February and Snow

February was a tough month with all the snow and temperatures in the single digits. I done some runs and even ran to work on day when it was 8 degrees outside. The cold I can deal with but the snow really sucks. One day that I did run to work with the snow, it was 28 degrees and the road had been salted very heavily. There was a lot of black mush on the shoulders and about four inches off the side of the road...so where do you run. I did a combination. I would run in the snow until my legs got tired and then run in the slush until my feet would get wet and then I would go back into the snow. After that run I did most of my running on treadmills.

Yesterday the weather had warmed up to 45 degrees and this morning was 34. Most of the snow had melted off the roads and it was warm enough to wear shorts. I really hate wearing long pants when I run. I see people wearing sweats in warm weather and wonder how they do it. Anyway today's run was awesome. Because of my reduced running in the past two weeks, I thought that I may have lost a lot of what I had worked so hard to gain. To my surprised I think I may have gained. The run felt easy and I felt good enough to pushed it pretty hard. I ended up doing the 9.5 miles in 1:22. Not too bad with the steep hills. My PR for the run to work is 1:19. I'll probably be a little sore tomorrow but it was worth it as a morale booster. I'm really looking forward to warm weather and a great year of running.

Park and Birds

Well I haven't post much lately. I've been pretty busy with a conference in Richmond. Everything went smooth. Sure am glad that it's over.

My daughter and I have had some issues with trust lately so to make it up she suggested that we go hiking early Sunday morning. I had planned to do some trail running but spending time with my daughter is better then any run. I did tell her that she would have to get up early and she agreed. I let her sleep in until 0700 and then went in to wake her up. She got up very well and was raring to go.

Because of the snow and cold weather I decided to keep it short and simple. I didn't want to do the Lake Trail - too easy - but didn't want to do the Forrest Trail - too technical. I decided on the Valley Trail which follows Traverse Creek on the south side for 1.1 miles. It also give a very nice elevated look at the lake.

The temperature was around 20 degrees and there was a light snow falling when we started. She was a real trooper and didn't complain about the cold at all. It was until we saw the two coyotes running around the creek bottom that she broke down. She was scared that the coyotes was going to attack and eat us. I told her that she had nothing to worry about and to be quite and watch them. She was convinced that I was just telling her that and that we would soon be attacked by a pack of howling coyotes. She finally calmed down and together we watched the show. It was interesting to watch them run around looking for breakfast.

Soon after that we got to the overlook of the lake and sit there for about ten minutes enjoying the peace and quite. The snow was falling and we was the only ones around. It was a very special time for me and I hope it was for my Daughter as well.

On our return I decided to cross Traverse Creek and to go back to the parking lot via the Lake Trail. We went down to the creek bottom and walked awhile until we found a good tree to cross over the creek with. My Daughter when first and I reminded her to make sure she straddled the trunk and scooted across. The ice and snow on it make it too slick to try to walk over. She did very well and then I followed her over. The Lake Trail is a very easy trail and used to be a dirt road. We made good time and soon made it back to the van.

I told her to drive because it would give her good experience in the snow. The road through the park was covered and at first she didn't want to drive. I then coached her as she climbed the first hill and explained to her how to drive in snow and ice. She did very good. I'm really glad that she went with me.

After I dropped her off at work and my son finally made it home from his friends house I asked him if he wanted to and buy a parakeet for his mom. She had talked to my daughter a couple of times saying she would like to get a bird. She grew up with pet birds in her house and she like them more then cats and dogs. I called my daughter and ask her what color of bird would her mom like. She said green and begged me to come and get her so she could help pick it out. She received permission from her boss to leave for a little bit to go bird hunting.

We went to Pet Center in Robinson where they had a special going on. Buy a cage and get the bird for free. We looked for awhile and finally picked out two green ones, a fat one for my wife and a skinny active one for me. Because I bought the big cage for $49, I got the two birds for free. I quickly took them home and I've got to admit. I've kinda grown attached to them. The cat really loved them. He actually sleeps beside of the cage. He has never stopped looking for a way to get in. It reminds me of Sylvester and Tweedy. The first thing he used to do when we let him back into the house was to go to the food bowl. Now the first thing he does is check out the bird cage to see if an opening has appeared. Once he finds out that no new way in has developed, he goes to his feed bowl.

When my wife got home we had her close her eyes to surprise her. She was trilled to see the birds. My wife is very hard to buy for and I'm so glad that I managed to find something that she liked and for once she never mentioned taking her gift back. She didn't even say anything about the price. That's very unusual for my wife.

