piled up.  My legs were getting tired but still felt pretty good.  Around mile 22 it dawned on me that I had not adequately planned my nutrition.  One pack of Power Bar Blasts was simply not going to cut it.  Too bad that was all I had.  Even though my stomach felt like it was eating itself and I was quickly running out of gas, I kept telling myself that this was good training.

Every time I get tired or feel like I'm about to give up, I just picture myself at Leadville in August. I imagine I'm huffing my way up Hope Pass at 12,600 feet and that motivates me to push harder.  While I love the easy runs because they are fun and exciting, I know that the hard ones, the ones when I really suffer and want to quit but don't,  are the ones that make me stronger.  These are the runs that make me better. I frequently tell myself that if I suffer more now, I'll suffer less later.  With that mantra in mind, the First Annual Boxing Day Trail Marathon became a beautiful experience.  One that was run on a crystal clear December morning, in a beautiful setting with a good friend.

How can a run in this setting ever be bad?

I can't decide if I loved it because it was beautiful or because it was difficult.  Probably both.

Ahh, that's more like it.

As I noted in my last post, I had managed to rationalize skipping a day from my training plan so that I could rest a little and allow my body to slowly get used to running more miles per week.  I was, of course, torn about this because I am scared about not having enough training miles for Leadville.  It appears that my strategy may have worked.

I woke up at 5am on Saturday, got dressed and headed out the door for a 20 mile run.  I don't live too far from Umstead so my plan was to run there, do some miles on the trails, turn around and run home.  It was perfect running weather, cool but not cold and it had rained the night before so everything seemed fresh and clean.  As I started off I felt awful.  I was huffing and puffing up the first hill, trying to maintain a very moderate pace.  This was discouraging as I had been looking forward to this run for several days.  I pressed on, knowing that it usually takes me several miles to warm up and hit my stride, such as it is.

I have never run with music.  I always considered myself a purist and looked down my nose, ever so slightly, at those who run with MP3 players. I told myself that they were missing out on so much.  They didn't get to focus on the rhythm of their breathing and the sound of their feet striking the ground.  They were missing the internal monologue that is such a vital part of the reason that running means so much to me. This reluctance to embrace music always fit rather nicely with one of the motivating factors in my running, a smug sense of self-satisfaction.  It's easy to feel good about myself compared to non-runners, but how else am I expected to feel smug compared to other runners, especially when the vast majority of them are quite a bit faster that I am?  Thus the the non-MP3 arrogance was born.  That, and I didn't own one until recently.

A couple of weeks ago I decided to give music a try and had one of the most enjoyable runs I have had in years.  None of the things I thought were true.  I was still able to think and reflect and focus on my breathing and my footfalls.  The difference was that I also got to listen to music that I love in a way that allowed me to really focus on the words, the tunes, and how all of it is woven together.  I'm sure people who passed me in the park that day thought I was a crazy person. I had a huge grin that I couldn't have stopped even if I had wanted to.  

Since I was going solo yesterday I decided I would listen to some tunes again for my run.  (I think it's a slap in the face to your training partner to listen to music while running with him or her.  It's like talking on the cell phone while you are paying for your groceries.  It says, "I think I'm more important than you are.")  For the first several miles the music did part of its job in that it kept me from getting creeped out as I ran through the dark by myself.  However, it was not the great motivator that I had experienced on my first run. Oh well, I thought, must have just been one of those days that runners have every now and again.  I kept on keeping on until I was little over 5 miles into the run.  As the night was slowly giving way to twilight, I entered Umstead and was starting to feel good.  Just as I got into the woods Wildflowers, by Mr. Tom Petty, started playing.  It just seemed to fit.  "You belong among the wildflowers....Far away from your trouble and worry, You belong somewhere you feel free."  There I was in the woods, where I belong, with my worries far away, feeling free.  Thanks, Tom. 

The rest of the run was excellent.  As the sun came up over the trees I felt like a love struck teenager.  You know, that sappy, saccharine feeling you get, when the sky is more blue, the birds' songs are sweeter, the air feels more fresh and everything seems possible.  It was great. 

