tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91014459530093297512024-03-13T06:30:22.058-07:00Riddle RunsDavid Riddle - ultrarunner and trail addictAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01240094855721743541noreply@blogger.comBlogger70125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9101445953009329751.post-63506161749079748352017-09-26T18:37:00.000-07:002017-09-26T18:37:41.397-07:00Barkley Fall Classic: Like Nothing I've Done Before<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
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<br />
I haven’t done a race report in a
while, but Barkley is such a crazy, different experience from anything I’ve
ever run before, I wanted to record the experience – as much to preserve my own
memory as to share with others.<br />
<br /></div>
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I registered for BFC50k on a
whim, early in the morning before Georgia Jewel 50mi.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Growing up in the Huntsville, AL area and
returning for a few years after college, I was steeped in Barkley lore by the
likes of Dewayne Satterfield and Rob Youngren.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I wanted to experience Frozen Head State Park and see what all the fuss
was about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I expect many others have had
similar motivations for toeing the line at the baby Barkley.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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My wife and I had our first child
a little over a year ago, and that has obviously changed my life, priorities,
and running goals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That, combined with
the fact that I live in Cincinnati where you can only find about 300ft of
elevation change as a time, I knew I wouldn’t be willing or able to prepare for
Barkley with the focus and specificity that I have had for past races.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead, I tried to focus on the experience
more than the competition, which has been a major motivator for me in the
past.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I showed up Saturday morning confident
in my fitness, but knowing I hadn’t run longer than 5 hours in the last 9 months.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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The race began just before
sunrise and quickly spread out up front with nearly a mile section on the
roads.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I quickly settled into 2<sup>nd</sup>
place as we transitioned to single track and climbed for several miles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We climbed a bit longer on jeep road, hit the
first aid station, and then descended quickly still on the jeep road. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I let the leader go on the descent knowing
there was plenty of running to come.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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A few minutes later the jeep road
opened up and I encountered someone taking pictures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Knowing a turn was coming, but knowing I
wasn’t leading either, I asked if we turned or kept going straight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The photographer replied with an unconfident
straight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I could see an open powerline
cut to my right, but the next turn was a left, so I continued straight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A quarter to half mile later I hit a fork in
the road that was unexpected and unmarked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I stopped and the third place runner soon caught me. We decided we must
have missed the hard left turn and began running back with the leader somewhere
behind us now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The lady with the camera
had been standing right in front of the “trail” where we were supposed to turn,
and those that knew what they were doing were now breaking trail on the
powerline known as Testicle Spectacle.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Testicle Spectacle was the first
real Barkley-esque portion of the run.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There was no trail per se, but it was somewhat runnable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was in about 10<sup>th</sup> place now, but
quickly moved around folks who were slower navigating the thick brush and
occasional briar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was in the lead by
the time I made it to the turn through the forest to the second aid
station.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Around of the church and out of
the aid station, it was straight back up Testicle Spectacle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Magically, after some 300 runners had passed,
there was actually a proper trail cut through the brush.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The difference in the conditions of the
running path was just astounding.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still
the climb was slow, at times requiring some hand climbing and bear
crawling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The wet soil was turning to
mud where those descending were sliding down the hill on their arses which made
it a little more difficult to find traction.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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I summited the Spectacle still
quite alone in the lead and started down the other side which I saw when I
initially missed the turn at the camera lady.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The descent down Meth Lab was rough.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It was much more overgrown with large portions of briars that were
taller than me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was absolutely no
trail, and we were required by race rules to stay in the powerline cut and not
use the protection of the woods to advance more easily.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Clearing my way was slow and painful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the grand scheme of things, it didn’t take
all that long, but at the time, it was not fun. A turn to jeep road finally
came and I headed toward the infamous Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>James Earl Ray’s escape from this prison
inspired the original Barkley Marathons race.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
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Even though the intensity of
running had not been that high, I had a bit of an upset stomach already at this
point about 2:45 into the race.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A
volunteer at the aid station kindly provided me some coke and I took a fig bar,
but I felt the need to hit a port-o-potty heading into the jail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Exiting still in the lead, I walked through
the jail taking pictures and acting more like a tourist than a racer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I climbed the ladder over the back wall,
the 2<sup>nd</sup> and 3<sup>rd</sup> place runners finally caught up to me
(the first leader who also missed the turn was now back even).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We took the tunnel back under the prison and
then turned left to climb.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Rat Jaw.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One mile.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Straight up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All briars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t think my words would do it justice,
so I might as well not even try.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the
time we reached the top over an hour later, it seemed like the entire race
field had formed a conga line behind the leaders.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The briars were so thick it was infinitely
easier just to fall in line and let the first “runner” split the briars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After initially putting in quality time
clearing powerline trail, the eventual 50k winner took a little more liberty
than the rest of us regarding what he determined to be inside the powerline cut.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This allowed him to summit ~15min faster than
the main line that now included myself and Huntsville friends Rob Youngren,
Dewayne Satterfield, and Martin Schneekloth.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Finally at the top, I paused to
take some pictures from the fire tower then it was back to running again,
approximately 4:15 into the race.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
low intensity of the climb had actually helped my stomach recover, so I was
feeling pretty good again and continuing to pursue my original nutrition
plan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I totally lost track of my place
during my pause on the fire tower, so I continued on the jeep road alone and at
my own pace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I knew there were 5 Barkley
miles to the next aid station so I settled in on cruise control.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Our map showed two trails
breaking off to the left that we were NOT to take in this section.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were no trails shown breaking off to
the right, so I was careful to bear right and look for signs (the race had
marked major turns, but there were no confidence markers).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I ran along Jeep roads until my foot pod
measured that I should have arrived at the next aid station.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe I should have realized well earlier,
but I hadn’t seen anyone in over 30 minutes and it just didn’t feel right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A couple on an ATV pulled up but couldn’t
help tell me where I was on my map.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I
did the only thing I could do, turned around and headed back the way I came.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
I eventually ran into more folks
who had missed the turn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were
probably 30 folks stopped on the trail trying to decide what to do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My buddy Cary Long was one of them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I love Cary to death, but I’m not supposed to
see him after the gun fires.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was way
back in the field.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I worked my way back
to an unmarked fork in the road that actually had logs placed across the
correct direction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It broke to the left,
the direction I had been intentionally avoiding.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Up the trail a little ways there was an arrow
(thanks, now you tell me) which makes me think it might have been vandals that
removed the turn sign at the missed intersection.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was at least an hour behind the leader now.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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I carried on, passing many folks
on the single track downhills, but beginning to slow on the climbs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At 6:30 into the race, I reached the 5<sup>th</sup>
aid station.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I carried on passing more
folks and was still generally enjoying the single track trail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This section was primarily down hill, so I
was making descent time again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I
knew there was a major climb left before the 6<sup>th</sup> aid station and the
marathon cutoff point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As soon as I
started hiking this climb, I knew I was in trouble.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My stomach had shut down and I had no further
desire to eat or drink.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was belching
constantly and almost vomited several times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>After hiking the entirety of the climb, I gingerly began the descent
back to Laz’s aid station, feeling a little loopy at times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I knew I would not be able to continue on to
the 50k loop without taking in more nutrition, so I decided to drop down to the
marathon and limped in to the finish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
actually won the marathon in 8:36, but that wasn’t very reassuring, because I
knew I should have been running to win the 50k.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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If you’re still reading at this
point, you deserve to know that after I finished, I attempted to re-hydrate but
promptly puked up everything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The second
time this happened, they put me in the ambulance to treat me for heat
exhaustion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After cooling off for over
an hour after finishing, one swallow of Gatorade was, again, almost immediately
rejected by my stomach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The paramedics
encouraged me to go to the hospital as their procedure would not allow them to
treat me with nausea meds and IV fuilds without a trip to the ER.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had a very similar experience after
dropping out after Mohican 50 in June, but I drove myself to the ER hours after
the race when I still couldn’t quit throwing up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Long story short, after a short trip to the
ER, I felt much better and was able to eat some soup before bed that evening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mohican was a much worse experience in the
end.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
I don’t know what’s going on with
my stomach, but it sucks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s taking
much of the joy out of running and severely limiting what my legs can do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Doctors suspect it could be acid
reflux/indigestion and have suggested that I start taking an OTC acid reducer
to alleviate my symptoms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But how to do
I test this theory?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It only happens in
races longer than 5 hours, and when I trigger it, I end up in the
hospital.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not really sustainable,
so racing longer than 50k is on hold for a while I suppose.<br />
<br />
After all of that, I will say Barkley Fall Classic was fun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a different and challenging experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wasn’t constantly staring at my watch an wasn’t focused on hitting any particular splits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I saw people during the race I don’t normally get to run with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even with the frustrations of missed turns, I ran free for 7 hours (until my stomach revolted).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s such a unique experience that I’m already registered to run again next year so I can finish the 50k.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" SemiHidden="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="Table Grid"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Revision"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" QFormat="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" QFormat="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" QFormat="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" QFormat="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="41" Name="Plain Table 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="42" Name="Plain Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="43" Name="Plain Table 3"/>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01240094855721743541noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9101445953009329751.post-51009066396457586372016-11-17T19:03:00.001-08:002016-11-17T19:26:16.271-08:00Pinhoti 100 Race Report<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir76UrZxXUDIYllI0R8XTZXJI2VjM6pvhPeFkEgbqi6hHDQJSlptaGmAbeQz6RJBnoypy02SvInwOc3djXBLsvaV675FkTPg7Wdxs3d5QI22ZD6K5K2OkCsQy8mEvS7nUCPDmRtwh0R_8/s1600/2016+Pinhoti+100+D-3779.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir76UrZxXUDIYllI0R8XTZXJI2VjM6pvhPeFkEgbqi6hHDQJSlptaGmAbeQz6RJBnoypy02SvInwOc3djXBLsvaV675FkTPg7Wdxs3d5QI22ZD6K5K2OkCsQy8mEvS7nUCPDmRtwh0R_8/s640/2016+Pinhoti+100+D-3779.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thanks to Gregg Gelmis and WeRunRacePhotos for most the pictures in this post.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Well, it's been nearly 2 years since I last wrote a blog update or race report. I was injured throughout 2014, and although I was running some in 2015, I wasn't healthy enough to race yet. Of course, instant updates via social media also seemed to have replaced blogs as the preferred race report medium over that time as well. But Pinhoti 100 deserves more than a few words. It was a significant race focus for me, a sign that I am completely healthy again, and my best race performance in 2.5 years.<br />
<br />
Just to catch everyone up, I began having groin pain in the summer of 2013. After continuing to race for months, the injury was finally diagnosed in March of 2014 as a severe stress fracture in my pelvis. I was warned that it could take months to heal, and there was really no treatment aside from no running. With the diagnosis, I ended my 7 year daily running streak. Even with no running, the dull ache in my groin persisted for months. The bone seemed to have healed by early 2015, but I had compensated for the injury for so long, the collateral damage was extensive. I started to train through tendonitis for most of 2015, before finally backing off enough in the fall to let it heal. I wasn't running pain-free until early this year.<br />
<br />
My build-up back into racing the first half of this year was gradual. Trail half marathon, trail marathon, road marathon (2:33), trail 50k and then Mohican 50mi in June. I really focused my training on the Flying Pig Marathon this past spring and let Thunderbunny 50k and Mohican fall out. I was able to fake my way through the 50k, but imploded the last 20 miles at Mohican. I finished 2nd in that race to Nicholas Kopp, the eventual 4th place finisher at Pinhoti.<br />
<br />
After taking a few weeks off this summer, my training was solid and laser focused on Pinhoti. My wife and I welcomed our first child in August, but thanks to generous paternity leave, my training was largely unaffected. When I returned to work in September, I overloaded my mileage to the weekends, which is great for 100 mile training. I used Georgia Jewel 50mi as a training race and was pleased with my fitness, especially in unseasonably warm conditions. In my last long run before Pinhoti, I cruised to a win at Stones Steps 50k. I was confident in my fitness, but I was extremely nervous in those last couple weeks. It has been years since I put this much pressure on myself to race well.<br />
<br />
It was good to see many of my old Alabama running friends as the morning dawned at the starting line. But the reunion was much too short as we were onto the single track just a few minutes after I could finally make out everyone's face. I hit the trail in 2nd place and chatted with the eventual second place finisher for the first mile or so. But I quickly settled into my own pace and was alone in just a few minutes. I pondered the fact that, if everything went to plan, I would be running alone for the next 16 hours. That was a little depressing to think about, but any other outcome would mean I didn't have a good race. At the same time, I felt an incredible peace, because no one was pushing or pulling me. I was running exactly the pace I wanted run.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgJRuF_GWCuWTRAILGLNv17EyW9ByuIGwDuHbnoqZFK5UoISLpH3sOrp-YDJ_A4dE7aLLktKWxIkJayJtYeHN00lFR7DQcCRD9gBOrX_oxCdDCRfjSgbDPrMVF19aF8fZuwGPxStAMHWo/s1600/2016+Pinhoti+100+A-2682.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgJRuF_GWCuWTRAILGLNv17EyW9ByuIGwDuHbnoqZFK5UoISLpH3sOrp-YDJ_A4dE7aLLktKWxIkJayJtYeHN00lFR7DQcCRD9gBOrX_oxCdDCRfjSgbDPrMVF19aF8fZuwGPxStAMHWo/s640/2016+Pinhoti+100+A-2682.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Very early in the race. The only company I had all day.</td></tr>
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<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi08hpTARX612AIaHuZ5JWtpkRrmekiuBPc9MhEhPf0B3p6XSXXVcAcwC58iWvESxISMRwi0jAsWAUxBO_iBuZOIwTGsJAFj7NlVDbmrr7Nh1honk9cTXV6BKhHDmWR6uZXPSVuf1lquEI/s1600/2016+Pinhoti+100+b-2800.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi08hpTARX612AIaHuZ5JWtpkRrmekiuBPc9MhEhPf0B3p6XSXXVcAcwC58iWvESxISMRwi0jAsWAUxBO_iBuZOIwTGsJAFj7NlVDbmrr7Nh1honk9cTXV6BKhHDmWR6uZXPSVuf1lquEI/s640/2016+Pinhoti+100+b-2800.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
<br />
I cruised through those first several hours uneventfully. The weather was nearly perfect in the morning, and the trail conditions were extremely dry. It was so dry that it was difficult to run uphill without slipping on the pine straw covered trail, so even though there were no significant climbs the first 35 miles, I started power hiking the numerous short, but steep, rollers early in the race.<br />
<br />
I saw my parents who were crewing for me at the first 3 aid stations. After the 3rd aid station at mile 18, there was a big gap with no crew access until mile 40 at the highest point on the course. I was trading bottles of Sword and my high-calorie sweet tea mix when I saw my crew. I took one gel in those early miles, and that was the only gel I took the entire race. Honestly, my energy levels felt great. And the climb to Bald Rock felt surprisingly short. I started feeling really confident when I saw my split on top of Mt Cheaha.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj03BoF1W_CwYBzZSqNIwbNhL4Wvlq4L9yBAKvCnnPKSQhSrAMmAylQnuM-AeL2xoqa289ZZICq2sv-KwHyRsyaUaF4wV-GhXAHqlkmmn6sTPNnUF8R3fHPJbbfZnblsghRC2tSr-ohC0w/s1600/2016+Pinhoti+100+C-3322.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj03BoF1W_CwYBzZSqNIwbNhL4Wvlq4L9yBAKvCnnPKSQhSrAMmAylQnuM-AeL2xoqa289ZZICq2sv-KwHyRsyaUaF4wV-GhXAHqlkmmn6sTPNnUF8R3fHPJbbfZnblsghRC2tSr-ohC0w/s640/2016+Pinhoti+100+C-3322.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ask me later.</td></tr>
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<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Enjoying the boardwalk after just climbing up Mt Cheaha to Bald Rock.</td></tr>
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<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSAYCyqLgXzJ29JD5_7ebDKFusPoSJjp-1xNbLZyHh6ivITUYe6cn2VB98kauaeN5KVynwB18x4-uYCA_i1Y098hTGGlsRmNl1g0NgsSoL6IShGnBK1kgme2Q1dCINlEpVTh4FeCV4aNs/s1600/2016+Pinhoti+100+C-3387.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSAYCyqLgXzJ29JD5_7ebDKFusPoSJjp-1xNbLZyHh6ivITUYe6cn2VB98kauaeN5KVynwB18x4-uYCA_i1Y098hTGGlsRmNl1g0NgsSoL6IShGnBK1kgme2Q1dCINlEpVTh4FeCV4aNs/s640/2016+Pinhoti+100+C-3387.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Getting some aid from my dad.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The descent off Cheaha down "Blue Hell" was rapid ... glad I wasn't going up that beast. I flew down a few miles of roads and after another aid station, I was back onto the single track and cruising. I started counting down to half way with everything still feeling really good. But a few miles later I started having my first low point. I got some calories just in time to get my strength back, but my stomach soon made a turn for the worst. By mile 60, I was feeling nauseated and got ginger chews and Tums from the aid station to help settle my stomach. This is was also when I began to realize that I was running so far ahead of schedule, but aid stations weren't set up and ready for me to arrive.<br />
<br />
I pressed on to the next aid station, but my stomach was not getting much better. I quit drinking my Sword in hopes the belching and dry heaves would subside. I got some ginger ale from my crew around mile 65 which tasted great, but I was reduced to walking the next 400ft climb for fear of losing the few precious calories I had just consumed. I sent a text message ahead to the next aid station at mile 69 requesting some soup thinking I needed some different calories other than just sugar. And I knew soup wouldn't be ready unless I specifically asked ahead of time.<br />
<br />
I drank some Ramen noodle broth, but it wasn't the remedy I had hoped. I puked it up a few miles later. By now, it was dark and the hardest climb of the race was staring me in the face. You could hear the music blaring from the aid station but it felt like miles before I arrived. I was forced to walk almost the entire climb to keep the stomach under control. When I finally made it to the top, I sat down on the ground totally dejected. The Pinnacle at mile 75 was my lowest point in the race.<br />
<br />
Luckily they had ginger ale because that was the only thing that tasted good at that point. I sat for a couple minutes, but started feeling better, and I knew it was pointless just to sit there, so I started walking out of the aid station. Soon I got bored of walking and felt good enough to run again. The flat gravel road helped as I can shuffle at 9 minute pace with almost no effort. I slowly made my way to the next aid station which I remember being lit up and well-manned. They were very helpful offering me soup, boiled potatoes, and coke. But the soup was too hot, and the potato was instantly unappetizing, and the coke wasn't ginger ale, but it worked well enough.<br />
<br />
By this point I had accepted where my stomach was at and knew I could keep moving. I also knew I would soon be descending off the mountain and seeing my crew at the upcoming mile 85 aid station. This was a long stretch, but I was certain I could finish if I made it. Plus, I was still hanging on to course record pace. The Bull's Gap aid station was run by volunteers from the Huntsville Track Club (thanks friends!), so I knew many of them, but most everything was a blur by this point. I refueled on ginger ale, refilled my bottle with plain water, and set off down the hill.<br />
<br />
