LiveStrong Maine

My 2009 Massanutten Mountain Trails 100

2009-08-26T00:15:00.009-04:00

Author's note: I was recently asked what I think about while I run for 24+ hours. After quite a few minutes of deep deliberation I concluded that I really think about nothing at all. This revelation was quite shocking and somewhat depressing; how can I spend that many hours thinking of nothing. I truly believe that success in these races is achieved by cutting off most conscious thought that is not related to managing one's body: how is my breathing, what is that pain in my knee, when did I last eat or drink, is is time for another salt tablet, when is this thing going to end...no, strike that last thought as that is the type of conscious thought that will derail the best run race. Having said that, I must warn the reader that because I am not thinking much while on the course, I have a really hard time remembering exactly where I was at what times during most of the Massanutten Mountain Trails 100 that I ran on May 16th and 17th of 2009. I do remember experiences, feelings, and strategy. These I can share with you comfortably, but when it comes to the details, I ask for your forgiveness now.

So to begin, let me make one thing abundantly clear: Massanutten is hard. Of this make no doubt. It is rocky, rooty, rutted, rugged. Nasty. But with plenty of great views. And rattlesnakes. And on the day(s) I ran it, plenty rainy.

On to the details. This 100-miler was different in two very important ways from my two previous 100-milers. One, my wife and kids were missing from the cheering section having decided to stay home, and two, I was nervous. The first anomaly was understandable and tangible. While this did not make it okay, I could handle it. The second anomaly, or the nervousness, was much more destructive.

The nerves started weeks before the gun went off at 5 AM on May 16th, race day. The typical questions entered my mind, such as did I get in enough miles, did the difficulty I experienced on a number of training runs mean I was going to suffer on race day, and generally was I ready. Not helping matters was the cold and subsequent sinus infection I acquired a few weeks before race day that resulted in me bagging one of my longer training runs, a Boston Marathon double. And these nerves persisted to race day.

Not once have I lined up for a race wondering if I had what it took to finish. This terribly negative question was swimming through my thoughts early that Saturday morning as I stood around waiting for the annual Massanutten Mountain Trails pronouncement that started the race: "Get out of here!" Once I heard those words, all was okay with the world. The butterflies that had been dogging me for weeks were but mere memories. I was running now, doing one of the most simple things known to us bipeds. One foot in front of the other for no other reason but to have fun.

The Company:

As I am a Virginian, born and raised in Mechanicsville, VA, I felt this race was much of a homecoming of sorts for me. Also, I spent four years at Virginia Tech, deep in the mountains of southwestern VA, so I felt an extremely strong kinship with this race. Making this even more of a reunion was the fact that both my brothers, Chris and Jason, and my father joined me as my crew. None of them had ever witnessed anything like a 100-miler (unless you include Ironman Triathlons in the same class as a 100-miler, which I don't), so this was quite an experience for them. Also joining me was my most excellent buddy, Jamie Anderson, as crew chief and pacer. Jamie joined me at mile 65 at Gap Creek II aid station and spent the next 12 hours with me. The hours with Jamie were both the best and worst of times. Luckily the worse came first and we finished with a big bang.

The Conditions:

The day started as I would have expected from a late spring day in Virginia: humid. When the sun rose the day turned humid and hot. While I am not exactly sure of the temps, around mid-day I would guess it got up into the mid-80s in the sun. The heat forced me to stop at each and every stream crossing for a nearly full body dowsing.

Around 2 PM in the afternoon I felt a nice breeze whip up and noticed the darkening clouds forming over the mountains to my west. As I was exposed on a mountain ridge, I got a little worried about the electricity those clouds were surely to carry so I picked up the pace a bit. But it wasn't enough; the storm caught me as I was still exposed and the clouds let loose violently. Within minutes I was soaked to the bone and cold. Within a matter of ten minutes I went from melting to near hypothermic. There have not been many times in my life that I have felt such a quick shift in my body's thermal capacity. I became even more worried at this time and hurried to the next aid station which luckily had crew access and I was able to add some layers. From that point on the weather alternated between sun and heat to intense rain. There was so much rain in this storm, which did not let up until near 2 AM on Sunday morning, that dry creek beds were turned into raging rapids.

Near mile 60 another thunderstorm let loose as I was climbing one of these "dry creek beds turned into class V rapid" as lightning crashed all around me. I literally felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up at one of these strikes (generally not a good sign, especially if standing in a bunch of water). It was this point in the race that I started thinking that I might make this year's Darwin Awards ("runner struck dead by lightning as he played in a puddle of water during a thunderstorm"). This was another point in the race where I felt my core body temp plummet as I was once more drenched. Luckily I was running with another runner at this time who shared the trash bag he had intelligently picked up at the last aid station. Later in the race I picked up my own trash bag and wore it for good long while through the night. Never will I embark on a long run again without some form of rain cover.

After the storm moved on in the early morning the rest of the race was spectacular. That is with the exception of the incredibly slick conditions the rain had created on the six hundred million rocks that litter this course. The rain, coupled with the lichen that canvassed the rocks, made for many a stumped toe and stumble. It was the culmination of many of these slips that forced me in the middle of the night to sit down and declare that I was "done". My toes had taken such a beaten from every slide into the next rock that they wanted no more pain. This moment lasted all of 30 seconds, and from that point on (around mile 80) I probably ran the best pace I had all day. I chalk this up to the shame I felt at momentarily "quitting" in front of my buddy, Jamie.

The Course:
Without rehashing what is already printed on the MMT website, I will say this course goes up and down a lot. There are many mind boggling ups, downs, and all-arounds. The one brilliant thing about the MMT course is that there are very few climbs which do not reward the runner with spectacular views. Right out of the gate you spend a couple miles on a paved road, but it is dark and the asphalt is unnoticeable. By the time you finish the first ascent, I think it is called Buzzard Rock, the sun is rising over the Shenandoah Valley, and if there is anyone out there that doubts the existence of some kind of God need only see the sun rise over the Shenandoah Mountains of VA . On race day morning we were blessed with a beautiful layer of clouds that hung just over the valley, right below the mountain peaks. The sun was just glowing off the clouds. Of note was the view of a cool looking fish hatchery from this spot.

The first aid station is at the first of many of the mountain gaps this course trespasses: Shawl Gap. In any race the first view of a runner's cr

ew is a very uplifting experience. Jamie did not disappoint and greeted me before I ever

reached the aid station. My dad and brothers were in aid station and I was happy to see that they all seemed to be excited to be there. At the next gap, Veach Gap, the aid station crew there had taken the time to fix the runner's pancakes and sausage - a breakfast fit for any ultrarunner. There were a couple great aid station surprises during this race, including "take-away" bags for filling with food to carry between aid stations that were separated by particularly long and tough trails and most memorable was the sloppy joe station that I hit sometime around 1 AM. I never thought a sloppy joe could taste that scrumptious and be such a motivator. I credit this sandwich for the remarkable burst of energy I had over the last twenty miles of the race.

There are a few particularly rough spots on the course that I would be remiss if I failed to mention them. The first is Habron Gap at mile 22.4. Preceding this aid station is one of the rare stretches of dirt road that is extremely runnable. While I am not exactly sure how long this stretch is, I would guess it is near 4 miles. I entered the aid station feeling really good, only to be warned that while the stretch to the aid station measured only 11 miles it felt like close to twice that distance. So I filled up at the station in addition to filling a couple goody bags with grapes to munch on during the nasty, sun-drenched ascent that awaited me. The climb was long and dry, and I ended up having to ration my water a bit having emptied nearly both my handheld water bottles climbing to the summit.

Another rough spot for me was the Bird Knob. This is part of a lollipop loop at the southern end of the course. This section of the course goes up, and up, and up some more, and then forces you to scramble over some boulders, and then goes up some more to one of the more spectacular views on the course. I even took the time to enjoy the view, while voiding my bladder. It was during this part of the course that I was dealing with one of my lowest points of the race. I was having a hard time wanting to eat anything as my stomach was very unhappy with me. I did as I always do in these cases and kept hydrating, eating what I could, and just waiting out the low point in the knowledge that a high always follows. The descent of Bird Knob is as challenging as the ascent, especially with quads that have already endured 55 or so miles of pounding. I am a fairly competent downhill runner so I enjoyed the descent but my quads were hurting when I finally got down.

The last point of the race that left a mark on me was the run into the Elizabeth Furnace aid station at mile 96.8 and the climb out of that aid station. This aid station is entered and exited via a series of long - correction - very long, switchbacks. These things felt like they went on forever. Both of these sections (into and out of) are between 5-7 miles but they might as well be 20. Most notable is the last climb. At mile 97 you leave Elizabeth Furnace and climb. Forever. The climb is steep and switchbacks all over the place. If this point in the race wasn't so close (it is actually 5 miles from the finish as the MMT 100 is really 101.8 miles), it would probably crush many runners. On the flip side, the descent is fast!

The Critters:

The mountains of Virginia are full of very cool critters. There were a couple that decided to pay me a visit during my run in their home territory. First up was the ornery timber rattlesnake. I saw this guy around 1 PM, shortly before the storms. He had decided to sun himself in the middle of the trail, although I am guessing he was forced out there by the 30-40 runners that were in front of me at this point. He was quite pissed. I decided I would try to save the runners behind me from a potential snake bite many miles from help by tossing a rock at the snake to "force" him off the trail. Well, he wasn't going anywhere but at me. As the rock landed near him he rattled and struck. Now I have seen these things rattle in cages before (I have actually shared a rock unknowingly with one on a hot summer hike in Douthat State Park in VA many years ago), but I have never had one rattle and strike at me with no glass in between us. Needless to say this helped my pace a bit. To my credit, I did stand there until the next runner caught me so I could warn them of the snake. Good deed for the day done.

The next wildlife experience was courtesy of a curious whip-poor-will (take a listen to the sample call in the link). The call of the whip-poor-will can be heard all night, and is quite the treat. Despite the fact that according to Native American legend the bird's call is death omen (not a good thing to remember during a 100-mile foot race), it is quite a beautiful call. Many descriptions of these birds mention that as nocturnal animals they are infrequently seen. Apparently no one told the whip-poor-will that befriended me and Jamie on the stone steps as Jamie and I were nearing Elizabeth Furnace. Dawn was approaching but we still had our headlamps on as we were climbing and my light caught the eyes of this little guy and the reflection startled me (I was jumpy all day and night after my rattlesnake encounter). After hearing the calls of these birds all night, it was quite cool to see one. He was sitting on a step right in the middle of the trail and let me get nearly close enough to touch him. He then flitted away and as we climbed a few more steps there he was again. So we got two close sightings of this very cool bird.

The Conclusion:

Massanutten was hard. But that is what made the accomplishment of completing the race that much sweeter. My finish time of 26:29 was over 6 hours longer than my best 100-miler (my first, the 2007 VT 100, which I finished in 20:27). I saw two sunrises and suffered countless bumps and bruises. I lost one toenail and a little pride when I sat down to "quit" in the middle of the night. But this race was one of the grandest events of my relatively short running career. The last 20 miles was spectacular. In the middle of the night I came out of one of my lowest lows and entered one of my highest highs (I once more must credit the Edinburg Gap aid station - I think - for the sloppy joe that had to have been laced with some kind of "speed") and for the last 20 miles ran gleefully past over a dozen runners to finish in a very respectable 15th place. While I did not accomplish my "A" goal of finishing in under 24 hours to receive a silver belt buckle, I did qualify for the pewter buckle and left myself with a goal for my next MMT 100!

I had a great crew. The act of crewing is extremely selfless and without any formal recognition (read: No belt buckles.) The crew is required to stay motivated and awake for the same amount of time as the runner without the benefit of the adrenaline rush of racing. And most importantly, they are not granted the luxury of complaining as the runner is when he comes into a aid station all grumpy and sore. The crew must maintain a good attitude and outlook the entire time lest they bring the runner down. So thank you to my father, brothers Chris and Jason, and my adopted brother Jamie!

Countdown to Vermont

2009-07-06T21:16:00.002-04:00

More than one month ago I promised a more complete race report for the Massanutten Mountain Trails 100 shortly. Well, this has yet to happen. I am still trying to compile my thoughts (which I am loosing almost as quickly as I am gathering), but I do promise to compose a race report...at some point. The issue I am running into is that my next 100 is next Saturday (!) after which I will be expected to write a race report for that race...

Next Saturday is the running of my third straight Vermont 100. The course is beautiful and very runnable. My times on this course are around 20:20 in 2007 and 21:20 last year. Last year the weather was hot and humid and I was not in the greatest shape. This year I have addressed most of the issues I had last year and feel much stronger. My A+ goal is to break 20 hours. B goal is to PR and C goal is, as always, just to finish.

After the Massanutten 100 on May 16, my training slowed down dramatically and I went into an extended recovery. This was not out of any desire or plan of mine but rather because I just didn't want to train. My motivation and energy were rock bottom. It was only until about two weeks ago (right before heading off to California to pace Jamie in the WS 100) that I felt completely recovered. It was a remarkably abrupt change; one day it was a struggle to get out the door to run and the next I felt as strong as I had all season. I now feel ready for Vermont and I am happy for it given that it is quickly approaching.

Since Massanutten I have done a few long runs in the 2-3 hour range and this past weekend I did an early morning 4-hour run on the trails at Pineland. I would really have liked to log some more long runs but I just didn't feel like it. Forcing oneself to do too much is a sure way to end up on the bench on race day. At any rate, I feel strong and confident about my chances of PRing in Vermont.

Looking beyond Vermont, I really want to go for a third 100-miler this year. Given vacation and financial restrictions, my choices are limited to east coast races (you guys out West are wealthy with races!), including the Iroquois 100 in New York and the Grindstone 100 in Virginia. Any suggestions would be helpful, and if anyone is interested in pacing/crewing, let me know. Now I am off to work on my MMT 100 race report!

Interim Massanutten Mountain Trails 100 Race Report

2009-05-31T20:30:00.002-04:00

My pacer, Jamie Anderson, has threatened me with bodily harm if I do not post my race report from the Massanutten Mountain Trails 100 in something less than the three months it usually takes me to get these things done. So here goes...

The race was held on May 16th. I climbed a mountain and then many more that felt just like it. It was blistering hot and then chillingly cold. I went from near heat stroke to near hypothermia during the first thunderstorm of the day. I almost stepped on a rattlesnake who introduced himself with a robust rattle. I witnessed and almost touched my first whip-poor-will. And I finished in 15th place with a time of 26:29:17, right after seeing my second sunrise of the race.

I hope this will satisfy my buddy Jamie until I have the time to properly craft a race report that you, my readers, will find worth your time. Until then, keep running.

Tough time at Pineland and the Camden Hills

2009-05-04T21:38:00.008-04:00

The antibiotic treatment I was on after Boston took its toll. It wasn't until this past weekend, almost two weeks after Boston, that I started feeling like myself again.

The Saturday following Boston was my planned long run for the Massanutten Mountain Trails 100 (on for next Saturday) - the apex of my training and the doorway to taper. The day started rough as I missed my alarm and awoke an hour later to a call from Jamie wondering where I was. Dohhh. While I consoled myself with the rationale that I needed the rest to get better, I was still frustrated knowing that today's run was all or nothing. After that I was in the inner sanctum of taper and there was no violating the rest rule.

I arrived at Pineland at 20 minutes to 6 AM and headed out for a short jaunt before returning after a couple miles to join up with my buddy, Jim G. We ran for an hour and half before coming upon Jamie and his neighbor and friend, Kate. After running with them for a short bit, we arrived back at the YMCA parking lot to meet up with the rest of the Trail Monsters.

My plan all along was to start at 4 AM and run until noon, regardless of the miles I got in. I was estimating I could get in 50 miles in this time, which is typically the max distance I run in preparation for a100-miler. Well, I started shortly before 6 AM and had promised Kelly I would be done at noon, so 50 miles was not in the cards. This was all the better as I started to feel terrible around 11 AM and the last hour of the run was terribly difficult (good training for the last hour of the 100...). I did not come out of this run with any confidence. In fact, it may have even shattered any hopes I had of doing really well at Massanutten. Now, that is not to say I am not going to attempt to do well. I just know that my training did not go according to plan, starting with my failure at Boston, and continuing on to my inability to go long at Pineland the following weekend. The only solace I take is that I gave Boston my all and then five days later I was able to run 32 miles in 6 hours on very tired legs and week dose of antibiotics. That has to count for something!

The week following the Pineland "long" run found my training back to normal. I was able to run daily and hit my morning workout class for each of the three days it was offered. On Saturday I met Jim G. again out at Pineland at 6 AM and we got in a couple hours of running on the most perfectly idyllic spring morning. We got in about 13 miles at a pretty even and good pace, and I started to feel better. I had finished my antibiotics the day before and I was starting to feel like my old self again. After Kelly met me at 8 AM at Pineland for her run and to hand the kids off to me, I headed home to pack for our trip up to Camden (the pictures included in this post is from this trip).

Last week the Trail Monsters had suggested a run through the Camden Hills. I started formulating plan that would enable me to do this run, somewhat as vindication for the poor training over the prior two weeks. By Friday my plan was cemented and included Kelly and I dropping the kids off with my most gracious and helpful father-in-law, Phil, and his lovely partner, Thea (Boo Boo). After the drop off Kelly I headed up to Camden and took a room at the Camden Windward House B&B in downtown Camden (we would recommend it). We spent a great afternoon shopping around Camden (where amongst other things we found a very excellent Van Gogh action figure for Jamie's 29th birthday) and had a great dinner on the water. A bottle of wine helped us to an early retirement and an equally early placement at the breakfast table on Sunday morning.

After breakfast and finishing John Parker's legendary running novel, "Once a Runner", Kelly and I made the quarter mile trip up the Mt. Battie trailhead to meet the Trail Monsters. Joining us for the run was Jeff "Professor" Walker, Ian "Giant" Parlin, Floyd "Robot" Lavery, Jim "The Mouth" Dunn, Ryan "Sushi" Triffit, and Jamie "The Pacer" Anderson. Kelly joined a group of the ladies for a hike (she ended up doing over 7 miles through the hills, which was quite impressive). The start of the run was straight up Mt. Battie, an 600-700 foot climb in one half mile. Quickly we were sweating while our hearts cursed us for robbing it of its oxygen so quickly and without warning. Once on top of Mt. Battie, where we took in a most marvelous panoramic of Camden and Penobscot Bay, we headed down the trail where we were going to scale Mt. Megunticook. Before we made it to far, Jeff's foot caught under a root and he took a gnarly looking spill. As I was right behind him, I witnessed it in all its gruesome detail. The fall would have been minor if Jeff had not have landed with his mid-section on an erosion break of rocks. In my opinion Jeff came away from this fall very lucky. What should have been a series of broken ribs was nothing more than a little blood and some "road" rash. Lucky dude.

After Mt. Megunticook the run pretty much was just up and down with spectacular views sprinkled in. A couple hours in we all decided that to achieve our goal of 20 miles would require more time than any of us had so we decided to cut out a 2.5 mile out and back to Frohock Mountain. Well, that is except for the hard core among us..."The Mouth" and "Sushi" decided they were going the whole distance, so we separated from those animals I think on Carey Mountain (???) and headed for home, which we guessed would take us another couple hours. (the hard core among us, "Mouth" and "Sushi" ended up calling in the cavalry from Frohock Mountain and almost beat us back to the parking lot, courtesy of the shuttle van!)

The ups and downs, coupled with some harder runs the day before, started wearing on some of us. I for one was getting tired, hungry, and thirsty. On the way out the door Saturday I had grabbed the wrong camelback (an old one) so my water tasted like freezer burn (or as Floyd, "Robot", described it, "an old Swanson" dinner) which made it less than palatable. While I was feeling much better after flushing most of the antibiotics out of my system, I still was a little beat and hopefully tired from the accumulation of effort over the training season. I am hoping my renewed health and a couple weeks rest will make all okay with the world and Massanutten a success. At any rate, after four hours of being on the trails, we made it back down Mt. Battie to our cars. The tally for the day was 15.26 miles and lots of elevation gain/loss. I am expecting Massanutten to be 85 more miles of this same type of terrain. Boy am I in for a hurtin'.

Post run we all headed into town and collectively we consumed an entire cow in the form of hamburgers. Beer was had all around (well, Jim took care of most of it, leaving some for the rest of us), and many laughs shared. To me, this day was what running is all about. Meeting your running buddies, sharing some grueling moments together tackling hard terrain, pushing your limits, and sticking by friends who are hitting low spots. Following these runs is a shared disregard for swine flu while you consume ground beef laced with bacon and drink your weight in beer. These types of shared experiences are hard to come by in this lazy, anti-septic world. Long live the Trail Monsters!

Boston 2009: My Comedy of Errors

2009-04-28T20:48:00.011-04:00

It started innocently and logically enough; I would do a double Boston on marathon day. This would serve as the defining long run for my upcoming 100-miler in Virginia (Massanutten Mountain Trails) and save me the time I would otherwise spend on the bus ride out to Hopkinton. Also, as a family guy, I am always looking for ways to reduce the time lost with the family. This was an ideal plan and met that criteria. Little did I know of the trouble and heartache this simple plan would cause me.

On Easter Sunday I came down with cold. I was jubilant. This was perfect timing, as it gave me a full week to get rid of the virus and render myself theoretically bullet proof to another virus before the big show on May 16th in VA. Theory does not always pan out. Five days later on the Friday before the race I was actually feeling worse. And to add insult to injury, my wife, Kelly, now had my cold. This consisted of a sore throat (persistent and nasty), headaches, stuffiness, and aches and chills. Our plan was to head down to Boston Saturday, spend a couple days tripping around Boston, and enjoy the pool at the hotel. Well, to add another insult to the injury, my daughter, Riley, seemed to have other ideas Friday night as she started vomitting when I was headed to bed. As of Saturday morning, it looked like the trip was over.

As noon time rolled around and everyone was up and about, we decided to give it a go. As we are a family that shares everything, Kelly and I were sure one of us would get the stomach bug. As luck would have it, we avoided this (at least we have to this point). But better to try and maybe succeed than to doom ourselves to immediate failure by staying home. Once in Boston we hit the expo, did our part to support the profit/loss statement of Adidas, had dinner and were back in the hotel by sunset. As we were all dragging to this point, we hit the sack early.

On Sunday, we took the kids to the Boston Children's Museum (two and a half thumbs up) and did the usual of walking way too much on the day before a race. (In theory, if one was to add up the miles we walked in Boston the weekend before the race, this effort combined with the marathon would probably qualify me for an honorary double Boston.) By Sunday night I was a mess. The cold seemed to have intensified, I was exhausted, and totally stressed out about the run I had committed myself to the next day. It is one thing to run a casual trail run over 50 miles. There are usually no timelines, no directions to worry over, and no roads. In this case I was supposed to run 2.5 miles to the start from my hotel, run 26.2 miles of asphalt, and make sure I did not get off course while ensuring I made it to the start on time for the wave 1 start at 10 AM. I admit in retrospect none of this seems like that difficult of a task, but having carried a cold for the week while thinking through all this had worked me into quite a state.

Kelly had been trying to talk me down from the ledge for a few days before the stunt. I had brushed her suggestions off because I have never bagged a run or race (except Ironman Wisconsin which was held the same week as my son was born and I wasn't allowed to leave home). If I said I was going to do something I did it. Until Monday morning I was still holding out hope that the symptoms would abate and the cold would flee. No such luck.

I awoke Monday morning, race day, at 4 AM and got dressed for a long run. Shortly after waking I received a text from a running buddy, James, who was supposed to meet me on Boylston and join me until Natick. James had been running since midnight with John O'Connor, who was running a quadruple Boston (that's right, four Bostons, or 104.8 miles). The plan was to meet James and Jamie at the start line for company on my way out to Hopkinton. The text read that James had gotten cold waiting and had started the return trip slowly, with the intent of me to catch him. This was the first straw to killing the run. I still headed out to run but had started doubting my ability to complete a return trip given the way I felt. It was then that I received a call from Jamie. He had bailed due to a flare up of plantar fasciitis. This was the second straw. The instructions were written in the heavens: go back to bed, rest, and get healthy. This fool's quest is done. So I obeyed.

I hit the sack at quarter to five for a couple more hours of rest. At that point my teeth and jaw started aching, so much that I couldn't sleep. Not even a bunch of Motrin hid the pain. This was the first sing of the sinus infection settling into place, but I did not know it at this point. Instead, I ignored it. I am lucky enough to have a very supportive wive who loves running as much as I do and who knows how special Hopkinton is on Patriot's Day each year. She and the kids drove me out to the start and hung around until the gun went off at 10 AM.

As with all Boston starts, the first few miles are crazy fast. The course is famously downhill (severely at this point) and the energy that has built up in the corrals needs somewhere to go. My splits for the first 10 miles were roughly 7:10 on average. I felt great. Maybe I was operating on muscle memory and a lot of adrenaline. This is my usual marathon pace and in the beginning I thought "since I am out here, I might as well see what I can do". And then the wheels came off.

A bright point in the race came around mile 10 in Natick when I saw Jamie, James, Ian, and Carter, all fellow Trail Monsters who had come out to help John achieve his quadruple Boston. It was after this that things went south. The first sign that something wasn't quite right was that I kept having to clear my throat. This was due to the post-nasal drip and other "junk" in my upper respiratory. The second issue was the aching in my jaws and teeth had returned. The pace from miles 10-20 slipped a bit to around 7:35. I did go through the half at 1:36, and while not near my best, this is a competent half split for a marathon, for me at least. This pace put me on a qualifying time (3:15 for my age) with time to spare at the end for a beer outside Fenway. By the time I got to Fenway I felt awful and the only beer I got was the one that the crazy dude next to me spilled on me as he smashed a beer can on his forehead.

The walking reprieves began on top of Heartbreak Hill in Newton. I got a nasty stitch in my stomach that was digging in deep up the hill, so I had to slow to try and get rid of it. I walked for about 30 seconds while kneading my side and this helped a ton. I started running again, all the while searching out the statue of Johnny Kelly. I have now run Boston three times and not one time have I seen this damn statue. That streak continues. Despite feeling terrible, I was more pissed of being robbed of a view of this thing again. Maybe next time. The pace at mile 21 was the slowest of the day at 10:04, aided by the hills and walking break. The final five miles were split between walking and running and netted an average pace of roughly 8:45s. To the credit of Boston sports fans, they were very supportive and helpful. Not once was a barb thrown my way for walking, only words of encouragement. I fell in love with Boston again at that point.

The final stretch of the race is down Boylston, and while I have not participated in many grand moments in sporting history, I would have to say that this finish has to be near the top of the most dramatic conclusions available to the average marathoner. The roar of the crowd is deafening and there is so much energy as to make it feel alive and available for all the runners to harness for an almost out-of-body finish. No matter how tired you are as you turn the corner from Hereford Street onto Boylston, the finish feels like that first sprint down the Hopkinton hills. My finish time of 3:29 (average pace of 7:56) qualified this race as my worse ever Boston and worse ever marathon (excluding those that I have done to pace others or with a group). But that did not make it any less meaningful. Boston is special, no matter how fast or slow you run it.

The funny thing with bagging this race is that it seemed that my intent to run a double Boston had captured the imagination of a ton of people. My email and voicemail contained comments from friends and families about how they couldn't believe I had done two Bostons, and run the return trip to Boston so quickly given the fact that I had already run the course once. I received a call from the Portland Press Herald's running columnist, John Rolfe, asking to talk to me about the "crazy thing" I did in Boston. At work an email was sent around to myriad people before I returned announcing my feat and congratulating me. I was now left with the very unenviable position of deflating all these peoples' thrill with what I had (not) done. Even today I had to correct a bunch of people and notify them that I bailed on my double. The interesting thing is that no one has ever been that excited about the 100-milers that I have done. No one gets running 100 miles through the mountains or woods. They don't get the perspective of it. What they do understand is how "big" of a race the Boston Marathon is and to do it twice is "incredible". I can assure them that running the equivalent of four of them in the mountains while covering 20,000 feet of elevation gain/loss is a much tougher.

So on the drive home from Boston I still had not put two and two together that I had a nasty sinus infection. All I knew was that my jaw and teeth ached. I was hurting so much that I was unable to eat dinner on the ride home. I literally called my dentist and scheduled an emergency appointment for him to check my teeth. It wasn't until we were nearly home that Kelly suggested my problem might be my sinuses. As a guy who has been fortunate enough to avoid serious colds and illnesses for a very long time (yeah, except cancer), I haven't dealt with an infection or cold like this for a very long time so I had no idea what the symptoms are. As a test, I doped myself up on sinus medicine and loads of Motrin and felt relief a bit later. The rest is history and antibiotics. While I am still dealing with some pressure, I am starting to feel better. Two and a half weeks to Massanutten so I am hopeful I will be 100% by then.

On a final note, I want to salute and applaud John O'Connor for his courageous accomplishment and for his selfless effort on behalf of the Wounded Warrior Project. Four Bostons is amazing and awe worthy. If you would like to donate to John's chosen cause, it isn't too late. Use the links above.

Long Hiatus Redux...Double Boston...About One Month

2009-04-14T21:18:00.002-04:00

After this past weekend's run of just under 20 miles I was humbled. I had just run a little shy of three hours and I was wiped. In five weeks I will be racing my first 100-miler of the year, and here I was whipped by less than 20 miles. Of course I talked myself down from the ledge with all sorts of excuses for the tough run...sleet and snow in April is not motivating, lack of sleep, beginning of a cold, no food or coffee before the run nor any during...but I was still humbled.

