tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53084489824690919252024-02-06T18:41:42.706-08:00Jersey Strong Trail RunnerJersey Strong Trail Runnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15468992940091986449noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5308448982469091925.post-62650266030958366562016-05-02T19:57:00.000-07:002016-05-02T19:57:18.205-07:00Fellowship of the rocks: TNF ECS Bear Mountain 50 mile, April 30th, 2016<div class="MsoNormal">
It ain’t trickin if you got it.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
~Lil Wayne</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Andy’s right foot came down on another rock, firm and
steady, and he skipped forward.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I’d been following his smooth stride for 7 hours, for, quite literally,
70,000 steps. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> My goal was simple; match Andy's steps. </span>Earlier in the day
I told him that I’d given myself a lobotomy for the race, that my only plan was to follow his plan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d given
up the control and the decision making, given up the pacing duties and all the choices
about effort.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Andy said that
his goal was to get me back to Bear Mountain in under 9 hours.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His job was to lead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My job was to follow, keep pace, and be
a good companion.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A year ago in the 2015 Bear Mountain 50 miler I’d done none
of these things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d gone out that
day to race alone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d run
recklessly, melted down, and relied on competitors with nothing to offer in return.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even my recovery in the
last few miles, the one thing I could be proud of, was streaked through with
shades of self-flagellation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All
through the months that followed a singular thought burned in the undercurrent of
my mind; I have serious unfinished business with this race.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In more rational moments that undercurrent would form itself
into the loose outline of a plan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>All I wanted was to come back to Bear Mountain and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">race well</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> I didn't care about time or place, I just wanted to put forth an effort that I could be proud of. </span>That sort of goal is the antithesis of a corporate SMART
objective, but it is exactly the kind of goal that can lead to actual success.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is the kind of goal that focuses on
the process over of the outcome, on the controllable variables toward the
aspiration instead of the aspiration itself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As a process, racing well for 50 miles essentially boils
down to putting in a hard but conservative effort for the first 40 miles, then
running yourself into the ground for the last 10.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first 40 are about staying sustainably uncomfortable, right at the edge but not quite over it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The last 10 are about taking every risk your body can
absorb, building the pain to an intolerable level, sprinting to the finish, and
collapsing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you choose to walk
during the race, you’ve fallen short.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If you’re able to walk afterward, you’ve left something on the table as
well.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5308448982469091925#_edn1" name="_ednref" style="mso-endnote-id: edn;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[i]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In that process it’s easy to think that the hard part is the
last 10 miles of intense effort, but it’s not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The hard part is being honest with yourself for the first 40
miles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The hard part is running on
the razor’s edge between being, as Scott Douglass would say, an idiot and a
wimp.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The hard part is making all
the tiny choices between giving in to ego and giving in to weakness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is the part that I’d failed in
2015.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was the part I’d given to
Andy for today.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And it worked beautifully.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We kept calm and relaxed in the dark through the early rush
to Anthony Wayne.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We stayed strong
and steady over the broken terrain of the Long Path.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We talked about everything and anything and kept positive
and happy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We held back when
others were foolishly aggressive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
kept pushing when others succumbed to the pain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the long descent from Tiorati I saw runners ahead and told
Andy “I smell blood”, but he replied “Keep it cool, Jaws.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After that, as a joke, I sang the Jaws
theme every time we approached a competitor – dnn nunt, dnn nunt, dnn nunt dnn
nunt DNN NUNT DNN NUNT!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Andy
kept me in check.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the time we
reached the downhill back to Anthony Wayne we were flying, whooping and yelling
“DYNAMITE” and “THIS IS AWESOME”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But now, after 7 hours of running with my friend, the plan
was finally breaking down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Steve
joined us at Anthony Wayne for wisdom and guidance and moral support, but for
the first time all day Andy slowed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It was finally time to give in to temptation, to become the hunter, but
his steady stride was faltering.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The ultra is a brutal thing.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5308448982469091925#_edn2" name="_ednref" style="mso-endnote-id: edn;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[ii]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I stayed with him for a few
minutes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then I thanked him for
leading me all day, and I told him what an incredible human being he is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was the superior athlete, and he’d
keep me sane for so long, but now it was time for me to push hard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now I wanted blood.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As hoped, the last 10 miles were the easy part, all reckless
effort and intense pain but no need for self-control.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To borrow from Lil Wayne, many of the runners in front of me
were trickin – they didn’t have it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I overtook Nick,
then Ryan, then the Shirtless Wonder, then women’s leader Heather Hoescht.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She’d passed us on the road at mile 33,
but now she was struggling with the technical descents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I yelled as I approached “You’re not
gonna win this race walking downhill!” ala Dusty Olson.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m sure it wasn’t the nicest thing to
say, but after she’d finished – and won – she assured me it was exactly what
she needed to hear in that moment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I caught more runners, fought my way over Timp Pass, chased down Pole
Guy, and entered the chaos of the overlapping 50K, marathon, and marathon relay
courses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Suddenly there were
runners everywhere, going all different directions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I struggled to keep pace on the uphills, screaming out loud
“come on, legs, COME ON, LEGS!” then flew by everyone on the descents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Downhill running is a skill to be
learned, and very few runners have learned it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I came to the finish line in 8:43:52, a 15 minute 50 mile PR
and 45 minutes faster than my previous debacle here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I walked through the tents to the open grass with my family,
then collapsed on the ground, sobbing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I wasn’t hurt, or sad, or angry, or anything negative – it was just part
of the plan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you really give
everything you have in a race, you’re body and mind will let you have it afterward.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were letting me have it now.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A few minutes later Andy crossed the line too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I jumped up and whooped, cheering him
across.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We collected ourselves and
celebrated the day’s work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We saw
Tim Olson walking through the crowd.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I ran to grab my little guy, our icebreaker for meeting Tim.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jacob has been in awe of Tim ever since
the North Face Curiosity video came out, and he’s fond of telling me things
like “I hope Timmy Olson wins and you come in second.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He told Tim “You’re my favorite
runner!” and we chatted and got a picture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We talked about training through the winter and running on
the rocks, then Jacob and Tim exploded some high knuckles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was an awesome highlight to an
awesome day.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Postscript:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>lessons learned</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s incredibly valuable to run with a friend, particularly
when that friend is a strong and consistent runner who’s willing to maintain a
pace just faster than you’d be able to sustain on your own.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Andy is exactly that kind of runner for
me. Following Andy I was able to turn my mind off and just run, not to mention
enjoy the day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This made me a
stronger and faster racer and a much happier runner.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Running Andy’s pace also gave me a wildly unexpected set of
data for my evolving understanding of effort and sustainability.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Given my experiences of the last year I’d
been planning to run from the start to the second pass through Anthony Wayne
with a heart rate target of 140 – 150 (for me that’s roughly zone 2 or MAF to
MAF+10). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Following Andy’s
pace kept me between 150 and 165 for the first 7 hours.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even having done that I was able to
push hard over the last 100 minutes and chase down quite a few competitors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think wisdom would have kept me out
of the 160’s, but the data say that 150 – 160 is a reasonable target for an 8 –
10 hour event, which encompasses most 50 mile and 100 K races.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Working backward, I should be able to
run the majority of most 50 K races in the high 150’s and low 160’s, much the
same target I would use for a marathon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Of course the early part of a race
should be a slightly lower heart rate, since the body isn’t yet fatigued, and
the late miles should be at higher heart rate as a finishing kick.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But if we take the data above as a
guide for the middle 80% of a race and put it in table form, we get the
following:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-insideh-themecolor: text1; mso-border-insideh: .5pt solid black; mso-border-insidev-themecolor: text1; mso-border-insidev: .5pt solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 191;">
<tbody>
<tr style="mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;">
<td style="border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 95.4pt;" valign="top" width="95">
<div class="MsoNormal">
Duration</div>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 112.5pt;" valign="top" width="113">
<div class="MsoNormal">
Example race</div>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 85.5pt;" valign="top" width="86">
<div class="MsoNormal">
Heart rate (me)</div>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 149.4pt;" valign="top" width="149">
<div class="MsoNormal">
Heart rate zone (everyone)</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 1;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 95.4pt;" valign="top" width="95">
<div class="MsoNormal">
16 – 30 hours</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 112.5pt;" valign="top" width="113">
<div class="MsoNormal">
100 mile, 24 hour</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 85.5pt;" valign="top" width="86">
<div class="MsoNormal">
135 – 145</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 149.4pt;" valign="top" width="149">
<div class="MsoNormal">
Zone 1/2 aka MAF-5 to MAF+5 aka easy</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 2;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 95.4pt;" valign="top" width="95">
<div class="MsoNormal">
6 – 12<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>hours</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 112.5pt;" valign="top" width="113">
<div class="MsoNormal">
50 mile, 100K, 12 hour</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 85.5pt;" valign="top" width="86">
<div class="MsoNormal">
150 – 160</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 149.4pt;" valign="top" width="149">
<div class="MsoNormal">
Zone 3, MAF+10 to +20, light to moderate tempo</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 3;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 95.4pt;" valign="top" width="95">
<div class="MsoNormal">
3 – 6 hours</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 112.5pt;" valign="top" width="113">
<div class="MsoNormal">
50K, marathon</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 85.5pt;" valign="top" width="86">
<div class="MsoNormal">
155 – 165</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 149.4pt;" valign="top" width="149">
<div class="MsoNormal">
Zone 3/4, MAF+15 to +25, hard tempo to just below lactate threshold</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 4;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 95.4pt;" valign="top" width="95">
<div class="MsoNormal">
1 – 2 hours</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 112.5pt;" valign="top" width="113">
<div class="MsoNormal">
Half marathon</div>
</td>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
165 – 175</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
Zone 4/5, MAF+25 to +35, threshold</div>
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Less than 1 hour</div>
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5K, 10K</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
170+</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
Zone 5a/5b (I don’t race these, so take this with a grain
of salt!)</div>
</td>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Any coaches out there, I’d love to get your take on
this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The basis for my personal
targets and zone translations are the heart rate data from this race, the 2016 ECSDC
50K, and the 2015 Run Rabbit Run 100 mile (all public on strava), my MAF of
142, and my lactate threshold estimate of 170 based on a Friel-style 30 min
time trial.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3uMisPZyQ1vTRGn_6OU7TU4O9VLyPNoFaGbhrRvElJiJttBrT2awSINscG4mAu27x3OJ8De6mpiwChxZ0eG41shH8-Za4o-b_VU2IXvQuP-BUref-wWbWUhQWmOI5J8ax-J_G9Wh-Zqw/s1600/IMG_5100.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3uMisPZyQ1vTRGn_6OU7TU4O9VLyPNoFaGbhrRvElJiJttBrT2awSINscG4mAu27x3OJ8De6mpiwChxZ0eG41shH8-Za4o-b_VU2IXvQuP-BUref-wWbWUhQWmOI5J8ax-J_G9Wh-Zqw/s320/IMG_5100.jpg" width="320" /></a></span><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shapetype id="_x0000_t75"
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Obligatory pre-race flat Eric</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
Following Andy through Anthony Wayne, mile 41.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
Done!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And still
sporting those shit-eating grins!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
Chillin’ with little man’s favorite runner (All pics thanks
to Steven Pack).</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<!--StartFragment-->
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<div style="mso-element: endnote-list;">
<!--[if !supportEndnotes]--><br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<div id="edn" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5308448982469091925#_ednref" name="_edn1" style="mso-endnote-id: edn;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[i]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a> By “walk” in
this case I mean consciously moving much more slowly than you could.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Trail races routinely present terrain
or footing where walking (termed “power hiking” by the ashamed) is the fastest
method for traversing the ground.</div>
</div>
<div id="edn" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5308448982469091925#_ednref" name="_edn2" style="mso-endnote-id: edn;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[ii]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a> One of my
favorite phrases, borrowed from Scott Jurek’s book ‘Eat and Run’.</div>
</div>
</div>
Jersey Strong Trail Runnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15468992940091986449noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5308448982469091925.post-21083597988242737232016-04-24T19:45:00.001-07:002016-04-25T17:31:48.146-07:00B racing: TNF ECS DC 50K, April 9th, 2016<div class="MsoNormal">
Last weekend I ran the 50K North Face Endurance Challenge
race in Algonkian park outside Washington, DC.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not going to wax philosophically about anything here,
but I am going to record a few thoughts for consideration later.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I tried to run “B” races a few times last summer with mostly
disastrous results for the A races that followed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I just couldn’t help getting stupid and competitive and overrunning
the B races, leaving myself with way too much recovery time when I should have
been training.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With the Bear
Mountain 50 mile on tap in a few weeks, I very much wanted to run the DC 50K as
a real B race, specifically to stick to the goal of running it as prep for Bear
Mountain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t have a terribly
rigorous plan for accomplishing that goal, but essentially I wanted to stick to
50 mile race pace/effort at least up to the marathon mark, practice nutrition
and aid station efficiency, let loose and have some fun over the last few
miles, and not hurt myself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
smooth, mostly flat course profile and support from being close to my sister’s
family would be a perfect format with one huge caveat; the flats along the
Potomac are ideal soil for generating mud bogs even on dry years, and it was
dumping rain the week before the race.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Early forecasts had it raining all day on race day and even dropping
snow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ugg, so much for easy.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Luckily the forecasts turned out to be a bit too dire.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was certainly cold and wet at the
start, and we did see a few snowflakes in the air around halfway, but the rain had
mostly died down before the 50K start at 7 AM (but pity the 50 milers who ran
the first 90 minutes in rain and darkness!).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The mud, on the other hand, more than lived up to its
billing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The runner conversation
along the route basically went as a combination of ‘muddy enough for ya?’ and
‘this sucks’ and ‘I wish I were wearing football cleats/ice skates/snow
shoes/cross country skis’ (no one could quite decide what would work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I voted for a canoe).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The result was a 4:45 finish (12<sup>th</sup>
