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....