Highs and lows of 100-miles

Meandering Thoughts of a Wandering Strider

            It has been a while since I have written anything about my adventures.  It also has been a while since I have had success in running a 100-mile race.  I tried to run the Mohican 100 in Ohio last summer, but was forced to withdraw early due to a swollen right knee.  Very disappointing, but in hindsight, it was probably a good thing to do.  Attempting to continue could have put me on the shelf for a very long time.  So I was very amped to be trying to complete another 100-mile run.

            Running 100 miles, for me, has been a mostly warm weather test.  But running 100 miles in cold weather turned out to be a different animal or beast in this case, the Beast of Burden 100/50-mile races.  The race is held in Lockport, NY, which is located about 5 miles east of Buffalo.  I left on Friday morning with the ride there taking about 8 hours and I arrived early enough to be able to get plenty of rest, especially since the race did not start until 10 am on Saturday.  Since I did not really know what to expect as far as weather, I brought pretty much all of my cold weather gear and two gym bags to divide it equally into.

            The racecourse is run entirely alongside the Erie Canal, on a loop course.  There are three aid stations, one on each end of the course and another at about the halfway mark.  It is 12.5 miles out and 12.5 back, meaning that as a 100-mile runner, I had to do the loop 4 times.   I would be leaving one of the gym bags at the start/finish and sending the other bag out to the turn around site.  The forecast called for temperatures in the low 20’s during the day and single digits overnight.  So each bag had multiple winter shirts, running jackets, clean socks, shorts and even wind-briefs.  Piling everything up on the couch in my hotel room Friday night, I wondered if I would even need most of the gear that was in each bag.

            Sleeping the night before one of these races has always been a trial for me, with my mind going over everything that might happen once the race starts.  This time was different; possibly because of the starting time being later in the morning.  I slept pretty good, sleeping until about 7 am, leaving me plenty of time to get dressed and put everything into the car for the short trip to the starting line.  I have been trying a new way of consuming my daily food, eating only for 8-hours during the day and fasting for 16-hours.  In order to eat with my wife in the evenings, I do not eat until 10 am most everyday and have my last caloric intake sometime around 6 pm.  This is supposed to help train the body to process fat better and prevent getting things such as diabetes, heart disease and even cancer.  I am not sure about the prevention part and I do know that it can be a trial sometimes, mostly in the morning, but one thing I have noticed is that I have been losing weight at a greater rate than I normally do while training for something like this.  So one of the things on Saturday morning that I had to do was make two peanut butter and strawberry jam sandwiches that I could take with me so that I could eat one when we started. 

            Pulling into a parking space just before 9 am, I took in the misleading bright sunshine and hoping that it planned on sticking around for the better part of the day.  Temperatures were about 10°F with a light wind out of the north.  People were milling around the tent that was set up next to the restrooms, with volunteers waiting for runners to sign in, get their numbers and receive the swag that they get just for signing up.  Once most runners got their numbers, they disappeared back into their vehicles to absorb the warmth provided by their car heaters in anticipation of the cold times ahead.  Of course, this is also what I did.  I had my last minute gear to put on and then I took my bags from the truck, depositing one in the tent and the other one into the open trunk of a car for transport to the far aid station.  Then it was back into my truck for about 15 minutes of warmth.

            The 50-miler and the 100-miler both start at the same time.  I was told that that approximately 130 people were at the start for both races.  We started on the south side of the canal, headed west for about 1 mile, crossed a bridge over the canal and headed east along side the canal on the tow path.  Description of the course: FLAT!  There is some very gentle undulations along the course, but it does not make any difference in the altitude gain or loss.  There was about 3” of snow on the path, most of which was smoothed out by snowmobilers who were illegally driving their machines on the path.  For us runners, it help out quite a bit, smoothing out the irregular surface left by cross-country skis and footprints left by people walking themselves or their dogs on the path. 

            I started out toward the back of the pack, figuring that the 50-mile people would be running at a quicker pace than what I would be.  Turns out that I was wrong, as I ran with a couple of 50-milers for quite a bit of the first loop.  My pace actually quickened, which was commented on by one of the guys, Ed, who was running the 50 as a way of getting in a marathon in New York (this was to be his 31^st state to run a marathon in).  He was wondering if I planned on running the whole 100 miles at the pace we were going.  My reply was that it was a beautiful day, I love to run and I was just enjoying the opportunity to do so, but that I would most likely be slowing down later on. 

            The aid stations and the volunteers that were working them were fantastic.  Although in hindsight I spent way too much time in each one, the helpfulness of the volunteers, the food that was available and, dare I say it, the warmth that washed over us once inside, made for good reasons to tarry a bit each time.  I probably could have cut off well over an hour from my time if I had shortened my stays to five minutes instead of the 15 or so at each turnaround and the 10 minutes or so at the middle station.  But the race volunteers and all those people who work very hard to put this race on did a fantastic job to ensure that the runners would safely be able to circumvent the distance.  Entering each aid station, the first thing I reached for was a cup of Mountain Dew.  I do not normally drink soda (at all), but during a race like this, the caffeine and the sugar work in tandem with the solid foods that I also ingested to allow me to continue to run.  Next, it was one half of a PB&J, a cup or two of chicken broth, chicken noodle soup or lentil soup, water and a cup of HEED (replacement drink).  At the far turn around, they were also able to provide dill pickles!  Love it!  Later on, they all provided hot grilled cheese sandwiches and pizza.  I decided not to attempt the pizza, but everything else worked out great.  All the while I was absorbing the warmth provided by the heavy-duty heaters and the volunteers concern for my and every other runner’s well being. 

            The first loop was my best and worst of the four.  I ran the whole thing, stopping only at the aid stations.  I had worn two polypropylene shirts, with a Camel Back designed to sit next to the skin outside the first shirt (can’t have the water freeze up-it worked great), a light wind jacket, a dickie, hat, shorts, wind briefs, tights, light pair of gloves and a pair of Gore-Tex mittens with hand warmers stuffed into them.  The major problem that I had on the first loop was that the tights were not heavy enough to prevent the muscles in my legs from getting tight and sore.  I also realized that I would not be able to sustain running the entire loop each time, so I had to consider working in walk breaks.  I completed the first loop of 25-miles in about 4 ½ hours, which if I could have sustained that would give me a PR for the distance.  I did not even contemplate that at the time, knowing how I was feeling after the first 25 miles. 

            The race officials insist that each runner take his or her headlamp with them when they start their second loop and that they have a full-face ski mask to lessen the chance of getting frostbite in the cold.  I wore a different Camel Back pack without the bladder on the outside of my coat, which held my headlamps, Gu packets, extra batteries for the headlamps, cell phone and my camera (only for a little while).  I changed my shirts at the start/finish turnaround, but kept the same jacket since it was still daylight (we lost the bright sunshine early in the day, with it making brief appearances over the course of the day) and I was comfortable.  I also put on a pair of wind pants over the tights (what an incredible difference, making the difference between finishing comfortably and finishing in pain).  Off I went on the second loop, running between bridges or running between mile markers and then walking for two minutes.  The 50-milers that I had been running with fell back (very surprised about that) and from this point until the end, I ran pretty much by myself.  I wore sunglasses during the day with no problems and by the time I reached the turnaround, the darkness was beginning to creep in, necessitating a change to clear-lens glasses.  I also exchanged the light jacket for a jacket with a liner and put on the full-faced mask as the temperature was dropping and my face felt uncomfortable at times.  The best part of this turnaround was the full moon that was rising with the coming night.  If you have never had the pleasure of running trails during a full moon, try it someday.  There is something so primal and enchanting about running in the full moon light, even on a groomed trail such as the towpath, away from the lights of the cities and towns.