place though) despite pushing into 50K pace a bit earlier than planned.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Regardless, a few things I’m proud of:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
1) Pacing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
heart rate profile reads like a textbook:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>About 10 miles of zone 1, another 10 of zone 2, a good chunk of zone 3
on the return, a few miles of zone 4 closing, and a zone 5 finishing kick.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hard to argue with that.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
2) Throwing down a 6:24 split for mile 31.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And passing a few competitors in the
midst of that.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
3) Nutrition. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
‘eat every 30 minutes’ paradigm (stinger honey stuff I brought, cliff shots and
random bars from the aid stations) with a half bottle of tailwind a few glasses
of coke in the second half kept me out of energy lows all day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ~200 calories per hour is a good
sign for metabolic efficiency as well.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
4) A few comments that made my day: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Early on in the mud another runner burst
out with “you’re so graceful” as I hopped around a particularly nasty bog.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even better, at one point in the Great
Falls Park section the course dropped down a short -30<sup>o</sup> slope on wet,
jagged rocks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I looped around
another runner on the berm at the top and skipped down to a “damn, that was
awesome” from the race official at the bottom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then, from his partner up top “yeah, I was gonna tell him to
be careful, but I guess…”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Easy
guys.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You’re making my ego hard to
carry ;)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And a few things I’ve learned (or relearned!):</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
1)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For Bear,
stay out of the 150’s for heart rate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Anything in the 140’s felt all-day sustainable, but the stretches in the150’s
gave me the sense that I’d need to drop pace for recovery. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>150’s are roughly mid-marathon effort
for me, so it makes sense to keep out of them for the first 40 or so of a 50 mile.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
2)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For maybe
the first time in an ultra I skipped aid stations, and it worked out just
fine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a good reminder that
the stations are there if I need something, but the only thing I have to do on
the way through is thank the volunteers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And I can do that at full speed.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
3)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No competing
in the first half!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not going
to win anything this year, and even if I were, no one wins an ultra in the
first half.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I start conservatively
and focus on sustainable effort I get to pass people all day long, and that’s
pretty fun.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
4)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Laura Kline
is 10 minutes faster than me at 50K.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In my first ultra race at the Blues Cruise 50K in 2013 I finished 13<sup>th</sup>,
about 9:30 after the women’s winner Laura Kline.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Around mile 25 last weekend I passed a woman and asked if
she was leading.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She said no, that
there was some super fast girl up there who she hadn’t seen all day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I got to the finish, looked at the leader
board, and who finished 10 minutes ahead of me? Laura Kline!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m so pacing off her if we ever start
another race together.<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span>
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcaZWxQirJMhG9r4UaCzNoPJzmk4a_qgD2SEBKnjyGayQE7FEc9aHbDNpxvH1rxuYBgxN-0QGZPBoTKVN9DuarTiuds2dnZYecIz0R8Gg6RqZb8h9khUBUaCTWfHZ2scSnLTYTF9bWzyE/s1600/635970102292485380.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcaZWxQirJMhG9r4UaCzNoPJzmk4a_qgD2SEBKnjyGayQE7FEc9aHbDNpxvH1rxuYBgxN-0QGZPBoTKVN9DuarTiuds2dnZYecIz0R8Gg6RqZb8h9khUBUaCTWfHZ2scSnLTYTF9bWzyE/s320/635970102292485380.jpg" width="213" /></a> </span><br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Early on, hair's not even messy yet!</span><br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span>
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8wtTanjR_XFLuYSNCveUjgeMdLBHA9xEtsmMfLx6T0RasOdFve4g-2pK78g3wY4BPhCN7zP0HCwbFNNWEAULVhTYGMxHX3hkRcfArrEDS84s686qs1bSBhXYDKG5iLw9Egj3ewiJA30A/s1600/635970101956704471.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8wtTanjR_XFLuYSNCveUjgeMdLBHA9xEtsmMfLx6T0RasOdFve4g-2pK78g3wY4BPhCN7zP0HCwbFNNWEAULVhTYGMxHX3hkRcfArrEDS84s686qs1bSBhXYDKG5iLw9Egj3ewiJA30A/s320/635970101956704471.jpg" width="213" /></a> </span><br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Closing kick, rarr!</span><br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span>
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhEItU5QSgxjG1PdcHPt6rdW8YgXdkWhd6b7e5WR7kj9yMpJlm-CiFvfy5Xu3c6bTfywnBi_N4l4ctUadrGkhfMhb2VBOWVZ0NQVSGvJ2fW4wnfBkpseXSk6eq6RXUT4n6HZEmlKZc3XQ/s1600/635970101448419471.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhEItU5QSgxjG1PdcHPt6rdW8YgXdkWhd6b7e5WR7kj9yMpJlm-CiFvfy5Xu3c6bTfywnBi_N4l4ctUadrGkhfMhb2VBOWVZ0NQVSGvJ2fW4wnfBkpseXSk6eq6RXUT4n6HZEmlKZc3XQ/s320/635970101448419471.jpg" width="213" /></a></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
Okay, maybe that did hurt a bit. They have a beer tent, right?<br />
(All photos courtesy of TNF and Ultra Race Photos, LLC)</div>
Jersey Strong Trail Runnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15468992940091986449noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5308448982469091925.post-87417203259119406492015-09-25T20:14:00.000-07:002016-04-25T17:36:42.372-07:00I’ll Fly Away: Run Rabbit Run 100, September 18th, 2015 <div class="MsoNormal">
Find a good rut and stick with it.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
-Sandi Ashley</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Thirteen miles to the finish.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I stared at the volunteer, frantically calculating, then
burst into tears.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was
ninety-plus miles in already, and I’d been running at threshold for the past
two hours, desperately trying to make up time against the possibility of
missing a thirty-hour finish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“Someone told me it was seventeen,” I sobbed, “and I just lost my
shit”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She stared back at me with
that ‘maybe I need to pull this guy from the race’ look.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Through the tears I said, “No, I’m fine. Really, I’m okay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thank you for
being out here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s just so hard.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I ran away before she could tell me I
had to stop.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There were a lot of tears shed in Colorado last week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d planned the trip almost a year ago,
in part to race the Run Rabbit Run 100 mile, but mostly to have a chance to
spend time with my Grandmother, the last member of her generation in my
family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead I arrived just in
time for her memorial service.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
started my eulogy by saying that I would try to tell some stories from her
life, but that if I broke down, people might have to think of their own stories
for a while.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They almost had
to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The other members of our
family kept it together better than I did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Beautiful stories were told, and beautiful music was played.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One piece we didn’t sing
was “I’ll Fly Away”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As my sister
recounted, Grandma hated that song because they always played it at her
friends’ funerals.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What I didn’t say at the service, and would only slowly come
to accept, is that my Grandmother had also given me an incredible gift by her
passing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All the members of our
family came together in Colorado to celebrate her life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It gave us a chance to reconnect with each other, and it
gave us time to remember who we were and how we came to be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It meant that we were able to share our
history again and, with the travel already made, it meant we could spend a few
days together in the mountains.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For me, selfishly, it meant that my whole family would be with me when I
needed them most.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
After doing what little we could to help settle affairs in
Fort Collins we drove through the mountains toward Steamboat Springs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We stayed at the little ranch cabin Dave
and Sandi and Jan had built in the 1970’s just before I was born.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It sits on an open plateau of grass and
sage seventeen miles from town.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
has a huge picture window with a view all the way to the mountain. When we first arrived the mountain was
enshrouded with dark and angry-looking clouds, but the next day, as we drove to town, the storm broke.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were greeted with first a solitary rainbow, then a pair.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were
the brightest I’d ever seen, and at one point even the space between the two
seemed streaked with color.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As
omens go, it was pretty hard to beat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It seemed as if my Grandmother was giving us one last goodbye, a
beautiful, joyous farewell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
turned the page for me, leaving me to focus on the race.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At our family pre-race meeting on Thursday night we went
over the course and the aid stations, the pace estimates and gear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We covered who would meet me at each of
the crew access points and what I might want there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And we talked about focus and motivation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Olivia took a black marker and wrote on
my left forearm ‘This is what you came for’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On my right arm ‘Not all pain is significant’, and on my
hands ‘Be Somebody’ and ‘Experience Joy’, all visible reminders of how to keep
my darkest thoughts at bay.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At the race start Friday morning, 8 AM, I started in the
back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The course contains four
thousand feet of climbing in the first four miles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I knew I’d be walking all of that, and I did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I checked my watch, keeping my heart
rate below my target of 132 bpm, ten beats below MAF.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At first the clouds spit sleet and rain at us, but soon the
sun broke through, bathing the mountain in light, though not warmth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The sight was incredible, green spruce
and fir surrounding stands of aspen that had turned not just yellow and gold but
even red.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Blue sky and gray rock
and the tiny stream of brightly garmented runners climbing slowly up the
face.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the top of the gondola I
met my family for the first time, exchanging quick hugs and handing off my rain
jacket before hiking along.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We soon came to the Mt. Werner aid station, well above
ten thousand feet, where the course levels and contours along the ridge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was frustrated to find that I
couldn’t keep my heart rate down at anything above a slow jog on the flats, and that even the slightest climb or descent required walking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I began to repeat what would become my mantra for the first day,
a quote from Mark Allen: "Total Commitment plus Total Surrender equals Great
Significance."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hated watching
others, clearly less fit, run by, but I knew the fastest way to destroy my race
was to overexert my sea-level trained body at elevation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i>I have a plan</i>, I thought, <i>and that plan
will work</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i>Total commitment to
that plan</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was probably placing
somewhere around 190<sup>th</sup> of the 211 starters, but I refused to care.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
On the descent to Fish Creek Falls my body could finally
begin to move without spiking my heartbeats.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I passed a few runners on the smooth early sections then
danced by the crowds that had slowed on the rocks. My East Coast technical trails were finally coming in handy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I
skipped over the stones the song my Grandma hated filled my mind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I began to sing softly as I ran down
the trail, then more loudly – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I’ll fly away, Oh Glory, I’ll
fly away in the morning, when I die Hallelujah by and by, I’ll fly away</i> – and
I smiled as I gathered strange looks from all the hikers who must have thought
I’d lost my mind.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My brother-in-law Chad met me above the Fish Creek aid and
ran me down the road through town.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We chatted about the day and the race, and he showed me a video on his
phone of our family cheering for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The miles clicked by quickly until we met the whole crew at Olympian
Hall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I got fritos and coke and a calf massage, and I picked up a trucker hat full of ice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I spent too much time there, but it
felt good.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
On the loop out to Cow Creek I stuck with my plan, repeating
over and over again: Total Commitment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Chelsea from Vancouver caught up and eventually passed me, along with a
pair of Japanese runners, Kara from Steamboat, and a few others who were in no
mood to chat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was the heat that
was slowing me now, and I thanked God and my Dad for the
trucker hat full of ice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d
learned my lesson at the HURL, and I wasn’t going to overheat again.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At Cow Creek I refilled on ice, gels, and hugs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hit my first real low of the race on
the gentle road climb above the aid station.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I walked along, letting my body settle, fighting off the
negative mentality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once I hit the
single track I felt better, and soon my energy returned in full.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I began to see runners ahead, and for
the first time I let my competitive impulses push my boundaries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I became the hunter, picking off
runners one by one and in groups.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I whistled songs aloud as I approached and passed, flaunting how relaxed
I was, how far I was from oxygen debt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I road that high all the way back to Olympian Hall, making up time
against the clock.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Chad ran with me through town again, keeping with me in the
gathering dark.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He asked me how I
felt about having to run through the night, sunset to sunrise, and I said I
was worried.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He asked me my three
favorite things about running by headlamp.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I couldn’t think of any, but I could see he was doing his
best to help me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That alone was
enough.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The night was hard regardless.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I passed more runners, and began to be passed by more and
more of the elite “Hares”, who’d started four hours after we “Tortoises” were
on the course.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the dark the high
country air was icy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I felt tired, sleepy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wanted to lay down, to cover myself with the space blanket from my pack, and
it was so hard to keep up any reasonable effort.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would check my watch after what seemed like hours only to
see that we’d moved less than a mile.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Back at Long Lake Jenn Shelton was tending to runners and
handing out shots of whiskey to anyone who was willing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Andy Reed caught me there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was moving well, but he said his
stomach had turned badly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
followed him out of the aid station, nauseous as well, and watched his headlamp
disappear into the dark.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was
still at Summit Lake aid when I arrived, but he said his stomach had
recovered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He showed me a note
card his wife had slipped into his drop bag: “Embrace the Pain”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We laughed about it and about my HURL
race report, about how he knew I was cooked long before I did, and we tried to
help another runner whose knees and hips were betraying him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Soon Andy disappeared down the trail again, this time for
good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I followed along slowly
until my friend Karen Holland, another elite starter, caught me, then kept time
with her for a few miles before my energy crashed completely.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I struggled into Dry Lake, where the love of my life met
me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I told her I wanted to
quit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We talked for a minute, and
then she told me I’d passed my lucidity check.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She told me to quit my whining and get out of there, but she
tempered her hard side with hugs and a hot mocha.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I left the aid station and within
moments, at 2:30 AM in the freezing dark, received the most incredible jolt of
energy I’ve ever felt in a race.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Her strength and warmth propelled me down the trail to the Spring Ponds
turnaround, then back up to Dry Lake with Chad in tow again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was the most amazing feeling.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At the second pass through Dry Lake we hit our one hiccup of
the race.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My faster pace and the
crowded shuttles meant my parents hadn’t arrived at the aid station, which
meant that I didn’t have the warm clothes, bottles, and headlamp batteries I
needed before I climbed back into the high country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For a moment I sat, bewildered, as Chad frantically searched
