Weekend!

It’s going to be busy! A good busy!!! Friday I have to pack my stuff up to head up north. My main concern is to find my trail shoes. I haven’t seen them since Mo. I’m hoping they were washed and are in a safe location from the GS puppy.

I’m running 13 miles early Saturday morning with Mike and others. I then head over to my in-laws for their 4th of July picnic, spend the day visiting with my siblings-in-law, maybe go for a ride in my FIL’s weasel. Then I will head back over to Mike’s place and camp out there again for an early 50K’ish BR training run on Sunday morning. It kind of feels nice to run because I want to, not because I feel I have to.

I signed up for a race also! In perusing my email, I noticed there is a race on the 4th of July in North Canton, a 5 miler..welll why not. I haven’t run a short race this year. (I actually haven’t run many races at all this year.) Since I am off that Wednesday, it seemed like a good way to get me out of bed and get some speedwork in! I’m really looking forward to it.

Dream

I was in an Ironman race. I remember exiting the water after the swim (this is where the dream started) and seeing most of the other bikes gone. Then I came into T2, not remembering much of the bike, and found I had to run a 3 hour'ish marathon to beat the time cutoff. So I set off. But the run course wasn't well marked, so I started running a mile section back and forth until I got someone to look at the map of the run course. And then they wouldn't give me directions on how to properly get on the regulation run course. So I figured it out for myself, but when I got back to the finish line, it was past the cut off time. But I felt fine after the race, I had no aches or pains.
I think I need to go run a race somewhere soon, anything, to get this cut off time out of my head.

Thinking of another Race

GEER 50k. The Great Eastern Endurance Run.

" The course will be run in the scenic George Washington National Forest "Blue Ridge Mountains" on predominately single track trails and forest roads. This is a challenging course with 15,062 feet of climb in the 100K and 8,808 feet of climb in the 50K."

The Blue Ridge Mountains in the fall...it would be pretty...it's around Charlottesville, where Monticello is, I've been wanting to visit...

Hmm. Same time as the Akron Marathon. But we also have the militaria show in Pittsburgh and may have out of town guests. I guess I may need to rethink this. I think the Akron Marathon was a good option because I could be there in two hours from my house, or about two hours from Pittsburgh if we were still there.

Yes, I am feeling much better and thinking of other races. I ran today again, 4 miles in the local park system, on an asphalt bike trail, but it was okay, not as hot as yesterday, and I had much more shade. Tomorrow I have an out of town meeting, so I may take my running clothes along and try and get a run in. My meeting ends just in time for rush hour traffic in Columbus, and it might be more useful running for one hour than spending that time fighting my way through traffic!

4 Mile Run Today

It said it was a trail so I guess it counts. This is a rails to trails project that is underway. This is part of the trail which is going to connect southern Ohio with Northern Ohio some decade. This trail has been improved since the last time I was on it, less cinders, maybe they all washed away since last summer.
It was a bit hot out today at 330pm, since I left work early. It was about 90 with 100% humidity. When I started running, you weren't breathing air in, I seemed to be eating air, it was so hot and heavy. But hey, I was running!!
And for me, running a bit fast! I actually charged the Garmin so I glanced down and noticed I was running a 9.50 pace-WTF was up with that???? Maybe no run for a week and total flat running space despite the heat?? In fact, I kept around a 10-ish minute mile pace for about two miles. Then I drank some water and immediately broke out into chills. Maybe running at 4pm with no hat and running a bit fast really wasn't the best idea. How on earth did I get so overheated in just two miles? And why didn't I care more? I was having this strange little fight going on. Mentally and emotionally I was so into the run, and then I had Body on the side saying "hello, I really shouldn't be cold now! Did you even notice my chills? Is this heat stroke or heat exhaustion, but does it matter and why isn't anyone paying attention to me?"
I slowed down on the two miles back, stopping to walk when the chills got a little stronger-after all, what could I do? I'm out in the middle of kind of cornfields, behind people's houses. I actually was still in a very good mood although Body was still pretty miffed. It was about a 1/4 mile walk back to my car, so I guess I must have been hot, since the air felt pretty good for the walk back. I'm still convinced I had a good run there, it felt so good to get out and run!

Trail Goddess Post Run

Other Blog Entries of Note Today

There was a good quote over on Scott Dunlap's blog about ultra running:

"At one level its admirable, at another it's ridiculous," says Phillip Hodson, Fellow of the British Association for Counseling and Psychotherapy.

I agree with Scott!

I can't believe I am even posting about Dean Karnazes, but someone posted his blog entry on the ultra list, and it was actually pretty good, he was pretty honest about what happened to him, because he was actually doing really well until about the twelve hour mark:
DK's post

And then there is Sometimes you just don't have it

I Almost Ran today

I was planning on a run after work, so I brought my running bag in at lunch time to change into right after work. I love summer time running where the clothing is limited. Socks,shoes, shorts, tank..running bra. The bra I pulled out of the bag was more of a sports bra. The girls don't support sports bras. Sports bras don't support the girls either!
The well endowed female runners know what I am talking about. The others, who can actually wear a little tiny tank top and nothing else underneath and call it their running attire, well probably won't understand so much.

So I went to the gym and did 4 miles on the elliptical, which was just fine. It was about the same as being outside, since my gym has no AC and it was about 90 degrees out. It felt good being about over my cold and sweating up a storm. I knew I had the post work out endorphins when I had the music turned way up on the drive home!

Shout out to Jeff!!

Yahoo! He completed it in 29.08, way to go!!!! Congrats!!!