It was only 4 miles to the next aid station, but it was water only ... not a good situation for someone surviving off soda at the aid stations. Luckily it was mostly downhill on a gravel road, so I made relatively good time shuffling the descents and walking moderate uphills at about 9:30 pace. Somehow my energy levels remained even and I never felt like I went into bonk mode. My stomach had settled down as well, but mostly because it was empty. I could have pushed the pace a little harder, but I knew I was still on course record pace and worried I would risk a complete blow up if I altered my strategy.<br />
<br />
I was surprised how quickly I arrived at the last aid station where my crew was waiting. More ginger ale and they said I only had 5 miles to go. It didn't make sense, but things get a little foggy after 15 hours of running. I figured it out after I left the aid station though. Some last minute changes to the positions of the last 3 aid stations changed the distances. I ended up have 6.4 miles to go from the last aid. Luckily I figured this out because an unexpected 1.4 miles feels like an eternity when you've run 99 already. There was also a surprise (to me) return to single track in the last section before hitting the paved road which led to the track.<br />
<br />
Finally I could see my crew guiding me into the track. I ran half a lap and finished in a very anti-climatic fashion at 11:24pm, breaking Karl Meltzer's previous course record of 16:42 by 18 minutes. The only folks at the finish beside my crew were the race director Todd Henderson, and my favorite photographer, Gregg Gelmis. After a few minutes sitting on the infield, I headed to my uncle's RV and got a shower. I tried to sleep, but my legs ached too much and I only got a couple hours of restless shuteye before the sun came up.<br />
<br />
This race report is long enough, so I'll close by saying thanks again to all the volunteers at Pinhoti. You were great. And looking back now, I'll say that I'm happy with my race. I accomplished by "B" goal and know I could go faster if I can get my stomach/nutrition figured out. Next up, I'll be running The North Face 50 mile Championships in San Francisco on Dec. 3. I won't be in perfect form since Pinhoti was my goal race this fall, but hopefully I can have a respectable showing among the 68!!! men on the elite entry list. Wish me luck!<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKlPLmcMBc709A4DriL6JT0vuIbZuDBG3tFqhgucMjOCzBC8qFOEeLl5S8tkZwtCeUyEKgZZToZVpJ43emd7m8eM7Ss6Pqa48d1pEqex8OqZMmXoAMs4_c2U60HRLUJ3y14QVUN4kcKW0/s1600/2016+Pinhoti+100+E-9349.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKlPLmcMBc709A4DriL6JT0vuIbZuDBG3tFqhgucMjOCzBC8qFOEeLl5S8tkZwtCeUyEKgZZToZVpJ43emd7m8eM7Ss6Pqa48d1pEqex8OqZMmXoAMs4_c2U60HRLUJ3y14QVUN4kcKW0/s640/2016+Pinhoti+100+E-9349.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuKKQFP1bMHIiDJ2WRa1JSp4my6VEfe6S_EoecHVbH059XDOJtYy7j_J5l4Bh_IgsfVMYmhAenXwSKFqVzWrkxh4U9_TpCavJg2KTQpdyZTeQAFpggc1C803O8mMXG94VF33qrNTz3mug/s1600/IMG_1202.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuKKQFP1bMHIiDJ2WRa1JSp4my6VEfe6S_EoecHVbH059XDOJtYy7j_J5l4Bh_IgsfVMYmhAenXwSKFqVzWrkxh4U9_TpCavJg2KTQpdyZTeQAFpggc1C803O8mMXG94VF33qrNTz3mug/s640/IMG_1202.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thanks to my parents and uncle (not pictured) for their tireless crew support.</td></tr>
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</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01240094855721743541noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9101445953009329751.post-58614657392832748182014-12-30T19:43:00.000-08:002014-12-30T19:46:41.216-08:002014 Year End Update<div style="text-align: justify;">
Well, I'm finally forcing myself to publish a blog post before 2015 arrives. There isn't too much to review about my 2014 racing season due to my injury, but I'm overdue for an update. I'll try to make it quick.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The injury that sidelined me for almost all of 2014 actually started during the summer of 2013 so I wanted to begin there. It was then that I began experiencing mild groin pain on the left side that felt like a muscle pull. I ran through the summer of 2013 and raced Hood to Coast, a small road 50 miler in Cincinnati, and Run for the Toad 50k in Canada all as my injury worsened. The pain had spread and grown more severe by Tussey Mountainback and I was forced to drop. I dramatically reduced my mileage and temporarily recovered enough to race the North Face 50 mile championship last year. Despite still being in pain, I finished a respectable 11th place off of residual fitness.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
After North Face I ran an easy 3 miles every day to maintain my stupid 7.5 year daily running streak. No trails, no hills, no workouts. In late January 2014, I attempted to race the Mtn Mist 50k while clearly not yet healthy. At this point, the loss of fitness was beginning to catch up with me, and I had a horrible race. I stubbornly continued my running streak into March when I finally decided to visit a sports med doctor.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I knew groin injuries were notoriously hard to accurately diagnose and I felt confident I had a "sports hernia," but was hesitant to see a Dr. that didn't specialize in this type of injury. So I delayed until I got a strong recommendation for a doc in Cincinnati. He ordered an x-ray, MRI, and blood tests.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
And the MRI showed a huge stress fracture in my pelvis. My doctor said "You damn near broke all the way through the bone" when he saw the image. What's more, my blood work showed I had low vitamin D and high blood calcium levels. Without going into too much detail, that's a bad combination when you're body is trying to repair damaged bone.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Once the stress fracture diagnosis came back, I completely quit running and ended my streak. I knew a pelvic stress fracture would take longer to heal that a typical stress fracture because it's a big bone that doesn't get much blood flow, but I did not know exactly how long. After 6 weeks of no running, I could feel barely any improvement. It still hurt walking the dog. At three months, I felt better walking so I tried couple days of running, but it was clearly not healed enough so I shut it down again. Moderate hikes were still bothering me at 4 months. In August I borrowed a bike and started cycling just to be able to do something outdoors. In September I started doing weekly 1 mile test runs but wasn't ready. In October I was able to do 2-3 mile runs every couple days.<br />
<br />
Finally in November, after 7 months of virtually no running, I worked up to 24 miles in a week with no groin pain. Unfortunately, lingering imbalances from my weakened left hip caused tendonitis to flare up in my knee. I backed off for a while, but it still wasn't healing well enough, so I stopped running again December 21st and have decided to wait until the new year to resume running.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
To say the least, it was a very tough year for me. In some ways, the stress fracture news was a relief because it allowed me to let the streak go and begin healing. But I didn't think it would take this long to heal. I enjoyed the time off for a while. Unlike some folks, I don't go stir crazy when I quit training, I just find other stuff to do. I don't love exercising; I love training. I love competing, racing, and improving myself. And I love running. Cycling is fun, but it isn't running. I still have the fire. I just need to finish getting healthy. The good news is that I feel better today than I have at any point in the last 18 months.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Finally, I want to say a big thanks to <a href="http://www.salomon.com/us/activity/trail-running.html" target="_blank">Salomon</a> and <a href="http://www.suunto.com/en-US/" target="_blank">Suunto</a> for sticking with me this year even though I wasn't doing much to support the brand. They are part of a great company that clearly cares about their athletes as much as their bottom line. I'm also excited to announce that I'll be on the team again in 2015. Even though I wasn't running much in 2014, I still discovered some great products that I plan to share in an upcoming blog post, so be ready.</div>
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I hope to see you all out on the roads and trails in 2015.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01240094855721743541noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9101445953009329751.post-61417198890470958312014-04-03T18:45:00.000-07:002014-04-03T19:06:25.258-07:00All good things...<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6NZL0MHuWY4/Uz4MQIgK6UI/AAAAAAAAPt8/wE4Z-AzpDp4/s1600/IMG_3745.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6NZL0MHuWY4/Uz4MQIgK6UI/AAAAAAAAPt8/wE4Z-AzpDp4/s1600/IMG_3745.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Locked down no more.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I was supposed to see my sports med doctor for a follow-up appointment yesterday. He wanted to review the results from the MRI that he ordered just in case. Unfortunately, my doctor called in sick and had to reschedule me (for April 16!!!). This would normally have been an unacceptable delay, but it really didn't matter on this occasion. I completely quit running last Saturday.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
When you get an MRI, a generic radiologist reads the images and sends a report back to your doctor. My doctor likes to read his own MRI scan following the full examination to support his diagnosis. After <a href="http://riddleruns.blogspot.com/2014/03/injury-update.html">he diagnosed me</a> a couple weeks ago with osteitis pubis and recommended no major changes in my training, I had planned to wait until I saw him again to decide how to approach my future training and recovery. Then last Friday, while I was working in Paris, I received the generic MRI report via email. It stated that my MRI findings were consistent with a non-displaced stress fracture on the left side of my pubic symphysis.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Stress fracture. As much as it sounds like bad news, at some level I was actually relieved. It was also frustrating because I've struggled with an injury for almost 9 months that did not match any of the symptoms of a stress fracture. It never was tender to the touch at the location of the fracture and it never hurt during high impact activities like jumping. It always felt like a muscular injury. Granted, it's very clear that groin injuries are notoriously hard to diagnose. But back to relieved ... I was relieved that there was now a clear issue that I could focus on fixing.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Even so, I admit that part of my mind tried to rationalize that I could keep running until I saw my doctor again. Who knows, maybe he would disagree and say it wasn't really a stress fracture. But, why? Just to keep my daily running streak alive and so I could say I had a streak? If you're going to have an addiction, I guess running is a good one to have, but even this addict knows too much of a good thing is just that.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I spent all day Saturday walking around Paris and riding a boat up and down the Seine, but I'm proud to say that I never ran -- my first day off in over seven years. I will say, if you're going to pick a place not to run, Paris in the spring is a great place to be. It was an absolutely gorgeous day.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
When my doctor cancelled on me yesterday, I was so happy that I'd already made the decision to quit running. It would have been absolute torture deciding what to do for the next two weeks while I waited for my appointment if I had kept running. But now I'm free.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Where do I go from here? I don't exactly know. But it will be at least a month before you see me running again.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
...must come to an end.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01240094855721743541noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9101445953009329751.post-51391897798996562922014-03-23T12:38:00.000-07:002014-03-23T12:38:19.394-07:00Injury Update<div style="text-align: justify;">
Well friends, it's been a long and slow process, but I'm confident I'm making progress. Since North Face 50 in early December I've averaged less than 30 miles per week of mostly just light jogging on the roads and treadmill. Against my better judgement, I did <a href="http://riddleruns.blogspot.com/2014/02/mtn-mist-race-report.html">"race" Mtn Mist 50k</a> in January but I haven't done any races or trail runs since that time. I have continued to jog a few miles every day, but looking back it's probably easy to say I should have completely taken off a couple months. The problem is, the level of pain I've experienced is not indicative of the severity of the injury. I almost wish I had an incapacitating stress fracture that hurt so bad that I had no desire to run. My injury has never been like that. Although limiting, it has always been more uncomfortable than painful. I want to share a few more details in case it would help someone avoid the same injury in the future. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
First, a little background information. This whole story starts sometime last summer when playing with the dog out in the yard I pulled/strained the adductor in my left leg. The adductor is a muscle in the groin that allows you to squeeze your knees together (remember the Thighmaster?). It's also a very important muscle in running, and especially trail running. Unfortunately, I didn't realize the significance of the injury and continued my normal training. It felt like some tendonitis in my groin, but something I thought would gradually heal on its own. It stayed like this for months, but slowly started to cause me to overcompensate and alter my stride. Eventually it started to cause discomfort in my lower abdominals and affected my ability to stabilize myself on trail runs. It really wasn't until October that I really understood the root of the problem, but it was effectively a chronic injury by that point. I rested enough to get through <a href="http://riddleruns.blogspot.com/2013/12/the-north-face-50-championship.html">North Face</a> respectably, but ran through some pain, and realized I had to back way off afterward.</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
Fast forward today and after several months of no real training, I'm 90% there. I never felt that I needed to go to the doctor. I was confident that I had an adductor strain turned <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletic_pubalgia">sports hernia</a>. Complete rest or surgery...I knew those were really the only options...and I wasn't ready for either choice. But this week I finally decided to go see a doctor just to make sure it wasn't something more serious like a pelvic stress fracture that I needed to know about before I started ramping back up. I got an informal referral with a sports med doc that had experience treating sports hernias. He took an x-ray and diagnosed me with osteitis pubis. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Z3M4PU2rluM/Uy7ruw30YNI/AAAAAAAAPK4/qhXI1Pyawt0/s1600/IMG_3715.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Z3M4PU2rluM/Uy7ruw30YNI/AAAAAAAAPK4/qhXI1Pyawt0/s1600/IMG_3715.JPG" height="302" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Any amateur radiologists our there?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osteitis_pubis">Osteitis pubis</a> is a noninfectious inflammation of the pubis symphysis that causes varying degrees of lower abdominal and pelvic pain. The symptoms are nearly identical to a sports hernia. The doctor also observed that my hip mobility was very limited. He prescribed physical therapy to improve my hip mobility and ordered an MRI just to rule out other possibilities. We are still waiting on the results of the MRI. He did not tell me to stop running, just to not make any big changes in what I'm currently doing.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
If you get really curious about my diagnosis you might want to check out <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC155442/?report=classic">this article</a>. It really helps explain why I've struggled with this issue for so long. It will also scare the crap out of you.</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
Groin injuries can be the most difficult sport injuries to accurately diagnose and treat. Osteitis pubis is a painful, chronic syndrome that affects the symphysis pubis, adductor and abdominal muscles, and surrounding fascia. If misdiagnosed or mismanaged, osteitis pubis can run a prolonged and disabling course. The abdominal and adductor muscles have attachments to the symphysis pubis but act antagonistically to each other, predisposing the symphysis pubis to mechanical traction microtrauma and resulting in osteitis pubis. These antagonistic forces are most prevalent in kicking sports, such as soccer or football.</blockquote>
...or trail running apparently.<br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
The article describes four classifications of the injury with the 4th being the worst. Symptoms of stage IV include pain in the adductor and abdominal muscles with sneezing or walking on uneven surfaces. Check, check. I can proudly say that it no longer hurts to sneeze as it once did. Unfortunately, no one in the referenced study group had stage IV osteitis pubis. The lone stage III athlete required 10 weeks to fully recover. It's all beginning to make sense now.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I've been running competitively since the 7th grade...20 years now. Up until now, I had never had a serious running injury. Although I don't believe the root cause was directly related to running, it clearly became a running injury over time. It's really hard to talk about running and my injury when I am unable to perform like I once did. I have largely withdrawn from the sport and haven't been reading magazine or internet articles like before. On the positive side, I've tried to make good use of my extra time and invest in relationships outside of the sport that I had previously neglected. In any sport I have ever played, I've always been more of a participant and not so much a fan. Running is the same. I want to participate. I want to compete again. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I'm only sharing this information in hopes that it might help someone else struggling with the same issues. The bottom line is this: If you have a groin or pelvic injury, do not ignore it. The pelvic region is incredibly complex and too important to the running motion to let it get go as far as I did.</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
I wanted to wait until the MRI results were back to publish this, but I'm heading to Paris for work this week, so I needed to get this post out today. If the MRI changes anything, I'll let you know.</div>
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Au revoir!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01240094855721743541noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9101445953009329751.post-36435343163646980212014-02-04T19:34:00.000-08:002014-02-04T19:34:42.927-08:00Mtn Mist Race Report<div style="text-align: justify;">
So here's the deal. I'm injured. I strained my groin sometime last summer and didn't think much of it. I continued running normally for months and it gradually got worse and worse. It turned into tendonitis where the adductor connects to my pelvis. Eventually the pain spread up into my abdominal wall in what's commonly called a sports hernia. I didn't really understand the depth of the injury until last October. I backed off for most of the month of November, but I still wanted to give The North Face Championship a good shot in December, so I brought some intensity back into the program and ran through the injury to stay sharp. I actually had a <a href="http://riddleruns.blogspot.com/2013/12/the-north-face-50-championship.html">decent race at North Face</a> off my residual fitness, but I knew my current trajectory was unsustainable and I needed some time to heal.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
After TNF50, I backed way off. I continued jogging, but did no hard workouts, no trail runs, and my weekly mileage was only in the 20s. I thought 7 weeks of shuffling around would allow the adductor to heal while keeping me sane before Mtn Mist. But progress was extremely slow. Everything I've read about groin injuries and sports hernias indicates they can be very slow to heal, especially if they have lingered as long as mine has. Going into Mtn Mist, I knew I still wasn't 100% and running 31 miles on an untested injury was a risk. The Mist is the only race I would have started -- even though I don't live in Alabama any longer, it's basically my home course, where my trail running career started. I'd won it 4 times and wanted to get another step closer to a 10-time finisher jacket. I was hoping I still had enough fitness to sneak out the win.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAkKwi10fOwW_rQt-E-kLGq1mQFvpm4uiL1gGYEK_e1lyF670ox0Zhwv3bIUzphDffd_WafXEmT-neEanw83rFw7x6pBBq5HDVTwjOM9lywFashly6MpXnu4gf58veIYJWMTLSEifj7vc/s1600/Mist2014_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAkKwi10fOwW_rQt-E-kLGq1mQFvpm4uiL1gGYEK_e1lyF670ox0Zhwv3bIUzphDffd_WafXEmT-neEanw83rFw7x6pBBq5HDVTwjOM9lywFashly6MpXnu4gf58veIYJWMTLSEifj7vc/s1600/Mist2014_01.jpg" height="425" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A cold smile.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGAtfh9BzwklETreklhAdM2hrx4i_r07pIrGTrJAVbhcPKfGQ_hWPLr7dM1eCV3X_iOw5ozGaq2svLdgpinLUmRxpcRZs-RWI3AsKCbChlS79rz9MeDWXFt9JNs1RV3cJTF-aXw7-WkKM/s1600/Mist2014_02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGAtfh9BzwklETreklhAdM2hrx4i_r07pIrGTrJAVbhcPKfGQ_hWPLr7dM1eCV3X_iOw5ozGaq2svLdgpinLUmRxpcRZs-RWI3AsKCbChlS79rz9MeDWXFt9JNs1RV3cJTF-aXw7-WkKM/s1600/Mist2014_02.jpg" height="425" width="640" /></a></div>
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The start was cold and windy. I was in no mood to take the race out fast. Most everyone thought the frozen course was going to run fast, but a minor course change at the beginning threw off my normal pacing checks. I knew Scott Breeden would be my competition for the race. We separated from everyone else around an hour into the race. Twenty minutes later, I stopped for a quick pit stop and Scott kept running. At the second aid station, I knew we were really slow. But I didn't feel like I was running slow, I felt totally flat. I was hoping that Scott was just throwing in a surge, and I'd catch back up, but it wasn't to be. I was low on energy, foggy-headed...more like I was at mile 80 of a hundred miler than mile 15 of a 50k.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTqPf2zBWODfQ4RmUtDDE8dxpcjE6069yYoYRSLYLI30Nh_qleDweUMuA2-hafJyoMqYcp-hffqsXjfxPCY6S3qRYw4OXFU3G1aGYVxVsQxGvz7Q25QP3aUyZks71ARy-bArx2UF6CRYI/s1600/Mist2014_03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTqPf2zBWODfQ4RmUtDDE8dxpcjE6069yYoYRSLYLI30Nh_qleDweUMuA2-hafJyoMqYcp-hffqsXjfxPCY6S3qRYw4OXFU3G1aGYVxVsQxGvz7Q25QP3aUyZks71ARy-bArx2UF6CRYI/s1600/Mist2014_03.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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I went more into a finish mode than a chase mode at this point. The second half of Mist is much harder than the first, so I knew I would need to keep some energy in reserve just to finish based on how I was feeling at half way. I didn't have my normal trail agility and could barely lift my knees. I caught a toe on a rocky section and nearly went down. I caught myself with my Ultimate Direction water bottle and hit so hard that it actually busted it open. It leaked all over my gloves, freezing my hands and pouring valuable calories out on the trail. I had to ditch the bottle at the next aid station and run the hardest section of the course with no nutrition.</div>
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I was totally spent after climbing the waterline trail, but I was determined to finish. I shuffled along, continuing to trip uncharacteristically. I proceed to walk the final climb of the race. There was no power hiking here, just a defeated walk. I was checking my shoulder to see if third place was going to appear. In the end, I finished alone in 2nd place, ten minutes behind Scott and 9 minutes in front of third place. I was over 30 minutes slower than the course record I set last year. That's hard for me to fathom. Scott was 20 minutes slower than last year as well, but I think a lot of that was me going out so slow the first half of the race.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpbzZB8iDZhfZ7a0IN3R4mJbmdu626eV8WHIfyanDyWQcAvw4C5-JP4tO3ZgCAd50_oZ1RcFiljmvL_CBz7QC5G2MgQdYPQWCXiZUwxb-UDiRhflCbpHpMJb2PR38GZWdAvBZnBcMT65M/s1600/Mist2014_finish.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpbzZB8iDZhfZ7a0IN3R4mJbmdu626eV8WHIfyanDyWQcAvw4C5-JP4tO3ZgCAd50_oZ1RcFiljmvL_CBz7QC5G2MgQdYPQWCXiZUwxb-UDiRhflCbpHpMJb2PR38GZWdAvBZnBcMT65M/s1600/Mist2014_finish.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just happy I finished.</td></tr>
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My groin injury wasn't a major factor in the race itself, although obviously it severely limited my preparations. Evidently, I underestimated the amount of fitness, sharpness, and trail agility I would lose after 7 weeks of jogging. I knew I wouldn't be in CR shape, but I didn't think I would be 30 minutes slower either. Now I need to continue my focus on getting healthy. I don't think I set myself back too much racing the Mist, but the process is just really slow. I don't have a race on the calendar until Boston Marathon April 21st. I wanted to run the Mad City 100k in early April, but I don't see any way I can get healthy and fit enough to make it worthwhile to run that one now. So my plan is to continue running very minimally and add in core work that doesn't aggravate my groin. If that doesn't work, I may have to take some time completely off so this tricky injury doesn't become chronic.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ7zK9RzUpBcI1zKM8-IZNAmIAdUymHKG1zaoBQl2VQCGsXH85okY_XL4-k8uL6bBjL9fJYcwAblbXOMpNgye6CXOKtvORWJMnIYhAJiEaaZMERR1WCS15pPPhCKoe_Wwm6rRbrpjOX7Y/s1600/Mist2014_ice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ7zK9RzUpBcI1zKM8-IZNAmIAdUymHKG1zaoBQl2VQCGsXH85okY_XL4-k8uL6bBjL9fJYcwAblbXOMpNgye6CXOKtvORWJMnIYhAJiEaaZMERR1WCS15pPPhCKoe_Wwm6rRbrpjOX7Y/s1600/Mist2014_ice.jpg" height="640" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The course has some beautiful views when it's frozen.</td></tr>
