Seashore 50K VA, Beach - Running In a Nor'easter

My final ultra of 2009 was all setup just a week before Christmas in Beth's home town of Virginia Beach. The course sounded delightful - flat, alongside the ocean, inside a nice eco system called First Landing State Park.


I had set a huge goal for me in this race. To finish feeling strong under 6 hours. My best 50K time to date was 6:12 at Landsford Canal back in July. The time was just a minor goal. As always I'm thrilled to finish any ultra.

Three days before the event the weather is saying 44 degrees with a 50% chance of rain. Two days before the forecast is 38 degrees with a 80% chance of rain. The night before the race it is already pouring rain in Virginia Beach with 30 mph wind gust. The forecast for the race: Wind gust up to 40 mph, heavy rain, temperatures set to hover around freezing by noon. I must be mad because I remember going to sleep smiling to the sound of rain and wind hitting the bedroom window the night before. I knew to enjoy the warm bed while I could.

Saturday morning arrives and my brother in law Nick (staying with his family) drives us down to check in at the park. As we go over various bridges we can feel the SUV getting thumped around by the various wind gusts. We share running stories and laughs over hot coffee as he drives, but in the back on my mind I know this is going to be a tremendous challenge.

Nick drops me off and sees that I get to the start line and then he heads to a aid station where he will be volunteering for the race. I sent along a thermos of hot chicken noodle soup with him for me to dip into throughout the race. Very good idea!

Despite the weather over 100 runners toed the line and the race director sent us on our way. The first mile into the trail was not so bad. It was wet, but runable. After that all conditions went downhill quickly.

The course was out-n-back. 3.15 miles on wooded trail then the aid station. 2 miles on black top then aid station. Then you turn around and run it back to the start. This was to be done three times for about 31 miles. Nick was positioned perfectly with the soup and encouragement at the middle aid station.

We start the race at 7:30 AM and the wind is howling at the start line. As we ran into the woods the trees held much of the wind off for the 3.15 mile trail portion of the race. However, the trail brought its own punishment with 6-10 inch mud puddles that took my shoes off a few times. After hitting the aid station the trail turns onto a partially wooded black top road that leaves you exposed to a beautiful view of the bay. The mud is gone at this point, but the wind & rain are slamming me during this portion. I ran this first out-n-back faster than any other ultra so far. I thought it would probably be a stupid move. Time would tell.

As a arrive back to the starting line 10.5 miles into the race I already see runners dropping out. You can see the look of "its over" in their eyes. I forgot about them quickly and buried my head into some peanut M&Ms and PB sandwiches. The fun was about to begin on the second leg and I didn't even know it.

I head back out to cover the second out-n-back and the trail is trashed. I mean it looks like a stampede of Clydesdales have trampled up and down it. Some runners try to shimmy around the big mud holes, but I just trudge through the middle. Around mile 12 the temperature takes a big dip down closer to freezing and the wind & rain become relentless. For the next two miles I can barely see more than 10 feet in front of me. Thankfully, it was nearly impossible to get off course on this trail or I may have been swimming in the ocean. Wait! I almost did that too!

So I pass Nick at the aid station and he hooks me up with some of that ummmm ummmm good soup. I grab a few oranges and some cookies and head out for the 2 mile paved road portion. I could only imagine what the weather was gonna throw at me through here. This road takes you to the tip of the park and it circles at the end to send you back the other way. Just before the circle the bay had flooded about 50 yards of the road!!! WOW! So now runners are wadding through hip high water in near freezing temps with downpours of rain and ferocious winds. I loved it! At this point I knew for certain that I would finish this race. I was only concerned that the race director may end up calling it off as conditions fell apart. After crossing the bay two times I knew that I still had to come back and do it two more times around the 25 mile mark when I would be much more tired.

After crossing the water I continued running and the weather continued its punishment. I tried to get a few conversations going with other runners, but no one was really interested. So instead I took this time to enjoy the Christmas season and sing Jingle Bells and Silent Night about twenty times in a row.

I reach the turn around point again around mile 21 and more runners are dropping out. I offered to run with one guy who still looked very strong, but he said that was it for him. I quickly put those thoughts through the mental shredder and headed back out for my 3rd and final lap. At this point the trail was a complete slop pit. All that could be done was to put one foot in front of the other and keep my head down when the wind & rain came driving down.

Nick poured me my last cup of hot soup at the middle aid station and told me a few "you look strong" lies which were a tremendous lift. I ran out of the aid station to find that they flooded road had gotten longer & deeper. Several runners were opting to bush whack around it, but I just went through it again. When I reached the other side I could not feel my legs and my core temperature had dropped dramatically. I had a few cookies and a banana in my coat which I quickly devoured out of fear of hyperthermia coming on. When I arrived back at the flooded road for the forth & final time I decided to follow the other runners making their own trail around it too. I could not risk getting that cold again.

I was so scared of getting hypothermia that I ran the next two miles pretty hard back to the final aid station. Nick said that he would meet me at the finish and I left him with just over 3 miles to go through the mud marsh. I put my head down and ran as fast as I could go for a mile. I realized that I could not hold that pace for two more miles so I had to let up a bit. At this point all that I could think about was warm clothes and heat.

I came upon a guy and lady that I had been switching positions with all day. The guy started walking, but the lady was still running. I followed behind her for about a mile thinking that if I could just keep up with her that it would soon be over. About a half mile from the finish I found that little excited burst of energy which allowed me to pass her and see what I thought was the finish line in the distance. I slowed down only to find a few volunteers telling me that I still had a half mile to go on the black top road to finish.

I remember relaxing my shoulders and taking deep breaths which allowed me to run strong and get across that finish line. It seemed like that last half mile went on forever, but I finally made a turn to see the finish line and the clock read exactly 6:00:15 when I was close enough to see it. I ended up finishing in 6:00:33 which was only 34 seconds off my goal. I was fine with the time on a day like that.

