I'm now an Ultra Marathoner

Well my first ultra went really well. Kenny and I ran most of it together. I doubted myself just before the halfway point. Can I really finish this? The legs were starting to ache a little and there was still a little under 20 miles to go. I started taking a rolaid about every hour and i had one ibuprofen about mile 20. By mile 22 or so it was hammer down. I was eating a moderate amount at each aid station, every 4 miles or so. I did really well until about mile 30 where I knew I was going to finish but I started to fatigue. My last my mile as my fastest at just under a 10 min/mile pace. I finished just under 6 1/2 hours (12 min/mile). Looking back I don't think I ate quite enough at each aid station especially toward the end. You just want it to be over and you don't want to stop. It is harder to restart than keep going. When I finished I really didn't feel much different than when I run 20+ miles. I rested well ahead of the race.

Yes I've already signed up for another ultra, Terrapin Mtn (March 28). Holiday Lake was fairly flat. The Terrapin Mountain race course rises (and falls) 7000 feet over 31 miles. I'm guessing it will be tougher but I'll just go a little slower. Training has been going well. 120+ miles in the last 3 weeks. This week will start the taper and ends with a 5k in Lewisburg. I've had a lot of time to think running all these miles. I am curious, once 50Ks become like 5Ks what do you do? I don't see myself as one of these people who are going to climb Mt Everest or something crazy like that. I'm just not sure where all this is leading. I want to focus my efforts on my kids now that they are old enough to do bigger stuff with Dad but most of the time they don't share my interest so I have to be careful. Here's hoping one day I run a marathon with one of my daughters....

Getting ready for an Ultra

After I ran my first marathon in November 2006, I thought "I'll never do this again". I even told people I saw while running it "Don't ever do this!" Well I ended up running a total of three marathons within a year.

My friend Kenny has gone from overweight slug to ultra marathon runner (distances greater than 26.2 miles) in the space of a few years. Watching him evolve over the last few years, I realized that 26.2 miles is tough but there may be more out there than just a marathon. In the last year, I have fallen in love with trail running. Road running now seems to be something I only would want to do for shorter distances (13.1 or less). So I did it, I signed up for an ultra marathon. A 33.26 mile ultra marathon trail race. The Holiday Lake 50k++ near Appomattox Va. Am I ready for this? I think so. I had to break a running rule doing it though and hopefully got away with it.

http://extremeultrarunning.com/2009_holidaylake/2009_HL_application.pdf

The rule is the 10% rule. Never increase your weekly/monthly mileage by 10%. I had run a little over 100 miles in november and just a few more in December. January I cranked it up to 183 miles. I broke the rule. At one point I almost thought I had broke myself. I had little aches and pains all up and down the legs and I was worn out. I didn't want to run but I pushed on. Now that it is February I feel like I'm done. I'm resting and doing easy short runs. Nine days to go until the race. I'm still a little tired but I'm getting fresher by the day. The last long run I did was a 23 miler and near the end I was feeling great and ready for more. I'm ready and I can't wait.

Running with the hound

I was running an easy 5 miler a few evenings ago and went by this house where the dogs are usually tied up. This time though there was a bassett hound like dog that came running at me barking. I picked up a wad of rocks to protect myself and he stopped and started wagging his tail. I knew then that he was friendly. I kept running and he started running alongside of me barking and jumping up at me wanting to play. I figured he would not follow me far but soon we were out of sight of his house and trotting down the road. His little short legs were working back and forth and his big ears flopping around. He settled into a nice pace running beside me and stopped bothering me. He was along for the ride.

After going more than a quarter mile or so, it was time for me to turn around. I turned around and he was right on my heels occasionally hitting my legs. I was tired and this annoyed me somewhat so I just thought to myself, let's put the hammer down and see what he does now. So I increased my pace from a easy jog to more of a moderate run. I didn't say anything, I just sneakily did it. He immediately noticed the change and it was getting hard for him to keep up. He barked and jumped at me even more now. I got the feeling he was saying slow down! slow down! The faster I ran the more urgently he barked and jumped up at me. He ran pretty good for a feller with short legs. Finally, I got tired of him jumping up and hitting me so I stopped and told him to get on home and kinda chased him up the road. He was a good boy and ignored me from then on. I waddled on home another 5 miles on the Garmin.

Well obviously I didn't blog any since March. There really wasn't much to say about this past year. Hmm.....maybe I could find a few things to talk about.

• My 61 year old Dad did 4 multisport events, three of them proper triathlons without having ever done one before. He also did some running road races.
• Let's see, my friend R ran his first race (Captain Thurmond's Challenge) and did really well while learning painfully about the art of pacing. He has also dived into the world of longer distances and is hooked.
• Over the past year my friend B has gone from barely being able to run 3 miles to doing 10+ mile runs and taken up kayaking.
• My friend KW ran 3 ultra marathons this year! A couple 50k races and a 50 miler! The bad part is that he has talked me into running a 50k in February!
  
