50K Fun Run

The other day I received an email from Rick Freeman who is the RD for the Laurel Highland Trail Race saying that he received my entry fee.  I guess I'm officially committed now.  I've been wanting to do this race for two years now but something always came up. Now if everything works out I'll be toeing the starting line on June 14th.  I really can't wait.

 

He also invited me participate in a 50K "Recovery" (from the Holidays) run on January 5th at Upper St. Clair's Boyce/ Mayview park just outside of Pittsburgh.  This just what I needed.  I needed something between now and the Bel Monte Endurance run in March to keep me focused on my training.  I'm really looking forward to the run.  Upper St. Clair isn't far from my house and I'd love to see what the trails are like there.  As much as I love running at RCSP it would be nice to mix it up a bit.  The run takes place on a ten mile loop with some people doing one, some two, and others all three loops.  I plan on doing three - if they don't mind waiting for me.

 

The run into work to day was very nice.  The air was a cool 24 degrees with a clear sky and very little wind.  I wore my lycra spandex long pants for the first time this winter.  I also wore my white nylon - spandex long sleeve shirt under my Brooks bright green shirt.  I also carried the larger of my two CamelBaks.  I had worn my uniform home yesterday because on Fridays is called Steeler Day and we can wear civilian clothes until the end of football season.  The only requirement is that the shirt must reflect a football team.  I carried one of my runnings suites and a grey Steeler tee shirt in my CamelBak.

I felt really good and tried to take it easy knowing that I had a 18 mile run to do tomorrow.  I've noticed that the hills are getting easier and the run isn't as hard, nor does it seem to take as long as it once did.

 

 

Run to Work

Had a very good run into work today.  The temperature was 27 degrees with a clear sky and no wind. I left home at 0640 and the sky was already starting to light up.  I wore spandex shorts, running shorts, a long sleeve shirt, a bright yellow NB over shirt, Army grey stocking cap, and black gloves.  It was chilly starting out but I quickly warmed up as I climbed the first hill.  I felt strong and was glad to be running off all of those calories that I inhaled during the Thanksgiving holiday.

 

As I was climbing up the hill on Beaver Glade road, I meet a bicycle commuter on his way down the hill.  It was only the second time in the three years since I've been running/cycling to work that I meet someone else commuting to work.  I just don't understand why more people don't do this, especially with gas prices at $3.15 a gallon.  I know that some people can't but there are a lot that can.  And for those that can't then why don't they carpool?  As I ran in today I made a note of those cars with more then one people in them.  It was a very, very low percentage.  There was also few passengers on the buses that I saw.  What will it take for people to start to conserve our resources?  I remember in the 70's during the gas shortage there were actually ads in the papers where people was looking for people to carpool with and there were some people who was featured on TV who rode horses to work.  I think the problem now is that even though gas prices is high there is plenty of it.  It would be different if there was a shortage and the lines at the pump went around the corner.  Maybe that is what we need to get people's attention.

 

When I was stationed in Guam we was hit by a Super Typhoon.  Yes there is actually something called a "Super" Typhoon.  We had sustained winds of 165 mph with gusts up to 180 mph.  Anyway, while the typhoon was hitting the island a gas storage tank was hit by lighting and caught fire causing a major gas shortage on the island.  There was no gas at all to be had for about ten days.  As people started to run their tanks dry they would drive to the gas station and line up (see photo).  They would leave their cars parked in line.  With no gas, bicycles became a hot item.  The Giant bicycle shop sold out very soon after reopening and thefts of bicycles were rampant.  You would think that after having to commute on a bicycle, that some people would continue the practise once gas became plentiful but this wasn't the case.  As soon as the gas stations started to sell gas, the bicycles were stored to rust away and once again the roads became crowed with gas guzzling SUV's and pickup trucks. 

 

I guess bad habits are hard to change.