Pictures courtesy of Nick Cerda:

Getting the Medal!

All wrapped up & some place to go!

Long sleeved technical Shirt

Gore-Tex Jacket

Water/Windproof Gloves

Addidas coolmax running pants

Drymax socks

Coolmax face cover & fleece toboggan

It was a tough, but fun race in a beautiful park. I hope to run there again when the weather is better.

Next up - Weymouth Woods 100K on 1/16/10 !!

For future wet winter runs here is what I wore:

Seven Days Until Final 2009 Ultra

2009 has been filled with a lot of great runs.  I crashed & burned during some of them but, finished strong during others.  I'm the type of person who learns things the "hard way" in life and this has definately applied to ultra running as well.  For example, just last week during the Pine Mt. I only drank 1/2 of the fluids that I normally need and suffered for it greatly.  Why do I keep doing stupid stuff like that?! 

Despite my rookie ignorance, I am grateful to have gained so many incredible friends from running this year.  This has made running all that more special.  I enjoy the caveman/primate type bonding that takes place on the trails.  It is impossible to duplicate another runner handing you a sweaty handfull of gummies thirty miles into a race and then running together off the sugar buzz for the next few miles.  Screaming, laughing, and grinning like you are the luckiest people on Earth.

Just 10 months ago I found myself toeing the line of my first marathon (Myrtle Beach).  Since then I have had the pleasure of finishing seven ultras, a few half marathons, and some other shorter road races.  I screwed up a lot in each of the races, but learned some stuff too.  I learned that the human body can do a LOT more than we give it credit for IF you want it to.  My friend Wayne Downey summed it up beautifully heading back from Pine Mt. last weekend.  He said to run an ultra,

"You need want, but have to have desire too.  You can wan't to do it forever, but you never will unless you have the desire to train and actually do it."

So heading into the eigth & final ultra of 2009 I can already guess that being lost may be at the top of my "screw up" list for this one from looking at the map  :]

I'm excited about screwing up & learning more stuff in 2010!  Cheers to a strong finish for this year in Virginia Beach!!!

Pine Mt. 40 Mile Trail Run - Rockin' My World

Yesterday I ran 40 miles on rocks.  Big rocks, medium size rocks, small rocks, sharp rocks, rocks, rocks, rocks........

God had spread out the beautiful fall foliage on top of them to make the run a little more interesting.  I never had a complete fall to the ground, but I did trip and catch myself several times.  One of the trips sent me smacking directly into a tree which did not budge.  I think something in my shoulder budged a little, but thats another story.

Overall, it was a fantastic day in the beautiful woods of FDR state park.  Special thanks again to race director Sarah Tynes & GUTS for putting on such a spectacular event.  I owe an extra special "Thank You" to all of the volunteers who stood for hours out in the cold December mountains handing out food & drinks.  Thank you for every water bottle fillup, PB stuffed pretzel, orange slice, goldfish, grilled turkey & cheese (Tom Wilson rocks!), jelly bean, luna bar, salt pill, and M&M that I enjoyed.  Beth, the KFC biscuit was just too good for words!

The run itself started on the dam lake road just behind checkin HQ at 7:00 AM.  Yep, it was cold.  I think the starting temp. was 25.  I wore a long sleeve technical shirt, pants, cotton gloves (thanks Wayne!), and a cotton cap.  I just knew that I would be tossing the cap & gloves when I warmed up, but ended up wearing the gloves all day and tossing the cap at mile 32 because it was saturated with sweat.  Nice visual, huh?

The first six miles were on a runable section of trail and the running pack that I was in made good time to the first aid station at 5.9 miles.  I made a point to get in and out of the stations quickly and keep moving.  After going through the 2nd aid station and getting back onto the trail my knee/outer thigh area started it's little sharp pain dance again.  I popped some pills and killed the pain within about 30 minutes.  I feel fine today so not sure what is going on with my freak of a body.

From mile 6 to mile 34 the rocks were relentless.  Rocks everywhere.  There were short runable quarter mile sections, but then BAM - another rock field would remind you what Pine Mt. is all about.  I kept plugging away at them and moving forward.

The aid stations came & went quickly through the first 20 miles.  After that I knew that there would be a battle ahead between body & mind for the remainder of the race so I started "zoning out".  Thinking about distant memories that pop in my head, singing, pretend that I am directing a marching band, praying, whatever carries me away from the rocks for a few minutes.  There were several scenic overlooks along the trail and I often pretended that I was an Indian out hunting for food.  Ah, the pyscadelic effect of ultra running....

At mile 30 I was shocked at how strong I felt.  I still had lots of energy, upright posture, and my spirits were high.  Of course that was after scarfing down a bowl full of cherry sliced candy!  The best part was that I could still run strong.  Normally at the 30 mile mark I am almost down to a total walk / death march.  I think I have finally learned that running a little more through the middle miles helps to keep me running when the miles start to pile up.  I could feel the positive effects of weight lifting & speed training too.

I was a little concerned about the 10 hour 30 minute cutoff time so that made me run faster near the end too.  I ended up finishing around 9 hours and 54 minutes so I had a little room to spare.  There was a nice crowd cheering me on at the finish line which is always a welcomed sight.  Homeade chilli & drinks were immediately available after the run and yes I am wearing my hard earned sweater vest today!

This is a terrific race that I hope to run for many years to come....

Finally got some socks! Spartanburg Turkey Day 8K

The fifth annual Turkey Day 8K was held in downtown Spartanburg this morning.  My goal - earn a pair of socks!  The first 80 men to cross the finish line get a pair along with the first 80 women.  This is only my second year running the race after finishing with a 48:50 last year.  No socks for me last year, but still had fun running.