Western States

Hal Koerner won it in 16.12.16. That is just freaking phenomenal. He was running sub 10 minute miles throughout the whole race practically. Now, if anyone reading this blog isn't a trail runner, you might scoff at that, but this is in the mountains, this isn't a nice pancake flat Chicago Marathon course.
Nikki Kimball won it for the females in 18.12.38.
My friend Jeff from Columbus (bib #360) is doing well, he's got about 5 miles or so left to go and is well ahead of the cut off time-go Jeff!!

Saturday Morning Grocery Shopping

I am normally not out and about buying groceries on a Saturday morning (I'm usually in a nice long run somewhere, sigh..) but being out of fresh veggies and fruit, I decided to go to the Coshocton Walmart and re-stock.
I needed some Rold Gold Fat-Free Pretzels, so I ventured down the "Chips" aisle.
Oh.my.god. It looked like the town had stocked up for the Apocalypse; no? nah, just Friday night in mid-Ohio. Shelves were decimated! Entire skus of chips were missing. I would have thought today was Superbowl Sunday or something. I could not believe it.
Or, more sadly, I could believe it when I stopped in the next town, our little exempted village of Newcomerstown, to watch some of the "Strong Man" competition that is part of Cy Young Days, our local little festival. Cy Young, if you don't know it, was a famous pitcher who won more games than anyone and pitched like every day or every other day, unlike the pampered pitchers of today. Newcomerstown claims him as their own, but actually, his farm was about 2 miles from where I live, closer to Peoli, Ohio. Peoli used to have their own post office, but after Cy Young died, they closed it-he got that much fan mail!
I guess it was probably a reaction to being around ultrafit people last weekend (wow, it's already been a whole week since the race) but the glaring obesity in my town really stood out. As I watched everyone get a hot dog, or nachos with cheese, or a creamed chicken sandwich. And no one cares. I guess that is the next scary part. They don't care about how they look or what being obese does to their health.
Health care will become interesting in the next twenty years caring for these folks.

Since I am on an obesity roll (get it) I also noticed that Alli is now on sale, saw a HUGE skid of it at Walmart, $ 59.00 a bottle. Alli is a fat blocker. Alli also has some nice side effects-uncontrollable bowel movements, frequent bowel movements, oily stools-stuff like that. Is it worth pooping your pants in public to lose weight? (Pooping your pants on the trail is a far different situation lol..)
As a health care professional, I would not recommend this drug. Portion control and excercise, that old unglamourous option, still works!

Western States Tomorrow!

Whee!! That means the ultra list will have something else to talk about besides Dean Karnazes. He came up short on his goal, although the Accelerade website was a little vague about that.but this was off the ultra list and I thought it was pretty funny:

"> Accelerade Spin Doctor 1: Well we blew it this time. All the hype and
> money spent and Dean let us down.
> Accelerade Spin Doctor 2: Here we had the best runner in America, and he
> couldn't break the record for us. Dean we are very disappointed in you.
>> DK: Arrgh! Leave me alone. I just want to sleep.
> Accelerade Spin Doctor 1: This is no time to sleep. We need some way of
> twisting this so that it looks like Dean almost made the record instead of
> missing it by 25 miles.
> Accelerade Spin Doctor 2: Wait, isn't twenty five miles less than a
> marathon?>
> DK: ZZZZZZZZZZZ
> Accelerade Spin Doctor 1: Yes. Dean only missed the record by less than
> one marathon. You are a genius. I'll write the copy and put it up on the
> website."

Oh yeah, back to Western States, here is a link to the Web Cast where you can track runners. The only runner I know personally is Jeff Schmidt, from Columbus Ohio, Bib # 360. Jeff came out on training runs at Mohican with his pacer, Tonya S, so go Jeff and Tonya!! I will be checking in on you guys. And I almost forgot, my other crush, David Goggins, is running!

I've decided to run the Akron Marathon. Are you in Red? I know Tony is running it, and my friend Wendy (the fig newton pusher) is also a seeded runner for this. So if I am not a fast runner, I can hang out with the fast runners! Maybe we should try to have dinner together Friday night before the thon?

Beautiful Day Out for a Run

Too bad I'm not doing one lol.. I am still in the tight grasp of a nasty cold. I went to work for three hours, then left and came home and took a nap. It didn't help, I still feel horrible. Oh well, it's just a cold,I will live.

But it is beautiful out, about 70 degrees, and I did perk up a little to actually feel like running. Other than my cold, my body feels just fine, ready to get back to some excercise.

I am almost convinced that I am going to Run the Bird this fall. This would be the Akron Marathon, the site of my first marathon in 2004.

But, you gasp, Kim, that's a road marathon!! You hate those!!!
Well, I do. I much prefer running on trails.

But my new goal in my running career is to get faster. To get faster, I am going to lose weight and run faster. Which means I will have to do something called speedwork. Plugging along at my poky ultra speed is not fast enough. So I am going to work on speedwork. Which means more running on roads.

I do run on roads right now, don't get me wrong. But most of my runs are at long slow speed. I think I need to shake things up a bit, develop some sort of running program. I am back to looking at Bob Glover's book, which I used for my first marathon training. Hence the idea of running Akron again, this time with the idea to beat my first time on the course and get alot closer to a sub 4 marathon.

So my running plans right now are:
Pacing Mikey at BR;
Do my fun run the next weekend at North Fork Mountain in WV;
Punxy 50K;
YUT-C 50K; (well, maybe I will just volunteer at YUT-C, since it's the weekend before Akron) and then Akron.

It's good to have short term goals again. Now I am off to swig some more cold medication. And go back to bed.

Can you Tell I'm not Running?

Three Posts in One day? What is up with that?
But this came about, planning future runs. Apparently Tom has now signed up for the McNaughton 150 Run next year with Josh. I was planning on the 50 miler option at McNAughton myself..but also have been talked into about 80% chance of running The Rocky Raccoon over in Texas in February 2008...that wouldn't be so bad training here in Ohio, tapering would cover the early blizzard days.
So for now, it is looking like Rocky Raccoon 100 miles, and then McNaughton 50 miles whenever that is..