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Big thanks to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Werunhuntsville/">We Run Huntsville</a> for all the awesome pictures!</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01240094855721743541noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9101445953009329751.post-27569974359507846082013-12-12T18:24:00.000-08:002013-12-12T18:59:05.838-08:00The North Face 50 Championship<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PEbwmBogg6s/Uqph0Ni65SI/AAAAAAAAOMc/jdmrOkuJcqQ/s1600/IMG_3413.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PEbwmBogg6s/Uqph0Ni65SI/AAAAAAAAOMc/jdmrOkuJcqQ/s640/IMG_3413.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The hills in the background...that's where we raced.</span></td></tr>
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My 12th place finish at the North Face Endurance Challenge 50 Mile race was the lowest finish in my ultra career...and I couldn't be happier about it. Perhaps this feeling is a result of my low expectations going in, but I also see a lot of positives following the race. Given the level of competition, the setbacks I've experienced this fall, and a course that did not align well with my strengths, I really think I finished just about as well as I could have expected.</div>
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I detailed my adductor injury in my <a href="http://riddleruns.blogspot.com/2013/12/toad-tussey-and-tnf.html">previous blog post</a>, so I won't dwell on it here. Suffice it to say that as my injury spiraled out of control this fall, and my training plans for TNF50 had to be abandoned, it was very frustrating. I knew the 10,000ft of climb in the Marin Headlands would challenge my abilities, and so I had intended to spend much of my time preparing for that. But the injury precluded those plans. I only ran hard a few times in the six weeks leading up to the race, giving my adductor as much time as possible to heal. The week before the race I finally felt like I was turning a corner, thanks in no small part to <a href="http://www.peakperformancesportstherapy.com/">Andy Shetterly at Peak Performance Sports Therapy</a>. I was quietly confident, but knew my fitness would be lacking.<br />
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After listening to the rain pour down and the winds howl the night before the race, the weather cleared just in time for the 5AM start. The stacked field left the start line at a surprisingly comfortable pace. A couple early leaders separated themselves, but a large majority of the serious contenders were content to sit and wait. I was bumping elbows with some big dogs the first few miles, but felt like I was running very controlled. The first 7 miles or so was very runnable despite including 1500ft of climb. We flew through this section and gradually became strung out.<br />
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Just before the peak of the second climb I stopped to take a leak. I thought the fire road would continue and I would be able to catch up with my group with little trouble. But the descent was technical and the group seemed to have evaporated in the darkness. To make matters worse, I suddenly realized that my headlamp wasn't very good without all my friends' help. It turns out that my batteries were dying. This was one of my few mistakes during the race. I gingerly struggled down the dark trail as guys like Dave Mackey flew past. At Muir Beach (12.7mi) I stopped briefly to correct my second rookie mistake of the race and applied Vaseline to my nips.<br />
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Leaving the Muir Beach aid station I quickly latched on to the shoulder of a runner who passed me as I was waiting on the Vaseline. This runner turned out to be Mike Foote and we began chatting a bit before starting the biggest climb of the day. Mike set a very consistent and manageable pace as we made the 1800ft climb up to the Cardiac aid station. I am still learning how to control my effort on big climbs, so Mike’s pacing was very helpful. It was finally light enough that my dying headlamp wasn’t helping anymore, so I switched it off for the day.<br />
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The majority of the ascent occurs in just a mile or two, but the trail continues to climb gently for several more miles. This allowed Mike and I to return to conversation. I’m not usually a big talker during races, but I found Mike really easy to talk to and it seemed to help me settle in to a reasonable effort. The wind had picked up by now and was blowing into our faces. I wanted to help, but we were still climbing and I didn’t trust myself to manage the pace. Mike and I passed a struggling Matt Flaherty shortly before entering the Cardiac aid station together.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CwHECYStl68/Uqpi7KGS6qI/AAAAAAAAOMw/RhAotYFkPMU/s1600/foote_riddle_cardiac_tnf50.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CwHECYStl68/Uqpi7KGS6qI/AAAAAAAAOMw/RhAotYFkPMU/s640/foote_riddle_cardiac_tnf50.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Mike Foote and myself (Photo by Galen Burrell)</span></td></tr>
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I waited a bit for Mike, respecting the fact that he just led that whole climb, then I led the way as the trail flattened out. The wind was quite brutal in this section, so I was happy to still be wearing gloves, arm warmers, a windbreaker and buff. I don’t know how some of those guys ran with bare arms and hands. This should have been a very pretty section of the course, but it was quite miserable for me. In addition to being cold and windy, the trail was very narrow and slightly off camber. This aggravated my groin injury.</div>
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This was also an out-n-back section of the course...both positive and negative. Positive in the fact that I found I was only 3 or 4 minutes off the leaders. Negative in the fact that I had to fight two way traffic on the narrowest trail of the day. I lost a big chunk of time at the turn around aid station trying to get my GU powder out of a baggy with frozen hands. Mike didn’t stop at the aid station, so he was long gone by the time I was running again. I gave chase, but hip flexors were not happy. My foot slipped off the soft edge of the trail several times when trying to leave space for passing runners, and that really aggravated my injury even more. I wouldn’t see Mike again.<br />
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The descent down to Stinson Beach was nasty...steep, with lots of stairs and switchbacks. All the twisting and turning was increasingly painful and I couldn’t descend like I could have when healthy. I let a couple of people pass without a fight and mentally went from race mode into run mode. I made it down to the Stinson Beach aid station at mile 27.7 where my wife was waiting. I traded my bottle out and told her that I had quit racing, but was determined to finish the race. I was surprised to hear that I was only 5 minutes from the leaders though.<br />
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Fortunately, I knew the climb I was about to tackle was a beast because I had a chance to run it this past summer. I was very conservative to start and began hiking the steeper sections. When I hit the stairs, I was hiking almost exclusively. I hiked at least half of the climb back up to Cardiac...anything over 5% grade and I was hiking. I was able to pass someone on this section, and passed through the aid station feeling a little better. I still wasn’t feeling great on the next descent and was passed by someone else. The next section seemed like constant ups and downs. It felt like I was hiking more than I was running.<br />
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This would have been a lonely section if not for the 50k runners that were sharing the trail. They gave me something to focus on and chase. I still wasn’t trying to race; I was just trying to get to the next aid station. Around the 37 mile mark I came up on Rickey Gates. He was obviously not having the race he had planned. I ran with him for a few minutes, but a rare flat section allowed my legs to find their happy place again and I slipped away. The flat section was short lived and we started climbing again at mile 40.<br />
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My climbing legs were shot. My quads were beginning to cramp. I had nothing. I was hiking almost everything. I turned around and looked down the trail and saw someone catching me. He was climbing really well and I knew it would just be a short time before he caught up. As he passed, he confirmed who I was and mentioned that he had run Stone Steps 50k in Cincinnati. I knew this was Peter Hogg from Michigan and I was not pleased to be getting passed by someone who doesn’t live in the mountains. But he passed me with authority, and I had no response. I couldn’t match his rate of ascent. Although I hadn't consciously noticed, I realized later that my adductor was no longer bothering me by this point.<br />
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Soon after, a strange thing happened. Peter quit putting time on me before we reached the top of the 900ft climb. I wasn’t really trying to catch him - I thought he had me - but I just kept moving and he started to come back. Although I wasn’t climbing well, I could still descend just fine. Shortly after cresting, I passed Peter back on the descent. I began to believe again and got my racing mentality back. I flew down into the aid station at 44 miles and traded in for my final bottle.<br />
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I still had another 600ft climb to survive. Even though I had put close to a minute on Peter on the prior descent, he quickly made it back up on the final climb. I tried to hang to his shoulder, but my quads started cramping again. I knew the race ended on a long downhill and decided my best strategy would be to bide my time and wait for the descent. I caught Peter sooner than expected on a short descent before the last aid station. I was able to hold my advantage on the brief climb into the final aid. It was there I was told someone was less than a minute ahead of me.<br />
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I passed Martin Gaffuri while he was stopped at the aid station. I did not need to stop, and probably would have slipped passed unnoticed if not for his pacer. Dominic Grossman saw me come through and alerted Martin to the fact that I was in the 50 mile race. Martin quickly gathered himself and began to fly down toward the finish. He passed me back quickly, but I was content to manage my energy and stalk him from a distance. I suspected I was still descending really well and the two 5:4x miles recorded on my Suunto Ambit confirmed my suspicions. Martin probably had 20 seconds on me as we hit the paved road with less than a mile to go. It was a slight uphill, but I was giving it everything to catch him. Dom kept turning around to see if I was gaining. It didn’t feel like it, but I slowly was closing. With less than 200m to go, I put my road speed to good use and unleashed my final kick. I eliminated the gap much faster than expected and turned into the finish line in 12th place, stopping the clock at 6:57:10.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Chasing Martin (photo by Dominic Grossman)</span></td></tr>
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I know I didn’t start the race completely healthy or fit, but I’m really excited about the outcome. I broke 7 hours in a trail run with over 10,000ft of climb. A year and a half ago, I didn’t even break the 8 hour mark on the Quad Rock course that had just 1,000 more feet of climb. I would have loved to finish in the top 10, but I was just a few minutes behind A-list trail runners like Dave Mackey and Max King. I made a couple small mistakes, but nothing major. And my nutrition...something I usually struggle with...was great. I didn’t take a single gel the whole race, but my all-liquid nutrition plan worked great, and my energy levels were even all day.<br />
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For starting with such low expectations, the final product turned out better than expected. And for the first time in a long time, I’m excited again about what I can do in the future. But first, I’m going to get completely healthy.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The bridge is awfully exciting.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sunrise from the houseboat.</span></td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01240094855721743541noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9101445953009329751.post-20767353897269543552013-12-01T17:58:00.000-08:002013-12-01T17:58:09.980-08:00Toad, Tussey, and TNF<div style="text-align: justify;">
It's been a long while since I've done a blog post, and I know I'm overdue for an update, so here goes. My last post was a short report detailing the Hood to Coast Relay that I ran at the end of August so I'll pick up there.</div>
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Following Hood to Coast, I had business in Seattle so I headed north and spent the next week working in the shadow of Rainier. I spent most of my time working and recovering from HTC, but finally on Friday I had a free day to check out the mountain. I spent about 3.5 hrs on the trail that day and definitely could still feel the beating my quads took from running the downhill 1st leg of HTC a week earlier. Three days later I was home and looking to close out the 7th year of my daily running streak with a bang. I needed 30 miles to hit 30,000 miles total over the previous 7 years. An aggressive goal considering HTC, Rainier and the 446 miles I'd already logged in August. But I pushed through and finished the run without too much trouble.</div>
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I gave myself a much needed down week, but jumped in a local 6 hour race 2 weeks later. I knew I wouldn't be "racing" anyone, but used it as a workout and ran 6:30 pace for 43 miles on a flat 1.4 mile paved loop. My fitness was was solid, but something was a little off. I pushed through.</div>
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By this point, I knew the World 100k was canceled, so I rushed to switch gears from flat 100k training to more of a focus on hills in preparation for Toad 50k, Tussey Mountainback 50 mile and The North Face 50 Championships. I hit the treadmill several days later for a set of simulated hill climbs. A little more than two weeks later I'd be racing the Toad 50k in Canada. The treadmill climb workouts highlighted some discomfort in my groin, but it wasn't enough for me to skip the upcoming 50k.</div>
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Held just outside of Toronto, Run for the Toad 50k was the Canadian 50k national championship race. While I wasn't eligible for that honor, the race had assembled a strong field of Americans to come run the race as well. There was a significant amount of prize money available, especially considering the course record bonus, which I felt was in reach. But I knew it would be tough to win, because a guy named Verrelle Wyatt who had run 2:57 for a road 50k was going to be there. I don't have that kind of 50k speed right now. I might not even be able to run his Caumsett split of 2:28 for a marathon. This was a trail race, but it was quite flat. I would have stood a better chance against Verelle if it were a 50 miler or if there was more elevation change, but that wasn't the case. </div>
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To his credit, Verrelle went out very controlled on the first lap out of the four but I was right there with him. He took off on the 2nd loop and I let him go, hoping I'd see him again. I was hovering around 4th or 5th place at this point, but felt in control. Nearing half way, I rolled my ankle really bad on a manicured dirt road with just one rock in the wrong place. I never seem to twist my ankle on the technical stuff, just when I don't think I need to be paying attention. This took me the better part of a mile to hobble off and get back to my regular stride. I chipped away at everyone else for the remainder of the race, but I never caught Verrelle. I finished 2nd and even broke the old CR by a few minutes with a 3:18, but couldn't hang with Verrelle's time of 3:14.</div>
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I was pretty trashed after the race, and the ankle I rolled hurt quite bad running the following day. But I also learned at Toad 50k that a strained adductor was at the root of my groin pain. I believe I injured my adductor way back in May or June and it has just slowly grown worse. I could now no longer ignore the injury, but I hoped only light running for two weeks would allow me to compete at Tussey.<br />
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I felt good enough to start Tussey and ran with Zach Bitter for almost 32 miles before my ankle/foot injury forced me to stop. I didn't know exactly what was wrong with it, but it hurt and was getting worse flying down those long hills at 6 min pace. Thinking it could be a stress fracture, I pulled the plug. Matt Flaherty ran a great race and ended up winning with a new course record. And just a couple weeks later, Zach Bitter went on to run the fastest 50 miler since 1981 (the year I was born).<br />
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This is going to sound odd, but my ankle/foot injury healed frustratingly fast after Tussey. After hurting for 2 weeks, I was nearly pain-free in just a few days. My adductor injury, while less acute during the race, ended up being a much bigger issue following my effort at Tussey. I finally realized that my groin wasn't going to heal if I kept running hard on it. I continued running easy everyday, but cut my weekly mileage lower than any point in the last 7 years. I did this for over 3 weeks and began massage therapy as well.<br />
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A couple weeks ago, even though I knew I wasn't completely healed yet, I decided that I would try to do some late preparations to TNF50 to a) test the adductor to ensure it was strong enough to run 50 miles, and b) attempt to prepare for the climbing that I would face in the San Francisco. Some runs have been good, others not so great. I think I can finish the race and have enough residual fitness to have a respectable showing, but it certainly won't be the fitness that I intended to bring when I decided months ago not to race JFK and focus on TNF50.<br />
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I'm going to give it a go, enjoy the single track, and just take what my body gives me Saturday. At this point, I'm just happy to be running. This may not be the type of injury that forces me to completely quit running, but I think it's safe to say this is the most significant injury I've had in my running career.<br />
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And if you're following TNF50 this Saturday and see me back in 30th place or so, don't worry, that would be a respectable finish given how incredibly stacked this race will be.<br />
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P.S. It's great to be an Auburn Tiger! WDE!<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01240094855721743541noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9101445953009329751.post-19788841712878019522013-09-02T19:58:00.000-07:002013-09-02T19:58:16.233-07:00Hood to Coast Mini Report<b>Before the race report, a couple of quick notes:</b><br />
* The IAU World 100k has been canceled, again. It's sad, but it's the best decision that could be made at this point. I'll announce my fall racing schedule soon.<br />
* After Hood to Coast, I spent a week in Seattle for work. I had one day off so I drove out to Mt Rainier to run around the Mowich Lake area. Check the bottom of this post for a few pics.<br />
* This past Saturday (August 31) I closed out the 7th year of my daily running streak with a 30 mile run. It was a tough run after being out of town for over a week, but it allowed me to hit the 30,000 mile mark over the past 7 years. The 476 miles I logged in August is my 2nd highest month ever. I'm tired now, but taking a much-deserved down week.<br />
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<b>Hood to Coast Mini Race Report</b><br />
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I originally didn’t plan to run the Hood to Coast Relay this year. I’ve run the 198 mile, 12 person relay, 3 times before and didn’t really want the training interruption during a really big mileage month. Plus, my work schedule had me heading out to Seattle in early August. But, as luck would have it, my trip to Seattle kept getting delayed until finally I didn’t need to be there until the Monday following Hood to Coast. This meant I would only have to make one trip to the Pacific Northwest and I could kill two birds with one stone. So I found my way back on to GE Runner’s corporate mixed team.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgesJbqruYqY9SA2-0mn65fJ0flj9qX7RGYk7GobGy9dQ50R5-cT3DjI0QvQN_bFN98e1uynQhbZ_Sk1ImIS3nN3NsUiUoXLh17jrx7-hzpFKH75TgHqJuMXDF16WkJWpehdA7J952Tn7c/s1600/IMG_2508.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgesJbqruYqY9SA2-0mn65fJ0flj9qX7RGYk7GobGy9dQ50R5-cT3DjI0QvQN_bFN98e1uynQhbZ_Sk1ImIS3nN3NsUiUoXLh17jrx7-hzpFKH75TgHqJuMXDF16WkJWpehdA7J952Tn7c/s400/IMG_2508.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Big mistake, giving a Hood to Coast team a brand new SUV.</td></tr>
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Another bit of good fortune had the team picking up our two rental team SUVs in Seattle. So I flew straight there from Cincinnati with my buddy, training partner, and team captain – Max. We easily found our other driver there at the Seattle airport, picked up our vehicles, and were off to Portland with no problems. We had dinner and a quick team meeting Thursday night, but headed to bed relatively early knowing that we’d need a good night’s sleep to get us through the next 48 hours.</div>
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There are 1050 teams that were entered to run the relay. This requires teams to start in small waves every 15 minutes throughout the day on Friday. Usually the best teams start later in the day so everyone reaches the finish in Seaside, OR about the same time on Saturday. For some reason, HTC had our team starting at 11:15AM – much earlier than competitive GE team usually starts. We were on our way to the start quite early to allow time for check-in and warm-ups.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8Fg_mnP78XpvFXcU5gpQtApZunSztZj9ExiUCWScpHTWgfo2QFwhpqxin8gSFvO9E7tUuJi4C4k0mvWXOm7Cc6zpLhJY4GSSZAREgb3YbKtP267vZmJzgGRtF8s4J7tmqnVId_E0XMPU/s1600/IMG_2524.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="451" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8Fg_mnP78XpvFXcU5gpQtApZunSztZj9ExiUCWScpHTWgfo2QFwhpqxin8gSFvO9E7tUuJi4C4k0mvWXOm7Cc6zpLhJY4GSSZAREgb3YbKtP267vZmJzgGRtF8s4J7tmqnVId_E0XMPU/s640/IMG_2524.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The start. I was beat for about 100 meters.</td></tr>
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I volunteered to run Leg 1 this year. Leg 1 is notoriously difficult because it drops from 6000ft at Timberline Lodge down to 4000ft in just 5.65 miles. It’s great fun running downhill fast, but it’s brutal on the quads when you have to come back and run 2 more times in the next 15 hours. I quite enjoyed taking the lead of our wave start with a 4:33 first mile. I quickly realized that I had a lot farther to go and that was probably unsustainable. So I eased back and tried take a little pressure off the quads by shortening my stride and quickening my turnover. The quads get all of the attention, but I could feel it in my calves too – it’s just a very different stress from the usual. I was well out in front of my wave and actually caught about 15 people in the wave that started 15 minutes before ours. I handed off to our second runner, Liz, having averaged 4:40 pace. My legs were tired, but not immediately blasted.</div>
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Liz is fast...like ran in the US 10k Olympic Trials last year...fast. So there was no time for me to cool down. I had to hop in our Yukon and get to the next exchange quickly. It only took us about 10 minutes to get to the 2nd exchange, but as soon as I stepped out of the van, I realized how destroyed my quads were. While waiting for Liz to arrive, I managed to run a 2 mile cool down very gingerly. I was seriously questioning my ability to run sub-6 minute pace for my next two legs based on the condition of my legs at this point.</div>
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We eventually cycled through all six runners in “Van 1” and handed the race over to Van 2 to continue pushing the charge. I can’t say much about what happened during the Van 2 legs, because I wasn’t there. My van headed back to a hotel room in Portland for an hour-long break. It was a quick stop though, as we had to allow plenty of time to make it through Portland rush hour traffic to make it to the next van exchange point where I was scheduled to run again. The van exchange point was a mess, but my crew dumped me out in plenty of time to receive the handoff our 12th runner.</div>
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When my second run of the day began, it was still quite sunny and warm. Even so, I was decked out in a reflective vest, flashlight, and two red flasher since the rules require these items after 6PM. I tried my best to warmup, but the quads were definitely protesting and did not want to stretch out. After splitting a 5:35 first mile, I was feeling quite tired. Knowing I had a long 7.3 mile leg to do, I decided to back off and try to settle in a little more. I slowed a few seconds per mile, but continued to pass tons of runners. I stopped counting around 30 “kills,” but I must have finished with well over 50. Eventually, I guess I got completely warmed up again and the pace started coming back to me. I was running along the riverfront near downtown Portland and all of the people, whether involved with the race or not, were motivating to me. I made my way into an industrial area and started to recognize the upcoming exchange zone. Liz took the handoff from me again and I was pleased to see my Suunto report an average pace of 5:34.</div>
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Repeat the process. Get in the van. Drive to the next exchange. Get out and cool down. Now I’m extremely sore. My one mile cooldown was around 9 min pace. I had forgotten the pain by the next exchange zone because the world record holder in the decathlon, Ashton Eaton, was there with Team World Vision and I got to talk to him a bit. A little farther down the road, I decided to run into a McDonald’s and get a sweet tea and some French fries. Don't judge, it's what the body was craving.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIZGLBJcyLYEjdW_rUBHl8Hoh0udvQAQ7YQfBE-wLMTx6tLjwjWPJZDAyhEM4EssLtZeFMMYd3CmS83WKDuiUbkew9JFAc3QFxaA1kes-gm4exQKG6Vy_aLTyhYR_9CmJH7-yfYLV3GGk/s1600/IMG_2531.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIZGLBJcyLYEjdW_rUBHl8Hoh0udvQAQ7YQfBE-wLMTx6tLjwjWPJZDAyhEM4EssLtZeFMMYd3CmS83WKDuiUbkew9JFAc3QFxaA1kes-gm4exQKG6Vy_aLTyhYR_9CmJH7-yfYLV3GGk/s640/IMG_2531.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me, Ashton Eaton, and my buddy Max. One of the highlights from the trip.</td></tr>