I had no idea what time I would need to get the socks and I had no idea how to "race"!  Up until this morning I have never went out as hard & as fast as I could go for 5 miles.  Several hundred people lined up at the start and we were off.  I didn't know what pace I was running or what distance I was at.  I just ran as fast as I could stand to go.  Hard up hills and hard down hills.  If my body wanted to slow down I pushed it harder.  We went up & down several hills and through some neighborhoods with folks cheering us on in their front lawns.

I rounded the final 100 yard leg of the race and saw 37:30 minutes on the clock.  WHOA!  I then thought "SOCKS!" so I kicked it as hard as I could to the finish line with a 37:50 time.  I don't know if I was more excited to have ran a 7:37 min/mile pace for 8k or to have won some socks!  YEAH!  This big man has never moved that fast!

You get a small stick with a number on it when you finish if you are eligible for socks.  I noticed my number was #78.  Whew - close call - two more and I would have cold feet today  ;]

Thanks to the Spartanburg Running Club and other sponsors for collecting food for the soup kitchen from runners.  This was a free race to support a great cause.

Now off to bask in the glory of the turkey socks....

Found a pacer for the 100 miler & only 300 miles

Great News!  I found a solid pacer for the hundo - YES!  Wayne Downey (Lil' Wayne) has agreed to go down and help me out.  I'm very pumped about Wayne pacing me for several reasons.

1.  We ran sweep at Laurel Valley together for the entire race so he has spent 12 hours on the trail with me.

2.  Wayne has more experience that I do & even brings some mad road running experience to the table.

3.  The dude cracks me up!  Do you know that one friend who can always make you laugh?  That is him!

4.  He is a hardcore runner & will not let me quit.  Being a testicular cancer survivor means he knows how to survive.

I trust Wayne and am very thankful to have him pacing me - I truly appreciate it & can't imagine how it will feel to have him run me in from 75 miles.

Since Wayne is coming down to Florida, Beth (wife) has decided that she will stay put at home with the kids for that weekend.  She is a teacher and both kids are in school so she was happy to have Wayne on board too.

I have some fun races scheduled before the Iron Horse, but I am counting down to it in the back of my mind.  I figured that I have about 300 miles left in long runs & races before the big day.  All of my races have been treated as long training runs for the past three months  ;]

Gotta get my mind right for the Pine Mountain 40 now, but you better believe that the hundo is brewing strong in the back of my mind...

92 Days until the 100 miler & I could use a pacer

I really enjoy reading race reports. You learn so much about running, people, and courses when you read stories from another person’s perspective. Last weekend the Pinhoti 100 mile trail race took place in Alabama. I think five GUTS runners ran it (and finished!) & another group ran a couple aid stations throughout the race.


Since the days are slowly closing in for my first shot at the mighty hundo, I am “all ears” gathering as much information as possible to give me the best chance of finishing. David R. volunteered & helped run the aid stations to get a better look at what it takes to go 100 miles for his own shot at it next year. If you are researching this type of information I highly suggest you check out his Pinhoti report HERE. Great perspective from the other side of the aid station.

There are lots of variables that play out in any race, but I keep noticing how vital pacers are in these 100 milers. A pacer is someone who runs/walks with you on the trail and makes sure you are doing the things you need to do in order to finish. For example, they will make sure you are eating/drinking, staying on the race route, keeping an eye on the time, talking with you, keeping your spirits up through the night, and much more. Why would you need this? After running for ten hours your mind starts getting mushy and doesn’t ring up thoughts as quickly as it should. A pacer kinda replaces your brain so you can go on auto-pilot and keep moving forward.

Kim P. went down to Pinhoti to pace a runner and has given me lots of helpful tips. None were bigger and more important that finding a pacer. I have heard the same advice from several other experienced runners like Kim, but it hasn’t really hit me until now - (hard headed man syndrome) HHMS.

I do need a pacer for the final 25-30 miles & hope to come up with one between now and then.

This is a flat course that is 12.5 miles out-n-back that will be completed 4 times to make 100 miles. It is on an unimproved rail trail near Jacksonville, FL. Iron Horse 100 Website.

The course is open for 26 hours so my goal will be to stay well ahead of that time. I‘ve been working on my splits and here is what I have so far. I realized that time will be lost at aid stations, changing clothes, etc. so this will be my overall pace including all stops. I have a GOLD, SILVER, & BRONZE game plan.

GOLD:
Finish in 24 hours-

Average 14.24 min/mile Pace
12.5 miles 3:00:00 Hours
25 miles 6:00:00
37.5 miles 9:00:00
50 miles 12:00:00
62.5 miles 15:00:00
75 miles 18:00:00 Pacer @ 1 AM
87.5 miles 21:00:00
100 miles in 1 day

SILVER:
Finish in 26 hours-

Average 15.36 min/mile Pace
12.5 miles 3:15:00 Hours
25 miles 6:30:00
37.5 miles 9:45:00
50 miles 13:00:00
62.5 miles 16:15:00
75 miles 19:30:00 Pacer @ 2:30 AM
87.5 miles 22:45:00
100 miles in 1 day, 2 Hrs.

BRONZE:
FINISH.

15 Week Training Schedule Until Iron Horse 100 Miler

Woooaa! I cannot believe my first crack at 100 miles is rapidly approaching - about 15 weeks out. I spent some time during the past few days evaluating where I am and where I need to go.

1. I have a good base. I've slowly worked up to a 40+ mile run in October and still had a little energy left in the tank after the run. It went slow, but it felt right.

2. Weight loss is a top priority. Since dropping from Weight Watchers several months ago my weight has been yo-yoing around 245 (give or take 10 lbs. any given week). So I am back into good ol' WW on Monday. Hey, stepping on the scale and weighing in front of strangers works for me! This time I am getting to my lifetime goal weight! My goal - arrive at the Iron Horse 100 at a lean 225 lbs. ready to tear it up!