Dean's At it Again

He is attempting a 24 hour run on a treadmill in Times Square.. http://www.accelerade.com/endurance-run/

Funny, isn't it, with 3.5 hours left, that I can't see how many miles he has run?

Sorry, Mike, to dis your your man, but that's all we are going to hear ad nauseum on the Ultra List until Western States starts.

Oh, and also, I would be pissed if I had entered the lottery, and NOT gotten in, and found that Karnazes had gotten in, and then blew off his entry to do his Endurance Stunt. But that's just me.

On one hand, I have nothing against Dean Karnanazes. He is an excellent runner. His publiciy agent tends to blow things a bit out of the water, like no one has done 50 States in 50 days before Dean, or the current blurb about him "tackling 200 miles alone". I have a friend who ran across the USA, without any support, so Dean has noting on him.
But on the other hand, his press releases make it sound like NO ONE has done these phenomenal feats before. And maybe that's ultra running own fault, we don't like to publicize. But wheh I hear Dean advertised as "America's Best Runner" I can't help but think about Karl Melzer, Anton Krupicka, Jurek, before I think about Dean. In fact, I would have to say Melzer would be #1 with his races in this last year.

It seems Ultra Running is safer..

Mansfield Man Drives Over Mohican Park Cliff, Survives

By Jim Brewer

Larry Ramey, 45, of Mansfield, drove his 2001 Chevrolet Cavalier over the 300-foot cliff at the Gorge Overlook picnic area in the Mohican-Memorial State Forest late Sunday evening, and survived.

Late Monday morning a three-year-old hiker with his parents spotted an overturned car down the steep cliff.

The boy's parents, from Illinois, drove to a nearby residence where a 9-1-1 call was made. Loudonville police report receiving the call at 11:13 a.m.

Over the next three hours rescue forces from Loudonville and Perrysville, plus the Mohican Forest and Mohican State Park, pursued the precarious mission of extracting Ramey from his car and hauling, in a Stokes rescue basket, up approximately 135 feet of cliff.

Awaiting him at the hilltop was a rescue crew from Akron City Hospital, which took him to Akron by medical helicopter.

According to Louis Andres, manager at neighboring Malabar Farm State Park, Ramey was alert and conscious during the rescue process.

"We are not aware of any broken bones or major cuts or gashes," Andres said. "It is amazing he wasn't more badly hurt."

Preliminary report, based on park, forest and state patrol officers at the scene, was that Ramey was driving on the access road through the overlook picnic area, lost control and went off the north side of the road, through a grove of trees without hitting any of them, then crashing through the fence at the top of the cliff, and finally down the cliff.

"As it fell down the cliff, the car turned over and came to rest, probably stopped by trees on the cliff face, on its top," Andres said.

Andres said Ramey's wife confirmed the fact her husband was out Sunday night and did not return home. He also said that the preliminary investigation indicated that there was no evidence of alcohol use.

"But we are in the early stages of our investigation," Andres said. "Both Mohican State Park and Forest officers, and the Ashland Post of the State Highway Patrol, are contributing to the investigation."


But wait there's more!!

LOUDONVILLE -- For the second day in a row, an accident victim in the Mohican State Park area was life-flighted to Akron City Hospital.

Both the Loudonville and Perrysville emergency squads were summoned to Little Lyons Falls in the state park around 10:30 a.m. to rescue John W. Parker, 54, of Gahanna, who slipped on rocks and fell approximately 15 feet onto rocks below.

Squadsmen carried Parker approximately a mile on a stretcher, and then all-terrain vehicle, to a location on County Road 3006 near Pleasant Hill Dam, and then driven in a squad unit to the Mohican Resort and Conference Center, where the helicopter was waiting to carried him to Akron.

Mohican Park Assistant Manager Kelly Overly indicated she thought Parker suffered a broken leg. He was carried with care and taken by medical helicopter for precautionary reasons, as he had a reported history of previous back injuries.

It took the squad over an hour to secure Parker and carry him over hilly, extremely rough terrain, to the emergency squad unit, parked at the dam. Their route was hindered by occasional rain and temperatures at nearly 90 degrees.

We did pretty good then, tackling the falls in 90 degree weather after already running a marathon...

Post Race Blues

Case of the Blahs



I guess it’s time for the race feel goodness to wear off. I woke up with a scratchy and sore throat, and general achiness. Ah, I guess the almost traditional cold coming on after the race. I’m pretty sure Mike gave it to me, thanks buddy!

I think the cold is making me feel tired. I’m tired with just the idea of running right now. Mike mentioned that maybe I would want to run the Burning River 100. I hadn’t even thought about that..after all, I don’t want to waste all that training. But I can’t even wrap my head around a 50K right now. I probably won’t do the Rattlesnake 50K, we may go visit friends that weekend.

I think I am just having that post race depression—I’ve had this goal for months, for about the last year. And now it’s over, and I didn’t even achieve my goal. At least this DNF stings less than Masochist, I guess since I did not drop from the race but was DQ’d for not meeting the time requirements. But it does still sting.
Now there is nothing special to do. I don't feel special. I don't have any goals. I'm not aweing people with my tales of 20 or 30 mile runs.

Well, I am off to wash floors. See? Four weeks ago I would have prepping for a long run, strapping on my waist pack, donning my socks and shoes and sweatband. What am I doing today? Washing floors.