Work and Rain

Today I ran into work for the first time this year. The weather here is unbelievable. This morning it was 54 degrees with some rain. I enjoy running in the rain as long as it isn't cold. The only hurdle to overcome when running in rain is getting wet. Once you are wet then it doesn't matter anymore and you can then concentrate on your run. I dug out my trusted desert camo boonie hat which helped to keep my head dried but everything else was soaked. I covered the 9.5 miles in 1.24 which isn't too bad for me considering the rain and the hills.

I just hope that the rain is done by Sunday morning. I'm planning a long run up at RCSP and parts of it can be real muddy.

New Year

I'm back baby, I'm back. After a two week hiatus due to the Holidays and the remodeling of my basement, I'm back to running and it felt awesome.

I can sum this reinvigorating run up in thirteen words:

• Early Morning
• Six miles
• Trail
• 30 degrees
• Frost
• Shorts
• Full Moon
• Beautiful Sunrise

As a side note, I missed doing 1,000 miles last year by 30 miles. I could have finished them, but just never got around to it.

New Year and New Miles.

Chickens

Well I haven't been running since last Wednesday. I left to go home to my Dad and Mom's house on Thursday and they came back with us on Monday. I can't go during the day because I would fell guilty about not spending time with them but I can't get up early and go because my Dad gets up at 0500 - and me - to go out and get coffee. In Galax we go to Aunt Bee's where his friends are waiting. Here in Pittsburgh we go to the nearest McDonalds where he has also made friends. As much as I love running I wouldn't trade it for the hours that I spend with my Dad over a hot cup of coffee. Anyway I guess you are wondering about the Chickens Title. Well here's my story:

My wife and I was visiting my Aunt Mary and Uncle Benny on Friday the 23rd when she mentioned that she would have to go up to my Great Uncle Reece's to move his chickens. First a little background on my Uncle Reece. He is a 88 year old bachelor farmer who has lived alone for almost 40 years since my Great Grandmother died. Below is a photo of Uncle Reece and my mother.

During those years he raised tobacco, hogs, cattle, and bees. His house is way, way back in the woods. You come off of a small two lane highway onto a dirt road which you follow for about five miles before you turn off onto another dirt road for another 5 miles. You then turn up his driveway and if you don't have a four wheel drive with enough clearance then you walk a half mile to this house. Below is a photo of his house and farm near Sparta NC.

His house is an old farm house which hasn't been painted in years. He now has a refrigerator but up to about five years ago he used a spring house. He has running water which is gravity feed into the kitchen. He is now down with emphysema and doesn't get around as good as he used to. My Mom and her sisters goes up on a regular basis to visit and help him - hence the chickens.

While at my Aunts she said that something had scared Uncle's chickens out of their house and they had roosted onto his porch. He is unable to take them back so she said that Aunt Nancy and her would go up later and do it. I said that I would help if she would do it that night. It was agreed so I went home and got my Dad who went with us. We got up there with my Uncle's four wheel drive and got ready to grab the chickens. For those of you who don't know, chickens roost at night and are easy to catch then. You just reach up and grab them around both legs and stick them into a sack. We got nine off the porch and there was two more in the barn that we had to get. My Dad had to climb up a little to grab those two. It is unbelievable how load chickens can be when you grab them. Dad says you would be load too if someone grabbed you out of bed by your feet while you were sleeping and dumped you into a sack. I guess he has a point.

When I get a chance I'll post the video.

New Shoes

Last night I went to bed excited that tomorrow was supposed to be in the fifties and cloudy which is perfect running weather for running the trails at Racoon Creek State Park. The best part was that it is winter so there is no overgrowth of weeds or briers to run through and no annoying insects such as deer flies and sweat bees.

Another reason to be excited was that I had a new pair of trail shoes to try. The best trail shoes that I've ever had are New Balance 706. They are light with not much cushion so you feel like you are wearing moccasins. You can actually feel the trail and there is nothing like flying downhill on a single track trail, dodging rocks, roots, and low hanging tree branches. When I'm running like that I can plot out my feet placement four and five steps ahead.

Anyway, back to the shoes. My wife recently started running again after an hiatus of over one year. She is now up to three miles and wants to run the IKEA Half Marathon. Sometimes it is hard to convince inexperience runners the importance of a good quality, properly fitted running shoe and my wife is no exception. I finally kidnapped her and took her to our local running store (Elite Runners & Walkers) for a new pair shoes for Christmas. As the sales clerk was fitting her I wondered over to the trail shoes to see what was new. The New Balance 921's stood out and I started to question the sales clerk about them. It seems that they are made for winter running in snow and ice. The most noticeable thing about these shoes is that they have removable spikes for ice and snow (details about the shoe can be found here: NB 921. After trying them on and feeling how good they felt on my feet I had to get them, plus what better time to get new shoes since my wife was getting hers. I did upgrade the spikes from the plastic ones that came with it to steel ones.