3. After a month I have realized that cross training does not seem improve my ultra running. That is, when I replace my short to mid distance runs during the week with other aerobic activities/weight lifting. I have missed my middle of the week runs and I'm excited to have them back. However, I am still sneaking in a little cycling & crossfit at the gym ;]

4. I revised my 15 week training schedule. If you are interested you can view it HERE. I have three ultra races scheduled between now and the hundo' in February to keep me rolling with the long runs.

For now, I am focusing on training for the Pine Mountain 40 mile run in December. I'm keeping my eye on one day at a time and enjoying the fall running...

Vibram KSO Gear Review

My family surprised me with a pair of Vibram's KSO (Keep Stuff Out) shoes for my birthday. These "shoes" are designed to simulate barefoot running while protecting your foot in the most minimal way possible. Time. TIME awarded Vibram with it's 2007 best inventions seal! I must admit I have always been a bare footer at heart. I often do yard work, play with the kids, walk the dog, etc barefoot. Up until now I have never purposefully worked it into my running.

I elected to go with the KSO version because it is designed to keep debris out of the shoe on the trail. Sand & twigs can quickly turn your feet into hamburger meat once they are in your shoes grinding around for mile after mile. The shoes are ready to test right out of the box! They are sized in centimeters not inches. 48 CMs for me....

I loosened the Velcro strap that spans the top of the shoe and runs down the outside of it.

My big size 12 foot slides easily into the shoe. I liked the pull strap on the heel to make it a little easier to get on. They were easy to slide on.
Once they were on I wiggled my toes around to fit them into the five grooves at the end. This felt weird, but in a good way. Once the piggies were in their caves I tightened the Velcro strap. Snug, but not tight....

Then I put my foot flat on the ground and made some minor adjustments. I noticed that pulling the fabric up toward your ankle on top of the shoe helped to seat your toes perfectly.

They felt like a good fit so I headed right into some rocks. I could feel the rocks through the shoe, but my feet felt protected.

Time to break out into a run. It was a beautiful fall day and the trail was somewhat rooty & rocky. I was a little concerned about the leaves hiding both of them underneath the cover. As soon as I started running I noticed that heel striking was not an option. At first I was cautiously landing on the balls of my forefoot, but relaxed and worked into some nice mid-striking. The few times I struck my heel first it jarred my entire body - WOW!

I was surprised how comfortable they were. It was a nice sensation to feel the cool ground under my feet. I occasionally landed on a rock or root without much trouble. I definitely felt it, but it did not hurt at all.

To be fair this trail is fairly flat without a lot of debris and rocks on it. I will have to take the Vibrams out on a gnarly trail for another review after I get some easy miles on them. It was a beautiful day for a run! I wanted to just keep going, but had to get back to the office.

I was only planning on running a mile, but ended up running two. Wanted to run 10 :]
I headed back to the car to inspect my feet:

Everything looked & felt great!

I enjoyed running in the Vibrams! They were comfortable and gave my feet just enough protection while still letting me "feel" the terrain underneath. My plan is to slowly build up some miles on them with gentle terrain and see what happens. I think they are great aids in helping you mid strike & stay off of those heels.

FATS 40 Miler - Coon Dogs & A Bloody Back

Sunday October 4th was the 2nd annual FATS (Fork Area Trail System) 50k or 40 mile race put on by race directory Terri Hayes. Runners are allowed to decide which distance they want to take on after finishing the 50k. You can either stop then or head back out onto the trail for 8 more miles to make 40 miles. I made a personal commitment before the race to finish the 40 miler even if I had to crawl over the finish line. My longest distance up to now was around 35 miles at Laurel Valley.

The trail system is located in North Augusta, S.C. which is about 2 hours from my home in Spartanburg. I opted to get up at 4:30 AM and drive down early Sunday morning so I could sleep in my own bed. The trail head was easy to find and I met up with some GUTS friends - Erica, Tom, Kena & David Ray. We quickly checked in and pinned on our numbers. Terri gave her pre-race speech and we were off & running at 7:30 AM.

This ultra was a different course design than the others that I have ran. There were a total of six loops. You could run five loops for the 50k distance and six for the 40 miler. It was fun to run each section because their names gave you some indication of what the trail would be like.

I will admit that my nerves were shot before the run started. All that I could keep thinking is "don't go out too fast, don't go out too fast....".

1. Deep Step Trail
Everyone started out fresh on this trail from the registration table. It seems like it was nearly all downhill with lots of little "V"s in the terrain. I'm sure the mountain bikers have a name for these, but I will assume that is why it is called Deep Step.?

The entire field seemed to be running together for the first mile so I decided to take a bio break and let the mob roar past me down the trail. I enjoyed feeding off the energy at the start line. It is fun to jockey for position with some of the super fast people. It seemed that the entire pack ran together like a big snake for about a mile.

When I got back on the trail I met up with a fellow runner from Charleston and we ran together for about an hour. It was cool and cloudy during Deep Step and it went by quickly. Two mountain bikers stopped and asked me if I was doing OK. I thought this was kind of weird because I felt great. I figured they were just looking out for the runners.

1a. Connector Trail

A connector trail / road took me from this section to the next. It was strange to run on a paved surface after running trails for so many months straight. This small section of paved road went by quick & turned into a dirt road which led to the first aid station. This was around the 8.5 mile mark. These first miles flew by as I was jawing back n' forth with the fellow from Charleston. I was comfortable and in my running groove at this point. I grabbed a P&B sandwich, filled my bottles up and was back to the run within one minute. Let's see a Nascar crew try to beat that time! Once again a biker asked me if I was OK, hmmmm - do I look that bad already? I was starting to wonder if I remembered to brush my hair & comb my teeth :] (ultra humor)

2 & 3. Big Rock & Tower
This was about a six mile section that obviously passed some big boulders and a fire tower. This section of trail was already showing signs of fall with leaves & pine needles covering the path. As in the other ultras, the first 14.5 miles seemed to fly by, but according to my watch I was moving at about 12 min/mile pace. I saw the lead pack finishing the loop and they were already about 5 miles ahead of me. I laughed and thought they better hope I don't turn on my rocket boosters!