Mohican Race Report-1

Miles 0 to 61
It was going to be a hot day out on the course. We got started promptly at 0510. Hummpff..Lots of chatting and bantering as we ran through the campground and onto the main road. We turn onto the first side road and a huge 1/2 mile or so hill oblingly pushes everyone down into a nice walk up the hill. Except my friend Jerry, who yells at me as he runs up the hill and disapears for the day. Jerry came in 2nd place for the race, I am so happy for him!!
The first ten miles are just country back roads, rolling hills. New runners to the Mohican course comment on the amount of hills. Yes, and that's not all of them. Mohican really is a series of ups and downs. I guess I don't think about them because I run on them so much. And that's probaly why I don't like flat courses because I don't have so much oppourtunity to walk!!
We get to Rock Point Aid Station and turn off onto the first of the trail section..it's very well marked thanks to Mike and Glenn.
I must have been running a bit faster than my slowpoke normal pace because Aid Station workers would comment on my good time. I need to work better at chatting less at aid stations, but it's hard, because I do know bunches of people, and most of them I haven't seen in months. Maybe I need to go run up north with them so I can socialize then and just focus on the race.

Although not as hot and humid as last year, it was still hot. I was carrying a handheld and another bottle at my waist. I couldn't seem to drain both bottles between aid stations, kind of unusual for me. As a result, I was not having to pee so much. I kept trying to work on that, monitoring my hands swelling and taking my Succeed caps on schedule.
The orange loop followed the green section this year, and I headed down to the Grist Mill at the heat of the day. It was nice to have to the new trail section created for us, to keep runners off Route 3 during the day and night. I found Wendy at the Grist Mill and dropped my stuff with her, since the small loop behind the Grist Mill is 7/10 of a mile. I ran that in 11 minutes, checked over the meager food at the Aid Station. I saw a 1/2 eaten burger and thought, wow burgers!! Nope. Someone had a little stand selling burgers. I remarked to my friend Frank that I wasn't carrying my credit card with me, so I made due with some Ensure and ClifShot Bloks, yummy lunch there, picked up my stuff and headed out again.
This section of the orange takes you along the river, back to the Covered Bridge, where you ford the river. I tried my Tom Jennings Crossing Gear, but I either got a hole in them, or the water spilled over, so I knew I was going to have to sit at the Covered Bridge and do the sock/shoe change.
I was about ready to leave when Andrew came in and said hello to him. I headed out on the blue loop, the prettiest part of the race.
There were no other runners in front or behind me, so I missed the usual incredulous comments about running (actually hopping over rocks and the stream, climb over logs) up to Little Lyons Falls. I had to share the climb up with a tourist who was coming down; we had an impasse for a minute and then I just climbed up around him. Was he running a race that day??? I stopped in the real restroom at the dam to fill up my water bottles again; I knew I was going to be on about one mile of road, uphill, so I had tied my bandanna around my head and dumped a bottle of water on it to cool me down. Andrew ran by as I was filling bottles at the water fountain, and I yelled if he needed more water, here was a spot, but he waved and continued on. I followed him and quickly caught up to him as we started the long uphill. Andrew is from Alabama and Mohican had more hills than he had expected. We chatted all the way up the hill, dodging inconsiderate drivers. We turned back onto the trail, which, since we climbed the hill, now we descended the hill down to Big Lyons Fall. It was nice to run with someone new (apparently I am not new to Andrew, since he reads my blog yet leaves no comment love!!!) and we were getting along great. I don't think Andrew was eating/drinking enough and tried to encourage him to do so. He started making sounds about stopping at Covered Bridge, and I got my stuff ready as I watched him sit down and get his stuff together. Andrew said he was just going to sit in the shade for awhile, and I told him, if you stay here, you know what was going to happen. I know he was dehydrated and had too much sun, but I wanted to coax him along as much as possible. He still was saying he was going to sit in the shade as we crossed the road and started up the red section hill.
Now maybe this was a bit mean of me, but I didn't tell him what a big hill the first climb is. I tried to distract him with chatter about the trail. He still managed to notice how tall the climb was.
Somewhere after the top of the hill he told me to go on, so I reluctantly left him. Then he caught up to me as I stopped for a potty break at the side of the road, and we ran and walked along together. I told him it was only 2.5 miles to Bridle Staging Area. Around here Tom caught up to us, and I tried to keep my swelled head on the trail as the two of them showered me with compliments. (That's actually a really nice way to run, with two men saying how wonderful you are!) I stopped for a potty break at Bridle, and Andrew again said to go on without him. Wendy gave me a slice of pizza as I went by, and then a woman popped out of a van and asked me if I had ever gotten my hamburger. I said no, and she gave me a McDonald's cheeseburger! This was Frank's wife, and she rocks!!!
So I got into the aid station with all this food I mooched along the way, it was hilarious. Andrew tried a bite of pizza, then refused it when we dropped it on the ground. I took a bite though! We started out on this section together and he again told me to go on, so I did. I knew he would get to Rock Point and probably drop, and that was too bad, but he wasn't sure he could do the Red and Orange Sections again at night.
As soon as I left Andrew, I had a serious bonk. I started having negative thoughts, didn't feel good, wasn't running so much. I tried to get away from the thinking and concentrate on where I was on the trail. I ate more and drank more, but was still rather dispirited. My Tom Jennings water crossing gear failed at the third water stop, I think I sprung a leak. Oh well, that was fine. I had a blister on the side of my heel I needed to bandage so I might as well change socks.
I get to Rock Point and sit down and do the tedious wipe off the feet and dry them, and then figure out how to tape them. I should have brought more tape. As I finishing up, I really must have done that section slowly, because Andrew caught up to me at the Aid Station. And ladies, maybe this is southern manners, because Andrew sat down in the dirt at my feet and helped me put my socks and shoes back on! I haven't had any Yankee men do that for me! I felt I could sit there and chat more with Andrew, but I knew I needed to get down the trail. So I told him I would see him in the morning, and started back down the green section.
I think this is where my bonk on the red, and the blister first aid, and googling at Andrew, cost me a bit of time. I had lights in my drop back at the Fire Tower-about nine miles away. None at Rock Point. It was heading toward evening, but I thought I would be fine to get to the Fire Tower.
I checked through South Park Aid Station and started on the next 4.5 miles. It was now getting dark. This is where it helped me to know the trails so well. I ended up running/walking these miles in the dark, no lights. My own damn fault. I should have put a light in the drop bag at Rock Point, for just in case. I know I slowed way up walking/jogging my way through here in the dark. I was proud though, I never got off trail once, never fell.
I hit the Fire Tower Aid Station and kind of surprised them when I strolled in without a light.