I arrived at the parking lot by the lake at 0715 and after a quick stretch I started out. For some reason I felt kinda of tired and sluggish. My legs felt heavy and I was contemplating on just doing a half loop of ten miles. I figured that I would wait until I came to HWY 18 before I made my decision. That would be the point that I would either turn and make a half or keep going and do the whole 20. When I arrived there I decided to keep going, hoping that I would start to feel better. I'm glad that I did because right about the eight mile mark I started feeling better.

I ended up finishing with a PR of 3:47. I've never ran it faster then 4:15 before. I have no idea why I ran it faster today. I didn't feel as if I was running faster then I had before. The shoes may of help a little but definitely not enough to take off 30 minutes. Anyway the shoes performed outstanding. I didn't use the spikes because there was no need, plus they would have taken a beating on the rocks. Even without them the shoes had outstanding gripping ability. I ran them through mud, up and down steep hills, and over loose leaves, and not once did they slip. A couple of times I came up on mud covered by leaves and had to make a quick move to the side of the trail. They never failed to grip. I also tested them on wet logs, wet and moss covered rocks, and did not slip.

In review, these shoes are great for technical single track trails. As I said above the gripping ability of these shoes are outstanding. They also are water resistant but the one time that I got got them really wet, they had no trouble drying out quickly. In other words they did not hold water. They were also firm with very little role to them so my ankles felt find afterwards.

I would not; however, recommend them for road use and they would be a bit of over kill for a rails to trails type of trail unless it was covered with snow or frozen ice. It that case they would be perfect. All in all I am really happy with these shoes.

Decisions

I'm finally back from my injury. On Sunday I ran 14 miles at a pretty quick pace and felt no discomfort so I'm looking forward to a good year. Last night right after work I did a quick three with a friend of mine. It was a good run and we spent the time complaining about work. It's the best form of therapy. The weather was a warm 44 degrees and because I didn't have shorts I ran in my boxers. They turned out to be better then any running shorts that I own. I wish a company would come out with running boxers shorts. The freedom was awesome and it was probably the closest thing to running naked that you can get with out actually doing it.

My only problem is that I'm torn between two races. I'd really like to give the Laural Highlands 70 mile Trail Race a try. It is a small local race, plus it is single track trail which is my favorite. I'm also being drawn toward trying a 100 mile race. I'm looking at the Mohican 100 for a couple of reasons. Once is that it is close to Pittsburgh - compared to the others - and two I had a friend do it last year. I can't do both because they are within 1 week of each other. For enjoyment I'd rather do the LHTR but I really feel the need to test myself by doing a 100. For me, 100 miles is the Mount Everest of ultrarunning and I really can't consider myself a true ultrarunner until I crest that summit. The question is, do I do it this year or put it off another year? I really don't know. After writing this I think I've made my decision...I'm doing the LHTR. I think I would enjoy it more. The best thing about ultrarunning is competing with yourself and doing what you enjoy most, otherwise, why do it at all?

Old Movies

Today I really didn't want to get up and go running. It would have been really nice to just lay on the couch and watch TV. Sunday mornings is the best time for old movies and I love the old ones. Those were the days when you had to rely on story and not special effects and color. Too many movies today try to smother the audience with loud and over the top special effects to over shadow a poor story line. I love everything about old movies espicially those from the 40's and 50's. I like the way they dressed, the cars they drove, even the way they spoke.

Some of my favorites have H. Bongart in them. Two of the best one's are "They Drive By Night" , "High Sierra", and of course "The Cain Mutiny". I also like Frank Sinatra in "Suddenly" and one of my favorite movies, "From Here to Eternity

As to running, I finally dragged my lazy behind out the door and started my run. As usual I was glad that I did before I even made the first mile. It's just taking that first step out the door that's difficult. Instead of driving to the parking lot by the trail I decided to run there. It is just a tad over one mile from my house to mile marker 6. The only bad thing about running there is that there is a big hill at the very end on the way back. I ended up running to the mile marker six on the Montour Trail and then down to mile zero and back again which gave me 14 miles. I had originally planned on running a quick ten, but felt so good that I changed it to 14.

The temperature was in the mid thirties so I wore shorts with two long sleeve running shirts. It was cold at first but I warmed up by the first mile. It turned out to be a beautiful morning with very little cloud cover and wind. The run went well and I had no trouble with my knee. I ran it at a faster pace (nine minute) then I normally do for a long run. The only thing of note was that I passed a group of runners going in the opposite direction, obviously a running group.
I didn't know that there was any local running groups. I wonder who they were. I should have stopped and asked them. Next time I will.