This coming Monday I will attempt my first double Boston. It isn't a quadruple Boston like my acquaintance John O'Connor is running to benefit the Wounded Warrior Project (you can read about him at his blog, http://www.johnrunslong.com/cblog/), but is still a long run on pavement. I am dreading it a bit, but it will enable me to get in a long training run with little impact to family time (if not running to the start, I would have to leave Boston a few hours before the race anyhow to get to the start). I will post more about my run afterwards. If you want to follow my progress during the run, text message "RUNNER" to number 41234, and once you receive a reply text requesting the runner's bib number, enter 6425. This will let you get updates of my progress at the 10K, Half, 30k, and Finish.

While I am somewhat dreading this paved run, I am looking forward to being joined by my buddy Jamie (www.mainerunner.blogspot.com). Speaking of Jamie, I just booked my flight to California to join Jamie as his pacer at the Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run, to be held smoke free this year at the end of June.

So while I have not posted in awhile, I have been running and living life. I got another tattoo (really enhanced the Tree of Life tattoo on my left arm), celebrated my 35th birthday, watched my kids grow even more and do many more amazing things, and celebrated my 10th Wedding Anniversary. I also got in some great runs, including the Trail Monster Fat Ass 50K at Bradbury Mountain State Park a few weeks ago. The course consisted of 8 loops of 4 miles (the last loop was shortened to get to 5oK) around Bradbury Mountain. The course was very hilly, the trails were wet, snowy, icy, muddy, and generally nasty. As a point of reference as to how slow the trails were, I have averaged roughly a 4 hour, 10 Minute 50K at Pineland during the race there each May. The Fat Ass at Bradbury took me 7 hours...

So, I am now at four and a half weeks to the Massanutten Mountain Trails 100 Miler. While I am nervous and doubting my training every now and then (as I am oft to do), I am looking forward to getting back home to VA where my soul is strongest and spend a long day and night in the place which I feel is in my DNA. It's gonna be fun!

Big two weeks

2009-03-09T19:27:00.002-04:00

Starting Tuesday, Feb 17, I ran 13 straight days and accumulated 120 miles. The week before last my weekly mileage was 67 miles, the most weekly miles I have run since last summer. This is actually the most miles I think I have ever run in a winter week. For me, my weekly threshold is in the 70-80 mile range. With the stress of work and the care of two high energy toddlers (not to mention not enough sleep), my body just can not handle much more. All this is put into perspective when i consider that in just less than 12 weeks, I will run over 80% of my recent 13 day total mileage, non-stop in a bit over 24 hours. All this in mountainous terrain in the blue ridge mountains of VA.

Now if I really want to get technical and all inclusive, I need to consider the impact of the 3x a week workout classes I am doing into my run total. I am now spending 45 minutes, three times a week in the gym doing a combination of plyometrics, core, and weight training, which I have not done in any of my past running seasons. So I could convert the time I spend in the gym to miles I could have run during that time, and add them to an adjusted, or "fully weighted", mileage total, because those 2 hours and 15 minutes I spend in the gym do weigh on my running heavily, forcing my legs (and body and mind) to run more tired than I otherwise would if I wasn't going to the gym. So to put this theory into numbers, last week I ran 67 miles. My fully weighted mileage last week, assuming I would have run five miles in the 45 minutes I spent in the gym (this is conservative, since my typical training road pace is 7:15-7:30), was 82 miles. While this is all fun with numbers, I am definitely doing more than I did last year and my training is more effective than a couple years ago when I was training for my first 100 miler, so I am going to throw out there the statement that I should do really well this year racing. While I can guarantee that I will not break any course records or win any races, I would bet that I will be happier on my long runs and feel stronger from start to finish. That's the real point of all this, isn't it? Winning doesn't account for much in my mind (and not because I am not fast enough to do it). It's the trying and doing that matters.

Last week I was in a training down cycle (for recovery) and will start ramping the miles back up this week. This cycle of training will culminate with another Fat Ass 50K at Bradbury on Saturday, March 28. after that will be a slight taper for the Boston (double) marathon, where I am still planning on running from Boston to Hopkinton for the start of the official marathon, and running back into town for the official finish.

Trail Monster Fat Ass 50K, sort of

2009-03-01T20:44:00.006-05:00

Yesterday morning I joined fellow Trail Monsters in Freeport for a Fat Ass 50K around Hedgehog Mountain. While I did run 50K+, I did not do it all with at the Fat Ass "fun run". I decided to get part of my run in during my "commute" from Cumberland to Freeport.

I left home at just after 6 AM in a very light drizzle which quickly changed to sleet and then snow. The temps were very pleasant at around 33 F but there was a headwind that stayed with me the entire run. Other than a couple bio breaks, the run went well. I followed the same route to Freeport that I have taken on all my past runs to Freeport: Rte 9 through Cumberland Center to Rte 115 into Yarmouth across Bridge Street to East Main Street to Old County Road to Webster Road and then Desert Road. Instead of turning right on Desert like I do when running to work, this time I hung a left and then the first right onto Merrill to Katy and Chuck's house, who hosted the run.

I arrived just as everyone was suiting up to head out, having already amassed 13.5 miles. The crowd was impressive, more than I expected. It was nice to see some running friends I had not seen for awhile. The course planned for the run had been adjusted from the original 7.8 mile loop due to the warm weather and rain that had visited the day before. The new loop was an almost exact 5 mile loop from Chuck's house out to Hedgehog Mountain, up the mountain, and back the same way we went out.

The group stayed pretty tight during the first loop with very little drama. Once on top of Hedgehog, we paused to take in the the beautiful day from the high vantage point. On the way back, the fun started. There is a field we crossed twice on each loop, once out and once back, that contained a number of tricky spots. First, there were a couple low spots where post holing was nearly impossible to avoid with cold water at the bottom. I deposited my feet in them on the way out, which provided a very frigid wake-up call to my feet. On the way back the group left the main snowmobile route in search of a better way across the field. This search was unsuccessful in every way, leaving the group strung out across the field post holing everywhere. The going was slow (and bloody) for some, but soon enough we were back on the main trail and did not make the mistake again.

Once back at Chuck's house everyone went about refueling and addressing other needs. The first loop and each subsequent loop was taking about an hour. Considering the mashed potato consistency of the snow, this was good going. After a brownie, half a boston creme pie donut and some caffeinated high fructose corn syrup, I was on lap 2. I spent a good part of the day running with my buddy Jamie, who has been suffering from some plantar fasciitis issues. Fortunately, it seems that he is becoming a success story of active release therapy and stretching. He is a source of great inspiration for me, and I am thrilled to see him improving. It is my opinion that he should vanquish from his mind any fear of not running the Western States 100 this year. He is all but there now.

Lap 2 and 3 went by pretty quickly and by the time I knew it I had logged 31.4 miles in just over 5 hours. I felt great this morning and knocked out 10 miles this evening on the treadmill. I think my body is coming around to the long stuff. Bring on the Massanutten Mountain Trails 100!

A final note on yesterday's run. I want to send a big thanks to Chuck and Katy, and Katy's mom, for the great hospitality. The food was plentiful and yummy. Big shouts out to Alan, Emma, Ian, and Floyd for running all six loops (5oK). Great job to Mindy for achieving her longest post-injury run. And two high fives to my boy Jamie. Great run to Danielle and Ryan, Jim "PBR" Dunn, Blaine, and everyone else. Spring running is almost upon us!

Atayne Test, Day 6: Passing Grade

2009-02-28T19:44:00.005-05:00

Atayne Test, Day 6. The finale. This morning I headed out the door just after 6:00 AM for a long run to Freeport to start an even longer run. On me was my six day old Atayne shirt. No laundering, no rinsing, nothing. And yet when I threw it on right out of bed this morning I did not even take notice of it.

Without getting into the details of today's run, I will say I run 13.5 miles of roads to meet the Trail Monster's in Freeport to take part in the TMR Fat Ass 50K. I arrived in Freeport with minutes to spare before setting off on a series of five mile loops on snowmobile/snowshoe trails up and around Hedgehog Mountain (really a big hill). After 3.5 loops, I was done. I logged a total of 31.2 miles in just over 5 Hours.

With today's run, the final statistics on my Atayne Test are as follows:

6 Days
9 Workouts
11 Hours
No water or laundry on the shirt
Smell: Unbelievably Unnoticeable and Inoffensive

Throughout this week I fielded a ton of questions and hopefully tons of interest (well, in my small world) in Atayne. The shirt performed remarkably well. I even passed around the shirt today for independent sniff tests and everyone was shocked. I felt like I was in one of those laundry detergent commercials where clothing articles are being passed around to check out the grass stains and smells that are gone after a washing...but my commercial was without the detergent. There were actually people today asking to smell the shirt. How often does that happen?!?!

In summary, the Atayne shirt with the cocona treatment is the real deal. Not only is it natural and promises not to poison you, it actually works better than any shirt I have ever worn. So my hats off to the good people at Atayne. Thank you for giving us runners a shirt that is harmless and works. Even the Buddha approved. That's good enough for me. Now it is off to the washing machine to give my Atayne shirt a bath. It earned it.

Atayne Test, Day 5: A lot of huhs

2009-02-27T20:35:00.005-05:00

Today was another two-a-day. This morning I threw on my four day, six workout old Atayne shirt for yet another day of incremental sweat. The shirt started making some news in the workout class when people started asking why I was wearing the same shirt every day and if it was a different one. When I provided the answer, that I was putting the shirt's odor neutralization to a test and that I had not washed the shirt for the past four days, I got a bunch of "huhs?". Needless to say everyone was interested to hear about cocona and the fact that it was keeping me from retching as I was wearing it on many consecutive days. I suspect soon there may be a gym full of Atayne shirts!

At noon I wore the shirt for a half hour run around Freeport with my buddy Jim, who is a product developer. While the run was short and easy, it did help me reach workout number eight in this test. While the odor is still manageable, it did start to get a little stiff from the salt, etc. that is the result of many hours in it.

Tomorrow morning I will head out at 6 AM for a run to Freeport to meet the Trail Monsters for some more miles on snowmobile trails. Total mileage hoped for tomorrow to finish my Atayne test is 30+. Final stats of the Atayne test will be provided tomorrow.

Atayne Test, Day 4: The Kids' Sniff Test

2009-02-26T20:12:00.006-05:00

Day 4 of my Atayne test dawned a little smellier than the previous day and much more so than three days ago. But all in all, the shirt that greeted me in my locker this morning was a shirt that really didn't smell all that bad. Kudos to activated carbon from the coconut shell! Now 45 minutes later was a different story. After a hard core and plyometric workout led by the trainer, Josh of the Woodlands, that found me blacked out after the first 15 minutes and sweating to death the next 30, there was an aroma from the shirt. My first thought at this discovery: it's about time. This shirt has continuously impressed me and still does, albeit with a bit of a smell. But what can you expect from a shirt that was just submitted to ungodly amounts of sweat for 45 minutes, much less used for almost four hours over four days? I would hypothesize that if I would have tried this with any of my chemically altered polyester shirts, I would have been asked to leave the gym this morning. (Picture to the right taken after first workout today.)

This evening I wore the shirt for a run on the treadmill. Six miles in a little over 46 minutes in a basement with a 550 lb. soap stone woodstove cranking the BTUs left the shirt a little "damp". Hopefully the thing dries well before the morning when I am back at it at 7 AM. (Side note: 30 minutes later it is dry.)

Before this evening's treadmill run I presented the shirt to my kids and wife, Kelly, for a sniff test. Kelly was reluctant at first but joined in after both Riley and Quinn gave it a shot. Quinn's response to the question, "Does is smell okay?", was a hesitant "Yes". Riley first said "No", but then reassessed her opinion when asked "Does it smell really bad?", to which she replied "No". Kelly's response was a bit more thoughtful, and she thought that while the shirt did have an odor, it really was tolerable considering the sweat that had been created in it. I chalk that up to a victory either to Atayne's ability to create a truly odor resistant shirt or to my superhuman ability to produce "unsmelly" sweat. I will lean towards the former. Two thumbs up for the team at Atayne. (Bottom picture at right taken after workout two.)

Atayne Test, Day 3: Like Roses, Almost

2009-02-25T22:04:00.005-05:00

The first thing I did today upon arrival at the locker room was grab my Atayne shirt and put my nose to it. The outside of the shirt smelled remarkably fresh; not out of the laundry fresh but remarkably unremarkable. The inside, where the carbon is present, did contain a bit of a smell, but nowhere near the state of repulsiveness that some of my other shirts would have achieve by now. So two thumbs up for Atayne at the start of Day Three.

For Day Three I headed out on the roads of Freeport for a run just shy of 6 miles. I had a post-lunch meeting that I needed to be back for so time was short. The temps today were excellent and the roads excellently cleared of snow and ice, providing a very pleasant running experience. I felt strong today and the shirt finished as well as I felt. No funny looks (except for having a camera in the locker room taking pictures every day). Tomorrow might be a different story when I hit the workout medley class in the morning. The true test for my moss colored "4-R's" Atayne shirt will come when it is asked to perform in the close proximity forced by the gym, surrounded by other freshly laundered shirts!

As for Saturday, I am getting a bit jazzed up for 30+ miles. The Trail Monster Fat Ass 50K is Saturday in Freeport, and consists of 4 loops of a 7.88 mile trail run. Because of family commitments, I have decided that I am going to run from home, leaving around 6 AM, and running two loops of the course with the group, for a total of just over 30 miles. This will enable me to get home earlier and back to my second job of dad to two toddlers!

Atayne Test, Day 2: Doubling Up

2009-02-24T22:42:00.002-05:00

Day 2, Atayne test. I hit the shirt for a double workout today. First up was my morning workout medley class which consists of a non-stop 45 minute plyometric/core/strength training butt whipping. As this was the second day in my Atayne shirt I was a little worried about offending my workout mates. But alas, the activated carbon worked wonders and no malodorous off gassing was present. That might have to wait until the next class Thursday morning.

After the morning's workout I set the shirt back in the locker and four hours later I was wearing it again. While there may have been a slight hint that the shirt had been worn before, it was minor. After a 45 minute run it was back to the locker for tomorrow's run. Up next, workout number four and day number three in my moss-colored, "4-R's" Atayne shirt!

Atayne Test: Day 1

2009-02-22T21:17:00.013-05:00

Last weekend I received the monthly Atayne newsletter (which if you aren't a Facebook fan of these guys or get their newsletter, please do so right now...after finishing reading this post). In it was the challenge for an owner of an Atayne shirt, who has little in the way of regard for others, to wear that article of clothing for a consecutive eight workouts before washing. The reason for this is to test the odor controlling properties of the cocona (activated carbon from coconut shells) interior of the shirt. So starting today I will wear my moss colored, "4 R's", Atayne shirt for each and every workout (photo to the right is post run, day 1). For this week this includes a run of 35 minutes today on the treadmill (recovery from the long weekend runs), three 45 minute workout medley sessions, four runs in the 45 minute range, and a 25-32 mile trail run on Saturday. There may also be a medium distance run on Sunday, but that depends on the ski plans. After day 1 I can say that the shirt smelled as good coming out as it did coming in. I will see in the morning what a night in the locker room does for it.

As for this past weekend's runs, on Saturday I met a subgroup of the Trail Monsters (Jamie and Blaine) at Bradbury at 7 AM...no, scratch that, it was closer to quarter after since I forgot my running shoes and had to return home for them. Sorry guys. It had been almost a month since I had run with my boy Jamie so it was great to return to the trails with him. Because there were others that were joining us at 8 AM, we had just enough time to head down the trail for about 25 minutes just to turn back. The conversation was light and jovial, aided largely by Blaine's crackpot theory about my favorite drug, caffeine. Please do yourself a favor and head over to his website and enlighten yourself!

At 8 AM, after a little bit over 4 miles on the very soft and slow trails, we returned to the parking lot to join Ian, Lilly, and Echo (her enthusiastic hound). At that point we headed south down Route 9 for a short jaunt on the road to connect with the snowmobile trail that would be our home for the next 2+ hours. The first part of this run is extremely hilly, making it very challenging for the cardiovascular system to get warmed up. Once it is warm, the brain is able to then take in the excellent running that is snowmobile trail running in the white Maine winter. I am generally not thankful of power toys, like snowmobiles, but trail running in the winter up here would be virtually impossible without them. So thank you Mr. and Mrs. Snowmobiler. But next time, take the beer cans with you. There is a five cent deposit on them.

A few miles out Lilly and Echo turned back, followed not too much later by Jamie. I have to throw a big "attaboy" out to Jamie for the spirit he shows when faced with injury. When I first met Jamie, he was bouncing back from knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus. He ran his first 100-miler like 2-3 months later. Remarkable. Now he is overcoming plantar fasciitis with his own brand of shock and awe. It looks like this version might work better than the original copy of this employed by Dubya. A truly impressive work of healing, and his reward will be glory on the Auburn, CA track in June!

Ian, Blaine, and I spent the next 10 or so miles running and chatting, and generally enjoying ourselves in the sun. Although tired at the end, we opted to add an extra mile which gave us just over 19 miles in 3 hours on the day. Other than a sore ankle for the first part of the run (still suffering from the Blackstrap Hell race), I felt great. I am still clipping my ankles numerous times during my long runs, and this trail run left me with a bloody left inside ankle. I think this is partially due to the unsure footing and my lack of strength. This weekend I plan on somehow protecting them. To note a failure, I am still consuming too little food and fluids on my long runs. This was a shortcoming in my training last year that I noticed during the Vermont 100. If I don't train to consume fluids and food, I will suffer on race day. I plan to address this on future runs. To complete the weekend, I got in a 10-mile treadmill run Sunday evening after a full day of skiing with the kids. Not a bad weekend of training.

Counting Calendars and Ramping up

2009-02-18T21:40:00.008-05:00

I was sitting at my desk today thinking about running (10 hours of immobility will do that to you) and decided to count the days until the Massanutten Mountain Trails 100. There are 12 weeks and three days until the gun goes off, so I guess it is time I start thinking more about running. Really, my miles aren't too bad given the workout courses and skiing I am doing (not to mention the daddy duty I am pulling constantly).

Last week I logged about 50 miles, which isn't a great deal, but it is the start to more mileage. Where I am missing out is in the longer run on the weekend and the follow-up middle-long run the next day. This past weekend I joined the Trail Monsters for a trail run from Bradbury to Pineland. The course we took was excellently groomed by snowmobiles and followed all public land with about a mile run on the road at the end. This run was about 14.5 miles with some good undulations. I followed this up Sunday evening with a 10 mile jaunt at a quicker pace on the treadmill.

Now I need to simply increase that Saturday run with a good run on Sunday and I am all set. Saturday I am planning on meeting my pacer, Jamie, at Bradbury for another good trail run. I am hoping to get in a 20+ miler. The following weekend I will be joining the Trail Monsters for a Fat Ass 50K from Chuck's house in Freeport. This will give me a much needed training boost. As for training boosts, very much in the like-to-do category is a couple runs up Pinkham Notch to the base of Mount Washingon. Any takers?

Now I am off to watch the snow fall and daydream about this weekend's upcoming alpine skiing trip with the kids...

Map and profile of the Bradbury to Pineland run. Thanks Ian for leading the charge.

The Hiatus of All Hiatus'

2009-02-11T20:38:00.002-05:00

After a long and unintended hiatus from LiveStrong Maine, I am back. My apologies to my follower for leaving you without my musings from the trail/road/treadmill. I kind of promise not to leave you out in the wild for this long again...

Having got that off my chest, I must qualify the above by saying my fitness has not been on hiatus. I have established a pretty good running/workout regime that has left me feeling pretty good, but a bit beat up. My 3x a week morning workout medley sessions are really leaving me feeling trashed but stronger for it. I am sure these classes will pay off as I am making my way up and down the mountains of VA in May and the bucolic hills of Vermont in July. My running is about where it typically is at this time of year. While I have not attempted the distance I ran at the GAC Fat Ass 50K back in the middle of January, I have kept a pretty consistent weekly distance of 40-45 miles. Coupled with the workout classes and other cross training I am doing, I should be able to slide into the heavy miles soon enough without a hitch.

So what has kept me from the blog. Kids. Work. Motivation. An addiction to Facebook (become my friend). And my reignited love of downhill skiing that has kept me away from home every weekend this winter. Last winter I could not get enough of XC skiing. While I will admit that XC skiing is much more physical and better training for an early season 100-miler, I can not do it with my kids. Therefore I have devoted this winter to teaching Riley (4 yrs, 3 mos) and Quinn (2 yrs, 5 mos) the excellent sport of alpine skiing. There is nothing better than watching a child discover a love of the outdoors, not matter what it is. So I am willing to sacrifice a bit of fitness for this.

Training has been good. I am enjoying what I have been doing, albeit I have spent a little too much of it on a treadmill. Most of my weekly running has been at night after the kids have gone to bed, so I am sort of forced to hit the treadmill, so much so that I broke it for the second season in a row. But nothing that a few sheet metal screws through the pulley into the front roller couldn't fix. I added a bit of super glue and the thing runs better than the day we brought it home. I am now just about qualified as a treadmill technician, so let me know if you have any problems with yours.

Big future plans include a local Fat Ass 50K at the end of the month and then a double Boston on Patriot's Day. I am tentatively planning on running from Boston with my buddy Jamie and then turning around and running back from Hopkinton as a participant in the big dance. Total mileage that day (you shouldn't need a calculator): 52.4. More on that later.

My thoughts drift daily to the Massanutten Mountain Trails 100. Only about 12 weeks to go. Flights are booked and the hay is being pitched into the barn. I can't wait.

A New Beginning

2009-01-13T23:35:00.000-05:00

Things could not have started off better in the new year. Let's discuss my new beginning.

Prologue...
Last week was the first full week of the new year and the first week of my new training year. In just 18 weeks I will be on the course of the Massanutten Mountain Trails 100-miler - running 100 miles - in the Shenandoah Valley of VA. That is a pretty hilly and rocky area, so those 100 miles will not be easy gotten...they will be hard fought. So I guess I have to train. Back to last week. I got out each day for a 5-6 mile run with a long run on Saturday and a day off Sunday. The weekend before last I met up with the Trail Monsters and got in a good trail run just shy of 15 miles. Not a bad start to a month that followed a month that witnessed more miles traveled to the bar to get a beer than running on trails.

The Main Story...
The ultimate in laid back races/runs was held last weekend in Ipswish, MA: the GAC Fat Ass 50K. Held at Bradley Palmer State Park on Saturday, Gil's Athletic Club hosted a race that was more group run. Starting at 9 AM, participants could one from one to infiniti loops of the 10K course, although more than 5 was not encouraged. I had traveled down there with my buddies, Jamie and Mindy, in hopes of run all 50K but was satisfied to settle for 3-4. 50K would have been quite debilitating as my longest run since the Maine Marathon back in October was the 15 I ran the prior weekend. The temps at the start had to be somewhere in the upper teens. Cold. I started off a little overdressed and was paying for by the second half of the first loop. The first loop was tough and it took me nearly the entire hour to cover the 10K for my cardiovascular system to settle down and get down to the work of endurance running.

After each loop we (Jamie, Ian, Emma, Ryan and Danielle, Mindy, Jim and Shauna) took a quick break to refresh with the runner-supplied aid station goodies. It is amazing the junk that skinny, endurance runners eat. We are fairly health conscious people but this was not evident in the boxes of donuts, every type of brownie imaginable (well, almost, since I didn't find the magic ones), cookies, and soda). I do believe that I consumed more brownies during this run that I did the prior three years since I have been running ultras!

The second and third loop went better. I fell into a nice groove and the miles flew by. The conversation flowed like sap on a warm March day in Maine (I can not help but think Jamie would be proud of that analogy), as it is prone to do during ultras (or any long trail run). The course itself was for the most part hard packed and easily runnable, but there were sections that were eerily similar to running on a soft, sandy beach. By the fourth loop I was pretty cooked. To have made it 24.5 miles (per my GPS) thrilled me to no end and bodes well for upcoming long training runs. Besides, I don't have much time to git 'er done.

Epilogue...
All told I ran just under 55 miles last week. In my longest weeks of training for a 100-miler, I will not get over 80 miles. I have found through numerous training cycles that this is the point at which my body will not bounce back and that leaves me quite exhausted (besides, I have two other jobs - that of dad and finance dork).

As for injuries, I have heard way too much talk of them recently. I know way too many people suffering running induced injuries, including my MMT 100 pacer, Jamie, who is fighting valiantly against a case of plantar fasciitis. I can honestly say that I feel blessed after each run that I complete injury free. I have been very lucky over the last seven years of running seriously, having suffered only a minor case of patellofemoral pain syndrome after my first marathon. I guess there is nothing I can do but keep doing what I am doing and hope for the best.

And finally, I have enrolled in my first ever fitness class. L.L.Bean offers employees a menu of classes each quarter and I am partaking in this excellent benefit. I am subjecting myself to a "workout medley" three days a week before work. The primary goal of this is to strengthen my body in the places that running does not strengthen but the body needs to stay injury free and to run better. I found that my core strength really failed me (or I failed it) last year during the Vermont 100. I am hoping this class will give me that extra push over the hills of the Shenandoah come May. I know one thing after today's first class - it hurts!

Slow going, but back at it

2009-01-04T07:32:00.003-05:00

Things have been going slow (and short) as of late, as far as running goes. This is partially by design and partially by circumstance. Christmas week found us all in Virginia visiting family, which limited my running, despite the nice sunny, warm weather. But all this time off is good, since it gives my body a chance to start the new training season fresh.

The last few weeks my longest runs have been in the 10 mile range, the last couple done on my treadmill. That is until yesterday. I got a chance to meet the Trail Monsters out at Bradbury for a run on the hiking, snowmobile, and power line trails. Included in the group was Jamie, Mindy, Ian, Ryan, Jim, and Randy. I was shocked at how warm it felt upon leaving my house and at a stoplight in my town I posted a comment on my Facebook page (look me up and become my friend!) that the temps were in the 20s. I was quickly corrected by Chuck that it was actually a bit colder and I confirmed later that it was actually nearer 11 degrees.

But it is winter in Maine and this wasn't a bad day to run. The trails in and around Bradbury State Park were quite packed down by the weather, snowmobilers, some hardy mountain bikers, and other forest critters. I was lucky enough to spy some sheet metal screws belonging to Ian and he graciously offered them and a screwdriver to me. So I sat and mad some impromptu screw shoes. For a good demonstration, check out my boy Blaine's most excellent demonstration on how to do this on his website at runtowin. I am sure I did not follow Blaine's instructions to the "T", but I must have done something right because I did not find myself slipping and sliding on the trail at any time. What I did notice was some annoying pressure along points of my foot which I can attribute to the screws. I will have to work on these, but all in all, these things worked flawlessly.

The start of the run was on trails that had been passed only by foot traffic, resulting in a very uneven surface in the now hardened snow. This really irritated my ankle, which was injured at the mid-November Blackstrap Hell trail race and has yet to heal. I think it is about time to get this checked out by a member of the medical profession. The trail quickly changed to snowmobile trail which was smoother and easier going. At about the 3-4 mile spot Jamie and Mindy turned back as planned while the rest of us continued on the loop Ian had decided would get us the two hours of running most of us were looking to do.

(I am going to hurry this up now. We are heading to Saddleback where current temps at the summit are 2 degrees. They do have the most snow of any Maine resort so the skiing should be okay.)

All told, we got in just under 15 miles in about 2:15. I forget the GPS on the dash so I did not get a course map. This was a good step up in training for me from previous weekends and a good start to the New Year. Next week I am planning on heading to Massachusettes for the GAC Fat Ass 50K. This is a great race in that it is free (!) and the course is a 5-6 mile loop so you can pull out at anytime.

Now I want to give a special shout out to my homey, Jamie, at mainerunner.blogspot.com. Thanks for the scrumptiously delicious Ethiopian donkey beans or whatever their official name is. Those there were some good smelling coffee beans and the coffee they made was yummy. Thanks for roasting!

Quick update on the MMT 100 and Atayne's Donation

2008-12-16T22:39:00.004-05:00

It is official - I am on the entrants list for the 2009 Massanutten Mountain Trails 100. The race is on the weekend of May 16th and is run in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, one of the most beautiful places on earth. It is truly great to be able to return to my home state to participate in a 100-miler. 100-milers in themselves are spiritual events, and to run one in VA is even more so. Finding a connection to the land in these events is almost as critical as training properly, so I should do alright in this one. I will plan on hitting the training hard after Christmas and will keep you posted on my progress.

Also, I just wanted to send a friendly reminder to you all who may not have already taken advantage of Atayne's kindness and purchased an earthy-friendly performance top for yourself or someone else for Christmas. Through the end of the year Atayne has pledged 10% of online sales to the Maine Children's Cancer Center when customers check out with promotional code "livestrongmaine". Thanks.

Good news on the MMT 100

2008-12-09T23:19:00.002-05:00

It is not official yet, but it appears that I made the lottery for the 2009 running of the Massanutten Mountain Trails 100 in May! Check out the lottery results at Ultragood. Yeah! This is great news after my dismal record last year of failing to get into races. So this sets up my goal to complete two 100s in 2009 very well. I got my man Jamie pacing me and all's good!