            I never removed my headlamp from my backpack, preferring to run just by the moonlight.  Clouds moved in during the night, but there was so much light provided by the moon that the clouds did not diminish it much.  It got irritating meeting other runners coming from the other direction who did not share my enjoyment of the night and were using their sometimes (painfully) bright lights to see the trail.  But the number of runners was not that great and was diminishing as the night wore on.  As I worked my way toward the end of the second loop, I passed a lady who was running the 50-miler and in turn, the lead runner in the 100-miler, who was completing his third loop, passed me!  He looked like it was a run around the block, not showing any kind of strain from maintaining his pace.  I let the lady whom I had passed go in front of me and hung back to allow her to get due recognition for completing the fifty.  Once I got in, I changed shirts again, dawdled over the food and drink, got warm and then headed back out.  About halfway down to the bridge, I was once again passed by the lead runner, who commented that he was stiff from sitting.  He took the time to sit, spending more time in the tent than I did and even with that, he still ended up finishing in record time! 

            My third and fourth loops were much the same as the second loop.  It became easier to walk and to extend the walks, so on the fourth loop, I concentrated on keeping the walking period to two minutes or less, especially on the return.  I was looking forward to finishing.  Going into the turnaround, there was a noticeable light on the horizon and starting back to the finish from the turnaround, the sky was beginning to lighten all over.  By now I was wearing my heaviest jacket and had changed into the last two dry shirts that I had left.  Surprisingly, I had had no desire nor any need to change my shoes or socks.  The trail through the snow was very well marked, with everyone pretty much staying to the same path through the snow.  Even though I was anxious to be done, that still did not force me to move any quicker through the middle aid station when I came to it.  Everything had worked so well up to this point that I did not want to vary the routine, afraid that I would bonk trying to finish well.  Completing each loop was difficult as you could see the tent on the other side of the canal, but you still had to run approximately one mile to the bridge to cross to that side and then run back to the tent.  The last time was especially difficult, with me looking at the ice covering the canal and wondering if I could scramble down the side, if the ice would hold me and if I would be able to make my way to the top of the embankment to cut off the final 2 miles.  But I kept on chugging, finishing my run in 23 hours, 24 minutes, and completing my goal of finishing in less than 24 hours. 

            Normally the story would end here, after receiving my well-earned belt buckle from the race director.  But unfortunately, this one does not.  I returned to my hotel after stopping off to get some well-deserved beer and picking up a pizza that I was longing for, hopped into (okay, I gingerly stepped into) the tub to wash off the accumulated salt from my body so that I could take a shower without screaming in pain (chaffing is such a nasty thing).  Before I could take that shower, my body decided that enough was enough and I barely made it to the bed, where I slept for 3 ½ hours, tried to get up and fell back into bed for another hour, at which time I was able to start moving around, eat some pizza, sip some beer and climb into the shower.  I stayed the night and left about 7 am on Monday morning.  About 2” of snow fell overnight and the roads were slushy, but not bad.  I felt good, stopping about every hour and a half to two hours to move around, but the weather continued to be crappy.  I entered Massachusetts on the Mass Pike, still traveling well, but I made one mistake: I had shut off the 4-wheel drive to save money on gas.  On an uphill in the Berkshires, the truck hit a slick spot (probably ice, not sure), fishtailed a bit and headed straight for a bridge abutment, hitting it head on, catching a dry spot and flipping the truck on its’ side, sliding to a stop facing traffic.  No injury for me, but the truck was totaled.  Beating myself up has been my favorite pastime this week, but there is no changing what happened. 

            So an awesome high in finishing the 100-miler within my goal (I do not believe that I will be doing anything in the cold like that again) and a below the belt low in losing my truck.  My wife has told me that there will be no more adventures for me, although she needs to realize that the accident with the truck could have happened at anytime.  I guess I will have to work on her, although I probably will not be doing anything for a bit anyway. 

100-mile return

Last year, I turned fifty in May and started fretting about the fact that I had not done a hundred mile run in 8 years. Injuries played a major role in that. I was able to run some sort of ultra every year (except for last year), but every time I started looking into the possibility of a hundred, inevitably, I got injured. So last year, I decided to forgo an ultra and allow my body ample time to heal.

I had heard about an ultra festival in New Jersey through a friend, who had indicated that they were going to run in it. Actually, there were a few people who said they wanted to use the New Jersey Ultra Festival as their first ultra. By December, I was feeling pretty good and decided to sign up to run the 100-mile race. Training was on, with my goal for the race to be able to complete 100 miles in under 24-hours.

This winter was tough for long distance training. I like to be able to get out on the trails for my long runs, as the roads tend to beat me up. But with all the snow (and eventually ice), getting out on the trails was not something that I could do. I did get in some long runs on the roads (thanks to Katie and also to the Saturday Slugs), but not the ultra type of run that I like to have when doing a race like this. My feeling going into this race was that I was undertrained, but since I have done this before, I figured that I could use that to get myself through it.

Friday, March 18^th, I took the day off, ensured that I had everything packed that I might need and drove to Long Valley, New Jersey. My son, James, the weekend before, decided that he wanted to help me out as my crew. I picked him up from a train station in Netcong and proceeded to check in at a hotel. Originally, my intention was to camp at the start/finish area of the race. Looking at the long-range weather forecast, which called for rain on Saturday, helped me decide on warmth and comfort over saving a bit of money.

New Jersey Ultra Festival consists of five races, 100-mile, 100K, 50-miler, 50K and a marathon. The 100-miler start time was 4 am; the remaining races each started an hour apart with the longer races first. So, with some of the 80 other people who may need their heads examined, I was on the informal start line just before 4 am. The course is a twenty-five mile loop, basically shaped like a tee. The problem was, due to the permits required to run on the course, the race had to finish with the west part of the course first. So we had to run four loops of the 16-mile west loop, leaving the start/finish area and returning to the area at the end of each loop.

The temperature was comfortable, with the temps coming down from the beautiful seventy’s on Friday, to a sane 52 or so at 4 am. It was forecasted to stay in the 50’s all day Saturday and drop into the 40’s and high 30’s early Sunday morning, great weather for running distance. Leaving the starting area, we ran on a trail through a farm next door to the church that hosted the run. But then, we turned left onto the road and ran for approximately ½ mile plus before we turned right to get back on the trail. All I could think about was that I would have to run on that road each time I returned and each time I went back out. Yuck!

Leaving the road, we turned into a trail through a parking area. The trail is a part of the local park system and is an access point to the groomed trail system that we would be running most of the miles on. The access trail was probably the most technical part of our run, with water runoff creating gullies and a crappy area of sharp, pointed shale rock that was difficult to run over. The first loop, I wore my Vibrams and it was difficult navigating that rocky area in them. Once past the rocks, the course went over a falling apart concrete bridge, over some more rocks and up a hill where the runners turned left onto the west section of the racecourse.

My plan had morphed into possibly completing the 100-miler in less than 20 hours, as the course was relatively easy and even though I did not get the training in that I wanted to, I thought that I could do it. To finish in less than 20 hours, I needed to do 5 miles per hour or better. After the first loop, I was an hour and a half ahead of that goal. I hoped that I would be able to maintain this pace over the course of the entire run. I felt good at the turn around, although I had to wake James up, who was sleeping in the truck (3 am is very early for him). I needed to change out of the Vibrams and I had left the shoes I wanted to wear in a bag in the truck and not in my drop bag. I think I startled him a little, but not enough that he was not able to go back to sleep after I left.

The thing about the first loop was that it was dark the entire time. Once I got through the access trail and onto the main trail, the full moon lit up the trail. I turned off my headlamp and ran the trail using the moonlight. I loved it!! Unfortunately, a lot of other people that were running had to have their headlamps on and I got blinded when they were going in the opposite direction as myself. But that did not detract too much from my enjoyment of running a trail in the moonlight. I don’t get to do that too often and it helped make the run, especially as I did it again on the opposite end of the run.

I finished the second 16-mile loop and I was two plus hours ahead of the twenty hour pace, increasing my hope that I would be building enough of a buffer for later on if I hit the wall and slowed down considerably. By this time all of the other races had started and the trail was full of runners running to accomplish their goals. It was amusing trying to figure out if the runner who just blew by me was running one of the shorter distances (most likely) or one of the runners who I was competing against in the 100-mile race. The day was comfortable, with it being partly to mostly sunny, breezy and in the 50’s. Finishing up third 16-mile loop, still holding onto the two-hour cushion (see, I was already slowing down), I felt and looked pretty good. Yeah, I am critiquing myself with a positive spin.