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My third and final leg was scheduled to start around 2AM. At midnight, we pulled our van into a big grass field and we all tried to get a quick nap. I got a little sleep, but I didn't want to get too comfortable because I was going to have to wake up and warm up again to run well. It started raining, but after two warmish runs, I was a little happy to have some cooling assistance. I took the handoff and started off down the pitch black country road. The 3.75 mile leg felt almost like a sprint, but I was happy to get it over with quickly. Another set of low 5:30 splits was all I could manage.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4pbJD9kCvtSUjmpC-uOkqIpru9ihFDAzENffWNtIesMJGB2loVPGeRVrCclk9urNHUi8rB8FWTpWFyokm9rR11Gi2gRD1LNtYIur6dTfWoenkhqdebRElyuMN6aK1sk2TdOdtGazlnqY/s1600/IMG_2537.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4pbJD9kCvtSUjmpC-uOkqIpru9ihFDAzENffWNtIesMJGB2loVPGeRVrCclk9urNHUi8rB8FWTpWFyokm9rR11Gi2gRD1LNtYIur6dTfWoenkhqdebRElyuMN6aK1sk2TdOdtGazlnqY/s640/IMG_2537.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our girls ran awesome this year!</td></tr>
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Maybe the hardest part of the event for me is dealing with the lack of sleep. After my final run, we still have 11 more legs to finish the race. I just felt miserable there for a couple of hours. I finally got a some sleep just as the sun was coming up and our team was heading toward the finish. After celebrating our finish, my body finally agreed to wake up and we all left the beach in Seaside to enjoy a big breakfast.</div>
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The GE Meatballs team ended up finishing 11th overall out of over 1000 teams with a time of 20:44:14. We were 2nd in our corporate mixed division only 13 minutes behind a team from Nike. I think we'll take that. I'm really proud of everyone who ran this year. It was a great team.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkMHnSjlIkSz2uoXWRKlpSc7C06Td0xNxF1OxQ9gmbrqpT43wfqxDvfdyew3Vvhe34LMli_W6wHP69n7CYmDZint3Am8rwWyntu6dgE0Kllx6AY6CGFR96nqNWyopHpAktAedIh4Ec0Sc/s1600/IMG_2544.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkMHnSjlIkSz2uoXWRKlpSc7C06Td0xNxF1OxQ9gmbrqpT43wfqxDvfdyew3Vvhe34LMli_W6wHP69n7CYmDZint3Am8rwWyntu6dgE0Kllx6AY6CGFR96nqNWyopHpAktAedIh4Ec0Sc/s640/IMG_2544.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I love the reflection in this shot.</td></tr>
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And here are a few shots from my run in Mt Rainier National Park:<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01240094855721743541noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9101445953009329751.post-75927544267387925762013-08-19T18:41:00.000-07:002013-08-19T18:41:34.946-07:00August Update<div style="text-align: justify;">
Well friends, I know I’ve been a little quiet lately. That is usually a good sign or bad sign. I’m happy to report that in my case, it is indeed a good sign. I took a relatively short period of downtime following the IAU Trail Champs in Wales and felt ready to get back at it. The last 4 weeks have been great - both high volume and high quality training. If you haven’t heard, the IAU Road 100k Champs scheduled for South Africa in October has been cancelled. Even so, because I was so mentally prepared to shift into road 100k training this month, I have basically maintained course while I’ve tried to decide what my revised fall racing plans will look like. I’ve almost got the plan figured out now, but I’m not quite ready to put the schedule in writing yet. I’ll let you know when it’s official.</div>
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So yeah, the last 4 weeks of training have been great. I’ve worked my mileage up over 100mpw in singles with back-to-back long runs on the weekends, and I’ve also mixed in some good speed workouts. I’ve stuck to the roads mostly because the limited trail choices in Cincinnati aren’t that great in the summer, and if you’re training for a road ultra, you kinda need to train on the roads. So I may not be worried about a flat, road ultra anymore, but I still find it to be a nice change of pace (literally and figuratively) from the trail running. The weather has been unseasonably cool and dry in Cincinnati the last month, so that has really helped me feel unusually good for August. Let’s hope I can keep this training momentum going through September.</div>
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I don’t normally like to chase miles simply for the sake of hitting some arbitrary number, but I’ll admit to doing that this month. I’ve got a big goal, and it will get me to a major milestone in my running career. This is really helping to keep the motivation high while my race goals are a bit ambiguous. I’ll be sure to share how it all turns out at the end of August.</div>
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But first...I’m running the Hood to Coast Relay this weekend! I tried my best to get out of running this event this year, but I just couldn’t do it. This will be my fourth time running the 197 miles from Mt Hood to Seaside, OR with 11 other teammates...each of us running 3 legs roughly 10km a piece. I’ll be running on a mixed corporate team from GE again this year. I didn’t think I wanted to bother with the travel and interruptions in training to run HTC this year, but perfect timing has work sending me to the Pacific Northwest anyway, so I decided I was destined to run. I’ve always been intrigued by the first leg of the relay which drops 2000ft in less than 6 miles. It’s not classified as the hardest relay leg, so I normally get assigned to run another leg where I might be more useful to the team. Now, I don’t have tons of leg speed anymore, but I figured my experiences over the last couple years make me uniquely qualified to run well downhill, so I might as well jump on the opportunity to run this part of the course. I’m looking forward to seeing what I can do.</div>
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So that’s what I’ve been up to for the last month, and what I’ll be doing for a few more weeks. Don’t look for me to race anything serious until October, but I’ll let you know when my racing plans are finalized. In the meantime, follow me on twitter (@rundavid1) if you want to live vicariously through my experiences at Hood to Coast and elsewhere. Happy trails...whether they be dirt or paved!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01240094855721743541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9101445953009329751.post-76848529127461773542013-07-22T17:48:00.000-07:002013-07-22T17:48:31.334-07:00IAU Trail World Championship Race Report<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4LI_h8ORvcwm_3fuQVGA6XDl8Z_FiSt_aIAFY7XD8FaT362j0ZbE2Dv04V9MYNJ9m1l-HrGxf2iefo0PWY7sfzztsvKK-byN8bVwimRtKV_v2b2m5PNQqcP3ciMsgrk5hZuaQ0WtUicE/s1600/IMG_2307.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4LI_h8ORvcwm_3fuQVGA6XDl8Z_FiSt_aIAFY7XD8FaT362j0ZbE2Dv04V9MYNJ9m1l-HrGxf2iefo0PWY7sfzztsvKK-byN8bVwimRtKV_v2b2m5PNQqcP3ciMsgrk5hZuaQ0WtUicE/s640/IMG_2307.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our team hotel in Llandudno.</td></tr>
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I’m not exactly sure how you can be disappointed in a race that you go in to not having a clue what to expect, but that’s precisely the place I find myself right now. I’ve thought about it now for two weeks before writing this race report to be sure I had time to fully digest the experience and not jump to any premature conclusions. But I haven’t really come to any other conclusions in that time. I raced below my ability, and I also ran a boring race.</div>
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The International Association of Ultrarunners (IAU) Trail World Championship race was held in North Wales on July 6. I finished in 7th place with a time of 6:04:04. The course was 48 miles long and my Suunto Ambit recorded 7600ft of climb and equal descent. The weather was surprisingly nice for Wales over the few short days I was there. It was sunny and warm during the race, but it wasn’t humid and there was a nice breeze.</div>
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I flew across the pond on a redeye after work on July 3rd. Arriving in Manchester on the 4th of July, I took a train to the race headquarters in Llandudno, a small resort town right on the coast. After dropping my bags off in my room, I headed across the street to check into the race. This is where, for the first time, I saw a proper course map and elevation profile. But the numbers on elevation change were still suspect because the amount of climb and descent were different even though the race started and finished at the same place. Right, that doesn’t make sense.</div>
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So this is what I mean when I say I had no clue what to expect. I arrived in Wales two days before the race having not seen a detailed course map, and I wasn’t even convinced it was correct even when I did have a map in hand. I also had no idea who I’d be racing against. The only name I recognized was Ricky Lightfoot from the UK, and only because he runs for Salomon. But I had no basis for comparison to figure out where I should be relative to him in the race. Really all I had to key off of was the last IAU Trail Champs that were held 2 years ago and teammate Ben Nephew finished 15 minutes off the leader. That turned out to be a poor data point to key off of due to considerable course differences.</div>
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On Friday, I did get to run a bit of the course. It had a couple fairly significant climbs by my standards, but it also featured a considerable amount of pristine fire road. The single track sections were quite nice, there just wasn't enough of it to satisfy most people. The race was set up as a 15km loop run 5 times with a 1km section of paved road to start and finish. The climbs would be tough for me, but I thought the fire road would actually work in my favor.</div>
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There would be two aid stations on the course, but no one was really sure what would be available to the race as a whole. For IAU world championship races, there are very specific rules for providing aid to the competitors. Each team has a table from which they can serve the individual needs of their team members. Then there is a “common” table that everyone in the race can use. In my past IAU experience though, there’s no guarantee what will be available on the common table and I can’t recommend relying completely on the race-provided aid station like you could at almost any ultra in the US. This isn’t a big deal, except that the US team only had one crew member. While very grateful to the help this spouse provided, there is no way he could cover both aid stations, so our team had no one supporting the second aid station. We sent drop bags out, but that’s not always a perfect solution.</div>
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I went in running blind, but I still had expectations to be in contention.</div>
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My plan was tried and true; go out conservative, work into a rhythm, pick up the pieces as other fell apart, and finish strong. I stuck to the plan and a mile into the race, I was the last man on the US team of 6 guys. Once we made it up the first big climb and hit a fire road, I settled into my happy place and focused on relaxing the first lap. After the first 15 km loop, I was in 31st place and 7:30 off the leaders, although I didn’t know exactly how far back I was at the time.</div>
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During the second loop I focused on running controlled and picking off the low hanging fruit, but tried not to get too excited. It was starting to warm up quickly due to the relatively late 9 AM start, but I wasn’t overheating. I was still eating and drinking well at this point. By the end of the second loop at 31km, I had moved all the way up to 17th place. I also had passed US teammates Brian Rusiecki and Ben Nephew to move up into 2nd place for the team.</div>
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On the third loop, I started pushing a little especially when I was on the downhill jeep roads. I felt like I was running quite fast, but I was weakening a little on climbs. The heat started to bother me a little, and I lost the desire to eat. I didn’t feel like I was absorbing calories in my stomach, so I switched over to plain water, but I still wasn’t eating gels like I should have been. I also wasn’t taking salt tabs regularly, which I think was a big mistake. I was taking coke at the aid stations when I could find it, but it just wasn’t enough. I still had a good split on the 3rd lap and had moved up into 12th, passing teammate Justin Ricks to move into the lead for the US.</div>
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As I started the climb at the beginning of my 4th loop, I realized my climbing legs were gone. I had been running the climbs all day thus far, but I was forced to switch to the power hike. I was able to move well, but it’s just not as fast as running. My hamstrings also began to cramp on this loop. I shouldn’t have been cramping at this point in the race given my conservative start. It was probably the accumulation of the climbing, now around 6000ft total, which I am not accustomed to, and a deficiency of electrolytes due to the fact that I was drinking plain water and not taking enough S!Caps. The cramps really put a dent in my killer instinct when I should have been hot on the trail of those in front of me because I never knew when the next one was going to strike. The one bright spot from this loop was when I caught the defending IAU Trail Champion, Erik Clavery. He went out hard and paid for it, but there wasn’t as much carnage as I had hoped.</div>
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I was in 8th place as I started the final loop. I was still struggling on the climbs, cramping when I tried to push the pace, and I didn’t feel like I was making progress on anyone in front of me. I realized how far off the leaders I was a little late in the race and knew I had no chance to catch them. All of these things sapped my desire to race and I basically mentally wimped out on the final lap. With 8km to go, I desperately needed calories and asked for the bottle of Coke that I stashed in my drop bag. It was nowhere to be found — lost or stolen. The common aid station table was also out of Coke. I grabbed some Pringles as a salty consolation prize, but left mad and dejected. </div>
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I slowly made my way to the 76km aid station where I felt so low on energy that I stopped for Coke even though I only had 1km left to the finish. I knew an Australian was close behind, but I felt like I had to have some calories. He was 19 seconds back at the timing mat, but only a few seconds behind by the time I had downed several cups of hot Coke. Everyone was yelling at me to just finish, so I finally took off. The final kilometer included several hundred feet of descent on a paved road. Luckily, my quads had held up well and I was able to run downhill without any issues. The Australian was hanging tough, but since I had basically given up on the last lap, my legs had recovered and I was determined not to let anyone pass me now. It’s impossible to figure out precisely how fast we were running, but we were flying. My road speed served me well and I was able to hold the challenger off by 6 seconds.</div>
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Although I had little idea what to expect, I still hoped to be closer to the front when I crossed the finish line. Having the benefit of hindsight, I don’t think I had the ability to win, but top 5 would have been a realistic goal. I believe I could have run 10 minutes faster and finished in 3rd on a great day. I have felt for the last 2 weeks that I ran a boring race. My conservative start made me feel like I was never in contention. In a championship style race, where everyone running is really good, going out that slow may not be the best plan of attack. On the other hand, if I had run even splits for my 4th and 5th loops — a realistic plan had I not cramped and been low on calories — I would have moved all the way up into third. That would have completely changed my feelings about the race. But for many reasons it just wasn’t my best race. Some of those mistakes were my own and I will learn from them, but some of the issues were out of my control.</div>
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I am glad that I chose to run the race and enjoyed my short time in Wales. I'm happy that I was able to lead the US team to a respectable 4th place finish. I also still believe that I made the right call when I chose not to run Western States. It was really good to get some international trail experience, and honestly, it was good to get my butt kicked. It will serve to keep the motivation high as I train for races in the future.</div>
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Speaking of future races...my plans through November are a bit up in the air. We just heard back today that the IAU 100k road championship race is still happening in Cape Town, South Africa sometime in October, but the fact that they still don't have concrete date is a bit worrisome. I am waiting to learn the final decision regarding that race because it will completely dictate my training and racing schedule for the next few months. I'll let you know when I have more details.</div>
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<a href="http://www.irunfar.com/2013/07/2013-iau-trail-world-championships-report.html">Check out Ben Nephew's full write-up on iRunFar.com to hear more about the US team performance.</a><br />
<a href="http://www.tdl.ltd.uk/race-results.php?event=1386">Full results here.</a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzEyqrWJOOpH0LzqM8GlhzOrWIkRiFKidiSBdOg5EyRdsw0dNX5cljyjy3ivbUiKssZhW4tBQqolpZE0NQBSotAqsWDTFbnpYR2hyphenhyphentiXGmuZe_8NqQ8uLtMC2kOWFPTLXtwtiTY3j5LKA/s1600/USteam_WorldTrailWales.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzEyqrWJOOpH0LzqM8GlhzOrWIkRiFKidiSBdOg5EyRdsw0dNX5cljyjy3ivbUiKssZhW4tBQqolpZE0NQBSotAqsWDTFbnpYR2hyphenhyphentiXGmuZe_8NqQ8uLtMC2kOWFPTLXtwtiTY3j5LKA/s640/USteam_WorldTrailWales.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The US team on the beach in front of our hotel.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrsPDAZhfmcRg15IfFudIDmoAIqnAzCpoyThPbR-wEtQ2CJM0tTvWNCwdeTdGFNKM4pYzwXPE9_g2XIc31FqFz5ubRZYK_c45USCM6ZsZU0rrSM7Zbm89T7N6DaiLzlg4kIRODCa-Rd5c/s1600/IMG_2315.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrsPDAZhfmcRg15IfFudIDmoAIqnAzCpoyThPbR-wEtQ2CJM0tTvWNCwdeTdGFNKM4pYzwXPE9_g2XIc31FqFz5ubRZYK_c45USCM6ZsZU0rrSM7Zbm89T7N6DaiLzlg4kIRODCa-Rd5c/s640/IMG_2315.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Overlooking Llandudno from a nearby hillside.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8BreDkXVso0OT3MlERuk-IEGgSLP7I8FSMPSMBh9YqI8lE6F43qu9KWNxJU4X0T4GDUC3DU05JzABDKlQ7UWllMmATqfd2RRb_LfWi5U74a2yweZPvekR1u0eAmG13vgqEDaUBP0lszc/s1600/IMG_2321.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8BreDkXVso0OT3MlERuk-IEGgSLP7I8FSMPSMBh9YqI8lE6F43qu9KWNxJU4X0T4GDUC3DU05JzABDKlQ7UWllMmATqfd2RRb_LfWi5U74a2yweZPvekR1u0eAmG13vgqEDaUBP0lszc/s640/IMG_2321.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sheep!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The scenery in Wales was green and gorgeous. This was near the race start/finish.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ben Nephew checking out the well-manicured fire road on our Friday shakeout.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More scenery near the start.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi__ksJBgDwx4wdwtsA8eCfQSuQqlOdenMkj0N6lcViPIUTpgNUEVQ810Cc6Lvah-JM2s6_BsnaPBPNJAi540TY3Tl9HcBEEPBB2EOUVUmYovfrJi3OqZpZbXMYTmCTp9-X2q5UEek5cZ8/s1600/IMG_2369.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi__ksJBgDwx4wdwtsA8eCfQSuQqlOdenMkj0N6lcViPIUTpgNUEVQ810Cc6Lvah-JM2s6_BsnaPBPNJAi540TY3Tl9HcBEEPBB2EOUVUmYovfrJi3OqZpZbXMYTmCTp9-X2q5UEek5cZ8/s640/IMG_2369.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunset on the coast in North Wales.</td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01240094855721743541noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9101445953009329751.post-67528236997654489582013-06-23T18:53:00.000-07:002013-06-23T18:53:36.277-07:00Rock/Creek Chattanooga Mountains Stage Race<div style="text-align: justify;">
If there's one word that describes my weekend down in Chattanooga it is – fun. I am very competitive and I take racing seriously. Sometimes I come dangerously close to forgetting to have fun. This weekend, I did not. The trails were fun. The city was fun. The people were fun. Of course, winning was still fun. But the whole experience was genuinely fun. The weather was even...wait for it...fun.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC5-j5J8Sx9rBEeFqfSf9-z3fwB9QEO-RZXNquql0_GapMGCSUR4YH-lOqn-3RW1Y-z5fRxlLDka5BhHAiC3uO48VSd1I9HxsXMPvgfOUiDZCTQY0hIa-RBb4OXHZo__AqWHVwNNO6u00/s1600/IMG_2186.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC5-j5J8Sx9rBEeFqfSf9-z3fwB9QEO-RZXNquql0_GapMGCSUR4YH-lOqn-3RW1Y-z5fRxlLDka5BhHAiC3uO48VSd1I9HxsXMPvgfOUiDZCTQY0hIa-RBb4OXHZo__AqWHVwNNO6u00/s400/IMG_2186.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The first stage begins. (Photo by Jeff Bartlett)</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtYoItkVS_lurZGW2odAMtIrBrWsFF8xYChkI2P6R7s_40RLImwsypUEp0uET71hSx1WQDub3WMAU4op9ADCt40gEcGCLOb__lUJZnPlr_Ny_nLkzJ8XikxlJjetlyCQWNTZjPXTD5Kt4/s1600/smiling_in_the_trees_by_bartlett.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtYoItkVS_lurZGW2odAMtIrBrWsFF8xYChkI2P6R7s_40RLImwsypUEp0uET71hSx1WQDub3WMAU4op9ADCt40gEcGCLOb__lUJZnPlr_Ny_nLkzJ8XikxlJjetlyCQWNTZjPXTD5Kt4/s400/smiling_in_the_trees_by_bartlett.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>
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On a gorgeous Friday morning I drove up to Raccoon Mountain for the 8AM start of the first day's 18-mile stage. The course circumnavigated a TVA reservoir dug out of the top of the mountain, but was relatively flat and fast making it perfect for my Salomon Sense Ultras. I began conservatively and socialized a bit until around halfway before I took control of the lead. My goal was to be just under the course record for the stage without using any more energy than possible. This was actually quite a challenge because I hadn’t seen the trail before the race and it turned out to be undulating, rocky, and full of rhythm-destroying turns. Luckily, I came in less than a minute under Dan Mueller's course record time from 2011. Dan was racing again this year and was only 90 seconds back, but I done what I needed to do on the first day.</div>
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Friday afternoon and evening was fun as well because I had the opportunity to make the 2 hour drive over to Huntsville, AL and see my family. I played in the kiddie pool with my 2-year-old niece and then celebrated Father's Day with a home cooked meal. In addition to my parents and brother's family, my 92-year-old grandmother was there along with an aunt and uncle who just happened to be in town. I couldn't stick around for long, but it was great time while it lasted. I was back at my Chattanooga hotel by 9:30 PM and headed to bed to rest up for day 2.</div>
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The second stage was billed as a 22-mile course on Lookout Mountain in north Georgia. I heard it was supposed to be the wet day, so I laced up my Salomon XT 5 Softground that feature extra grip. It turns out the Lookout Mountain course was the most consistently runnable trail we had all weekend. There were a few wet spots, but only just enough to make it fun. I ran conservatively again at the start and only took the lead on a big climb just before halfway. On the descent home, I tried to make it a little exciting by slipping and falling hard on large, wet rock that might as well have been a patch of ice. I landed square on the side of my left calf, but as it was a very smooth rock, little damage was done. The creek crossing near the end was awesome and just the perfect ending to another beautiful day on the trails. Again, I ran just under Dan's record for the current course from 2011 and increased my overall lead. (Ultrasignup.com shows a faster time was run by both the male and female winners in 2007, so I'm fairly certain that was a different course).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVEnHLCfQacU3Ql8NBCulVcTtkOsexDUx0fLicRM9KpLIuOTprz0tWrFYxbUDYNDsodNFZv_XSXGxfDWvUeOY7BgiBspMvyoE2Nz_6tNuGsvqJyjyw2a6juy1VUYS2KND02kODFtnz5DI/s1600/walk_on_water_mark_mcknight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVEnHLCfQacU3Ql8NBCulVcTtkOsexDUx0fLicRM9KpLIuOTprz0tWrFYxbUDYNDsodNFZv_XSXGxfDWvUeOY7BgiBspMvyoE2Nz_6tNuGsvqJyjyw2a6juy1VUYS2KND02kODFtnz5DI/s400/walk_on_water_mark_mcknight.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Creek crossing with less than a mile to go. (Photo by Mark McKnight)</td></tr>
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Saturday night I headed back up on Lookout Mtn to a house rented by a crew of my ultra crazies from the Huntsville area. We had an absolute blast while enjoying tasty treats like fresh fruit, grilled salmon, delicious desserts and of course, beer. I think only in ultra running could you assemble such a random selection of personalities and backgrounds and somehow make it work. Unfortunately, I just haven't found a community quite like this in Cincinnati, so it was especially enjoyable hang out with these friends again.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdqNwO0UagbciQPF1xnpze27IvpMnAtvuLJLblkRTJlLto-P3kBjvIzeTGl8wd6TuM5yXyXo9hYjaNn0SS_KpOn-sI0a61GtV5jijOlj3s546IEesmTsBtHwtYdPfo9DyJ7gHIHM2NUJs/s1600/day3_start.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdqNwO0UagbciQPF1xnpze27IvpMnAtvuLJLblkRTJlLto-P3kBjvIzeTGl8wd6TuM5yXyXo9hYjaNn0SS_KpOn-sI0a61GtV5jijOlj3s546IEesmTsBtHwtYdPfo9DyJ7gHIHM2NUJs/s400/day3_start.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The start of the last stage. (Bartlett)</td></tr>