Still alive...and running

2008-12-02T21:43:00.004-05:00

So last week I was feeling tremendously guilty that I had neglected my blog for so long when I came across a piece of salvation: a New York Times article on the "philosophy" of slow blogging. After reading about this "movement" of less than prompt blogging, I mentally signed up and felt immediately better that I, in my small way, was doing my part to slow things in this crazy fast world down. So after a hiatus of a length which I have no idea (point, me), I felt the need to update whatever loyal readers have stuck with me through my rest period on my life.

What have I been doing? Running some, racing more, and committing to my 2009 Ultra calendar. My running has been spotty, no doubt about it. The weight I gained the last couple weeks has to exceed the miles I put on my running shoes. Okay, a bit of an exaggeration but that is how I feel. Anyhow, I am still getting in my 30-35 miles a week, some now on the treadmill because of work and family commitments. There really isn't too much to report that is worth reporting on my running. I am still in that "just running to run" segment of my training. Like all those people who make resolutions, I get serious on New Year's Day. This is when I kick off my training for the upcoming season. Unlike most of those people who crowd the gyms those first couple weeks after January 1, I have crazy races that require me to continue training longer than most stick to a resolution, lest I find myself at mile 50 of a 100-mile race hating myself.

Since my last post I have participated in a couple races; one new, fun run and the other one a stalwart of my racing calendar and one of my favorite races of the year. The first was the 6-mile Blackstrap Hell Trail Challenge, held a few weeks ago at the Falmouth Preserve. This race had it all: stream crossings, lots of mud, rock scrambles, blood (no guts), and busted ankles. Within the first half mile as I jumped into a stream that I thought would barely get my feet wet I found myself soaked and implanted on a muddy bank. The race, put on by Trail Monster Jeff Walker, was maddeningly fun. Jeff had predicted all the runners' finish times and had us all go off at different times to ideally have everyone finish at around the same time. I felt like Lance Armstrong awaiting a time trial start. I had to wait in the chilly air for about 28 minutes before starting off but it was worth it. The only scary point was at the half way point when I was passing another runner as we descended a leaf strewn hill and I landed on my ankle wrong and heard a crashing pop. Never before have I heard an ankle respond in such a way. It was even more frightening when others around me asked what the noise was. The next mile found me hobbling until my ankle worked itself out enough to allow me to run again, although this ankle is still swollen and if I twist it just right I am reminded of my visit to hell. Long story shortened...it was a great race and I look forward to running around those woods some more in the future. For more information, check out Blaine Moore's excellent race report.

Last week I ran one of my favorite local races, the Thanksgiving Day 4-miler in Portland. Why do I love this little race? Well, because it is a race that reeks of family to me, probably due to it being on my favorite holiday and that my family has joined me for it every year since we have lived up here. I bet it will probably be the first race I run together with my daughter Riley. Yes, this race is only four miles but it is a tough four miles. The interesting thing is that of the three times I have run this race in the last four years, my time of 24:41 this year was within about 20 seconds of the prior runnings. So while I haven't been getting faster, I haven't been getting slower either. There is promise there. Kelly and her dad, Phil, also ran and did fantastic. As is their MO, they maintained a smile the entire race. I envy them this gift. And even more special, my parents from Virginia joined us at the race for the first time and kept the kids entertained in between each of the sightings of us running. Thanks Mom and Dad.

Finally, yesterday I entered the lottery for the 2009 running of the Massanutten Mountain Trails 100. After last year's overwhelmingly quick sell out of the race (less than a couple hours), the race organizers decided to go with a lottery this year. Entrants have one week to submit an online application and the drawing is December 12th. Given my poor lottery performances last year, I am very hopeful that this year is my year. Stay posted.

Buy Atayne for a good cause

2008-11-15T19:25:00.006-05:00

Disclaimer: I have no formal affiliation with Atayne Sportwear and receive no compensation for any promotion I make on their behalf, big or small. Also, I did not know Jeremy Litchfield, Chief Pacesetter of the company, before a random email related to him passed by my desk at L.L.Bean. I am just a consumer who happens to run and who is always looking to do right by his planet.

Having said that, let the endorsements begin. In Atayne's recent newsletter (sent out Friday - sign up for it if you haven't), there was a little story on my family's battle with cancer and how it put us where we are today. When Jeremy asked me if it was okay to add a little on us, I agreed with the caveat that it would be more than just a "guy survives cancer, has a family, and now runs stupid distances". I wanted to make sure people knew that cancer can easily strike young, pretty healthy people who think they are invincible and immune to life threatening illnesses because "they never get sick". My story was just like that. I had a family practitioner who hardly knew how to use his stethoscope and seemed to be more preoccupied with getting me out of his office so he could hit the links. His incompetence and my indifference nearly cost me my life. So never take your health nor "little" ailments lightly. Be your own advocate. LiveStrong.

So I appreciate Jeremy writing up my story and hopefully it will help one person do good for his or her health. At the very least the story will help some young people who have no business fighting cancer - Jeremy has committed 10% of all purchases made using the code LiveStrongMaine. See the excerpt from the newsletter below. This is the perfect, earth-friendly gift to give to your loved ones who run or who don't run but really like cool, green stuff. Heck, buy them two so they will always have a shirt to wear while waiting for the other to line dry!

"In honor of Stephen’s remarkable story, Atayne will donate 10% of all online sales to the Maine Children's Cancer Program when you use the code livestrongmaine. Be sure to put the code in the Coupon/Promotional Code field during check out and push the Apply button. This offer will be good until December 31, 2008."

(Jeremy's inquiry also got me motivated to do something I have wanted to do for a long time, and that is chronicle my experience with cancer - the criminal misdiagnosis to the 5 year checkup which declared me cancer free.)

A quickie

2008-11-09T22:32:00.003-05:00

I spent the evening watching the just released documentary, Run for Your Life, on Fred Lebow and the New York City Marathon. While the movie was not as fast paced as my Friday night movie, "Iron Man", it packed a lot more emotion and motivation. The photography and videography was great in the film with the director doing more with still shots than I have ever seen, and the soundtrack was quite "funky". It also highlighted how eccentric we runners really are. If meeting with my buddies on a zero degree day to "run" snowmobile trails isn't proof enough, this film solidifies the notion. Definitely worth a watch for both runners and those who still wonder why people run.

My running these days is not as prolific as I would like it to be but I am still getting in some good ones. Last weekend I met a modest sized group of Trail Monsters at Pineland for a fairly modest distance run of just over 8 miles. In this group were some regulars including Jamie, Lilly (sic?), and (I was thrilled to see) Mindy, who is making her way back to running strongly after a layoff due to a stress fracture in her hip. The run was great as always and we convened for breakfast at a local place called Stone's where Kelly and the kids joined us.

During this run Jamie informed me of a 100-miler that will be in its 2nd year this year in up-state New York called the Iroquois 100. This race is held in mid-September and will be a perfect 2nd 100 next year if I do not get chosen in the upcoming Massanutten Mountain Trails 100 lottery. Jamie also got me thinking that maybe the Iroquois is a wiser choice for 100 number 2 next year given its timing late in the year versus trying to train for a spring 100-miler in a Maine winter. Jamie also nudged me to go ahead with my MMT 100 plans since he wants to pace me there and he is looking for excuses for a spring road trip! I hope I do not disappoint my good friend!

Yesterday I spent 10 miles on the treadmill in my basement because I didn't get to my run into after sunset (and it was raining outside!). I really do not mind the treadmill and in year's past got in some really decent training. It is not uncommon for me to get in a good 2 1/2 to 3 hours on the treadmill in the depths of winter. Versus running slushy roads and slow snowmobile trails, I am able to more closely gauge my effort and pace on the treadmill. It also allows me to watch all my favorite war and sci-fi movies that Kelly does not allow upstairs!

As for near term running goals, I am still in a light to medium maintenance phase and probably will not ramp things up to severely until after Christmas. I do plan on running the Portland Thanksgiving Day 4-Miler, perhaps alongside a visiting Jeremy Litchfield of Atayne, and then the Jingle Bell Run in Freeport in early December. Funny story here. The annual Washington DC Jingle Bell Run was the only run I did while Kelly and I lived in Northern Virginia. So when we moved up to Maine in the late fall of 2001, it only made since that I should run the Freeport Jingle Bell Run. Boy was I naive and woefully unprepared. The race is a 5K and about half way through the race I found myself walking up hills and being passed by kids many years younger than myself. I have not been back to run this race since that first attempt but Kelly has and she currently holds the family record in that race so I am feeling the need to challenge her reign as Wells Household Freeport Jingle Bell Run Champ!

Boston bound

2008-10-29T21:34:00.004-04:00

It's been awhile since my last post. As far as what I have been up to, Kelly and I were out in San Francisco a couple weeks ago for her to run the Nike Women's Marathon. I can not say enough about how well she ran. It has been three years since she ran her last marathon (in San Francisco as well) and in this outing she bested her last time by 20 minutes. And true to form she did it while smiling the entire time. Also, not to be forgotten, she raised nearly $4,500 for the fight against blood related cancers (I had one and they are nasty things to fight), thanks to the kind donations of many of you.

One of the many cool things we did in San Francisco was attend the Leukemia and Lymphona Team in Training pre-race dinner. At this celebration we witnessed awesome talks by both John Benoit Samuelson and John "The Penguin" Bingham. Both were tons of fun to watch and in John Bingham's case, hilarious. I found the entire weekend, and especially the dinner, very emotional. Kelly and I ran our first marathon through Team in Training in 2003. We raised over $12,000 and ran the Dublin (Ireland) Marathon, for all those people we know who had fought or were fighting cancer and to celebrate my successful completion of six months of chemo merely six months before. Team in Training is a great organization, and for any of you out there considering running your first marathon or are looking for a way to honor a loved one's or friend's battle with cancer, let me say two things: anyone can run a marathon and TNT is a great way to do it.

As for my running, I have logged nearly as few miles on my running shoes the last few weeks as I have words in this blog. Each year after my last fall marathon I take the time as a rest period. I usually decrease my miles, especially my weekend miles (which time is then spent being lazy with my kids), up my beer intake, and start planning on paper the next year's races.

I have decided a few things over this time.

1. I will run Boston. This will be my third Boston during my almost six years of running marathons. I secured my hotel reservations today and will make a long weekend of the marathon. What a great way to celebrate a 10th wedding anniversary.

2. I will throw my name in the lottery for the Massanutten Mountain Trails 100 Mile Run. This is run in my home state of Virginia. I missed the sign up last year because it filled up in an hour. Now I will try my luck in the lottery. If I do get in, it will mean quite a tough winter of long running since this race is held in May.

3. If my duties are still requested and required, I will head out to California once more to pace my buddy Jamie Anderson for the Western States 100. This time I will do a much more rigorous rain dance to ward off any wild fires that might threaten the race.

4. And I am pretty sure I will run for the third straight time in the Vermont 100.

After that I will rest, unless the Massanutten Mountain Trails 100 Mile run lottery falls through for me. Then I will try and seek out another 100 with the ultimate goal of running two 100 milers next year. I should also mention that my hope is that Kelly will choose to run the Pineland 25K and another fall marathon. I will let you know about that later.

Signing off. And don't forget to vote on Tuesday! You know for who!

The Humbling: My 5th Straight Maine Marathon

2008-10-06T20:31:00.002-04:00

First off, let me start with some incoherent mumblings about why I subject myself to the "humbling of the marathon"? Why do I jump into this epic distance year after year, arguably under-prepared, knowing full well that I will suffer? While running distance does awaken senses that otherwise lay dormant in day to day life and the struggle of finishing does make me appreciate my time on this rotating orb even more, I really don't have a good answer for this one. When I feel like a have a good answer it is fleeting and doesn't seem to capture the essence of the reason very well. Maybe this is why I keep running these things, to figure out why I am running them...

So, as even the least astute of you could have guessed, I once more tried my hand at the marathon distance on Sunday at the Maine Marathon and came out on the other side having achieved my goal but in no way without pain. Having said that, I had a rollicking good time, running with new friends from Atayne while wearing one of their fantastically performing running shirts as well as having the pleasure of seeing another friend complete in fine fashion his first marathon.

Let's rewind. Reminiscent of last year, I did not commit to run the marathon until the day before. On Saturday, Kelly, Quinn, and I headed down to Portland and the marathon expo to sign me up. Kelly was already committed to volunteering all day on Sunday, so she wasn't running. I had thought well enough ahead, unlike last year, to not commit to a Saturday morning full of start line set-up with the race director (which totally left my legs cooked during last year's race). So my legs were pretty fresh, too fresh actually from too little training the prior three weeks due to sickness, injury, and travel. But enough with the alibis. Oh yeah, there is one more. Saturday morning I awoke with a cold which left me doubting my ability to hit my goal of qualifying for Boston, and hardly to even run the required 26.2 miles to not be listed as a DNF (aka couldn't finish). The conversation on the way to sign up Saturday went something like this:

Kelly: "Are you gonna run?"
Me: "I don't know. I really want to but I feel terrible and there is no way I can win (!!) the race in this condition."
Kelly: "So what are you gonna do?"
Me: "If I don't race can it will probably save us over $100 including race fees and babysitting during the race. I can then put this money to better use, like getting an iPhone!"
Banker (I mean Kelly): You are not getting an iPhone.
Me: Should I race?
Kelly: I can't answer that for you.

And this dialogue went on the entire trip to Portland (I only asked once about the iPhone) and even into the expo where I proceeded walk around looking for inspiration and motivation for an hour before committing to race. This time was not lost, however, as I chatted with good friends and even met the good people of Atayne, including Rebecca (who seemed to really run the show), Paige, and Mike (who was described as the "sugar daddy" of the operation...I am guessing this has to do with money...I should have asked him about an iPhone). All very nice people whose mission it is to save us from ourselves by cleaning things up and dressing us in nice, clean, environmentally appropriate (meaning less harmful to the mother ship) clothing. And having worn their stuff on Sunday, I give it two thumbs up for wicking ability and for keeping itself looking sharp and crisp during my entire trip around Portland.

Anyhow, I did sign up with about a half an hour left in the expo. On the way home we got some healthy grub from O'Naturals, I dropped Kelly and the kids off at the Cumberland Pumpkin Festival, and I went home and consumed as many freshly picked apples as my stomach would take to help ward off my sniffles.

The apples apparently worked. Also, the fact that I got a few hours more than my standard 5-6 hours of snooze time probably didn't hurt. I awoke a couple hours before the race feeling pretty good but not entirely out of the woods, downed a couple pills, and then headed to the race to get ready for the day. We arrived at 7 AM for our volunteer prep at the Atayne tent (Kelly worked from 7:30 - 2:30 while I joined her at her water stop around noon), our babysitter met us, and then Kelly headed out to do her work. I stayed behind and met Jeremy (check out Sunday's article about him in the Maine Sunday Telegram), the founder of Atayne and native Mainer, who is now living in my home state of Virginia. I was planning on joining Jeremy and his buddy Mark for the 26.2 miles, or as long as we could stay together. Having never run with either of these guys, I had no idea of what to expect. Jeremy apparently had been training hard, and had a marathon PR (destroyed by end of the day) of around 3:23, while Mark was playing it humbly saying he would be happy to hang on with a finishing time around 3:15.

As we lined up, both Jeremy and Mark donned their game faces and iPod headphones, leaving me wondering how this whole thing was going to play out. I had never run with anyone wearing headphones (I am not against them, it just isn't something I use on race day), so I really wasn't sure of the etiquette like do I try to talk to them during the race of just leave them along. (As a side note, I never did ask them about their respective soundtracks. If either of them read this, what were you listening to?) Anyhow, maybe I should have paid more attention to all the pages that Runner's World and Running Times (mirror images of each other now that Rodale bought them) fills with iPod related stuff, but as the race started the iPod thing was no issue as both guys seemed to hear me just fine.

Many of you who have run many miles with me know that I am a talkative runner, hopefully respectfully so and not to the point of being annoying. Well, there was very little rumblings out of me on Sunday as the cannon propelled us to a first mile split of 7:25 which progressively got quicker to a 6:50 by mile 4 and then settled in to an average of about 7:00/mile until the latter stage of the race. All in all the pace was pretty consistent with some mile below and others just above this average pace, but much better than the 7:17 required to hit a Boston Qualifying (BQ) time of 3:10 for the youngest of runners. I had learned just a couple days earlier that my BQ time was now 3:15 since on race day in 2009 I will be 35 years of age. These extra five minutes would prove fortuitous as I paid for these quick early miles over the last 10K.

The three of us, Jeremy, Mark and I, got along swimmingly as we progressed from Portland through Falmouth, Cumberland, and then Yarmouth. Mark had a tendency to surge forward at points (which could be indicative of smoother pacing on his part) but we always tended to come back together. At the half way spot we were all together with a split time of roughly 1:33, well on pace for a sub-3:10. The trip home is a little tough with a few good uphills but overall a net descent which for me left my quads absolutely destroyed. There is one hill around mile 17 which rises only a couple hundred feet but completely squashed me on Sunday. After that hill things seemed to disintegrate for me. Mark pulled ahead of Jeremy and me while we slowed our cadence trying to save our legs for the top. At the top Jeremy was in much better shape than I was. Shortly after that he kept up his pace while I fell off mine enough to lose touch with him but keep him in my field of vision.

My splits from mile 19 on are very telling. Other than seeing Kelly, Riley (who apparently was the star water stop person of the day), and Quinn at the Mile 23.1 water stop and Jamie and Heather hollering encouragement (thanks guys) somewhere around mile 18-19, the last 7-8 miles were torture. After the 7:00 average pace we had held through mile 18, I slowed slightly to a 7:14 pace in mile 19 and the hemorrhaging started there. The following are my respective splits from Miles 20-26: 7:18, 7:46, 7:33(!), 7:53, 8:06, 8:05, 8:59(!!). The last 0.2 miles was run at a respectable pace of 7:30 for the adoring crowds that always gather at the finish lines of these things. In my mind during these last few miles I was witnessing a bloodbath of epic proportions. I was cursing myself for getting into this mess, constantly asking myself why I didn't commit to harder training, while at the same time I was entertaining the conflicting emotions of relief and happiness that I was almost done.

During the last few miles I lost sight of Jeremy but could see Mark only a few hundred yards in front. He was stopping intermittently to stretch out the cramps that were dogging him and I even resorted to a couple walking breaks to stretch out my legs (hence the 8:59 in the 26th mile). In the end, Jeremy busted his PR by over 13 minutes to finish just over 3:09 while Mark came in at just under 3:13 (just shy of a BQ which I am sure he will get next time around if he really wants it) and I finished about 30 seconds behind Mark. So we all got what we wanted: Jeremy and I BQ'd while Mark beat his 3:15 goal. All in all a pretty good day. But next time I will train better! I promise. This is what I said after last year's Maine Marathon debacle but I mean it this time.

Finally, I want to thank Jeremy, Mike, Rebecca, Paige, and the rest of the Atayne team and volunteers for all they did to clean up our race course and training grounds. They left Maine a better place than they found it, which is what all of us should aspire to do daily. Cheers.

Palin and Couric

2008-09-29T18:55:00.003-04:00

So it's been awhile since I last posted anything. And right now all I am doing is sharing one of the greatest Saturday Night Live skits with you all. Watch it and cry...in a funny and sad way. I dare you to watch the real interview with Katie Couric and find any where SNL took any great liberties with the dialog. So if you are a McCain fan, ask yourself if you are ready for this person to take office if McCain kicks the bucket...

2008 Bradbury Bruiser: My Comedy of Errors

2008-09-14T17:25:00.003-04:00

Some races just do not turn out the way they are supposed to. The morning dawned perfect with me rising naturally two minutes before the alarm sounded. I had not moved positions since falling asleep early (quarter after 11 is early for this night owl) and felt great. I can't remember the last time I got a solid almost eight hours of sleep. I just knew the race was going to be as epic as a 12-mile trail race on gnarly trails could be.

Fast forward a couple of hours. We arrives at Bradbury ready to race. It's great to see Jamie working registration. As is often the case with me, I sign up the day of the race. After the Ironman corporation took my registration fees for Ironman Wisconsin a couple years ago (my son was born the same week as the race and Kelly wouldn't let me go!), I know wait as long as possible to sign up for races. After registering, I ran into James (in a new jewel bedecked Trail Monster singlet looking dapper), said my hellos, and moved over near the start.

Present were some quick, young guys who had not been present at any of the prior Bradbury races. I knew this was going to be a quick race. After Jamie rang the traditional cowbell to start the race, the quick guys predictably raced off the front. I went with them, as I was feeling great, and hung with them for a few miles through the Laszlo trail and slightly beyond. A few guys sped up a bit and I fell off the front with a couple others, now running in 5th place. With me was Floyd, a roadrunning buddy, and another really young guy. Floyd was having a hard time in his road shoes on the soupy trail, while my Brooks Cascadias were holding up pretty well.

Around mile 5 my first stomach issue presented itself and I had to duck into the woods. As I am seasoned at this type of occurrence (!), I was back on the trail quickly having lost maybe only 10-15 seconds. I could still see 4th and 5th place in front of me and I worked hard to catch them. Within the next couple miles this darting in the woods and trying to catch back up happened two more times. I am not sure what was wrong. I might have had a touch of Quinn's stomach virus from Friday night or maybe it was the beer and barbecue from Saturday night's late meal (post-Maine Roller Derby - what a show). Either way, each time I stopped for this pit stop I lost a little more energy and focus. It was this loss of focus that hurt me the most.

After the third stop I was unable to catch Floyd and the young kid. (Floyd would go on to run a course of his own design and finish as a DNF for getting lost...he did beat me out by a little for Best Bruise at the awards ceremony.) At this point I was all alone on the trail, feeling sapped of energy, with tons of negative vibes coursing through me. As I became more frustrated at having lost the group I had worked hard to stay with, the rain started coming down a little harder and the terrain became a bit more difficult with rocks introduced to the trail. It was just after the mid-way point that I had my first head over heals spill. As I was descending a rocky trail I tripped and landed on my right side and proceeded to roll over onto my back. I was pretty cut up and shaken by this fall but was able to get up quickly and move out. I was a bit beat up from this episode, with a couple good strawberries on the outside of my right knee and gashes on both elbows, the right one which was bleeding down my arm pretty profusely.

Not a mile later I repeated this same type of fall as I was approaching a water station. It was after this fall that DNF'ing embarrassingly started entering my thoughts. My stomach was not cooperating, I was bleeding pretty good, and I had slowed down considerably. As I was heading up one of the only straightaways of the course (a snowmobile trail that dissects the single track trails), four other runners passed me. While I was pretty deflated at this point, getting passed motivated me. I figured this comedy of errors couldn't continue any longer (I was half right) so I might as well enjoy the rainy run and muddy trails.

Besides the side effects of having loose bowels for the first half of the race, open wounds, and a wounded psyche, the rest of the race went alright. As I approached the hardest part of the course, the "O" Trail, I noticed my buddy Jeff approaching. I knew Jeff was a good runner but did not expect to see him running so well having just returned this summer from a nasty injury. I was happy to see Jeff. We ran together on the "O" trail with Jeff giving me some respectable distance; enough for me to correct a wrong turn into some deep water and stay in the lead.

It was shortly after this foray into a swamp that reminded me of Yoda's planet, that I fell for the third and final time of the day. I slipped on a wet root as I was turning, losing my footing and slamming my head into the root. When I hit I felt my head rebound and I just knew I had either lost some teeth or had a concussion. Well, I did neither. At that point I just wanted to laugh while at the same time kneeling to ask God what I had done wrong to deserve this treatment! Jeff was kind enough to stop and check on me. I told him to go ahead and he did so hesitatingly. It's good to have people like Jeff out there who are willing to give up a good race to check on the well-being of another runner. Good karma for Jeff.

The rest of the race found me trailing Jeff with no other runners near us at all. Near the end of the "O" Trail we ran into a couple guys in front of us who had hesitated at an incorrectly trail marker. We hollered at them to continue in the way they were going and I stopped to correct the marker. The "O" Trail is nothing if not cruel. What a way to end a race. It would be fun at the beginning but at the end it is maddening. As I exited onto the snowmobile trail for the final quarter mile I could see a couple runners in front of me but I just had no energy for a kick. I finished in tenth place and about 40 seconds faster than last year when I finished in 4th place. The course this year was slightly different than last year so I am not sure how much time difference that made (good or bad), but either way I persevered through some pretty trying challenges and lived to run another day (heavily bandaged).

Thanks to Ian, Emma, Erik, Jamie, James and all the other Trail Monsters and fellow runners for all their work to produce another great race. Cheers.

Back from the running dead

2008-09-03T21:14:00.002-04:00

First, I have to apologize for not meeting up with Tommy on his journey through Portland. I had the best of intentions and attempted to muster all my buddies to run but I think my efforts fell flat. My excuses are numerous but feeble, so I will not bore them with you. I did however succeed in helping Tommy out in my native Virginia. My dad and buddy (both in the McDonald Business and big fans of the Ronald McDonald House) secured some lodging for Tommy and my dad is planning on running with him. So I will have to settle with living vicariously through these efforts. Best of luck Tommy and hats off to you. There can't be much more in life more pleasurable than undertaking an effort like this: running for a great cause that reaches thousands.

Having got that out of the way, on to where I have been. I have finally clawed my way back from the running and blogging doldrums. For some reason I lost some motivation the last week or so. This also happened last year after the Vermont 100. Right after the race I was gung-ho to run as many miles as my legs could muster. This lasted a couple weeks when I just lost the interest in logging miles. I suspect that the accomplishment of the race carries me a little and then the reality hits me that my goal race is behind me and there are no other running milestones in the near future. Next year my goal will be 2-3 100-milers to keep me jazzed a little longer. My buddy Ron Farkash of Massachusettes ran the Cascade Crest 100 just over a week ago and just a month after the Vermont 100. I think Ron got it right. Well done Ron.

Anyhow, my laziness (lack of running only, I have been cycling) has not been all for nought. I have been able to spend some great weekend time (morning, afternoon, and night) with my kids since I haven't been running out of the house at 5 AM for a 4-5 hour run. Instead my wife, Kelly, has been doing the long runs while Quinn, Riley, and I take domestic duty. We have ventured out a couple times to bring her snacks and liquids. I like the role reversal. I think I will like spectating for her even more at the Nike Women's Marathon. I plan on grabbing a great cup of joe and watching the runners race by as I am the one who shouts the words of discouragement at mile 13, saying "Only 13 more miles to go!" Also, if you haven't had a chance to donate to Kelly's fundraising efforts and you want a chance to win a free pair of shoes, it isn't too late to check out her fundraising page. She is just $1,500 shy of her goal of $4,000 with her deadline just over three weeks ago. Give until it hurts!

And finally, I learned this afternoon that my new favorite company, Atayne, has signed on as a sponsor of the Maine Marathon. I hope I am not letting the cat out of the bag, but this was just too good to hold in. Jeremy, the founder of the company, will be at the expo and is organizing a group of volunteers to pick up trash from the course which will then be sorted through and all recyclable removed to be used in post consumer products later. Very cool. So check out the Atayne site and buy a "clean" shirt to run healthy.

As for me, I am off to bed. Got a long run to work in the morning!

Four Million Steps

2008-08-21T21:30:00.003-04:00

This morning I was visiting a site that I have been following (www.atayne.com) and ran across the following blog post from Jeremy, the founder of Atayne, at "The Story of a Red Shirt" (buy stuff from him). Given my history with cancer, both having it myself and losing loved ones to it, as well as being a parent, I found the story of Tommy and his East Coast run to benefit the Ronald McDonald House very moving.

Any way, check out Jeremy's blog post and then find out when Tommy might be near your hometown so you can go out and cheer him on. Or figure out other ways to help him. I, myself, am looking at getting a group of runners to go out and maybe run a portion of the run with Tommy. Any takers? Tommy's route can be found on his website, Four Million Steps.

Thanks for reading.

A long run and a fall marathon

2008-08-18T23:08:00.002-04:00

Saturday I was back at the long run, meeting up with the Trail Monsters at Pineland for an early AM run. I am guessing the group was 12-15 strong at the outset of the run at 7 AM, and included some VIPs. Many of the Vermont 100 participants were there: Jamie, Ian and Emma, Erik, Chuck, and the VIP, Rawfood Frank. If you read my 2008 Vermont 100 Race Report you will recall that I ran with Frank for the first 40+ miles of the race. He is currently residing in Connecticut but we are working on getting him to set up his raw vegan shop here in Maine. Frank was visiting for a wedding and decided to join us for a long run. It was great giving him a tour of our running grounds and hopefully we will see more of him up this way and at other New England races.

The Saturday run was good, taking just over 3:12 and covering 20.25 miles. It was a bit humid but the pace we kept was a nice training pace, especially since this was the first long run most of us had done since Vermont. The deer flies were tame, considering the humidity and recent rainfall. It was really nice getting together with everyone for a long run. I have missed these runs since Vermont, but have been quite happy in my new role of supporting Kelly in her marathon training.

Speaking of Kelly, she ran the St. Pete's 4-Mile Road Race in Portland Friday night and did well, running an 8:46/mile pace on a very difficult course around the East End. Riley also donned running shoes and ran the kid's 1/2 Mile Fun Run, smiling the entire time, just like her mother.

Yesterday I played aid station for Kelly during her 18-mile long run. She struggled a bit, as most of the run was in full sun (and on the road to boot). Riley, Quinn and I met Kelly near mile 11 and refueled her, and as "mama" headed down the road the kids and I went to eat pastries at Maine Roasters Coffee and perused the bookstore. I knew that if we saw Kelly too soon the lure of a drive home would be great (based on how she felt when we saw her the first time) so the kids and I took our time tearing up the bookstore. By the time we left and hit the road, it had been over an hour and Kelly was already home. Good thing because she said she would definitely have taken the ride home!