I felt that I was moving faster than that, but I was being cautious of going out too fast and taking a lot of walk breaks. Looking back I feel like I should have just ran faster when I felt like it, but I was enjoying the trails at the same time. This day was turning into a classic cool fall day in the south. Awesome! And of course - another biker slammed on brakes and checked to see if I was doing OK. At this point I was starting to freak out a bit.

Connector trail/road back to the other side of the trail system.

Finished up the loop and arrived back at the same aid station. Once again I scored some peanut butter crackers, a sandwich, fruit and filled the water bottles. I make up for my slow running with super human speed in the aid stations :] My Charleston friend went on ahead and I decided to spice the run up with some Black eyed Pea tunes from the mp3 player. As I was jamming to the tunes down the trail I ran up on another runner who I saw trip over a root and cut a full flip! He hit the ground hard and landed on his knee. A few crackers fell out of his pocket so I quickly went and ate them off the ground and helped him get up. He was fine & I was glad to help him lighten his load by eating his surplus inventory of food. Is that what "trail magic" is? That whole ordeal put a pop in my step...

4. Skinny
After strolling in from the connector road I was greeted by the GUTS aid station dream team! Kim, Tom, Kena, and others were there smiling and cheering me in. They were taking care of runners left and right. Bottles were getting filled, food was being dished up left and right, and directions to the next trail were available. It was terrific to have such seasoned runners helping out! Kim asked why my shirt had blood all over the back of it?

This kind of freaked me out since I had not felt any pain or stinging. After further review we decided it was just a little pimple that my shirt had rubbed the skin off of. This also made sense why all the bikers were asking if I was OK. I suppose seeing someone running through the woods listening to music with a bloody shirt may be cause for alarm.

I was feeling good with some minor toe cramps heading out of the aid station back to the trail. So here is the "skinny" on the Skinny trail. This section of trail was by far the easiest of the day. Mainly flat & downhill sections with some narrow trails. I came 6 inches from taking a biker out on one of the tight turns. It was probably a missed opportunity because he smelled of food as he whiffed by. I dreamed of having a pinata type collision where cheeseburgers and milkshakes came flying from the bike. That was fun to think about while I listened to some Willie Nelson. I started to feel the run near the end of skinny at about 22 miles. I felt a "bonk" was coming soon as I was out of water and food.
5. Brown Wave

Back to the aid station where I ate like a champ! This was the finish line for the 50k distance and Terri stood there like an angel with Domino's pizza all around her! The crowd cheered as I entered the aid station not sure if I was finished or turning back out for eight more miles. The GUTS crew seemed to be everywhere today as they helped me out again. I told them that I was doing 40, but I needed a LOT of food. I ate half of a cheese pizza, 5 Chic-Fil-A brownies, and four shots of Mountain Dew. One of the GUTS guys helped me fill some zip-loc bags with pizza and brownies to stick in my pockets for the rest of the run. I never understood the meaning of "Brown Wave" - it must be North Augusta insider stuff...

6. Great Wall
As I turned away from the aid station back onto the trail my buddy Mike Riggins yelled that there was a water drop about 4 miles into the loop. I'm glad he did because that gave me a shorter goal to aim for instead of the full 8 mile loop. As I hobbled down the trail I passed team Beth (two runners) coming in from their 40 miler with big smiles. Their high energy spilled out & it gave me an instant jump start. (The pizza & brownies didn't hurt either!). About 1/2 mile into this section my shorts were so heavy with food they fell to my knees and I nearly crashed into a tree! After making sure no one saw me - I had to stop and laugh at myself! It would be some sight to see my lying with my shorts down in the forest with bags of pizza & brownies around me!!! Maybe the "ultra version of The Blair Witch"? I decided it would be wise to scarf down some more food to avoid scaring small children & forest animals with another exposure.

To make this section even more interesting, I met up with two coon dogs! One of them was doing that funny bark and the other one was just walking around wagging his tail. I was feeling restless so I started doing my own version of the coon dog bark too! I was buzzing from all of the sugar and had a blast playing with the dogs for a few minutes. After I realized that they just were not that interested in hearing me bark I continued on the journey. I was hurting at this point and the funk was trying to set in.

This is the point in the run when I realized that I was going to be well over 40 miles after this last loop. My Garmin GPS watch loses it's distance under tree cover and I was nearly at 40 miles with four miles to go. Of course, just as I realize that I will probably end up doing about 45 miles a mountain biker shows up and asks if I know that my back if covered in blood? By this point the sweat has turned the entire back of my white shirt red. It looks much worse than it is, but it makes me feel tough. GRRRRRRRR!!!! At this point it was just one foot in front of the other.

This biker was sweeping the loop for Terri and he let me know that I had about four miles to go. He also added that I was the last runner out on the course. It was starting to get dark in the forest so I felt a little more motivated to run and wrap this madness up. The bike sweeper made a 2nd pass when I was about 1 mile from the finish and he let me know that I was very close. After 40+ miles "very close" better mean you can see your car!

At this point I had the most amazing feeling that I have ever had during a run. I was filled with energy. My foot cramps vanished & my posture straightened up. I suddenly felt like a new man and was overwhelmed with emotions. I felt like crying, laughing & singing all at the same time. I thanked God for my life, family, friends, running, brownies, pizza, coon dogs and lots of other things. It is very difficult to put the feelings into words, but the final mile was excellent.