for a spot with enough cell reception to find out where everyone was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was freezing, stuck, and my stomach
had turned sour again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I could
almost see the mental demons slithering over the frozen ground toward me, stalking me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then, unbidden, a quote from Nickademus
Hollon’s Tour des Geants race report exploded into my brain:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I accidentally kicked a rock hard with
my right foot then. The pain opened my eyes right up and I repeated to
myself:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is the best possible thing
that could possibly happen to me right now.”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5308448982469091925#_edn1" name="_ednref" style="mso-endnote-id: edn;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[i]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This is the best thing that could possibly happen to me
right now!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I stretched my fingers
out in front of me, made fists, then relaxed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I got a cup full of hot salted broth from the woman at the
aid counter, then a second.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My
stomach began to settle – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">the best thing
that could happen right now</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Chad worked his hands over my calves, and a few of the knots began to
loosen – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">the best thing that could
possibly happen right now</i> – then he moved me to a warming tent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My fingers thawed, and I stopped
shivering.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The best possible thing that could possibly happen to me right now!</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hollon’s statement is not true in
its essence, but it can be made to be true.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My parents arrived, and the gear transition was fast and
seamless.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hugged them hard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those hugs were the last thing I needed
before vanishing into the dark.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This is the best possible thing that could possibly happen to me right now.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I climbed back to Summit Lake as the world slowly
brightened.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At altitude my energy
evaporated again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The aid station
was supposed to be eighty-two miles in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I’ve learned over many races that even at my worst, even at altitude, I
can still walk consistent twenty-minute miles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My aspirational goal of a twenty-four hour finish was long
out of reach, but I still had my sights set on a sub-thirty hour buckle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> T</span>he course was supposed to be one
hundred three miles, meaning the remaining twenty-one miles would take me at worst seven hours.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was 6:58 AM.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would just make it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To reassure myself, I asked a volunteer
how far it was to the finish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
looked at his sheet, adding up distances from one aid to the next.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Not far now,” he said.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Twenty-five miles to go.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In that moment I felt the world closing in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I rebelled. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">There’s no fucking way
I’ve worked this hard to miss a thirty-hour finish! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have to make up a fucking hour twenty over then next
twenty-five.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s seventeen
minute pace, no, 16:48.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Shit. 10,000 ft for the next 15, and the next two aids will cost you time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Damn it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t
know if I can do that. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fuck.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Go, go, go!</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The battery of my heart rate monitor had died hours
earlier.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I clearly wasn’t going to make it at 132 bpm anyway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
gave up on my plan and started pushing, hard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I ran everything I could, and climbed as fast as I could
when I couldn’t run.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My hands
started to swell, and I started to see things I knew weren’t there – a coyote that
was really a stump, a blue shirt that was really a flash of sky through the
trees, a bizarre dragon-like creature that was really a pile of rocks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was loosing sodium balance, but I
didn’t care.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fine. I’m not drinking til the end.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can do that.</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I kept it together emotionally until the return through Long
Lake, eight miles later.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d made
up half the time I thought I needed, but it had cost me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was hurting, badly, and I didn’t know
if I could keep it up for another seventeen miles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I checked with a volunteer again “How far until the end?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Thirteen miles.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I almost fell over.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I started crying, hard, wracked by the intensity and the relief and the
knowledge that I still couldn’t rest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I tried to pretend that all this was normal and no reason for a forced
DNF.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I left as fast as I could to
make sure she wouldn’t pull me from the race.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
After a while a sense of normalcy, or something resembling
normalcy, returned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I stabilized
my effort, walking the ups and running the downs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t know what I should do on the flats, but there weren’t
enough of them to worry about anyway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Eventually I caught up with Karen again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We walked together for a moment, and she said she was
hurting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I said not to worry, we’d
just run the downhills together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>At the next pitch I skipped down the rocks and she called from behind
“Your steps are so… <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">dainty</i>”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It made me smile, and I needed that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Karen didn’t follow, though.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was solidly in forth place, third
far ahead and fifth far behind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No
need to risk injury or overreaching.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I carried on, up to Mount Werner, where I pretended my
swollen hands and visions were nothing of concern, then down the long cat track
toward the finish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Three miles
from the end I found my sister.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She sent a simple text message to our family, two words.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Got him.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We ran most of those last three miles, pushing forward and
picking off a final few competitors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They didn’t even try to follow. As I neared the finish the announcer
joked that I looked like a 5K runner, and that my tan lines matched my
shorts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I stopped just before the
line to pick up my son and my niece, then carried them across.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hugged the designated hugger,
officially completing my journey, then collapsed on the grass in the shade of a
card table.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d finished 19<sup>th</sup>
overall in the tortoise division, and while 38 of the elite hares would have
faster times, I even picked off a few of them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not to mention the 30 elite DNF’s.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I stood up to cheer Karen across the line, and she soon took
my place lying down in the grass.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I was so proud of her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She
had just crushed a course that had felled the likes of Michele Yates and Tim
Olson, and finished fourth among the elite women.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was an incredible performance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Later we exchanged messages about where to meet up next –
maybe the Georgia Death Race or the Cruel Jewel 100?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’re both looking for UTMB points, and who could turn down
another 108 mile “one hundred mile” race?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Post script: Execution vs. Plan</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In the corporate world where I spend my days there is much
discussion of execution vs. plan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>How did earnings compare to projected earnings?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Has cycle time been reduced as
expected?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Have we come up with an
appropriate metric to measure our number of metrics?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You get the idea.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For this race, though, I did have a very specific plan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of it was heart rate based.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had aspirational time goals, but the
primary point was to run as fast as I could at an effort that I could sustain
for one hundred miles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I defined
that effort in advance as an average heart rate of 132 bpm, 10 beats below my
MAF heart rate, and I added an additional cap of 142 bpm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Looking back over the data I violated
the high end cap routinely but never for long and, amazingly, my average HR
when the battery gave out at 71 miles was exactly 132.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m sure it was much higher over the
subsequent 32 miles, but I’m okay with that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At some point in a race you have to take risks – just don’t
take them too early.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That said, in
the future I’ll likely plan somewhat more aggressively regarding effort.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Based on my experience here I think I
can sustain MAF – 5 for a full day, and a MAF + 5 cap is reasonable if not
violated for long.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Other key points of the plan were around temperature
control.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I bought my TRN trucker
hat specifically for the purpose of keeping ice on my head during the heat of
the day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I taught myself to run
with it on, even though I hate having anything on my head while running.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It worked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Granted it wasn’t 97 degrees this time around, but the
impact of the afternoon sun and heat was minor and mitigated instead of major
and goal-crushing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The cold in the high country at night was a whole different
ballgame.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the early part of
the night I carried a wool shirt, light rain jacket, gloves, and beanie in my
UD vest, slowly putting them on as the temperature dropped.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was enough, but carrying the vest
was frustrating and likely unnecessary; I eventually dumped both bottles just
to stop hearing the sloshing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>After the second Dry lake pass I added a heavier jacket and gloves,
ditched the vest, and picked up my handheld again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The heavier jacket was nice in that the pockets allowed me
to stow hat, gloves, buff, and headlamp after morning rendered them
unnecessary, but by midday I felt like I had the Spanish Armada tied around my
waste.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a person who naturally
runs hot, I plan to carry substantially less cold gear next time around.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is some risk with that plan, but
barring disaster, fighting off cold with movement and body heat seems better
than carrying too many coats.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Post post script:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Reevaluating myself as an athlete</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Coming into this race I really wanted to break 24
hours.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s something magical
about the idea and phrase “100 miles, one day”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I raced nearly as well as I could have and ended up at 28 h
15 min – not close.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Part of that
is the course in question.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Run
Rabbit Run course record (which is legit, given that Tim Olson and Rob Krar
have failed to break it!) is 17:15, as compared to 14:46 for Western States and
12:44 at Rocky Raccoon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The larger
reality, though, is that I’m not the runner I wish I were, at least not this
year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I actually want to run
the times I’d like, I need to make major changes to diet, training consistency,
and, most importantly, reduction of life stress.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Job-related stresses destroyed at least a month of key
training this year, and I’m sure I suffered more because of that. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Add on an occasionally laissez faire
approach to eating, sleeping, and running, and I’m four-ish hours off of where
I want to be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Luckily, all of
those things are fixable.<span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<div style="mso-element: endnote-list;">
<!--[if !supportEndnotes]--><br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<br />
<div id="edn" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5308448982469091925#_ednref" name="_edn1" style="mso-endnote-id: edn;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[i]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a> http://ultrademus.blogspot.com/2014/09/tdg-2014-running-among-giants.html</div>
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Jersey Strong Trail Runnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15468992940091986449noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5308448982469091925.post-67044481061615281172015-09-10T20:26:00.000-07:002015-09-10T20:26:55.864-07:00Scheming, plotting, and planning: Crew instructions and gear list for the Run Rabbit Run 100<div class="MsoNormal">
I’m a little stressed out about running 100 miles for the
first time, so I’ve been planning. Kind of. It's a little hard to plan effectively for something you've never done before, but I'm giving it my best shot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Below are a few of the practical considerations I’ve put together for
myself and my family (aka Crew.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Thanks family!).</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Gear list and crew instructions for the Run Rabbit Run 100 </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Side notes</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo6; text-indent: -.25in;">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Daylight: Sunset 7:13 pm, sunrise 6:50 am (11 h
37 min of headlamp running)</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Temperature: Average high 71 F, average low 35 F</span></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Start gear</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Shoes, socks, calf sleeves, shorts (TNF), shirt
(InkNBurn), arm sleeves, trucker hat (TRN)</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Watch, heart rate monitor</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Handheld, gels in each pocket</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Bandaids, body glide, and sunscreen applied</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Night gear </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">New shirt (UA)</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Vest containing</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level2 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Two
bottles</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level2 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Wool
shirt wrapped in light rain jacket</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level2 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Ziplocked
wool hat, gloves, buff</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level2 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Space
blanket</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level2 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Ziplocked
paper towels</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level2 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Headlamp
+ extra battery, backup headlamp <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">(Fully
Charged.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Remember charging
cables!)</b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level2 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Note: Night gear to be provided by crew on
second trip through Olympian Hall (41.6 miles, est 3:30 – 5:30 PM) or second
trip through Fish Creek Falls (45.6 miles, est 4:30 – 6:30 PM).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Crew gear/provisions</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Bag 1: New shirt (UA), new wool shirt, new
shorts (Brooks), new socks, new shoes, bandaids, body glide, sunscreen, dry
towels</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Bag 2: Heavy rain jacket, tights</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Bag 3: Dry towel, street clothes, deodorant</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Food bag:</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Fritos, Coke, stinger honey gels, pocket fuel</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Night gear vest</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Ice (daytime)</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Hot mocha (nighttime)</span> </li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Contact points, time estimates, and crew responsibilities</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Start:</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">8:00 AM</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l5 level2 lfo5; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Get
me there awake, fed, and geared up by 7:20 AM</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l5 level1 lfo5; text-indent: -.25in;">
</div>
<br /><ul>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Top of the Gondola: 8:40 AM</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l5 level2 lfo5; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Optional,
ride the gondola, cheer and spectate, just for fun</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l5 level1 lfo5; text-indent: -.25in;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><br /><ul>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Fish Creek Falls 1</span><sup style="text-indent: -0.25in;">st</sup><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> pass: 11:30 AM –
12:00 PM (Shuttle from Olympian Hall)</span></li>
</ul>
<!--[if !supportLists]--><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l5 level2 lfo5; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Optional,