Quite Time

I was supposed to run a long run today but my knee is still bothering me from Friday's run to work. I pretty sure it is my iliotibial band so I'm in rest mode right now to give it a chance to recover. Because I couldn't run, I had to find some other way to occupy my quite time. Quite time for me are the morning hours up to 10 o'clock on weekend when the wife and kids are still sleeping. I ended up watching a movie but during commercials I would get up and watch the birds feeding at my bird feeders.

Feeding and watching "my" birds is something I enjoying doing. Almost every morning I'll peek outside to see what birds are feeding. I've decided to list the types of birds that visited my backyard this morning.

I saw the following:

• Red Bellied Woodpecker
• Hairy Woodpecker
• Goldfinches
• Mourning Doves
• House Finches
• Northern Cardinals
• Robins
• White Breasted Nuthachs
• Black-capped Chickadees
• Tufted Titmouse

Sometimes I'll have Blue Jays but didn't see any today. I like all of them except for the doves. Those things don't know when to stop eating. I know that all animals need to eat, but I can hardly afford to feed them. Some mornings I'll have four or five eating from my feeder. I can fill up my feeder on Sunday and by Tuesday it's empty. Anyway the other birds makes it worth the cost.

I added a feeding sack filled with nyjer (thistle) seed which is supposed to be just for finches. Sure enough I had five Goldfinches trying to feed off of it at the same time. They loved it. The other birds took turns at the regular feeder filled with sunflower seeds. Even the Red-bellied Woodpecker would come down and take his turn. I think that he is the most beautiful of the bunch. He eats like the Chickadees. He'll come down, grab a seed, and fly away to a tree to eat it. I think I'll put out a cake of suet for him and see how he likes it. I'll let you know.

What to Wear

This morning I ran to work for the first time since the race. I got up early this morning but spent a lot of time debating on what to wear. The weather forecast was pretty bad. Winds in the 40 - 60 range, lots of rain, and a drastic drop in temperature - from 65 this morning to 35 this evening.

If I just wore a short sleeve shirt and shorts what would I do if it started raining or worse what will I wear on my run home this evening when the temperature dropped. I finally decided to go with the short sleeves and shorts and worry about this evening when it got here.

It was pretty a decent run but was nothing like Sunday's. I wore a new orange vest since most of my run would be in the dark and it kept slidding off my shoulder and I had to keep pulling it back up. This was very distracting. I think I will sew some washers to the bottom of it to keep it from blowing around. The weather turned out to be very nice, just a little wind and a few sprinkles of rain to keep me cool. The only problem was that I was more tired then normal. My legs felt like they were lead and the hills were more tougher then usual. I'm not sure if it was because I hadn't run that much recently or if it was because I didn't get a good night of rest. I need to kick the cat out of bed but just can't bring myself to do it. Anyway I made the 9.5 miles here in 1.23 or approximately an 8:44 pace. Not too bad - at least not for me anyway.

As I write this my left knee is a little stiff and has a little pain on the left side of it. I'll probably not run this weekend like I planned but give my knee some rest. Hopefully it's not the start of something serious. I've been very lucky this year with no injuries. Hopefullly my streak will continue into the next year

Learning to Drive and Cook

I finally made it home. While the conference was productive I really hate being away from home. The kids are growing so fast and I don't want to miss any of it. Right now the big thing in their life is learning to drive. My daughter is almost ready to test. She is a good driver but I just wished that she took it more serious. I get the impression from her that it's just a carnival ride and nothing can happen to her. Because I'm riding with her, I can make the corrections but what happens when she is by herself? My son is a better drive and takes it serious. He just needs some more practice and confidence. I'm hoping to be able to work with them this weekend - if my daughter can manage to stay home.

While my wife was working she asked me to cook something, so I did what I always do...I made something up. I went to Shop n Save and bought what ever looked good. I came home and cooked up some fettucini with some sun dried tomatoes, mushrooms, artichokes, and some Italian dressing. It turned out surprisingly good but I didn't think my wife would like it.
Turned out that not only did she like it but my son did too. I'd better be careful or she'll have me doing more of the cooking.

Atlanta

I haven't been able to run since my last post. I had to come to Atlanta for a training conference. I'm staying in a hotel with very limited places to run. Yesterday I did go down to the very small and I do mean very small fitness center. One treadmill was broke and the other was being used, so I did a workout that I've done in the past at other hotels - I ran the stairs. Luckily this hotel has eight stories. I've ran in some that only had four. Anyway I ran up and down the stairs 10 times, skipping every other step. Amazingly this morning my calves are a little sore. I must of had a decent workout because I don't get sore very often. I'm looking forward to getting back home and back to my fitness routine. I'm thinking about running to work tomorrow. This will be the first time I've ran to work since the MMTR 50. I've had enough of recovery and can't take no more.