This picture shows the access trail with me running in the return direction (going back to the start/finish is where most of the uphill is on the course).

Part of my goal starting the day was to finish the 4 16-mile loops while there was still daylight. I accomplished this with plenty of time to spare. One of the fun things about running distance races like this is that you meet up with runners from other areas of the country and get to spend some time (minutes normally) chatting with them. I hardly ever learn anyone’s name, but it is nice to talk with someone after running solo for a period of time. One lady was running in the dark with both a headlight and a hand-held flashlight. I had to ask her why she felt like she had to have both, especially since my light was off. She had never run a trail at night and had been unsure what she would need, so she decided to make sure she would not need anything (as far as lighting). There was a guy that was running the loops at the same time as myself and he was running faster than me, but when he reached the start/finish, he would spend 10-15 minutes there, stretching and relaxing. This would allow me to hit the start/finish, get what I needed and get out while he was still there. He would pass me each time. We did not talk much during the race, but afterwards, he was still at the finish line and he said that taking a break helped him in the long run, but he had to bust his ass on the last loop to meet his goal.

There was also a woman who I saw throughout the day who was ahead of me. She looked amazing, very strong and always with a smile on her face. Every time I saw her, I commented on how she looked. She was running like I wanted to be running, smooth and looking oh so effortless (I know that this is not true, but she made it look that way). I also saw her after I finished and I found out that she won the race overall! I had thought there was a guy who was in the lead, a very serious runner who did not respond to any of my chatter, but I was mistaken. The lady finished in 16 hours and 49 minutes and the first man finished in 17 hours and 5 minutes. An awesome run by both of them, but I always love it when a woman beats all the guys. It shows that running is a sport that men and women can and are equals, especially in the longer distances!

I finished the fourth 16-mile loop with plenty of daylight remaining, allowing me to forgo carrying the headlamp on my first 9-mile loop.

I was looking a bit more worn, but still running into the start/finish area. During this last 16-mile loop, the wind picked up and it got considerably cooler. By the time I finished my first 9-mile loop, I had put my jacket back on to keep myself comfortable. During that loop, the winner went past me on her third loop. I asked her if she thought that the 9-mile loop was long, as I had a hard time believing that it was only 4.5 miles to the turn around. She was not sure, but that since Rick, the co-race director, said it was 9 miles for the loop, it must be. I have to tell you, it sure did not seem that way to me. There is a parking area about ¼ mile before the turn around and as I came through it, I saw that James had brought the truck there, which was good, as I wanted to have some Gatorade that I had in a cooler. Unfortunately James was in the truck and did not see me run through. There was a group of guys who were waiting at their vehicle for their runner. They offered to knock on the window of the truck so James was waiting for me when I returned and I was able to get that drink I wanted.

After the first 9-mile loop, I started feeling out of sorts. I had drunk well during the day, drinking enough so that I was peeing at least once during my loops. But I also needed to continually eat and there really were not a lot at the aid stations that I was all that interested in eating. My appetite for food was disappearing and in an ultra race, that is not a good thing. I started slowing down considerably on the second 9-mile loop. By the time I finished that loop, I knew that the wheels were wobbling, getting to the point of falling off. Rick, the race director, told me that I was still on pace to finish in under 20-hours, but I knew that that was not going to happen. I was feeling lousy and needed to find something to refuel myself. They had finally made some soup, which I had before leaving the start/finish to head out on my third 9-mile loop. In hindsight, I should have been using my GU’s to keep me on an even keel, but I had been relying on what I found on the aid station tables. During the third 9-mile loop, I started having a GU every 30 minutes. I also walked a lot, running about 10 minutes and walking for 1-2 minutes. I lost all of the time I had built up as a cushion and then some. I started worrying that I would not make the 24-hour overall goal.

I have noticed that when I do the ultras, I seem to lose any ability to compute time based upon distance remaining. It has happened in my other 100-milers and when I ran a 70-mile trail race. I cannot seem to comprehend the calculations required to figure out how much more time it will take me to finish. The 24-hour time was never in danger, especially since the fourth and final 9-mile loop took me considerably less time to run than the third. Eating the GU allowed me to recover and I actually ran very well. Even though the wind was blowing at the start/finish area, on the trail, it was calm and with the full moon shining brightly on the trail, I ran comfortably that final loop to finish in 20 hours, 52 minutes (and 38 seconds, but the seconds really don’t matter).

While it would have been nice to finish in less than 20 hours, I am very happy with my finishing time. Being away from the 100-mile distance for nine years gave me a sense of trepidation, that I would not be able to duplicate my past accomplishments. I found out that I still could do what I love to do, which is to run distance. It is not always pretty and I seem to have issues with injury, but just getting out there seems to help. I am very glad that James came along!! I brought along my mountain bike, so that he could use it to meet up with me on the trail. It was much cooler than he expected so he only used it once, but it was critical to me as I had run short on ibuprofen and, although I do not use it exceedingly, it is very nice to have. It was good later on in the race, when I met up with a gentleman who was running the fifty-mile race and he was in considerable pain. I gave him a couple of the Advil that James had given me and tried to talk him into continuing (he still had one more 9-mile loop to do to get to fifty miles), but I believe he dropped out when he completed the lap he was on. But I would not have been able to help him if James had not helped me. He was cold and spent a lot of time in the truck to stay warm, but I was glad to have him with me. Plus and most important, he drove us back to the hotel and helped me hobble back to our room. It would have been fantastic if some of the people who had expressed an interest in running had been able to do so, but maybe next time.

The aftermath has been a bit painful. Normally, my legs are trashed after an ultra, but this course was pretty tame, so I had less muscle soreness than normal. But my feet are another story. They were swollen and it was painful to walk on them thru the following Wednesday. The major difference between this hundred-miler and the other ones that I have done is that this one is very runnable. There are very few spots where I would consider it acceptable to walk, especially late in the race. I felt guilty about thinking about walking, so I ran and ran and ran (slowly). I guess my feet did not have enough training on them to toughen them up for that and they have been slow to recover. That is okay; I wear that pain as a badge of pride for I accomplished my goal of completing another 100-miler. So, what should I do next?

New Beginnings

Time to train again, something to push me out the door. I signed up to run another 100 miler and I am getting excited about it. Of course, I am also excited about the fact that I am taking next semester off from school. Do I have any idea of which one I am more excited about? Not really.

Pam Dolan inquired about whether anyone was interested in running at the New Jersey Ultras in March. I have been pining to do another 100 miler and although this is not one that was high on my list (it actually did not even make my list), it is flat, on a loop course and looks easy; maybe not exactly bragging rights, but 100 miles is 100 miles. I have already started increasing my mileage and since it is on a dirt road, I am not too, too worried about running trails to get back into shape. I am looking forward to doing the training and to doing the run. In addition to Pam, Rosemary O. has decided that she is going to go down and run the 50-miler along with two of her friends. That will be cool to have some other people I know down there.

Ah, school. This semester is coming to a close, with the last week ending on 17 Dec. I do not have a lot of good things to say about the e-commerce class (very information intensive, but we are not supposed to delve too much into all that information for our papers), but I have enjoyed the Globalization course. But I am going to enjoy finishing up both the classes. I really hit a rough patch about three week back and fired off an email to the class advisers that I needed to take the next semester off to recharge my learning batteries. I have been so frustrated with the format of the school and how we have to complete our courses. I just completed a survey that the school sent out that inquires as to how satisfied I am with the school and the last question was, "Would I recommend the school to someone?" and I said maybe not. That may change after I come back in April, but I have to become satisfied with my learning. Right now, in the e-commerce course, I really do not think that I am learning anything, just going through the motions. I have lost the motivation to get excited about the content of the course.

Here's to taking some time off and getting some things done around my home, spending a bit more time with Carol and getting 6-7 days/week of running in for my training. It should be fun.