Today I hit the roads of Freeport solo and had a pretty good run as a follow-up to the 20+ miler on Saturday. I ran a 6.14 mile course in 43:35, which equates to a 7:05 pace. The good thing about this run was that it was done in negative splits, starting at a 7:29 warm up pace in mile 1 to a 6:50 for the final mile. It was also hot and humid, so I felt pretty good about this run. It definitely gave me some confidence for a fall marathon. I haven't run a marathon this year and so I still don't have my Boston Qualifying time for 2009, so I just might hit the roads this fall for 26.2.

Alive and running

2008-08-14T00:20:00.000-04:00

Finishing a 100-mile race is exhilarating and sad at the same time. The glory of achieving another goal is the exhilarating part. The loss of goal race is the sad part. The best part of these races is the visualizing the finish and the actual training. The actual race itself is merely the icing on top. It is the metaphorical journey. Now that I have no substantial races on my calendar, I have been in limbo. "Training" takes on a whole new meaning. What am I training for? Nothing really. So I am no longer training but simply running to enjoy movement. Which isn't bad, just new for me.

Since Vermont over three weeks ago I have recovered from my foot pain, put in some pretty serious bike miles, and suffered through a pretty debilitating all-body virus that partially knocked me out for the past week. It's been fun.

Last Sunday I did get out to see my Trail Monster buddies at the Bradbury Breaker 9-Mile Mountain Trail Race, albeit in a different capacity: that of babysitter and spectator. Kelly ran while I took the photos. The weather was perfect for the race with a couple previous days of monsoons to make the course muddy and slippery. All went well with Kelly giving the camera a smile at every turn. I also met a couple nice folks who read this blog - thank you. Ian and Trail Monster Running put on some spectacular races. Job well done once again. Next up is the Bradbury Bruiser on September 14.

So now I have to decide what's next up for me. I have signed up already as Kelly's number one fan, spectator, and babysitter as she trains for the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco on October 19th. If you care to support her fundraising efforts, check out her website. Any and all support is appreciated personally by me.

Vermont 100 Race Report: Take Two

2008-08-04T21:15:00.008-04:00

Prologue:
It is very surreal to think that as I write this I am only a couple days removed from running the last mile of my second 100-mile endurance run. As I struggled through those last few miles I did not believe I would ever attain comfort again, much less this soon. It is very easy to see how we so easily become complacent in our comfort, especially given how easily it is obtained. I think this is the reason most of us accept the challenge and put ourselves through the struggle that is the 100-mile run distance. We seek out anything that challenges us; something to get us closer to that primeval will to survive that our early ancestors lived with everyday.

This was my first 100-miler since hitting the 5-year cancer free mark and receiving the declaration that I am a cancer "survivor". I believe my experience with cancer gives me a distinct and decided advantage over those who have not had to go through the ordeal of treating the disease. While I could never quantify the mental toughness and appreciation for life I took away from the chemo ward, it is an enormous driver in my life and is in my mind every step of the way from start to finish line. So there is the source of my motivation. Now on to the race!

We arrived early the day before the race and were greeted by a glorious sunshine and moderate temperatures. Shortly after pulling in, I started setting up our tent site along with my kids, Riley and Quinn, and wife, Kelly. The campsites were situated in a bucolic pasture at Silver Hill Meadow in West Windsor, Vermont, at the start and finish of the Vermont 100 Endurance Run. My Trail Monster buddy, Jamie Anderson, had already arrived and we set up camp next door to him. Having practiced setting up our family tent before, this chore was completed quickly and we headed out to have lunch about ten minutes up the road in idyllic Woodstock. I can now say that the salads and sandwiches served up at Bentleys is an ultrarunner's best friend having eaten there twice now before the big race.

We kept the trip to Woodstock limited to lunch, even though the town is full of quaint little shops. Upon arriving back at the race site, the whole Trail Monster crew was there as was my pacer Brian Manson and his family. Ian and Emma and Ian's parents were setting up camp and had erected a very cool Trail Monster flag. I quickly took advantage of the on-site pond next to our camp with Riley and Quinn taking dips as well. Afterwards we headed over to the race meeting where the race director informed us that it was going to be hot (actually really hot) and while it did not reach the temperatures of near 100 degrees that we were warned might be present, his statement was not far off the mark. The pre-race dinner was fantastic, albeit a bit chaotic, and left us all feeling ready for bed. That is all except Quinn, my youngest child. He would not go to sleep and kept me up quite late. I also had to deal with a big snorer near my tent, whose name I will not disclose, but this did not keep me from sleep long either. Compared to other camping trips and especially those before big races, I was granted a mercifully good night's rest. The next day was going to be long so I was going to need whatever help I could get.

The Beginning:

In the beginning there was Chariots of Fire. Over a loud speaker. And it would not go away. Unlike last year, I was prepared for it so the impact was dampened a bit. In fact, after the first couple minutes of its droning, I was able to block it out. While I do not have anything against the movie or Vangelis's theme song, I just don't understand why we runners can't find another song to use for motivation! After a few minutes of inaction, I uttered the words "it's inevitable" as I slid out of my cozy sleeping bag into my running clothes and moved my soul outside the tent. My body followed shortly after and Kelly and I moved over to the start after indulging in a cup of coffee with my fellow Trail Monsters, Ian and Emma. On the way I followed tradition by joining the porta-john line which was entirely too long and held me up until about one minute before the race start. Miraculously I found Jamie and Ian at the start, Kelly snapped a picture, and at 4 AM the cow bells rung and we were off.

Into the Vermont woods we ran and within the first mile I began sweating. The humidity was ridiculous and was visible in the air, reducing the range of our headlamps noticeably. Jamie and I stuck together and shortly began picking up other runners to form a makeshift club. My Trail Monster buddy, Chuck Hazzard, signed up first, followed by Ron Farkash from Massachusetts, with whom I ran the beginning of last year's race, and rounding out our happy group was Rawfood Frank, a raw vegan chef from Connecticut. We were a motley crew, all offering something different and valuable. Frank quickly made himself indispensable as he quickly began to dole out the most obscure nutritional advice imaginable. For example, who but a select few would know that the "chia" in chia pets is an incredibly nutritious food source? Apparently, as I learned from Frank, it was used by Aztec warriors on their long conquests. I started wondering why we all weren't chewing on the stuff. I for one am going to pull out that chia pet I have had on my closet shelf and bring it to work to begin growing some health. I also learned about the best order in which to eat things (no peanut butter before watermelon to aid digestion) and countless other valuable things as I ran with Frank for over 40 miles.

At the start of the run I had decided to bring my hydration pack given the fact that the handler station is over 21 miles away and I would need to support myself for almost four hours. My game plan was to use Clif Lemonade as my electrolyte source, S-caps and Endurolytes to supplement my salt intake, and then eat whatever my stomach would take. This last part was difficult as it seemed that about every hour I was forced to make a pit stop to void my stomach. I then knew I was going to have to readjust my nutritional plan and go with the flow. This was lesson number one of the day: accept that the best laid plans can come crumbling down in which case you have to quickly readjust and find what will work. Last year watermelon worked really well for me. This year it wasn't, probably due to the heat, but it would take me a little while to figure this out.

The first of the day's handler stations (where a runner meets his or her crew) was at Pretty House, mile 21.1. Into this station I strolled with most of the group from the beginning, having lost Ron but gained Trail Monster founder, GIant Parlin. I was greeted by my early morning crew, Brian and Kelly's dad, Phil, and they promptly set about getting me refilled for the road. This we did quickly and I moved on my way, spending no more than a couple minutes. This was repeated 9 miles up the road at the Stage Road handler station. Jamie moved through this station a little quicker than me and Frank and it took to the top of the "Sound of Music" hill to catch him. The climb to the top of this hill, which hosts spectacular views, is downright cruel and exposed to full sun. Our group grew a bit here and stayed together for awhile, as we descended the hill leaving our quads somewhat burned. It was way too early for that.

The Despair:
Just shy of mile 40 we ran through the Lincoln Covered Bridge, the second of the day. These are spectacular structures and running through them gives one a great view of their construction, not to mention a moment of shelter from the sun. As we came to the aid station that follows, our group was back down to just Jamie, Frank, and me and stayed small the rest of the day. Conversation had settled down as we were all contemplating what the rest of the day was going to bring, especially how hot it might get. I for one was harboring some very dark thoughts of how I might feel if the actual weather came close to the prediction of the day before.

Roughly a mile short of the Lillians Aid Station at mile 43.5 I had the first of my two nose bleeds of the day. This was very energy draining and destroyed my focus for a brief period. I eventually got the blood loss under control and regained my composure. It was shortly after this that my gastrointestinal issues resurfaced and my frustration got the better of me as I headed down the road away from Jamie and Frank to visit the porta-john I knew was at Lillians. Upon rolling into the aid station, I handed my hydration pack to the volunteers who kindly refilled it as I hit the head. My timing could not have been better; as I exited Jamie was pulling up, enabling me to join him. Unfortunately Frank had dropped back just a little and was not with us as we moved forward. I would not get the opportunity the rest of the day to run with Frank, but I did see him every so often pulling into aid stations as I was leaving and every time he had a confident smile and fine form, so I knew he would roll into the finish line in good shape.

It was also at this point that I started to ache a little. The outside of my quads were "pinging" a bit with every footfall and a couple toes started hurting. On top of this I started to get a little bored. Despair hit a bit here as I realized I was hurting and losing focus with not even half the race complete. This was the beginning of the first low point of the day; the first of many. Last year I was lucky in that my first of only one low hit at mile 70, so these early lows were new for me. I have read many times about the physical and emotional roller coaster suffered through long distance events and my knowledge of this made me comfortable that this was normal and before I knew it I would soon enough be running on cloud nine again. This was lesson two of the day: you will hit some extreme lows but there is a 99.9% chance you will pull out of it as quickly as you entered it, the trick is just lasting until that happens.

Also of note was that just before Lillians, around mile 43, I ran across one of the Western States 100 transplants who I had met on a run down from Emigrant Pass during my trip to that race that is now famous for the fact that it was the first ever WS100 to be canceled. He was a Californian who was planning on attempting his first 100-mile race at Western States and when those plans changed, he decided to put his training to use in Vermont. When I caught up to him during the event, he was not looking so good and all he could utter to me was "I'm done". Truer words have never been spoken. He was cooked in every way possible. It was then that I realized I really wasn't in all that bad of shape. Fortunately for me, seeing the pain in this runner's eyes set me straight and pulled me out of my dark thoughts.

The Middle:
Camp 10 Bear appears on the course like an oasis in a desert. We rolled in just before 1 PM and the crowds were thick and I got to see my family for the first time of the day. Runners also greet this stop with a little dread as it is the first medical stop where weights are taken and the doctors perform their "psychoanalysis" of all the participants. As I pulled in with Jamie, we were greeted by my daughter, Riley, wielding twizzlers and a big hug. As my stomach was a little on the edge the best I could do was nibble off an end despite her assurance that they were really good. I quickly checked in with Brian, said hi to Kelly, and moved on to weigh in.

At check-in the day before the race I had weighed in to provide a base line. My weight was 163. Just a few days prior to this weigh-in I had weighed 156 on a certified scale at work. This heavy weight was a surprise, even given the big lunch(es) I had just eaten. Now here I was stepping up to the scale at Camp 10 Bear and reading a weight of 155. I had lost 8 pounds. This was almost 5% of my pre-race weight and enough to justify the medical staff to ask me to sit and hydrate. I quickly beat them to any declaration by explaining how I fine I felt and summarized my nutrition and well-being to that point. To my surprise they sent me on my way. Ian was not so lucky. Weighing in 7 pounds light was enough to bench him for a short period while he downed some pretty serious fluid.

Camp 10 Bear doubles as both the medical aid station at mile 47.2 and mile 70.1. The miles between these two are the hardest of the day, by my estimation. For some reason I feel quite lonely when I do this loop in the southwest part of the course. This is probably because it comes in the middle of the course, so you are tired from the miles you have done and worried about the miles to come, which for most of us are the miles we never covered in training (as training runs rarely, if ever, exceed 50 miles). This loop also comes in the heat of the day. I suspect it was because of this heat that my stomach was still quite unsettled and a bit bloated. I was uninterested in food and was still voiding my stomach too often. Salvation came in the form of a nice volunteer who looked at me at the mile 54.1 Birminghams aid station and said "you've gotta eat something." I heeded her advice, downed my first ever "on-the-run" turkey and cheese sandwich, wagering I had nothing to lose, and headed out with Jamie. I walked for about a quarter mile on a flat stretch through a field, simply to avoid choking on my sandwich. It wasn't too long afterwards that I started feeling better and my energy levels seemed to rise. This was lesson number three of the day: you gotta eat, even if your stomach is screaming no. Without food you are useless.

Throughout this low period Jamie hung with me. It seemed that our highs and lows alternated throughout the day, which was beneficial in that there was always one of us that could motivate the other to move just a little quicker than we probably would have if left to our own devices. It was right after Birminghams, as my food was being turned into energy, that Dan Brendan, whom many have dubbed "Arizona" after his home state, caught up with us just as I emerged once more from a bio break in the woods. By my count, Dan has completed the Ultrarunning Grand Slam (complete four of biggest 100s in a single year) every year since 2004. To this point, he had run 6 100-milers this year. He dispatched some sage advice, telling us to be sure to take it easy during the hot part of the day and to take care of our stomachs with the knowledge that all (or at least most) would be healed as the temps cooled down. We ran with Dan for a couple miles until he headed off in the distance. Last year I was lucky enough to pass him somewhere in the last ten miles and finish a few minutes before him. This year our placement in the final ranking was reversed.

Not quite the end:

At mile 57 Jamie and I reached the Tracer Brook aid station, so named for a nice little stream that was enjoyed by both horses and my kids during the heat of the day. Quinn was just waking up when I saw him at Camp 10 Bear but rearing to go at Tracer Brook after just exiting the stream. He ran up into my arms and his 25 pounds about toppled my feeble body when I picked him up. I got a quick hug from him and decided carrying him was not an option, so I put him down and headed over to feast. It was also here that I learned lesson number four of the day: don't forget a bandanna on a hot day. Jamie had been filling his bandanna with ice at each stop and tieing it around his neck. This served to cool the blood flowing through the carotid artery, and hence your head and brain. Phil happened to have a handkerchief which was pretty small, but enough for me to use. I promptly tied it on and moved along. As I was leaving, Quinn started crying for me and I felt terrible leaving him. I had a moment of sadness as I knew that turning around wasn't an option. I shouted back some words of encouragement to him and moved out, knowing that was the only thing that would get me home sooner.

Not too far up the road I concocted a motivational story for Jamie. I know Jamie well enough to understand he suffers from an acute case of "bucklemania". That is, when a buckle is at stake at a race, Jamie will do whatever he can to secure that buckle. He would gladly run himself into the ground to make sure he walks away with it at the finish. So on top of Prospect Hill, around mile 60, while Jamie was in a trough and I was on a pedestal, I casually mentioned to him that the Vermont buckle for under-24 hour finishers was a "special, 20th Anniversary edition". I myself partially believed this, but I faltered momentarily when questioned by Jamie and then I decided to stick to my story because I figured it couldn't hurt. Not so surprisingly, this lifted Jamie right out of the black hole he was in and I heard him mutter the mantra, "20th Anniversary edition buckle", aloud for the rest of the time I was with him. He was still talking about it the next morning as we watched the last finishers cross the line, and he never showed any disappoint when he received the same old buckle as last year. They are all special, no matter the size or material.

Around the same time I took advantage of Jamie's "bucklemania", clouds started forming and Jamie and I heard some thunder. It was 3 PM and hot. We were tired and in dire need of a dowsing. After hearing the thunder for about half and hour and watching the skies darken around us, our wish was granted as the clouds emptied just shy of Prospect Hill at mile 60. Funny enough I became quite chilled during this 20 minute deluge. I am sure my body was quite confused, having gone through heat and now cold. Even better was that these cool temperatures carried us into the best aid station of the day, Margaritaville at mile 62.1. Mentally I was at the absolute high of the day. I had become super chatty leading up to this aid station, unbelieving of how well I felt. Brian and Phil, my extraoidinary crew, were there to greet me. Exiting this station I knew that we were only one aid station and 8 miles away from our second stop at Camp 10 Bear, where pacers would join us for our run to the finish line.

The miles leading up to Camp 10 Bear were pretty uneventful and not very scenic. We crossed paths with quite a few horses and also had the pleasure of visiting with the deadheads at the Brown School House aid station. I chose not to partake in the eating of the brownies as I did last year, hoping to aviod the stomach issues that plagued me last year after leaving this station. This part of the course, miles 65 to 70, are very runnable and in fact seem to be downhill. This forced Jamie and I to compromise a bit on our race plan of only walking the uphills as neither of us was in any shape to run a straight five miles . Even with this compromise we still covered this section in a pretty remarkable pace of 11:18/mile, this was the best pace we had held since the five miles between 34 and 39 which included traversing the Lincoln Covered Bridge. A big part of this quicker pace was the magical pull of the pacers. It seems like an entirely new race once you meet your pacer. They inject new blood and energy, and after having run 70 miles this is in great need.

The beginning of the end:

About a half mile out of Camp 10 Bear Jamie and I spotted a group of spectators and started high fiving, anticipating Camp 10 Bear was just on the other side of this family. Unfortunately this industrious family had hiked out away from the crowds at the aid station to get an early view of the runners and we were still about a mile away. So we trudged on, passing a runner was just leaving Camp 10 Bear for the first time. He was over 20 miles behind us! The thought sobered us up a bit and we both gave thanks of where we were. Not so sober were the guys who had sat down with a cooler of beer just on the outskirts of Camp 10 Bear. They had offered us a beer 5 hours earlier (!) as we were leaving Camp 10 Bear and here they were, still drinking. Now that is endurance.

Just before 6 PM, almost 15 hours after starting the run, I picked up my once handler now pacer, Brian. I also weighed in for the second time of the day. Remember, 23 miles earlier I had weighed in at 155 pounds, 8 pounds lighter than the previous days weight. This time I was happy to see I had gained 5 of those pounds back. I also felt pretty good as a I grabbed a quarter of a grilled cheese sandwich and sat down to change out of my wet shoes and socks. This took very little time and Jamie and I, complete with our pacers, Brian and Al, set out up a treacherously steep hill which I remember all too well from last year.

Last year I hit my one low of the day heading up this hill. This year I was luckier in that I was feeling okay, but this hill still hit me pretty hard. Finally we did hit the top and were happy to get to running again. About a mile later I turned around to check on Jamie and realized he wasn't behind us. I decided that he must have pulled over for a bio break, and that this was as good a time as any to go at it alone. This departure was sad in that Jamie I had spent over 14 hours and 71 miles running together, having bonded more than we had over the entire year I have known him. During the rest of the night I was able to check on his progress through his handler, Kate, and it gave me comfort knowing he was still running strong.

Brian and I crossed paths a number of times with Ron Farkash, with whom I ran at the beginning of the race. The only problem with the paths we crossed was that he was usually running the wrong way on the course, having to backtrack from missed turns. If I was him I would have fired my pacer immediately, but this wasn't an option for Ron as his wife was acting in that capacity. Remarkably Ron seemed to take the extra credit running in stride and kept ahead of us until Brian and I passed him soon after the West Winds aid station at mile 77. This aid station, also known as the "Spirit of '76" is right up there with Margaritaville in enthusiasm. The crowds were great, cheering for all the runners as they entered, and there was even an acoustic musician there for some entertainment.

The miles with Brian passed quickly and enjoyably, containing the expected amount of humor that seems to follow Brian like the dirt cloud that follows the Peanuts character Pig Pen. Of note was seeing Ron doubling back two too many times and once more being greeted by the Grimm brother's witch from Hansel and Gretel. There she stood, as she did last year, at the entrance of her gingerbread house with the nicest smile imaginable, tempting us to come rest our weary legs. What are the chances this lady would once again be in the same place as we passed her a year later? We took this an omen (not sure if good or bad) and moved on.

The last miles with Brian were fruitful as we quickly covered some good ground. Brian proved to be the more gentle of my two pacers, softly encouraging me when I did run but never demanding, My wife, Kelly, on the other hand was much tougher, prodding me at every opportunity. By the time I reached her at mile 88.6 the full moon was high in the sky and the hour was getting late, having just eclipsed 10 PM. I still had just over 11 miles to go, and at the pace I was running Kelly estimated we would hit the finish line somewhere near 2 AM. This prophecy left me momentarily dazed, but I soon recovered and set about trying to prove her wrong. It was also at this aid station, named Bill's, that I had my final weigh-in. It appeared that my newfound ultra diet of turkey and cheese sandwiches was serving their purpose. My stomach had kept all I had eaten for a few hours and my weight of 162 was now just a pound shy of my pre-race weight. Down the road I went, wondering how I had regained all that weight during a 100-miler, when I am sure the weigh-in from the day before had been heavy.

Kelly and I did a fair bit of walking over the next few miles. Right out of Bill's we hit a long section of mowed fields that are terribly cambered which drops you into some single track which then deposits you at the foot of a hill that seems to never stop. The 3 miles from Bill's to Keating's at mile 92 were my slowest of the day. I clocked a not so blistering pace of 17:48/mile, probably the slowest I have ever run. I am not sure why these miles were so slow, especially given that I felt okay. Last year I ran a pace of 15:02/mile during this section, 2 minutes and 45 seconds faster. Maybe it was because I was enjoying the company of my wife so much since we never get the opportunity these days to just go for a run in the middle of the night (who does?). The walking did enable us to catch up on the events of Kelly's day with the kids. I learned that everyone had a great swim at Tracer Brook but they did not enjoy the storm as much as the runners did (at least those who received no hail). The storm apparently was not kind to the campground; a tree had landed on our tent and many campers' tents were drenched. Kelly did as much as she could to dry all our buddies' stuff out and to ensure we had dry sleeping quarters for the night. Dry or not, I didn't suspect I would mind but I really appreciated her effort, as did many others.

As we crested what had just seemed like an interminable hill, Keating's aid station greeted us. I took in a little caffeine and some chicken broth, and chatted with the volunteers who assured us there was really only one more hill. Based on this statement and my experience over the next few miles led me to believe they had probably lived in this area their entire lives and no longer notice the hills. Right out of the gate the process of struggling up a hill started all over again. The good thing was that we were near the end and as a veteran of this race, I had first hand knowledge of the glory that awaited me at the finish line.

Despite the full moon, it was still quite dark. The orange tint reduced the impact of the moon's light while the high humidity dampened our headlamps to quite useless lighting devices, leaving visibility of the trail quite low. What ambient light we were getting was hardly worthy of leading us through pockmarked horse trails, whose condition was much worse than last year due to the deluge of rain we got earlier in the day and the night before. After the last manned aid station at mile 95, Polly's, I did some quick math and decided in order to arrive before 2 AM, or 22 hours, I would have to run at least a 20 minute mile pace. At this point in the race I had no idea how easy this was going to be since I had no notion of my pace over the preceding 95 miles. When Kelly first joined me she had predicted a 2 AM start and this just seemed too late. I continued to adjust my time goal as I felt us getting closer and we were maintaining a pretty good ratio of running to walking until a few miles out I decided I would aim for hitting the finish line before 1:30 AM, almost exactly one hour longer than last year. So the race was on.

The trail up the last hill before the finish line is called the Trail of the Bloodhounds and leads to Blood Hill. This trail was a mess and hard to navigate with the lamp on my head so I employed the "fog light" effect and removed the lamp to hold it with my arm extended to the ground. This was extremely effective and did an amazing job of making the traverse safer and quicker. Once we spotted the milk jugs containing the glow sticks on the other side of Blood Hill I knew we were almost home. These jugs have an affect on a person similar to the sight of a stack of presents under a tree on Christmas morning. It almost made me want to break out in song. Descending to the finish line with Kelly was pure joy and we were greeted by my daughter Riley, Thea and Phil, and Brian. The clock read 1:28 AM, and it had taken me 21 hours and 28 minutes to cover 100 miles on foot. Not a bad days work.

Epilogue:
After the run I sat with the 100-mile version of the thousand yard stare, unable to focus on much of anything as my body wound down from almost an entire day of running. To go from over twenty-one hours of constant motion to stillness is a very odd sensation, and not an all too unpleasant one. The soreness was all inclusive, running from my neck and upper body to the soles of my feet. At roughly mile 80 I was reminded of a pain I have only experienced in my one other 100-miler, and that is soreness in my pecs and triceps, which hurt from all the bouncing and jostling they suffer through all day. And this was only one of the many weird pains I experienced. I made my way to the food tent, chowed down on some scrumptious spaghetti and meatballs, no doubt leftovers from the pre-race dinner, but to me it tasted like food from a five star establishment. After some eating and sitting, I decided it was time to go clean up and hit the rack. Getting up was not so easy. Even though I had been running non-stop for the entire day, once I sat my game was over. Like the old ultrarunning adage says, "Beware the chair." I eventually made my way to my tent where I was able to clean up and get some rest.

Rest really didn't come all that easy as every move was noticeable. I heard Jamie come in discussing his race (finish: 22:27) with his handler, Kate, but was unable to get up to check on him. The next morning I awoke to Jamie and the others chatting around our campsite, trading war stories. While both Ian and Erik had great runs, finishing in 22:54 and 25:31, respectively, my buddy Chuck had to abandon his race at Camp 10 Bear at mile 47. All in all, this was a pretty good showing for the Trail Monsters on a hot and humid day.

As for the after effects, Sunday and Monday were pretty difficult, but by Tuesday I was ready to run. My measure of this is how well I can ascend and descend stairs. Tuesday morning found me bounding up and down, so I was all set. I am still struggling a bit with an aching right foot (I suspect some type of bone bruise), but my mind is much better off than last year and has even convinced my body that next year we need to do at least two of these 100s. After that, who knows. Anyone up for an adventure race?

The big success story of the day were the lessons learned. I know I need to train to consume more food and liquids. I learned to really manage the ups and downs. Most importantly, and the final lesson of the day is this: no matter the imagined obstacles, be it weather, training shortfalls, or phantom injuries, trust yourself to keep putting one foot in front of the other. It is as simple as that.

Our friend Thea has accompanied us to many races, ranging from 10Ks to marathons, but this was her first 100-miler. She remarked how surprised she was at the anti-climax that is a 100-mile finish line. Her only point of comparison really is to a marathon finish line with all its loud and adoring fans. True, at a 100-miler there is no welcoming committee offering immediate congratulations and volunteers catering to the finishers every need while doling out medals and space blankets. Instead you are welcomed by a few fantastic but sleepy time keepers, a few weary spectators who are disappointed you are not the runner they are cheering on, and any family members who were able to stay awake to greet you. The difference is that an ultrarunner's reasons for running are generally much different than runners of other distances. To commit to running 100-miles, your reasons must run very deep into your soul. Ultrarunners do not look for large crowds of seemingly adoring fans. Truly, all we are looking for is the medical tent and food, to be followed shortly by a locally crafted beer.

Vermont, we'll see you next year!

2008 Vermont 100 completed

2008-07-21T21:00:00.003-04:00

Early Sunday morning I completed my second 100-mile endurance run. The Vermont 100 took me almost exactly one hour longer this year than last year but to say I am disappointed would be a lie. I am ecstatic with my time given the high temps and humidity and other environmental conditions, and the lessons learned were numerous. I can not wait for my next 100 to build on this experience. The results have been posted on the Vermont 100 website. Please note that the 100K results are include so you'll have to ignore any runners with bib numbers in the 400s. I do not know my overall placement but my overall time was 21 hours and 8 minutes.

While I plan on writing a more extensive race report in the next few days (no, it won't take three months like last time, and I do promise brevity), I want to give a shout out to a few key people from the weekend. First, thank you to my wife, Kelly, and kids, Quinn and Riley, for all their help. Kelly was instrumental in pulling everyone's tent site back together after the storm hit us Saturday afternoon (our tent had a tree laying across it). Next, thanks to Brian for his excellent pacing and to his family for their support. Next, thanks to Pops and Boo Boo for helping with the kids and for their excellent crewing, all day and all night. Lastly, thanks goes to Frank (google "Rawfood Frank"), with whom I ran almost half the race and learned tons of great nutritional stuff, and my great buddy Jamie with whom I ran about 71 miles. Thanks for all the help. This race would have not been nearly as fun without one of you.

Vermont 100 Pre-race psych up

2008-07-17T20:55:00.003-04:00

Two days away from my second Vermont 100 I am not sure what to feel. I am excited that it is finally here but at the same time I am harboring some inexplicable dread. Maybe it is because I am not a fan of repeating courses, especially long distance ones, or perhaps it is because the weather report is calling for temps in the high 80s with high humidity.

Or maybe it is because I don't feel like my training is where it should be. I have a feeling that I am not the only one with this concern. Here are some interesting tidbits I concocted to ease my concerns. From Jan 1 to the final week before the VT 100, I covered 1,114 miles on my training runs in 2007 while during the same period this year I ran 1,120 miles for a variance half a percent. Pretty damn close, and keep in mind I do not use a training plan so this is purely by coincidence. Add in all the biking I have been doing this year and then this year's training doesn't seem all that bad. Also, last year my pace fell off precipitously between miles 70-84 because of my stomach issues. If I run the same race this year as I did last year and avoid the stomach issues for those 14 miles and maintain my normal pace, I can shave off 35 minutes (!) from last year's time to put me at 19:52. I know this is crazy analytics but it helps mentally to think about these things.