Sometimes Running is Magical

Today I had a wonderful run at RCSP. Unfortunately it will probably be my last run there for awhile. Tomorrow is the first day of gun season for deer and I sure don't want to get mistaken for large two legged deer. Even today I ran with an orange vest just to make sure. As someone who grew up hunting and being around hunters I know that not all hunters read and understand game laws.

Today the air was cool and crisp and the sunrise was awesome. It felt so good to be out there that at times I felt as if was flying. As I get older, runs like today are far and few in between and must be cherished as something special. This is what keeps me getting up at 0500 and running in all kinds of weather, waiting for that exceptional run where everything comes together. It was an interesting contrast this one - http://cakmakli.blogspot.com/2006/09/sometimes-running-sucks.html

I ran the 9.5 Eastern Trail Loop. I started at the lake where I parked and ran down the road to the Heritage Trailhead. This I followed until it came out on HWY 18. As I crossed the road to the parking lot to Mineral Springs, a hiker was getting out of his car asked me if there was hunting today. I told him not today but you can't be too careful. I then ran up a trail that follows HWY 18 to the Park Ranger Office. I then went up the road a little to catch the Forrest Trail. This trail has a couple of steep climbs where it crosses two ridges. I met a lady with an over friendly dog. It was a big white dog that acted like it didn't get out very much. It was enjoying the day as much as I was. At the end of the run I spent about 10 - 15 minutes stretching on the boat dock. The lake was peaceful and beautiful with just a little bit of fog. It was the perfect end to a perfect run.

Thanksgiving

Today we had our Thanksgiving Dinner or at least our version of it. Because it was just us four this year, we decided not to have a turkey. The kids don't really like it and I'm the one that gets stuck eating left over turkey for the next couple of weeks. This year we had our own special dinner. My wife baked a chicken and we had gravy, biscuits, corn, baked potatoes, baked sweet potatoes, banana pudding and pumpkin pie. It was more then enough for just the four of us. I really enjoyed having everyone sit down at our dining room table. We never use the table for anything other then to put stuff on it that we don't know where else to put it. I'm going to try to get everyone to sit down together more often.

I often wonder how many more days we will all have together. The kids are almost grown and will soon more away. It will be hard not having them around to make noise and create chaos. Regardless of how much I yell and complain it is better then the quite and loneliness of an empty house.

Golden Moments

I back to running now. I had wanted to do a long run yesterday but for one reason or another I didn't get a chance to get out of the house until 1715. I then had to be back by 1745 because my daughter had to be at work and she can't drive - that's another post that I'll save for later. Anyway, I figured that I would knock out a quick three and call it a day. I ran from the house, through the housing area, and down to the trail where I planned on running from the six mile marker to the seven and back. I ran it pretty hard and decided to turn the run into a tempo run. It was dark by the time I returned and when I looked at my watch I was shocked to see a time of 33 minutes. I knew that I had ran faster then 10 minutes miles. I then quickly recaculated the run in my head and figured out that I had in fact ran four miles, not three. I can definitely live with that.

Today my daugher and I went to Racoon Creek State Park http://www.friendsofraccoon.com/. We went hiking on the Lake Trail and had a very good time. The weather was good and we had some good conversations. I really enjoy the one on one time with my daughter. It give me a chance to see where she is coming from and to hear about some of the issues that are important to her. A lot of times when we argue it is because both of us are headstrong and don't want to hear what the other has to say. When we are alone we have serious conversations and actually listen to each other. These are golden moments that I wished we had more of. Now if I could just get my son to talk.

P.S. After going out to the park, I can't wait to go running out there again. I'll definately be there next weekend.

Recovery and Plans for Next Year

Well, the pain of the MMTR 50 miler is a thing of the past and I'm starting to look forward to planning some races next year. I've looked over quite a few races but three that I think I'll definately do is Laural Highlands 70, the Catoctin 50K, and the Iron Mountain 50 miler in Damascus VA.

I've been wanting to do the Laural Highland 70 for a long time. I'm just now at the point that I feel like I'm physical capable of finishing. I just have to maintain what I have now, and start increasing mileage around February. The Catoctin 50K was such a blast last year, that I can not imagine not doing it again. Plus I really enjoyed visiting with my old Army buddy Paul. I'd like to do the Iron Mountain in Damascus because it is very close to my hometown of Galax. I really can't wait to start planning for them.