I am almost content right now. This could change very quickly, but right now, I am happy. My running is going well and all my parts are feeling good, with no pain in any of the areas that have been bothering me in the recent past. I have a day and a half before I begin my next two classes, so I want to enjoy this feeling while I have it. I was feeling so good these past three weeks with no classes and with my running that I decided to sign up for a race. It is a half-marathon trail race up near Albany NY that will be run on Halloween this year. From what I understand, the race staff go out of their way to make the race very enjoyable (scary?). I plan on running the race in my Vibrams. I just read in the Ultrarunning magazine about a runner who won a ultra trail race in Vibrams. As far as myself, I have no plans on winning the race, just a plan to finish with no major problems. Should be fun. Hopefully school will not stress me out this semester like the last one did, although have you seen the price of school books? The book for my e-commerce course is out of this world at $140.00. For one book!! Anyway, I will be working hard to keep my personal stress levels down this semester, making sure to get out at least three times a week for a run, at least once on the trails. Maybe I should write that down on the calendar.

It is fall, probably my favorite time of the year, especially for running. I like the cooler and colder weather for running, as I find it easier to warm up than to cool down. But that is not what this post is about. I have been absent from this forum and from most everything else except for work. My running has suffered, although it has helped me to recover from the various injuries that seem to haunt me. I started going to an on-line college in January of this year, working to attain a degree in Business Management. After the first two semesters of one class per, I started taking two classes this past semester over the summer. It pretty much limits how much extra time that I have. When I am not working, I am doing school work. I was able to carve out time to run maybe twice a week over the summer (and that was not guaranteed). I am currently enjoying four weeks between the summer semester and the beginning of the fall semester. This coming weekend is the last full weekend before classes begin anew. I find that, while I am looking forward to completing this journey, I am dreading the time that I will lose with my wife and the time that I will not have to find a trail to run on. After the fall semester, I have two complete years before I am done (as long as I continue to take two classes per). At my age, is it worth it? Time will tell.

Another new beginning

So again, I have been sidelined by an injury. This time I strained my right Achilles while running in the Ragnar Relay in May. I thought at the time that things were going well with rehabbing my left hamstring and that running Ragnar would be okay. Unfortunately the Achilles did not like the first leg that I had to run and running the second and third legs that I had to do did not make it any better. Actually, doing the two other legs made it worse, as anyone would expect and when I was finished, I was finished. Now it is almost two months later and I am very tentatively running again. The doctor gave me the green light four weeks ago. I ran a mile and a half, felt a twinge and shut it down. I walked back to where I started and did not try again for two weeks. So last Tuesday, June 28th, I ran four easy miles and everything felt pretty good. The heel was a little tight after the run so I did not run again until this past Monday. I ran for about 45-50 minutes while in Freeport, Maine and really enjoyed the run. Again, it was real easy and I did not push it at all. The real test was last night when I ran again. This time it was easy due to the excessive heat and humidity. I went six plus miles but I walked up the big hill just before the three-mile mark. Being as I have not been running in the heat, I think that I depleted everything in my body, but the Achilles felt good. I have been stretching it today and it still feels good. A good sign, but I will take off until Sunday when I will go for a run at the Bluff to see how it feels running on trails. I am heartened by how everything is going right now, but I am continually reminding myself that I need to pull back on my impulse to go crazy. For right now, I will keep on biking as much as possible and look for positive things each time I go for a run.

New day, same result

I did it again. I cannot seem to stop the avalanche of problems that seems to grow and grow each time I try to do something.
I ran in the Ragnar Relays this past weekend, starting the run at 11 am Friday morning at the library in Branford and running with my teammates to Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, MA. I ran three legs of the race, starting with the third leg Friday afternoon. I ran in my Vibram 5-fingers, thinking that this should be a good time to run easy in them. It was pretty warm by the time that I started but not so bad that it was oppressive. I actually enjoyed the temperature while I was running. Unfortunately my Achilles did not think it was so enjoyable. The leg was 6.8 miles long and by the time I got through 2.5 miles of that, I had a dull ache in the heel of my foot. It got worse. By the time I had finished, the pain was radiating up the back of my leg in my calf.
I strapped a cold pack on the foot and swallowed a couple of ibuprofen tablets and hoped for the best. My teammates were concerned whether I would be able to run again, but I told them not to worry, I would keep up my end of the bargain and still run my legs. I was also supposed to run another leg due to another runner having to drop out beforehand due to injury. I was not so sure about that one. I did not have to worry, since the team captain made an executive decision and took that leg away from me. It was a good thing that happened.
The second leg that I was running was 7.6 miles long. I did not wear the Vibram's, but instead wore a pair of shoes without the insoles. My leg started around 11 pm which was nice with a half-moon in the sky, mostly clear skies and comfortable temperatures. My heel hurt from the start, very painful in the heel and up into the calf. It took about half the run until I could figure out how to reduce the pain. I shortened my stride (about half of my normal stride) and it helped immensely! I was able to run the rest of the run pretty well, with the only problem being on the downhills, where my stride wanted to lengthen naturally. I just had to concentrate on keeping it short.
The third leg occurred at 6 am Saturday morning. What a beautiful morning for a run! It would have been that much better if I could have actually run normally. Nothing I did produced any relief from the pain. I had put some Sports Cream with heating on the heel before the run, I started running with a shorted stride right away and I had taken another couple of ibuprofen before the run. Nothing helped. The van with my teammates had parked at the half-way mark of the run (6.4 miles total) but just before I saw them, I had been telling myself that I was going to give it up when I did meet them and let someone else run for me, because the pain was that great. But when I crested the small hill and saw them parked there, the only thing that came out of my mouth was, "Nope, I am doing fine. See you at the end". Just like me, stubborn jackass! I could not let someone else finish something that I had started.
So I finished. I was cooked. The heel felt like it was on fire and the calf felt like someone had shoved a knife in it and was continually moving it around. I have not gotten much better since then. I am right now wearing an ice pack wrapped around the heel/calf. When I got up this morning, the heel was quite swollen and very, very tender and tight. My plans to run this coming weekend at Nipmuck are shot. I am pissed off about that as I was really looking forward to a good trail run. I am not going to schedule any races for the rest of the year. I have to get healed, healed to the point where I do not get injured running in a race. The one thing that I already have scheduled is the Lake Winni relay, which I will use as a goal and when I run it, a barometer for how I am doing. As much as I do not want to, I will probably forgo doing any ultras this year (unless late in the year when hopefully everything is going well). I have my annual physical (once every five years or so) scheduled for tomorrow and I will see if the doctor will send me for some physical therapy. I have to get back to what I love, the woods either by myself or with some fellow trail runners. I have to renew my efforts to stay off the roads. I have to stay sane.

It has been awhile, again. I have been running in the Vibram 5-fingers for a couple of months now and I have to say that I am enjoying them. I really like the trail pair, the Treks. They are very comfortable and grip very well. The only problem with them is that when they get wet, I end up getting blisters (since I am running without socks). But overall, I do not regret making the change. I probably could have eased into it a bit more than I did. So this is the reason for this post.
I tweaked my left hamstring again two weekends ago while running with Pam, Davnet and Grace at Hartland Park on the Saturday. I ran about 3.5 miles on Tuesday evening and it felt okay, but not anywhere close to 100%. I did not run anything else until Saturday. Now Saturday is the L & M Hospital 3.5 mile race that starts one block from my house and I normally run, walk or just hang out every year. But my friend Melanie was the race director for a race in Westerly, a 5K which I have never run so I decided to make the journey there and try an easy run in my Vibram's.
The race went well, so well that I ended up running a sub 7-minute pace. During the race I had no problems with the shoes. But afterward was a different story. When I went out to get in a cool down run, I had to stop because of the pain on my left foot. I had a huge blood blister that I did not feel while racing, but after cooling down, wow, it was there. But that is not the major problem. About an hour after the race I noticed a pain radiating along the outside of my right foot. It got worse. I iced it for a bit and took some ibuprofen and I have not run since. I wanted to run the following day in the woods, but the person that I was supposed to run with did not show, so I decided to not run. That was probably a good decision. If I walk around barefoot, the pain is barely there. Once I put a pair of shoes on, the pain returns. I have not run nor have I ridden the bike. It is getting better, but since I am on my feet quite a bit during work, the foot is quite sore by the end of my shift. Hopefully I will be able to run soon, at least get out for a short jog to see how it reacts. I cannot seem to get away from being injured. I just want to be able to run, especially out on the trails.