moral support and gel resupply</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l5 level2 lfo5; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Optional
pacing from Fish Creek Falls to Olympian Hall, just for fun</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l5 level1 lfo5; text-indent: -.25in;">
</div>
<br /><ul>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Olympian Hall, 1</span><sup style="text-indent: -0.25in;">st</sup><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> pass: 12:00 PM –
12:30 PM</span></li>
</ul>
<!--[if !supportLists]--><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l5 level2 lfo5; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Sunscreen
reapplication</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l5 level2 lfo5; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Ice,
Fritos, Coke, gel replacement</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l5 level2 lfo5; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Access
to Bag 1 if requested</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l5 level1 lfo5; text-indent: -.25in;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><br /><ul>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Cow Creek: 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM</span></li>
</ul>
<!--[if !supportLists]--><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l5 level2 lfo5; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Optional,
moral support and gel resupply</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l5 level1 lfo5; text-indent: -.25in;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><br /><ul>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Olympian Hall, 2</span><sup style="text-indent: -0.25in;">nd</sup><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> pass: 3:30 PM –
5:30 PM</span></li>
</ul>
<!--[if !supportLists]--><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l5 level2 lfo5; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Lucidity
check</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l5 level2 lfo5; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Access
to Bag 1 and Bag 2</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l5 level2 lfo5; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Exchange
for night gear if late <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Key Decision
Point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Alternative requires Crew
to take Night Gear to Fish Creek Falls immediately after I leave via shuttle
from Olympian Hall</b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l5 level2 lfo5; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Optional
pacing from Olympian Hall to Fish Creek Falls, just for fun</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l5 level1 lfo5; text-indent: -.25in;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><br /><ul>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Fish Creek Falls, 2</span><sup style="text-indent: -0.25in;">nd</sup><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> pass: 4:30 PM –
6:30 PM (Shuttle from Olympian Hall)</span></li>
</ul>
<!--[if !supportLists]--><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l5 level2 lfo5; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Night Gear required if not obtained at
Olympian Hall </b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l5 level2 lfo5; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Otherwise
optional, moral support and gel resupply</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l5 level1 lfo5; text-indent: -.25in;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><br /><ul>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Dry Lake, 1</span><sup style="text-indent: -0.25in;">st</sup><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> pass: 9:00 PM – 11:00
PM</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">(Shuttle from Olympian Hall)</span></li>
</ul>
<!--[if !supportLists]--><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l5 level2 lfo5; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Lucidity
check</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l5 level2 lfo5; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Access
to Bag 1 and Bag 2</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l5 level2 lfo5; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Hot
Mocha</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l5 level1 lfo5; text-indent: -.25in;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><br /><ul>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Spring Creek Ponds: 10:00 PM – 12:00 AM (1 mile
hike from high school)</span></li>
</ul>
<!--[if !supportLists]--><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l5 level2 lfo5; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Optional,
maybe best to just stay at Dry Lake</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l5 level2 lfo5; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Note:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It will be cold in the night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Crew should bring parka, hat, gloves, etc if planning to stay at Dry
Lake between 1<sup>st</sup> and 2<sup>nd</sup> pass.</b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l5 level1 lfo5; text-indent: -.25in;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><br /><ul>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Dry Lake, 2</span><sup style="text-indent: -0.25in;">nd</sup><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> pass: 11:00 PM – 1:30
AM</span></li>
</ul>
<!--[if !supportLists]--><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l5 level2 lfo5; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Lucidity
check</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l5 level2 lfo5; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Access
to Bag 1 and Bag 2</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l5 level2 lfo5; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Hot
Mocha</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l5 level1 lfo5; text-indent: -.25in;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><br /><ul>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Finish: 7:00 AM – 11:00 AM</span></li>
</ul>
<!--[if !supportLists]--><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l5 level2 lfo5; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Pick
me up!</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l5 level2 lfo5; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Put
me back together</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l5 level2 lfo5; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Access
to Bag 3</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l5 level2 lfo5; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Beer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lots.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or maybe
not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’ll see.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Plans and considerations</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l6 level1 lfo7; text-indent: -.25in;">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Goal pace: 24 hours</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> Average Heart Rate target: 132</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> Heart Rate cap: 142</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> Watch plan: HR and total time only, GPS tracking
off</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> For the first 70 miles, walk the uphills – even
the easy ones</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> For the last 30 miles, pray that I can still
walk the uphills – even the easy ones!</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> Walk into and out of each aid station, but be
efficient in the station</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> Thank every volunteer I meet</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> Thank my crew every time I see them</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> Find runners with similar pacing.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Run with them.</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Reminders</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l3 level1 lfo8; text-indent: -.25in;">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Left forearm:</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">This is what I came for</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> Right forearm:</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Because I want to run here</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> Humility</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> Pride</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">In the first half, don’t be an idiot.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">In the second half, don’t be a wimp.</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> One hundred miles, one day</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
That’s about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Wish me luck!</div>
Jersey Strong Trail Runnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15468992940091986449noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5308448982469091925.post-7951708952263783672015-08-08T13:07:00.004-07:002015-08-14T15:29:45.612-07:00Humble Pie: HURL Elkhorn 50 mile, August 1st, 2015<div class="MsoNormal">
On Saturday night after the race my dad showed me a list of
“things to bring backpacking”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
and my mom have been working off that list for the last thirty years or so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It contains a lot of the obvious,
though easy to forget, things, like “toothpaste”, “warm hat”, and “sunglasses” along
with the essentials like “tent, sleeping bags, and pads”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It looks very responsible until you
read the margins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those contain
underlined phrases like <u>ALL parts of the stove!</u> and <u>HIKING Boots, NOT
JUST Flip-flops!</u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Margins
always contain the echo of life’s unforgettable moments.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The HURL took me 13 hours, but there’s no need for 13 pages
of detail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The short story is
simple and should suffice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
didn’t eat or drink much before the race.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I forgot my water bottle at the start, ran back to the parking lot for
it, and so ended up last on the early single track.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I climbed back to the lead by mile 12, blew up at mile 18,
and fought off heat exhaustion for the next 9 hours, 35 miles, and 9,000 ft of
climbing (yes, Steve Engebrecht’s 50 miler is 53 miles long).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the finish I narrowly avoided puking
on poor Steve, my parents, their car, and my three-year-old niece while waiting
for my body to reestablish thermostasis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The race felt a bit like one of those trains derailing off a trestle
bridge over a gorge in an old movie, except the scene stretched on for the
better part of a day.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Reflecting back on how and why things went poorly led
someone to coin the phrase “eating humble pie”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Given that I’ve blown up in three straight endurance events,
some deeper reflection seems in order. Bear Mountain appeared to be the result of stress and sadness. Whiteface gave an obvious excuse with the extremes
of Skyrunning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But now?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m beginning to think that the problem
is right between my ears, which makes “humble pie” seem ostentatious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The consideration of my summer is more
like sitting down to a plate of humble liver, or maybe humble spinach. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It doesn’t look good, but at least I’ve
managed to pull out of it a list, a bit like my dad’s, of things
to read before racing again. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Notes to self:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
-If the forecast shows 97 degrees and full sun, drink more
than a cup of coffee before the race (HURL).</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
-If the course has twice as much vertical gain - and loss - as your last
month of training, maybe don’t bomb down that first descent (Whiteface).</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
-If you’re undertrained, race like you’re undertrained (Bear
Mountain).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
-The Maffetone approach is great for flat road triathlons,
but it doesn’t build muscle worth a damn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You need some specific intensity before racing a course that
has 45<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-ascii-font-family: Times; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Times; mso-symbol-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Symbol;">°</span></span>
climbs and descents (Whiteface again).</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
-You’re not some Zach Bitter ketogenic wonderboy type.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Eat some damn carbs before running all
day.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
-The ultra is a brutal thing.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5308448982469091925#_edn1" name="_ednref" style="mso-endnote-id: edn;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[i]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It will respect you far less than you
respect it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So you’d better
respect it one hell of a lot.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
-Focus doesn’t start with the gun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It doesn’t start the night before, or the day before, or the
week before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Focus starts a full
training cycle out, or, better than that, many months earlier.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
-I know falling asleep before midnight is hard, but the race
start is 5 am.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Figure it out.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
-When passing someone, ask yourself “are they slow, or am I
dumb?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
-When you’re running downhill faster than the people around
you, ask yourself “is this my good technique or their good judgment?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
-Saving a minute in the aid station isn’t worth 9 hours
of dehydration.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
-Saving a minute in the aid station isn’t worth 9 hours
of hypoglycemia.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
-Heat sucks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Figure out how to carry ice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Lots of ice.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
-2 of your 3 best races came when you weren’t trying to
compete.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>3 of your 4 worst races
came when you had serious time/place goals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Consider:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>what will
my process actually accomplish?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
-Eric Orton said that if it feels like work, you’re going
too fast.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5308448982469091925#_edn2" name="_ednref" style="mso-endnote-id: edn;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[ii]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s crap.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The reality?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If
it feels good, you’re going too fast.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
-Ken Chlouber got it wrong too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You’re not as good as you think you are, and you can’t pull
off nearly what you think you can.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5308448982469091925#_edn3" name="_ednref" style="mso-endnote-id: edn;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[iii]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Start the race with some perspective
and humility.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
-It’s good to remember your place in the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Antje Duvekot says, “You can ask the
mountain, but the mountain doesn’t care”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Again, start the race with some perspective and humility!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’m not sure if these notes will really help me, but with a
hundred mile mountain race rapidly approaching, I need all the reminders I can
get.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A side note on food: humble spinach.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Joking aside, I actually like spinach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I like the flavor, and the folate, iron, zinc, and vitamin A complex are crucial nutrients supplied in high levels.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I eat spinach in quite a variety of
dishes, but the most common is my typical morning fare.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In honor of getting wrecked by another tough course I’ll
call it “humble spinach”.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What I use</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
-4 small cremini mushrooms, diced and sautéed in olive oil
for about 7 minutes.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
-1/2 cup diced onion, added with the mushrooms.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
-2 pressed garlic cloves, added with the mushrooms.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
-Red pepper flakes to taste, added during sautéing.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
-Spinach, sufficient to cover the top of the skillet, added
at 7 minutes and sautéed with the other vegetables until wilted (about 2
minutes).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Note:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>this is about half a bag of baby
spinach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It will look huge at
first, but wilts down to a reasonable volume quite quickly.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
-1/2 avocado, diced onto a plate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pour the sautéed vegetables over the avocado.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
-2 eggs, fried for about 3 minutes on one side then 1 minute
on the other, placed over the vegetables.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
-A simple tomato/onion salsa to top.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This is a high nutrient, low carb, high fat, moderate
protein dish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Caloric load is best
modified to match training load by subtracting or adding an egg and changing the
amount of avocado while leaving the vegetable sauté constant.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<!--StartFragment-->
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<div style="mso-element: endnote-list;">
<!--[if !supportEndnotes]--><br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<br />
<div id="edn" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5308448982469091925#_ednref" name="_edn1" style="mso-endnote-id: edn;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[i]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a> As noted by
Scott Jurek in Eat and Run.</div>
</div>
<div id="edn" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5308448982469091925#_ednref" name="_edn2" style="mso-endnote-id: edn;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[ii]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a> Born to
Run.</div>
</div>
<div id="edn" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5308448982469091925#_ednref" name="_edn3" style="mso-endnote-id: edn;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[iii]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a> Yup,
another Born to Run reference.</div>
</div>
</div>
Jersey Strong Trail Runnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15468992940091986449noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5308448982469091925.post-53917797951584531012015-07-12T09:09:00.003-07:002015-07-12T09:16:55.939-07:00How to make ultra running (even more) awesome: An open letter to The North Face Endurance Challenge Series<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;">How to make ultra running (even
more) awesome:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An open letter to
The North Face Endurance Challenge Series<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;">Let me begin by saying that I have
deep philosophical disagreements with much of what I’m about to write.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I feel, on a visceral level, that the
greatest things about running in general and ultra running in particular have