Anyway, the race is here and I am going to run it. And it is going to be hot. Those there are the facts. I'll let you know what transpires in my post next week, or you can keep track of my results by visiting the Vermont 100 website.

Catch up, L.L.Bean 10K, and final training

2008-07-13T21:19:00.006-04:00

Alright, it's been awhile since I have posted on my training. So let's catch up.

My training has taken a beating the last few weeks. The week of June 16th found me playing the part of single dad as Kelly was on a business trip to Florida. That only left the weekend after her return for serious training. However, Saturday was the Mount Washington Road Race (which I ran) and which subsequently left me with a pretty nasty cold. So Sunday I was feeling terrible and missed a planned long run with L.L.Bean buddy Jim. Sunday night I was dealing with not only my cold but a vomiting son who always shares his viruses with me. Worst case nightmares were visiting my thoughts and I was quite depressed about the prospect of missing out on helping Jamie at his Western States 100 attempt. The rest of the week, before flying off to the eventually cancelled Western States 100, was all about washing my hands and ridding myself of the cold I was carrying. Then I went to California, missed my long training run that was to be my pacing for Jamie, got a few decent runs in, and came home. You know this well if you read my verbose account in my previous blog post.

So what has happened since returning from California. First, I did catch the stomach virus Quinn introduced to the our home. Riley had it when she picked me up at the airport, and I am assuming passed it on to me through all the hugging we did. The stomach virus hit me the day before the L.L.Bean 4th of July 10K while performing my race committee duty. That happened in the morning and the entire afternoon was spent in bed at home. The next morning, 4th of July, was race day and I arose at 3:45 to get to Freeport to start my race committee duty of the day at 4:30. My job was to set up the race course, including mile markers, laying out cones for all the volunteer zones, and setting up the water stops. By 6:30 I was back to the start line and runners were already appearing around the start area. With only an hour to go to race time, my stomach was still really unsettled and I was unsure about racing. I love this race and spent a lot of volunteer time to get it set up, so I decided that I would run and if necessary bail out. But I at least wanted to give it a shot. At start time the temps were perfect and the record sized field was ready to run. The race itself went off well for me, and I hit the first mile in 5:40 and felt really good doing it. At this point, I settled in with a group of guys who I have raced with in the past and paced myself on them. I stayed with this group until the end and clocked in a time of 38:17, 3 seconds better than last year. Considering my early wake time, race set up duties, and ill stomach, not too shabby. Kelly and my father-in-law Phil also ran and did so well (my measure of success is the size of smile immediately upon finishing). Also racing was Riley! She ran the 1-mile fun run and did a great job. Kelly ran with her, and other than a small section at the turn around where Riley demanded that Kelly carry her, Riley ran the entire way and finished with a bigger smile than Kelly, Phil, and me combined!

The day after the 10K race I headed over to Pineland for a final long run before my shortened taper for the Vermont 100 began. I started at 5 AM and ran the first couple hours solo. While I am a big fan of running long with others, I do enjoy the early morning solitude of Pineland. As it is in many places, Pineland is absolutely magical in those couple hours following sunrise. As the sun ascends and the day heats up, out come the deer flies and then everything changes. After a couple hours of running I joined a much larger group that included Jamie, Ian and Emma, James, Jim, and Lilly. Despite some lingering stomach issues and extreme moodiness (due to feelings of lack of preparedness for the quickly upcoming Vermont 100), I finished the day with just shy of 29 miles in 4:32 hours. I felt okay and went on with Kelly and the kids to a post-run, pity party James threw for Jamie's experience at the cancelled Western States 100.

On to last week. I had a good past week. Physically I felt okay with no stomach or cold viruses present. I got some pretty good miles in, probably a little more than typically suggested for taper, but mentally I needed it. I got a few days of cycling into work (total of about 80 miles on the bike this week) and got in one run to work. It was a hot week and I think I chose the hottest, most humid day to run to work. Wednesday morning I set out for the just short of 15 mile run to work and within minutes the deer flies found me. After a mile of battling these annoylingly painful biters, I considered turning around and going home. The problem (designed to ensure I run to work) was that I had no car to drive to work (left at work for the drive home) and it was about too late to get home and bike to work. So I continued on. At the end of the run I was soaked from perspiration and I had been rationing my water bottle for about 45 minutes. The end result was that the run took 15 minutes longer than any of my past runs to work and must have consumed nearly half of my body's hydration! This was one run I will happily forget.

Today and yesterday I got in runs around Pineland. Yesterday I met Brian (my 100-mile pacer), Jamie, and Lilly at 7 AM and we ran for a couple hours (estimated because I thought I had lost my GPS Saturday morning and ran without it only to return home to discover Kelly found it in exactly the spot I had been searching). After about 1:30 Brian took his leave and then Jamie signed off about 15 minutes later. Lilly and I continued on as we both swatted flies from each other's back and had a great conversation. Lilly is somewhat new to our group and wicked smart. She's a physics professor at Bates College and apparently knows as much about biting insects (very frightening amount of knowledge) as she does about E=MC2. I also ran into a buddy from work, Brian O. , who lives near Pineland and often runs there (but whom I have never run into there). Funny enough that the first time I ever met Brian out there I happened to be running with Lilly (professor at Bates) and Brian's wife will start teaching at Bates in the Fall. How about that coincidence.

And lastly was my run with Kelly this morning at Pineland. Today was her birthday and the kids had a sleepover with the grandparents at camp, so we were free to sleep in and run together (just like all our single and kid-free friends). We had a great run around the farm side of Pineland and Kelly got in the 1:45 run her training schedule demanded. The deer flies also joined us but were a little better than Saturday. Kelly did admirably well having not run the undulating trails fo Pineland really at all. She is setting herself up well to set a PR at the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco in October. By the way, she is fundraising for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in honor of her grandmother (who lost a battle to leukemia last year) and for me and my 5th anniversary of being cancer free. Give if you've got...I'll post the link to her fundraising page soon.

One last thing. Kelly and I were out and about in Portland afternoon taking advantage of the kids spending the night away and we stumbled onto a new "bier cafe" in Portland. The place is super cool so if you are ever find yourself walking around Portland or sitting at home in need of a very unique beer experience, check out Novare Res. I feel a mandatory Vermont 100 celebration party happening here!

Western States 100: The "Un"race Report

2008-07-10T23:15:00.000-04:00

Five minutes after landing in San Jose the Wednesday before the Western States 100, I learned the race was cancelled. My first reaction was sorrow for Jamie and all the preparation he had put into the race. My second reaction was an emphatic "What?!?!?!". This was the first time this race has been cancelled in its 35 years, and it happened the year I was to participate, albeit as a pacer and not a racer. I am starting to get a complex: first, I missed out on the WS100 lottery, the Massanutten Mountain Trails 100 filled up in record time and I was an hour later in signing up, and I missed out on the Mount Washington Road Race lottery (I did get in via the Maine Track Club). And now God decided to scour the dry northern California landscape with lightning strikes resulting in approximately 800-1000 wildfires during my trip out there.

Step back a few days to Maine. The Saturday prior to heading out to CA I ran the Mount Washington Road Race. After that race the little annoying cold I had turned into something a little more serious, leaving me feeling quite nasty. The day after Mount Washington, as my cold raged, my youngest son Quinn was struck with a stomach virus and got sick in his crib. As I was cleaning his bedsheets, fear struck. Fear of catching this virus right before my flight, or even worse, of somehow transferring my cold or this stomach bug to Jamie. So in order to not freak Jamie out, I never wrote of this ordeal of told Jamie so as to not stress him out. Luckily, none of these fears ever came to pass. Back to the San Jose airport. So after recovering from the initial shock and entering the denial stage, I connected with Danny and we headed north towards Squaw Valley. Our original plans included hitting Yosemite for a couple days of hiking and camping before meeting up with Jamie. But there was smoke. Danny's parents were visiting CA and had just returned from Yosemite and their report was not positive: from Yosemite valley Half Dome was not visible. I have never been but apparently this means the smoke was quite thick. Oh well, maybe next time. (This would be the first time of many that I would utter this statement.)

After driving a couple hours we stopped off at Sonora for a short night's sleep. Sonora's an old sleepy ghost town with a lot of charm, but not enough to keep us there for long. Early Thursday morning we headed out. I say "early" with a bit of snicker because it was much earlier than I thought. When I rolled out of bed I was sure the alarm clock read 8:30 AM. While I haven't slept until 8:30 for probably 3 1/2 years, I wrote the late time off to my travel the day before and the late hour we got to bed. It wasn't until we checked out, finished breakfast and left town did I realize I had misread the clock by two hours. 6:30 AM wake up is more my style. Danny took a great scenic route up to Tahoe that took us through Calaveras County, made famous by Mark Twain's story "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County". Probably only a literature nerd and English minor like would notice this, but still cool.

After entering I-80 near Auburn (the WS 100 finish) and driving north for roughly the entire length of the WS 100 course (this interstate parallels the course), the reason for the race cancellation became painfully obvious. The visibility on the road was horrendous and the aroma was reminiscent of a campfire. Not good running air. So kudos goes to the race directors for having the courage to do what was right.

We rolled into Squaw Valley after noon and quickly found Jamie and his brother, Chris. We all decided to forgo lunch for a "quick" 4 1/2 mile run up the first hill of the race to Emigrant Pass, what I think is the highest point on the race course. Our starting elevation was just over 6200 feet and the elevation after the run up was just shy of 8800 feet. To hit the top, Jamie and I set out at a pretty decent pass which slowed to a walk after about 100 yards. The combination of the elevation and smoke zapped us. The rest of the run was done at a very controlled and even run/walk pace. The run up was great and lots of fun and I must say Danny had the best run of us all when considering his training has been pretty nil due to knee and foot problems. Once hitting the top we skirted the ridge for some hiking fun before starting back down. On the way down I couldn't pass up a dip in a water collecting basing from some drain pipes. While it felt really good, I did pick up some "mountain crabs", but it was well worth it. The descent was much quicker than the ascent and we quickly changed and hit dinner in the village. We were starving as we had skipped lunch and in dire need of adult beverages. Despite the sad news of the cancellation and the smoke that was quickly enveloping Squaw, we had a great time at dinner with excellent food and company. All's well that ends well.

Also of significance on this day I became an Uncle for the second time. My little brother Jason and his girlfriend Brandi gave the world my nephew, Hutton Matthew. The kid was 8 lbs, 12 ozs upon entering the world, so big kudos to Brandi for bearing this child. Congratulations to Jason and Brandi, and to me!

After our trip to Squaw, Danny and I were faced with the question of what next. It is a curious thing to be on vacation, and for me the first time I have been away from my family on a pleasure trip since the Riley's birth, and not know what to do. So we headed south towards Danny's home turf of San Jose with plans land in Big Sur for some camping. Mother nature had other plans. After spending a night in some anonymous place, we reached Danny's apartment early the next morning to retool our stores and plan the rest of the trip. The first thing we did was check on campgrounds in Big Sur. We were lucky to have done this because we learned that there was a voluntary evacuation of Big Sur in place due to the wildfires. Instead we headed down to Monterey and its most excellent aquarium. In the evening we headed over to surf town Santa Cruz for some dinner and to hopefully find a campsite. Unfortunately there were no campsites to be found anywhere, so after some dinner and people watching, we headed back to San Jose for a night of rest at Danny's.

Saturday morning we headed to Big Basin Redwoods State Park. The goal was once again to find a campsite, but we had no luck. The air around the Santa Cruz Mountains was relatively clear of smoke so it seemed that all of Northern California's campers had moved to this area and filled every available campsite around. Danny and I had originally set out to hike through the majestic coastal redwoods, but after driving in and seeing the beautiful forest, I started daydreaming about a run through the trees and set about talking Danny into running the trails. This wasn't difficult as he quickly agreed and we set out on the longest trail. Our run through the park took us 11.6 miles in just under 3 hours. This time included many stops for photos of the cool water falls we ran by and the unbelievable trees. There was also a bit of climbing during this run, as we climbed over 2300 feet. The best part of this trip though had to be the cookout we had at the conclusion. Danny had been kind enough to grab some beautiful steaks for us to grill at our first campsite, but as this campsite never materialized we ended up toting the steaks all around Northern California for few days before deciding they had traveled enough and we plopped down on a picnic table and cooked them right then and there. I also learned that squirrels eat more than nuts. As we were waiting for our steaks we started munching on beef jerky (a must for every backpack). A curious squirrel was milling about so I threw him a piece of jerky (sorry, I know one shouldn't feed the wildlife but I couldn't resist) and he woofed it down. So I proved that squirrels are carnivores, or I had just created the first of a new species. Watch out humans; squirrels will now be coming for more than just your bird seed!

After the day at Big Basin, the trip became a little more domesticated. We headed back to San Jose to Danny's apartment (after stopping for some gelato in Los Gatos, a neat little town) and were lucky enough to meet up with Danny's roommates. We had a great dinner with them and then hung out and chatted. The next day we attended Danny's church, and then headed over to the Santa Cruz mountains for some winery hopping, watched opera in the park in Los Gatos (a friend of Danny's was singing), and then went to see "The Happening". What a waste of money. Do not waste your time. I think M. Night Shyamalan committed career suicide with this one. Forced dialogue, many awkward moments, and completely predictable story all contribute to a terrible experience.

On Monday we went on a tour of the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose. While this is no doubt a tourist attraction and somewhat kitschy, it is still a site worth seeing. I saw a documentary on the place some years ago and when Danny asked if I wanted to see it, I was game. The house was built over a period of 38 years by Sarah Winchester, the heiress of the Winchester Rifle fortune. She lost her husband and daughter early in her life. After consulting with an occultist, she bought a house and started building on to it for the rest of her life. This was because she was told and believed that this was the only way to keep the spirits of those whose lost life to the Winchester rifle at bay. So she built, and built, and built...stairs to the ceiling, doors on the second floor that open to the outdoors, and all kinds of thing that have the number 13 associated with them (windows with 13 panes, closets with 13 hooks, chandeliers with 13 candles, etc.). Crazy chick. But she built an interesting house.

After this tour we ate some more Mexican (fish tacos again - yummy) and set off for one last run before I headed back home. So Danny picked a local county park with some trails and we did some running. The local county park that Danny chose was a gem. The Almaden Quicksilver County Park in Santa Clara County is an unbelievable place. Almost 35 miles of trails, complete with quicksilver mines and tons of wildlife, are available for runners, horses, and bikers. It is also the home of the Quicksilver Running Club of San Jose, and their two races including the Quicksilver 50 Mile, 50K and 25K races in early May and a series of shorter races in October (Danny, if I lived out there I would sign up with these guys). Also of note is that they run an aid station at Western States. Good on to them! Our run was amazing. We made our way around the trails (periodically tasting our fish tacos and beer), dropping into little canyons along the way as we skirted a ridge ascending and descending many saddles (the satellite photo of the course shows this pretty well). We spotted quite a few black-tailed deer (first for me), one of which sported a 6-point rack. Our goal was to do a nice loop which would take us by a still open quicksilver mine tunnel, but we failed to spot the turn and after about 35 minutes of running, we decided to turn back for the parking lot (on the way back it was hard to not turn off the course and cross the canyon to jump in the pools that we could see from the trail - see the detailed photo). We finished our run around 5 PM, and quickly headed home to allow me to clean up for my red eye that left a few hours later.

So ended my trip. While Danny and I were continuously faced with changing conditions courtesy of mother nature, we always kept our sense of humor and laughed off our relative poor luck. All in all, it didn't matter what we were doing. I have known Danny now for more than half my life. He is in the truest sense of the term my best friend. With the absence of all the epic events we had planned (WS 100, Yosemite, Big Sur), it left us with more time to simply relax and catch up. I got to join Danny at his church for a Sunday service. I greatly admire Danny's faith and his commitment to his religion and his community. I only wish I had an ounce of the faith Danny lives out every day. Much like the many excuses people garner to justify not running or not being fit, I carry with me excuses for my weak display of faith. I have so many excuses for not taking time on Sunday's to go to church (namely my long runs). This is something I have to work on, if for only to give the option of exploring faith themselves. Anyhow, I hope everyone out there has a friend as great as Danny. He has a way of handling my moods and eccentricities with grace and like an old pro (he's been doing it for half his life). I can honestly say that this extra time Danny and I got to hang out left me with very little regret for having missed the Western States race and all our other original plans. Also of note, Danny stepped his running up in a big way and was with me on every run we did, despite a foot injury and a lack of run training. Never once did he grumble, not even when I suggested we run Big Basin Redwood SP as he was getting all geared up to hike it. What a guy and what a friend.

Finally, boy did I miss my two little ones, Riley and Quinn. I really never expected to miss them as much as I did. I couldn't help but feeling like I was missing something the entire trip. I was nostalgic many times as I watched parents playing with their kids or cleaning up messes in restaurants as their food grew cold. I am a lucky guy to have a family that is super supportive of all my running. If they didn't travel with me to all my races, I might have quit racing a long time ago. Now I am one week away from my second Vermont 100, my cold is gone, I have just about cleared my lungs of the smoke residue from the trip, and I had Quinn's stomach virus. There is nothing that should get in my way now. Wish me luck.

To view other photos of my trip, check out my Picasa web album.

Cali Trip

Holy cow, or the Mount Washington Road Race

2008-06-21T23:10:00.007-04:00

Today I ran my first Mount Washington Road Race. The best words to describe my feeling about the race: Holy Cow. That was quite a unique race. 7.6 miles and just under 4,650 feet of climbing to reach the 6,288 foot peak. The climb is 12 percent on average, 18 percent at the steepest long grade, and 30 percent at the finish! Not an easy climb.

The morning started early as I arrived at Mount Washington after a two hour drive. I chose the more scenic route for the drive up to enjoy the beautiful morning and to hopefully catch a glimpse of some moose. I did not see any but my buddy Jim saw a mother and her calves on the same road, so I guess I was just a little slow. The first part of the drive was socked in with some low lying clouds and fog but at the half way spot and as the music on my iPod turned more upbeat, the clouds opened up as if on cue. At this point I had hit the more mountainous region of our glorious state and the peaks of some of the hills were still flirting with the clouds, which was a quite spectacular site.

Almost immediately after arriving I spotted Jamie, who was our driver down the mountain, and the rest of crew, including Jim from L.L.Bean and his Topsham running buddies. After handing of our runner's passes to Jamie to allow him to drive up, Jim and I and a few others headed off to run around the trails of Great Glen Trails XC ski area since we had an hour before the race started. All told I got in a 40 minute warm up run before heading back to the start just a few minutes before the cannon roared, sending the runners chasing the peak.

At 10 AM, we started. Cruelly enough, this race starts with a downhill. This could be for humor, or more likely so the race can be run on the entire auto road by starting outside the gate but not right at the gate where a bottleneck would be guaranteed. I started a little bit back in the field and it took me roughly 20 seconds to cross the finish line and them and undetermined amount of energy weaving my way around those those who chose a slower starting speed than me. At about the quarter mile mark the only downhill and flat sections were behind us and the rest of the way pointed straight up!

I kept a pretty good pace until near the end of the second mile when reality hit: this is a steep hill and is only getting steeper. This thought really hit me hard because I have never had to deal with anything like this. Typically in any race, be it a 5K or a 100-miler, every hill ends and you are rewarded with a nice downhill or at least a flat section. This is not the case on Mount Washington. One of Jim's veteran Mount Washington buddies told me before the race, while shaking his head, that mile 2 was a bear. Boy was he right. So after running for 1.85 miles I adopted my run-walk strategy.

After the run-walk strategy I never seemed to go to deeply anaerobic and felt pretty in much in control. Many other runners had also taken this strategy, and even those that didn't were not moving too terribly much faster than my power walk. At the half way mark I had clocked a time of 39:51, well on my way of achieving a sub 1:30. Shortly after the halfway mark, we passed the 4,000 feet marker and were now running above tree line. This is where the race got really cool, because the views were fantastic. It was unbelievable to look down at the start line and realize how high I had climbed. It was also at this point that I started likening this course to a Tour de France stage in the Alps. I felt like I had watched this race many times in July during the Tour. It was also at this point that I felt the alpine chill and noticed the thick clouds at the summit. I was heading for the place that had witnessed the all-time surface wind speed world record of 231 mph in 1934. So the weather in this place is never certain.

The last couple miles were punctuated by bouts of running and walking, worrying about my tired legs, and exhilaration at the views and what I was doing. The last mile found me completely enshrouded in clouds and getting chilly. As I neared the finish line, the thickened crowds motivated me to pick up the pace, despite my tired legs and the 30 percent grade "wall" at the end. I finished in 1:26:19, 123rd out of 646 males (Mount Washington results ). Considering I did not do any hill training in preparation for this race and also the fact that this race was the US Mountain Running Championship and boasted the largest elite field in the race's history, I feel pretty good with a Top 20 percentile finish. And I achieved my goal of a sub 1:30. Looking at the winner's time of just over an hour with a pace just under 8:00 minutes a mile is astounding. Unbelievable.

All in all, this was a great day. I have never been to the top of Mount Washington and I was not disappointed. Thanks a ton to my buddy Jamie for spending like $600 in gas to drive up to the top of the mountain and then cost himself another $1,000 for the future brake work he'll have to do to his car to repair the damage done driving down!!! Also a big thanks to my father-in-law Phil for coming out and volunteering on my behalf (I was granted a race slot through the Maine Track Club and in return I had to provide a volunteer). You guys are great and made this day happen. Will I be back next year? I don't know. I guess I'll probably throw my hat in the bucket again and see what happens. I might even train if I get in again!

Single parenting, training with Riley, and The Hill

2008-06-19T22:38:00.002-04:00

Kelly is off working down in sunny Florida so my training has been less than stellar this week. Instead I have been training with Riley. She's got the L.L.Bean 4th of July 1 Miler coming up so she's been getting ready. Seriously. On Monday she went out and ran a mile with Kelly. Yes, at 3 1/2 years old she had enough focus and stamina to run a mile. Even more remarkable, she took time to stretch and do jumping jacks when she got home. Boy was I the proud Dad. Now don't get the wrong impression; we are not forcing her to do this. She has been asking to go for a run so we finally obliged, thinking it was some passing fancy and she would stop after a few feet. Nope.

So she took Tuesday as a rest day and was back at it yesterday. I threw Quinn in the jogger and Riley ran about a mile next to the jogger. She would have kept going but I made her stop once we got to the end of our neighborhood and hit the more traveled road. I then set off, with both kids in the jogger, to the playground at the local school. All told, Riley got in another mile and I got in just under 12 yesterday, combining a lunch run with the 5.5 I ran with the jogger. What a great workout pushing 70 pounds.

So far this week has been pretty quiet on the running front. Until today, I have got some pretty solid runs in. Monday I felt real sluggish after the tough weekend, but by Tuesday things seemed to be working again. Today I took off due to a busy day at work and because of some allergy/head cold thing that popped up this morning. Hopefully it is nothing and will be gone before I attempt my ascent of Mount Washington on Saturday morning. As the saying goes, "there is only one hill." To get to the top I will have to run 7.6 miles and climb nearly 5,000 feet. So by my estimation I will be anaerobic for about an hour and a half. See you on the other side.

The Scuffle: A Bradbury Race Report

2008-06-16T21:16:00.007-04:00

In the east we don't have too many cool, epic mountains to race on. What we do have is plenty of rain and mud. Yesterday's Bradbury Scuffle 6-Mile Trail Race had both. The morning started cool with a slight drizzle, adding to the moisture on the ground from the previous night's rain. Bradbury was somewhat quiet and sleepy when we arrived after 8 AM for the 9 AM start, but by 8:30 the place was hopping.

At the start line were many buddies and faces I have seen around. Total registrants for the race were around 70. No doubt had the morning dawned bright and shiny we could have expected more to toe the line. Not bad for a first time race. Racing with me would be my wife, Kelly, lining up for her first trail race. And I would be remiss if I didn't give a shout out to my great in-laws, Phil and Boo Boo (honorary in-law), for coming out in the rain to help with the kids. Real troopers they are!

Ian did the introductions and shortly after nine the cowbell went off. Out of the gate we went fast, with me falling somewhere in the back part of the top 10. Despite shouting for the front runners to "wait for me", they kept going leaving me to actually work for my position. During the first mile I caught a number of people, including my old buddy Steve F., who I trained with quite a bit leading up to last year's Vermont 100. It was great seeing Steve back out doing some races after recovering from a running injury last year. I am sure he'll be back to full strength in no time. Joining us in that first mile was a runner who I later found out was only 15 years old. Pretty remarkable.

To this point in the race we were running on snowmobile trail, leaving plenty of room for two abreast. As I saw the single track approaching, I picked up my pace to ensure I was in front when we entered the woods. Once on the single track, my primitive "Natty Bumpo" instinct kicked in and I was off. After running solo for about a mile I caught the only other runner I would pass and saw no one else the next four miles, with the exception of faint glimpses of runners behind me as the trail snaked its way through the woods. There were a few slippery spots and plenty of deep mud and puddle as the rain increased its frequency to just short of a downpour. Still I laid out all I had and at the end was rewarded with a 3rd place finish in a time of 42:40. In front of me was talented runner Blaine Moore (check out Blaine's photos) by 1:40 and strong runner Patrick Cote (apparently of NENSA) 1:20. Good, clean fun was had by all with no injuries or mis-navigation (sic?) to speak of. Kelly finished well also, and as always, with a smile barely looking like she had run. She was happy with her time and even came in speaking of chasing some guy down during the race. Go get 'em Kelly.

My average pace was 7:04 for the race. Not too bad for having run 24.5 miles the day before in preparation of my pacing duties at the Western States 100 and my July attempt at the Vermont 100. As for splits, I was a little over the map but that is to be expected on a course with as varying terrain as the Scuffle. First mile was 6:42 (snowmobile trail), with the next few at an average of 7:20, followed by 6:41 and 6:38 for the last two miles (also on snowmobile trail with some slight undulations). I am feeling good for the Mount Washington Hill Climb on Saturday. I can't wait to see what that does to my legs. And then I am off to CA to help Jamie achieve ultra running glory!

Finally, my thoughts and prayers go out to Trail Monster Chris Douglass who died a couple weeks back in a car accident. He obviously meant a lot to Ian, Jamie, Emma, and many, many others. Ian's moving dedication at the beginning of the race really served to motivate me during the run to make sure I hit every mud puddle in honor of Chris, who I didn't know but whose presence I felt in every drop of rain. Godspeed Chris.

Fell running, ticks, and the turtle

2008-06-15T22:08:00.003-04:00

Yesterday I was introduced to "fell" running. This is apparently when you just run over hill and dale over no distinguishable trail, but where you make the trail. I experienced this with Ian and Chuck, when we met Saturday morning at Bradbury Mountain State Park. The run started normally enough at 6 AM and started out on the nice tame trails of Bradbury. Soon, under Ian's compass heading, making our way through the woods and over fields towards Pineland. The trail we took is part of the trail system whose intent it is to link Bradbury with Pineland farms. After one very minor detour, we made our way over a field and saw the NOAA station at Pineland. Because there was a pretty impassable river in front of us, we turned off to start our fell run. This took place primarily along the power lines, but not before we made our way through a swampy field with waist high grass. This trespass deposited a number of scratches on our legs as well as an unbelievable number of ticks. By my last count, Ian ended the day with somewhere near 19 ticks, I took home 14, and Chuck somehow escaped with only a couple. One of the highlights of the power lines, excluding the tick count, was the red tailed hawk that
decided to treat us to an audible delight. I've never heard a hawk "speak" before, except on nature shows. This live display was much better.

We changed course a bit after about an hour and a half of this fell running and hit the roads for a quicker return to the park to meet up with Emma. While typically a road run that follows an awesome trail run is boring at best, this road run turned out to be pretty cool. As we passed over a bridge we spotted a huge snapping turtle on the side of the road. The shell on this thing measured approximately 16 inches tip to tail and 10 inches side to side. Because of her (we know this to be true) dangerous proximity to the road, we decided to move her a little closer to the water. First we decided to see how long her neck would reach to see if we would be in danger of losing a limb. Chuck grabbed a stick and placed it somewhat close to her face and we confirmed it was a snapping turtle, and one that did not want to be moved. Still we carefully tried to pick up her back end to push away from the road but quickly realized she had laid (or maybe was still laying) eggs in a hole she had dug (the reason we knew the sex). There were a probably 10+ eggs in this hole. So we left her as she was and moved on.

When we picked up Emma at 8 AM, we had run just under two hours and covered about 12 hours. At this point we hit the Bradbury Scuffle course and stayed there for the next two and a half hours. Two loops while at the same time laying down course markers for today's race. We also saw a little more wildlife: a couple garter snakes (I think) and a very cool looking frog that was camouflaged perfectly on the leaf fall. It looked like a tree frog, with some pretty cool markings.

All in all, this was a great run. Ian, Emma, and Chuck were great running partners and the wildlife was top notch. I also gained a ton of confidence from this run. I feel like I finally am getting ready for my 10o miler. Last year I remember there was a definite point in my training where I felt like I turned a corner and was ready to tackle the 100 mile distance. Yesterday I got that feeling. The run took about 4:30 hours and covered a total of 24.5 miles. Ian went out for one last lap but I had to get home to help Kelly. While I did bail out on the last 6 mile loop, when I got home I stepped behind my lawnmower and also cut down some trees in my yard. So if time on feet is critical to 100 mile training, yesterday I hit a home run!