Sunrise in Umstead

Everything felt great as I turned around and headed for home.  Every song that came on sounded like it had a message for me.  I felt empowered and emotional all at the same time.  It never ceases to amaze me how much a great run can do to lift my spirits.  I ended up running a negative split for the out and back by over 6 minutes.  I was home by 9 and spent the rest of the day with my family.   (Being a working father of two small children is some of the best ultra marathon training I could imagine.  It forces you to stay on your feet, even when you're exhausted and teaches you how to be patient and keep a positive outlook, even when you feel like giving up.)  While I was rejuvenated and excited, I knew the real test would be my Sunday run.

Sunday morning my wife and I dropped the kids off at the in-laws and headed back out to Umstead.  I had mapped out a route just shy of 11 miles, with lots and lots of hills.  It was another beautiful day, with a gorgeous clear blue sky and mild temperatures.  As with Saturday, it took a couple of miles to catch my breath and start to feel good.  I worked harder than I normally would have early in a run because I didn't want Wendy to run away from me again.  Once I warmed up, we both had a great day and got progressively faster throughout the run. We ran shoulder to shoulder almost the entire time, both of us pushing each other at times.  With about 45 minutes to go in the run, I asked her if she'd be willing to snap a picture of me running on the trail for this post.  She said she'd be glad to, just let her know when.  I was running with a pack and had the camera in one of the many pouches so I knew I'd have to stop to fish it out.  I kept seeing great places to take a shot, but I was having so much fun running that I didn't want to stop to get out the camera.  Less than a mile from the car, she pointed out that we were running out of trail if I wanted a picture.  I decided that I'd rather keep running than stop and break our rhythm.  Now, that's a good run. 

I end the week feeling healthy and very motivated.  Next week's schedule will be altered for Christmas a little as I'm planning to run 16 with Wendy on Christmas Eve and 26.2 on Boxing Day with my training partner, Tim.  I can't think of a better Christmas present than a few hours of running in the woods. 

Itchy and guilty, but rested and ready.

According to my apparently somewhat initially overambitious training program, I was supposed to run 6 miles yesterday and 8 today. I found my way to a treadmill on my lunch hour yesterday for the 6 miler. I had two problems:

1) I was just tired and was feeling the residual effects from my runs this past weekend, and
2) whenever I run at lunch it stresses me out that I need to get back to the office.

The end result was that I cut my run short. 

My plan for today was to run outside tonight after I got home. Then I got home and the kids were cute and my wife didn't have to run out for a meeting or work out so I decided I would rather hang out with the family before the kids went to bed. I was able to rationalize that it would let me recover and recouperate in preparation for another long weekend full of early morning runs. With my decision made, I set about enjoying my evening of family togetherness.

It was certainly time well spent, however I discovered a couple of things as the evening progressed. I felt very guilty for not running. This was not a new sensation for me, as I have frequently bailed on a workout when I didn't have a training partner to push me. Usually I am able to rationalize this pretty easily. However I wasn't able to do that this time. This is due to the fact that even though Leadville is about 9 months away I still feel tremendous pressure to train and prepare. Also, one of the main reasons I started this blog was to publicly* hold myself accountable to my training schedule.  (*Not too sure how public this is. It's a lot like being a DJ on a small college radio station.  I'm talking, but there is very little evidence that anyone is paying attention.)

So, I'm full of guilt for bailing on my weekday run. However, thanks to an upbringing where guilt was liberally applied in lieu of corporal punishment, I can handle the guilt.   This is due in large part to an over developed ability to rationalize.  I have been a big fan of rationalizations for many years. I think the power of the rationalization was best explained by Jeff Goldblum here. 