to do with running’s participatory nature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What moves me is watching runners come face to face with
their personal limits, struggle, hurt, fall down, get up, and push against those
limits as hard as they possibly can.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s awesome to see regular girls and guys who are going to come out of a
race a bit wiser and a bit tougher than they were before – to know that, in
however small and irrelevant a way, they will have experienced the triumph of our
human spirits over our weak and fallible bodies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s cool to know they will come out of the race with a
story to tell, and to know they will most likely tell it repeatedly, no matter
how much it annoys their non-running friends.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;">That was a long-winded way of
saying that I don’t give a crap about what happens at “the pointy end” of the
field.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The experiential nature of
running that interests me seems to be less and less prominent as a runner
becomes more and more proficient.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The experience and exploration of self is replaced by base competition,
and to be frank, you don’t need to run 50 miles to have a competition. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A few hundred meters will probably do.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;">Instead, I’ve always liked romantic
amateurism, but as Sally Edwards recently pointed out on a podcast with Trail
Runner Nation, romantic amateurism is a truly stupid business model.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Money in sports is all about
spectators, and you won’t find many red-blooded Americans with the patience to
watch skinny people in baggy shorts jog for half a day at a stretch (case in
point, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">curling</i> is a far more popular spectator
sport than ultra running).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you
want spectators to be interested in distance running, you need something more
special.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To address that need, Edwards
pointed out five things she considered to be critical for generating interest in
a race, specifically used during her creation of the California International
Marathon.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;">1) TV coverage, which is
potentiated by<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;">2) Celebrity athletes, who join
the race because of<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;">3) Prize money, which is given by<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;">4) Corporate sponsors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;">Oh, and apparently it’s important
to have<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;">5) A great course (fortunately,
“great” is in the eye of the beholder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Seriously, who wants to run <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">toward</i>
Sacramento?)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;">Given that I’d heard of the CIM
before listening to the TRN podcast, I have to grant that Edwards is probably
close to the mark.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the other
hand, given that the only runner I recognized on the 2014 finisher list was 10<sup>th</sup>
place David Laney, whose name I only know from his ultra results, I’m not sure
that the Celebrity Athlete criterion holds much water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More to the point, the lack of fame on
the finisher list reminded me of a truism from Michael Lewis’s book Moneyball.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fans don’t come to games to see their
famous players play; they come to see their <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">winning
teams</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">win</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;">From the athlete’s point of view,
ultra running is a solitary endeavor – the notion of team is essentially absent
from the sport.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, it’s
quite possible for a team mentality to be generated in the mind of a running fan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The typical high school cross country
scoring system (one point for first place, two for second, etc., team with the
lowest overall point total wins) allows fans to cheer for one team of runners
in competition with other teams.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Our natural human propensity for tribal in-group / out-group psychology
feeds right into that support.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That support could create great interest in ultra running, if only
someone could create teams to match a part of our personal identities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Enter The North Face Endurance Challenge
Series.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;">One key to human identity is our
sense of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">place</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s a reason that the Yankee’s, for
all their success, still primarily draw fans from New York.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Part of this is certainly the ease of
access – if you want to see a Yankees’ game, it helps to live in New York – but
the identity of place is probably a larger influence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>New Yorkers consider themselves to be part of New York.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They consider the Yankees to be part of
New York.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And so, despite wild
differences between million dollar baseball players and the denizens of The
City, New Yorkers consider those players to be part of their tribe, and they
support them accordingly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;">The Endurance Challenge Series is
perfectly placed to take advantage of this primal aspect of human nature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In order to create teams that draw from
the identity of place, the ECS need simply invite the top six women and top six
men from each of it’s regional races to compete as a team in the December championship
race outside San Francisco.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Instantaneously, and for the paltry fee of a few plane tickets and hotel
rooms, the ECS would have Team Washington lined up to race Team New York, Team Wisconsin
against Team Ontario, and the dark horse Park City Team thrown into the mix.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps add in international teams from
Trans Gran Canaria, UTMB, or the Australia 100K.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Play the team identities properly through social media, and
people from Denver to Salt Lake would get excited about the Team from the
Rockies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Midwestern runners would
start trash-talking Team Canada.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everyone
could be happy that the Mason-Dixon line still separates The District from The
City, and we could all stand back to watch the US vs. Europe argument rage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Add in prize money for the winning
team, and you have enough drama to get traditional media deeply interested.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;">There’s another key aspect to team
racing that could raise spectator interest in ultra events and shorter distance
races as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From a spectator’s
point of view, the typical distance race is half over the second it becomes
clear that the leader won’t set a world record.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s perhaps 95% over as soon as the winner crosses the
line.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Interest lingers a bit as
the second and third runners finish, but then drops to zero while the vast
majority of athletes run through the end.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A focused team competition, with team prize money, would break the
myopic spotlight on the records and the first finisher.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All of a sudden the fates of leading
teams depend not just on the first or second or tenth finishers, but possibly
on the finishing place of runners struggling and bonking deep in the mid-pack, a
scene that elicits drama for hours rather than minutes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;">Further, the team focus could span
years much more smoothly than the focus on single athletes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s no reason to think that Sage
Canaday and Dakota Jones will both be healthy and interested in battling it out
at the championship race this year, much less next, but every championship race
for the next twenty years could feature Team Wisconsin battling Team Australia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The decade long rise and fall of one
team could be discussed and analyzed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The consistent presence of a runner on another team could be noted and
admired.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The possible end of a
third team’s long also-ran status could be argued and debated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Teams easily allow long-term story
lines in a way that single athletes rarely do, and those long-term stories are
compelling.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;">Now for the cynical part: the
great thing about this scheme is how little it costs The North Face in return
for how greatly it could increase the stature of the Endurance Challenge Series.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The North Face doesn’t have to pay the
athletes in question, much less sponsor them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You don’t have to care if the same athletes make a team year
after year or if a stream of new faces appears – media can make a story either
way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You don’t even have to be
responsible for maintaining or managing the teams; the regional races
automatically create the teams anew each year, and the top runners who might
make the teams will be managing their own training already.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All you have to do is continue your
existing races and at worst pay for travel expenses, warm-up suits, and prize
money for a few runners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At
best you could get the teams sponsored by local businesses (the Goldman Sachs
Bears!) and the prize money covered by advertising dollars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also, while most of these benefits are
aimed at raising the profile of the championship race, the competition to earn
a spot on the regional teams should raise the profile of the regional races as
well.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;">While I’m not entirely comfortable
with the evolution of ultra running into an increasingly professional sport, I
was struck by one more of Sally Edwards’s arguments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She claimed that the increase professionalism of triathlon
had given rise to an increased number of races and level of interest, which had
in turn elicited a much higher extent of participation amongst amateur
triathletes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not sure if the
correlation is actually indicative of causation (does the NBA increase the
number of high school basketball teams, or simply feed off them?), but the
argument is convincing enough for me to propose the ideas above.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Regardless of how these sorts of
changes might impact the culture at the top level of the sport, an increase in
access and encouragement for regular runners is worth pursuing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;">So, The North Face ECS, if you
want these ideas, I’ll sell them to you for a penny.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Note: actual penny not required to complete transaction.</span></span> </div>
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Jersey Strong Trail Runnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15468992940091986449noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5308448982469091925.post-28502354892302628262015-05-06T05:15:00.003-07:002015-05-14T19:25:40.690-07:00The Other Ten Percent: Bear Mountain 50 mile, May 2nd, 2015<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">And could you keep your heart in wonder at the daily
miracles of your life, your pain would not seem less wondrous than your joy.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">-Kahlil Gibran</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Just before 5:00 AM I stood in the cold dark by the Bear
Mountain Inn, surrounded by tiny pockets of light thrown by headlamps and fire
rings and strings of electric bulbs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As the clock ticked down the announcer called for the first wave of
runners to gather at the starting line.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I positioned myself at the back of the corral, my shoulder blades quite
literally touching the cold metal barrier.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My plan was to go out softly and try to run easy all the way
to Anthony Wayne at 41 miles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
wanted to arrive there without feeling too beat up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I managed that, then I would race hard over the last ten
miles to the finish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It wasn’t
much of a strategy, but it was what I had.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Coach Jimmy Dean Freeman is fond of saying, “An ultra is
ninety percent mental, and the other ten percent is in your head.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What he means is that a runner’s
physical capacity is fully determined well before he or she reaches the
starting line, and that virtually everyone on that line has the physical
capacity to finish well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
deciding factor between running well or failing from that point forward is the
mental – or more importantly, emotional – strength required to push the body into
the depths of that physical ability for hours and hours.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A race of this distance on this terrain is virtually guaranteed to provide
plenty of physical pain and exhaustion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As runners, it is up to us to float above that pain, grind our way
through it, or succumb, and all three are possible.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">My mother is a psychologist and councilor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She told me once about a training course she took that covered psychosomatic strength and weakness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In one of the sessions the participants
held out their arms at ninety degrees from the shoulder and gripped a heavy weight
in the extended hand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They closed
their eyes and told first a truth, then a lie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With the truth, they could hold the weight steady.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With the lie their hands trembled, or
even dropped.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> The </span>cognitive
dissonance confused the brain and interrupted the neural signals that keep the muscles firing in their arms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The psychosomatic test is a distilled version of what I
would face over and over during the race.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Over fifty miles I would take between seventy and ninety thousand
steps.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If my brain could convince
just a few extra muscle fibers to fire on each of those steps, I would fly
through to the finish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If it
couldn’t, I would slog along, the effort building with every step.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What
determines whether on not my brain would perform are all of the ephemerals:
happiness, confidence, resiliency, and adaptability facing off against sadness,
confusion, loneliness, and rigidity.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I’ve run both ways in the past.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just two weeks earlier in the North Face DC marathon an aid
station volunteer had chided me for making the race look too easy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was twenty miles in, in third place,
gliding along and chasing down the leaders.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It actually wasn’t easy, physically.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was running against the edge of my
ability, hot and tired and hurting, but I was running with the joy of visiting
my sister’s family, the beauty of the day and the positivity of the other
runners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It must have showed.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I wouldn’t have that advantage in this race.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just three days before I’d gotten the
news at my job.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not getting what I
wanted was hard, but for many reasons it became far worse than that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hearing through the rumor mill hours
before anyone got around to telling me directly made me angry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It devalued the months of managing
uncertainty and the effort of creating a base of support.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The patronizing consolations and
realizing how deep the breach of trust ran finally shattered the thin veneer of
civility I’d been able to maintain to that point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I felt shocked, hurt, and adrift.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I try to remember how badly I lost my temper in the ensuing
conversations, but the exact words refuse to arise from memory.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Afterward I drove to my refuge on the Watchung trails.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I burst immediately into a reckless
sprint, no warmup, and burned over the first mile.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I stopped suddenly, wanting to scream.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Too suddenly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m prone to cerebral hypoperfusion when I stop an intense
effort, as my body maintains blood flow to the muscles and forgets about the
brain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My vision turned blue,
narrowed, and I fell to the ground.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I bizarrely got up and started running again before coming to, only
regaining consciousness as I crashed through a thicket and slammed into an old
oak.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Blood dripped from my elbow,
and I cursed it as it splashed on the ground.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then I finished the loop.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">With the Bear Mountain 50 mile coming on Saturday I knew I
was in for trouble.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I couldn’t get
my mind right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I cancelled our
reservation at the Bear Mountain Inn; I didn’t think I could run the race.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then on Friday my buddy Andrew Siegmund
texted, asked if I was ready to crush it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I told him I was mentally wrecked, and he understood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He told me to do it anyway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I told him I would try to run, just to
see if I could go fifty miles on spite and anger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He told me to fly like Peter Pan instead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I asked what he meant, and he reminded
me: happy thoughts.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I set my alarm for 2:30 am on Saturday morning, but woke up
at 2:20.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was quietly thankful
that the alarm wouldn’t wake my family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I drove north, and there were no distressed thoughts or worries this
time, not like last year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There
was only a yawning, empty sadness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I wanted the black night to be comforting, but looking out at it only
felt like looking in a mirror.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I saw
grey hair and stubble, blank eyes and a wrinkled face.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I caught the last shuttle from Anthony Wayne to Bear