Saturday run stats: 24.5 miles, 4:28 hours, 10:58 pace (includes stopping to mark today's race course), 1,500 feet of elevation gain/loss (using SportTracks elevation correction)

I will post my Bradbury Scuffle 6-mile Trail Race report tomorrow. I did well finishing 3rd overall with a 7:04 pace. As always, Ian of Trail Monster running did an excellent job organizing the race. He even ordered up perfect weather for the race: rainy and muddy as hell!

Kelly, Team in Training, Western States, and Krupicka

2008-06-12T21:39:00.004-04:00

I'm really starting to get used to not needing a car to get to work. The weather this week has been fantastic, which has made it hard not to want to get to work in any other way than a car. I have got in some pretty good bike rides to and from work and a couple really good runs to work. These runs take just under 1:50 and measure just shy of 14.5 miles. To get in almost two hours of running in before work ever starts really sets the rest of the day up well. It is a good feeling knowing that you got a good workout in before life takes over and places demands on you that provide many excuses as to not to run. After last weeks high mileage (just shy of 80), at least for this full time working dad, this week is a little lighter. I am planning on a nice 4-5 hour run at Bradbury Mountain State Park this Saturday, followed by the Bradbury Scuffle 6 Mile Trail Run on Sunday. Kelly and I are both running and I am looking forward to seeing how she likes her introduction to trail running.

Speaking of Kelly, she as taken on the task of training with and raising money for Team in Training. Her end goal, besides the ultimate goal of fighting cancer, is to run for the second time the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco. I am especially looking forward to this as I can in a very little way return all the help she has given me by being her training crew and by going out with her to San Fran as a spectator. I am really looking forward to watching others endure a long distance race. It's gonna be fun. Please check out her fundraising page and give if you can. Here is the link: Kelly's Team in Training website. Thank you Kelly.

This week I have spent some time watching the Western States 100 documentaries Jamie lent me. I have watched these with conflicting emotions: on the one hand disappointed that I won't be running and on the other hand excited that I can participate as a pacer (and happy I won't have to climb the Devil's Thumb in 100 degree weather). It is funny that I am more nervous about pacing Jamie at WS 100 than I am about running my own 100 in Vermont in July. This is because if I mess up in Vermont it is only myself that I let down; if I screw up in the Sierra Nevada it is my buddy I am letting down. It is scary being a pacer. I have a newfound respect for all pacers, and especially the crew who selflessly care for their runner. Thank you crew.

I am excited for Jamie and am sure he is going to break 24 and bring home a big, nasty silver belt buckle!

And finally tonight I watched the documentary Indulgence featuring Anton Krupicka with Kelly and Riley (who we are slowly and surely grooming into a little runner). During this film Riley told us she wanted to run but needed Orange, Pink, and Green running shorts. Where this stuff comes from I have no idea. Anyhow, the flick was enjoyable. Krupicka is purely a runner and makes no bones about it. He doesn't apologize for sleeping in late, running most of the day, and when he isn't running just being lazy. Good for him. Here is a guy who simply runs because he loves doing it. And he does it more than most. Covering 200 miles and spending 30 hours a week on trails running is something that not many of us can do. He can do this because he has stripped away (or never taken on) all the stuff that holds many of us back. He's also young and taking advantage of what he loves. My hats off to him and I really hope he does well at Western States 100 this year. I will say I disagree with his stance on Dean Karnazes. Like many others in the Ultra scene, Krupicka labels Dean as a product of mass media and marketing. I still think that running nonstop over 300 miles, for a good cause, is pretty incredible. Do I think taking on a moniker like Ultramarathon man is a little over the top and driven by marketing decisions? Yes. But Dean has and continues to inspire many to run and just get out the door, which Krupicka takes great pride in doing himself, so I think we should simply "run our own race" and let Dean run his. It's all about the karma!

Good miles and night eyes

2008-06-08T21:30:00.004-04:00

This past week I logged some pretty good miles for a guy with two kids under 4 and who has a full time job. I logged what I believe was just under eighty miles for the week. I really took advantage of the alternative commuting deal this week by driving my bike into work a couple times, biking home after work, and then running into work the next day. This gets me 15 miles of running on the day before work even starts. Pretty good deal.

The week until Friday was standard fare. Friday was special. I ran into work, doing the 15 miles at a pretty good pace for my 100-mile race legs (clocking somewhere in the 7:20 range) on some pretty hilly roads. I then worked all day, came home and ate, played with my kids, and went back out running. At 8 PM I met a sizable group at Pineland for a "run to midnight". The group consisted of a lot of the usual suspects with a number of surprise attendees. Check out Ian Parlin's Trail Monster blog for a picture. Set to run the night was Ian and Emma, Jamie (this was his last hurrah before the Western States 100 in three weeks), Eric, Jim and Shawna (sic?), Phil, Allen, and Blaine. The temps were in the low 50s and to my estimate a little cold and clammy. There was a good bit of fog as the warm front was rolling in (leaving us with temps in the 90s today).

The run started nice and easy, but I was feeling pretty energetic so I ran off the front of the group awhile to settle my self and reflect on the day at work. I finally saw the group through the woods and cut through to join the others for the rest of the evening. I ran a bit with Jamie and discussed a number of things, including WS 100 logistics where I will act as his pacer. Around mile 8 we returned to our cars for a refill and some food before we began our repeats of the Campus Loop. I decided to head over to Gloucester Hill with Phil and Allen to get some different terrain on my legs before doing the loops with the group. Phil set the pace pretty quick which I didn't mind but I knew would leave me hurting pretty good later on. Once we returned to our "aid station", Phil hit the road and I rejoined Jamie and the rest of the guys. At this point a few of the others called it quits but decided to hang out a couple hours and head over with the group to Denny's. Unlike the rest, Denny's was not in the cards for me. I had to get my beauty sleep before the kids forced my day to start in the morning.

It was at this point, near the 12.5 mile spot, that I joined the group going for midnight. All told I ran four laps around the Campus Loop. I had a great time, as always, shooting the breeze with Jamie. His excitement for Western States is obvious, as it should be. He is definitely ready for his run to glory. I am extremely lucky to be able to partake in it. I only hope that given his excellent fitness that I can keep up with him! Roughly ten minutes before midnight, Jamie and I called it quits. The big disappoint of the night was that none of us saw any night eyes, or animals caught in our headlamp lights. Other than the fantastical turkey that decided to fall out of its tree near us at the start of the run, there was no other nightlife about, at least that we could see. The irony was that as I was leaving I passed a skunk. Good thing he didn't decide to join us on the trail! At the end of the day, I got in 36 miles of running. A good day.

This morning I ended a good week with a great run with my buddy Jim from L.L.Bean. We knocked out 12 miles at 6 AM, beating most of the heat. By the time we finished, the deer flies were still asleep. As of yet, I have not seen the first one but after temps in the 90s today, I don't suspect my luck will continue for much longer.

Recovery and Alternate Transportation

2008-06-01T19:30:00.005-04:00

Recovery from last weekend's Pineland Farms Trail Challenge 50-miler could not have gone better. I was back running painlessly by Wednesday (two days rest) and also threw in quite a bit of cycling to keep the legs moving. I find it hilarious each year as I come of a pretty good spring of running (by this point I would have already run a couple marathons and the Pineland 50K) how poorly running fitness translates to cycling fitness. I feel like I might as well sat on the couch all winter and spring. (This works also going from cycling to running). My legs are definitely not in cycling shape (yes, running 50 miles Sunday did not help, but that can not be my entire excuse.) I did use the bike for a couple commutes into work totaling roughly 62 miles on the bike in addition to 5-6 mile runs each day. It was good to get a couple hours of fitness in out doors during such a beautiful week.

I will be doing more of this alternate commuting over the summer as I not only try to get in better shape but to beat the man. You can complain all you want about high gas prices but if you keep driving your car to work and filling up the tank, the man is just laughing all the way to the bank. So find another way to get to work! L.L.Bean has partnered with GoMaine and in the month of June is offering employee incentives for alternative commuting, so I am planning on getting into that big time. Last week my bike in to work, run at lunch, and bike home left me with plenty of room for food, and I love food. This week I will get more into my usual routine of driving the bike into work, cycling home, and then running to work the next morning. This enables me to have ultimate flexibility in case I get stuck late at work or Kelly needs me to get the kids early.

Saturday I met Jamie at 6 AM for a run around Bradbury park. Our conversation centered mostly around our trip to the Western States 100, Jamie to run and me to pace him. I am really looking forward to seeing Jamie rock this course. He is so prepared, both mentally and physically. He should do really well out there! As always, running with Jamie is a blast and brings with it some peace as we tend to run together well and complement each other's ability. There isn't much guessing about pace or bio breaks. At 7 AM we met a larger group of Trail Monsters, including James from Massanutten Mountain 100 fame, Ian and Emma, and Jim. This group is a blast and we had an excellent time cruising around the course for the upcoming Bradbury Scuffle 6-Mile Trail Race. This is the first race in the three part Bradbury Race Series to be held this summer. The course is fun and fast and is a great introduction to what single track trail racing is all about. If you are around Father's Day weekend (June 15th) do this race! Our pace for the run was pretty easy as all of us were either recovering from 50 or 100 milers, but the camaraderie was high. This upcoming weekend the plan is to run a night run at Pineland, Friday night from 8 PM to Midnight. The more headlamps the merrier so hope to see you there.

Some other fun running stuff I came across last night while buying supplies for my pacing duty at Western States 100 and my own attempt at the Vermont 100...J.B. Benna's documentary on Dean Karnazes's 50 Marathons, 50 States, 50 Days was premiered out in CA, and while there is no future showing or DVD release dates, it is good to see it is ready...there is a cool looking documentary on Anton Krupicka, the winner of the Leadville 100 the past couple years, that I didn't know about, so if anyone has seen it I would love to hear about it...and I found a neat website that tracks running films that have been recently completed, in production, or recently abandoned, so check it out if you are looking for a flick about our sport.

Pineland Farms 50-Mile Trail Challenge Race Report

2008-05-28T21:25:00.000-04:00

Like the previous two years, some benevolent God smiled on New Gloucester for the third annual Pineland Farms Trail Challenge. Unlike the prior two runnings, this version included a 50 Mile option on top of the traditional 25K and 50K. I had run the 50K the past two years, posting pretty good results (5th place each year in times around 4:12 and won my age group both times) but I had very little idea of what a 50 mile race would be like on the course. I should state for the record that I have run a 50 mile training run out at Pineland. This was during last summer's training for the Vermont 100, but this was my first race. To add to the mystique of what this race would have to offer, this was only my second attempt at racing 50 miles. So I entered this race expecting some surprises, and I did not disappoint myself, especially when I thought I saw Papa Smurf. All told, I had a great race. If you would have asked me to tell you about the race after mile 40, I would provide an entirely different assessment!

I arrived at Pineland near 5 AM to give myself time to set up our little camp for the day (sun shelter, chairs, etc.) and to pick up my race packet. Sitting in the registration area when I arrived was my buddy, Jamie Anderson, suited up in his new Trail Monster singlet. As I pinned on my race number and got things in order, we chatted about Jamie's upcoming Western States 100 and my pacing duties, as well as game plans for the day. As we were sitting there chatting, my buddy and Vermont 100 pacer Brian walked in. He is recovering from a nasty case of plantar fasciitis and was planning on running a few miles of the start with me. If there was an All Star league of 100-mile pacers, Brian would be an excellent inductee. About 15 minutes before the race we all headed over to the start area where runners were congregating for the 6 AM start.

The Pineland Farms course consists of a 25K, or 15.5 mile, loop. The 50 mile course consists of three loops with an additional 3+ mile loop at the beginning that brings you back to the start. Each loop consists of two sub loops which are divided by the Start/Finish line. Therefore, a runner in the 50 Mile race passes the finish line 6 times. On a hot day when you are exhausted and being chased by smurfs, this is sheer cruelty and demands the most of one's discipline to keep running. I can attest to this fact.

As the gun went off at 6:05 AM, there were roughly 70+ runner for the inaugural 50 Mile race. Included in this group was Leigh Schmitt, the winner of the 50K for the past two years. There was no doubt in my mind that this was his race to lose, and he did not disappoint. The start was a bit chilly so I donned my Moeben sleeves (awesome product that is very much like cycling arm warmers but with the added touch of pockets on the upper arm to stash a gel, some S-caps, or the like). They were perfect to combat the chill on my arms while allowing me to display my new Trail Monster singlet. This was in fact the first race I have ever run as part of a team (and one our team would have won if not for a freaky shoe choice by a team member - you know who you are!!!).

Toeing the line, I had no idea what game plan I was going to follow. I had somewhat settled on the idea of just going out easy with Jamie and hanging with him for at least the first lap. I am pacing him in a month at Western States so I am always looking for opportunities to "practice". However, once the cow bell went off and we got a mile in, I couldn't stand watching scores of runners go by so I severed the cord and ran my own race. Brian joined me just before we completed the first mini three mile loop and ran along for the next few miles. At the Yurt aid station near mile 6, I stopped for a bio break which turned into an epic struggle with the toilet paper roll (never be the first in a new porta john if you need to get out fast) and I wasted about 5 minutes. By the time I emerged for fresh air, Jamie and Emma had caught me again. Hating the thought of losing all that ground, I turned up the pace and raced through the terribly cambered fields for about 15 minutes before catching the group I had been running with. My legs were feeling really good at that point so after emerging into the Valley Farm Loop around Mile 8-9 I split from this rag tag group and set out on my own.

It wasn't until about Mile 20 that I caught up with the lead woman and eventual women's winner, Aliza LaPierre of Team Inov-8, that I had company. I ran with her for the next 15 or so miles. Her consist pace was really helpful in keeping me focused and moving. She motored right up the hills. At this point I had resorted to power walking the hills and then I'd catch her pretty immediately on the downs. This is a similar tactic I used at VT 100 and will continue to do so in future 100s: walk the ups and run the downs and flats no matter how tired. It works well for me.

I must admit that starting the third lap was extremely hard. Seeing all those nice, clean people eating MY hamburgers and drinking MY beer was tough. But I soldiered on, now in the company of Aliza's husband who was pacing her the last lap. I hung with them until about mile 41-42 when I stopped at the last Yurt aid station for a refill. At this point I was pretty overheated and was filling my bottle with water and ice at every stop. I had failed to eat properly early on and this had left me in a pretty good bonk. Also, I had started ingesting Coca Cola at about mile 30 so the sugar spikes and crashes were pretty obvious. The only way to combat this is to keep drinking the junk. Luckily it did work wonders on settling my stomach. The potatoes dipped in salt were pretty good too, but at this point it was too little, too late. The rest of the race was a struggle, and one I endured by my lonesome. My vision started getting freaky in the Campus Loop and continued into the Gloucester Hill and Oak Hill loops. I was having a hard time focusing and I was stumbling ever so slightly; enough to worry about finishing. A couple times Papa Smurf actually tried to trip me up, yet I kept motoring.

As I passed through the start on my way to the other side of the road for the final loop I really wanted to pull into my tent and go to sleep. (This was when I saw a friend with what appeared to be six beers in his hands yelling encouragement to me and if I had the energy I would have run over to him and taken "my" beer back!) Passing the finish line so many times is really cruel and unusual punishment. Anyway, I moved across the street and ran in a daze until I got to the Oak Hill Aid Station where my buddy James was working and I saw the "antifreeze" on the table. It has been probably 10 years since I last drank Mountain Dew and good thing. James filled my MD cup with ice and I downed it quicker than a shot of tequila. After sitting there for about 10 seconds, James asked me not so kindly to vacate his space. So I did, but not before grabbing a handful of M&Ms! Boy were they good. Mile 47, the last pre-Mountain Dew mile was run at a +13 Mile pace. The last two miles, post-Mountain Dew were about 3-4 minutes quicker. I finished strong and happy, carrying my two kids across the finish with me as I have done at every "big" race since Ironman LP. (This was the first time Riley wanted to be put down because I was "stinky".) The finish line was a blur and I talked to many of my friends but really have very little recollection of the conversations I had 10 minutes after I finished.
Very strange.

At any rate, my time of 7:50 was a PR (my first 50M was the JFK 50 in November 2006 and was done in something like 7:54 and the course is considerably easier than Pineland). This finish was good enough for the 34 and Under age group title for the 3rd year straight but not quick enough to even be considered in the same hemisphere as Leigh Schmitt's unbelievable 6:35 something. It also earned me another one of the coolest trophies out there (by my opinion): a trail shoe footprint in "mud" and another cow bell medal! You just can't have too many.

Despite how I felt, this race was a tremendous confidence booster for my pacing duty at WS 100 and my race at VT 100. All told, I had a great race. If you would have asked me to tell you about the race starting at mile 40, I would provide an entirely different assessment! Good times.

If you are so inclined, check out the results at the Pineland Trail Challenge website. If you are even more inclined, sign up for one of these three races next year or if you raced this year, upgrade to the next distance. This is the best directed race in the New England, designed and run by runners for runners. Oh yeah, there's free beer.

All Prize Winners

2008-05-26T21:12:00.005-04:00

This weekend was a good racing weekend for the Wells family. On Sunday I once again claimed the title of "Lawn Boy" at the Pineland Farms Trail Challenge 50 Miler. This is the title given to the 34 and Under age group winner. I have come to love this title as this is my third year straight winning this award. Next year I will have to relinquish this title; I become old at 35. (Pineland race report to follow shortly.)

More exciting was Kelly and Riley's performance at the Cumberland Memorial Mile and Half Mile. Riley ran the half mile for the first time and placed 3rd in her age group!!! Check out the results for the Cumberland Memorial Mile. (Note that 1st and 2nd place in her age group were 4 years old!) She won an ice cream cone for her effort. Expect great things from this little runner. And like her mother, she was smiles the entire time. Next up was Kelly in the Mile. It has become quite a Memorial Day tradition that Kelly brings home a pie from this race. Today was no exception. She won her age group and we feasted on a strawberry and rhubarb pie!

50 miles...

2008-05-24T20:40:00.003-04:00

Tomorrow morning at 6 AM the gun goes off for the inaugural Pineland Farms Trail Challenge 50 Miler, and I will be among the starters.

This week's running has been all about leg preparation for tomorrow's race. Tuesday and Wednesday I ran pretty quick over a 6.3 mile course from my home (both early morning, pre-work). Thursday and Friday I ran shorter runs from work, just to keep the legs fresh. Today I rested the legs, with the exception of the half day I spent volunteering at the race start. This was partially for fun and to hang out with friends and partially to fulfill my 8-hour volunteer commitment for the Vermont 100. It was a fun day and I had the whole family with me helping out, and we all had a great time.

Now I am off to rest, and hopefully to get a full night's sleep (my kids don't grant me this wish often). I am a little nervous about the run. I am not sure why, since the race is well done and the weather is looking great (sunny and 70). Also, I got my official Trail Monster running singlet and will proudly be wearing it tomorrow. Here's to a great race!

Some good miles and Pineland 50

2008-05-19T21:06:00.008-04:00

First off, congratulations to James Demer for his 7th place finish at the Massanutten Mountain Trails 100 miler in VA this past weekend. James completed this extremely difficult course in 25:23:30, allowing him the honor of seeing two sunrises while running! To read more about James's race, check out Jamie's blog. Jamie was James's pacer, which is the same role I am to perform for Jamie at next month's Western States 100.

Last week I got some pretty good mileage in. Just over 60 miles which included a couple early morning runs to work, the last on Friday at 14.5 miles. I ran a different route than I have been running and I thoroughly enjoyed the new scenery. Not that this is a new route to me but new in the mode of transportation. I usually will bike this route home so when I ran in Friday morning it was in the opposite direction, hence a new route. The run was good but a little slower than I am used to running my morning runs in due to the number of hills that dot this course. Also, I rode the bike for the first this season a couple times this week which left me a little tired. Good training run, with the last couple miles done at a 7:15 pace and the last half mile at 6:45.

Friday morning stats: 14.5 miles / 1:52:20 / 7:46 pace

Saturday was my only non-running day last week and I spent the morning with the family and got an early jump on some yard work. The day wasn't completely training-free; I got to mow the lawn with Riley in a backpack on my back. Sunday AM I was back at it, hitting Pineland at 5 AM in a slight drizzle and I met up with my buddy Jim and his running buddy Chip. Chip is also running the Mount Washington Hill Climb and the two of us will be ferried down the hill by Jamie after the race. The three of us really had a great run out there and surprisingly only came across a few other runners the entire three hours I was out there. This shocks me given the fact that the Pineland Farms Trail Challenge is only next weekend and the deer flies have not arrived en masse yet.

Sunday stats: 19 miles / 2:53:03 / 9:09 pace (I am guessing this is the pace I will be lucky to keep at next weekends 50 miler) / 2300 feet of elevation gain and loss (see the elevation chart)

So Sunday is the Pineland Farms Trail Challenge. I just signed up tonight to run the 50 miler. In my mind, this race is the premier event of the Maine running season. Great race. Great directorship. All around great time. Sign up now. In light of this race, I will take it pretty easy this week with a couple rest days mixed in versus my standard one. This should keep my legs nice and fresh. Here's looking forward to a great race!

Saving gas...and another tattoo?

2008-05-14T22:27:00.005-04:00

The first half of this running week has gone well. I took off Sunday for Mom's day, which allowed me to get up and cook breakfast for the family and then take the kids to watch Mom run the Mother's Day 5K in Portland. As she always does, Kelly barely broke a sweat and smiled the entire time.

Monday's run was quite easy and done with the boys at work. We hit the L.L.Bean 10K course at and extremely pedestrian pace, clocking in 6.1 miles in 47:36 (7:46 pace), nothing spectacular. We were all quite tired from the previous weeks running/racing. Yesterday I got out sans technology so I have no idea for how long or how far I ran. The primary goal was to deliver a number of packages to the post office to receive postage. It's always rewarding to perform chores without having to burn gas...and I got a good workout in to. I continued the run after the post office drop for a total run somewhere near 5.5 miles in near 37-38 minutes. It was a quick run, aided by the stop at the post office after the first mile.

Tuesday night I biked home from work (my first time on the bike since last summer) so I could run in this morning. The bike ride was done at near 70 degrees while this morning's run started off in the mid-30s. A little chilly for mid-May but it quickly warmed up. The run was 12 miles in a nearly identical time as last Friday's run, 1:32:00, a 7:38 pace. My plan is to repeat this bike home, run to work tomorrow. It works out well and also reduces my gas expenditure. I recommend everyone try it. This regimen will fix what ails us all.

And tonight...there is another tattoo in the family. But it is not ink in my skin but my wife Kelly's. She lived up to her part of the bargain and got a Tree of Life tattoo, like me, but with a very feminine touch to it. Jen at Sanctuary Tattoo here in Portland did it. Great work from a very cool woman. Check out the photo.

Great job Blaine

2008-05-11T23:06:00.002-04:00

Here's a shout out to Blaine Moore for winning the Providence Marathon on May 4th. Not much I can say but wow! Given that this was the inaugural edition, I am assuming this race will be on Blaine's radar to continue his streak of being the only winner of this race, ever. Go get 'em Blaine. Hope to see you back in the dirt soon.

100th Post and 50 Mile Jitters

2008-05-10T21:02:00.005-04:00

Welcome to my 100th blog post! I first "blogged" on July 15th, 2007, a mere two weeks before my first attempt at running the 100 Mile distance. Here I am ten months later posting number 100 a little over two months before my second 100 Miler. Hopefully what I have written has struck a cord with some of you and given humor to the rest. As I do with my running pursuits (and all other aspects of my life) I will continue to improve my blogging with every post. My mission will remain the same: show what a cancer survivor, who pre-cancer was fairly unmotivated in the way of running and fitness in general, can do when faced with a life-death situation and given the chance to turn his life around. Having said that, let's talk training...

In two weeks I have my first 50 Mile race of the season: Ian Parlin's most excellent Pineland Farms Trail Challenge on Memorial Day weekend. This is by far the best race of the year in Maine, and I challenge anyone to disagree. If you do, come with some pretty good reasons because all I have to say is cowbell and free Gritty's beer!!! So to prepare for this race, I have stepped up my training. Since it has been over a week since my lost post, I am going to only fill you in on the highlights. I have hit the part of my training where my weekly mileage starts creeping up to 50+ mile weeks to 75+ in a few weeks. The last two weeks I have got in the 50 mile weeks largely by adding back-to-back long runs, which is a superb training idea for ultras. The last two Fridays I ran to work (love using less gas) followed by a long run at Pineland on Saturday. This works well for me because it gives me at least one day of the weekend when I can wake up with the kids and try to help Kelly in the kitchen. Plus sleep is good.

Details. Yesterday's work run was pretty uneventful after the first ten minutes. During that initial ten minutes, I heard a pileated woodpecker but was unable to find it in the trees. A quarter mile up the road as I rounded a bend there sat not five feet from me not one but two pileated woodpeckers on a telephone pole, nearly within arms reach. What a cool looking bird. They both hopped from the pole to a nearby tree and as they landed they splayed their wing feathers giving me a great view of their entire wingspan. After that there wasn't much to note. Total run was short at 13 miles due to early morning work I had to get done.

Today I met Jamie at Pineland at 5 AM. What I thought was going to be a wet, sloppy slog through the wet trails turned out to be one of the most pleasant running days yet this season. We ran together for about 10 mile before returning to the parking lot to meet the other runners who decided to "sleep in" and join us at 7 AM. In the past I have also noted to myself how few runners take advantage of the great running Pineland has to offer. On any given Saturday or Sunday I might only see one or two runners. Well that changed today. By the time we had set off with the 7 AM late sleepers, our group had swelled to 17. I found this to be a bit unsettling, to have this many people running together (on a non-race day) on the trails that I have always run solo or in small groups. But I am ecstatic that this many people have discovered the great running out there. Eventually the group did break up and even Jamie split off from me leaving me to run with my L.L.Bean buddy Tom and a new running friend I met today. We ran another couple miles for what added up to a 23 mile day for me in 3:28. My overall pace was just around a 9:00 minute mile.

Now I have to say one last thing. To get this nice even 23 miles I had to add on .22 miles once I reached the parking lot and all the other runners. In the past I have come out publicly and stated that to add on such trivial miles at the end of long runs for the simple sake of finishing with a nice round number is sheer insanity and makes no sense. Well today I am saying I am a hypocrite since I also fell for the maniacal pursuit of the even number. I have to ask myself though: does running 23 today make me a better runner than if I had run 22.87?

L.L.Bean Trails and Pineland

2008-05-01T22:13:00.006-04:00

So I am back from vacation and already miss the warm weather. Tomorrow I am heading out early in the AM for a long run to work and the temps are planned in the mid-30s,a far cry from the mid-60s I was running in last week. Regardless, I am looking forward to a nice, early AM jaunt to start the day. Not a bad way to save some petrol.

Unfortunately, last week I missed my goal of 10-milers everyday, by a long way. I did get in a couple good 10-milers and a shorter 5-miler (although a profitable $$$ one). Frankly, I got bored of running on a flat beach. If you would have asked me a couple weeks ago if I thought I could ever get bored of running on the beach, I would have laughed at you. Now I know how much I enjoy the woods of New England.

This past week I got back to the woods. Yesterday and today I hit the trails behind L.L.Bean's corporate HQ for some fantastic, yet wet, runs. The rains from earlier this week left the trails quite waterlogged but very passable. It was quite nice to break up the road runs.

As stated above, my runs last week tapered off after the initial couple 10-milers with a single 5-miler. I found myself not wanting to take any more time away from the family time that is way too rare with both my wife and I working full time jobs. So I slept in and spent the mornings and afternoons with the kids. The one 5-miler I did get in netted me a nice Benjamin that I found washed up in a jetty, and which I distributed to my bar mates later that night. After Thursday and a 17 hour drive over the weekend, my next run was on Monday. I have got a run in each day this week, with one day spent on the treadmill and a couple days spent in the woods. Tomorrow I head out for a road run to work and then Saturday I am planning on running Pineland for the first time this season. I'll be out there at 5 AM if anyone is bored and needs something to do.

Run and a headache

2008-04-22T22:55:00.005-04:00

I was lucky enough to get out early this morning for a 10.6 mile run. My goal was to get in 10 miles a day this week but I blew that by missing yesterday. We hit a piano bar Sunday night and had a little too much fun, so I had little motivation for fitness. This morning's run was good but started tough. After about a mile I developed a headache in the back of my head that just would not go away for the entire run. I was able to largely shelve the discomfort and enjoy the run on the beach. For the first half I ran on the sand and enjoyed the ocean's early morning symphony. The second half was spent on the beach road for the trip home. Most of the run was spent at or just below a 7:00 pace, with the last couple miles near 6:45. Given the flat terrain, this pace was quite easy. Having said that, I am looking forward to Pineland's undulations!

Today's stats: Garden City, SC / 10.6 miles / Time 1:15:27 / 7:08 pace

Glorious spring and a flat beach run

2008-04-20T18:04:00.014-04:00

What a difference a thousand miles makes. Thursday night Kelly, the kids and I set out on the first leg of our Myrtle Beach drive, landing in Richmond, VA at 7 AM. The drive took 12 hours and was really difficult. The kids didn't want to sleep and Riley sang Twinkle Twinkle Little Star about 100 times in succession through New Jersey. Needless to say that with no sleep I skipped my run Friday. Saturday we set out for Myrtle Beach and after another 5 1/2 hours in the car, we arrived. We were greeted by the most perfect weather; mid-70s and sunny. Having arrived after 3 PM, there was no run for me on Saturday either.