What did surprise me was that I felt restless and itchy. Not literally, I don't need any calamine lotion or anything. I just felt like I was missing something. Once I recognized that I was irritable, it didn't take me long to figure out that I was missing my run. This was surprising, in a very pleasant way. As I have said, I have always been pretty slack with my training. (For instance, for the iron distance triathlon I did in October, I made it to the pool about 5 times in the 6 months leading up to the race. That is some serious slacking.)  In the last few weeks I have gone from running three days a week, at the most, to running at least 5 days a week, with much higher mileage. My legs are struggling to keep up. I realize that's the idea as I have to train myself to run on tired legs. As my very smart wife pointed out to me today, I just don't have to do it all in the first two weeks. The upshot of my epiphany this evening is that a day off was just what I needed to feel rested and fired up to run this weekend and that my power to rationalize is growing weaker the closer I get to August.

I'm sure I will mourn the loss of my super ability to rationalize in the short term but I know that, in the long run, I will be much better off.  I wonder if there is a 12 step program for rationalization addicts.

Tired Legs

The last two weeks, I have taken my running more seriously than I ever have before.  That means not only more miles, but more quality miles.  I ran several days last week during the week, which is frankly not something I have ever spent as much time doing as I should have.  Then on Saturday I ran about 16 miles out at Umstead with my good friend and frequent training partner, Tim. We did a lot of single track, as he is getting ready to run the Mount Mitchell Challenge in February.  http://www.blackmountainmarathon.com/

Normally Tim and I are pretty evenly matched, which is one of the reasons that we run together so often.  However on Saturday, I think he'd been eating his Wheaties, or maybe taking some meth, because I really had to struggle to keep up with him.  I managed to hang on, but it wasn't pretty.

The next day I went back out to Umstead to run with my wife, Wendy.  She needed to do about 14 miles for her current training plan.  We arranged a sitter and headed off to the park to spend some quality time together running as much single track as we could. Let me say, right off the bat, that my wife can run.  We have run multiple marathons together and it is not unusual for her to say good-bye to me somewhere around mile 20.  Sunday was no exception.

I knew right away that I was in for a long morning.  Although it was a beautiful morning and it was great to be in the woods and running with Wendy, my legs just felt heavy. This didn't pose too much of a problem until we got to our first stretch of the single track. Just a few minutes in, right after commenting to Wendy that the stretch we were running was fairly technical and that she should be careful, I tripped on a rock and went down hard.  Fortunately, Wendy was in front of me and didn't see it happen. It was not a graceful move. I did manage to put my wrists out in front of me because everyone knows that when you fall down you should try to break your fall with the back of your wrists, right?  After skidding to a stop, I took a moment to gather myself and off we went.  I was a little dirty but nothing was broken, torn or ruptured.

About an hour later, still on one of the trails, my hip flexors felt like they were on fire, which was a new sensation for me.  This was exacerbated by the hills.

I managed to keep up with her until we got back out to Turkey Creek, although I was sucking some serious wind and had hit the ground one more time.

Eventually, she simply ran away from me. I did all I could to keep up with her. I'm almost foot taller than she is so I decided I would try to catch her by bombing down the hills as fast as I could, using my longer legs to make up time. This worked for a while. I would almost catch her on a downhill and then she would pull away on the uphill.  I finally managed to catch her with about a mile to go.  Too bad I had to basically sprint to do it.  I fell in step with her for about 10 yards and then had to stop and walk. She was waiting for me at the car when I got there. Because she's good person, and a wonderful wife, she was kind enough to lie to me and tell me she hadn't been there long at all and that I hadn't slowed her down during the run.

Monday was my rest day and I didn't do anything that could even remotely be considered exercise.

This evening after I got home from work I jumped on the treadmill to knock out what I thought would be an easy 12 miles.  Boy was I wrong. I felt pretty off for the first mile, but that's not unusual. When I run on the treadmill it takes me a few minutes to work out the kinks and get moving.  Sure enough, after a couple of miles, I started to feel a lot better.  I did notice that that my left shoulder was still feeling the impact of my fall, but nothing to make me stop.  I finished the 12 miles in about 1hr 42min, which was several minutes slower than I had wanted to run.

I can tell that my body is still getting used to running more than a couple of days a week.  I'm scheduled to run 6 tomorrow, 8 Thursday, 20 on Saturday and 10 on Sunday.  I'll let you know how I feel after my Sunday run.