As I make the final turn I see David Ray (who also finished his first 40 miler!) lounging in his camp chair with a huge grin on his face cheering me in with Terri. It was great to see them and they offered me lots of great food and congratulations to wrap the run up.

After I was able to rest for a minute Terri pulls out a bag with a big smile and hands me my FATS 40 finisher's award and this special award for finishing all four of her races this season:

This was very special to me & was lots of extra "icing on the cake" for finishing my longest run thus far (Thanks David for the photo).

Terri offered us some more food for the road and David helped me get my stuff to the car.

I was on cloud nine all the way home and so excited to be a small part of a great day with so many extraordinary people.

I'm not sure what distance I ended up running, but it felt heavenly to park my body in car and turn the cruise control on.

Special thanks again to Terri Hayes for putting on another outstanding run. And a standing ovation for the GUTS aid station dream team. You all rocked!

Next ultra up: Pine Mountain 40 12/06/09 in Georgia.

Ultra Training - Less running / more cross training?

I'm digging long trail runs over 20 miles. I wish I could do one everyday. I am so focused after the run and feel great. I never knew how addicting running could be. The confidence just keeps building after each run. Unfortunately, running the long training runs everyday doesn't fit into my life or physical abilities. I like to keep my training routines mixed up because I lose focus so quickly & fall into a rut. I have avoided the rut for well over a year now & intend to keep it that way.

Since beginning training for the 100 mile distance I have pushed my intensity up in everything. I'm running harder, faster, and farther than ever before - which is still not really fast or far! I'm carrying that same intensity over to the gym as well. It is tricky to find the line between pushing your limit and hurting yourself. I think the secret is pushing the envelope a little farther each time without over extending yourself.

I am a firm believer in Crossfit. This is exercise that pushes your body extremely hard (using great form) for short periods of time. You get a great cardio & weight workout if you follow the guidelines and apply yourself. I have read several different opinions on using this type of training for ultra running and believe that each individual should use whatever works for him/her. From what I have read - most ultra runners use some type of hybrid plan derived from the Crossfit basics.

After saying all of that my training is turning in another direction once again. I am running a 20+ mile training every Saturday and mixing in as much cross training & Crossfit as possible during the week. Every 3-4 weeks I will bump the mileage down some on Saturday for recovery.

So the schedule will look something like this:

Saturday: Long Run
Sunday: Light 1 Hour Gym Or Rest
Monday: 2 Hours Gym
Tuesday: 2 Hours Gym
Wednesday: 2 Hours Gym
Thursday: 2 Hours Gym
Friday: Rest

The typical "Gym" workout consist of about 1 1/2 hours of cardio and 30 minutes of high intensity weights / machines.

I will use this schedule for the next month or two and see what happens. At the very least it will help me lose my last 20-30 pounds and keep me looking forward to the long weekend run.

I am super pumped about doing my first 40 miler at the FATS 40/50 Ultra Race on October 4th!

Lynch's Woods 50K - Zig Zagging Into Oblivion

Jason's back before the start @ the aid station.
Lynch's Woods 50k - hosted by race director Terri Hayes was my final 32 mile race before the "official" training begins for the Iron Horse 100 miler in February. My training has been very laid back & slack since the Laurel Valley 35 mile race at the beginning of August. I have put in a few runs around 14 miles, but nothing longer. My friends Wayne & Kyle came up from Georgia and stayed at my place the night before the race. We had a 30 minute drive down to Newberry & easily found Lynch's Woods park. This has been the easiest race to find so far! A nice change from being lost on mountain roads minutes before the race begins...
David, Wayne, Mark, Jason @ Start

Jason w/the GUTS crowd before the race...

The race director gave us instructions for the course at 7:15 and we were off & running at 7:30. About 60 runners were running this event which consisted of a 4.25 mile loop around a dirt road, about a mile lollipop out-n-back and then four loops around a single track trail which added up to a 50k. I never really understood the entire race route, but it was marked so well I could easily stay the course.

I started out slow on the dirt road loop and lots of runners took off fast. The 4.25 mile road portion went by really fast since I was jawing with lots of old and new friends.

Friendly horse on the trail...

I caught up with a nice husband & wife couple from Charlotte, NC running their first ultra on the lollipop section of the course. I think we ran a little extra on this part and ended up back on the road with this horse checking us out.
We quickly found the trail back to the main aid station which was also the start/finish. From here the race takes you on four identical single track trail loops through Lynch's Woods. I haven't ran many trails, but this one was extremely zig-zaggy. At one point I felt like I was running through a pylon obstacle at football training camp. There was serious fun to be had & I can't wait to go back and try it again. I was not expecting the large amount of ups & downs either. They were not huge, but kept coming at me all day long. By the end of the last lap I pulling myself up and down the little hills and my lack of training was slapping me in the face. On the other hand, I had a blast running the course with so many great runners. I ran most of the final lap alone until I was "chicked" by by Kim Pike & then "Ray'd" by David Ray. It was great to see them both finishing strong & it helped me to stay focused on finishing. Thanks again to Terri Hayes and her great volunteers who pulled off another memorable ultra!

Coming into the finish @ 6:58!

High fives for the family @ the finish!

Mark, Wayne, & Jason @ the finish. It looks like Wayne is giving me the birdie, but he wasn't!

Next up - FATS 40 mile race in October!

100 Mile Training Schedule - 24 Week Countdown!

Only 24 weeks until my first 100 miler... Wow - hard to believe! I have lots of other big runs scheduled in to help keep me motivated and not totally freak out. I am going to to take this schedule week by week and try to enjoy each run as much as possible.

This is a novice schedule that is designed to get the first timer to the finish line. It is a hybrid of several other schedules that have been modified to suit my needs. I will try to follow it week by week, but will end up making tweaks here and there.