Mountain, arriving at the start/finish at 4:20.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I milled around, picking up a bib and arranging my drop
bags.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I tried to be sociable,
honoring the connections I made with Lena in DC, Sue and Maya at the Skydive
Ultra, Adam and Eric at the Hurl Elkhorn, and Karen at Cayuga Trails, but
mostly my attempts fell flat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
did chat a bit with an Ironman triathlete named Rob, who has a two-year old
daughter and another on the way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We joked and commiserated about the difficulties of parenting while
training for ultras, and glorified the hot coffee offered up by volunteers in
the predawn chill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
conversation felt almost human and almost real.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">At the 5:00 am start I jogged off behind the first wave of
runners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had no intention of
overrunning the early miles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
held back on the first rocky climbs, and soon the lead racers from the second
wave came streaming by, their headlamps shining through the dark.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I let them go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I knew I would see most of them again,
and I did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Over the first twenty
miles of hilly, broken ground I passed each one of them and many others, one by
one or in bunches, the race unfolding exactly as I intended.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I still felt sad, but I felt strong.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">On a different day, after a different week, I think I could
have kept it up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wouldn’t have
won – the talent in the field was far to deep for that – but I might have had a
chance at the top ten or fifteen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>On that day I would have been mentally strong and happy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would have waved at the
photographers, maybe clowned around and flexed the muscles on my thin
arms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead I could barely
smile.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the pain came I
gritted my teeth and forced my way through it, but I couldn’t float above.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Half way to Anthony Wayne I realized that my
strategizing was already lost. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
slowed, and on the way into the Camp Lanowa my legs cramped in a strange way
behind the knees, hamstrings and calves betraying me together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the way out of the aid station the
volunteers cheered and clapped.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They told me I was doing great and to keep up the good work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Secretly I wished they would stop
cheering.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I felt so worthless, and
I wished they would turn their backs and shun the useless creature before
them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I covered my mouth with my
hand, hoping they wouldn’t see my expression.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">By mile thirty I was walking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was by far the easiest section of the course, on a paved
road of all things, smooth and only slightly uphill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The runners I had passed earlier passed me back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One asked me if I was okay, and I told
him I was walking back to Anthony Wayne to drop out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He told me I’d feel better in while, and to keep going.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another told me it wouldn’t last, and a
third told me he’d see me again when I caught up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Then a young guy gave me</span> a chunk of ice he’d kept in his hat, to cool
my hands and face in the growing heat.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">It was the kindness of the other runners that finally broke
through my sadness and shame.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>These were the people who were facing the same struggle I was, and that
commonality allowed me to hear and feel their support.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In their presence I was not alone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I began to jog behind a trio of
European runners, letting their energy pull me up the hills and over the
rocks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I felt like the end car of
a freight train, no longer responsible for my own motion, but filled with the
inevitability of that movement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
was no longer competing, but I was running.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">By the return to Anthony Wayne I felt a small measure of
strength again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many families and
friends of the racers were there, cheering on their runners and laughing and
smiling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Amazingly my own family
came running across the parking lot, looking beautiful and clean and not at all
like the beaten down lot of us who’d been running for eight hours.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I told them that I would be slow on the
last ten miles, that it wasn’t a good day for me, and they said they would meet
me at the end.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Amazingly, I beat my family to the finish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were at the park, playing, when I
came across the line.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Alone, I
bent over and buried my face in my hands. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For so many, this would be a moment of victory, a chance to
celebrate the accomplishment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I stayed
bent over and let the anger and shame and sadness wash over me for another
minute.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I felt the pain and
exhaustion in my bruised and broken body, then I straightened up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I walked through the finish festival to
a pine tree and lay down on my back in the shade.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I thought about the race and the pain, my failures and my partial
recovery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I thought about mental
strength and emotional weakness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
thought of what Christopher McDougall said: “If you don’t have answers to your
problems after a four-hour run, you ain’t getting them.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I asked myself why I felt the way I
did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At first there were no
answers, but slowly I gained a modicum of understanding.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I felt like I'd been led on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was ashamed that I fell for it. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I felt betrayed, and I felt embarrassed
to see my raw ambition paraded so publicly about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I looked in at the core of my self and saw the shriveled,
seething mass.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It stank of base arrogance,
petty selfishness, and foolish wounded pride.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I recoiled from it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It was my worst self, but I couldn’t escape it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was part of me.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In the end I knew that nothing had changed, not in the ten
hours of the race and not in the week before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was the same person, living the same life, albeit much
more bruised and scraped and sore now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Only my perspective had shifted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That morning Bear Mountain had glowed crimson in the sunrise; now it
glittered green in the afternoon light.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Soon night would fall, and it would loom ominously in the gray dark, but
it was the same mountain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was
getting to see a different side of my life from the one I usually enjoy, a
darker, more ominous side.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would
have to get used to its presence, but I knew I had to stop letting it consume
me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If spite and anger weren’t
enough to fuel me for fifty miles, they certainly wouldn’t sustain me for months
or years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would have to find
the freight train of runners in my real life and join in, become part and
parcel of that support and inevitable motion, and refuse to allow the unstable
rocks a place in my foundation.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">By the end of the day my wife and son had lifted my
spirits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Together we dragged my
body back to the truck, and I followed them home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I began to mentally rebuild the veneer of civility.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I began to take back my right to feel
good about the better parts of who I am and how I conduct myself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I began to prepare for the difficult
part.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Postscript</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">As always, I owe a huge debt of gratitude to the volunteers
at the start/finish and the aid stations, particularly to the girl at Camp Lanowa
who kept me focused on taking one section at a time and to the woman at Tiorati
who sunscreened my burning skin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Without
these people, and without the organization provided by The North Face, I
wouldn’t have been able to start the race, much less finish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My thanks and my wish of blessing for each of them.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I would also like to acknowledge Dave and Paul, who, in the midst of
their own tough moments, let me walk along with them, and Ryan, who may have
managed to run every step. My
memory will always keep the images of them, along with the aforementioned
European trio, the guys blaring heavy metal from their truck outside Anthony
Wayne, the matching red shirt family, the passing cyclists, my buddy Chris
and his family who found me at the finish festival, the pacer wearing heart
emblazoned socks to match her runner, the hiker who made way in honor of his own
many competitions, the WTC girls at Queensboro, and Karen Holland, who called
out my name as I closed on the finish.</span><!--EndFragment-->
Jersey Strong Trail Runnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15468992940091986449noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5308448982469091925.post-26568151832560711292015-01-25T18:55:00.000-08:002015-01-25T19:01:09.682-08:00In Sickness and in Health: The lateral stabilization chain<div class="MsoNormal">
The Glut Med – IT Band – Knee – Posterior Tib – Lateral foot
chain</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’ve had left IT band issues for years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They’re never major enough to be
debilitating or really limit my running, but they’re always there, always
tight, and always a little painful on the outside of my knee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve dealt with them in various ways –
stretches for the TFL and piriformis, foam rolling the quad and hamstrings and
the IT band itself, heat, ice, and, rarely, rest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everything I tried worked from a palliative point of view,
but the ache in my leg now is evidence enough that none of it was curative.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Olivia is an orthopedic physical therapist, which makes me a
bit ashamed to admit to chronic injuries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You’d think that 24/7 access to an orthopedic specialist would render me
immune to injury or at least keep me on the fast track to fixing my core
problems, but it doesn’t often work that way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also, my problem is sadly worse than just the IT band.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The left knee, pulled by the tight IT,
aches.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The left foot has chronic
pain on the fifth metatarsal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
the posterior tib that stabilizes that ankle has failed and become strained
repeated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately I have a
bit of a thick skull, so having one person identify my problem, the glut med, and
proffer a solution isn’t enough.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Apparently,
I need several.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Luckily I think I’ve finally gotten the message.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It started with a column on IRunFar
from Joe Uhan.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5308448982469091925#_ftn1" name="_ftnref" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[1]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Joe talked about IT band pain and
lateral foot soreness and “running narrow”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I read that column just about the same time that I noticed
the pain in the outside of my left foot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I tried a few of the drills, but soon let it drop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then an Endurance Planet podcast from
Tawnee and Lucho ID’d an article by Robert Camacho bashing foam rolling.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5308448982469091925#_ftn2" name="_ftnref" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[2]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a><sup>,
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5308448982469091925#_ftn3" name="_ftnref" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[3]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a></sup><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No foam rolling, really?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sacrilege!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fine, I’ll bite.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The article mentions that a weak glut med can fail to stabilize the
knee, causing the TFL to kick in instead (tight TFL?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Check).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The TFL
inserts on the IT band, so as it tires the body can start to stabilize the knee
by tightening the IT band (tight IT band?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Check).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is a
poor solution, however, because the IT band can’t tighten and loosen
dynamically.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It just stays tight
(knee soreness? Check).</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I started googling glut med and running and soon came to the
Gait Guys’ You Tube channel, specifically the three part series on “The
Problematic Cross-over Gait” (yes, cross-over is synonymous with Joe’s “running
narrow” problem).<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5308448982469091925#_ftn4" name="_ftnref" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[4]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was a lot of discussion of the
glut med controlling the stance leg while the lateral abdominal controls the
striding leg, the point being to keep the hips level and the spine neutral
while running.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I tried to
understand, but it was hard to see.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Luckily, the sidebar showed a link to another one of their videos, this
one on correct single leg squat form.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5308448982469091925" name="_Ref283768232"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5308448982469091925#_ftn5" name="_ftnref" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn;" title=""><span style="mso-bookmark: _Ref283768232;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[5]<!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _Ref283768232;"></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The visual is perfect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>With good form, the shoulder, hip, knee, and ankle of the stance leg are
in exact vertical alignment, and the hips are level.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To achieve this, the stance leg glut med has to contract
powerfully and dynamically through the course of the squat motion to prevent
the stance hip from sticking out to the side, and the lifted side lateral
abdominals must contract to prevent the lifted hip from dropping.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It finally made sense.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Running narrow or crossing over isn’t
an issue of the foot drifting to the middle, it’s a problem of the hip shifting
to the outside long after foot strike.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The key to fixing my IT band issues, and probably the knee, foot, and
posterior tib issues, is to keep vertical alignment of the foot, knee, hip, and
shoulder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Sweet!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Except,
how the hell do you do that?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Back to my wife, who patiently explained, probably for the
fourth or fifth time, exactly what it takes to strengthen the glut med.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So here’re some of the exercises for
glut med strengthening:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
1) Clams.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lie
on my side with the shoulder, hip, and ankle in alignment and the knees forward
(via hip and knee flexion).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Keep
the hips stacked vertically with no rolling in the torso.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lift the top knee while keeping the
feet together on the ground, if effect spreading the knees by contracting the
glute med.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Two sets of fifteen,
morning and evening, and at lunch if it won’t create too much of a scene at
work.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
2) Side leg lifts (vertical at the beginning, lying down as
strength improves).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stand on one
foot with the foot, knee, hip, and shoulder in vertical alignment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Orient the lifted leg so that the foot
points forward and the hip is slightly extended, such that the lifted foot toes
are next to the stance foot’s heel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Lift the foot to the side and slightly behind without rotating the leg
or trunk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Make sure the hips stay
level throughout.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Same sets as the
clams.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
3) Single leg squats.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Watch the linked video for form.<!--[if supportFields]><sup><span
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</xml><![endif]--></sup><!--[if supportFields]><sup><span style='mso-element:
field-end'></span></sup><![endif]--> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Essentially, the shoulder, hip, knee, and foot stay
vertically aligned in the sagittal plane and the hips stay level.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t let the stance hip shift out to
the side, and don’t let the lifted hip drop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lower the butt down and back and the knee forward over the
second toe, making sure that the stance knee doesn’t protrude forward beyond
the toe or shift either inward or outward, then return to the fully upright
position.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Focus on keeping the
lifted side hip level with the stance hip – refuse to let it drop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Same sets as the first two exercises.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As of now I’ve been on this program for exactly half of one
day, so I can’t really comment on the results, but I have a good feeling about
it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, if you have a glut
med issue you’ll want to get a diagnosis and program from your own specialist,
but in the mean time this might be a place to start.</div>