Thanksgiving

Today is Thanksgiving and I have a lot to be thankful for. Sunday night I got a dreaded phone call from my daughter saying she was in a car accident but that she was okay. My wife and I quickly dressed and drove to the accident scene. She was driving in the left had lane of a divided four lane (HWY 60), going north and had dropped her cell phone. She reached down to get it and drifted to the left onto the warning strip. She got scared and over corrected the car, causing it to spin across the road and down a 120 foot bank, taking out one post of a speed limit sign in the process. Amazingly the car didn't roll. Everyone who saw it, from the State Troopers to the tow truck drive said that it should have rolled over. The only damage to the car was a little piece of plastic broken from her right rear quarter panel. She had no injuries other then being scared. I really hope that she has learned that a car is no toy and to take driving serious.

Also, today my son and I went for a short two mile run. About two days ago I caught him reading one of my running books. I asked him if he wanted to go run with me. He said that he didn't care. When he says that it means yes. While I was stationed in Guam he ran with me some. We did some 5Ks together which was a lot of fun. That was in 2003. Now he is 17 and has a lot of other things on his mind then running with his ole' man - or so I thought.

When he got up this morning I asked him if he was ready to go running. I expected him to say no, but to my surprise he said yes. The weather was cool with a sprinkle of ran but it didn't discourage him. We got dressed and drove down to the parking area of the Montour Trail at Mile 6. I told him that I would be running with him and to run a slow and easy pace. He had not run very much other then in the fall when he did conditioning for soccer. After we started I noticed that he was running at a rather quick pace. I doubted that he could keep it up for the whole two miles so I told him that it was better to start out slow and finish fast then it is to start out fast and finish slow. He replied yes when I asked him if he could continue the pace the whole way. We ended up hitting the one mile mark in 8:20. I figured that he would slow on the way back but he picked it up and we ended up finishing in 15:25, which would give the time for the last mile at 7:05. While we didn't set any records I was impressed because my son had not done any running. The next step is to get him to do some races with me. We'll see.

RCSP Loop

Today I had planned on making a trip to Seward PA which is the location of the finish line of the Laurel Highland Trail Race. I was going to do a run of about 16 miles - eight out and eight back, just to get a feel of the trail and to see what I could expect come June. I had everything packed last night and was ready to go this morning. The only thing was it was raining this morning and it was a cool 37 degrees. I would have hated to drive an hour and a half only to find out it was pouring rain. I'm committed to training but I'm not crazy.

I decided instead to drive up to to my old standby - the 20 mile loop at Raccoon Creek State Park. After driving up there and parking by the lake it was still raining. I told myself that I would skip running today and make up for it tomorrow when I would run to and from work. I pulled up to the T - intersection and stopped. If I made left I would be pussing out and go home. I decided to make a right to the trail head of the Heritage Trail. I got out of the car and started running figuring on just doing a couple of miles to see how things worked out. After I started running the rain let up just a little. I then started to sweat some so took off one of the two long sleeve shirts I was wearing. My plan then was to run to Highway 18 and if it was raining hard then I would cut the run to a 10 mile loop. If the weather started to corroborate I would continue on the loop and do a 20 mile training run.

As I crossed Highway 18 I knew that I was going to do the 20 mile loop. I really wanted to do the loop because this year I had not done one due to my injury and this could be the last chance for this year.

It turned out to be a good decision. There was just a sprinkle of rain and the weather was cool enough to be good running weather but not cold enough to be uncomfortable. The trail was damp and in some places really muddy. It was so muddy going down one hill that I almost wiped out. I have run many miles on trails and have yet to take a fall. This was the closest that I have come. I was going down a pretty steep hill and I ran into some mud which was hidden under the leaves. I was going pretty fast but every time I tried to break I would slide, so I just had to move my feet that much faster. The end result was that faster I would go, the more I would slide and the more I would slide, the faster I had to go. Things were pretty hairy for awhile.

I ended up doing the 19.5 miles in 4:01:39. I felt pretty good until the last couple of miles then it felt kinda rough. I had a Cliff Bar at the halfway mark and then a Chocolate Gul at the 15 mile mark.