Another return

I pulled or slightly tore my left hamstring at the end of January. Of course, I was doing something stupid, doing speed work early on a very cold morning in shorts. By now, you would think that I would learn. I think that I have said that before. I have been seeing Dr. Strecker, who has helped me out with ultrasound and stretching. He also has given me some exercises to strenghten the muscles that complement the hamstrings.
I read the book Born to Run and have been running without insoles inside my shoes. I believe that it has helped me with my running form and keeps me healthy (minus the hamstring). While on vacation in Las Vegas, I found a kiosk that was selling Vibram Five-Finger running "shoes" and bought 2 pairs - one for the roads and a heavy duty pair for running on the trails. I started running again (with the doc's blessing) while on vacation. I took my first run in San Diego along side the Pacific Ocean (wow, were the waves huge!) and felt good. I ran every other day as I want to take it easy getting back to normal. I found the kiosk the day after Carol and I drove from San Diego to Las Vegas and Carol told me to buy two pair (now is she not a fantastic person, in addition to being gorgous). I started running in them the next day. The soles of the shoes are thin with toes. Basically they are barefoot runners. The idea is that they make runners run the way that the human body is supposed to run; on the balls of the feet and shortened strides. As far as I was concerned, they felt good. Of course the bottoms of my feet are very tender from all that time encased in do-it-all for you shoes. I feel any little stones that I run over. The other thing about them is they make my calfs very sore. At least the pair that I bought to run on the roads.
This past Saturday, I ran with the Saturday Slugs in Stonington. It rained the whole time, although I only ran 5 miles. The big thing was that later in the afternoon, I discovered a blood blister on the big toe of my right foot. That was the first for me and I am guessing that it was because of the rain wearing the shoes.
On Sunday, I went for my first trail run at Bluff Point, wearing the trail version of the shoes. It was very wet with just a bit of rain. The trail version fit well, but I ended up with a blister on my blister. But the shoes were good. I did not feel most of the stuff that I stepped on. They worked very well on the wet rocks and just like normal running shoes, they were slippery in the mud. The big thing was that my calfs were not sore from the trail running, at least not like they were when I ran on the roads.
A friend suggested that I do not run in the Vibram's twice in a row, worried that I would blow out a calf muscle. I may take his advice. I do know that I want to accelerate my use of these shoes. They make my knees feel better. Hopefully they do the same thing for my back. Once it gets warm enough, I will be walking around barefoot as much as possible. Gotta toughen up my feet.

Long time between posts

Wow, it has been quite some time since my last post. With work and now school, I do not seem to have much free time lately. School is an interesting situation. I do not always agree with the methods and the teachings that the school is having me do, yet I am not sure what I can do with my disagreement. Normally I can be pretty caustic about anything that displeases me, caustic in the sarcastic way. But if I send an email to the professor about something that I do not like, is that going to affect my grade? I am through 4 complete units and until the last on in unit 4, I had gotten 100 on everything. I got a 95 on the last one so I sent an email to the professor asking what it was that I did or did not do, saying that I did not want to repeat whatever it was. She said that I was not as thorough as the others, but if I wanted to argue about it, she would listen. I have to reread what I sent in.
At least the school is keeping me busy. I am not running. Dummy me that I can be, I decided to work on my speed-during some of the worst cold this winter. Three weeks ago last Tuesday, I pulled my left hamstring while doing intervals on the road. I did not run again until the following Saturday. First I did a bike spin in a friend's garage and then I went out for a 6-mile run. At least most of it was in the woods. I should not have done it, but by the time it started to bother me, I was out in the woods and I had to get back, so I continued to run. I went and saw Dr. Strecker and he has been using ultra-sound on it. I can go for a while and think that it is getting better but then I do something like almost run into something and pull up short and oh, the pain! So I am erratically working out; I swam this past Tuesday. I have done yoga once and am doing some body weight workouts. Pretty much takes me out of the running to do the new CT 50K this April. I was looking forward to that. So now hopefully I can get well enough to run the Yale to Harvard race. I would hate to let the team down.

2010

Happy New Year! Goodby 2009, hello 2010. Looking out the window this morning, the world has the look of a new world, with the snow blanketing everything. Here's hoping that it portends a good change for most people in this new year. I will probably be going to Mystic to run with approximately 100 crazy people who will crawl through 5 miles and then jump into the chilly Long Island Sound. I always wonder if there is any benefit to chilling out warm limbs or is there a detrement? It does feel to me like a major washing off of anything that was bad in the last year. Since I do this most years, it has allowed me to enjoy the feeling of purity when I come out of the water (not that I should or would be considered that).
I know that only one person reads this, but I will put this down anyway. Happy New Year to my friends and family! Here is hoping that the year treats everyone well and that all of America has a better year than last. Hope to see everyone out on the roads and trails.

Snow day, pain day

Wow,what a snow storm. Carol and I went to a party at a friend's home in Rhode Island last night. We woke up Saturday morning and listened to the weatherman give dire predictions about the impending snowstorm. They said that it would start around noon, last into the night and be done by daybreak today. So while Carol and I were doing our errands, we were trying to decide if we would be able to attend the party. With no snow by 3 PM, we called our friends and they said that the party was still on if we wanted to come. We decided that we would go, taking the 4 x 4 truck (just in case) and try to have some fun for a bit. We were there for 3 and 1/2 hours before it started to flurry. At 9:30 we decided it was time to leave. It was a good thing that we brought the truck. The snow was coming down pretty fast, the wind was blowing and the highway was a mess. But we did not have any problems getting home other than trying to get by some of the really slow drivers. When we got up this morning the first thing that I did was go out onto the deck to clear a path and area so that the dog could do her business. As I was coming back in to go to the front door, I felt a twinge in my back on the lower left side. I thought that I had not done anything serious, so I went out the door to clear off my front walk and the elderly couple's walkway across the street. Every shovelful of snow reminded me of what I had done. But I kept on going. Just like when I do something while running. When I went back in the house, I told Carol that I had done something to my back and I would be unable to finish the shoveling. But I decided that I could take my dog for a walk and pick up the newspaper. Again not the right thing to do. So the rest of today, I have been in pain and having difficulty getting around. I wanted to get out for a run today and that did not happen. I want to work out tomorrow morning and I believe that will not happen either. I may have to go see my doctor. I am going to turn fifty and I still do not know how to listen to my body clearly. Hopefully this does not last too long. I was having too much fun being healthy.

More Changes

Alice Cooper sang, "School's out forever". That does not apply here. As of January 11th, 2010, I will be going back to school. I had always wanted my children to go to college and so they have done. My son graduated with a degree in English Literature, although I do not have any idea what he is going to do with that degree. Kathleen, my daughter, is presently in her second year of college and doing very well. While they were growing up, I tried a couple of times to return to school to get a degree but with kids growing up it is very hard to raise them and go to school. To save family relations, both times I dropped out. Now that they are both on their own (to a certain degree) my wife decided that she would buy me a laptop on the stipulation that I go back to school so that she would not have to hear me moan and groan about wanting to do so. I will be attending an on-line college, Capella University. My work schedule changes every week so the traditional way of going to college would not work. The on-line school gives me the opportunity to attend when my schedule allows. Of course, this probably means that I might have to curtail the number of races I attend for a while. As long as I can get out most days for a run, I should still be able to stay sane. Here is to "forever".

