Race report/story

No run today. I spent the evening wrapping up my race story (I don't believe you can call anything 10 pages a simple report. I prefer to call it a race story.) I am about done, just a little editing is necessary before releasing it to the world. Hopefully people will find it entertaining as well as enlightening. I also checked the Vermont 100 site tonight and it seems there was a race results correction and my position in the race was corrected from 15th to 16th. That's okay because the guy who displaced me saved my butt at mile 85 when he shared his tums with me. God bless him.

Cool lunch run

Exciting news. This morning I mailed off my Western States 100 application. The lottery drawing is on December 1, so keep your fingers crossed until then. Until then I will have to dream and use my imagination to take a run through the Sierra Nevadas...

I was fortunate once again today and got our for a lunch run. I ran with Tom and Ethan and ended up doing a shorter run as we all had to get back for meetings. The run was 5.24 miles covered at a 7:38 pace. My heart rate average was a nice recovery rate of 146 bpm. All in all a very nice run.

I missed the Trail Monsters run out at Twin Brook tonight as I had family obligations. Maybe next week.

Tonight I am going to try and tackle a little more of my race story. I am no longer calling this a race report as I have never seen a race report of 10+ pages. Hopefully I will soon have something posted on the Maine Multisports website.

Until next time.

Easy rain run

Distance: 6.2
Time: 0:47:26
Pace: 7:41
Avg. HR: 151

Got out today for a nice, easy, cool 6.2 miles around South Freeport. Joining me was my left-wing buddy Tom who has been absent from the run scene while training for and riding century bike rides. Tom is a rock solid athlete with tons of talent and quite an attitude if crossed. If you see me running with Tom please do not cut us off in your car or crowd us on the shoulder. I promise you will get a rock through your windshield! Tom is fun and the conversation is never dull. Anyhow, the high temps have abated and we ran in a nice cool light rain which made our run much more bearable.

My Western States 100 application will hopefully be in the mail sometime this week. Exciting stuff. But I still have to make it through the lottery and get through the remaining ultras on my list this year. Next up...the Vermont 50. I am looking forward to getting back to that beautiful part of the country.

Patchouli...and childbirth

Beach to Beacon went well for my wife and I survived spectating with my two kids (with the help of my buddy Jamie). Kelly finished where she thought she would at just over an hour. This is a tremendous time for a working mother of two who, for the most part, sacrifices her running time to support her husband's fanaticism. With the exception of weekend runs, her training is limited. I am working on that by trying to coax her towards a Fall marathon, but we may have to opt for a half. We'll see.

Speaking of my wife, she is what I describe as a "happy runner". Every race she runs she does so smiling. No race ever gets her down nor does she allow an overeager pace to drag her down into the depths of "last mile despair". She finishes feeling as strong as she started, and enjoys every second of her opportunities to join the scores of other recreational and happy racers like herself. This should not come as a surprise to me as I witnessed her birth both of my beautiful children with the help of only a midwife and no drugs or medical intervention. Zero. Au natural. Never once did she ask for any relief. This is why I am always embarrassed when people tell me what an amazing feat running 100 miles is. One thing to note is that I often don 't get this comment from women early enough in motherhood to remember the birth of their children.

So on to my training. This morning I met Jamie, Brian (a crewmember from the VT100), and Blaine at 6 AM out at Pineland. When all was said and done we ran exactly(!) 10 miles courtesy of Jamie (who has to run even training runs). The pace was pedestrian at around 9:20, but at Pineland this pace feels like sub-6s at some points. I kept a nice low heartrate so the run was a good reintroduction to longer distance training. The horseflies were out in force, even given cooler temps and a nice breeze. Blaine pulled out some secret Windham farmer's market bug spray with patchouli which he swore would protect us. Well, apparently there is no escape from the Pineland Pests! Even Brian, who swore off the herb for chemicals (DEET), had swarms eating him.

