Happy 4th

I will be posting my Mohican report soon. After the race, we spent the week in the North GA Mountains for some R&R. This past week has been very busy with over 60 hours at work and trying to get caught up. I have a couple of days off coming up and will get more posted then. I hope all is well with everybody and the sky full of fireworks. The grill is calling – Steaks, baked potatoes, and vegetables.
God bless our troops and keep them safe. They have their own fireworks and not the nice kind. Seen it, done it.

Mohican On My Mind

Weeks of hard training are finally over and now in the final week of my taper stage. Somehow I still feel like I’m not ready and need a few more long runs to be comfortable. Then again, I feel this way going into most of my races. Most likely just the extra energy building up and anticipation of the days to follow! As for my training, most of my daily runs have been with a 20 pound weight vest, and I add 5 pounds weights in each hand for the hill repeats. With the extra weight on the hill repeats, I thought I was going to only perform half of what I normally do after the first set, but some how dug deep to get the last couple sets in. I had to play games with my head by saying just one more and you can walk the next one, and then time for the next one, and I just could not allow myself to walk it. I repeated this several times until all my hill repeats were complete. It was more challenging then expected, but felt great when it was over. Unfortunately, not a lot of long and steep hill to train on were I live so I must improvise to make the hills feel harder then normal.

My short 5 hour long run, in some intense heat, did not go as expected. I planned to cover more miles during the 5 hours I allowed myself before dashing home to shower and get ready to meet some of my coworkers at a local restaurant for a working meeting. I planned to run on very familiar trails at FATS and dropped off water bottles at specific points like always. The temp was 80 deg when I left the main parking lot, and new it was going to be a warm day, but was only thinking this was going to be some good heat training - finally. The trails were in great shape, dry, and smooth. I didn't get ½ mile out before I was already covered in sweat. I ran into a couple of spider webs but just wiped it from my face as I passed through it. Every now and then, I would pass through a larger one and it would stop me in my tracks. They are hard to see on the trail with the forest as a backdrop. I hate the feeling of webs on me and was a major distraction.

I normally carry two 20oz bottles, and before I knew it, I had already sucked the last drop out of one bottle and still had another mile to go before hitting my first water bottle drop zone. I almost never go through my first bottle this early! As I made my way around the Big Rock loop, I found myself moving slower compared to previous times. Nonetheless, I was less concerned about my speed during long runs and just trying to get the time in the bank. Half way around Tower loop I started to run out of water, thirsty, and water running out of me faster then I could put it in. I still had 2 miles to go before my next water drop zone and had to slow way down to control my sweat rate so I wouldn’t get in trouble. I cranked up my jams to take my mind off my uncontrollable desire to drink water - It's all I could think of. I had one 20oz water bottle at my drop zone and it felt like I just brought it to a boil - But it didn't matter because it was wet. I still had another 5 miles before getting back to the parking lot, thirsty, and knew 20 oz would not last long in this heat. I also noticed that I wasn't sweating and knew this was a bad sign. I figured if I could stretch what little water I had until the power lines section, I could drag myself the last mile before getting re-hydrated. On a good note, I only saw one snake (4' black snack) and it was on a short road section and easy to see. Also had a large deer jump across my path and thankful I wasn't in his way. I didn't plan very well for the hot conditions and almost put myself in danger a couple of times. I didn't get the distance I wanted for my last long run and felt like I took a beating with the heat. This is not the way to go into a taper before a race.I made it home in time to shower and make it to my meeting. I told the waitress to bring a jug of ice water and IV. I really felt it the next day and knew I did more damage then I realized. Normally I wouldn't have a problem with running all day in high temps, but because it has been cooler then normal in the South, I was not fully acclimated yet. I feel like I didn't get the mileage in that I normally should and will pay for it during the race. Then again, I felt that way at Rocky and ended up feeling strong all day until the feet came apart - Time will tell. As for my feet, I got this great idea from Bob who is using “Tuf-Foot” product to toughing and condition his feet. It was originally intended for dogs to condition their paws for tough terrains. Good for them may be good for me! I’ve been using it the last couple of weeks but won’t know if effective until this weekend. I also realized at Rocky that I didn’t stop and change socks or re-lube my feet until it was too late. I plan to do this at the 40 and 75 mile mark at a minimum. My problem is I block everything out, and don’t notice I have a problem until it becomes painful, which is too late. I need to work on this.Time to pack the Avalanche and head north for OH - I have an adventure waiting for me. Mohican 100 is 75% trails, 22% forest service roads, and 3% rivers and climbing with a total of 23,000’ of elevation change. The Mohican River crossing looks like it will be a refreshing dip to cool off, and the hand over hand climb up Lion’s fall should be interesting to say the least. Daytime temps look to be in the middle 80s with high humidity, afternoon showers, and lows in the 50s at night. I’m looking forward to pushing myself again, dealing with the unknown, and battling my demons towards the end when every fiber of my body says to stop.