Miles 61 through 75

Mike had my lights all ready to go at the Fire Tower. I had some soup, got some more to go, and Mike introduced me to Christian. Christian had just signed up for the Burning River 100 for his first 100 (and first ultra!)and had just driven up from Columbus to spectate. Of course, Mike had chatted him up and asked if I minded if Christian paced with us over to the Covered Bridge. Hey,fine with me. The more pacers the merrier.
When we got to the Covered Bridge, I had the podiatrist treat my blisters. I had one on the side of each heel, and the podiatry student seemed to spend a long time working on them. I really expected just some tape wrapped around them, but they popped them, and cleaned them. We must have spent some time there because Mike was a little anxious to get me out of there. While I sat, I ate soup and drank Coke.
It was a bit tough getting out of the chair. Not mentally, just physicially, that stop had locked up my quads a bit. However, I knew we had the big climb up the hill and that would help.
We were now pushing the cut off for the Hickory Ridge Aid Station. We did lots of walking, a little shuffling. It was tough on me because I knew exactly where I was, and how far to HR. I know Mike was frustrated because he didn't know how far to HR. I noticed the foliage change as we got close and Mike grabbed my water bottles to go ahead. He asked me if I needed anything besides water earlier, and I said no, so he instructed me that we were just to blow through HR, give them my number and go on. Like I said before, I do take directions very well out on the trail. Every time Mike said try to run I did. (Now, it may not have looked like a run!!)
I think we hit HR with a five minute cushion due to watches not being all that coordinated which was fine. We headed back out toward Campground A, and I finally stopped to pee. I had been wanting to for some time, and couldn't afford the stop. In fact, I must have finally gotten rehydrated, because I was peeing every two miles it seemed (after not being able to for the first 18 hours of the race!).
I noticed my light was getting dim, and looked for the batteries I picked up at the Covered Bridge Aid Station. Well, it turned out they were not there. In the business at CB, they must have gotten stashed back in the drop bag. Again, that was my fault for not checking through all my stuff before leaving. I did not let it upset me, because really, what could I do about it? It ended up being a non-issue, because my light was still sufficient, and I had two pacers with lights with me.
While mentally I was still with it, most of the time, my quads were getting very tight. Mohican is a very hilly course. The downhills were becoming quite painful to descend. And the last two miles to Campground A are downhill, I think I was just tiptoing down through there. When we got to the bottom, Mike asked if I could run a 10 minute mile. I think I said something like, "well, I could." And I'm not sure if I vocalized the rest of the statement, which was, maybe not tonight!
Mike kept talking and trying to keep me going. I know he was terribly frustrated to get me moving. I felt bad for him, but I could not communicate that at the time. And I was moving, but not at a good speed!
We hit the new section of trail toward the Grist Mill. I didn't look at my watch because I didn't want to know. I got to the Grist Mill and looked at the Aid Station Captain and asked how I did. He said I was right at cut off. I dropped my waist pack and ran off across the wooden bridge for the0.7 mile loop up the side of the hill. As I got to the stairs, I saw my light was even more dim. So I turned and hollered at Mike "I need a better light than this!!!" Poor Mike, he just ran over and handed me his light, and I went on.
This actually is the funny part. Mike and Christian, not knowing the course out here, thought I was going to the restroom. I head out of the course, wondering why they aren't going with me, but figure since it's less than one mile, they were letting me do it by myself. Mike and Christian started eating at the aid station, waiting for me, then finally asked a volunteer if the bathrooms were in the direction I headed. The volunteer said no, that was the course!! So Mike and Christan ran uphill to catch back up with me.
There was a 12 minute allotment to run the 0.7 mile loop here. I had run it earlier in the day in 11 minutes. So I was pretty sure I was not going to make the time cutoff. But I wasn't going to NOT attempt it. They could time me out of the race I wasn't going to stop without running the little loop. (This little loop is probably the most unpopular section of this race.)
When we got back down, I looked at the Aid Station Captain and asked how I did. He looked at his watch and said I didn't make it.


I'm a happy little DNFer aren't I? Mike, me, and Christian at 75.6 miles.

Short Version For now

DNF timed out at Grist Mill, hour 23,mile 75, did not make the time cut off. I am perfectly fine with that. I had a great run and made a couple of personal race management planning issues that cost me my time cushion. I will write about those later-I am not making excuses, but I think if I explain what happened maybe it will help out someone else.
Other than not finishing the race, I had a simply wonderful weekend. I got to see old friends, ran with new friends, people told me that they read my blog. I think I am going to turn on the anonymous comment thingy so if you don't want to register for blogger you can comment. Tell me who you are people!!
I got to witness many of my friends meeting their goals of both running the 50 miler and the 100 miler. I was very touched by how many people asked me how my race went on Sunday, they were so personally interested in how I did. I had two great pacers, Mike and Christian who did their best to coax a little run out of very tight quads. I think I hit the last two cutoffs before the end with minutes to spare.
And last but not least, I fell in love with the most gorgeous eyes I have ever seen.

More later. Some pizza and wine await.