One thing I found fun today is that our group consists of a bunch of wordsmiths. Jamie's blog is first rate and Marathon & Beyond is publishing an article of his in their next issue. Blaine can't stop his flow of words. I know of no one else who can produce as much writing as this guy. I dabble in words with this blog, the Maine Multisport website, and a longer piece I am writing on how running saved my life for a larger publication to carry (hopefully M&B will bite as I really respect their periodical). The only humble one amongst us was Brian. He didn't mention his writing talents on our run, but I will say here that he is a top notch "haikuist". Hopefully I can convince him to share some with a larger audience!

All for now. Off to the beach to bask in the glory of another wonderful Maine day!

Please send salvation from the heat

I just read my buddy Jamie's blog and I must agree with his assessment of the heat. I also grew up in the south (Richmond, VA which I consider as south as Birmingham, AL) and played sports in weather much worse than this. Boy have I become a weather wimp since moving up here. Bring on the winter! I can take the cold.

I got out at lunch for just over 5 miles at a 7:30 pace and felt like I ran twice that far twice that fast. The good thing was that I got to try out my new Garmin Forerunner 305. Great tool. It is nice to finally have a heart rate monitor and GPS in one package, and the software and web tools for analysis (and making cool maps) is great.

Back to Jamie's blog...he mentioned he got an iPod and was looking for some good podcasts to tune into while running. I do most of my solo long runs listening to Podcasts and some of my favorites include "EndurancePlanet.com" (which Jamie plugged), "The Competitors Radio Show", "The Final Sprint Podcast", NPR's "Car Talk" for humor and NPR's "All Songs Considered" for some great music reviews and live shows. (Books on tape are also great for those long runs.) Enjoy.

Cherished Support

Tonight I got a most excellent gift from my wife - her support to enter the Western States 100 lottery. I had been formulating a plan in my head since crossing the finish line at the Vermont 100 and had yet to reveal it to Kelly until tonight. I do recognize that with two kids, the training impact on me from long runs, night run, and sleep deprivation, as well as the challenge of the actual race, is nothing compared to what Kelly must endure as she waits for me to come home after every run while chasing around two young kids who are just coming into their own. Not to mention the challenge of supporting me on a race course while caring for these wild kids. She truly is a saint, as my friend Tyl noted.

The plan is to throw my hat in the ring for the lottery, to be drawn December 9. I have a 37-40% chance at getting an entry. If so, great. Training starts January 1. If not, training starts January 1, just for a different race. I am thinking the Massanutten Mountain 100 is a worthy back up. Mountainous and very difficult, as well as in my home state of Virginia. If I get into Western States 100, Kelly is planning on making the trip with me as a handler and a pacer (pleasant surprise) and we will leave the kids with family for a few days. This is our sick idea of some relaxing days away from the hustle of bustle of two kids - racing and crewing a 100 mile race. I would have it no other way!

Easy run around Freeport...and Beach to Beacon

First, the Maine Multisports website has been updated and now includes an article I wrote a few weeks ago. Check it out. I am almost done my race report which will be posted both here and on the Maine Multisports website.

Took an easy lunch run of just over 5 miles around Freeport with Mike and Jim. No matter the weather or how tired my legs might be, joining these guys is a pleasure. The conversation is never dull as Mike sees fit to throw out topics sure to get us riled up, and Jim's sense of humor is a blast. Good guys to have as running buddies. The weather was hot and humid, but not too bad. My legs were pretty beat up from my two-a-day yesterday, but well worth it.

Tomorrow night we are off to secure Kelly's bib number for Beach to Beacon. I have babysitting duty at the finish line which suits me just fine. If I am going to be a spectator there is no better race than B2B to spectate. Although tonight Kelly started griping about not wanting to run and there is no way I will let her number go unused so I may run. Depends on if her griping is more than just pre-race jitters. Don't worry, I know enough make sure my time isn't recorded!