Fair Weather Running

Today I went running on the Montour Trail. It was good running weather - 36 degrees, cool and cloudy. I had planned on running 20 but because I had a pretty hard run yesterday and tomorrow I promised my wife I would run with her, I decided to just to 16. On the weekend, the trail is usually full of people. There are people running, people walking dogs, and of course people on bikes. It amazes me the number of people who only exercise when the temperature is above 70 degrees. The best running weather - at least for me - is when it is between 30 and 40 degrees. Today I had run 12 miles before I saw the first person and another two miles after that before I saw the next. Fair weather runners don't know what they are missing

Psycho Running

This is the best running commercial that I've ever seen. I saw it on TV one time before the offended whiners and complainers got to Nike and they pulled it. I thought it was great. I recently located it on YouTube.



I don't think there is any runner who has watched a murderous psycho chasing someone through woods and didn't say to themselves, "He'd never catch me once I got two steps on him". I know I drive my family nuts saying that while watching horror flicks.

Running Partner

Today I finally convinced someone to do some trail running with me. I took a friend of mine (SSG S.) that works up in G-1. It was a great day for running, cloudy, with a temperature of 34. For the first time on trails I took him on the Eastern Loop at RCSP. It is a ten mile loop with the first half on the Heritage trail relatively flat with the exception of a very steep climb at the beginning. The second have on the Forrest trail has climbs over three ridge lines. It's good training because of the climbs and steep downhills. He did good but he started off a little too fast so by the time we got to the steep climbs he was a little spent. He hung in there through and we had a decent run time of 1:48.

Lead with the Mind and the Body will Follow

Today I went running on my favorite trails at Raccoon Creek State Park. I wanted to run more then the 9.5 miles of the Eastern Loop but didn't want to run the whole loop of 20 miles. I came up with the idea to run the Eastern Loop and add a loop of the Lake Trail to it for a distance of 13.5 miles. I like the Eastern Loop because it has the steepest climbs and downhills of the entire loop. Add the Lake Trail Loop and you increase the climbs by three. A great workout.

While running I saw a Red Tail Hawk and a couple of Pileated Woodpeckers. These woodpeckers are my favorite of the woodpeckers and it is always a thrill to see one. They are very shy and hard to get close to although you can hear them pecking for long distances. These two were across the lake but were easy to spot because of their size.

I have often been asked what do I think about when I'm running alone for long distances. To be honest I usually don't think of any thing but where to place my next step or should I run the upcoming hill, walk-run, or just walk the entire hill. Well this time out of nowhere I came up with a motto for ultrarunning. I'm not a very poetic person so I don't know if I had heard this somewhere and had just suppressed it until now, or if I had actually made it up. My legs were pretty well tired and I was coming up to a hill, when all of sudden this though came to my mind: "Lead with the mind and the body will follow." This is cool stuff because that is what it takes when running long distances. It is not so much the body that keeps you going, it is the mind. It is the mind that keeps you going when your body is begging to stop.

The Opening of Ewing Road

Good news. They have finally opened Ewing road here in Pittsburgh. In my run and bike ride into work this was the only choking point of the entire route. It was a narrow road with a very narrow shoulder. There was also a hill to climb so cars could not safely pass until they crested the hill. They closed it this summer to build a corporate park on the north side of the road. I fortunately found an suitable alternate route which turned out to be better then Ewing road ever was.

Well today I ran to work and decided to check on Ewing road. To my surprise it was open. The good news was that they had repaved and widen the road. They also put in a nice roomy shoulder. I can't wait to ride my bike on it. On top of this, this weekend we sit the clocks back. I've been waiting for this for awhile. Right now it doesn't get daylight until after 0715. Now it will be safer and I'll have more time to make it to work.

Thanks to the new road, I'm now looking forward to a good winter of training. I'm planning on doing the Bel Monte 50 miler near Waynesboro, VA and have to start training now. Hopefully the winter won't be too bad this year.

Oh and by the way, I had a great run in to work this morning. It was about 31 degrees outside and I forgot the number one rule in cold weather running - put on all the layers you think you will need and then take one off. I ran really strong but warmed up after the first 1.5 miles. I could have done without one of the two long sleeve shirts I was wearing.