Hard Week

It appears the rain followed us from the previous weekend in Charleston SC and decided to stay. Last week I started my long run up at FATS with the sky incased with rain clouds. I got no further then one mile into my 30+ mile run on the trail and the deluge started. I thought to myself I should enjoy the coolness of the rain before it was over and it got hot and humid again. Well, the sky never cleared and it rained for the next 6 hours. When I realized this was going to be an all day deluge, I at first entertained the thought of turning back before it got too bad and just chalk it up as a bad day, but I couldn’t do that because it was too easy. What better way to get some practice with torrential rain.

After I accepted the fact I was going to gut this one out, it actually felt good to be running so well under the cool canopy of rain. I never got hot, and my body was craving food and handling liquids with no problems. On a few occasions I did get a little chilled and wished I had a poncho to help minimize the heat loss. With all the rain, there were also a few moments of thunder and lighting, high winds, and falling tree limbs to keep from being bored. The trail was extremely saturated and was like running in a shallow stream the entire time.

I was soaked to the bone, cold, hungry, and eaten up by deerflies (and I thought I was the only one in the woods), when I finally made my way back to the trail head when I found 3 small dogs camped-out under my Avalanche. They looked as bad as me, soaked, hungry, and looking for a dry place to go. At first I was just going to get them out of the way so I could get down the road, but I realized these dogs looked really hungry. There was a store 3 miles down the road so I went by there and got a large bag of dog food and brought it back for them. They were 3 happy campers and could hardly wait for the food to hit the ground. I felt better knowing they had a belly full of food and plenty of fresh water.

Last week was an 80 mile week with some good speed work (8X800 meter at 3:05 per repeat) and hill repeats (20 pound weight vest and 5 pound weights in each hand). The hill repeats were killer with the extra weights, and really challenged me with the last repeat feeling like my heart was jumping out my chest and legs extremely fatigued. I was thinking there was no way I was going to make the last repeat but dug in deep and pushed it as long as I could before realizing I was cresting the hill.
The only thing that didn’t go as planned was my long run today. I went out to Fort Gordon on the boring 3 mile dirt track and grinded out 36 miles. It was hot with about 10,000% humidity which did not help but needed the soup bowl conditions to get acclimated. I was really feeling it between miles 12 – 18 and just didn’t feel strong.

I was mentally not ready for this sluggish feeling and really struggled with it. I felt better after about 21 miles but never felt like I had control. It was a strange long run and hope it was only due to the high mileage and hard training from the week. I have one more long run and need it to be a good one for my confidence going into OH.

Buncombe 34M

It has been awhile sense posting anything due to my busy schedule so this may be on the long side. First let me say the Buncombe 34 mile race in SC was an awesome event with many thanks to Terri Hayes (Race Director) for all her hard work. Terri doesn’t play when it comes to making sure her runners have everything they need to ensure safe and successful results.

The aid stations were stocked with everything you could imagine along with water drops at appropriate points along the course. The course was in great shape with a few slick muddy sections to make it interesting but the Montrails MM performed well and kept me upright. The morning temps were very comfortable, and the daytime high stayed in the mid to high 80s, but the humidity was a killer.

Let me rewind a little and share events leading up to the weekend. My son had his spring formal dance Saturday night and what a show it was. He had his own cheering section and critics as we watched every graceful move on the dance floor. Josh and Clair were flawless and the spectators most surprised with how comfortable they glided around while performing dances like the foxtrot, twist, shag, waltz, and many more.