Unknown speed

For the last few years, my times at races have been slowly slowing. Part of that is to blame on no speed work, part is on my running longer runs and part is probably on getting older. But I have not been running very quickly or at least not as quickly as I used to. Especially in the shorter races. I have tended to shy away from road races in favor of the trails. I get so much enjoyment out of getting into the woods, away from the noise of people and vehicles. But I still do some of the local road races, mostly to keep in touch with people who I have met at those races. I went to the Pearl Harbor Day Masters run this past Sunday. I had already decided that I would do no more races this year when I remembered about this race. So last week I hunted down an application at Waterford's Community Center and signed up. Sunday morning was cold and windy, but I have been waiting for the weather to change and actually look forward to the cold weather. The race time was 11 am. I arrived at 10:30, got my number and t-shirt and headed out for a small warm up. I was trying to decide on whether or not to wear a windbreaker during the race. The wind was cold, but ultimately I decided that the shirt I was wearing was enough.
With my recent history of running slower I have been starting toward the back of the pack at race starts. Sunday I started near the front so that as the pack started to string out there was maybe fifteen people ahead of me. I felt great, but I knew that it was faster than I have been running. I thought about it while maintaining my pace and decided that I would just keep on going until I fell apart. I was surprised when I caught up with the first woman, who called out that we did the first mile in 6:38. I am not sure how she knew where the first mile was as there was no mile markers that I could see. That was the last I would see of her, surprising me since I rarely finish in front of the first woman. Up Boston Post Road we ran, powering up the hill. I crested the hill running with Todd Fisher, whom I had not met before, and staying with him down the small slope to Oswegatchie Road where we took a left. I stayed with Todd for a while, but eventually he started to pull away. Just about half way down the road, he stopped to stretch his calf. I asked if he was all right as I went past and he replied that he was fine. At three quarters of the way down Oswegatchie, there is a stop sign and a race offical was there directing the runners to go straight. His truck was parked at the opposite stop sign and as I went past, noticed that there was a set of keys on the ground. I worried that some runner had lost them and one of the other runners would kick the keys under the truck and not be seen, so I stopped, ran back a couple of steps and yelled to the official that there were keys on the ground. As soon as I saw that he was reacting to that, I turned back and started to run again. Todd had been right behind me and went by and another guy also passed me. The other guy was also someone who I had never met before, but he amazed me. I found out later that his name is Dave. He does not look like your typical runner, especially one who was running at the pace we were. He had a belly and looked slightly out of shape, but he was running very well.
Getting started again was tough. I had been in a really good groove and it took a bit to start to feel good again. I ran through the neighborhood with someone on my heels. He stayed there as we came off of Oswegatchie and onto River Road. As soon as we took the left onto River Road, the wind hit us right in the face. The guy that was following me tucked in behind me and was content to let me be his wind break. We took a right onto Boston Post Road and headed back up to the the finish line. The guy behind me takes the opportunity to pass me here and I find out that it was Dave Jacobs in his normal green shorts. As he started to pull away from me I decided to try to stick with him. Now this race has a nasty little hill at the end; it does not look like much but after running almost five miles, it can be a killer. The good thing this year was that the wind was mostly at out backs. Halfway up the hill Dave Jacobs passed the other Dave. A minute later so did I. As we crested the hill and headed across the intersection (thank you Waterford Police Department!) I felt good and started pushing toward the finish. Dave Jacobs had nothing left and I passed him about 100 yards from the finish. Of course, here is the thing about Dave. He is 64 years old and I believe that this was the first time that I have beaten him. Fantastic runner! So I finished the 5.2 mile race in 35:45, a 6:53/mile pace, 6th place overall and second in my age division. Not too shabby. It would be nice to be able to bottle that feeling. I could clean up.

Cha-Cha Changes

Have you read the book, Born to Run by Christopher McDougall? I just gave it to my daughter to read while she is at school (yeah, I know she has probably has more than enough to read) and I will read it again once she is done with it. But reading the book made me realize that my feet problems could have been caused by the over-engineering of running shoes. So this past week I decided that I was going to make some changes on how I run. I have not had any insoles in my shoes since I recieved orthotics early last year. I decided to not put in the orthotics in the running shoes and also leave out the insoles. I have run twice in the woods with my shoes like that and worked on running like I am falling forward, trying to keep my running steps on the forefeet. It is difficult to keep that form-the body has had plenty of time to adapt to the wrong running form. I have to constantly think about my form, to make the adjustments necessary to bring my body over the front of my feet. I have to tell myself to make quick, light steps and to increase the turnover, trying to take three steps in places where two used to do. Is it going to work? Only time and how I feel will tell.

Every ultra runner should volunteer to crew for a friend or even show up at an event and do so for a stranger. It provides you the perspective of all the non-runners who show up and crew for their friends and family time and again. I believe that it also can renew your own desire to run, increasing the commitment that you feel to just get out the door, to train and run like you were first starting out. When I first started running ultras, I did my first one alone, on the roads in Rhode Island at the Nifty Fifty. While it provided me with a good taste for doing ultras, it also clued me in on the fact that I like trails and that is what I wanted to do ultras on. So the next ultra I did was the JFK50 in Hagerstown, Maryland. When I decided to do it, I was not sure about how I was going to do, especially alone. So I asked Julie White (nee Pinkham) if she would be willing to come along and crew for me. She said yes and the rest is history. I ran and finished and Julie was awesome helping me out.
In late September, I heard from a friend that Julie had decided to run her first ultra, the 2009 edition of the JFK50. I immediately sent her an email asking her if I could return the favor and go crew for her. She said that while she had not been advertising that she was doing the run due to the fact that she was not sure she would be ready, she was more than willing to have me crew for her. Chuck Brenker was also going down to try for his eighth consecutive finish. Julie had planned on running with Chuck but he was injured and very worried about making it to the finish. Julie sent me an email on Thursday telling me to make sure that I brought along some running togs because she wanted someone to run with on part of the course.
The JFK50 starts at 7 AM for most of the runners but there is a 5 AM start for those people who do not think that they can finish in 12 hours. Both Chuck and Julie applied for and received the 5 AM start. We left for Maryland at 8 AM on Friday morning, riding in Chuck's van with my mountain bike on the back. We shared the driving, arriving in Hagerstown at 3 PM. As we were heading for the hotel, we passed the hotel that was the host for the JFK50. In we went so the the two of them could pick up their race packets and numbers. Julie bought me a neon yellow tee shirt that said Crew Support on the back. She also talked to one of the guys who were selling jackets and such, asking if he could put a jacket away with her name on it. She told him that she would only be buying it if she finished. He had no problem with that and put it in a bag with her name on it.
Saturday morning Chuck and Julie were up at 3:15 AM. I was awake also but I had the luxury of possibly going back to sleep. They had to leave the hotel by 3:45 to make it to the start for the briefing at 4:20. After ensuring everything they needed was with them they were off. I laid back down but was unable to fall asleep right away. I watched a bit of a basketball game on ESPN and then dozed until I had to get up to catch my ride at 5:45 AM. Joe Kairys, a friend of Chuck's, had met us at the hotel the night before with his wife, Selena and two of their children, Joseph and I am such a dunce, I forgot the name of their daughter. They were giving me a ride to the start so that I could pick up Chuck's van and head to the first aid station with crew access. After arriving at the start area, it took me ten minutes to find the van. I walked by it twice before I realized it was there. After a stop at a convinence store, I headed out following the directions provided by the race. They were excellent directions and I did not have a problem all day. I arrived at the aid station just after seven and the first runners were already coming through. Julie arrived somewhere around 7:30, feeling good and enjoying the run on the trail. Chuck showed up about ten minutes later, hobbling but gamely going forward. I walked with both of them through the aid station and up the parking lot road to the next trail area, making sure that they both had everything that they needed.
I headed out to the next aid area that I could access thinking that I was leaving early and would have no problems parking. Was I ever wrong! The area where crews could see their runners is not the actual aid station, but about one-half mile before it. The runners come down off of the Appilation Trail and head toward the entrance to the tow path. The place was mobbed with people standing in the intersection of the road. I found a place to park at the end of the road, hiked back up to the trail, decided that it was much too crowded and hiked up the trail. I found a very large rock that was flat on top and parked myself on it to wait for the runners. The trail at this point is a series of switchbacks coming down off of one of the high points of the course. I pulled out my crossword puzzle and enjoyed the time sitting there. Approximately fifteen minutes went by and the first of the early runners started coming by. I tried to talk to everyone that came by and all of the early runners would reply. It was not until the first of the 7 AM starters started coming by that there was no replies. They were more serious and more focused on moving ahead. Julie showed up looking great and feeling good and I fell in behind her, running down the trail to the road. She changed her socks, got a new bottle and I told her when I would next see her. I waited for Chuck, who showed up about 20 minutes later still hobbling and still going forward.
From this point the runners run on the tow path that parallels the Potomac River for 26.2 miles. My plan was to go to the Mile 38 aid station, put everything that I needed into my backpack and ride my mountain bike along the trail to meet up with Julie and Chuck. The aid station was in the process of being set up when I got there. I rode past them and headed out. The towpath was in pretty good shape, but there were area that were muddy and some puddles. I really enjoyed splashing through the muck. I met the lead runners around mile 32 and began what I would do for the next few hours-talking and encouraging the runners. Julie was looking good when we met. She had hooked up with another runner, Sue from New Jersey. They were doing a 7 minute run/3 minute walk pace and I think that it helped hold everything together for Julie. Farther back on the trail Chuck was walking. His injuries had caused him to over compensate and he was having problems with the other leg. It would continue the rest of the day. I went back and forth between the two, giving encouragement and providing anything that they needed to keep on going.
When the runners go off of the tow path, they run on the road for the remaining eight miles of the race. There was not supposed to be any crew on the road section. The race, in their notices to the crews, said that no one who was not a runner would be allowed to run on the road. So I told Julie that I would see her at the finish. I left her at the 38 mile aid station and after checking on Chuck, headed for the finish line. I thought that I might have missed her, but after going over the times in my head, realized that I was just very early. She finished strong in 11 hours, 58 minutes. Chuck struggled in, but had plenty of time before the cut off with a finish in 13 hours and 32 minutes.
The two of them were funny at times the following day. I drove the whole way back while they nursed their aching bodies. All in all a good time. Makes me want to run another one. Next year.