How Cool is This???

I get my personal own cheer written out in trail markings!! Thanks for the great message Mike, and thanks for marking the trail today!

Race Advice from the bloggers

From the Trail Goat:
) Never give up. Never Surrender.

2) When things get really bad.....take care of your body with food and meds and get back out there. You can have an incredible turnaround in a relatively short period of time.

3) Put you head down and run like hell in the last 10 (20?) miles.....pain will be secondary to your improving time and you will eat up real estate at the end.

4) Go out relatively conservative (and smartly) early on.

5) No matter how bad you feel.....you can turn it around and do your best toward the end. "It never ever always gets worse"

6) Don't over train AND taper well....your base is well established and you will be better off rested than running a lot up to the race even though you may think you are not in the best of shape. Muscle memory is there for those who have run a lot over the years.

From the Cool Running Ultra Forum:
Relax and enjoy the adventure.
Walk EVERY hill
No stopping- always keep moving forward.
No turning back- always keep moving forward.
Hydration is key- drink one bottle of Accelerade per loop
make sure to urinate frequently.
No wasting time at the aid stations. In and out quickly.
Only sit down if there is a foot problem.
No discussion of not finishing.
Set small goals and move towards each one. Then do it again.
Eat food along the course. See attached list.
Take one salt tablet each loop.
Pacer to do my thinking for me.
Keep ahead of issues/problems.

to monitor-
-chaffing
-blisters, treat immediately!
-swelling of fingers/toes. Electrolyte imbalance.
-changing to dry shoes/socks.
-dry shirt.

Miles 66-69 are supposed to be most difficult mentally.
Never ask how I am feeling. We know how I’ll be feeling, now let’s think positive!
Keep me on pace. Do the math and be honest as to where we are.
Make sure pacer takes care of himself too.

Relax and enjoy the adventure.
Take lots of photos.
Change clothing for night run ahead of time as required.
Decide when we will need to take the flash lights.
Use espresso beans for a quick jolt in the middle of the night.
Absolutely NO quitting until we
Walk for ½ hour
Stop and sit for ½ hour
Discuss this and are in agreement that it’s impossible.

Always a classic from John M:
Some odds and ends


Believe in yourself--nothing else will get you to the finish line.



Decide before you start what will stop you--if that doesn't happen, you continue.



Are you racing or running? Time goal (sub-24, big buckle, age group) or running to finish. Don't let the initial goal be etched in stone. Something may go wrong out there--adjustments will need to be made. Make them and keep going.



Run your plan. Stay within your realm. Don't feel bad if someone passes you. Don't chortle with glee if you pass someone. Keep a sense of what you are about. Keep pressing on, maybe it is one of those good days when you pick it up and keep on picking it up.



Have faith in walking. Walk when you need to or when you want to, but walk with purpose...no trudging...no survival shuffle...keep a good mindset and walk with a purpose.



Be sure your crew (if you have one, a crew is not a necessity) understands that you might go through a transition from nice person to "not so nice" person. Have a talk with them about the need to kick your butt back out on the course. Sympathy may exist, but not to the extent of shortchanging the runner.



Problems. Is it a problem or just an inconvenience? Decide which. Find a solution for the problem. Block out the inconvenience.



Food. Stick with the safest food there is at the aid stations. Use as much of your own stuff as you can, but don't be inflexible about things not being just perfect. Be flexible as you go.



Equipment. If some equipment change comes into your head--is it a need or a want. If it is a need, solve it at the next crew or drop bag point. If it is a want and can't be fixed fairly easily, drop the thought--keep



Throwing up, vomiting, coughing the cookies...it may happen even if it has never happened before. It is not fatal. It is an inconvenience. You need more water between the point it happens and the next aid station (it does dehydrate). Drink more. Stay at the next aid station long enough to drink and eat more. Your body is now low on fuel and water. You must pay attention to eating more. You can restore the liquids fairly quickly, but you must eat every chance you get. Try not to throw up on anyone :| .



Don't stop. Keep moving. Low points will come, continued movement will bring you back around. Don't sit in those chairs unless you really need to--you will not really need to until somewhere past 80 miles.



Be encouraging to others. Smiles and laughter will be helpful to others. Helping others will be helpful to yourself.



Smile and joke with the aid station folks and say thank you to the volunteers. They will help you all through the day and night and...be good to them. They are a great source of energy and inspiration donating all that time to get us through our little escapade.



No externalizing of negatives. No, "Hot out here, ain't it?" No, "This is a long hill, eh?" Just believe in yourself, all that training, all those folks you ran with throughout the winter, spring, and summer that got you so strong.



It's all there...yours for the taking.



Run gently out there.

Hello from Nashville

Just checking in on the cyber cafe at the convention. I got 40 minutes on the ellpitical on Sunday before the meetings started. The Opryland hotel is beautiful, and the workout area awesome. I wanted to go crazy with a nice long workout, that's what happens when I have plenty of time on my hands...but no, I am in a taper and limited!
I ran two miles on the tread this morning, more to work out breakfast that anything else. I felt I was breaking my legs out of a mold to get them supple for running again.
I did stretch well after both workout sessions. I got a swim in on Saturday, when I arrived--not like a real excercize swin, just paddling around for fun. I'm trying really hard to taper people!
I am getting plenty of sleep, since these meetings don't start til 9am every morning-heck half the day is gone by then!
This last Saturday was a strange day to get through, because mainly I kept looking at my watch and saying to myself "In one week you'll be running." Then I would periodically look at my watch (especially at the pool) and say "yep, you would still be running..." Well, of course that kind of freaked me out too!

I checked the weather for Loudonville and it's predicting a high of 86 degrees. So much for my theory of "it simply can't be as hot as it was last year"!!!