• My friend S ran well in multiple races and organized one of her own. She even took up cycling.
• My friend KH started running seriously and ran his first 5k in October. He also learned a hard lesson about who you should not pace off of in your first race (the college girls cross country team).
• My buddy KA was the 4th fastest cyclist in a 10 mile race with way over a hundred contestants and missed being first by mere seconds and really helped us to a 3rd place male teams finish.
• My daughters ran a couple fun run races and had a really good time. All in all I'd say it was a pretty good year.

High Rocks Celtic Knot 5k

As I ran up the hill through the graveyard I could hear the young woman's footsteps behind me. She was catching me. The rhythm of her foot strikes was much faster than mine. She had been steadily gaining on me for the last half mile. When we started up the hill, I was maybe 30 yards in front of her. As we were running up the hardest part of the hill, she was going gaining fast. I tried to hold her off but she went by me quickly. She was the third person to pass me. I said "Good Job", she said nothing. Two other runners had passed me early on in the race. I was doing good I thought, I was just amazed that she had passed me on that hill...

(The race is over time to cheese for the camera)

I had so many friends at this race it wasn't funny. My friends Kenny and Manon, K1 and his daughter, K2, Sandy, and Dad.

(Kenny and Mark "It's just a 5k")

The Celtic Rock 5k took place in downtown Lewisburg. It was to benefit a girls school in Pocahontas County. http://highrocks.org/ It consists of a very twisty course that starts on Church Street. The course is rolling with numerous turns. The pinnacle of the race is about a half mile climb up to the top of the Civil War Cemetery. This takes place about 2 miles into the race. After the hill you wind down a grassy slope and through a parking lot before arriving back on Church Street for the flat straight finish.

(Go Sandy Go!)

A few things to point out, is that the high rocks girls put on the race and post cheerful signs all along the course. They also cheer the runners on. They had ample refreshments after the race. The course was a little short coming in at 2.9 miles and there was some difficulty following the course near the end. Erica, the race director is very responsive and plans to address these issues next year.

(Look at this smile caused by running)

Since I knew so many people at this race, you start to think about the story behind the runners. It really is not just people running in a race. They are there for a reason. Some are trying to turn over a new leaf, others to lose weight, showing others the joy of running, and some to achieve new records. Each person is out there working for goals whether they are obvious or hidden.

(Slow and Steady)

It was a fun race and we had good weather. I ended up running the 2.9 miles in 20:42 which is pretty good for me considering there was a significant hill in it. I was hoping for a top 10 finish and I made it by placing 7th out of 30 runners. The usual suspects beat me, Todd, Bruce, Michael... These are guys I see in all the local races. I'm getting a little better each year though...

(This is what it is all about right here)
Thanks to K2 and Bill for the video.

Running for President

On the morning of Super Tuesday a few weeks ago, Erin was in the car with her mommy going to school. They were listening to the radio. Erin said "Mommy wow those people must really be in shape if they are going to run in all those states today!" She literally thought they were going to physically run in all those states that day. Coincidentally, she and her sister had been on a run with dad a couple days before. She is also saying that she wants her cb/radio handle to be "runner" or "runner up" now.

A January Update

So what's been going on? Well, deer season sort of took over most of December then there was the Christmas festivities. I began lifting weights before Christmas and have continued to do so till now. I've put on about 4 pounds since early December so I hope that is from the weight lifting and not anything else? My running has been cut in half. I'm getting in 2 or maybe 3 quality runs a week. Last weekend I ran 20 with my buddy Lee. It was a beautiful run from Lewisburg out into the countryside. I ran my mouth the entire time and it went by fast. We ran slow doing it in about 3:33. Afterwards I had the usual completely consuming lactic acid burning pain. But after about 30 minutes it was gone and I got back to normal. I spent the rest of the day shopping Lowes/WalMart and then coming home to finish my inside steps.

This week I ran twice. Once around the Hinton loop in about 33 minutes (4.3 miles) and once to Talcott from PS and back (11.25 @ 8:04 pace). I'm not necessarily getting any faster right now but I seem to be recovering from my runs very quickly. Probably due to the fact I'm resting several days in between! My plan right now is to keep with the weight lifting, and try to do a long slow run every other weekend. In this case, long would be more than say 12 miles. I hope to do long runs till March and then focus on getting faster with track work once a week. I'm not going to run a spring marathon and one of my favorite races, the Blacksburg 10 miler doesn't look like it's going to happen. So blah on that. I am really looking forward to my two team events tentatively scheduled for April and July (Greenbrier River Race, and Scenic Mountain Tri).

We are in the midst of winter now but running sort of combats the weather in a way. You pick the days that are somewhat nice and you run and you feel better.