I'm not really sure how soon to get back into running. I ran a little on Sunday with my wife and I ran three today on a treadmill. I really don't want to start out to soon, but I'm going crazy by not running. I think by next week I'll be at least cycling to work and hopefully by the next week I'll start running in one day a week. That should be enought time to recover since I'm not sore at all and I'm feeling real good.

Youth

Today was my son's birthday party. He actually turned 16 on November the 1^st, but today was the party. He invited six friends with whom he plays soccer. My wife had to work until six so I had to take care of them until then. Man, what a job it turned out to be.

One friend brought over his X-Box, so together they had two X-Boxes hooked up together. This kept them occupied for awhile, but then one of them suggested that they go outside and play football. That would have been a great idea – anything to get them out of the house – but today is was raining. I really did not expect that they would do it, but I guess I forgot what it was like to be young and dumb.

It was about this time that my daughter called to pick her up at school. I rushed over to get her. I found out that I would also have to take her friend home as well. By the time we got home, the boys were gone and they stayed gone until well after dark. I was upstairs on the computer when I heard the door bell ring. I went downstairs and they were. Six boys covered in mud and I mean covered. They looked as if they had rolled around it a mud puddle.

I told them that they could not come in but had to go through the garage. I met them at the inside door and told them to strip all of their clothes into one pile. I then took them – two at a time – upstairs to the two showers. I rushed them through and then took two more, until they were all cleaned. I put all of the clothes into the washer – it would eventually take two washes. The good thing was that most of them used my son's old clothes to play in so they had clean clothes to put back on. The rest sat around, wrapped in towels until their own clothes were clean.

It would be nice to once again have the carefree attitude of youth. It amazes me how as you get older, not only do you change physically but mentally as well. Can you imagine sitting around the office on a slow day and just out of the blue, say, "Let's go out in the rain and mud and play football." You'd probably be out there throwing the football to yourself. Where do we lose it and how do we lose it, because we all had it at one time or another.

I remember playing with my friends and I couldn't understand why the adults didn't want to play. They just wanted to sit and talk. I mean, who wouldn't want to play if you had the chance. Now I'm the adult and I just want to sit and talk. I never thought that I would be here, but here I am.

Mountain Masochist 50 Mile Trail Race

Well, it's finally over. Despite of my worries and doubts, it went better then expected.

At first the only thing that went well, was that my daughter decided to go with me. She's been with me on all of my ultras and I consider her good luck. Before I traveled to my parents house in Galax Va on Thursday. I had to drop my daughter off at Beauty School. As I pulled up to let her out, I told her that I'll miss her and that I would see her next Tuesday. She said, "Where are you going?" When I told her I was going to my race she asked to come with me and I thought, "Why not?".

It was a real joy having her with me. She kept me good company on the six hour drive and before I knew it, I was pulling into my parents house. We played a trick on my mother by having my daughter wait in the van for five minutes after I went in. My mom wasn't expecting anyone other then me so she was really shocked with my daughter ran the bell.

Friday morning around 1000 we - to include my father and mother - pulled out toward Lynchburg. It is about a three hour trip from Galax but we decided to travel to some points on the race so that I could get a feel for the course. We left I-81 and traveled through Buchanan to the Blue Ridge Parkway. It took awhile to travel to the James River Visitor Center where the race will begin early the next morning. It was really rough on my daughter. The curvey and hilly roads made her car sick and turned her into a nag. She didn't really appreciate the beautiful scenery and what scenery it was. The colorful leaves had yet to fall and the scenic overlooks were amazing. I just wished that I had taken some photos.

We finally arrived at James River and scouted a little. We then drove to the halfway point where they would be meeting me. We found the pull off and then timed and marked the route to Madison Heights where we were staying. After arriving at Madison Heights we had some problems finding the motel. Unfortunately this would not be the last of our inability to find places we needed to go.

The motel wasn't up to my daughters standards and I had to listen to her complain for awhile. You would have thought that I was making her sleep in a barn or something. She also didn't want me to sleep on the floor. There were four of us and only one bed. My mom and daughter ended up sleeping in the bed and my dad and I slept on the floor.

At about 1730 we started to drive to the Heritage Valley High School where the prerace dinner was being held as well as the packet pick-up. According to Google Maps it was only a five minute trip. Well stupid me took Business 501 instead of just 501 and we ended up driving around for over an hour trying to find this H.S. Even after finding the HS we still had problems find were we entered at. We walked around almost the whole school before we saw some people leaving with bags in their hands. We also picked up someone else who was lost. As a result we were late so I just picked up my bag and then we went to Country Cooking for dinner. It turned out to be a very good decision. The food was great and we had a good time.