Well, I am to the exhibitor hall and then I am going to go chill out by the pool.

Good Bye for Now

I am leaving in the morning for a business trip to Nashville. I will be staying at the Gaylords Opryland Hotel which I believe is a really nice resort hotel. On Tuesday, I have the option of golfing/going behind the scenes at the Grand Ole Opry/riding a riverboat. I believe I will stay behind and chill (and/or) drink beer at the outside pool. I plan on getting a few treadmill or elliptical workouts in to combat some dinners people will be supplying to me, plus a little more workout in the pool and some whirlpool relaxation. I will then be flying back home on Wednesday, for a full day at home before leaving for Mohican on Friday.
Of course, my nephew left us a voice mail informing us that the Mohican plans doesn't work for him. After all, he needs to go to Rocky Horror (Picture Show) at midnight on Saturday. So maybe I can work my 100 mile race schedule around him somehow.
SO it sounds like I am back to my own devices for Mohican again.

Drop Bags

Drop Bag contents:

First Aid
Elastic tape
Scissors (small cheapies)
Baby wipes
Drugs: Ibuprofen, Tums, Imodium, Pepcid

Small towel to wipe feet off with
Socks
Shoes (in two different drop bags)
Plastic bag to ditch nasty shoes into
Garbage bag big enough to wear if weather turns cold & wet
Adrenalin Energy Drink
Ensure to drink
More snacky food: extra ClifblocK Shots, Payday bars, Cracker Jack

That is about the basics. In some of my bags I will have my lights, and extra batteries.
I will have extra batteries stashed in drop bags ahead in case mine start dying.
I will have a pair of old prescription glasses and spare contacts in a drop bag at the
Covered Bridge, in case my contacts start acting up. I will have a long sleeved shirt at
The Fire Tower, where it might start getting dark on me, in case the weather cools down. (I will
Add more clothes if needed as I know the final weather forecast right before we leave.) I will
Also bring a pair of knit gloves in case the weather gets cold at night. My iPod will be in a drop bag somewhere.

Run Today

What a spectacular run. This was my 11 miles, around the block. It was 64 degrees and overcast just perfect for running. I even endured my first two miles on the road in an irie mood due to considerate drivers and good music on the iPod. I ran by the alpacas, said hi, ran by the house with 17 dogs chained up who all barked at me, hiked up the steep hill, ran down the other side of the hill. When I hit my short section of state route, it sprinkled a bit of rain on me, with the sun shining. I knew if I turned around I would see a rainbow.
As I started back on my nice dirt country backroad, hiking up the same ridge on a different road, I looked out at the spectacular greenness. The lush trees, the beautiful green fields. I felt so lucky to live where I do-I need to remember that.
When I started down my last flying downhill (and I felt like I was flying) I felt powerful and good and strong. I thought to myself, I need to remember this feeling, reel in this memory at Mohican about 3 am, remember the nice flying downhill and the endorphin rush I was feeling.
All is good in my kingdom tonight.

Winding Down

The training season is winding down rather quickly now. It's with a twinge of sadness that it is almost over. The training is the thing; the race is just the celebration at the end. I need to go out for two runs this week, on my regular little training jaunts on the country roads to close the circle, visit the hills and farms for the last time, say goodbye to the dogs that I encounter. Note how tall the corn is right now. Because I won't be back for a few weeks. Or maybe more. There will be a little bit of down time after the race, I want to focus on losing some weight, make sure I get up to NEO and get some runs in on the BR course.

Today I went to the gym, did the elliptical, then hopped on the stairmaster. My kneecap had the same little twinge, but today I wasn't a wimp about it and just focused on the climbing. Each time it got tough I imagined being on different sections of the Mo Trail..climbing up the hill on the Green, kim, where the bike/bridle path intersects, it's steep..and then later...this is Big Hill, less than 1 mile from the finish line after topping Big Hill.

The gym owner tried to talk to me while I was on the elliptical but I had the iPod cranked up too high..and started giggling when I noticed him, since I was listening to an incredibly old song but very cool to work out/run to, Boz Scaggs "Lido Shuffle." He couldn't believe what an endorphin rush I was having, just sweating on the elliptical and listening to music-hey man, I was there!

Drop Bags

I had some nice down time today so I started packing my drop bags for the Mohican 100 Trail Race. I know it seems like way in advance, but I leave for a convention in Nashville on Saturday, and will return home on Wednesday. So that would leave me Thursday to do final organization, as we will be going to Mohican early Friday morning. And I like knowing what I have in my drop bags.
I have five drop bags. They will be at:
Rock Point (at mile 10 and 52)
Covered Bridge (you hit the CB aid station 4 times at least)
Bridle Staging Area (twice)
Grist Mill (twice)
Fire Tower (twice).

I looked over the sequence of the run, and the water crossings. I looked at runners times to see about when I would be hitting darkness. I made a list of what would be needed in each drop bag-some are just duplicates, like tape for feet, babywipes, Ensure, Adrenalin energy drink, first aid supplies. Other bags will have my lights in them, with a long sleeve shirt for nighttime. I will have to wait until closer to race time to look at weather conditions, to see if clothing will be needed.
Helpful tip: I pack everything in plastic bags. All my extra socks-in each drop bag! are in plastic sealed bags. So is my long sleeved shirt. All my food goodies are in plastic bags. That way, if it is raining, your socks to change into will be dry.
I also have a small towel in each drop bag. If I need to tape feet, it's kind of impossible to do with wet sweaty feet. I have my baby wipe to clean off with, and a towel to dry off with. (Towels are also in plastic bags.)
I will be dropping my iPod into a drop bag also. I don't normally run trails with my music, but I have realized how valuable stimulation is during an ultra. Specially after XX miles. So I am creating a new play list for Mohican, trying to add songs that haven't been on my iPod, keeping my favorites of course. I am now open for suggestion for new tunes for the iPod!!