Laurel Valley Run - Pack List

I want to keep a record of what I took on the run for next year. Also take a look at what I did right/wrong for me:

Pack List:

• 64 Ounce Camelbak Without the bladder
• 5 Snicker Marathon Bars (Thanks for the tip David Ray!)
• 6 Packs Gu Chomps (Asst. Flavors)
• 2 Cliff Block Shots
• 2 Gu Roctane Gels
• 3 Gatorade Mixing Packs (1 Gallon Worth)
• One bottle 5 Hr. Energy
• 4 Ginger Snap Little bites
• 1 Pack caffeinated Jelly Beans
• 40 Scaps
• Head Lamp
• Emergency Poncho
• Small Glide Roll on with Heat Fx
• 2 Sheets of Moleskin

For breakfast I ate a Banana Otis Spunkmeyer Muffin and 20 oz. orange juice. Then chased that with a 5 Hr. Energy to get my caffeine fix.

Good things I did:

• I used a heavy coat of Glide on my feet and wore Drymax hiking socks ($10 from Zombierunner.com). Zero blisters or foot problems the entire run! This was amazing after having wet feet for at least seven hours.
• Brought the right amount of food - I brought 4,000 calories and ended up eating 3,600 for the day.
• Used two water bottles instead of my Camelbak bladder. The water is frequently available & this helped to cut down on the weight of my pack.
• Started off slow & ran with at least one other person the entire day.
• Got in the water & took a few rest breaks off of my feet.

What I will do different next year:

• Carry a small stick of Glide, not the stuff with heat fx in it! Try rubbing that in your chaffed areas at 20 miles!
• Purify all of the water that I drink. I plan on using a SteriPEN which is a device that kills bacteria in about 2 minutes so you can drink the water instantly and not have to wait 30 minutes. 95% of the water that I drank was not purified. I am very fortunate to not have gotten sick.
• Bring a wider variety of foods. I brought too many Gu block type foods and they were difficult to keep eating near the end. I will mix it up with different types of dense goodies. Protein gave me a nice long boost.
• Bring my camera.
• Leave the 2nd 5 Hr. Energy At Home. The 2nd one I drank did nothing for me.

Laurel Valley White Water Run

"Buy the Ticket take the Ride"

Saturday August 8th 2009 was the toughest physical challenge of my 34 years on earth.

I stumbled across this race on director's Claude Sinclair's about six months ago. Just seeing the photos and bios of other runners from previous years was enough to make me question my ability to even apply. Legend after legend appeared down the finishers list for many years.

After reading the descriptions & requirements of the run I figured that I may be ready for it with at least 3 more years of ultra running under my belt. Claude warns anyone interested that this is a self-supported 35-40 mile run through some of the foothill's most rugged mountains & valleys. There is no bail out along the trail. Once you are in there are two ways out. Finish at the end or turn around and go back to the start. After running only three ultras I noticed that Laurel Valley always seemed to come up in conversations regarding tough local races.

To make a long story short my new ultra friend Mike Riggins said that he was running it & if I was running a 100 miler in 2010 I should run it with him. I quickly got excited & motivated. I begged Claude for a entrance for about six weeks and after running a decent 50k at the Landsford Canal he decided to let me run it about two weeks ago. I was super pumped, excited, and wanted to vomit all at the same time!

All first timers in this race are "sweeps" for the day. Sweeps are not allowed to pass other runners & responsible for helping others who run into trouble along the way. Basically a safety net to make sure everyone gets off the trail safely. There were about 10 of us and we started at 5 AM which was one hour before the official 6 AM start.

2009 Sweeps/5 AM Starters

Since the start was early I opted to tent camp at the Laurel Valley parking area which was the starting line. Just before bed I realized that I forgot the bladder to my Camelbak hydration pack! At the time this really stressed me out, but it ended up fine. I carried two Gatorade bottles & they worked.

I was surprised how easy it was too find in such a remote area. I arrived right and dark and was drifting off to sleep by 9:30. Wide awake and ready to run at 4 AM I packed up camp and got ready.This was my first shot at night running and I enjoyed the hour or so that we put in. It was cool with a slight breeze and you could catch a glimpse of the full moon through the thick mountain cover. Spirits were high and you could hear roars of laughter echoing up and down the trail. I was practically floating while running with Andy Wright, Buddy Nash, Doug Dawkins, Will Brown & many others!

Big thanks to my new running buddy Wayne Downey for taking these photos. I was so freaked out from my Camelbak mistake that I decided to leave the camera in the car. Wayne became a friend quickly. He is one of those people that you meet and instantly know that you have met a life-long pal. Not to mention that he kept me cracking up all the way down the trail.

Around the 2 hour mark we hit beautiful Laurel Falls.

I am feeling so good at this point. Lots of energy & cool mountain air. There is a steep climb during this stretch, but you are so fresh it really doesn't bother you at all. From the overlook at the falls you have a brilliant downhill section that just begs you to run as hard as you can. This section pushes you into the 6 mile area where the real fun & games begin.

I'm guessing around mile 10 Laurel Valley formally introduces herself to you:

I come out of the nice long downhill section and hit a section that runs beside Lake Jocassee. I think that may be Indian code which translates to your quads will soon be torn to shreds! After strolling by Lake Jocassee you are staring up at the picture to the left. I know what you are thinking. It's not that far up though. Well when you get up it - it just keeps on going. Then when you get to the top you go down the same roller coaster. One key I learned in Laurel Valley. The water is your friend. I will guesstimate that I never went longer than four miles on the entire run without having some type of water available. Since we are speaking of water it is very important to treat the stuff you plan to drink so you don't get horrible parasites and stuff in your system. I decided not to do that. Weird, stupid? Not sure which, maybe both, but I plan on following the rules next time. I was so ticked off from leaving my hydration bladder at home that I didn't really care.