Too much over a short time?

What is too much? Since I am older than when I started running long, does that change how much is too much? In the last six weeks, I have done six races.

The first weekend was the Strides for the Handicapped. Of course, for me that was not enough. I met Pam for a two hour run at Bluff Point. Beautiful run in the early morning. After we finished, I drove over to Camp Harkness to run the 10K part of the Strides races. I went into the race saying that I would not run hard and amazingly, I did not. I ran with Karen Short for the first three miles and then I turned around to help a lady who was pushing her husband in his wheelchair. She was struggling up a hill and I had to help. I believe that her name was Susan; do not remember his name. I helped her up the hill and she said to go ahead, that she could handle it from there. So I ran to the finish line and turned around and headed back out to give Susan a hand. I met her about a mile and a half from the finish. So I added an extra three to four miles to the 10K. I felt great and enjoyed the run.

The following weekend I decided on Thursday that I was going to run the Hartford Marathon. Julie White was running it as a training run; she is going to run her first ultra, the JFK50 in November. So I decided that I wanted to help out. The day was beautiful and and we ran the 26.2 miles in 4:22:30.

The third weekend brought the Penguin 5K. Now, five kilometers is not bad, but the Thursday before I decide to try to play with my stride, working on running on and off of my forefeet. It can be difficult and trying, but I did it and the problem was that I strained my left calf. Friday it still was sore and I was worried about running the race. Saturday morning I ran the race. During the warmups, the calf was not bad, but I planned on running easy. Fat chance! The calf did not bother me and I took off. That was bad, but it wasn't because of the calf. After the race, I turned around and ran the course again (slower). By the time I finished, my left hamstring was killing me. That took too long to get over and made the race the following weekend something of a problem.

The Bimbler's Bluff 50K. I had not run this race before and had been looking forward to running a course that Jerry Turk had laid out. It had rained the day before, so the course was wet and muddy. Just what I like. I have written about this race so I will skip the facts and just say that I again enjoyed the run.

Taking a trip to run a race is normally a solitary thing for me. Carol does not go to races and pretty much does not like to associate with runners. She is not hostile toward runners; she just does not like running. So when she goes with me, it is pretty neat (at least for me). We took a trip to Washington DC with four other couples, taking Amtrack down and back. Riding the train is an easy way to travel. No worries about traffic, staying awake, able to eat and drink when you want and, on the plus side for me, being able to play a game of cribbage or two. Carol was going with to be able to see some of the sights-she had no intention of going to the race. So the Run Geek, Run 8K was a lonely run for me. NOT!! I ran from the hotel to the race start, ran way too fast for the first 4 miles and died in the last mile (8K = 4.98 miles). Came in fourth in my age group; not bad but the other people in our group did pretty good. An age group first, two seconds and two thirds. Not too bad for our little group.

Last weekend, I tried to run the Stone Cat 50 miler. So this was the final straw, at least for how I am feeling now. The biggest problem going into this was work the week before. I had to work second shift and two of the days I worked to 12:30 am and 3:00 am Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. Friday evening I left work at 9:30 to drive up to Ipswich, MA. I got to the hotel by 11 PM and was in bed by 11:30. So when I got up at 5 AM, I was pretty tired still. I did not feel bad and did not think that it would affect how I ran. The race started at 6:15 and I felt pretty good. The course has changed since I ran it 8 years ago, with more single track and starting and ending in a different place. Running through the woods in the early morning (it was very cold-I had planned on wearing one lightweight poly shirt and ended up wearing that shirt plus another lightweight poly shirt plus a light jacket shell. I kept them on, even when it warmed up a little later in the morning) was awesome and I was moving better than I expected. The first loop went by in 2 hours and 10 minutes. I went through the start/finish and headed back out still feeling pretty good. About one-third of the way through the loop, I slipped on a rock and twisted my right knee. It was, at the time, a minor pain and I kept on going. Unfortunately the pain stayed and continued bothering me, with the pain increasing the farther I went. I started having to walk for stretches. When I would start running again, it took a couple of minutes for the knee to loosen up enough to actually run without a limp. Another problem that was occuring was that I was favoring the right knee and unbeknownst to me, I was hurting the left knee. But I am getting ahead of myself. I kept on trying to run only to have to walk to relieve the pain. I took the one Advil that I had, but it did not help. By the time I finished the second loop (in 3 hours and 10 minutes) I had pretty much decided not to continue on. The guys at the aid station tried to convince me to go back out and I started, but turned around immediately and went looking for Gilly, the race director. He convinced me to do the 1.2 mile loop that the marathoners do at the beginning and that gave me a finish in the marathon with a fleece as the finishers gift. I left soon after and my left knee started to let itself known almost as soon as I got into the truck for the ride back. I will be visiting the doctor to have both knees looked at.

So did I do too much in such a short period of time? Is it just age creeping up on me? I am not sure yet, but I do know that I want to get back out there and run. I will just have to do like Pam for a little while and limit my running for a little bit to shorter runs. Once I can.