Mountain Bike 100 Volunteer Report

I woke up at 6 am, after getting to bed around midnight...I stretched and didn't move...kind of nice to be at a race and not be off.
Nick, Reg, and I had two duties. Proof a bit of trail that had signs stolen last year during the race, then go play race marshall on an intersection. The proofing was quick then we headed out to find the intersection..
Which was interesting, because I knew exactly what intersection we were headed for. The mountain bikers have their own trail. For this race, they hop off the mountain bike trail for small mileage on the bridle trail. Well, these two courses intersect. So we had bikers going out on the mountain bike trail, they would loop around and then head downhill on the bridle trail.
The problem was, while we knew exactly where this was in trail terms, we weren't quite sure what road we were looking at. But we found it, did the quick hike up a brutal hill, and took our spots about five minutes before the pros came through!


It was a fun few hours. With this intersection, it helped that I looked uptrail one way, while Reg watched the intersecting trail. We had to play traffic cop numerous times to make sure riders yielded the right of way. Bikers were very courteous and always saying thank you, that was very nice.
We saw the elite go through and watched them float effortlessly downhill. As time went on, the middle crew and the back of the pack took the downhill much more cautiously that the front riders. This was very cool to see all the different riding styles out there. Some guy was riding the race in denim jeans--we all wondered what his story was. There had to be a reason he was in that garb.
Nick ran backwards along the biker trail to report that we had the last rider in front of us. I then went for a run on the loop to meet up with the last few folks still riding and see where the last biker was. I really enjoyed this mountain bike section. I think, after Mohican 100 Trail Race, we need a group run on the mountain bike sections to see how enjoyable they can be.
I got back to Nick and Reg, and they told me the last two bikers had come through, so we called Ryan (one of the pluses of being on the top of a ridge, the cell phone actually worked) the RD and told him we were heading back to Camp Nuhop. I enjoyed my race marshalling; I may have to volunteer for this post again and bring a few others.
Once back at Camp Nuhop we had to sit and hydrate and sample the Sierra Nevada keg that had just been opened...and cheer on the 100K riders coming in. It is always fun sitting on the other side of the finish line cheering on folks. One of the 100K biker dudes, who finished in the top 10, (may have been 6 or so) ran across the finish line. He had ran the last 4.5 miles in because his bike was broken!!! What a way to finish! And he must have been one of the fast bikers, to finish that high, with a run to end his race!
We left around 3pm, even though most of the riders weren't out there. It was kind of interesting to see bikers after the end of their 100 mile race-they weren't so trashed mentally and physically after 100 miles like us runners are-they looked ready and willing to drain that keg of beer and maybe some more!!

Night Run on the Orange Loop

I finally got my night training run completed!!

Regis and I arrived at Mohican late afternoon. We checked out the new section of course for the Grist Mill area, then Reg convinced me to run the 3/4 mile loop (which goes uphill and then comes downhill)...funny, the hill didn't seem so steep anymore.
We then headed over to Camp Nuhop which was the HQ for the other Mohican 100 Race the mountain bike trail race! We got our volunteer duties for Saturday morning, proof part of the trail early on Saturday, to make sure signs weren't stolen, and marshall a crucial intersection of where biker meets biker.
That being done, nothing left to do but go for a little night run..
We started at the Campgrounds and ran along the river. It was still light out here, so no lights were needed. It wasn't until we had turned onto the mountain bike section where total darkness fell and we needed the lights.
I dropped back a little behind Nick and Regis. I wanted to get the full effect of being alone in the woods, where I wouldn't have the runner in front of me light.
First thing I noticed was a reduced pace. There is added concentration of focusing on the trail. The Orange Loop is the most technical, with roots and rocks along the way.
The second item I noted was a reduced perception in the trail. People, I know the orange loop. And some of now seemed rather unfamiliar to me in the darkness.
The third item was a distorted perception of distance. Some sections seemed shorter, others seemed farther away. I was still able to guage the turn off to the Hickory Ridge Aid Station rather successflly when I noticed the foliage change.

But then the fog hit!! (Actually it hit as soon as hit the ridgeline.) This was crazy!! It was hard to see one foot past your own foot. It made the going even slower.

With the slower pace, and the downhill on the ridgeline, which I normally just love to fly down, I found myself breaking much more. This took a toll on my quads. I also think my stride shortened up too. This was tiring me out much more than a normal stroll along the orange loop.
I took a good spill on the orange. Whuuumpph!!! Went the body. Was I ok? Yep, just got the breath knocked out of me. But it made me run a little more cautiously. I think I was down to a shuffle out there.

We finished the night loop of the orange in about 4 hours-13 miles in 4 hours. Not too bad. This was a great learning experience. I learned how to use my light (once I turned it from upside down) and that maybe a hand held torch could come in handy with fog out there. I am going to need to double Adrenalin and get some calories in for this section; this was tough and tiring at night. This is the most technical section that we will hit at night. The next section after this is the Red, which is on a wider jeep road for the most part.

Trail Conditions: Orange is in great shape. Nice and dry out there.

It's Hot out There!!

Just goofing off this morning before I leave for Mo this early afternoon. I slept in til 7am...well I didn't get out of bed until 7am, dogs poking you in the head with their paw doesn't make it conducive to sleeping.
I took the dogs to the pond for swimming and then we hiked around the estate. It was already hot and humid at 9am. It's going to be a nice hot late spring day!
I'm looking forward to a kind of unstructured day. It will be fun to not to have to be at Point A by a certain time, then have to hurry home again. Saturday or Sunday I will have some pics to post.
Good luck with another Dam 50K Josh and Mike! Stay hydrated out there!