By the time the dance was over, drove home, some last minute packing, it was 1AM which would only give us 3 hours of sleep before the alarm would ring at 4AM for our 2 hour drive on race morning. Laura, the kids, and her sisters (Shari & Tammy) were running two of the aid stations. All was going well until about 18 miles into SC when we drove into a mine field of 5 gallon paint cans all over the interstate. With no place to go, and darkness disabling any warning of the dome, we helped paint the interstate and my gunmetal gray colored Avalanche with oil base white paint. What a mess it was and not the way to start the day. Maybe I can get a tax break for helping the state dept paint the interstate!

We arrived at the race just in time for the brief as Terri gave us a sign of relief knowing her two main AS would be covered. I did not taper for this event and was using it mainly as a training run. For such humid and muddy conditions, the Montrail MM held up great with no blisters or sore feet. The course is all on walking and horse trails and we had a few section which would such the shoes off your feet with the deep holes from the horses. The stream crossings were welcomed and the elevation change was no more then a couple hundred feet at any one time which made for very runnable trails. This year Terri had a max capacity race with a few on the waiting list. The field of runners consisted of all types along with some respectable fast runners. A small group of runners took off fairly fast at the beginning and I was thinking I might see them later when they realize they took off too fast. This was not the case and they stayed fast all day. I got to meet some great people along the way and it made for a great day on the trails. Most were new to Ultras and asked a lot of questions. Some like Walt were more experienced and we talked about things that didn’t go so well in previous races. He is running VT100 this summer as his first 100 miler and I gave him some tips on what not to do, and what worked well for me. I had a few runners compliment me on how fast I moved on the trails and my quick turnover speed. All that speed training must be paying off. I didn’t move this fast all day, just certain section where I wanted to hammer my quads on the downhill’s to get some training in. Overall, I finished in the middle of the pack which was good for me considering I didn’t taper and didn’t intend on pushing it real hard. With such a fast field, I wouldn’t have been able to keep up with them anyway. Comparing my time to last year, I would have had a top 7 finish. I will be watching to see what these guys do down the road.

Work has been very demanding but I passed all my annual training exams for the week. This consumes so much of my time trying to get ready and maintaining my NRC license to operate a nuclear power plant.
This past weekend we went to Charleston SC for Mothers Day and what a rainy day it was. We made the best of it and had a great time anyway.

My training mileage has been low and I really need 3 strong hard weeks of solid training before going to OH in June. With a lot of my critical activities behind me, I will be able to be more focused. Before this week is over I should have close to 80 miles in the bank including speedwork and hill repeats (With a 20 pound vest to get a little extra burn). With my aggressive training schedule, I’m hoping for no injuries although my right leg hamstring has been a little tight the last couple of days. I’ve been taking the time to get in some good warm-ups and stretching as a precautionary measure, and not pushing it too much when it feels like its getting a little tight. This has been an exceptional cool week in the South and the heat training is lagging. I’m sure I will pay for that. The photo below is my wife and daughter catching a quick nap at the race.