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The final day was a little more “business formal” as opposed to “business casual.” I had been saving a little, and it was time to test myself along the 20-mile route. As such, I took the lead quite early as Dan humorously pretended to commentate my obvious change in strategy. The Signal Mountain stage overlaps a couple of the biggest climbs on the familiar StumpJump 50k course then veers off on trails that were new to me. The weather was slightly less perfect on Sunday morning, but nothing you could complain about for June in Tennessee. I led by a minute at halfway when the trail really started to get interesting. It was a section of very technical trail that ran for miles, but my favorite S-LAB XT 5 shoes handled the rocks well. At one point I began to think that I had saved too much on the previous stages because I simply couldn't run fast enough to get tired...it was just too dangerous. There was a brief break from the rocks during a short road section where we visited an assisted living facility (yes, we were actually routed through the front drive and the old folks on the porch waved at us) before we transitioned over to another section of very technical trail. The final mile or so finally allowed me to pour it on, and I ran a legitimate sub-6:30 mile as recorded by my Suunto Ambit. I cruised into the finish nearly 10 minutes ahead of the old record for the stage.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_7hS5ndFMkXUUfGxu6i8dicBsUW-pSamz0STUd6GBY8DpSNb_ojGNJXrgYBCFhvK0MW06Ey4xMlnVd7l9djt1aiuJMv2ckZlDozJyYCxS_tdAyiMN5lnNehcmaeUQdOdLk79rWkUmMv8/s1600/stairs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_7hS5ndFMkXUUfGxu6i8dicBsUW-pSamz0STUd6GBY8DpSNb_ojGNJXrgYBCFhvK0MW06Ey4xMlnVd7l9djt1aiuJMv2ckZlDozJyYCxS_tdAyiMN5lnNehcmaeUQdOdLk79rWkUmMv8/s400/stairs.jpg" width="267" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Is that a grimace or a smile? (Bartlett)</td></tr>
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As for my 3 day total, I was 12 minutes under the old record with a final time of 6:47:15. Full results can be found <a href="http://ultrasignup.com/results_event.aspx?did=18992">here on ultrasignup</a>. In the end, I got a great weekend of high quality training and racing that should serve me well as I travel to Wales July 6th for the <a href="http://worldtrailwales2013.org/">IAU World Trail Championships</a>.</div>
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So kids, here's what we learned this weekend. Rock/Creek puts on great events. This would not be possible without a boatload of extremely generous volunteers from the area who are passionate about the sport. The trails in Chattanooga are probably some of the best in the Southeast. And I'm pretty sure you folks out in Colorado who think your trails are the bees knees would find these courses to be as challenging as they are beautiful. And of course, trail running is just. plain. fun. Don’t forget it!<br />
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Finally, I must thank the race director Randy Whorton and also Salomon for making this possible by sponsoring the Rock/Creek Trail Series.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUFAxFv5_3hqFOSTrpM9-_V2e7KPshykulnNj9mGgvcEnZ7cItKuyuInrnNTvQV5MElVHxJTSnRpmPcqMqlE0U5U1ACKP7XNOW7T7AF-PDRJvpMtxE8rgjewpf6QF3_hjl2Z1r56e0JK0/s1600/randy_and_david.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUFAxFv5_3hqFOSTrpM9-_V2e7KPshykulnNj9mGgvcEnZ7cItKuyuInrnNTvQV5MElVHxJTSnRpmPcqMqlE0U5U1ACKP7XNOW7T7AF-PDRJvpMtxE8rgjewpf6QF3_hjl2Z1r56e0JK0/s400/randy_and_david.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With race director Randy Whorton.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLDa4NBe81qFIHPGoAS1X2tDmmC3SU8XOC7yPmD3owVVEDB3rh7RfQgCyMy05Vu8i5rYjntNXVKo09iZ3sGJ8X1AfU7lSpUEBwfiDRdmWW1ecj44hMKliutcncFfcigXxcjs_MJzGyMK0/s1600/S-LAB_XT5_Bartlett.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLDa4NBe81qFIHPGoAS1X2tDmmC3SU8XOC7yPmD3owVVEDB3rh7RfQgCyMy05Vu8i5rYjntNXVKo09iZ3sGJ8X1AfU7lSpUEBwfiDRdmWW1ecj44hMKliutcncFfcigXxcjs_MJzGyMK0/s400/S-LAB_XT5_Bartlett.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My favorites. S-LAB XT 5. (Bartlett)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiet2WZhCXqUvgwapAbXnDbxLXehnvaExxYKDREwlQFmg0Ikj_3yRX8m0y9Ds_biAGPPtXQSvjT_rit_EXhgPW_6ULBzSWAHMtxY2qFj43DZTxQRW4rRAVGkwc3BUWi3t5GYD0c6nyom9A/s1600/podium_down_low.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiet2WZhCXqUvgwapAbXnDbxLXehnvaExxYKDREwlQFmg0Ikj_3yRX8m0y9Ds_biAGPPtXQSvjT_rit_EXhgPW_6ULBzSWAHMtxY2qFj43DZTxQRW4rRAVGkwc3BUWi3t5GYD0c6nyom9A/s400/podium_down_low.jpg" width="267" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All smiles. That was fun.</td></tr>
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<a href="http://blog.rockcreek.com/archives/photos-results-from-the-2013-rockcreek-chattanooga-mountains-stage-race.html">Check out the Rock/Creek blog for links to TONS of high quality pictures.</a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01240094855721743541noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9101445953009329751.post-89944110301709223002013-06-10T18:41:00.002-07:002013-06-10T18:41:59.493-07:00Racing Plans<div style="text-align: justify;">
So this is just a quick blog post to let you know about my race plans over the next month or so.</div>
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First though, a brief update on my activities since Ice Age (<a href="http://riddleruns.blogspot.com/2013/05/ice-age-race-report.html">race report</a>). So after the race, I took a full two weeks really, really easy. Like some of the lowest mileage I've run in the last 7 years. I don't usually take days completely off, but I do need a couple of rest periods throughout the year to let the body completely recover, and that's what I was going for there. I really felt like I recovered from Ice Age quickly...maybe even faster than I recovered from the road marathon I did in April. But, I took the two weeks easy regardless and made sure I got my batteries recharged.</div>
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My first day back to real training, I ran 4 hours on the trails with a group of folks at an informal group training run on the Stone Steps 50k course here in Cincinnati. I kept it really relaxed and enjoyed the company of others for a change. I only covered 25 miles, but I spent a lot more time on my feet than I would have had I just run by myself. The Memorial Day holiday allowed me to get in 3 trail long runs the following week making for a fairly aggressive ramp back into big mileage training. That brings me to last week where I had a really nice 5x1200m track workout and another long trail run.</div>
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Now I'm focusing on getting the legs recovered for the <a href="http://www.rockcreek.com/stagerace.rco">Chattanooga Mountain Stage Race</a> this weekend! This is will be my first stage race, and I'm really looking forward to the experience. Rock/Creek puts on top notch events, and Chattanooga is just a cool little city, so I'm really excited to be heading down there for a few days. That basic setup is 18 miles Friday morning, 22 miles Saturday, and then 20 miles Sunday. I haven't run the course, but it sounds like the trails vary quite a bit from fast and rolling, to steep and technical. The heat may be my biggest concern though. I'm just not very experienced racing long in the summer.</div>
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Next, I have just 3 weeks to get recovered for my next race...in Wales! I'll by flying across the pond on the 4th of July to race with the US team at the <a href="http://worldtrailwales2013.org/">IAU World Trail Championships</a> on July 6. I don't know a bunch about this race or the competition but I do know that it's 75km long. I don't think it has a ton of climbing or is very technical, but I know better to rule out anything since I haven't seen the course yet. Running for the US, we have: Jason Bryant, Dave James, Ben Nephew, Justin Ricks, Brian Rusiecki and myself on the men’s side. For the women, it'll be Stefanie Bernosky, Tracy Hoeg, Stephanie Howe, Amy Rusiecki, and Michele Yates.</div>
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So those two races are definitely my focus in the near term. The week following the Wales race, I'll be heading to San Francisco for a corporate track meet, but that is more of a fun event in my mind and I'll probably just be running a 5k and 10k.</div>
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We now have confirmation that the IAU 100k World Championship race will be October 26th in South Africa. That will be my big focus race for the fall. I'm not quite sure what I'm doing in August and September, but it will be focused on preparing for the 100k. I will likely be looking for a flat and fast 50k-50 miler in September as a tune-up for the 100k, so if you have any ideas, let me know.</div>
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That all I have for now. I'll check back in after the stage race.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01240094855721743541noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9101445953009329751.post-15243163229819382932013-05-14T18:35:00.000-07:002013-05-14T18:35:41.250-07:00Ice Age Race Report<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj98G8QDhFLtRJwJy2uQBGPdRKquTJNQgBPmpjJOryEVxyOHeT6jOkXTMzJnhk0P25koo2EQP5feFV4ejT8qG7TaIf_-4djSRjvQogPnb7vi_FkTe8MgOwBBcX7EZ0ir6JND5SJcfp6ms4/s1600/IMG_2033.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj98G8QDhFLtRJwJy2uQBGPdRKquTJNQgBPmpjJOryEVxyOHeT6jOkXTMzJnhk0P25koo2EQP5feFV4ejT8qG7TaIf_-4djSRjvQogPnb7vi_FkTe8MgOwBBcX7EZ0ir6JND5SJcfp6ms4/s400/IMG_2033.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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I wanted the course record. I needed the win. It was never about Western States.<br />
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Honestly. I've already turned down my spot into WS100. Heck, I was so ambivalent about the Western States slot that my wife didn't even know Ice Age was part of the Montrail Ultra Cup and the top 2 finishers would be granted an automatic entry. Here's the text message I got from her when she saw all the social media traffic about the auto entry:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXPhALZdCXtGeIKcLhE5cnqA6CvA5MuLtUadGCbJsTsXbTnLvmfMiwIiLEwNJk0UA1FlJPX2lxmwOnGTrv_NiedDT5g0ebe2FnrMGnK1v4i-hykM-ZYdusPdRQgmo-rXfYAuXAeddMFiM/s1600/IMG_2041.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXPhALZdCXtGeIKcLhE5cnqA6CvA5MuLtUadGCbJsTsXbTnLvmfMiwIiLEwNJk0UA1FlJPX2lxmwOnGTrv_NiedDT5g0ebe2FnrMGnK1v4i-hykM-ZYdusPdRQgmo-rXfYAuXAeddMFiM/s320/IMG_2041.PNG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Eleventh at WS100 and 3rd at JFK last year...both races I missed my chance to make the starting line again in Squaw Valley by one place. Heartbreaking, right? Why wouldn't I accept?</div>
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I'll get to that, but I have to tell the whole story first.</div>
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It just so happens that the Ice Age course record holder currently lives in Cincinnati. His name is Andy Jones and I see him regularly as he still trains with a competitive group. (Not to be confused with Andy Jones-Wilkins (AJW) who is also well known in ultra circles.) Andy Jones is a Canadian-born ultra runner who was very fast back in the late 80s and throughout the 90s. He's run a 2:17 marathon, is 3rd on the <a href="http://www.ultrarunning.com/ultra/reference/finishers/alltime-north-american-be.shtml">North America all-time performance list for 100k</a> with a time of 6:33:57, and he still holds the North American record for the road 100 mile at 12:05. Suffice it to say, the dude had wheels.</div>
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When Andy saw the success I was having at races like JFK, he mentioned Ice Age. He explained that he still had the course record, but it had been around a long time and he felt this new wave of ultra talent was bound to be on the verge of breaking his mark. He suggested that I give it a shot.</div>
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What's more is the fact that I consider JFK, American River, and Ice Age to be the Triple Crown of fast, flat US 50 milers. I've done JFK of course, and I wanted to race American River, but my work schedule prevented me from running it this year. Ice Age fit into the schedule nicely, so I entered the event simply to run the race. Western States was little more than an afterthought.</div>
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I wanted the course record.</div>
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After attempting my first 100 miler and dabbling in a couple more mountainous ultras in 2012, I had a quiet year without any headline wins. Max King trounced me at JFK, taking my record down just a year after I set it. I thought I ran well last year, I just felt like I couldn't compete at the very top level of mountain ultras when I had no mountains to train on. Admittedly, my confidence was a little shaken. I decided that I should return to my strengths and run races that I could properly train for in 2013. I had a good start resetting my Mountain Mist CR in January, but that didn't mean much on the national level. Ice Age was my first real opportunity to prove to myself against a national class field of fast 50 mile types that I still had it.</div>
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I needed the win.</div>
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The race started fast. Really it was just the first mile, but still, I had no interest in getting caught up in the early shenanigans. The leaders settled in relatively quickly about 30 seconds ahead of me, and I stalked them for the first loop of rolling, grassy jeep roads. I don't think they were more than a minute up at the 9 mile aid station. Josh Brimhall and Zach Bitter were starting to pull away together while Eric Senseman, Matt Flaherty, Scott Breeden, and Brian Condon trailed in a tight group.</div>
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I was now warmed up and starting to get into rhythm. I slowly started to reel in the pack of 4 in front of me. I was very careful though, and didn't catch the group until around mile 14. At the time we were in a section of tight single track so I was just content to sit at the back. A short time later we popped out of the forest and were cruising on some super smooth single track. This is my natural strength and I started stretching the string just a little here. Keeping myself under control, but ever so slightly trying to pull everyone else out of their comfort zone. Zach and Josh were still out of sight in the lead, but now our chase group was beginning to splinter a bit. By the 22 mile turnaround I was solidly in third and closing on the leaders. Most importantly, I was just running my race, according to my schedule.<br />
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Zach and Josh came into view on the return trip through the same field where I started to pass the chase pack. I wanted to hold back and relax, but I was closing and could feel it. I dropped a 6:30 mile and caught them at the 27 miles. I sat on them for a minute and collected myself, but I had too much momentum and decided to push into the lead. I felt Josh drop off the pace soon after, but Zach tried to keep in contact. I knew I needed to back off into a more mangeable pace...I still had a long 22 miles in front of me.<br />
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At this point, I was on course record pace, but the relentless small climbs were taking their toll. I ran a few miles of the course on Friday and knew it was going to be like this, but I hadn't seen the last 13 miles of the course, so I had no clue what I needed to prepare for. I didn't know if I would be able to continue at CR pace. I could go after the CR, but it was risky, and I might blow up in the process. I mentally made the switch. I had to make sure I won. I would have been very disappointed had I moved into the lead that early then fallen apart and given up the lead later in the race.<br />
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I dialed back the effort level a notch and started focusing on my nutrition. I could tell I was still gradually pulling away from Zach so that was a good sign...as long as I could keep it up. He passed me late in the race last year at Western States so I knew he could be dangerous. I was able to pass him back before the finish at WS100, but I didn't want to try my luck again.<br />
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<i>Why do you continue to run these stupid races? This isn't fun. You don't have to do this to yourself.</i> I battled my own demons from miles 32 to 36. I had been running too fast. I had been neglecting my nutrition. My quads were on the verge of cramping. I had been listening to those scientists who say salt doesn't help cramps and had not been concerned about my salt intake. Luckily, I had put a few S-Caps in my Salomon fuel belt as an afterthought. That probably saved my race. If my own experience wasn't enough, Meghan Arbogast and Jeff Browning set me straight at dinner that evening...we don't know why salt works, it just does.<br />
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The salt and a steady stream of Coke pulled me out of my funk eventually. Another out-and-back section turned around at mile 40 and I found I had a 5 minute lead on Zach. Brian Condon and Matt Flaherty were only 30 seconds behind Zach and looked quite good. I was confident though that I had pulled through the hardest part of the race and I'd be able to hang on. The last few miles were uneventful. I knew the course record had slipped out of reach, but I was oddly content with the result. I found one more 6:30 for the last cruiser mile and crossed the line in 5:56:46.<br />
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I haven't been more pleased with a race since I broke the CR at JFK in 2011. I ran the 3rd fastest time in the history of the race. Only Andy Jones and Dan Held have run faster. Coincidentally, both of those guys also have run 6:33 for the road 100k (6:19 pace for 62 miles). Guess I have a new goal this fall for the World 100k race in South Africa.<br />
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It was never about Western States.</div>
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The hardest part about turning down my entry is that everyone just assumes that I would accept. There were so many comments and congratulations that ended in "See you in Squaw!" or something to that effect. I didn't see AJW's <a href="http://www.irunfar.com/2013/05/the-montrail-ultra-cup-grows-up.html">iRunFar column</a> until after the race, but it pretty much sums up what I think the popular opinion is regarding the Montrail Ultra Cup Series...the only reason to run a MUC race is to get into Western States. But that's just not how I see it. I treat the MUC like prize money. Money rarely, if ever, has motivated me personally to run a race. But money inevitably brings competition, and that's what I want. Same with MUC, it attracts a solid field. Some folks trying to get into WS100, others just looking for someone quality to race against.<br />
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The problem is that the sport of ultra running is changing. It is becoming more and more specialized. People have long commented that the MUC races are unfair to 100 mile specialists like SpeedGoatKarl because he'd rarely be able to earn a spot in a fast 50 miler. Fortunately, more 100 mile races have been added in the past couple years to help those types get into States. But I have the opposite problem.<br />
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I can earn a WS entry in a fast 50 miler, but I can't do anything with it. If I accepted my slot this year, I'd only have 6 weeks to recover from Ice Age, train for States, and then taper so I arrived well-rested. If I was lucky, I might be able to crack the top 10 again, but I want more than that. I want to be truly competitive. This year I wouldn't be, so I'm not running it. I believe that by making these tough decisions now, I will extend my career and be healthy enough to have more opportunities in the future. I just hope I can still earn my way in when that time comes.<br />
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See you in Squaw...just not this year.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1ub8B89ZtrlSWxj7tELRJMRJl6gOxQ1UD_dksUS3OiHzantwPaDxrfGLkjK23TJyWn897pi35Hp02H_fjawvpn7d2qyN-ka0fDyOcin5r2AfD9A9s5Gntez1T8oCYT9XpfScbkjc6W6w/s1600/IMG_2036.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1ub8B89ZtrlSWxj7tELRJMRJl6gOxQ1UD_dksUS3OiHzantwPaDxrfGLkjK23TJyWn897pi35Hp02H_fjawvpn7d2qyN-ka0fDyOcin5r2AfD9A9s5Gntez1T8oCYT9XpfScbkjc6W6w/s640/IMG_2036.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01240094855721743541noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9101445953009329751.post-78635822504834216982013-05-05T14:54:00.000-07:002013-05-05T14:54:16.875-07:00Everything Bagel<div style="text-align: justify;">
...err, Everything Blog.</div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oiJALNvzshU/UXXCO-Dh9EI/AAAAAAAANIY/RWCojC4jBxU/s1600/IMG_1967.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="139" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oiJALNvzshU/UXXCO-Dh9EI/AAAAAAAANIY/RWCojC4jBxU/s640/IMG_1967.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Panorama shot overlooking Ogden.<br /></td></tr>
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As the title implies, I'm going to cover a lot of ground in this post, so let's get started.</div>
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My last race was several weeks ago at the the Xenia marathon where <a href="http://riddleruns.blogspot.com/2013/04/i-forgot-how-to-run-marathon.html">I forgot how to run a marathon</a>. I felt quite good the day after the race, so I immediately started looking for another marathon to redeem myself in short order. But two things happened that made me change my mind. First of all, my legs didn't bounce back as fast as I thought they were going to and I was tired for a week (imagine that!). Secondly, I decided that I really didn't run that poorly in Xenia. If I had run 2:28 I would have been very pleased. After some research, I think the 20mph headwind the last 11 miles was worth 2 minutes. And if I hadn't gone out in 1:12 for the first half, I believe I could have run 2 minutes faster on the return trip. So, I see a clear path to the 2:28 I thought I could run. Plus, I ran completely alone after 7 miles so it was basically a time trial. Sometimes I think I might be too hard on myself.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwpbNes9f8YtzsU0LVOgtWm6ndqWHmwpm5zktl0f0pxXbVEy1__fEGke256n6LPYuRU33QGUvc_mc9zMhJmMOCorMp9iyLVtLnnoA8t9ooZo20vVEyjCM9M6aIEP0FpWHUMvLt74K9T40/s1600/IMG_1920.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwpbNes9f8YtzsU0LVOgtWm6ndqWHmwpm5zktl0f0pxXbVEy1__fEGke256n6LPYuRU33QGUvc_mc9zMhJmMOCorMp9iyLVtLnnoA8t9ooZo20vVEyjCM9M6aIEP0FpWHUMvLt74K9T40/s400/IMG_1920.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pretty sweet setup for the Salomon/Suunto crew in Ogden.</td></tr>
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Next up, the Salomon US Trail Team Summit. A couple weeks after the marathon, I had the chance to go on a great trip that involved running, but it wasn't a race. Salomon organized a summit for the US trail team at their headquarters in Ogden, UT and brought us all out for a long weekend. It was so refreshing to go on a running adventure that didn't involve the focus and stress that comes with a race. The Salomon crew took us on some beautiful trail runs just a couple miles from downtown, and I got to know so many of my awesome teammates in a way that wouldn't have been possible at another venue. Of course, Salomon also hooked us up with a ton of great product, and I want to tell you about a few of my personal favorites.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTJ9JMcjv4dJcIlBSfI59WwwTeZJNeRTZklOwvdh2T7xZpL0hiuoQfer2vlr-NVgEON-eJSEVO2T5NUG84qpTsPBgm9vjkEplqdi_IEPhgP2GjNdNAcCOtQ90DkY3HmQdB6eDQujxBR7g/s1600/IMG_1912.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTJ9JMcjv4dJcIlBSfI59WwwTeZJNeRTZklOwvdh2T7xZpL0hiuoQfer2vlr-NVgEON-eJSEVO2T5NUG84qpTsPBgm9vjkEplqdi_IEPhgP2GjNdNAcCOtQ90DkY3HmQdB6eDQujxBR7g/s320/IMG_1912.jpg" width="299" /></a></div>
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Did you know that Salomon and Suunto are owned by the same parent company? Well, now you do. So my first new toy that I want to talk about is the Suunto Ambit2 S. I've had the original Ambit for almost a year now and it's been a great watch, but it's a bit overkill for your average runner. Suunto realized this and designed the 2S. It gives up some battery life (now 6 hrs) and the barometer/altimeter to become a much slimmer, sleeker, lighter, and less expensive package. It is now a full-featured GPS watch that is comfortable enough to wear as a regular watch. It may be only a few millimeters thinner than the original Ambit, but it fits my wrist so much better. It also has a new GPS chip that seems to be more accurate and consistent than the previous version. If you need the additional battery life and barometer, there are refreshed versions of regular Ambit as well. What's more, Suunto has also completely revamped the Moveslink site and it is also much improved. For these reasons, I highly recommend looking into the Ambit2 S if you are in the market for a new GPS watch.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHLTubWNjvV2jgMUsNOrEazGQaq7GSl8SEERIfg1Cb8RQ4ycFpjnzVavP29kiyMtMjYt1R4rXL0nWaIsJ1oAbhznzlkdFL9_zSMt9xQqBB056qVsC3wXoEUolOjAseyEVO2M8nBKFoJpI/s1600/IMG_1961.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHLTubWNjvV2jgMUsNOrEazGQaq7GSl8SEERIfg1Cb8RQ4ycFpjnzVavP29kiyMtMjYt1R4rXL0nWaIsJ1oAbhznzlkdFL9_zSMt9xQqBB056qVsC3wXoEUolOjAseyEVO2M8nBKFoJpI/s640/IMG_1961.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Testing out the Advanced Skin S-LAB Belt in Utah.</td></tr>
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Another product I am excited about is the Advanced Skin S-LAB Belt. It is designed to be used with the soft hydrapack water flasks. I have run with a couple different water bottle belts, and they all bounce and slide up to my rib cage. This belt, however, fits comfortably and stays in place quite well. I also like carrying and drinking out of the soft flasks more than I thought I would. Although this belt is a great idea, and I'll be wearing it this year, I'm hesitant to recommend it to the general public just yet. The clip system is a little awkward and it doesn't stay cinched tight as well as I think it should. It needs one more design iteration and it will be great, but I already like it better than anything else I've worn.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTss6R7JV8gRKAQJYR_iTrjuDFB3dYGPjdNUZG6ayVNtG86aISBxXw1e5ChNJ0aSnbD-KS27ZiqJYmDRXW4J9hrZ2I64QB71QYjBwAeNKjqnFDtxkEqdCozntRu7ptwLmxrcgDzEmS8jU/s1600/IMG_2008.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTss6R7JV8gRKAQJYR_iTrjuDFB3dYGPjdNUZG6ayVNtG86aISBxXw1e5ChNJ0aSnbD-KS27ZiqJYmDRXW4J9hrZ2I64QB71QYjBwAeNKjqnFDtxkEqdCozntRu7ptwLmxrcgDzEmS8jU/s400/IMG_2008.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The S-LAB Belt with 2 full flasks. Two in the belt + 1 in the hand = 24oz.</td></tr>