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<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<br />
<div id="ftn" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5308448982469091925#_ftnref" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[1]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a> See Joe’s
post at <a href="http://www.irunfar.com/2013/03/going-wide-the-role-of-stride-width-in-running-injury-and-economy.html">http://www.irunfar.com/2013/03/going-wide-the-role-of-stride-width-in-running-injury-and-economy.html</a></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5308448982469091925#_ftnref" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[2]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <a href="http://www.enduranceplanet.com/atc-are-we-overdoing-it-with-the-foam-roller-strengthen-glute-med-to-fix-your-itb-from-marathons-to-ironman-plus-run-ragnar-with-us/">http://www.enduranceplanet.com/atc-are-we-overdoing-it-with-the-foam-roller-strengthen-glute-med-to-fix-your-itb-from-marathons-to-ironman-plus-run-ragnar-with-us/</a></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5308448982469091925#_ftnref" name="_ftn3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[3]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <a href="http://breakingmuscle.com/mobility-recovery/your-it-band-is-not-the-enemy-but-maybe-your-foam-roller-is">http://breakingmuscle.com/mobility-recovery/your-it-band-is-not-the-enemy-but-maybe-your-foam-roller-is</a></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5308448982469091925#_ftnref" name="_ftn4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[4]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a> Come on, you
can search You Tube as well as I can.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“Gait Guys” and “Cross-over” will do the trick.</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5308448982469091925#_ftnref" name="_ftn5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[5]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a> Fine, I’ll
give you the link for this one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s important: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2hX4qry5jY">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2hX4qry5jY</a></div>
</div>
</div>
Jersey Strong Trail Runnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15468992940091986449noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5308448982469091925.post-57291459311375701122014-11-26T23:34:00.003-08:002014-11-28T19:43:41.326-08:00First Footprints: Watchung Reservation, November 26, 2014<div class="MsoNormal">
1:30 pm, and my reactions aren’t done.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is little a chemist can do to
speed the work in the lab, so I pick my best friend and first option –
heat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The vials go in an aluminum
block at 40 C, slightly over my core temperature, much warmer than the ambient
air.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have a few hours to wait
before the endpoints are reached.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The day before Thanksgiving - I’m not supposed to be here
anyway, a vacation day placed on the books long before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I leave the building, step into the
frigid outside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rain and sleet
pelt my face, but I don’t pull up a hood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Moments later I’m in the rented Chrysler, climate control set to 75
degrees, engine pulling me along the busy, slushy streets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Soon we climb, leather-wrapped steel
beast and I, up the flanks of the Watchung Reservation, skidding dangerously if
slowly up the unplowed roads to the head of the Sierra and History trails.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Changing clothes in the driver’s seat of a car is always a
bit entertaining, even more so mid-week in cold weather.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I toss slacks and shirt to the back seat;
drop loafers into the passenger foot well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Replace them with shorts, tech shirt, merino wool
long-sleeves, trail shoes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Add a
shell, wool cap, and gloves for warmth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A camera for the moments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A deep breath and I’m out in the snow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The cold isn’t as bad as I thought it
would be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The snow on the ground
holds together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It doesn’t
immediately soak my feet, and I’m glad for the reprieve.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I snap a photo of the trailhead then
run through the image.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Frozen
water and iced tree limbs, the bridge over Blue Brook’s unnamed tributary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rocky steps up the embankment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Drooping branches, weighed down by the
snow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>White planks of the
swamp-passing boardwalk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Glistening bushes, covered in ice and thorns. A laurel tree, holding
fast to green, snow-covered leaves. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I snap photo after photo, until the freezing wind on bare
legs reminds me that I’m here to run, not to attempt, however futilely, to
capture the first beauty of winter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I stow the camera in a pocket and run onward.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbHAoeGB1b3P328old6AU0Frr6PgDTVuLBUj1D-fQ8FaFmI29RxAEFR7mue68akltJfi3rgtFCSkVgMRPDNSvsELNtzIHlZiCFrQVgkRXSWK6C-ZBdFUq42GDRgaGgQll75BG7WKLdbY8/s1600/footprints.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbHAoeGB1b3P328old6AU0Frr6PgDTVuLBUj1D-fQ8FaFmI29RxAEFR7mue68akltJfi3rgtFCSkVgMRPDNSvsELNtzIHlZiCFrQVgkRXSWK6C-ZBdFUq42GDRgaGgQll75BG7WKLdbY8/s1600/footprints.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The trail drops down to Blue Brook, skidding along a
slippery path.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I practice the
sliding gait of the mountain goat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>At the bridge I turn left, eschewing the crossing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Crossing leads to miles of rocks and swamp
and memories of bruised, battered feet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Instead I climb the steep ridge back to the Sierra trail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A fork greets me at the top.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I muse on the road less traveled by;
how can you tell which it is, when yours are the first footprints in the snow?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I plunge down the rightward path,
downhill and away from the cozy seat of my rented car.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whether less traveled or not, this is
the path to longer running.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC81T3UGVjFGMzTjzpN_Ru3vg-xPoai_QKI31H1TmynUt3HaELFu6i_LDIg60VRCZgahENQguYMaf5wupd_W4r_vFPm-3dJJTLTY0S20asJztdl9SnokGFoy4wVkq5iEEaaGYUVG2TZJY/s1600/laurel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC81T3UGVjFGMzTjzpN_Ru3vg-xPoai_QKI31H1TmynUt3HaELFu6i_LDIg60VRCZgahENQguYMaf5wupd_W4r_vFPm-3dJJTLTY0S20asJztdl9SnokGFoy4wVkq5iEEaaGYUVG2TZJY/s1600/laurel.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Sierra trail drops back to Blue Brook, then turns away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I abandon it, cross the footbridge, and
climb up the Northern embankment. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the climb I find my legs have little strength in
them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is it the cold, or the trace
of flu haunting my lungs?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Have
sleepless nights, courtesy of job stress and life, robbed me of my vigor?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I patter onward, maintaining
cadence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I realize that the slow
pace doesn’t bother me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If nothing
else, the short strides and light footfalls protect me from the uneven ground
hidden beneath the snow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I act and
react, act and react, constantly recalibrating my position on the trail, climbing
upward to the ridge.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0ymghPRe8AFgDTMABOYPULWmoRxa-3hSPKKch3gDXzNDlCGAVuOyaBHz6c5izzfmMFBtyDHFHCmypM57jmYOITlQLJ541Q50RQb-PqnrI33-JN_JeJufy4yDvhXYEOAhnjip7z9Gsiqc/s1600/bridge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0ymghPRe8AFgDTMABOYPULWmoRxa-3hSPKKch3gDXzNDlCGAVuOyaBHz6c5izzfmMFBtyDHFHCmypM57jmYOITlQLJ541Q50RQb-PqnrI33-JN_JeJufy4yDvhXYEOAhnjip7z9Gsiqc/s1600/bridge.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The weakness persists on the Northern ridge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I realize, despite the joy of running
in the snow, that I’ve been moving tensely, worrying about a slip or fall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I focus on relaxing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I focus on spreading my toes in advance
of the footfall, preparing to catch the ground rather than stab it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Subtly, my pace increases and my effort
drops.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I start to float over the
sodden ground, then fly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I soar
over fallen trees, dodge past leaning thorns, splash through slushy puddles,
glissade down steep embankments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The distance ticks by in an effortless stream.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At Surprise Lake I pause, struck by the singularity of an
empty bench by the water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On
warmer days this is a place to rest and reflect, a place to let the mind wander.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A place where children sit while
parents fish, or where parents sit while children play.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Today it is abandoned and covered in
ice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is forbidding and
unwelcoming, alone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I imagine my
spirit perched beside it, a fair partner, unrealized, then I run onward.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A piece of me, however small, stays
behind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Somehow this place, frozen
and silent, seems just about right.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9pd634zEEUysHE_0OAWoetC3RKMn6WE9p6vIN2bjqGrSZmKox3mi8UyLaH_G2LwZkukOB6LB53bVtzFm1Fu4rwMFDQnBX9GWPC8FsCqTGq0iqk2etW8rnCTxnsYdfc5KgnM7FbCNmkzQ/s1600/bench.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9pd634zEEUysHE_0OAWoetC3RKMn6WE9p6vIN2bjqGrSZmKox3mi8UyLaH_G2LwZkukOB6LB53bVtzFm1Fu4rwMFDQnBX9GWPC8FsCqTGq0iqk2etW8rnCTxnsYdfc5KgnM7FbCNmkzQ/s1600/bench.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Another climb and I’m back to the car.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A meager half dozen miles, a few
hundred feet of climb.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An entry in
my log book that wouldn’t garner a glance by its metrics, but a run that,
shrouded in snow and mystery, holds a special place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s the first run of this winter.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I drive back to the lab, chat strategy, attend to
business.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My feet are still
cold.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The reactions, heated, are
predictably done.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I work them up,
record the data, purify the mixtures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I place the products in a freezer, awaiting further use.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They cool, and my feet warm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Balance, however boring, is restored.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I look out through the window, the landscape dark but for
the few streetlights.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I finish my
reports.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will leave now to go
back to my family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A part of me,
however small, sits on a bench overlooking Surprise Lake.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I feel strung out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This weekend I will return to the trails.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I imagine that the snow will still
shroud them, despite the many footprints placed in the interim.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will wear spikes to make sure I don’t
fall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will run with happiness
and joy, and I will search, however futilely, for the part of me, left
behind.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A side note on food</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In “Eat and Run”, Scott Jurek mentions a raw-food dish
derived from Lacinato kale, avocado’s, tomatoes, lemon juice, salt, and
vinegar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The full recipe is
apparently available in the book “Raw Power”, but as an experimenter in the kitchen (and a cheapskate!), I’ve avoided buying the book and instead created my own recipe for
kale guacamole.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It turned out
remarkably well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here’s what I
used:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
½ pound Lacinato or tuscan kale, finely chopped (note: if
your hands aren’t tired, it’s not chopped finely enough)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
1 table spoon sea salt</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Juice of two lemons</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
2 table spoons rice vinegar</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Mix these ingredients into the kale, press, then let the
mixture age while you prepare the guacamole</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
4 avocados, diced</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
1 and ½ cups tomatoes, diced (preferably a mix of roma and yellow
heirloom)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
2 shallots, finely chopped</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
4 cloves garlic, pressed</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Juice of two limes</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Diced jalapeño to taste (note: children don’t like
jalapeños)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Add these ingredients in a large mixing bowl, then add the
kale.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I use a pastry blender to
homogenize the mixture.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I serve the resulting guacamole with celery sticks,
red and yellow pepper slices, and carrot sticks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It works best as an hor d’oeuver or side rather than main
fare.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The dish is vegan with a
high fat/carbohydrate ratio and reasonably high calorie density, ideal for
low-inflammatory recovery from a long, intense cardiovascular effort.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is not a complete protein, so it
should be served as a side to a grain/legume or meat-based dish.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Jersey Strong Trail Runnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15468992940091986449noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5308448982469091925.post-36700730991750221612014-09-25T17:41:00.000-07:002014-09-25T17:41:44.927-07:00HURL Elkhorn Endurance Runs, August 2nd, 2014<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I started putting on sunscreen in the dark.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was 4:30 in the morning, the pitch-black dark pierced
only by the headlamps of other runners and the headlights on the cars of
occasional latecomers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The stars
glittered above us, Cassiopeia in her chair, the Big Dipper pouring out its
water, and Cygnus the Swan, son of Neptune, flying his endless, tireless journey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I focused on Cygnus.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The improbability began two days earlier.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I climbed a ridge in the back of Beehive Basin with my dad
and my wife on our last backpacking day before the HURL Elkhorn 50 Mile.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I told them about a video of Kilian
Jornet running down Grants Swamp Pass in the Hardrock a few weeks earlier, how
he had dropped down hundreds of feet of near vertical scree in a matter of
seconds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then I gave them my best
impression and ran down the steep slope back to camp.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After watching my descent, my dad told me I would win the
race.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I mentioned that I hadn’t
been in danger of winning a race since middle school, but his confidence wasn’t
fazed.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
At packet pickup the next day, race director Steve Engebrecht handed me
my bib, embossed with a bright red number 1.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I told him he couldn’t be serious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I said that number 1 should be reserved for a returning
champion, but Steve told me that in all his years directing the race he’d never
had a winner return to run again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The course was too hard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Pause.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wicked grin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Chuckle from Steve and another veteran,
Scott Blum, who was volunteering this year instead of running.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I tried to join in the laughter, but
the joke was clearly at my expense.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
In the dark before the race I rubbed the gleaming line of sunscreen
over my neck and arms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
disappeared into my skin, becoming part of me, becoming, along with my shoes
and sleeves, headlamp and handheld, a final piece of armor wrapped around my
body to shield me during the coming day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Around my muscles and tendons I had wrapped the countless hill repeats
and pounding intervals; around my mind the exhaustion of endless long
runs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hoped, as Scott Jurek
says, that the work would protect me during my most trying moments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hoped I had learned how to suffer.</div>
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<br /></div>
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As the 5 AM start approached we clustered around to hear Steve
Engebrecht’s last minute advice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Without fanfare he drew a line across the dirt of Crystal Creek road with
his foot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“This is your starting
line,” he said, and we all stood back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>No one wanted to commit hubris this early, but moments later we surged
forward with Steve’s “three, two, one, GO!”</div>
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I ran the Crystal Creek ascent next to a tall man with a red beard and
a woman with the quickest </div>
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cadence I’d ever heard on a runner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His name was Eric Gilbert, and she was Becky Wheeler.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I asked Eric if he planned to win, but
he said no.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Becky asked what time
I was shooting for, and I said maybe eleven hours if everything went well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She dropped back, apparently thinking
of a longer time for herself, or perhaps thinking I’d committed my hubris
already.</div>
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I took the lead on the single track climb up the flanks of Casey
Peak.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most runners dropped their
headlamps in a box at the top of the road, but I kept mine and used the extra
light to accelerate by the others in the predawn gloom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I crested the ridgeline alone and
dropped down into Casey Meadows, yip yip kiyee-ing a heard of black cows off
the trail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I chased four elk