I finally laid down to sleep at aroung 1130 after laying everything out for the next morning. I had just went to sleep with the alarm went off at 0245 - time to get up. My father and I got up, got ready and pulled out at 0315 - I wanted to make sure I would have enough time if we got lost. The best thing about getting lost yesterday was that it kept us from getting lost this morning. We found it very easily and I got on the bus with my drop bag. My father left to return to the motel. They would meet me later on around 1030 at AS 10.

I spent the ride to the starting point wondering what to wear and when could I take a piss. The tempature was in the low 20's. I knew it would warm up a little but I didn't know how much. I finally decided to just wear shorts, an undershirt, and two long sleeve shirts. I quickly changed my mind when I got off the bus and stood in line with others at the portapotty. It was cold. I returned to the bus and put on long tights and added a light jacket. At about 0520 everyone started to filter off the bus to the start line. I got toward the back where I belonged and anxiously waited for the start while the National Athem was sung. I never did hear anyone say go, the crowd just started to move forward.

As we started moving, I ran at a pace that I thought was slow enough to get me through for the next 50 miles. I tagged along behind a runner (Roy) who looked as if he had run this before and knew what he was doing. I was able to catch conversation between him another runner that confirmed this. Little did I know that I would be passing and being passed by Roy numerous times throughout the day.

It was dark as we headed up the parkway toward the turn around point. I had purchased a flashlight the day before but had left it in my drop bag. I figured that there would be enough light from the other runners, plus by the time we got to the trail it would be daylight. It wasn’t long before the lead runners were returning back down the parkway. It is amazing to see how fast there were moving and that they could continue that pace the rest of the race.

As I reached the turn around point and headed back, I was already wishing that I had left my tights and jacket in my drop bag. I was starting to warm up and I actually enjoy running in shorts in cool weather. As I passed the starting point I contemplated running by the bus and dropping off the jacket and the tights. I decided not to because I didn’t want to waste any time, not did I want to lose sight of my unofficial pacer – Roy. We quickly reached the bridge that went over HWY 501. You could see the lights of the runners ahead as there were going up the hill of the highway. I passed AS 1 without stopping. My water bottle was still full and there was no need to stop after only 3.3 miles, plus the next AS was just 2.5 miles away.

The run on the HWY was the start of the first hill. I walked it to the top and was passed by Roy who had a very fast pace when walking. The hill is short one and you quickly come up to the top. The down hill is pretty steep and this is where I run best. For some reason I’m able to just lean forward and let it go. I quickly pass Roy and others on my way down. This would be a recurring scene throughout the next 10 hours.

After passing AS 2, the route takes to the trails. The start is a foot path that goes up hill. It was at this point, 6 miles into the race that I came to the realization that I was going to finish this race and under the cut-off time. For some reason all doubt was erased from my mind and it never came back. From this point forward, I knew that I would finish.

I quickly went into a routine of running from AS to AS. This is easy to do, because they are all 2 – 4 miles apart. As I approached an AS, I would grab whatever looked good. I mostly ate bananas, brownies, and quarter pieces of PB&J sandwiches. I would also fill my water bottle about every other AS. I tried to take a gel pack about every hour and right before I reached an AS. I would also take a SUCEED tablet about every 2 -3 hours. This is what sustained me throughout the race.

It was on a hill somewhere between AS 5 and 6 that I discovered something that helped my time and will assist me on future ultras. I’m usually slow on hills and my calves get very tired. As I was being passed by Roy on a steep uphill, I tired to run a little to keep up and I discovered that the tiredness in my calves went away. After that, I started a routine of walking 25 steps – counting one every time my left foot hit the ground – and running 25 steps. This alternating would use different muscles and give rest to the ones that I was using before. I also noticed that by doing so I was passing a lot of runners who were only walking. I ended up running everything but the hills and then walking/running those. This worked out great and I look forward to testing it at the next ultra.

Another thing I learned was that I didn’t need my camelback and that I could get by with just a hand held bottle. I had run with my bottle before but only during short training runs of 10 to 15 miles. I didn’t feel comfortable carrying it. This time I didn’t have a choice because I had left my camelback at Mom and Dad’s house. I noticed that during the race I forgot I was carrying it and it wasn’t a problem at all. I’m glad that I found this out, so now I have another option for water, depended upon the weather and the distance between AS’s. I’m pretty sure that if the weather isn’t too hot and the AS’s are no more then 4 – 5 miles apart then I’ll carry my bottle.

After meeting my family at AS 10 which is the halfway point, I decided to keep the running shoes that I was using instead of changing into my trail shoes. I found out that my feet has swollen and that the trail shoes were a little too tight. Also, the running shoes that I was using had been working pretty well on the jeep trails. On the single track trails, they were causing a little trouble because there were slipping on the leaves. Other then that, they worked great. I also grabbed a resupply of Power Gels. This time I supplied myself with the ones with caffeine and double caffeine. I used the ones without caffeine on the first half of the race.