Another Good Week

Last week was a real confidence boost for my training. Speedwork and hill repeats went great and felt strong the entire time. Even felt like pushing it on the last couple of repeats which reminded me maybe it’s time to raise the bar with respect to my own expectation.
The 5 hour long run yesterday on the trails felt comfortable and learned a few more tactics to skid myself out on the hills. Normally I start off running the hills but then start using them as brisk walking breaks to keep my HR down for endurance building. This time I leveled my pace more and shortened my stride on the hills. I also stopped concentrating on the top of the hill and focused more on maintaining a shorter stride on a repeatable consistent level while keeping my eyes looking down on the trail. I found this much easier to run the hill even after 5 hours on my feet. The idea of a shorter stride on hills I got from an earlier post by Rooster, and it works (Thanks girl). My downhill pace I backed off (not trying to fly down them) and found my legs feeling stronger later in the day. Although I felt my pace was slower and my time would suffer, I actually picked-up time and had more energy later on.
I also normally feel a low around mile 18 and only last a couple of miles before snapping out of it. Mostly due to not eating enough during my long runs. Normally I slow down to a crawl knowing it will soon be over before picking up my pace again. This time I maintained my pace, pushing even harder during this low, and felt even better when I got to the other side.
I knew it would be dark before making it out of the woods so I made sure my Boy Scout qualities came out (light). Based on the number of cars at the main parking lot, I was the only one on the trails. What an eerie feeling it was under a totally dark sky, strange animal sounds (dogs and coyotes), and constantly scanning for snakes (the bad kind). I also heard a lot of unusually sounds along the sides of the trail and had a feeling of being stalked. I carry a medium size knife for self protection and rehearsed in my mind the motions I would take if confronted, while maintaining a level head, and running through spider webs. Normally, night running does not bother me, but for some reason, I had an uncomfortable feeling, and have read some stories of wild dogs in this area of the woods. My spider senses were alarming. Nonetheless, it was a good motivator to pick my pace up and get back to the trail head. This is a pic I took coming out of the woods with my light on: Really dark (Tree on right, stump on left, spider web in front, snake hiding behind tree, unknown animal following).

I’m still not totally convinced the problem I had with my feet is resolved. When I got done with my long run, the balls of my feet were tender. I‘m going to try and tape (which I never do) and see if that helps! I normally Vaseline my feet and use two pairs of performance socks (Injinji and Under Armor). I will just have to keep working on this until I find what works best for me. Opinions / solutions welcomed.
I have another hard training week coming up and will use the Buncombe race as a training run for working out the bugs.

Morning Brew

I just love the smell of fresh cut grass. I gave the yard a hair-cut yesterday, and this morning while sipping on a hot fresh cup of joe and eating a toasted blueberry bagel covered with peanut butter, I could still smell fresh cut grass in the air. The sky is blue, sun feels good with a comfortable 60+ deg, and I have hill repeats with weighted vest along with weight training on the agenda today. Tomorrow will be a recovery run followed by another long run on dry trails this time. The weather is perfect here in the South, but it won’t last long with 90+ and high humidity around the corner.

Time for a Change

March was a month of struggle and transition which included a good long run, speedwork, and hill repeats without injury. I started to incorporate a weight vest in some of my daily runs and hill repeats to stress my body a little more. I’ve slowly been increasing the weight to allow my body to adjust while protecting myself from injury. Following Rocky, it took about 4 weeks before my running strength started returning to normal. My speedwork was lagging compared to my last session, but has now returned to performing 6X800meters at 3 min per repeat. My first two long runs in March did not go well and I felt an overall fatigued feeling lined with frustration (Still dealing with my Rocky performance). I took a light training week and did a 27 mile long run and felt strong all day. It was a perfect running day and the trail in great shape. The funny thing is I did my first face-plant when my foot got caught on a root and ended up eating some dirt. My hand held water bottles took the brunt of the fall and saved my hands. I was moving pretty fast on a downhill section and found myself airborne with no place to go but down (Gravity still works). I got up, brushed the dirt off, inspected for damage, and started to laugh out loud for a few minutes. Unfortunately, nobody was around to experience my graceful landing.
This past week, I took the family down to Disney World for spring break (And to get out of town with the Masters Golf tournament here in Augusta GA) and had an awesome time. Did not get any running in, but did walk about a thousand miles. The parks were at full capacity, but we still hit all our favorite rides. Also got some sun time in at Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon and got a head start on my tan (or should I say burn).

Went out yesterday for a 30 mile trail run in the rain, wind, and mud - Had a great time and had to check out my new trail shoes which performed nicely straight out of the box (No blisters, drained well, and light at 11oz). Not sure how these will hold up for 100 miles, but the Montrail Mountain Masochist (MM) worked great for shorter runs (Time will tell). Compared to the Montrail Continental Divide (CD), these shoes are so much lighter, flexible, and breathable. I normally wear a 9.5 in the CD and the MM 9.5 feels like a size 10. These very well could be the improvement in trail shoes I was hoping for. I will use them in my upcoming races to see how they perform. I also tried the Superfeet green inserts and was pleased with the performance.
TAB