The absence of runs the last few days was well worth the wait for yesterdays run. This run reminded me how much I miss living in the south. Springtime down here is comparable to summertime in Maine. There are few words that can truly describe how perfect these seasons are. The dogwoods, redbuds, azaleas, and so many other plants and trees are blossoming and flowering that you feel like you must be traveling through one big botanical garden. The run yesterday gave me the opportunity to see spring in full action close-up and presented me with numerous sweet smelling flowers whose names I can not produce. The mockingbirds and morning doves provided the aural chorus to the spring slideshow during the road segment of my run and the sand pipers were my audience for the beach portion of the run.

The run started out at mid-morning, and I joined Kelly and her cousin, Jena, for the first few miles before heading off on my own. The first portion of the run was done pretty slowly, more for the social aspect of running than for training. The pace was terribly slow but fun. After three miles at 10:00 to 11:00 pace I picked it up and hit a 6:47 on mile 4, which was quite easy given the flatness of the terrain down here (see the elevation profile below). I kept this pace until mile 7 when I hit the end of the public road and the guard at the gated community told me I couldn't soil the rich people's property with my sweaty, runny self (really he apologized that I couldn't pass - nice, southern gent). So I detoured to the beach and continued my run along the beach perimeter of these nice folk's property. They were no worse for my presence.

As I hit the beach my pace slowed a bit due to the softness of the surface. Running beach is much like trail in that you get very little energy return from each footfall unlike the road (lucky road runners). This pace continued for a couple miles as I ran on the soft sand around the point at Murrell's Inlet (see the satellite photo). I was eventually forced to turn around when I ran out of runnable beach. It was at this point that I had to hit the water for a quick bio break leaving me soaked and my feet covered in sand for the return trip which left me a little uncomfortable after the fact...

As I hit the straightaway on the part of the beach that I had not run the sand firmed up and my pace increased to sub-7s once more. Mile 9 was covered at 7:00 pace and the last mile, Mile 10, was done at a 6:38, which I thought was pretty good on the beach. It was fun checking out the satellite image of my run, as you can clearly see that I stayed below the high tide mark (the satellite image must have been taken at high tide) as it appears that I was running on water for most of my run!

Off..

2008-04-17T18:50:00.003-04:00

...to the beach! Next report from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina after a run on the beach!

Hail and a Tattoo

2008-04-15T21:09:00.003-04:00

This past weekend was an exciting one for me. I ran through hail for the first time and got my second tattoo.

To warm up for the weekend I got in a couple runs Friday. I knew that if I got out at lunch, it would be a short one so I got up early and hit the treadmill. I got in 5 miles while watching 30 Rock and The Office. I don't know if any of you have seen these shows while sitting down, but if not, it's hard to stay in your seat from laughing. So trying this while running is not recommended and should only be attempted by the most seasoned treadmill runners.

Friday AM stats: Treadmill / 5 miles / 39:00 / 7:48 pace

As luck would have it, I did get back out for a quick run Friday just after 11:30 knowing I had to make it back by 12:15 for a conference call. After hitting the locker room and getting all dolled up for my run, I had just over a half hour to run and shower before my call, which didn't leave many options for distance. My running buddy, Jim, and I decided on a 4-mile course and hit it at a pretty good pace considering we were both planning on meeting up with the Roasters crowd Saturday morning for a long run. We ran the course in 32:00 for an average pace of 7:23. Because the course was a 1/3 of a mile longer than billed, I was left with three minutes to shower, dress, and make my way to the conference room for the call. This was miserable as it took me roughly 15 minutes to stop from sweating. But I got in a run!

Friday lunch stats: Bow Street Run / 4.34 miles / 7:23 average pace / Shorts again! (it's a trend)

Saturday dawned wet. As I was getting ready there were intermittent showers with the occasional downpour mixed in. As I am one that disdains being too wet on a long run, I suited up in all my running Gore Tex and headed out the door. At 7, I met up with Emma, Jim, Blaine, and Jim (L.L.Bean) and we got the run underway in fairly pleasant running conditions. That changed at about the half way mark when the sky turned this violent shade of purple and unleashed a steady barrage of pea size hail on our heads. Luckily I was protected by my Gore Tex sheen and baseball cap but Jim (L.L.Bean) wasn't so lucky with his stocking cap. But he stuck it out bravely and we all made it out unscathed and with good stories to boot. I felt okay during the run; a little sluggish probably due to sporadic running during the week and the double header on Friday. What is most concerning is the high average HR during the run. At this pace I would expect something in the high 140s. Just means I need to get more sleep. At any rate I got in less miles than I originally planned for due to having to be home to help cover for some work Kelly had to do Saturday morning. It was all for the best as the top of my big toe started killing me at mile 14 as we descended the hill down to Falmouth Town Landing. I attribute this to my footwear choice. I decided on a Nike Gore Tex shoe that I have had for probably over four years and which aren't all that great of a road shoe. So I sacrificed my toe to keep the rest of my foot dry. Not a good choice. The toe is still killing me when I walk around but feels fine while running. Needless to say, I will make a better choice of footwear in the future.

Saturday long run stats: Roasters Run / 16.5 miles / 8:09 average pace / 154 Avg HR / 184 Max HR (?...too high.)

The rest of Saturday went normally until I left for my tattoo appointment. At 3 PM I met Beth at Tsunami Tattoo to get inked. I had been talking with her for a few weeks on a design and when I arrived Saturday she was all ready for me. I sat down in the chair at near 3:30 and besides a short stretch break after the outline was done, I didn't get up until about 7:15. That was a long time to be under the "knife" so to speak. Despite the high level of discomfort the needles visited on me (the gun used to color in the tattoo had seven needles), I will say that the experience was a pleasant one and the folks at Tsunami Tattoo do a fantastic job. If you are looking to get some work done on your canvas, look no further. And for all you nonbelievers, I challenge you to think of any product you might buy that is truly guaranteed for life! "Mutilation" or not, Blaine, but it costs pennies on the dollar and will last forever. A good investment in my eyes!

Since then I have run a couple treadmill runs in between spring lawn care, packing for our trip to Myrtle Beach (we start driving down Thursday night), and work. Sunday night I got in a comfortable 5 miles and last night I ran 7 miles, both at a near 7:30 pace.

Below is a YouTube video from a band whose CD I head for the first time while getting my tattoo done. Check them out. You won't have many opportunities in life to experience a 29 member (!) Swedish pop band. Enjoy.

Shorts...and spring!

2008-04-09T21:06:00.005-04:00

Following Saturday's run of 24 miles, I hit the treadmill Sunday night for a moderately paced 7 miler and then got out doors Monday during lunch. What was special about Monday's run was that I wore shorts. It felt so good to be running out of doors unencumbered by tights. The temps were great and the sun did its job perfectly. Monday's run featured my entire L.L.Bean crew: Ethan, Jim and Tom. Mike is still rehabilitating his knee but he did start running last week after months off and he will hopefully be back on the roads sometime this summer. The conversation was good and centered around weekend training and upcoming races. Jim and I are both doing the Pineland Farms Trail Challenge (Jim's first ultra) and the Mount Washington Road Race ("only one hill"), so a bunch of our conversation is centered around these events.

Monday stats: 5.6 miles / 42:06 / 7:28 pace / no HR (missing since Saturday's run)

Tuesday I took off and rested my legs. I am still in a building phase so 50 mile weeks still requires my respect; that means rest days. Today was another beautiful day and I once more sunned my legs. I joined Jim for a run that largely mirrored Monday's run.

Today's stats: 5.2 miles / 39:05 / 7:33 pace / no HR (still)

The last week of great weather has been kind to the greenery on our run. It is great to see something more than snow. As spring refreshes the world, it also remotivates my running. I can't wait for those early morning long runs on the weekend. Pineland closed its trails to skiers last week and now it is only a matter of time until the trails belong to the Trail Monsters!

Upcoming this weekend is another long run on Saturday at Maine Roasters Coffee. I am planning on joining Ian, et. al. for another run on the roads. That is if the weather holds out. Life comes at us in cycles as does the weather. For all these great days, we have to pay for them sometime and it looks like payday is Saturday. Rain and a high in the upper 30s is forecasted. If that is the case, I might choose the treadmill. I like to suffer and willingly subject myself to painfully long runs, but I have limits. Rain and cold is a recipe for serious suffering so we'll play it by ear. On the more exciting front, I have a tattoo appointment Saturday afternoon and a week later we will be sitting on a beach in South Carolina!

Long Coffee Run

2008-04-05T13:21:00.004-04:00

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This week was like many of the previous weeks; 5-6 mile runs during the week with a long run on the weekend. I ran a short 5-mile recovery run (from Sunday's 20 miles) Monday night in the basement. I felt terribly week the first couple miles before I decided to run upstairs for an energy bar. I felt better almost immediately after ingesting the food and the rest of the run went swimmingly. I find myself with somewhat of a stunted appetite the day of a long run with the constant mad dashes to the refrigerator happening long run +1 day. Tuesday was my birthday (was of those uneventful near mid-30 birthdays) so I took the day off. Wednesday and Thursday were more of the same, but slower than typical mid-week runs, which felt good so I went with it. Friday I took off to hang out with a buddy who is leaving L.L.Bean for greener pastures!

Today was the big show. I was extremely fortunate enough to get the time this morning to join Ian, Emma, James, Jim Dunn, and a large group of Maine Track Club members for their weekly Saturday morning Maine Roasters Coffee run. The run started with a light drizzle and temps in the mid-30s and ended near 40 degrees, some 3 hours and 20 minutes later. The large group quickly broke into pace groups with our group of 7 (included the above mentioned group and a couple others including a neighbor of mine who I met for the first time this morning) in the front pack. The goal distance of our group fell into three categories: 16 miles, somewhere in the middle where I was all alone, and 24 for Emma, James, and Jim. The run was great with excellent conversation throughout as we toured Falmouth, Yarmouth, and Cumberland. Most of the talk was around our early season goal races; Emma focusing on her first 50 miler at the Pineland Farms Trail Challenge, James aiming for his second 10-miler at the Massanutten Mountain Trails (where I am currently 32nd on the waiting list), and Jim on a variety of gnarly trail races in Mass and NH. Throughout the entire run I was vacillating on distance, unsure of how far I wanted to go. The determining factor was the people. I had such a great time to once again be on the road (prefer trails) that I stuck it out for almost the entire run of 24 miles. I say almost because we passed the starting point of Maine Roasters Coffee at 23.68 miles and that was good enough for Jim and me, whereas James and Emma felt the need to run out and back to get their .32 miles. For me, the coffee and chocolate croissant was calling and I heeded their call!

The pace was pretty even for the entire run, averaging 8:27. There were a couple faster miles including a sub 7:00 mile as I sprinted to catch the group at mile 7 after I darted into the woods for a bio break. My average heart rate of 151 bpm was very high considering our pace, but I will write this off to an extreme lack of sleep the past week and a half as Quinn has had a cold and is getting in 4 (!) new teeth. Also of interest is that there was an elevation gain/loss of 2,310 feet during the run.

For fun,here is a satellite view of last week's 20 miler.

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The Eastern States 20 Mile and Mount Washington

2008-03-31T20:10:00.006-04:00

The last half of last week went well from a running perspective. My weekly runs were status quo while I ended the week with a race, the Eastern States 20 Mile. Wednesday's and Thursday's run were the standard Freeport lunch run. Wednesday we ran the 6.1 mile loop that mimics the L.L.Bean 4th of July 10K at a negative split pace. The pace was a 7:18 with an average HR of 157 bpm, extremely high for this pace and distance. This is a clear indication of a lack of sleep, thanks to a teething toddler and older sister who can not sleep anywhere but in mommy and daddy's room. Thursday was a bit slower as Jim and I agreed to take it easy. The pace was a pedestrian 7:41 with an average HR of 145, still a bit high but better.

The weekend was all about the Eastern States run. Saturday was a prep day with 8 miles run on the basement. The roads were a little sloppy after a snowfall (yeah, it is spring in Maine) Friday night and the trails around me are in little condition to be run on, so I hit the treadmill. The pace was easy with the intent to just wear the legs down a bit. I seem to run better on race day if I run a decent distance at a moderate pace. This keeps my legs fresh and ready, while also increasing the training value of the next day's race when training for an even longer run. On to Sunday...

Sunday was beautiful and the Eastern States course was even more spectacular (at least the first 15 miles). Brian, my buddy and pacer in last year's Vermont 100 and also in the upcoming edition of the race, carpooled down with us. The intent was for us to run together but Brian wisely bailed out before the race due to foot pains (possible stress fracture - not good to run on). So I got my extremely unattractive purple/burgundy tech shirt which will never see the light of day except maybe on one of Kelly's grandmother's beautiful quilts, and headed to the start with Kelly, the kids, and Brian. There I joined Jamie and his friend Mindy, a very talented runner (Mindy - where does 5Squirrels come from???), for the next 20 miles. We started with a conservative pace and through the run threw in some good tempo increases, but for the most part kept it on the easy side.

As I said above, the course was beautiful. The houses along the New Hampshire coast were spectacular. I felt as though I was running in Newport, Rhode Island in Rockefeller's neighborhood. These houses were grossly too big, but fun to look at all the same. Jamie and I made sport of the houses and their imagined owners by wondering if we could take them in fisticuffs (helped pass the time). While the course was great, it seemed like the run took forever. I think this was due to my hunger, which I should have expected given the late start (11 AM) and the fact that the last food I had was at 8:30 AM. By mile 7, I started getting antsy for the finish. This isn't a good thing for a race that was over 7 miles. To truly enjoy a race, you can't worry about where the finish is. Once your mind goes there, it's over. But you have to keep running, which we did. The course and the run turned a little south once we hit the mile 15 marker when we left the beautiful part of the New Hampshire coast for the Jersey shoreline (Jamie's statement). The last five miles of the course seemed like we were running through Old Orchard Beach on steroids. To add insult to injury, my nose started to bleed at this point and did not let up until crossing the finish line. It isn't unusual for me to get a nose bleed during winter runs due to the cold, dry air, but this one was persistent and added to my elevated heart rate. It would have been quite easy to track me down on the course by following my blood trail!

While the course was beautiful and the company top notch (thanks Jamie and Mindy), I do have some gripes. While not terribly outspoken about race issues, there are a few grievances I feel I must air here. First, the shirt. Why burgundy? Second, there was no food at the finish. I paid $35 bucks and got a bottle of "Smart Water" at the finish. I have run 5Ks that featured a buffet table that would give a Vegas buffet a run for its money. 20 miles and nothing. The least the race organizers could have done was notify participants that no food would be handed out at the finish and that they should fend for themselves. I would have been okay with that. Finally, my chip did not work and my finish was not recorded. Crazy colored shirt, nose bleed, no food, and no record of running. 'Nuf said.

Race stats: Eastern States 20 Mile / 20.3 Miles (includes a detour for a potty break)/ 8:17 avg pace / 145 avg HR / Eastern States results

On the bright side, I got into the Mount Washington Road Race today, courtesy of Erik Boucher and the Maine Track Club. I was fortunate to get one of the ten club slots for members. I don't know why I should be this psyched to run 5,000 feet up a "hill" in 7.6 miles, but I am. This will be my first time up the auto road, and I have to say I think this is a much better way to get up than via auto.

And finally, regarding regarding registration for the L.L.Bean 4th of July 10K, I heard today that we are about 20% of the way to handing out all the free shoes after having only opened registration about a week ago. If you are interested in running and getting some great schwag, sign up now.

Beautiful day for a run and the L.L.Bean 4th of July 10K

2008-03-25T20:49:00.003-04:00

After last week's running with no days off, I took the liberty of rest yesterday and felt great today for it. I joined Ethan for the first part of his interval run. We had a pretty deep, existential chat as we made our way over to South Freeport. The weather was great, with a slight chill in air, which contributed to the nice, up-tempo run I found myself doing on the black, sandy Freeport roads. The run turned out to be a nearly perfect negative split run and I felt strong the entire time.

Run Stats: South Freeport / 44:56 / 6.3 miles / Avg HR 156 bpm \ Max HR 183 bpm
Splits: 1 - 7:44, 2 - 7:19, 3 - 7:14, 4 - 6:59, 5 - 6:49, 6 - 6:51, Last 0.3 - 6:42

Also, consider signing up now for the L.L.Bean 4th of July 10K. Besides supporting a great cause in the Casco Bay YMCA kid's scholarship program, you get a great looking technical t-shirt and a pair of New Balance Running Shoes (the 1062, which is a top of the line, neutral shoe which retails at $110). The price of the race: a measly $17. This is truly one of the best deals going and it's a great race. Please note that only the first 500 registrants who sign up by May 15th will get shoes. Sign up through me or on Active.com.

Wind, wind, more wind...and another failed lottery.

2008-03-22T21:49:00.006-04:00

I entered this year's Mount Washington Road Race lottery thinking I deserved to get in. To this point, I had already failed twice to get in via lottery or other means in my first two 100 mile race choices this year. Well, once again I was disappointed with the results. As far as the official lottery goes, I am a no go. There is still one back channel I am working so wish me luck and stay tuned.

My runs the past few days have been good but challenging due to the weather, specifically the wind. Friday's noon run was chilly and windy. Temps were just below 30 degrees, but coupled with a wind of just shy of 30 mph the "feels like" temp was nearer 14 degrees. Chilly. Also, the last mile and a half was running into this brisk wind so the average pace of 7:24 was hard earned. The splits started around 7:30 and progressed to 7:16 by mile 4 and then settled around 7:24 for the last couple miles.

Friday: South Freeport / 45:17 / 7:24 pace / Avg HR 154 bpm / Max HR 181 bpm

Saturday was my 6th straight run this week and was my long one at 17 miles. I did a fairly typical route from my house down Tuttle Road to Route 88 for a run along the water and then back home through Yarmouth. I cut just over a mile off my run back to shelter myself from the 16 mph headwind but taking a more sheltered but hilly road which culminated in having me scale Bruce Hill in my minimalist Nike Frees (please see the elevation spike in the chart to right). The road ends at Bruce Hill and turns into an impassable, and now snow covered jeep trail, which is the intersecting points for many trails, only one of which I have ever explored. I plan on doing more exploring back there this spring and summer. Anyhow, this climb was a challenge given how tired my legs were and the fact that I could find no purchase in the snow. All in all, this run was good but illustrated the point that I have a ways to go to build my long run endurance up. But I've got plenty of time. Oh yeah, I loaded on my iPod and gave a listen to Blaine Moore's interview with Emily LeVan. Fun listen. Go donate!

Saturday's Run: Route 88 Run / 2:11:29 / 17 miles / 7:44 pace (the first 10 miles was near 7:20 with the last 7 much slower due to the uphills and wind) / Avg HR 154 bpm / Max HR 179 bpm

And Happy Easter! This evening Kelly and I went for a nice little run of 4 miles (my 7th of the week). And this took me 38:28, slower than usual. But I was also running behind my two kids in the jogger, pushing them up the backside of the Bruce Hill from Saturday's run (see end of elevation chart above). So a good run; one that I plan on working into my 100 mile and hopefully Mt. Washington race prep!

Ready to roll...and Emily LeVan interview

2008-03-19T20:34:00.003-04:00

I am back at it, almost 100%, but running again. Monday and Tuesday I took it easy on the treadmill and today I hit the roads to face the sleet storm we were/are getting slammed by.

Monday's treadmill run was slow, really to test my upper respiratory system. I came through it with minimal hacking and felt pretty good.

Monday stats: Treadmill / 5 miles / 43:50 / 8:46 pace

Tuesday's run was a little quicker but still a little on the easy side. I did increase the distance and felt almost normal.

Tuesday stats: Treadmill / 6 miles / 46:30 / 7:45 pace

Today I took a solo run around Freeport. I headed up Route 1 North past the L.L.Bean Retail store and hung a right on Upper Mast Landing Road to Lower Mast Landing Road and back to my office. With the exception of the almost two miles on Route 1, this run is beautiful with water views for a good portion of it. The pace today was much quicker, back to my normal up tempo pace, with some sub 7s mixed in with some low 7s. The pace wasn't intentional but more fueled by a desire to get out of the sleet and snow that was wreaking havoc on my exposed face. And tomorrow is the first day of spring...

Today's Stats: Upper Mast Landing / 5.7 miles / 40:31 / 7:06 pace / 151 Avg. HR / 173 Max HR (This HR average is much better than my last tempo run right before I got sick - I should have known something was up with the high reading last week.)
Splits: 1 - 7:15, 2 - 7:11, 3 - 6:51, 4 - 7:09, 5 - 7:14, 6 - 6:51

Last week my buddy Blaine, of Marathoning.org interviewed elite marathoner Emily LeVan, whose fundraising I wrote briefly about last week. Check out the interview if you can. You can also download it as an mp3 for iPod listening, making it the perfect companion for a long run! The interview can be found at the link above or this one... http://www.marathoning.org/members/41/an-interview-with-emily-levan.html

Still alive...and ready for Spring!

2008-03-16T21:53:00.008-04:00

It's been quite a few days since my last post. Since then I have done about everything but run. Wednesday afternoon I developed a nasty sore throat which by Friday had developed into my first full blown cold in over a year (which is saying something considering I have two youngsters in daycare). So, I wasn't able to coax myself to run this weekend. But all was not lost.

Thursday I took advantage of one of L.L.Bean's best and unique benefits, the Outdoor Experience day. Each L.L.Bean employee is given so many days to practice what the brand represents. That is, we get days off to do what we sell: camp, hike, ski, hunt, fish, etc. These days are above and beyond the vacation days we get. So on Thursday I organized a trip to Pineland for some snowshoeing and cross country skiing. Seven of my fellow co-workers participated with half skiing and the other half snowshoeing. Despite the warmer weather and ran last weekend, the trails were perfect and the day was gorgeous with the most beautiful view of Mt. Washington I have seen from there (barely visible in photo). I was able to get in about 2 1/2 hours of skate skiing which was a great workout. As my throat was hurting pretty bad Thursday night, I skipped my run.

Friday my cold was in full swing so I took the day off and ate instead. I joined my team for a Gritty's lunch and then dinner at Flatbread Pizza Company with some friends. Pure gluttony, but there is no better way to celebrate bonus day! Saturday was terrible. Terrible night of sleep and I did not want to get out of bed. I finally pulled myself up and joined Kelly on some morning errands. I am glad I joined her because the day ended up containing a milestone. While we were out we took Riley to see her first movie in the theater - Horton Hears a Who. Good fun. Today my cold is much better and I did get out with the family to Shawnee Peak for an afternoon of downhill skiing. Riley further honed her skiing prowess and while this was probably the last of this year's skiing, she is well positioned to kill the slopes next year!

I do feel like this past week mentally closed out the winter for me. Since living in Maine, the end of each winter and summer finds me at a point where I am ready for it to be done. This is not unique to me, as I suspect about everyone up here goes through this. However, having lived in Virginia where each season is represented beautifully, up here we only get a winter and summer with "something" in between. There is no clear definition. Summer just ends and winter begins, and vice versa. There are no cherry blossoms in March to herald in Spring and warn you summer is coming. I guess the closest thing in mind up here to welcome spring is the apple blossoms which happen in mid to late-May, but by that time we are only a week away from our hottest week of the year. I guess you could count the crocus as an early indicator but most of the time these hardy guys are required to poke there flowers through snow cover!

The reason for that diatribe is to simply say I am ready for spring and some trail running, on dirt. I am ready to join the Trail Monsters on Tuesday nights and I am ready to start spending my early weekend mornings out on Pineland's beautiful trails. It is race season and it is time to start putting in the real miles!

Snowy wet run, Eastern States and Two Trials

2008-03-12T20:48:00.003-04:00

I was fortunate to avoid the treadmill the last couple days. Monday I took as a rest day and yesterday I got out for a noon time run with my buddy Tom and we had a great run in moderate temps and a nice partly sunny day. As has been the case with the last few weeks of runs, we started somewhat slow (7:37 pace) and hit negative splits for the entire run, ending at a 7:00 pace. I felt great, but my heart rate was quite high due to the topic of conversation which involved the Democrat Primary race. Nasty and getting nastier.

Tuesday Run Stats: South Freeport / 46:55 / 6.4 miles / 7:22 avg pace / 151 avg hr / 173 max hr

Today I ran with Ethan on the same course as yesterday. The weather was a bit different than yesterday. There was a pretty good mixed precipitation falling which left things quite wet. My feet were soaked at the end of the run but this didn't slow us down. I don't mind running in nasty weather like this but I don't trust drivers on the roads when they are clear, much less when they are slushy. But we escaped unscathed and ended with a beautifully consistent negative splits. We started at a 7:39 and dropped roughly 9 seconds a mile to finish at a 6:49.

Wednesday Run Stats: South Freeport / 44:34 / 6.1 miles / 7:20 avg pace / 155 avg HR / 183 max HR

Other fun stuff. I signed up for the Eastern States 20 Mile. There should be a great group of friends joining me. Jim from work, Jamie, Brian, and maybe my man James. Also, please take the time to check out the following link: http://twotrials.org/. This is Emily LeVan's website that allows you to track her progress while she trains for the US Women's Olympic Marathon Trials and as she cares for her 4 year old daughter who was recently diagnosed with leukemia. Awesome site. Awesome woman (even though I don't know her with the exception of running many of the same races she runs). Awesome child. Check it out and donate!

Trip arrangements, VT 100, and Epic Treadmill

2008-03-09T21:48:00.004-04:00

As rough as the week started, it sure ended well. The mid week runs on Wednesday and Thursday were mediocre at best, as I ran on the treadmill at work on Wednesday due to time constraints and weather and Thursday I ran an abbreviated run at noon with Tom. The runs measured 5 and 5.2, respectively, and found my pace near 7:30s. My stomach was still a little unsure of itself Wednesday but by Thursday I was back to my near 4,000-5,000 calorie a day diet. Gotta love high metabolism!

Friday I took the day off due to work and family commitments, but by Saturday I was right back on schedule. Kelly got a jump on me Saturday morning and took the AM shift for herself. That was okay by me as our daughter awoke us near 5 AM and was not interested in fulfilling our wish of sleep. By mid-morning I was itching to get outside and as I was prepping to hit the roads of Cumberland and my wife was getting the kids ready to help her run chores out of the house, my son decided he had had enough with wakefulness and really wanted his bed. So...I was called back in to hang out with my son as he napped. My wife and I had a date planned for later in the day through the evening, my only option was the treadmill. So downstairs I went. I love the treadmill. I really do. But when you have your sights set on an outdoors run, it is hard to run on a belt.

Anyhow, I started the run planning on doing only 12 miles. The plan was to run an easy first five miles, pick it up for the next 5, and cruise in the last 2. What actually happened was I ran an easy 5, a hard 7 at about a 7:15 pace, an then another surprise 6 at about a 7:35-7:40 pace, for a total run of 18 miles. After the first 12 I jumped off the treadmill to check on my son, who routinely naps a couple hours at a pop, and when I discovered he was still happily asleep and I had nothing better to do, I kept going. The run felt great and today I had no after effects. My ramp up to this distance has been less than ideal but my consistency has been good and my strength is high, so I felt okay going this distance. And tonight I got in another easy 5-miler to stretch things out and I felt good.

Saturday's stats: Treadmill / 18 miles / 2:17:00 / 7:36 mile

Other great news. I booked my airfare to California to fulfill my pacing duties for Jamie Anderson. I am all set to arrive in San Jose, CA to meet my best bud Danny, who lives out there, and we are going to head over to Yosemite or some other natural wonder blessed by God out West for a couple days before the race. I am then heading home on a red eye Monday night. I am really looking forward to this trip and feel absolutely honored and blessed than Jamie chose me to help him. Other good news. I am now an official registrant in the 2008 edition of the Vermont 100. Please note: my name has been misspelled for the second year in a year. Last year the VT 100 crew listed me as Stephens Wells, which really tripped the announcer at the awards banquet. This year I am Stphen Wells, so I guess I have a little Swedish or other Norther European thing going on. I think I will try getting that corrected.
Finally, I am thinking of adding a race to schedule: the Eastern States 20-miler on Sunday, March 30th. If anyone would like to join me, let me know.

No Fat Ass

2008-03-04T22:42:00.002-05:00

Sunday I awoke hopeful for a great run at Bradbury partaking in the Trail Monster Running Fat Ass 50K. My plans were to do 2 of the 3 10.5 mile loops. My stomach was aching when I rolled out of bed and was no better when I got to the run site. I stood around with all my running buddies, old and new, hoping that the food I took in would somehow ease my stomach. No such luck. The stomach got worse, I wished everyone well as the run started, and I limped home. The roads in Maine after a tough winter are not kind on sour stomachs, thanks to all the great frost heaves. When I got home I laid on the couch and was a permanent fixture there pretty much until this morning. And this is what all my daycare money goes to...

Check out the Trail Monster Running blog for some great links to race reports from the Fat Ass.

Tonight I tested my stomach with a treadmill run. Not my most memorable run. Apparently there are still some unsettled spirits in there that did not want to be disturbed. On the good side, the treadmill is still running.

Stats: Treadmill, 6 miles, 45:40, 7:36 pace, No HR

Other news...I am signing up for the Mount Washington Road Race. Great race, "only one hill", or so the tag line goes. 7.6 miles with 5,000 feet of vertical climb. It is a lottery so wish me luck. Given my luck with lotteries this year, I will need it.