1000 Miles This Year!

("Thank ya, Thank ya very much")

I just returned from a little 3.8 mile run at my house and without even realizing it, I crossed the 1000 mile mark for the year today. That is my first time crossing this mark. After 2 years of non-consistent running followed by 3 years of consistent running, I made it to this point. So far this year my monthly totals look like this

Mistletoe Half Marathon, Winston-Salem NC

Well it was time to return to the great state of NC. I got my 5k Personal Record (PR) there last year in November. We went down for a weekend visit to see my cousin, Christi and her husband. They were nice enough to let us invade their house. My cousin's husband, Brian, had trained hard this fall for many weeks getting ready for this race. As an Reserve Army grunt, he's gone from running 5 milers up to 13 milers now. I'm sure PT tests will be like eating cake to him now. He had worked his way all the way up to a practice 13 mile run. He learned the meaning of nutrition, hydration, and injury along the way.
Saturday December 1st, hey we're in the south why is it in the upper 20's this morning? It was cold! I thought it was perfect though. I knew once I got started I would be fine. I was planning on a 7:37 pace so I could finish in 1:40:00.
First was the fun run. Madison signed up for the fun run. About 8:00 we were hanging around the start line. Madison was to cool to stand with her family so she was standing with a group of kids on the other side of the street. They were late starting the race so I was getting nervous about making it to my 8:15 start about a 1/4 mile away. I was preparing myself to go to the starting line when someone said okay let's have the fun run. A pack of kids lined up, I searched the pack to see Madison, she wasn't there! I ran across the street and over the hill on a soccer field, with that same bunch of kids, she was having her picture taken with them. There she was right in the middle of them. They all had on some sort colored shirt while she had on a gray sweatshirt and stuck out like a sore thumb. I said Madison get up here the race is starting! About that time the fun run started. Parents were standing there looking at me like I was crazy one of them said, "Aw that's just the fun run" I said I know she's supposed to be in it! Madison get up here! I yelled.

So she broke rank in the middle of the picture taking and came up the steps. The other kids were already out of sight down the road. Apparently, the kids she was with were running the 5k! As she took off running she almost broke into tears but her GoGo stepped in and started running with her. She was mad now and took off flying. I think the run was about 1 mile. I would later find out that she came in 5th and that she passed a bunch of kids. I know she gave them almost a 2 minute head start! She did good but it was quite funny after it was over.
GoGo was there to run the 5k so he had to stop running with Madison about half way she was wearing him out! He ran the 5k one second slower than his best at 35:53 for an 11:33 pace. I think he enjoyed this race in particular.

I didn't get to see her finish as I had to hustle to my start. Brian, Christi and I went to the starting line. We were pretty far in the back. Christi was there to wish us well and take our extra clothes. The Star Spangled Banner was sang, I didn't care for the style, sort of a bluesy interpretation and then bang the pistol fired. I didn't even have my sweatshirt off so I yanked it off and gave it to Christi. I was in my light, short sleeved Hokies shirt and some brown running shorts. I ran past Brian and said "Don't go out too fast!" Check out Dr. Frankenstein and Igor in the picture below("Yeeesss Master!").

The pack was pretty crowded here and I was in the back. Fortunately there was a sidewalk and I boogied past a bunch of runners. About mile one the pack began to thin out. The first mile was a little slow but it was still in the high 7's/mile for pace. I ran with an intensity that I'd never run with before for such a long run. Usually I hold back on anything longer than 10 miles. This time I was not holding back. I was going for it. I also wore my heart rate monitor this race. It was reading in the high 160's. My max heart rate is somewhere in the high 170's so I was working at about 90% of my capacity right from the start. The course featured a couple out and backs and on one of them I passed Brian going the other way. I said Go Hokies! He was wearing his Hokie shirt too. He looked good and like he was focused.
I ran very strong throughout the race. I carried a Gatorade bottle for the first half of the race and sipped on it. I had a gu pack at the start, about mile 6 and about mile 9. The course was beautiful mostly through nice residential areas and even a couple fancy shmancy mansions. About mile 11, it seemed like I was beginning to tire out but I rallied and actually ran the last two miles at a faster pace than any of the other miles. I crossed the line in 1:40:17 and I was very happy. Brian finished strong with a time of 1:58:01 and I think he is very pleased with his 9:01 average pace. Great job Brian! He was exhausted but in good spirits.
Statistics of my run.
Time 1:40:17
Pace 7:39
102 out of 602
15 out of 45 in Males 30-34
Average Heart rate 169
Fastest Mile 7:19 (Mile 12)

I got to tell you the post race party for this race is great. There was excellent child care setup and Madison had a blast. They had those blow up slides and jump houses as well as craft tables. They gave the parents bracelets for checking kids in and out. Audrey chose to keep Erin back at the house because her asthma had acted up the night before and I missed them being there. For food they had Papa Johns, Krispy Kremes, Chik Fil A sandwiches, as well as fruit and nuts. The whole family was permitted to eat as well. A great deal for $25. All in all it was an excellent race and I hope to be back next year. It's a great time of the year to run, the course was great, and the party was great too!