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A quick comment about Salomon's shoes. Building on the success of the Sense, designers introduced the Sense Ultra and Mantra this year. I think these are great shoes that will work better for your average trail runners. I have enjoyed running in the Mantra lately, but I'm not quite ready to race 50 miles in it yet. So I still plan to wear my favorite XT 5's at Ice Age. But there looks to be a lot of nice refreshes coming down the pipe. I haven't run in it yet, but the Fellraiser looks awesome if you need lots of grip in a low-profile shoe. I'm looking forward to running in the XT 6 shoes soon and I got a sneak peak at a big change in the XR Mission that is a little farther out. I'm excited about the future, that's for sure.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://blog.runningwarehouse.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/salomonxt61.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="281" src="http://blog.runningwarehouse.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/salomonxt61.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A sneak peak of the XT 6 from runningwarehouse.com</td></tr>
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So, next weekend is Ice Age 50 mile in the Kettle Moraine State Forest of Wisconsin. Should be another very competitive race, but I think it suits me well. I'm told the course is very runnable, but there are some short, steep climbs as well. I hate mentioning names because it's so easy to accidentally overlook someone in a list of 400 entrants, but I'll give it a shot anyway. From the Salomon team we have myself, Matt Flaherty, Glen Redpath, and Cassie Scallon. Other top male contenders that I spotted on the list are Zach Bitter, Scott Breeden, Adam Condit, and Josh Brimhall. I'm not as familiar with the women's field, but I see Denise Bourassa and Melanie Peters who should be able to give Cassie a good race.</div>
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My last ultra was in January at Mtn Mist, and it was only 50k, so I'm not exactly sure what to expect. I think I'm in pretty good shape, but I've gone a little light on the ultra-distance long runs during my spring marathon training phase. Luckily, there aren't any big mountain climbs, because I haven't spent much time climbing lately. It should be interesting. But this is why we race though, right? </div>
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Follow me on <a href="https://twitter.com/rundavid1">twitter</a> or <a href="https://www.facebook.com/david.riddle">facebook</a> for the latest updates at the race.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01240094855721743541noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9101445953009329751.post-84277152213071744852013-04-08T21:16:00.000-07:002013-04-08T21:16:52.770-07:00I Forgot How to Run a Marathon...<div style="text-align: justify;">
...but hopefully I learned something from the experience.</div>
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It's been nearly 2 years since I ran my last road marathon. A messy calendar packed with work and personal travel left my training and racing plans in limbo most of this winter. It also forced me to spend a lot of time training on the roads and kept me away from the trails. After training for some really long trail races last year including Western States 100, I honestly enjoyed honing in my road speed again. I was really pleased with how quickly I felt I was returning to respectable marathon shape. So, before heading back to the trail ultras this year, I wanted to wrap up this phase of training and test myself in a race.</div>
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With such short notice though, I really couldn't get into a big marathon like Boston. So, I picked a small race an hour from my house - the ORRRC Marathon just outside of Dayton in Xenia, OH. It's usually won with a time around 2:30, so I thought I might have one or two people to run with. I ran a half marathon a few weeks ago in 1:11 at the end of a 110 mile week of training, so I felt like I had a decent idea what kind of speed I had. I said I would have been happy with a 2:30, but I felt like I could go even faster under good conditions.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The course vs the wind.</td></tr>
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But, good conditions were not on the menu. The forecast called for overcast skies, and good temperatures, but also a wind from the southwest of 15-25 mph. I knew this was going to be a big problem because the course is mostly just an out-and-back where the back part is 11 miles heading directly to the southwest on a perfectly straight bike path. I was hoping a tree-lined bike path would provide more protection than an open road, but it turned out to be just one of many "hopes" on Sunday.</div>
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The race began and I quickly settled in behind 3 or 4 half marathoners. I was content to sit on their shoulders for a few miles, but as I started getting into rhythm, I felt several of the others weakening. I began taking a little more control of the pacing hoping to keep the pace honest. One of the half marathoners was just a little fitter than the others and we pulled away a bit. We were running side-by-side for a few miles and really got into rhythm. I split two 5:20s with my buddy before he split off and headed for home around mile 8. I knew I would be all alone for the rest of the race.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I looked really good early.</td></tr>
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I had no business running 5:20s in a marathon (faster than my recent half marathon pace), but I had the wind at my back and I was feeling great. This is what I mean when I say I forgot how to run a marathon. It's so easy to feel great at mile 7, but you have to run the first half of a marathon with your head, knowing what pace you are actually capable of maintaining.</div>
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I realized that was a little fast though, and attempted to make some corrections. But even after the adjustment I was still running low 5:30s - much faster than my goal pace. I used the wind at my back as an excuse to put some time in the bank, even though I know that rarely ends well. I felt the first hint of fatigue at mile 11, but I continued running well splitting 13 miles in 1:11:40. I was still confident at this point because I knew I was on sub 2:25 pace and felt I could hang on well enough to run a decent time. I was running 5:40s when I turned for the finish at 15 miles.</div>
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The wind was soul sucking. My pace instantly dropped 15 sec/mile and I was struggling to even maintain that. I remember running through a wide open aid station and it was so windy that dust and cups were flying all around me. It was miserable. That's really the only description that fits. By 18 I couldn't even run under 6 minutes per mile. I knew my hopes of a good time were gone, and I just had to survive to the end now. It was strange though. I didn't feel like I was bonking (low on calories), my legs were just too fatigued to maintain the effort needed to hold pace into the wind.</div>
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I rejoined the tail end of the half marathon race around 22 miles. This gave me a little boost since I was no longer completely alone and was now able to pass <i>someone</i>. I never did completely regroup, but I was able finish strong, win with a healthy margin, and sneak 1 second under 2:32 with a little kick.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ugly, just like my race.</td></tr>
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It wasn't the race I planned. It wasn't the race I was capable of running. I forgot how to run a marathon and I made some mistakes. But there is no doubt in my mind that those last 11 miles would have been much worse without the lessons learned from ultra running the past few years.</div>
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So, what now? I plan to return to the trail on May 11th at Ice Age 50. But I still have this nagging feeling that I didn't quite accomplish what I set out to do in the marathon. I might take another stab at it, but I have to be careful not to interfere with my goals at Ice Age.</div>
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Finally, I just wanted to say the Ohio River Road Runners Club (<a href="http://orrrc.org/">ORRRC.org</a>) is just a fantastic organization. The race was well organized and results and pictures were posted before I went to bed. Thank you to everyone who made the race possible.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01240094855721743541noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9101445953009329751.post-21834772921139816262013-03-14T19:42:00.000-07:002013-03-14T19:42:39.910-07:00St John Vacation and 8 Tuff Race Report<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="text-align: justify;">Over the past few years, I’ve been fortunate enough to travel to quite a few races all across the country, and even a few international races. Many times, I am able to work a brief vacation in around these races, but my primary focus is almost always performing well at the race.</span><br />
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My trip to St John USVI and the 8 Tuff race that accompanied the travel was just the opposite. This was a major beach vacation for myself and my wife and the race was just a fun thing to do. Certainly the fact that a large group of Cincinnati runners attend the race every year persuaded me to make St John our vacation destination, but it wouldn’t have been worth going just for the race. That vacation was the real reason to travel to St John.</div>
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That’s not to say that I wasn’t going to race hard. I knew I was in great shape, and well, let’s just say there’s no off switch for my competitiveness. This time, however, I wasn’t planning to lay off the sun bathing and adult beverages to save a few seconds on Saturday morning.</div>
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Before I get to race day, let me share a little about the trip because not doing so would be doing the experience a great injustice. First, a little background on the island. St John is part of the US Virgin Islands and as such is a US territory. It is quite small with a permanent population of only about 5000 people. It has no airport or bridges connecting it to any other landmass, so it must be reached by ferry.</div>
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My wife and I arrived on Sunday, nearly a week before the race was set to start. We flew into St Thomas, took a cab to the ferry, arrived in Cruz bay and picked up our rental car. No doubt, it’s a pain to get to, but that also makes it special. St John is remote and relatively undeveloped. It feels much less touristy than the major cruise ship ports you might have stopped at in the Caribbean. Tourism is obviously the economic lifeblood of the island, but we were never accosted by pushy street vendors or aggressive tour guides. If anything, many of the locals seemed to almost ignore us. They even appeared segregated and sometimes distant. There was an obvious dichotomy between the poverty of the native people and the affluence of those that came to vacation.<br />
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Much of the island is national forest that was donated by the Rockefeller family. It is wild and beautiful, and surrounded by pristine sandy beaches and clear blue water normally only seen on postcards. It is also extremely hilly and the roads are steeper than anything I've ever driven. Even though it’s a US territory, they drive on the left side of the road, which is a bit of a challenge to get used to. We stayed in a small cottage that was basically a one room, studio apartment, but it had a nice sunset view and was perfect for our needs.<br />
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On Monday, our first full day on the island, we got a relaxed start and then spent the afternoon at the north shore beach of Cinnamon Bay as we tried to get our bearing a little bit. Tuesday, because the wind and surf were high, we hiked some trails to the ruins of a long-abandoned sugar plantation. We saw several mongoose, tons of hermit crabs, and a deer. We went back to the beach on Wednesday but the water was still too rough to do any kayaking or snorkeling like we had planned, so we just lazed around instead. Thursday was a real highlight of the trip. We went on a sailing excursion that included some snorkeling and a very rare Caribbean whale sighting. The day before the race, we hung out with our 20 strong group of runners from Cincinnati on the beach, but avoided getting totally drained by the sun.</div>
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<b><u>Race Day</u></b></div>
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8 Tuff is an 8.37 mile road race that crosses the island from one coast to another. It climbs to an elevation of 999ft in about 5 miles and then comes straight back down. This year, 1400 people started the race. In our group from Cincinnati, we had the defending champion and also the course record holder. Having their insight on the race gave me a real advantage even though I was a rookie. I also had several opportunities to scout the course earlier in the week. I knew what I was getting into, but I honestly thought the 46:00 course record set by Chris Reis was out of reach. Chris has run under 65 minutes for a half marathon, and the defending champion Derrick Butler is a sub-30 min 10k guy. Both would admit to not being in peak shape heading into the race, so I thought I had a shot against them, but I didn't know if I had the leg speed on such a short course to challenge the record. You basically have to run 4:30 miles downhill at the end of the race to run 46 minutes. I don’t run many 4:30 miles anymore.</div>
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Adding to the difficulty, the race tends to be quite warm at a time of the year when Midwesterners aren't acclimated to heat. We got lucky this year as the temperatures were not too bad, probably in the mid to upper 70s. There was a neat flyover by a Coast Guard chopper, and we were off and running. Only the top 100 finishers from the previous year start up front in a special corral, but I made my way through the crowd and up with the leaders very quickly. The first 400m is flat, but there’s not much else flat about the 8 Tuff course. We started climbing and I settled into 2nd place just a few seconds back of defending champ Derrick Butler. I didn't want to push him early, and I wanted to see how my body was feeling. Going out fast is never really my style anyway.</div>
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I laid back for the first two miles where a large portion of the climbing is done. I pulled even with Derrick around the 2 mile mark and moved past as I tried to keep my own rhythm. The third mile flattens a little so I was a bit surprised that Derrick didn't come back to my shoulder, but I stayed away until mile 4 pitched up steeply. Derrick said he felt like he caught back up a little during the 4th mile, and I don’t doubt it, because I felt like I was struggling a little bit. But I know my legs really well, and I knew I had a lot of running left, so I just trusted myself to run on feel. At the 4 mile split, I was pleased to see I was 10 seconds behind Reis’ course record split, but I still didn't think I’d be able to match his speed on the way down.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yelena Rogers Photography (from facebook)</td></tr>
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The next few miles have several steep rollers and gain a some additional elevation, but the brief downhills gave my legs a chance to recover. I pushed forward and could tell I was getting away from Derrick. The last two downhill miles I just ran as fast as I could. I lost track of my splits compared to the CR, and had no clue what kind of pace I was running. The roads were extremely curvy so it was quite fun crossing the closed road hitting all the tangents. But the steep grade was starting to make my feet burn as I slid forward in my shoes (Saucony Fastwitch 2, oh yeah).</div>
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All of a sudden, I popped off of the downhill Centerline road and made a slight left signalling that I was near the finish, but I didn't know actually how close I was. I still had to make a u-turn back onto a ball field and then I could see the finish. I glanced down at my watch and was shocked to see 45:30. I kicked hard to make sure I dipped under the old course record with room to spare. 45:46 was my final time. Derrick and Reis weren't too far back, and budding ultra runner Marc Teismann was 5th place. Not a bad showing for the Cincinnati boys.</div>
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It shouldn't surprise me anymore, but I am always amazed how far strength will get you in running. I am still learning how little leg speed matters and how important aerobic fitness and running economy are to performance. Of course, 1300ft of climb helped my case a little as I've gotten plenty of climbing practice over the past year.</div>
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The people of St John were just great. I’m not exaggerating when I say that I've never had so many people want to congratulate me, shake my hand, or get a picture with me after a race win. My Cincinnati teammates were also quite excited about the $300 bar tab that I won and would surely share with them later that evening.</div>
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The rest of the afternoon was spent grilling out at the beach with the team and dulling the pain of our sore muscles with a few adult beverages. It was a great finish to a great week on a great island. Thanks for the memories St John!<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01240094855721743541noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9101445953009329751.post-4544168128585258642013-02-06T19:15:00.000-08:002013-02-06T19:15:38.169-08:002013 Mountain Mist Race Report<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Sometimes I wonder if it’s really worth it. Is it worth all the life I miss in my never-ending quest to shave a few minutes off my times running various road and trail courses? Is it worth the friendships that never were or will be because I’m too busy training, too desperate for sleep, or traveling to another running event? Is it worth the loneliness of nearly every distance run that I do alone because I’m too unwilling to slow down and run with others if it will compromise my training? Is it worth the fun vacations that I skip? The career advancements that I’m giving up to be able to run more?</div>
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I’m well past the point of diminishing returns right now. It takes a lot of work just for a few seconds of improvement.</div>
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Last year I began to doubt. Maybe it really isn’t worth it anymore.</div>
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I knew Scott Breeden, the 23-year-old ultra youngster from Bloomington, Ind., was going to be my only competition from the start. On the surface, his resume was not overly impressive, but the trajectory of his progress did catch my eye. He’s quite experienced for a guy just out of college having already run several 100s, but he’s also been getting a lot faster recently. I realized he would not be the typical hotshot kid from the roads running his first Mist. Still, I didn’t know quite how well the Midwesterner would be able to handle the surprisingly technical nature of the Mtn Mist trail.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQDWOtJaeFPJPEX4hUtM1WPW0Zzh25eslQ_t8epniClZJpEflmxWqGjc38ex7hzEfckYYbPQN-FPmvvLyOdvohkQtIXJ9OlTpYRaYt5KkyHWTbj_q5-dpGXX1Ny5HgJekFBL8q7MajFfQ/s1600/MtnMist2013_david_scott_trail_start.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQDWOtJaeFPJPEX4hUtM1WPW0Zzh25eslQ_t8epniClZJpEflmxWqGjc38ex7hzEfckYYbPQN-FPmvvLyOdvohkQtIXJ9OlTpYRaYt5KkyHWTbj_q5-dpGXX1Ny5HgJekFBL8q7MajFfQ/s640/MtnMist2013_david_scott_trail_start.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hitting the trail (Photo by WeRunHuntsville</td></tr>
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My plan was to run the first half of the race by feel. It was just Scott and myself running together only seconds after the gunshot started the race. We quickly settled into sub 7 minute pace which I noticed felt really comfortable for me on this particular day. We chatted a bit over the first 6+ miles, his breathing just slightly more labored than mine. We split the first aid station in 41:30. I chose not to carry a bottle for most of the day, so I took a couple swallows of Coke before heading out.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnkqy0BXUR7Gc2E_5Zwww1PRjzsxdupspT4h_tRdkviznQDVIoNJyn6OS06eJnL3XeD3jDzrwNt2ELYkAzVvZK666Fmhkh_zMs3VN1HeCejjv6wZz36lYR3kg9-tNaBq3mci0hf5PSlZI/s1600/MtnMist2013_mist_trail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnkqy0BXUR7Gc2E_5Zwww1PRjzsxdupspT4h_tRdkviznQDVIoNJyn6OS06eJnL3XeD3jDzrwNt2ELYkAzVvZK666Fmhkh_zMs3VN1HeCejjv6wZz36lYR3kg9-tNaBq3mci0hf5PSlZI/s640/MtnMist2013_mist_trail.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Heading up the race's namesake trail (Photo by WeRunHuntsville)</span></td></tr>
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As we descended down Warpath Ridge, Scott answered my questions about his technical running ability...he was going to be just fine. He briefly fell back once when his timing chip came loose, but he quickly caught back up. He followed me through the powerlines, climbed K2 on my shoulder, and tagged along into aid station #2. He waited as I slowly washed a gel down with water before we continued on together.</div>
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He stayed glued to me through the Stone Cuts and the Sinks trail. When the trail widened, he would pull up beside me and just barely push the pace. He probably didn’t even know he was doing it. A few minutes before we arrived, I explained that I would be climbing the gate at the Fearn aid station. He didn’t technically have to, but practically, I had to do it or Dewayne Satterfield would lose all respect for me if I skipped the gate. I still wasn’t carrying a bottle and was enjoying that, but I had to stop a few seconds to grab a few swallows of GU Brew from my dad just before the gate. I also grabbed a GU to carry with me for future use. We split Fearn in 1:55 and were 6 minutes head of my old course record pace!<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWptTjZ2S8Lz_F4eB2NNkWH_d94AJWxfc3Uj0s2OBmK3b3wNcs1hmw-vX6AGImPq8tUtoTKDCPCZbi-8t0TutoP6ZvNLSQfeiPS8l7BwIy9AaflyID39irGv9OfRC8wYZ9lm11ZPSNJys/s1600/MtnMist2013_riddle_at_fearn_creek.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWptTjZ2S8Lz_F4eB2NNkWH_d94AJWxfc3Uj0s2OBmK3b3wNcs1hmw-vX6AGImPq8tUtoTKDCPCZbi-8t0TutoP6ZvNLSQfeiPS8l7BwIy9AaflyID39irGv9OfRC8wYZ9lm11ZPSNJys/s640/MtnMist2013_riddle_at_fearn_creek.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Nah, Alabama trail aren't that rocky (photo by WeRunHuntsville)<br /></td></tr>
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As soon as we crossed the road and rejoined the trail, I welcomed Scott to the “back half” of the course. I explained how most people run the last 14 miles slower than the 17 miles on the “front half.” He asked if that was due to the rocks or the climbs. “Both,” I said. And then I took off.</div>
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It was a strategic move to drop him at this point. I didn’t want to show him the way, to give away the best lines, to let him see when I slowed down or sped up. If he was going to beat me and this course, I was going to make him do it on his own. All previous winners have had to do it at one point. It’s like a rite of passage. Just you and the trail ahead.</div>
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I ran from Fearn to the Land Trust aid station in just 24 minutes. I hurt a little for the first time all day, but achieved my goal and put a minute between us. I paused to take my gel and headed out, catching one last glance of Scott as the trail doubled back on itself.</div>
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I knew Waterline was coming and felt I could back off a little bit now that I was out of sight. I was still moving well, but I had stopped pushing to save a little something for the big climb. Soon after I began the ascent, I suddenly felt a little weak. The lack of calories I had consumed because I wasn’t carrying a bottle finally had caught up with me and I was beginning to bonk. It wasn’t that long ago that I couldn’t identify what it felt like to start bonking and recognize what I needed to do to fix it. The solution may seem obvious, but the long ultras I did last year gave me a bunch of practice in diagnosing and recovering from fuel deficits. With less than 10 minutes until the waterline aid station, I chose to wait to eat there instead of taking the gel I was carrying with no water.</div>
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The climb was tough, but I held it together well enough and made it to the aid station at 2:51 (official splits have me in at 2:49, but that’s not accurate). This time I took a bottle from dad so I could refuel on the run. I drank as much GU Brew as I could handle and gradually started to feel better.</div>
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The biggest obstacle I encountered throughout the whole race was an unleashed 80lb yellow lab just before the washout. It was obviously a very playful dog, and I tried to ignore it and just blaze through down the fire road hoping to sneak past unscathed. But the dog found me to be an irresistible temptation and threw a mean chop block that brought me to my hands and knees. The owner was frantically trying to coax the dog back under control, but it was too late. I wasn’t seriously injured, so I got up and continued on my way. I yelled back to the owner that more runners would be coming through soon. That was my only fall of the day.</div>
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Over the final 10k, I just tried to keep moving well as opposed to really pushing. I was still waiting for the calories to make their way into my system, I didn’t want to make a mistake on this very technical section of the course, and I knew I had one more big climb to conquer. I was doing the math in my head and knew I was in a good place if I just kept moving. I’d glance over my shoulder occasionally, but never could see Scott. I was really pleased with my climb up Rest Shelter. I didn’t run it all that fast, but I shortened my stride and just kept moving consistently. This is another thing I just learned to do last year on the big climbs.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiEJnvZpFMbvdHzoxSusuwyvWe3jW5Ux8ZYYF5ijOcn0h_esvCE7kByGI5JwSSdJhxzdIedu0s3b9x20FC-6YvaQf-KX3gVAlE8Ys_kfVdey8Bv3s-mzglqXF1a7vofU47AqUTsVJydNI/s1600/MtnMist2013_finish_byCharette.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiEJnvZpFMbvdHzoxSusuwyvWe3jW5Ux8ZYYF5ijOcn0h_esvCE7kByGI5JwSSdJhxzdIedu0s3b9x20FC-6YvaQf-KX3gVAlE8Ys_kfVdey8Bv3s-mzglqXF1a7vofU47AqUTsVJydNI/s640/MtnMist2013_finish_byCharette.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Victory! (photo by Eric Charette)</td></tr>