Bimbler's Bluff

7 hours, 22 minutes. Going into the 2009 Bimbler's Bluff, I was worried about my left hamstring. It still was sore when I ran on Thursday and I was worried that it would flair up during the race. Turns out that except for two times, once when I first started and once later in the day when I semi-turned my left ankle, it did not bother me. Unfortunately, I had stomach issues. I have not ever had stomach issues during an ultra. But this time it was a problem from the start. When the race started the weather was great. Temperature was somewhere around fifty degrees with a breeze under clear skies. I ran with my North Face pack on with the bladder full of water and a hand-held bottle with Gatorade. At the start my stomach was feeling bloated and queesy. I thought that it was just pre-race jitters although I felt calm enough. Around the back of the school yard and across the street to head into the woods. The golf course crew was out blowing the leaves off of the greens, sending the vibrant oranges, yellows and reds swishing through the air as we ran by in the woods. With the worry of my hamstring, I started out near the back and took it easy heading down the hill. With the rain on Saturday, the trail was wet. Certain areas had large puddles, mud was evident everywhere and the rocks were slippery. The rocks, by the way, were plentiful, sharp and of various sizes. The bottoms of my feet protested vigorously. It become very painful to run on the rocky sections of the trail. But the biggest problem was my stomach. Everytime I drank or ate anything, I felt bloated and nauceous. I kept hoping that it would pass, but it never did. Knowing that I had to eat and drink to make it through the race was disheartening based on how I felt each time that I did. I spent some time walking to get past the queasiness a few times. Later in the race, I discovered that if I passed gas, it seemed to get better and I was able to run pretty well. Of course, I could not pass gas each time that it occured. I left the fourth aid station and was told by another runner that the last aid station was five miles away and then three miles to the finish. That was wrong. I figured I could do five miles in just over an hour so when it became one and a half hours and still going I knew that I had been misled. It was actually eight miles to the aid station. It just took a bit longer. I passed a gentleman on a horse while on the trail. He stopped the horse in the middle of a big puddle to allow me to pass. Me being me, I was plowing through the puddles, enjoying the feeling of splashing water on my legs. The gentleman commented that I must be cooling off my feet. I replied that I did it any chance I could. The cold water felt great on my battered feet. When I had started the race, I thought that eight hours would be pretty good for me. Seven hours and 22 minutes was better that I expected considering my state of fitness. Mr. Bimbler put on a fantastic race with some great volunteers out on the course. I look forward to improving my time next year (or some time after that).

Doin' the stupid

I had planned on running twice in the woods this past weekend. Dummy me that I can be, I did not go either day. Friday I decided to run the Run with the Penguins 5K in Mystic since the race director is a friend. I would do the race and then run the course again to get in some easy miles. Then Sunday I would go out to North Stonington and run on my favorite trail. Friday at work I was able to get out for a run at lunch time and I decided to see how well I could do running on my forefoot. I read 'Born to Run' and realized that my feet problems could probably (this might be stretching things a bit) be blamed on too much cushioning in my shoes and running the wrong way. So why not give it a try, slowly, to change my running style. So Friday I gave it a try. It was not very comfortable and I had to concentrate just to keep it going, but I did it. I also strained my right calf, which seemed to get worse as the day wore on. So Saturday morning it still was sore and I told myself to keep it low key and just jog it out, hoping that it would ease up with the warm up. When the gun went off for the race, I actually took it easy at the start. Unfortunately, I did not keep it easy and by the time the race hit the farmer's field (with some very enjoyable mud) I was moving faster and ignoring the signals from my leg. But what I did not realize was that my left leg was trying to compensate for the right leg and by the time that I was in the finishing stretch, my left hamstring and left abductor were making quite a bit of noise. Do you think that hearing that noise, I would not go for the extra run? Of course not. Just who do you think I am? After getting home and getting cleaned up, I went out with Carol to do a bit of shopping, hoping that the hamstring would loosen up a bit. That did not happen. So Sunday on the trails also did not happen. I am nearing fifty years old and I would think that I should have the ability by now to learn from my mistakes, but in the case of running it does not seem so. I ran this morning to the fitness center and on of the trainers, Ben, showed me some stretches that have help it already. I ran easy for seven miles and with the stretches, I am hopeful that I have not put my 50K in jeopardy. We will see.

Shoelaces, a rock and the dogs Part 2

I was unfortunately unable to get back to this until now. So last Tuesday I went for a run in Vermont up Mt Kearsarge and over the top, running a total of around 9 miles in three hours. Carol dropped me off at the trail head on Hurricane Mountain Road at 9:30. The day was humid but relatively cool. Waking up that morning the temp was in the low 40's. The sun was in and out among the clouds with a slight breeze blowing through the trees. I threw on the back pack with the water bladder in it, kissed Carol good-bye and headed up the trail. If you have ever hiked or run in the White Mountains, you know that the trails are loaded with rocks and roots, which can make for a interesting run. The trail started going up right away, with it being runnable for a bit. As the grade got higher I settled into a good paced hike, keeping my eyes on the trail for the best line to go up. Fifteen minutes into it, I started hearing voices. I caught up with a group of ten hikers of various ages headed up the mountain. I greeted them and continued on my way. About five minutes later I felt my left shoe lace loosen. Now I wear Salomon trail shoes that have a slide on the laces and the laces with the slide gets tucked in the pouch on the tongue. I have never had any problem with them before. I looked down to see what the problem was and the lace had broken! I have never had a lace break during a run. Mostly they break when you are tightening them. So the lace had worked its way out of most of the eyelets, making for a problem putting it back in. I finally, with the use of a twig from the ground, was able to put it back into one of the eyelets. I decided that that was the only one I was going to thread it through and just tied it off at the bottom of the laces and pulled it tight. It felt comfortable and did not feel loose on my foot. I could hear the group that I passed drawing nearer, but could not see them yet. It had taken me about ten minutes to fix that and I was anxious to continue on my journey. The trail continued to be steep with plenty of loose rocks and the roots of trees popping up off the ground trying to draw my toes under them so as to send me flying. I was sweating pretty good due to the high humidity, but felt pretty good. I was making sure that I took a good swig of water every 15 minutes or so. An hour into the run, I crested the mountain. There is a climbable forest fire lookout tower at the top. It is bolted into the rock crag at the top and provides an awesome 180 degree panarama. I was regretting not taking the camera with me. I spent less than five minutes looking around and headed down the other side. The trail markings up to this point had been pretty good, with the trail not having too much deviation. But going down the other side, the trail became harder to see (in certain places) and the yellow markers were far fewer (or at least seemed to be). I was running more, with breaks to climb down the really steep patches. Ten minutes into this downhill, the shoe lace on my RIGHT foot loosened. What do you know!! The shoelace had broken! I immediately stopped and was able to grab it so that it only went through one eyelet. Who has ever had two shoelaces break during a run? At least I was able to minimize the damage and get back to running within five minutes. As the slope leveled out a bit, the ground got a bit mushier, with a small lake/pond that looked to be prime moose sighting territory. As luck would have it, I had no luck. Since I had no camera, it would not have mattered. At this point I really had a problem with finding the trail. It seemed to disappear into the mush and I could not see where it came out. There was no markings on the trees. I turned around and headed back to see if I might have missed something. I found the tree with the last yellow blaze and I had not missed anything. Back to the mush I went and started looking around for any indication of where to go. Along the edge of the mush, I noticed what looked like a footprint in the goo. I followed the edge of the goo, stepping on exposed roots around to some large ferns that I found out, when I pushed my way through, covered the trail and hid it from view. For the next thirty minutes, the trail would go for a bit and then disappear from view, hiding under the brush and growth that overhung it. The trail was on a pretty continuous downward slant with mud and water interspersed among some pretty runnable conditions. I came upon a rock garden with plenty of good sized boulders among the ankle turners. As I ran through, I stepped to the right to go between two boulders and brought my left foot up and ran it right into the left boulder! My knee solidly connected with the rock, causing the trees to blush from what came out of my mouth. It felt like, along with the pain from the impact, to numb a portion of my left quad. I knew that if I stopped it would tighten up and would be very difficult to keep going. So with blood running down my shin, I hopped and hobbled my way down the trail. I had started taking my Succeed tabs one hour into the run and was due for the second set. So I grabbed an ibuprofren tablet also and took one of those with the Succeed. I still do not know if it did any good, but the leg did loosen up. In fact I was running pretty good when all of a sudden two dogs came barking and snarling up the trail toward me. Scared the shit out of me. Of course the dogs belonged to someone who was back a couple hundred feet from them. He called them and they backed away. He spouted the standard line, "Don't worry, they don't bite." Maybe not, but sure looked like they wanted to. This was about twenty minutes after the rock and I decided that I needed to finish this run quickly. Unfortunately, I would have problems with finding where the trail went again. It delayed me and made me go back and forth a few times trying to decide if I had missed something. I finished in three hours and Carol was not at the pickup spot. She got lost trying to find the lot. So I started running down the road thinking that I was running toward where she was coming from. Ten minutes later I found out she was coming from the other direction. Once she found me and I got my knee cleaned up, I was glad to be done but also looking forward to when I could go out again. Of course, first off I have to find out about replacing the shoelaces.