14 Miles In & the steps take a break and give you some nice watering holes. This area is called Cane Break Access. I am having a laugh with Lynn Difiore here about the steps we just did:

Diggin' through my pack for something to eat at Bear Creek Camp:

So I'm now at the 14-15 mile point. Closing in on the half way point. (Maybe? Who knows for sure?) Wayne and I are having a grand time joking and sharing recent war stories. The Cane break area is pretty much flat & runnable with great scenery.

















I could not resist shaking the suspension bridge at Toxaway when we went over it. I felt like Donkey Kong trying to shake Mario off the course! Lynn was just getting on the bridge in the middle of my fiasco and she let me know that she was getting motion sick from my nonsense :]

Another shot of the river looking left off of the bridge:

Miles 15-25 Journey to Horsepastuer River
There was a brutal climb out of Cane Brake Access to the top of a mountain ridge. Lots of stairs going up, up, and up. It may sound insane, but I would rather have the stairs straight up the mountain than switchbacks going up for two extra miles. At this point Wayne & I realize that we are way ahead of the 5 AM sweep crew. We talk to a few of the veteran runners and get mixed reactions as to what we should do. Several say just keep running - Claude won't mind. Others say we should stop and let the sweep captain & other runners catch up. We were both feeling so strong here it was hard to stop, but we decided it was for the better. I will throw out a thought here about Glide. It is good stuff, but I don't recommend putting the Glide with Heat Fx on your crotch area for chaffing! That is all that I am saying!

Taking a 30 minute break on the trail near Bear Gap with Wayne:

So Wayne & I both agree that we should stop and wait for other runners to catch up. We were laughing and carrying on like a bunch of crazy hyenas at this point. "Laurel Valley isn't so bad...." then "Laurel Valley - I don't see what is so hard about it..." We were feeling so strong. I was even wanting to beat on my chest a little for being ahead of other runners. (I bet you can see where this is going!) We sit around here for about 30 minutes getting ate up by bugs and finally agree to press on to the next river/bridge.

The descent to Horsepatuer River
I think we covered about two miles from Bear Gap to the river. We decided to run nearly all of this section. At this point it was about 80 degrees and we were under heavy mountain shade. The wind was gently blowing and the river could be heard in the valley below. I was about six hours into the run of my life and never have felt so strong. I knew the cold river water would be adding to my joy soon enough.

As soon as we get down to the bridge we see Eric in the river looking bad. We also meet up with Mark Elson here who is a sweep as well. He had been hanging out with Eric for a while and warns us that he is in bad shape with cramps and the general "funk". I didn't waste anytime getting in the river. Off with the pack and right into the drink I go beside Eric. He looked horrible. I could see his quad muscles constricting back in forth under the water and he was screaming in pain. He said that he had ate, drank and taken salt tabs. What more could us sweeps do?

Eric looking rough in Horsepasuer river:

This is the first sight that Wayne & I saw when we scrambled down the rocks from the bridge to the river. Mark had already been working on Eric. He was filtering water and taking care of him in every way that he could. I noticed a pontoon boat about 1/2 mile down the river and offered to try and hike down to it and see if they would be willing to carry Eric to a Marina. Eric agreed to this and I took off. I got about 100 feet away and Mark started yelling that Eric wanted to continue on the run! What the heck!?

Can you see the boat in the distance? From the bridge at Horsepastuer. Beautiful!

Mark helping us out with his filter. My only clean water of the day!

You can see Eric still cooling it "Laurel Valley style" in the river. At this point I thought he was done. Mark kept filtering water for all of us and we spent some more time frolicking in the river. The water felt so good. I wanted to spend about two more hours just floating around, but we all knew we had to get moving soon. To my amazement I watched Eric man up, get out of the river and head out on the trail. I was totally amazed. We stayed at the river for about thirty more minutes and then decided to get back to it.

At this point I had no idea what was in front of us. About 10 miles from the finish. Mark, Wayne, Will (Sweep Captain), and I all hit the trail for the climb away from the river. It was great to spend time running with Mark and talking with him. We shared stories and lessons learned while running the flat/downhills and walking the ups. Wayne and Mark did most of the talking while I listened in. I could tell that I was starting to enter the place I call "ultra dream land". Things start getting a little spacey and thoughts don't form like they normally do. Once again the trail served us up a generous portion of steps that seemed to continue up to the sun.

We caught up with Eric about 5 miles up the trail near the Thompson River. He looked great! He was not running, but maintaining a very strong power hike up & down the hills. As a matter of fact the three of us had to run several time just to keep up with his walk! What a comeback!

After Thompson River Laurel Valley started punching me. I mean head shots, body blows, drop kicks - the whole nine yards! I was about 5-6 miles from the finish at Thompson river with about 1,400 feet of elevation gain to go. I began to feed off of Wayne & Mark. I drifted in and out of their conversations and contributed a few words when I could. Really just trying to keep my head in the game.

By the time we made the turn by the famous 1.7 mile sign to finish (Which is really like 3.5) I was in the funk. Wayne was in front of me and it was a struggle to put one foot in front of the other. At one point he took his hydration pack off and was carrying it because it was hurting his back. I remember looking at him holding it thinking that we were at the fair and he won the pack at a carnival game. I nearly slapped myself to snap out of it and keep pushing forward. For the final climb we had to scramble some house size boulders in white water river and climb those LV stairs to reach the finish.

A shot from the observation deck 1/2 mile from the finish:

This is your final 1/4 mile run to the finish. I loved seeing this place!

Party Shot Of The Finish!
New buddies Wayne & Mark

It was awesome to finish up with Wayne, Mark & Eric! All four of us running as hard as we could down to the finish. I am still blown away at Eric's strong comeback!

This was my longest distance at about 36 miles & longest time on feet at 11:54 to date. A big thanks to Claude Sinclair for putting this one on. I really enjoyed it & hope to be back running at 6 AM next year. I'm proud of my new running buds - looking foward to a lot of great runs down the road...