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The last 1.5 miles I was able to just cruise. I knew I had the course record well within reach, and I wanted to enjoy my 4th Mountain Mist victory. I shaved 6 minutes off my old course record, crossing the finish line at 3:36:52 with a big smile across my face. Scott ended up running an incredible race, finishing just over 6 minutes back and recording the 3rd fastest time on that course (few seconds faster than Dave Mackey's best time). It was an incredible run for a Mist rookie.</div>
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Back to my original question. So is it? Is it worth it? </div>
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When it all comes together like that, yes, it is absolutely worth it. It’s what I love. But it’s not just the end result that I love. I have also learned to love the process just as much as achieving the end goal. And all those lost friendships and vacations and stuff? I have better a question: How many friendships and adventures would I miss out on if I weren’t an ultra runner?<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6BKV6MIRPaYbuEGHyfsq1FXcclLpsidgevngQMKZ19Aa3vwbMyJ_Ck8prnOY8ZRl1ScbAnbkEuK0nyJ7O1ZpKGguKtXH4sg7lLIkH_9gbxRVXw50DaJHSufyklv_ZW9oN-Ttwrb7qU4o/s1600/MtnMist2013_DinkandI.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6BKV6MIRPaYbuEGHyfsq1FXcclLpsidgevngQMKZ19Aa3vwbMyJ_Ck8prnOY8ZRl1ScbAnbkEuK0nyJ7O1ZpKGguKtXH4sg7lLIkH_9gbxRVXw50DaJHSufyklv_ZW9oN-Ttwrb7qU4o/s640/MtnMist2013_DinkandI.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thanks to RD Dink Taylor for all of this hard work.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB80DLfyFXPau4537TqUcMzDV-kqY6iQxxhqS9uhf6Bm5Twa6AhNHVvpUN7a7-BUR72KtqXQhBxzAN5cOg0psQXRfODBSwI6yXN5oRfgscA6Y0lVJy03wG8BgMEPU0QLDLAS83AYNihlE/s1600/IMG_1371.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB80DLfyFXPau4537TqUcMzDV-kqY6iQxxhqS9uhf6Bm5Twa6AhNHVvpUN7a7-BUR72KtqXQhBxzAN5cOg0psQXRfODBSwI6yXN5oRfgscA6Y0lVJy03wG8BgMEPU0QLDLAS83AYNihlE/s640/IMG_1371.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gourmet tacos and beer post-race.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL-zs9-bA_c019Od9NMtz9KeDSurPb6CtrmLWZP1vypXknlBVGZ4nbu_gADDPp600ImYVoYWxEZ-LH1D4F5SrzXqJ_mpX9S_wADhyphenhyphen1c4_1FGIV_AJ0fe3aLxgK_GXcjNkv92T-EmYeu8E/s1600/IMG_1370.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL-zs9-bA_c019Od9NMtz9KeDSurPb6CtrmLWZP1vypXknlBVGZ4nbu_gADDPp600ImYVoYWxEZ-LH1D4F5SrzXqJ_mpX9S_wADhyphenhyphen1c4_1FGIV_AJ0fe3aLxgK_GXcjNkv92T-EmYeu8E/s640/IMG_1370.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alabama Mountains</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm236BKw_QcUgjgmkFEEeQJnNQW9147QAxdqwz8EWIciu9OuWoM_qlMYD0HJ3zvC2atyEBC-a79FnIPYLYGAoeI2gf4MRoK3KbrGWcWUT9YRciRaZV44KfTAUgRBorN-CoTfNiBVWNxiU/s1600/IMG_1373.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm236BKw_QcUgjgmkFEEeQJnNQW9147QAxdqwz8EWIciu9OuWoM_qlMYD0HJ3zvC2atyEBC-a79FnIPYLYGAoeI2gf4MRoK3KbrGWcWUT9YRciRaZV44KfTAUgRBorN-CoTfNiBVWNxiU/s640/IMG_1373.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The coolest official race vehicle ever.<br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></td></tr>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01240094855721743541noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9101445953009329751.post-4560018095922933652013-01-21T10:15:00.000-08:002013-01-21T10:15:04.635-08:00Training Update, Mtn Mist, and Shoes<div style="text-align: justify;">
I haven't raced since JFK in November, so I haven't had much to blog about aside from my <a href="http://riddleruns.blogspot.com/2012/12/2012-year-in-review.html">2012 year in review</a> post. Now I'm heading into a "soft" start to a new racing season and thought I would share a quick update on how things have been lately. I call it a soft start because I'll be training through most everything I race for the next couple months and tapering to achieve maximum performance isn't real high on my list of priorities in the short term. Let's talk about my last few weeks of training first.</div>
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Following JFK, I began running relatively low mileage, and gradually started working up the volume and intensity. By late December, I was back up to 100 mile weeks and I have been able to keep my miles above the century mark since then. As of today, I've logged 532 miles in the last 5 weeks in one run per day. But I've also been doing some high intensity workouts as well. I wasn't quite sure after my 2012 season what direction I would head in 2013. I have just let my training take me where ever it may. For some reason, road marathon pace seems to be where I've gravitated to. I've been running a lot on the roads, and pretty much everything has been below 7 min pace. I've also progressed to where I was able to run a solo 12 miler at 5:31 pace. I think I'm in the best road marathon shape that I've been in since I won Rocket City in 2009 (2:26:23 PR). I'm not really training for anything in particular right now, that's just where the running that I've been enjoying lately has taken me. I'll have to firm up some racing goals here pretty soon though.</div>
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But this coming weekend is Mtn Mist 50k Trail Run and I still expect to run hard and fast there. I just won't have completely fresh legs. Mtn Mist is a special race because its in Huntsville, AL where I grew up and so many of my friends will be there. Total elevation change isn't all that impressive to the mountain goats, but it's still quite a challenging race due to the technical nature of the trail. The mud looks to be a huge factor again this year. I hear it's been really wet in Alabama this winter, so the course will probably be very sloppy. When I set the course record there 2 years ago, the trail condition was unusually good because the ground was frozen. I haven't yet decided how I'm going to attack the race this year. It will probably be a race-time decision after checking out the trail conditions. It doesn't appear that the competition will be very stiff this year. Although entered, the quick Johnny Clemons from Chattanooga won't be able to make it to the start line. I imagine Rod Bien and Scott Breeden will keep me glancing over my shoulder plenty, and a mistake on my part could open up the race.</div>
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Looking ahead to February, I'll be doing more vacationing than racing. An unusual hole in my wife's work schedule next week is allowing us to sneak out to Colorado for a few days to go play in the snow. Then in late February, we have a big warm-weather vacation planned for St Johns USVI. There is actually a race involved with this trip, but this one is much more about the vacationing than about the running. I'll be doing 8 Tuff with a big group of roadies from Cincinnati. It's an 8 mile road race to the highest point on the island, then straight back down to sea level. Should be fun, but I'm trying not to take it too seriously.</div>
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Shoes</div>
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So I've been threatening to review some products for a while, but just haven't found the motivation to put anything together. Now I have a few pairs of new Salomon shoes that you may not have had a chance to try, so I thought I would share some of my impressions.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOsvGlZapcGrQncXyCaRaf3_rJC-KpxgJtLWJ6KWN8iHJ4-ocddR3kDmzOpVH7OwAy4Xp_e38Kj5VB6-oAye3YXOKSX4VPnhso7CGlDdri7pWa2vbe6V8dS15KloohT8l7hD6jAMT_oco/s1600/photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOsvGlZapcGrQncXyCaRaf3_rJC-KpxgJtLWJ6KWN8iHJ4-ocddR3kDmzOpVH7OwAy4Xp_e38Kj5VB6-oAye3YXOKSX4VPnhso7CGlDdri7pWa2vbe6V8dS15KloohT8l7hD6jAMT_oco/s400/photo.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">S-LAB XT 5</td></tr>
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S-LAB XT 5 </div>
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First, let me start by say that the S-LAB XT 5 is my current go-to Salomon shoe. I ran Western States, UROC, and JFK in that shoe and have loved it since I first slipped it on. I recently ran a 14 mile road run in them because I'm that comfortable in them. Now, if you're looking for minimal, it's not your shoe, but if you want a great all-around trail shoe you can be comfortable in for an entire ultra...then you might want to try it. It's supportive, yet very cushioned, the fit of the upper is great. The traction is adequate for your average trail, but it runs smooth enough that I'm not afraid to take them to the roads when needed. If more traction is what you need, then check out the...</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9YFqTy9xtAjKMejJZR6AS2HiVq18x5ZAJNy53uRfyb9mgFG0gRitF4ud513DMuci53gi3zdhTn5YJJ6ZXJPiTUSbCO3StY8SixJOSng503bO8NrVR3WtKC7g2kLWmkRvh2Peewg4dbqw/s1600/photo_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9YFqTy9xtAjKMejJZR6AS2HiVq18x5ZAJNy53uRfyb9mgFG0gRitF4ud513DMuci53gi3zdhTn5YJJ6ZXJPiTUSbCO3StY8SixJOSng503bO8NrVR3WtKC7g2kLWmkRvh2Peewg4dbqw/s400/photo_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">XT 5 Softground</td></tr>
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XT 5 Softground</div>
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As far as I can tell, this shoe has the exact same upper and midsole as the standard XT 5, but the outsole has a more aggressive lug pattern. I really like the familiar fit, but the traction is much improved. The rubber is sticky, grips rocks very well, and sticks to all but the muddiest trails. The compromise is that it feels a little less stable because of the additional lug height.</div>
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Speedcross</div>
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If you need even more traction, the Speedcross is your solution. This shoe is soft and flexible with a very aggressive tread. It isn't as supportive as the XT 5, the upper fits more narrow, and you wouldn't want to do many road miles in this shoe, but it's served me well in a couple trail 50 milers. If you still don't have enough traction then check out the Spikecross.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisxHYIqGrN_n-jnvEFBOKrER8HHl4cbwV5ZflJoRdC5Mzdzn4Qbvu-QiTiSN34-hQukGDpm4W_6qYrloEMXaivT26kIpMDEWaCptSNqGZjCi76lKQvW6pkt3go9wS49wi8P8agg9dgp3s/s1600/photo_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisxHYIqGrN_n-jnvEFBOKrER8HHl4cbwV5ZflJoRdC5Mzdzn4Qbvu-QiTiSN34-hQukGDpm4W_6qYrloEMXaivT26kIpMDEWaCptSNqGZjCi76lKQvW6pkt3go9wS49wi8P8agg9dgp3s/s400/photo_2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Spikecross</td></tr>
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Spikecross</div>
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The Spikecross is practically the same shoe as the Speedcross, but with metal spikes built into the outsole. The grip of this shoe is hands down the best I've ever experienced. The spikes dig into the dirt and mud like nothing I've ever worn. And slippery wooden bridges are no longer a problem. I haven't had a chance to take them on any icy runs yet, but my guess is they would be perfectly suited for grabbing frozen ground. The spikes make the shoe a little more squirrelly underfoot, and they don't stick to dry rock quite as well as pure rubber, but if you're gonna be in a slop fest, look no further. You wouldn't want to run on the pavement in them very long, however, the spikes do seem to be quite durable.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIiXK-kQjeRYbZotTRCyaYqd7mVfBcBLubtCRiJ3U1Rb-DJld1xNrXxItZipkwEo5wZzBY8vGcP5tSiMqVxaPuwfPgnqCVQpPcKbp1CCp9gwifncFstx_ry5K5AQPKjmaFUGVsgOvnghw/s1600/photo_3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIiXK-kQjeRYbZotTRCyaYqd7mVfBcBLubtCRiJ3U1Rb-DJld1xNrXxItZipkwEo5wZzBY8vGcP5tSiMqVxaPuwfPgnqCVQpPcKbp1CCp9gwifncFstx_ry5K5AQPKjmaFUGVsgOvnghw/s400/photo_3.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
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Sense Mantra</div>
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All of the shoes I've discussed so far are fairly substantial, but Salomon jumped into the minimalist shoe party last year with the Sense. The low durability, minimal protection, and high price made it hard for me to recommend the original Sense to all but the most efficient and serious trail racers. Salomon has responded to those issues though with the Sense Ultra and Sense Mantra. I haven't gotten my hands on the Sense Ultra yet, but I have two pairs of the Sense Mantra. The Mantra is a little more shoe, more durable, more protective, has more grip, 6mm drop, but it also comes with a lower MSRP and still weighs in at less than 10oz. It's billed as the Sense for the average trail runner, but I think it might just be a better fit for myself as well. Unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to get it out of the trails just yet but I've been breaking in a pair around the house and so far, so good. If you're looking to make the plunge, I'd lean down a half size because it seems like they run a little large. Hopefully I can update my review before too long on this shoe.</div>
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That's all for now. Until next time, go run.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01240094855721743541noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9101445953009329751.post-58049262393992544462012-12-31T18:29:00.000-08:002013-01-01T18:38:45.346-08:002012 Year in Review<div style="text-align: justify;">
I knew it would be nearly impossible to repeat the breakout season I had in 2011 again this year. Last year I made the US 100k team for the first time and set several course records. Of course, breaking the course record that had stood at JFK 50 Mile for 17 years was the most notable and won me Ultra Performance of the Year honors. Now all I can do is laugh after Max King shaved six minutes off my record this year. It's clear the sport is growing at a rapid pace, and I'm just glad to be a part of it.<br />
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Even if it doesn't quite stack up to last year, I still think that 2012 was a very successful year for me. I attempted some new distances and trail types that were a little outside of my strengths. These were challenging experiences, but I learned much from each race. I also looked for very competitive races this year. That's not all that hard considering the trajectory of the sport, but that made the wins a little harder to come by. But maybe I'm most proud that I was able to make it through another year running mostly injury free while still competing at a high level.<br />
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Here are a few highlights from the past 12 months:<br />
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<a href="http://riddleruns.blogspot.com/2012/01/2012-mountain-mist-50k.html">Mtn Mist 50k</a><br />
My hometown 50k was one of those special races last year where I broke the course record. I knew it would be tough to repeat the feat in 2012 from the start because the course was wet and muddy, not the frozen trail that ran so fast the year before. I gave it a shot anyway and was running well through the halfway point. But around mile 20 I slipped on a rock and fell really hard. At that point, I decided it was too risky to force the issue and try to chase down my own course record. I knew I had some bigger goals later in the year. Even so, I won the race and was only 3 minutes of my course record.<br />
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<a href="http://riddleruns.blogspot.com/2012/03/land-between-lakes-50-mile.html">Land Between the Lakes 50 Mile</a><br />
LBL50 was more of a long, hard training run for me, but it was still a strong effort and a fun race. It's run in Kentucky and within driving distance of my house which made it particularly attractive. Being relatively flat, I felt like it would serve as a good tune-up race before the 100k World Champs. Although I got a little excited early and went out faster than planned, I still was able to easily win the race and set a new course record. I left the race with a list of things to work on, but I also knew my fitness was in a really good place.<br />
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<a href="http://riddleruns.blogspot.com/2012/04/2012-iau-100km-world-championships.html">IAU World 100km Championship - Seregno, Italy</a><br />
My best performance of the year is likely my most overlooked race as well. After a DNF in 2011 due to some sort of illness in the Netherlands, I was determined to avenge my drop when I was selected for the 2012 team. While my training had been great, a work trip to France immediately prior to the race, unfamiliar accommodations, and logistical headaches in Italy all left me little time to worry about the road race. So I arrived at the starting line oddly relaxed and just ready to do something that felt comfortable...run.<br />
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A slew of slower runners who felt they were entitled to have their toes pressed against the starting line got me fired up and the adrenaline coursing through my vanes as I snowplowed through them as soon as the gun went off. That got me off to a quicker than normal start where I soon found my rhythm at 6:20 pace - a little faster than planned. But I felt comfortable and just hung on for as long as I could. I made to 50 miles or so before I really started to die, and that last 20k loop was really tough. But I held it together well enough to finish 5th overall, the first American to cross the line, and with a new 100k PR of 6:45:19. The top 10 finish at the World Championship qualified me for the 2013 US Team and we'll be racing in <strike>South Korea</strike> next fall. (I just received word that the 100k in South Korea has been cancelled and race organizers are looking for a replacement venue.)<br />
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<a href="http://riddleruns.blogspot.com/2012/05/back-from-dead.html">Quad Rock 50 Mile</a></div>
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My training for Western States began immediately after the 100k. I'm not sure what I was expecting to do at Quad Rock just 3 weeks after Italy. From an incredible effort at a pancake flat, road ultra to the most elevation change I've ever run before, and my first ultra at altitude as well. No surprise now that I have the benefit of 20/20 vision. It was a tough day in the mountains outside of Fort Collins. I wasn't fully recovered, the altitude bothered me, I wasn't eating nearly enough, and I just wasn't prepared for that much climbing. No regrets on that last point; I had to pick training focus for the spring and I chose the 100k. I nearly quit around mile 32, but I just sat at the aid station for 10 minutes until I was able to eat. Once I got some calories in me I was able to pull on my big boy britches and finish the race. Although far from perfect, Quad Rock was a great learning experience and really gave me an appreciation and respect for what I would be up against in just six weeks at Western States 100.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirjDg3vhgS2Xjc3hpPx2ltG0Mz9Ug0y1s8Ycym_Bw-xt_gYVWXPeETAa4DCZ6gQcBbrzdzFbMlO8VF8txs9znhKgeg8CBSW_DtmUNiMiFfuWsl5C7ALzkyoNJbRBI-yTGx1zM9z-2Wfko/s1600/stump_vs_quad.xlsx+592012+90230+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="287" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirjDg3vhgS2Xjc3hpPx2ltG0Mz9Ug0y1s8Ycym_Bw-xt_gYVWXPeETAa4DCZ6gQcBbrzdzFbMlO8VF8txs9znhKgeg8CBSW_DtmUNiMiFfuWsl5C7ALzkyoNJbRBI-yTGx1zM9z-2Wfko/s400/stump_vs_quad.xlsx+592012+90230+PM.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elevation profile of QR50 compared to my toughest race to date.</td></tr>
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<a href="http://riddleruns.blogspot.com/2012/07/western-states-my-first-buckle.html">Western States Endurance Run</a><br />
My first 100 mile race wasn't perfect, but it was about all I could ask for. Well, maybe I could ask for one spot better. I finished in 11th place with a time of 16:42:55 on one of the coolest days in the history of the race. A top 10 finish would have earned me a spot in the 2013 WS100 race, but it wasn't to be. Check out my race report if you want all the details, but the short version is this: I felt off for the first 30 miles struggling with the cold and altitude. The next 30 miles climbing through the canyons should have been my weak point, but I finally started feeling normal and ran this portion really well. But then I crashed hard on the flat Cal Street section when I should have been able to roll. I struggled for about 20 miles, but ran really well the last 7 miles or so and had a strong finish. There so much energy and attention surrounding Western States that it's tempting to make every effort to get back in, but I'm taking the "when one door closes, another one opens" approach and will look to race more to my strengths this spring.<br />
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Offseason<br />
During my offseason I ran a 15:37 road 5k and also participated in the Hood to Coast relay. Both were very fun events and added a little variety to my schedule. Although I hope to be involved in ultras for a long time, I will continue running the short, fast stuff occasionally.</div>
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<a href="http://riddleruns.blogspot.com/2012/10/uroc-not-so-much.html">Ultra Race of Champions</a><br />
The UROC 100k was my mulligan for the year. I went out too fast, got a sour stomach, and wasn't prepared for the elevation change that was much higher than advertised. I dropped around mile 44 after eating almost nothing since getting sick at mile 18.<br />
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The following weekend I jumped in a very small, local 6/12 hr race on a 1.4 mile paved loop. I put in 51 miles in 5:50. I proved to myself that my fitness was fine, but it also proved to be too much for my body to handle. I struggled with minor injuries for the next month that prevented my normal training regimen leading into JFK.<br />
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<a href="http://riddleruns.blogspot.com/2012/11/redefining-grind.html">JFK 50 Mile</a><br />
JFK wasn't a bad race, but it wasn't great either. Unfortunately, it would have taken a great race on my part to run with Max King or Trent Briney. Max broke 5:35 shaving a considerable amount of time off the course record of 5:40:45 that I set last year. Max and I came off the Appalachian Trail section around mile 16 together, but he just had too much leg speed for me to run with him on the tow path. The nagging injuries I struggled with following UROC kept me from being in top form, but I don't think I would have been able to run with him regardless. Trent Briney came off the AT several minutes behind me, but showed off his 2:12 marathon speed as he came rolling past me somewhere around mile 30. It was mostly just a lonely grind the rest of the day for me, but I am proud of myself for staying mentally strong and finishing the race well. My time of 5:45:13 is still the 5th fastest time ever run on the JFK course in its 50 year history.<br />
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2013<br />
I haven't finalized all the race details for 2013 yet, but I'm exploring my options. Mtn Mist 50k is the only race I'm certain I'll be doing in the next 3 months. I'd like to take some time and really focus on my training for the next few months and not worry too much about racing. December's training went really well, and it seems as though I have my nagging injuries ironed out now. The last full week of 2012 I put in 110 miles in singles with two hard workouts and averaged 6:44 pace. Right now, I have a strong desire to work on my road marathon speed again. We'll just have to see where that takes me.<br />
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Happy New Year to all my friends! Best of luck achieving your goals in 2013.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01240094855721743541noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9101445953009329751.post-17667405206776063442012-11-20T19:51:00.000-08:002012-11-20T19:51:41.373-08:00Redefining the Grind<div style="text-align: justify;">
2012 JFK 50 Mile Race Report</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS8fUu_SS0Qpl8Co5oopjPxEc66f529Cwb5JsCuvuN5Xia4PqGtA_CUjXyP0iSquGO2Of9rfLBrTYhI_ujCmfgmYtK3lXGOoZPQDXsK_HuWr5O6BB7yAYUrUCM9HOkJkQ8HypHhaoVW9Y/s1600/IMG_1174.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS8fUu_SS0Qpl8Co5oopjPxEc66f529Cwb5JsCuvuN5Xia4PqGtA_CUjXyP0iSquGO2Of9rfLBrTYhI_ujCmfgmYtK3lXGOoZPQDXsK_HuWr5O6BB7yAYUrUCM9HOkJkQ8HypHhaoVW9Y/s640/IMG_1174.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grinding down the towpath.</td></tr>
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Perspective is a strange thing. Case in point, I just ran 5:45 at this year's 50th running of the JFK 50 Mile. That is the 5th fastest time in race history. It would have been a new course record in the first 48 editions of the race. Sounds like I have a lot to be excited about right? Well, I am - sort of - but my perspective tempers my excitement. It just didn't feel like I ran very fast last Saturday.</div>
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First of all, I ran 5 minutes slower than last year. Granted, that was one of those phenomenal races where everything just comes together perfectly. It's not realistic to think every race could be that way, but it's hard to forget how that felt. Secondly, I came in third place this year. It's even more difficult to feel great when you watch 2 guys roll by you effortlessly and know you won't be seeing them again until the finish line.</div>
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So the best description of how I feel about my race is that it felt like a Grind. I never felt particularly good or fast, I just gutted it out and never gave up even though I didn't feel smooth early. But I am proud of myself for grinding it out. Especially after a DNF at UROC six weeks ago and the ensuing injury that hampered my training since, I really needed a solid race. I knew my training hadn't been perfect, and I wasn't quite in the same form as last year, but JFK gave me a chance to learn how strong I am - mentally as much or more than physically. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbY050TfmrCWKVUyxKgUTJtngUWw9NHznd_Bj6BMK5EuLg7VrBRwN0tyvqZlFN_Yxef01oBhnWFM4Ddlo4VWinVu27YlfwzWlKBLj_8v__emDO5hZfUluUcxc8L_BKvaLECpcdhRmJ_PM/s1600/IMG_1164.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbY050TfmrCWKVUyxKgUTJtngUWw9NHznd_Bj6BMK5EuLg7VrBRwN0tyvqZlFN_Yxef01oBhnWFM4Ddlo4VWinVu27YlfwzWlKBLj_8v__emDO5hZfUluUcxc8L_BKvaLECpcdhRmJ_PM/s640/IMG_1164.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Here are a few more highlights from the race:</div>