Road, Treadmill, and hopeful Fat Ass

2008-03-01T21:15:00.003-05:00

Friday was a group lunch run at work. The whole gang was there: Jim, Ethan, and Tom. The run started off quick and got quicker (at least for what was supposed to be an easy run). The reason for the quick pace was the topic of conversation. Anytime our conversation centers around politics, drug testing in cycling, or even product merchandising at L.L.Bean, the pace creeps downward. Friday's run started in the low to mid 7s and quickly went sub-7 in the second mile without any of us really noticing. Ethan left us near the 3.5 mile mark to do his interval workout while the other three of us cruised in.

Friday's run stats: Upper Mast Landing, 5.69 miles, 41:35, 7:19/mile, Avg HR 149, Max 172

Today I slept in (awoke at 7 AM, so many may not consider this worthy of the "sleeping in" designation). We had received a pretty good amount of snow overnight and it was still coming down so I stayed in and had breakfast with the family. Around mid-morning I headed out for some shoveling of the snow. Great workout, especially since there is no where easy left to push the snow but over 6-7 feet high snow banks. I love snow, and it is part of the reason we moved up here, and I will love it even more tomorrow if I get out skiing, but I will not mourn it's passing this year. After shoveling I headed in and hit the treadmill. The run went well and all felt good. I am now looking forward to the morning's Trail Monster Running Fat Ass 50K. I am looking at doing 2 of the 3 offered laps, for a 21 mile day. We'll see how well the snowmobilers packed down the trail today and tonight.

Today's run stats: Treadmill, 9.5 miles, 1:14:40, 7:52 pace (seems real slow...my memory of the time might be off)

Happy Treadmill

2008-02-28T21:21:00.002-05:00

I am happy to report that my treadmill is happy. I ran on it for the first time in almost two weeks tonight and it is running better than I remember it doing for awhile. I had to run chore at work today (got a parking ticket for my troubles) so I missed my outside run so I ran indoors tonight. I am quite happy that Kelly and I don't mind resorting to the treadmill. Without it I think that we would not get much running done during the winter.

Run stats: Treadmill, 6.0 miles, 45:45, 7:38 pace, 2% incline

Other exciting news. This weekend is the Trail Monster Running Fat Ass 50K at Bradbury Mountain State Park. There is a group planning on running just over 31 miles on snowmobile trails and other assorted packed (hopefully) trails. The course consists of 3, 10.5 mile loops. I am probably going to jump in for 2 of those as my training is not as ahead as some of these other guys who have earlier races than I do. My prime motivator at this point is to be ready for Memorial Day weekend's 50 miler at Pineland Farms and pacing Jamie 40 miles at Western States 100. I am also happy to report that I started my flight search today for transportation options out to California for said pacing duty. More on that as plans arise!

Some good runs

2008-02-27T22:27:00.007-05:00

The last couple days runs have been good. Both days I was able to get out at lunch and enjoy the nice temps and good company of my fellow L.L.Bean runners. Yesterday's run was on the relaxed side as none of us felt particularly strong. But just getting out to run is always a good thing and yesterday was no exception.

Stats: South Freeport, 47:37, 6.27 miles, 7:35/mile, Avg HR 142

Today's run was a different story. While the temps were mild at around 35 degrees, there was some mixed precipitation (primarily light rain) to deal with but all in all it was a perfect day for a tempo run. It was me and Ethan the first few miles and then he peeled off to get in his tempo workout which is done at a pace much quicker than mine. Before he turned up the speed he decided to stop and stretch a little bit and I kept moving. At this time I decided to start my tempo workout which started at around a 6:50 pace. Not speedy but really not slow either. Well, it wasn't fast enough hold off a stretching Ethan for long. I probably got 300-400 meters on him before he started his workout and it took him no time to pass me by as if I was a spectator in a race. Flying. Anyhow my run went on and I was able to clock some really good negative splits while keeping my average HR in check and my max really low considering the pace I was running. Also, the backside of this course presents a good mile+ long uphill (see elevation chart below), which presents quite a challenge to keep a HR low while increasing pace. So today was a good day of running.

Stats: Upper Mast Landing, Freeport, 40:05, 5.69 miles, 7:02 avg. pace, Elevation gain/loss +378/-378, Avg. HR 150, Max HR 179
Splits: 1- 7:36, 2 - 7:06, 3 - 7:11, 4 - 6:54, 5 - 6:47, 6 - 6:37

Mistranslation and learning to ski

2008-02-25T22:30:00.006-05:00

This weekend I did not run a mile. Last week I had a few rough nights of sleep and then Friday night I went to bed with the start of a sore throat. So I took Saturday off. The sore throat did not develop into much and I spent the afternoon with Kelly and the kids sledding at Pineland. What a hoot. My guess is that the million trips up the sledding hill schlepping Riley and her friend was equivalent to a 20 mile run.

Sunday morning I slept in (6:45!) and when Kelly and the kids headed out to the grocery store I made my way over to Pineland for some skate skiing. The temps was near the freezing mark which made for some warm skiing and interesting snow, the properties of which changed as I passed from shadow to sunlit trail. A little sticky and soft in the sun and nice and fast in the shade. No matter the snow properties. I had the best ski yet as my form is coming together a little at a time. I skied most of the trails over at Pineland and after a couple hours of skiing, my legs were shaking from exhaustion. Perfect. I am looking forward the snow we are supposed to get tomorrow night and later in the week. If it was up to me we would get snow through March and then April 1 (incidentally my birthday) the snow would all melt and I would have a dogwood (don't think they grow up here) blooming in my front yard. No such luck as April can be a pretty snowy month up here. Oh well, I will get more use out of my XC ski pass. Next year my winter plans will include the Rangeley Loppet, a 25 km XC race. Hopefully by that time my skating will be a little more honed in. If there is one thing I have learned up here is that you have to embrace each season as it is presented to you. That means loving the snow and skiing in the winter, grinning and bearing it in the short spring we have, and running and cycling everyday outside in the summer and fall.

Today I awoke with some soreness in my hips and legs from skiing. I knew I skied hard but had no idea I would be sore. Amazing that no matter how fit you are in one sport, that fitness just doesn't translate 100% to another sport. Different muscle groups and different demands. Anyhow, I was lucky enough to get out today at lunch for another beautiful Maine winter day. The temps were somewhere in the mid-30s and the run was a relaxing one. I ran with Ethan and Tom, both of whom had more physically demanding weekends than I did. It took me a little time to warm up to the run but once I did things moved along pretty well. I have included a Google map below to show how nice the running is around South Freeport as most of the run is near some body of water or another. Take note of the village and marina of South Freeport at the upper right corner of the picture and L.L.Bean Corporate HQ complex where I work marked "Start" on the right side near the middle.

Stats: 6.24 miles, 46:41, 7:29/mile, Ag HR 149, Max HR 174

Spirit, treadill, and tempo

2008-02-22T22:46:00.005-05:00

Last night I was lucky enough to get out with some friends after work for beers, burgers and a movie on marathoning. Joining me were two of my running cronies, Ian and Jamie, and a few of my work/lunch run buddies, Joseph, Jim, and Mike. We first hit the Sea Dog Brewing Company in Topsham and then headed over to the theater for the encore presentation of Spirit of the Marathon. I won't make you endure a lengthy review because my buddy Jamie did a fantastic job of reviewing the movie for me. Check out his Maine Runner blog for a more complete retrospective. While I do agree with Jamie on most points (how couldn't I since he was a MSNBC producer before moving to Maine to teach our youth?), I have to grade the film better than a C+. I am going to go with a B+ because any movie on running automatically starts at a B. For a little known running flick, check out "Saint Ralph". See the trailer at Yahoo movies. Not sure why I was just thinking of this movie but it's a good B+, A- movie.

Upon returning home at 10:30 I noticed the treadmill belt had arrived. I really wanted to curl up in bed with my book but couldn't pass up the work that needed to be done for my beloved hamster wheel. I am happy to report the treadmill is once again restored to its former status as a torture device...and it only took me until 1 AM to get it running. Hopefully I won't have to do anything to it for another 5 years...but I'm not holding my breath.

I did not get out for a run yesterday but I did Wednesday and today. Wednesday's run mirrored Tuesday's run with the same cast of characters and a pace that was only a couple seconds slower per mile, albeit with a more consistent pace per mile. It was a little colder than Tuesday, but all in all, a great winter day for Maine running.

Run stats: South Freeport, 6.3 miles, 46:26, 7:21/mile, Avg HR 149, Max HR 176

Today I ran solo in a snow/sleet mix that stung both my face as I ran into it and my throat as I breathed it in. Good temperature in the mid-20s I am guessing and I held a pretty good pace throughout. For this early in the season I would classify this as a tempo run. Also, I was quite happy with my consistent pace and the negative splits I pulled off, despite the hilly course I took. Days like today remind me how much fun it is to train for speed distances (marathon) versus long distance (100-milers). Once my training for 100s steps up, these "fast" days will be a fleeting memory as I slog through my long, really slow runs.

Run stats: South Freeport, 5.19 miles, 36:44, 7:04/mile, Avg HR 154, Max HR 178
Splits: 1 - 7:27, 2 - 7:02, 3 - 7:01, 4 - 7:09 (lost a lens in my glasses and had to turn around to retrieve it), 5 - 6:49, Last .19 - 6:32

Not sure what is on tap for the weekend. I may take the AM off for fun family time. Nothing better than having a couple kids crawling on you in bed in the morning as a wake up call. Much better than Garrison Keillor on NPR...

My poor treadmill

2008-02-19T21:14:00.005-05:00

Saturday dawned early once more and I headed to the basement for some treadmill fun. The temps outside were a little much, although not as bas as I had anticipated. The run went well with no issues with the exception of the slipping belt on my treadmill. I love my treadmill on long runs. One second after the 99 mins. and 59 secs. mark the treadmill cuts off because there are not five digits for it to display. Having reached this point a number of times I now anticipate the "not as sudden as a power outage" shut down and step off the treadmill to restart the clock. It seems like simple programming for the manufacturer to have set the machine clock up to simply reset to zero at the 100 minutes mark without shutting down the machine. Or maybe it is the engineer's way to say "get off that stupid machine dummy". Anyway, I did not get off but rather ran another 20+ minutes.

Saturday's Run: Treadmill, 16 miles, 2 hours and 3 minutes, 7:41 pace, no HR but I did find my strap(!)

Saturday afternoon we headed off up North to spend the evening with Kelly's dad for skiing up his way Sunday. So no run on Sunday. Instead, we introduced Riley to downhill skiing and got to experience what parenting is all about...a child yelling "wahoo" as she experiences a new, exhilerating thing for the first time. It was awesome. The thing that really helped was a Lucky Bums Sports Harness. If you are going to teach a kid to ski or anything where they need help stabilizing this is the trick.

Monday there was no run. The slipping of the treadmill has progressed to a serious issue, so serious as to make the treadmill dangerous. I diagnosed the issue as a disentegrating motor drive belt (!), hence all the black powder over everything. So parts are on order (expedited). And to think I just heaped all this praise on this machine last week...however, the fact remains that this thing has chugged along for 5 years of pounding with not so much as a dab of treadmill lube!

Today was a lunch run. Good, quality run with Ethan and Jim. Ethan left us after about four miles and Jim and I had a great run, as we always do. The first couple miles averaged a 7:30 pace with the last few+ at 7:15.

Today's run: South Freeport, 5.7 miles, 41:31, 7:19 pace, Avg. HR 148 bpm (felt strong)

Thursday night I am planning on heading out with a few fellow marathoners+ for a viewing of the Spirit of the Marathon. Check out your local listings to catch this encore presentation.

And for fun...

Woahhhhhh...

2008-02-15T07:07:00.003-05:00

Picture this: a person running full bore on a treadmill that loses power and "loses" its runner. We've all seen this either in a movie, on a commercial, or dreamt it when we see someone we don't like running on a treadmill. It is definitely funny unless, of course, you are the runner. Just after the 5.75 mile mark of Wednesday night's run, we lost power and the treadmill went from 8.5 mph to 0 mph as quickly as it could, and so did I. Not a nice way to end a run. Wednesday we spent the day at home with the kids because of a closed daycare center and nasty roads. Both Kelly and I worked from home and swapped off kid duties in between emails and conference calls. The roads were a wreck and the weather nasty, so I chose to use the treadmill.

Truthfully, I don't know what I would do up here if I was treadmill adverse. So many people I talk to treat running on treadmills as if it is a lower form of the activity. I must respectfully disagree because without the treadmill, my only option would be to not run. I have a demanding job that will not allow me to run whenever I want to and most times leave me with only a window of opportunity at night after the kids are put to bed.

Also, I seem to do just fine in races and training using the treadmill. Witness my pretty good performance at the Cape Elizabeth 10 Mile Mid Winter Classic a couple weeks ago. Over half my Ironman training a few years ago was spent on both the treadmill and bike trainer due to a nasty winter and I had a great race. Long live indoor training. I hope. I have recently noticed the treadmill belt slipping regularly so I think it is time we perform our first ever maintenance on our machine. We have owned our NordicTrack C 1800 for over five years now problem free so I think we have gotten a good return on our investment. I highly recommend this machine to anyone looking for a good, economical, smooth running treadmill. We routinely will put 3+ hours on the thing on a weekend day and 1.5-2 hours on a weeknight. I've done 2 1/2 hour runs on it and smelled only minimal burning of the belt. To get runs like this out of machine for over five years, experts would convince you that you need to spend ~ $5K to get a good machine. For the price we paid, less than $1K, the same experts would say the machine is only good for walking. Bullocks. Go cheap and run it into the ground...many years from now.

Wednesday run stats:
Treadmill, 5.75+ miles, 2% incline, ~ 43 minutes, 7:29 pace, No HR data

Yesterday I was lucky enough to experience the best of Maine winter days. Jim and I tagged along with Ethan on his recovery day and we had full sun and 26 degrees (17 with the wind). This was in stark contrast to yesterday's snow/sleet/rain combination! I am starting to feel the draw of spring, which is dangerous this early because March and even April in Maine can be cruel. The run itself was good but I felt a little flat. I write this off to a lackluster diet the last couple days. I got some fries in me today after the run so I should be all set tomorrow!

Wednesday run stats:
Noon run outside, 6.3 miles, 45:41 minutes, 7:18 pace, No HR data
Splits: 1 - 7:32, 2 - 7:18, 3 - 7:10, 4 - 7:24(?), 5 - 7:12, 6 - 6:55, End - Cool Down

On Tuesday I got outside at noon and ran with my whole group here at work, consisting of Jim, Ethan, and Tom. It was a great run with temperatures that were very conducive to a comfortable run. It felt really good getting outside and breathing some fresh air. The pace was pretty consistent throughout the entire run, even after Ethan peeled off to get in his tempo workout. And as always, the conversation was scintillating!

Tuesday run stats:
6.3 miles, 46:59, 7:27 pace, No HR data (still can't find my strap)

Krispy Kreme's sticky run

2008-02-11T22:28:00.000-05:00

Today I was stuck inside at lunch, again, but it was just as well as the temperature barely got out of the teens today. With the wind chill, the temps were just beyond the single digits. Don't get me wrong, I am not afraid of cold weather running but having lunch indoors is just more comfortable. So not lunch run means a night time treadmill run. The run went well and I felt really good. The last couple miles were done at near 7:00 pace (largely aided by the battlefield scenes of the World War II movie I was watching).

Run: Treadmill, 52:30, Pace 7:30, No HR

From the fun files, my sister-in-law appreciates both my love of running and Krispy Kreme donuts so she sent me information on what is possibly the world's best run (besides the Pineland Farms Trail Challenge and the Bradbury Bruiser). The Krispy Kreme Challenge. This run consists of a two mile run from N.C. State University to the local Krispy Kreme where "race" participants must eat 1 dozen donuts and then run the two miles back, all in under one hour. Good fun. I wonder what the ultra distance of this race would be like. I am thinking I will propose something similar to Ian for the L.L.Bean race series. Maybe we have participants eat one whoopie for each mile of a race. So we do the 12 Mile Bradbury Bruiser and you eat a dozen whoopie pies. Perfect.

The Perfect Triathlon: Run, Ski, Nap

2008-02-10T22:52:00.000-05:00

Run: Treadmill, 92 mins., 8 miles, comfortable 7:45/mile
Ski: Skate, 1 hr, 15 mins.
Nap: 45 mins.
(the perfect triathlon!)

This morning was another treadmill day, albeit a little later than yesterday. I got in a very comfortable 8 miles at a gentle pace. My approach to early season training for ultramarathons is to double up the weekend runs and try to make them of the longer sort. That is not to say that I think 12 and 8 miles are long runs, but they are a nice progression to the 20 and 30 mile Saturday and Sundays I will be doing in a few months.

Having said that, I did prolong my work out a bit today by eating a quick breakfast (freshly baked bread in the form of french toast - thanks Kelly) and heading directly over to Pineland to meet the most excellent skier/ultramarathoner, James Demer, for some skate skiing. As I was rushing out the door I could not find my keys so I grabbed the spares and headed out. Upon arriving at Pineland I went to get my skis and poles out of my Thule roof box and realized that the key to the box was with my other key set. So, no skis. I also had no wallet nor money to rent skis so I went looking for James hoping he had an additional pair skis to lend me. Like myself, his box is full of gear (I always have a couple pair of classic skis, my skate skis, and Riley's little skis). So we set out skiing, me in his well-waxed racing skates, for some snowy skiing. The conditions were a little slow due to all the "wet" snow we had recently and the higher temps (near mid-30s), but this gave us quite a workout and a great opportunity for me to really work on my technique. We skied about 1 hr. 15 mins. before I had to head home to take over kid watching duty for Kelly. She was going to spend her afternoon at Maine's Democratic Caucus (won by Obama!). The rest of the afternoon went well with Quinn and Riley taking long naps (I also got one in, which is very rare but welcome, as I fell asleep reading to Riley. Gotta love afternoon naps!

Treadmill and Pulks

2008-02-09T23:16:00.000-05:00

Today was a great day. I awoke early and hit the treadmill and got in 12 miles. My goal was to get my run in and join my family for breakfast, but I was a little too slow for their hungry bellies. The run was good but I was slow to get going. I think I was still asleep the first couple miles as my brain tried to catch up with my body. I have experienced this feeling a number of times on early morning runs - fuzzy vision and a disbelief of what you are asking of your body. But soon enough the blood sugar rises and you know the only way to finish is to accept what you are doing and look for the good. All in all I felt strong and got in a good run.

Run stats: Treadmill, 12 Miles @ 7:45 per mile

Around mid-morning we all headed out for some snow shoveling and post-storm clean-up. Kelly pulled the kids around the yard in the toboggan while I did the chores. Around 10 AM Boo Boo showed up for her day with Riley. Boo Boo had got Riley and herself tickets to Disney's Princesses on Ice. So after Riley left, Quinn headed off to Pineland with Mom and Dad for some Nordic Skiing. After all the snow we just got, it would have been a shame to not take advantage of it. We rented a pulk (sled) to pull Quinn around the trails. Things went as planned as he fell asleep 10 minutes into the adventure and slept almost the entire two hours we were out there. Pulling a pulk is definitely adds another level of fitness to cross country skiing, so to all my fitness buff childless friends, feel free to borrow my kids. Just let me know.

Ski stats: 2 hours \ Oak Hill Loop and Campus Loop \ Handicapped by ~ 35 pounds of child and pulk \ best time skiing all year

Recovery and treadmill

2008-02-06T23:20:00.000-05:00

Monday:
Recovery from Sunday's race

Tuesday:
Treadmill / 6 miles / 46 minutes / 7:40 pace / no HR data

Wednesday:
Treadmill / 5.5 miles / 42 minutes / 7:38 pace / no HR data

Monday I awoke to some tight hip flexors from Sunday's race. I was quite happy with my performance and bore the soreness with some pride knowing I gave the roads of Cape Elizabeth all I had. I took the day off for some recovery. Funny enough my left knee, the one that has been bugging me for a couple weeks felt the best it has in weeks, and it is still feeling great.

Yesterday and today I hit the treadmill in the evening. Both runs were at a nice pace and all felt well. There is still some tightness in the groin area and my right knee (yep, the other knee) seized up about four miles into the run and was quite painful for a half mile but it worked it's way out as quickly as it came. So all is well again.

I thought I would include a Google Earth map (what a cool program) from Sunday's race. Thanks for the help Jamie. I was having an issue running the program and saving images but realized I needed to update my graphics driver (lost when I blasted my laptop a couple months ago). Now I am ready to go. I also wanted to throw out a big thanks to James Demer for volunteering at Sunday's race. Thanks for the flag work, James!

One more thing. I recently finished a work of fiction on the sport of biathlon, which unfortunately is woefully unappreciated in this country. It is called "A Medal of Honor" and can be found at L.L.Bean. I'm not plugging my company, this is truly about the only place you can find this book. This is no indication of how good this book is, only how ignorant this country is of the sport of Nordic Skiing and Biathlon. Check it out. Good stuff. One interesting thing about the author, John Morton, is that he is a XC ski trail designer and is the designer behind the trails at Pineland.

2008-02-03T18:35:00.000-05:00

Saturday:
Treadmill
10 Miles
1:17:00, Pace: 7:42

Sunday:
Cape Elizabeth 10 Mile Mid Winter Classic
1:04:55 , 6:30 pace
Elevation Gain/loss +547/-600 (MotionBased stated +982/-1022 but that seems a little much)
Avg. HR 179 bpm
Max HR 191

Friday night did not go down as I expected. I ended up working late, the weather turned foul, and I slept in my own bed. I had planned on joining Jamie in Cape Code for the Cape Cod Fat Ass 50K. Things didn't work out for me but Jamie soldiered on without me and did fantastic. Hats off to him. I ended up hitting the treadmill mid-day on a beautiful day. I was responsible for watching Riley so my choice was treadmill or no run. Treadmill won. I ended up getting in 10 miles at a moderate pace of 7:42.

This morning I made the decision to run the Cape Elizabeth 10 Mile Mid Winter Classic. The weather was fantastic with temps in the mid-30s and negligible winds, unlike last year's brutal conditions. My race went well despite the dual untied laces, which did not slow me down. My splits were positive, but very close. My fastest mile was the first mile at 6:26, which shows my inexperience given all my time off from road racing. Mile 6 was my slowest mile at 6:39. The ups and downs on this course are unrelenting, as is evident in the elevation profile to the right. The hills start in miles 2-3 and miles 8-9.5 are all uphill. Luckily we were spared the traditional headwind during the last couple miles which probably helped set PRs and course records. I felt good during the run despite the fact that none of my training has included speed workouts. My average heart rate was 179 bpm, but often hit the low to mid 180s and even 191 on the last hill, just 2 beats shy of my max. Today's time was good enough for my best time in three tries at this course. My first attempt was in 2005 with a time of 1:07:00 and last year was second in 1:08:22. So I ran almost three minutes faster this year than last. And given this course is the only 10 mile course I have ever run, this one was a PR. Hats off to Erik Boucher and the Maine Track Club for great post-race eats. But the pizza there was not enough to keep us from stopping at the new and improved Portland Pie Company (new as of Thanksgiving). Great new location and great pizza.

Oh and I would be remiss if I didn't thank the great water boy at mile 5 for the quality H2O. Thanks Jamie!

Free at last, free at last!

2008-01-29T22:16:00.000-05:00

I freed myself of my desk today and went for a run around South Freeport. Given the amount of work my team has I felt guilty, but the weather was just too nice to ignore and I haven't been out for quite some time. Despite the guilt, the run was fantastic. Tom joined at Noon and we ran a slightly modified 4th of July L.L.Bean 10K route in a nice 46:59, a 7:42 pace. The couple miles that the battery of my GPS lasted recorded a heart rate in the mid-140s.

The weather and work the rest of the week leads me to start mentally preparing to be back on the treadmill tomorrow and Thursday night. Get it where and when you can!

Conditions: Sunny, mid-30s, no wind
Time: 46:59
Pace: 7:42
HR: Mid to high 140s

Trading spaces with my wife

2008-01-28T22:59:00.000-05:00

Sunday:
Treadmill / 7 miles / 53 minutes / 7:34 pace / no HR data

Monday:
Treadmill / 6 miles / 47 minutes / 7:50 pace / no HR data

Kelly, my wife, has really stepped up her running lately. She's gotten motivated to tackle another fall marathon . This will be her third but first since our son Quinn was born. So now we are really bartering for running time. This usually means I get the late shift. Last night I got in a nice run after a somewhat humdrum day which was supposed to be about tackling home projects but I ended up creating more work than I solved (be careful to stay on the rafter when walking around your attic - ceiling drywall does not do well when subjected to 158 lbs of pressure). My knee is still a little sore but I am now focusing my rolling on the outside of my leg both above and below the knee.

Also of note last night was that we watched a pretty neat documentary on two guys who crossed the US on Segway. I work with a guy who know the filmmakers and he asked me to check it out and give him an objective view point. The movie is called "10 MPH". By signing up at an affiliated website, you can download or watch the flick for free. Or queue it in your Netflix. It paints a fun portrait of our still great country and has some great tunes.

Tonight I hit the treadmill again for a decent run. Sometimes I just don't feel like running, and tonight was one of those nights. My legs were sloppy and I just wanted off. However I did manage 6 miles and sometimes it is these runs we force ourselves to do that pay off big in the end.

This weekend's run in Cape Cod (Fat Ass 50K) is still up in the air as Jamie and check out health and overall status to run 50K. If we do go, I am ready for a great time!

Pineland XC and a run

2008-01-26T21:02:00.000-05:00

Today I was fortunate to get a "two a day" workout in. This morning my family headed over to spend the day at Pineland Farms to partake in the Winter Carnival being hosted there. I attended a ski waxing class while my kids headed over to the sledding hill for some fast and furious downhill time on plastic discs. After my class I headed to the waxing room and applied what I learned and then took my "new" skis out on the wicked fast snow we had this morning. My skate skiing is coming along, thanks largely to Monday's clinic and time on my skis. I got in a little over two hours of skiing on the River Loop and Gloucester Hill trails and enjoyed every minute of it. It is definitely nice to get a sweat going and a workout from something other than running some times. My kids also enjoyed their time on skis and on the carriage rides.

A couple hours after mid-day I was responsible for bringing Riley and Quinn back home for nap time while Kelly hung out with her Dad for some classical skiing. This worked out great as the kids were asleep in the car before we even got away from Pineland. I took advantage of this kid downtime when I got home by jumping on the treadmill for a 7-mile run which I completed in about 55 minutes. It is amazing how much a good movie will take away the pain of a hot run when you are tired. I am currently watching "Saving Private Ryan" on my runs and the battle scenes get the heart rate up and mind focused away from the whir of the treadmill belt. I felt good running with the exception of my outer left knee. Since my ski outing Monday, my knee has been tender to touch in a very localized area. I believe it is the attachment point of my IT band so I have been focusing my stretching and rolling on my IT. Hopefully this will help. I'll let you know.

And here's my To Do list for this upcoming week: check out flights to WS100 (!) and send in my cash for the Vermont 100.

Ups and downs

2008-01-24T22:28:00.000-05:00

Since my last post, there have been some ups and downs. The long weekend was an active one. Saturday started with an early morning treadmill run. Granted, Saturday was a beautiful day, so why not run outside? Why not meet the Trail Monsters at Bradbury? Well, I have an aversion to super early morning winter runs. Not that I fear the cold, it just my motivation is lacking to run solo at 6 AM in 10 degree weather. Question my love of running if you will, but I just prefer to stay indoors in these cases. This is not to say my basement environment is exactly comfortable. With my huge soapstone wood stove kicking, my basement creates a perfect environment for training for the Badwater 135. In fact, I will probably spend most of my training for Badwater in my basement! But that's in a few years...now back to Saturday past. I ran 10 treadmill miles at an ascent of 1% in 1:20. After that, Kelly and I took the kids to visit Pops and Boo Boo (Kelly's dad and his girlfriend). While the kids spent the day snowshoeing and skiing with the Grandparents, Kelly and I headed the 20 minutes over to Black Mountain in Rumford for some classical nordic skiing. We spent about 1:30 hours skiing and called it a day.

Sunday was a day off and spent ice skating with the kids and learning how to wax nordic skis and then practicing that art. While I have a way to go before I can call my waxing an art, the performance of the skis Monday proved that I did not screw them up. I was lucky enough Monday to partake in a skate ski lesson with a coach arranged through the Portland Lobster XC Ski Club. Present were a couple guys I know from trail running and I had a great time over the few hours we spent at Pineland skiing. Beautiful day and a great workout. Later that night I hit the treadmill for a 5.5 mile treadmill run at an average pace of 7:30 and felt pretty good with the exception of sore knees from skiing and what I suspect is a tight IT band. Solution: the foam roller. Every runner should have one. Fixed both mine and Kelly's knee problems and has kept us injury free for years. Good stuff. It's the cheapest tool you can add to your running arsenal. Rush out and buy one now!

Monday was a down day. Quinn and Riley brought home a stomach virus over the weekend and Kelly got it Monday night and I woke up with it in the morning. So that knocked me out for the day. Forced day off. I did get back on the treadmill last night for an easy 5 miles at 7:45 pace which was tough with a belly that was still a little queasy. Tonight I felt much better and got in 6 treadmill miles at roughly the same pace. Feels good to be 100% again!