I quickly told my parent bye and kissed my daughter. I headed up the infamous Buck Mountain. This was a long climb of 2 – 3 miles. I passed a lot of people climbing up the mountain by using my walk/run technique. Close to the top I could hear the Rocky Theme playing at AS 11. It made my mouth water, because I knew that they had hot soup there. I pulled into the AS 11, grabbed a cup of soup and took off back down the other side. I now knew that I only had to make it to the “Loop”. The loop is 5 miles of single trail. I was looking forward to it, because I had read in the various race reports, that once you completed the loop the rest was in the bag.

The loop was tougher then I expected. It came at 34 miles and it seemed to go uphill forever. The rocks on the trail weren’t a factor because I had trained on the trails at Raccoon Creek State Park. It just took awhile to get to the top and my shoes were slipping on the leaves. After reaching the top, then it went sharply down hill. This is where my photo was taken. Going downhill was starting to hurt. My feet were slipping in my shoes and my big toes were taking a beating. I’m pretty sure I will lose a couple of nails.

I quickly reached AS 15 at mile 43 and was told that it would be approximately 5.5 miles to the next and last AS. This was a single tract trail which included some altitude gain. Roy and I ran together for a ways, but he wasn’t feeling good and said he needed some food. I asked him if he needed some gel and he said that he had some. I left him and continue on. I passed a couple more runners on this part and then reached the last AS.

Here I was told that it was only 3 miles to the end and it was all downhill. It was, I believe a little farther then 3 miles and may have been one of the places that Dr. Horton squeezed in some extra mileage. I know that from AS 15 to 16 there is some extra mileage, as confirmed by an AS worker.

It was, in fact, all down hill just like they said. My toes were hurting but I pushed it hard. I was hopping to break 10:30. I was pouring it on and kept looking for the “1 MILE” sign. I finally saw the sign and came out on the highway. I was pushing as hard as I could and could see the store at the end. I was wondering if the finish was on the left side of the road or the right. I could see people on both sides. As I approached the store I saw the Finish line on the left. I pulled into it and crossed at 10:30.06 and ended up placing 101 out of 232 finishers. I was greeted by Dr. Horton who asked if this was my first ultra. I was tired and excited and replied yes – I thought he has asked if this was my first MMTR. He started yelling to everyone that this was my first one. I didn’t want to correct him there but would return later to set the record straight. He gave me a running belt that held a water bottle, with MMTR 50 miler Finisher on it. We took some photos of me and family under the finish banner and then I was ready to head for home.

Now after the soreness is gone, I’m planning my next one. I believe that I’ll give the Laurel Highland 70 miles race a try.

Upcoming Race

I can't believe that the race that I've waited all year for is fast approaching. I'm getting rather aprehensive. I'm starting to second guess myself. Did I run enough mileage, did I have enough long runs, or am I mentally prepared for this race? I've also been reading a lot of race reports, trying to get some intelligence as to how the race is conducted or what does the terrain consists of. In reading these reports, I'm shocked to learn that this race is considered one of the tougher 50 milers. It is estimated to be 54 miles and has strick cut-off times at the Aid Stations, with a 12 hour time limit overall. When I did the JFK 50 miler, it took me 10:20. That race had 26 miles of easy trail with 8 miles on asphalt. The MMTR is all on trail with some single trail thrown in for good measure. I guess that I'll just have to man-up and get myself ready mentally. Hopefully that can overcome the physical part of it. We'll see

Army Ten Miler

Today I ran the Army Ten Miler for the second time. The first time I ran it was in 2000. This time it was easier and my knees didn't hurt like last time. I also dropped nine minuets from my time. I ran it in 1:14.43, a pace of 7:28 per mile, and placed 1584 out of 15,645 finishers. I also ran in a team this time. I ran with a MAJ and 1LT with SJA and another MAJ.

I hadn't planned on running this race, but I was talked into it I'm really glad that I did now. It turned out to be alot of fun. I had planned to just take my time and finish feeling pretty good. I was just wanting to break 1:20. But as it usually turns out, my competative side took over.

At the first mile marker I noted a time of 8:04. Each suceeding mile after that wa around 7:45. I then realized that I might have a chance of breaking 1:15, espically after I hit the eight mile marker at 1:00.17. I then picked up the pace for the last two miles and really pushed it - for me anyway. My last two miles turned out to average 7:20. I ended up coming end 1st in my team and my team finished 7 out of 12 Male Reserve Teams. Not a bad showing for a team that never really trained together.