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Max and I ran relatively close together for a good portion of the Appalachian Trail. I think he was content just to sit a few seconds back, being careful not to make a mistake, and just wait for the towpath. My legs felt relatively good on the AT. I was a minute or so faster hitting the towpath after being slower to the trailhead at the start, so I ran the technical section a good bit faster than last year. It's fairly apparent where my training has been focused the last six months, and I was very strong on the rocky trail because of that focus.</div>
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The grinding really began when I hit the towpath. Max passed me within a mile and was gone. Last year I was consciously holding myself back to keep from running sub 6:30 pace early, whereas this year I didn't feel smooth running sub 6:40 and the legs began aching early. My lack of fast, flat long runs over the last 6 months was very apparent.</div>
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My nutrition situation has been a problem most of the year, and this race was no exception. I dropped out of UROC largely due to stomach problems, and because of my injury, I wasn't able to practice a new nutrition strategy between then and JFK. But something had to change, so I went ahead with my untested strategy which consisted of only drinking GU Roctane...no gels. I had the occasional pretzel, a couple swallows of Coke, and a few salt tabs, but other than that it was just the high-calorie Roctane drink. Clearly I survived following this plan, but the stomach definitely could have felt better. I need to continue tweaking and practicing my nutrition plan, but I imagine this will be my biggest weakness for some time to come.<br />
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Max King and Trent Briney just raised the bar and redefined what is humanly possible on that course. I have my work cut out for me if I want to challenge their times next year.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikNrnXEtI38x5zHBEBj-TtTHh1AmKlf65E6JcfF2ITAjFrvaDHXOoVNUFrilUg3RrN1qVI5m5haqOEeMEm6ZuMDktNR1ifQYhqJQnt0c-Z9UzITowXeMT4NTYC4CcPGDQmmjKn3wbW2zw/s1600/IMG_1194.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikNrnXEtI38x5zHBEBj-TtTHh1AmKlf65E6JcfF2ITAjFrvaDHXOoVNUFrilUg3RrN1qVI5m5haqOEeMEm6ZuMDktNR1ifQYhqJQnt0c-Z9UzITowXeMT4NTYC4CcPGDQmmjKn3wbW2zw/s640/IMG_1194.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">That's a pretty solid top 10 group of guys.</td></tr>
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So what now? To be honest, I'm not sure. I didn't earn an entry into Western States, so that doesn't look like a real high possibility for June. I'm tossing around a few ideas though. I know I'm going to focus on the World 100k that will be run in South Korea next October. This spring I think I could go two ways. I could train to run a fast, flat 100 miler. Or I could go back to real road marathon training and see what I'm capable of now. The road marathon speed would serve me well next fall at World 100k and if I decide to run JFK again.<br />
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First though, I'm going to take a few weeks, get everything healthy, and enjoy the holidays. I hope you do the same.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQx5UDNyIWCfYDp8aqkjTRTafu7JV9Lj3oMjj76rO05I_Jfzd7s5mk31JHdw9FdNX_aUdcyvnkTynHV9AaRK8f73z3lJZce4mnudSHk8B9nGdxyBo8EpGuxQ2OgY7W-8W-KynOe_4_D-o/s1600/jfk2012_max_me_clifton.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQx5UDNyIWCfYDp8aqkjTRTafu7JV9Lj3oMjj76rO05I_Jfzd7s5mk31JHdw9FdNX_aUdcyvnkTynHV9AaRK8f73z3lJZce4mnudSHk8B9nGdxyBo8EpGuxQ2OgY7W-8W-KynOe_4_D-o/s640/jfk2012_max_me_clifton.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">King, Riddle and Clifton. 19 years of the JFK course record.</td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01240094855721743541noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9101445953009329751.post-74480813706329353822012-11-04T18:12:00.000-08:002012-11-04T18:21:42.880-08:00Uncharted Territory<div style="text-align: justify;">
I have been incredibly fortunate to have avoided a serious injury throughout my competitive running career. For the last month though, I have been struggling to keep a relatively minor injury from snowballing into something more serious. The issue is a bit of tendonitis that I think was triggered by a stone bruise that I picked up at UROC. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtPJd6JI5JegT-OPt40njGYBMLROI4v20-d5QS38-enJgKbBTwZNxZ4BZ8trN-4WQW6KgVZVz9pMGnr5TDe9GerjdVX2-u-Yx6tHNdrVofHzK-kTscogdUuGamSATbdvvYK4OXLnh6quM/s1600/IMG_1081.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtPJd6JI5JegT-OPt40njGYBMLROI4v20-d5QS38-enJgKbBTwZNxZ4BZ8trN-4WQW6KgVZVz9pMGnr5TDe9GerjdVX2-u-Yx6tHNdrVofHzK-kTscogdUuGamSATbdvvYK4OXLnh6quM/s400/IMG_1081.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stone bruise from UROC.</td></tr>
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The strange thing is that the tendonitis is in a quite different spot than the bruise is the picture above. The pain is actually on the front of my shin, just above the ankle. My unprofessional opinion is that all symptoms point to anterior tibialis tendonitis. That tendon attaches to a bone in the arch right where I got the stone bruise. I ran for more than a week after UROC with zero pain. The spot on my arch was tender to touch, but not to run. But, I think the trauma to that attachment point caused the muscle and tendon to tighten down in an attempt to protect itself. I ran way too long a week after UROC (but felt really good doing it), and then I felt the tendon above my ankle give way after a Tuesday night track workout a few days later.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Arrow shows where it hurts now.</td></tr>
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I didn't think much of it when it first happened. I thought it would heal quickly like other nuisance injuries I've had before. But this hurt pretty good - even just to walk. I ran real easy and short on it for a few days, and when it started to feel better, I went longer and harder. That was a mistake. I made that mistake about 3 times before I figured out that I had to let it get all the way better.</div>
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You may have heard that I ran a consecutive day running streak. I don't like talking about it anymore, because I don't think it's all that healthy, and I really wouldn't recommend starting one to anyone I was coaching. In periods of low motivation, the streak can be very encouraging, but it's going to be very difficult for me to break off. So of course, I still ran every day through this injury. The sad part is that it most likely would have healed faster if I had taken just a week completely off. Let that be a lesson if you're ever in a similar situation.</div>
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Anyway, I finally backed off enough that it got better. I think I'm about 95% right now and running with no pain again. I was able to go 20 miles at a nice clip yesterday. That was the first time in a month I could have finished that run. </div>
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I'm still planning to race JFK, and being less than 2 weeks out now, I don't have the time to hammer myself to make up for lost training (<<another thing I don't recommend). The good news is that legs should be pretty fresh. And while I don't think I lost a ton of fitness in the last month, I don't think I'm quite as tuned for JFK like I was last year when I spent all summer and fall training for flat an fast ultras (World 100k and JFK). I'm most worried about the legs just being a little flat since I haven't been able to exercise them like I normally would. </div>
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I just hope I can keep it interesting this year. Max King should be the clear favorite to win. Zach Bitter and myself will probably be duking it out for 2nd place. I haven't heard of any other top men, but you never know who might show up. Ellie Greenwood will be there and she'll overshadow us all.</div>
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In other news, I'll be heading to a trail running camp sponsored by <a href="http://teamrwb.org/">Team RWB</a> next weekend down in Texas. The camp is targeted at veterans and is aligned with Team RWB's goal of helping to re-integrate soldiers returning from deployment back into civilian life. Endurance sports is one of the primary tools that the group uses to achieve that goal. I will be there serving as a coach and mentor along with a bunch of other accomplished trail runners. It's going to be a great way for me to give a little back to our veterans by sharing my passion for the trails. I'm sure it will be a lot of fun as well.</div>
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That's all for now. I'll try to keep you up-to-date over the next couple weeks via Twitter (@rundavid1), but I kind of doubt I'll have cell reception down in Texas.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01240094855721743541noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9101445953009329751.post-54020764598490062782012-10-01T20:28:00.000-07:002012-10-01T20:28:48.606-07:00UROC Not So Much<div style="text-align: justify;">
In some ways it's almost easier to blog about my bad races than my good ones. It's been especially tough just getting a post started lately. Although I don't really want to talk about it, I have plenty to say about <a href="http://ultraroc.com/">UROC 100k</a>. So let's get this over with.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTbewXD6t9tFO8DReR5bCLaZF1KVj9hbcudvVHDId7ZjXlhp0fku-B_vtmEdnMoETbVEWaN9WcXogP3ClQy1_KYgeXna9vC5Adlk0_LB66c7QRgBSBIcoXQJ01-jJWhj5k7bTNqSQDMsU/s1600/uroc_riddle_mackey_back.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTbewXD6t9tFO8DReR5bCLaZF1KVj9hbcudvVHDId7ZjXlhp0fku-B_vtmEdnMoETbVEWaN9WcXogP3ClQy1_KYgeXna9vC5Adlk0_LB66c7QRgBSBIcoXQJ01-jJWhj5k7bTNqSQDMsU/s400/uroc_riddle_mackey_back.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">It was a lonely day even when I was running with Mackey. (photo by Gill)</span></td></tr>
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The short story is that I got sick to my stomach and puked around mile 18 for some unknown reason. Although I've struggled for the past year or so to get my gels down, I have actually never thrown up as a result of running. Pretty impressive since I've been racing at some level for 18 years. I got close at Western States, but recovered relatively well. The same can't be said about UROC. I felt better briefly after I got sick, but continued to feel that if I looked at another gel that I'd puke again. So I only ate one more gel the rest of the race. Pretzels and saltines tasted good and settled my stomach but I wasn't eating enough to keep me going. I was still drinking OK, but again, not enough calories. I kept moving forward hoping that I would turn the corner and start feeling better. But it never happened and the legs basically shut down around mile 40. I dropped at mile 44.3 as recorded by my Suunto Ambit.</div>
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I was pretty content with my decision to drop at the time because I was in a good deal of pain and didn't want to risk tearing my body up. Of course, now that I feel better, I am second guessing myself. You always feel like you could pushed a little harder after the race don't you?</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPgl55BQ4dOn6tyCNZJ-Cv-HNHCv2KdiJydY3glqPZjEPLr9rNBL1IU1xBD7nZgP32anhaA3bwG3OovC2GoBgbTkiF8B2eehc_B2fDod2FODBKUEIsXY6JABqIYr-ioTutUuid1kHjUWc/s1600/riddle_uroc_10mi.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPgl55BQ4dOn6tyCNZJ-Cv-HNHCv2KdiJydY3glqPZjEPLr9rNBL1IU1xBD7nZgP32anhaA3bwG3OovC2GoBgbTkiF8B2eehc_B2fDod2FODBKUEIsXY6JABqIYr-ioTutUuid1kHjUWc/s400/riddle_uroc_10mi.jpeg" width="298" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">An early smile. Wish it had lasted. (photo by iRunFar.com)</span></td></tr>
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My legs actually felt really good early in the race. I was pleasantly surprised as I felt like I was climbing well without over-extending myself. I have been working on my climbing lately. I wasn't well prepared for the downhills, however, and first three miles of the race were straight down. Although I was trailing off the lead pack of elites, I still probably went too hard. I latched onto <a href="http://irunmountains.blogspot.com/">Nick Clark</a> for the first big climb and was pleased that I was beginning to get the hang of the short, choppy, climbing stride that just 6 months ago was not in my repertoire. But on the road descent out of Wintergreen I left Nick and descended too quickly trying to catch up to <a href="http://davemackey.blogspot.com/">Dave Mackey</a>. I caught him, but then I got sick.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivP7qZYkunEY72IKZGCPaT8W-aDmlvLUHaM_bk0SwebZk0857gjdeDSuVEHGKNw8MQ5wY7acMBQS_niNf24CeSCDTFXBZzI2ldn87YLaH5ktGfFsXJvilCja4XW3yMhozsOqp_69_TIxM/s1600/UROC_elevation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="369" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivP7qZYkunEY72IKZGCPaT8W-aDmlvLUHaM_bk0SwebZk0857gjdeDSuVEHGKNw8MQ5wY7acMBQS_niNf24CeSCDTFXBZzI2ldn87YLaH5ktGfFsXJvilCja4XW3yMhozsOqp_69_TIxM/s640/UROC_elevation.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elevation profile from my Suunto Ambit.</td></tr>
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I was actually in the lead when I got sick, but only because Max King and <a href="http://sagecanaday.com/">Sage Canaday</a> had missed a turn earlier and gone off course for a few minutes. They caught Mackey and I around mile 20 I think. The 4 of us ran together for a couple miles, but eventually I started to trail off. And then when we got back on the road again, Max split the pack wide open. Max ended up running an incredible race. It probably won't happen because of what Olson ran at Western States, but his performance should be seriously considered for ultra performance of the year.</div>
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I came into the race mentally prepared for 7,000-7,500ft of climb and an equal amount of descent. I heard there was more than that last year, but I assumed the course had been altered since that was the number reported on the race website. When I stopped at mile 44, I had 7400ft of climb already on the Ambit which is very accurate because it uses a barometric altimeter. My buddy <a href="http://www.maukarunning.com/">Jorge Maravilla</a> who finished the race (3rd) with an Ambit on his wrist recorded 10,600ft of climb. Granted, some last minute course changes had to be made, but that amount of climb takes it out of the "race that favors no one" category. Sure there was a lot of road, but hardly any flat road. I definitely wasn't as prepared as I could have been for the descents. I think my quads and IT bands took more abuse from UROC than Western States. But, overall I am nowhere near as locked down as I was after WS100, and will recover much more quickly.</div>
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But, my main problem is my nutrition. I have got to figure out how to eat in a race or there isn't much point in me going longer than 50k. Unfortunately, it seems to be a problem that is getting worse and not better. I've got some ideas that I'm planning to try, but I'm certainly open to suggestions. I think gels are out of the question for the time being. I found chicken noodle soup worked well at Western States, but it's slow, inconvenient, and probably impractical for anything less than 100 miles.</div>
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I don't mind making it hurt when I run, but it's just not fun when I feel sick.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtPJd6JI5JegT-OPt40njGYBMLROI4v20-d5QS38-enJgKbBTwZNxZ4BZ8trN-4WQW6KgVZVz9pMGnr5TDe9GerjdVX2-u-Yx6tHNdrVofHzK-kTscogdUuGamSATbdvvYK4OXLnh6quM/s1600/IMG_1081.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtPJd6JI5JegT-OPt40njGYBMLROI4v20-d5QS38-enJgKbBTwZNxZ4BZ8trN-4WQW6KgVZVz9pMGnr5TDe9GerjdVX2-u-Yx6tHNdrVofHzK-kTscogdUuGamSATbdvvYK4OXLnh6quM/s400/IMG_1081.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Picked up a pretty nice stone bruise early in the race.</span></td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01240094855721743541noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9101445953009329751.post-38543251100877758892012-09-23T16:40:00.000-07:002012-09-23T16:40:51.465-07:00It's Fall and I'm Ready to ROC<div style="text-align: justify;">
I commented on twitter a few days ago that the summer to fall transition is my favorite change in seasons. I think the actual fall season itself may be my favorite, but that one is a little harder to say for sure. I love the way I feel when running as the temperatures start to drop, the air dries out, and the leaves begin to color. It makes perfect sense then that I would be ready to return to serious ultra racing this fall after laying low for most of the summer.</div>
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I've been running consistently since Western States, but my mileage was down for a while and then I focused on regaining some leg speed. In August I ran a 2:06 800m solo time trial on the track, a 15:37 5k on the roads, and then had a solid showing at the Hood to Coast relay. I struggled for a short time as I tried to return to full ultra training too quickly and didn't allow my body enough time to adjust to the different workouts. Much of that had to do with the late summer heat and humidity, but I've run much better the last couple weeks as the weather has moderated. I touched 100 miles the last two weeks including a couple solid speed workouts and fast long runs. Everything seems to be right now track now.<br />
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<a href="http://ultraroc.com/"><img border="0" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiesWBgOcIvX4sqW9h1kXnTt9Voi7cEfZH4wp_EZ-rPytYn1PraD1TgOHp3V9JK8m4kTPCqVY8JuRdYseWYX-WKh-hKaystzfFmbOWlUwegthMqPVorH00TX-iT7CuMZzbjrcGzpK3AZdQ/s400/UROC_logo.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Now I'm doing a quick taper in preparation for the <a href="http://ultraroc.com/">Ultra Race of Champions</a>. The race is a 100k this Saturday (September 29) near Charlottesville, VA. The course has a good mix of trail and road sections, much of it on the scenic Blue Ridge Parkway. I really like the setup of the race which is by design so that no one style of ultra runner if favored by the course. The 100k distance will be a challenge for the faster 50k specialists, but a little short for the 100 mile pros. With 7,500ft of elevation gain, it probably wouldn't be considered a mountain ultra, but it's enough to make it interesting for the mountain guys and gals. The combination of road and technical single track trail will also further balance the field out. I see it as a race that favors no one and it is really wide open.<br />
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The competition: I realize I'm starting to sound like a broken record. It seems like every ultra I enter is the new most competitive event that I've been in, and this one is no different. James Russell Gill and Francesca Conte have really worked hard to assemble a stellar field which will be competing for the $5000 first place prize. Allow me a moment to name drop some of the entrants: Dave Mackey, Geoff Roes, Nick Clark, Max King, Sage Canaday, Ian Sharman, Dave James, Jordan McDougall, Jorge Maravilla, Shinji Nakadai, Dominic Grossman, Scott Jaime, Jason Loutitt and Todd Braje. (I hear that Wardian and Adam Campbell are both out due to injury, and I don't believe Roes is healthy either.) I don't know as much about the women's field, but Ellie Greenwood is entered and should be the one to beat. Last year's winner Ragan Petrie, will be returning to defend her title from other contenders like Liza Howard, Joelle Vaught, Verity Breen and Tina Lewis.<br />
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I think there are 10 guys on the men's side that have a legitimate chance to win. It just depends on who's in shape and who has their best day. Everyone will have a weakness on this course and the guy who minimizes his losses will come out on top.<br />
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I'm excited about returning to racing and looking forward to running in the Appalachians this time of the year. I'm fit and confident, but so is the competition. I'm also happy that our sport is growing and very few races are a foregone conclusion anymore. I think this will make ultra running more exciting for the spectators and more of a challenge for the competitors.<br />
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One final note. UROC is setting up some interviews with the elite runners on Friday afternoon and then a panel discussion Friday night. If you have some questions for me or anyone else, you can submit them on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ultra-Race-of-Champions/106670719408593">UROC's facebook page</a>. </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01240094855721743541noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9101445953009329751.post-68137719389443383872012-08-19T13:34:00.000-07:002012-08-20T17:22:40.404-07:00My Offseason<br />
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Hello again. I'm back. I know it's been a while. Since Western States, almost 2 months ago now, I've taken a little down time from running as well as blogging and twittering and such. The occasional mental and physical break from running is a good thing, and my online presence just kind of naturally followed suit.</div>
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So, yeah, I guess you could consider the last couple months my "offseason." I know that may sound odd to some of you, especially those who mostly stick to the mountain trails. It seems that many ultrarunners – in particular trail ultrarunners – view the summer as the heart of the racing season. This makes a lot of sense if you live at altitude or run up high in the mountains. The snow has melted, the temperatures are comfortable, the wild flowers are blooming, and the views are spectacular. But having lived in the South and Midwest all of my life, summer is not really the ideal time of year for racing on the trails. Most of our trails have become overgrown and irritating, the weather can be oppressively hot and humid, and so naturally, there just aren't many good races nearby this time of year. So while others are peaking for their prime races of the year, I’m resetting and looking forward to the start of a new racing season.</div>
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With the IAU World Championship 100k (<a href="http://riddleruns.blogspot.com/2012/04/2012-iau-100km-world-championships.html">race report</a>) and Western States (<a href="http://riddleruns.blogspot.com/2012/07/western-states-my-first-buckle.html">race report</a>) runs having taken place relatively close together, this summer was also just a logical place to take some time for recovery. Being my first 100 miler, I wasn’t sure how Western States would affect me, so I didn’t want to plan any big events races soon afterward. I still have been running every day, but the volume has been lower than normal, and there really wasn't a specific training plan. I took a little more than two weeks after WS100 of just easy running, but toward the end of that period, I began pushing my easy runs again simply because my legs wanted to run fast. This is how I know I’m recovered and ready to roll again. I have no problem taking more downtime if needed, but I feel recovered and the desire is there. I want to run, so why not?</div>
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So how do I restart a training cycle? Many of the training systems that I have read about and learned from coaches I’ve had in the past started with a high-volume base phase early in a training cycle. In subsequent phases, you would gradually run more faster workouts culminating with a sharpening or peak phase. Since I began focusing more on ultramarathons, I’ve sort of turned that idea on its head. I like to start a new training cycle with the short, fast stuff and then work into the longer stuff later. I spend so much time doing “base” work when preparing for a big ultra, I feel the need to touch up on my leg speed in between training cycles. Plus, it’s just fun to get on the track and crank out quarters occasionally when all you’ve been doing is running slow. Variety is a good thing. But you have to be careful when switching the focus. Jumping from a 100 mile race to 200s on the track can be tough on the body, so it may not be a good idea for everyone. And I always recommend listening to your body first and foremost.</div>
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As if I needed any more motivation, a friend of mine challenged me to an 800m race during my offseason speed phase. Long story short, he never was able to race me, but I was so set on doing it that I went ahead and ran the 800 solo as a time trial. 2:06.1. I'll admit it, I'm pretty proud that I can still run that fast when required. That was a couple of weeks ago now, and I have since moved on to longer intervals like mile repeats.<br />
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After a couple good track workouts of the longer intervals, I decided that I was ready to jump in a local 5k this weekend just for fun. Fun meaning no pressure, not that I wasn't going to run hard. So yesterday, I went 15:37 for 3rd place on a rolling road course with weather conditions being quite good for August. After a 10 minute break, I added a little more quality to the workout doing 2 more 5k's right around 17 minutes each with 5 minutes rest in between. All of that was followed by another 6 miles at JFK race pace. Today I returned to the trails and did 19 miles in 2:40. My legs were definitely a touch sore, but I could have felt a lot worse. My energy levels felt good for about 2 hours, but then I started feeling a little weak ... kind of like how you feel toward the end of an ultra. And I'm really pleased to hit 95 miles this week with that kind of quality.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These guys actually make really good road racing flats. Ran the 5k and 800 in them.</td></tr>
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So hopefully that gives you some idea of what I do in my "offseason" and what kind of shape I'm taking into this fall. I expect you'll be hearing from me more frequently as my racing season heats up. I'm starting it off next weekend with a really fun event, the Hood to Coast relay in Portland. I'll be running with the GE corporate team (GE Meatballs) like I did 2 years ago. This is just a super-fun event and a great opportunity to visit the West Coast even if it's not for an ultra. From there, I'll be setting my sights on UROC 100k in Virginia on September 29th. That's shaping up to be another hyper-competitive ultra and I'm really excited to see what I can do on the course that favors no one.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01240094855721743541noreply@blogger.com1