across the meadows, heard the chirping of early morning songbirds, and startled
a grouse into flight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The wilderness
thrived with life, both hidden and visible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I relished the life around me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had come home to Montana to see my family, reconnect with
the wilderness, and enjoy these mountains.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I cherished the opportunity to run on these trails with all
the wild things, predator and prey, and to pretend to be a predator
myself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the climb toward second
ridge I heard clattering on the scree above me, evidence of large animals
obscured by a dense stand of lodgpole pine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More elk, or mountain goats, or maybe a moose?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A bear?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t know.</div>
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As I ran the words of better runners echoed in my head.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the descent to Teepee Creak I heard
Sally McRae talking about quick stepping down the steep technical tracks of the
Western States (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">quick feet quick feet
quick feet</i>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kilian Jornet
described the mountain goat descending, weight over its back feet, front feet
stretched forward (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">center mass center
mass center mass</i>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Scott Jurek
– “Flow downhill like water” (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">momentum
momentum momentum</i>) and Caballo Blanco – “Don’t fight the trail” (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">easy light smooth fast easy light smooth
fast</i>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the climb to Elk
park there was Yassine Diboun’s voice “if you have to hike, hike like you’re
late for work” (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">late for work late for
work late for work</i>) and the advice I got from Krissy Moehl “start running
before you get to the top of the hill, and keep running after the next hill
starts” (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">start running start running keep
running keep running!</i>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I
worked up the switchbacks the sun broke over the saddle behind me, bathing the
sky and ground in pink and orange.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I turned for a moment, awash with its glory.</div>
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I ran alone through Elk Park and past Tizer Lake.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The climbs were relentless, steep, and
rocky.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My energy ebbed away, and I
felt my like stomach was liquefying.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Just before the highest point of the first half I heard runners talking
behind me, and on the descent to Elkhorn Ghost Town I heard the clattering of
Eric Gilbert’s feet on the rocks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I stepped aside to let him pass.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He looked so strong running by, and I stumbled in his wake.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At that moment I was sure I would never
see him again.</div>
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My family met me at the Elkhorn Town aid station.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My son rang his cowbell, and my sister
raised her hand for a high five.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
collapsed on a cooler, gratefully accepting soda from the aid station
crew.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a moment I had four
people massaging my legs, my parents each taking a calf, my wife on one quad
and my sister on the other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I told
them that I felt terrible, that my stomach was flipping out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I thanked them for being so nice and
supporting me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They gave me a
moment, but then my sister bent down and looked straight into my eyes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Quit thanking us and get out of here!”</div>
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I left the aid station in third – Eric Gilbertson had left as I
arrived, and Adam Parkison had passed through while I sat on the cooler.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I followed their footprints in the dust
past Elkhorn Cemetery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I thought of
Geoff Roe’s essay on racing, not just running, and I measured the length of
their strides in the dust against my own.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>To my surprise I discovered I was gaining on them.</div>
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I found Adam at the first crossing over Elkhorn creek.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was splashing water on his head,
overheated and trying to cool down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I went one step further, lying down in the icy water and rolling over,
drenching myself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="" name="_GoBack"></a>It
helped.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I passed Adam on the steep
climb up Queen’s Gulch, dropped him, and soon I saw Eric pounding up the hill.</div>
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I passed Eric just before Leslie Lake, but he stuck with me when I
tried to pull away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We ran
together for three miles before he dropped back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I tried to widen the gap, ignoring the screaming of my sea
level trained lungs as we climbed near 9000 ft elevation on the shoulder of
Crow Peak.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I bounded over rock
fields, followed distant signposts through meadows of waist-high grass,
navigated crisscrossing animal paths deep in the forest, always looking ahead
for the next trail marker.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I got
lost in the maze, backtracked, found my way, got lost again, rediscovered the
route, and soldiered onward.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A mental
haze descended as I traversed the woods.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I kept looking for the Tizer Creek aid station and listening for the
chatter of the volunteers, but time and distance seemed to stretch boundlessly,
as if the journey would never end.</div>
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I was so grateful for company when Scott Blum greeted me at Tizer Creek
that I lingered, and soon Eric Gilbertson arrived as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We left the aid station together, and a
minute later we heard cheers for another runner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Was it Adam, recovered from the heat?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or Brian Story, who’d run smartly and
conservatively over the first half, reeling us in?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Had Becky Wheeler’s quick feet carried her through the field
to our heels?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I quickened my pace.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Over the final thirteen miles I put a minute per mile on the
field.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ignoring pain, exhaustion,
dehydration, sugar depletion, and all the hallmarks of every ultra runner’s
race, I pushed and pushed and kept pushing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the climb back to Elk Park I chased down a multitude of
50K’ers, trying to encourage them as I went by.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the descent to Teepee Creek I used every trick I’d ever learned
for downhill running and blazed down the switchbacks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With five miles to go I found my sister, who’d hiked in from
the road to pace me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She’d had no
information since my third place exit from Elkhorn Town, and she was preparing
to tell me how many runners where ahead of me and how much time I had to make
up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead, she saw me in first,
and she began jumping up and down and screaming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was super pumped, and she fed me that energy all the way
to the finish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We flew down the
single track, blew past the aid station unchecked, and hammered down the road
to McClellan Creek Campground.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There was my son, furiously ringing his cowbell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was my wife, yelling and
waving.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were my parents, chasing
after me to the end.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I ran under
the finish banner at 10:22:52, overcome and with tears in my eyes.</div>
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<br /></div>
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From my spot on a chair by the finish I cheered the other runners across
the line.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A few 50K’ers, then Eric
Gilbertson, finishing second overall and winning the master’s division.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Becky Wheeler, first in the women’s
race and setting a new master’s division course record.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Adam Parkison, nearly overcome by the
heat in Queen’s Gulch, charging home in seventh.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A multitude of others whose names I didn’t know, but whose
courage and tenacity glowed brighter than the afternoon sun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I sat there I thought about running
and about winning, and somehow it didn’t make any sense.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Had we really been competing?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or was the competition a mere marker on
a trail toward the mountains, where we could run free? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t know, but I did think that next
year Steve might have his first returning champion.</div>
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I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the tenacity and decency of the
volunteers at the HURL Elkhorn endurance runs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Volunteers at all ultra races go above and beyond the call
of duty (just ask Joe Grant!), but usually the aid stations are supported by
easy road access with motorized vehicles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Most of the stations in the Elkhorns are accessible by foot only.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Above and beyond by this measure means
backpacking in the night before, carrying gels and bars, bananas, potatoes, and
a hand-pumped water filter, then waking early in the morning to purify enough
water from the stream to cool a full race of runners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Doing these things with bright smiles and raucous cheering,
the HURL volunteers epitomized the wonderful spirit of Montana and the race.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Postscript</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I wrote the piece above with the hope of publication in Ultrarunning
Magazine, which caused me to gloss over or leave out entirely some memorable
events in favor or brevity and flow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I’ll cover those here.</div>
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<br /></div>
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This is the first race where I’ve really used crew and a pacer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Laurie’s pacing exploits (friggin’
awesome pacing exploits, that is!) were covered in some detail, but I’d like to
enshrine in memory the importance and joy of having my family running support
for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Crew access was limited to
Teepee Creek and Elkhorn town, but that didn’t stop us from taking full
advantage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My mom and MJ hiked in
to Teepee Creek aid station in the dark and met me when I arrived there at 6:45
am.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their presence was inspiring
and heartwarming, but more importantly at that early juncture was their willingness
to take my headlamp, shirt, and sleeves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This allowed me to run the first ten miles of the race warm and well lit
without having to worry about carrying extra weight on the eighteen-mile
stretch from Teepee Creek to Elkhorn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The advantage of the light, in particular, allowed me to outrun my
competitors early.</div>
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<br /></div>
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The other key strategic decision I made, also possible only due to my
family’s crewing, was to carry a single 20 oz handheld during the first half of
the race.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This setup was perfect
during the cool morning, allowing me to carry minimal weight and run shirtless and
even hands free as soon as the bottle was light enough to tuck in the back of
my shorts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was no way that
was going to work in the afternoon heat, when the aid stations would be 75 to
90 minutes apart, the temperature in the upper 80’s, and the climbs on south
faces with full exposure to the sun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>My family gave me a lot of things at Elkhorn town, importantly the
aforementioned encouragement and leg massages.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What I didn’t mention is that my wife also handed me a
hydration vest with more than twice the water capacity of my handheld.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The two bottles in the vest allowed me
to stay hydrated internally and externally during the hot part of the
race.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The “external hydration” component is critical and worth describing
further.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t drink much more
than 20 oz of water between the aid stations in the second half of the race
because I wasn’t particularly thirsty and I didn’t want to become hyponatremic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hyponatremia (defined as low blood
sodium levels, which can be race-threatening at a minimum and life-threatening
in the extreme) happens when an athlete drinks too much during intense
exercise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Antidiuretic hormone,
which tends to be up-regulated by the sympathetic nervous system during
exercise, limits fluid loss via urination.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Simultaneously, loss of sodium in sweat leads to net sodium
depletion, which in turn leads to confusion, loss of muscle control, and
ultimately seizures if things go too far.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Strangely enough, sodium ingestion during exercise is not associated
with an increase in blood sodium levels in the short term, so salt tablets
won’t save you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What will save you
is using the extra water bottle to squirt water on your head and chest and down
your back, keeping your head and shirt wet while you run.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a heat-control method this is even
more effective than sweating, since the water is cooler than your body
temperature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not quite as
good as rolling over in Elkhorn Creek or diving into Leslie lake, but it’s far
more portable and has the advantages of being less time consuming and of
leaving your feet dry.</div>
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<br /></div>
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I’d also like to write about the impact of altitude and the importance
of downhill technique.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In short,
altitude killed me in this race.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Never have I walked so much runnable terrain, and never have I felt so
limited by my breathing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Compared
to the Cayuga Trails 50 I ran in June, the Elkhorns were a bit more technical
and had slightly more vertical change, but are run at an altitude that is about
7,000 feet higher.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Put that
together and I was 85 minutes slower.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I don’t have great advice for anyone about how to handle this (other
than not moving to New Jersey!), but don’t underestimate the difference in
oxygen availability at sea level compared to even moderate (8,000-8,500 ft!)
elevations.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Downhill technique, on the other hand, won the race for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I essentially ran even with or behind Eric
Gilbertson on the flats and ascents, but I put serious time into him on the two
descents to Teepee Creek, early on from the Casey Peak ridge and late coming
down from Elk Park (in fairness, he did beat me on the descent to Elkhorn town
when I was in my worst low of the race).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The interesting part of this is that I suck at downhill running.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I only consider it a strength because
almost everyone else sucks even worse than I do!</div>
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<br /></div>
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Here’s the thought experiment:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Go to the top of your favorite hill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Imagine dropping a soccer ball at your feet and watching it
roll down the slope.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It rolls
slowly at first, then accelerates, then really starts to fly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the time that it gets to the bottom,
it’s probably be moving at a completely uncatchable pace, maybe faster than a
car on a freeway, possibly even faster than an airplane if your favorite hill
is more fun than mine!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ball
would also be caroming off rocks and bouncing off trees, and if you ever found
it again it would probably be scarred beyond recognition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The thought experiment tells us two
things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First, without providing
any propulsive effort, we should be able to accelerate downhill to an
unbelievable pace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Second, if we
do that completely uncontrolled, we’ll end up scarred beyond recognition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we ponder that for a moment, we
realize that downhill running is entirely a balance exercise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gravity provides the power, and our
legs are responsible for keeping our motion headed in the right direction, over
the rocks and around the trees, essentially by making small lateral adjustments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The common mistake we make as runners
is stepping out in front of our bodies and forcing eccentric contraction
through the quads to slow us down, giving us more time to make those lateral
moves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This, naturally, SLOWS US
DOWN, and has the side benefit of trashing our quads.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve spent a lot of time over the past year teaching myself
to descend while keeping my footstrikes under my center of mass, which prevents
me from using my quads to slow down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This naturally means that I have very little time to make the quick
adjustments in direction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To
accommodate for that I use the trick of increasing my cadence to the 110-120
strides/minute range, far above what I use for running flats or climbs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The larger number of footstrikes gives
me more opportunities to correct my balance and adjust direction; in essence
the larger number of footstrikes gives me a larger number of opportunities to
avoid falling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It also allows me
to keep each footfall light, spreading the increased downward impact over a
large number of steps, further saving the quads.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m still not great at this (seriously, take a look at <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQbEaiHPI9k">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQbEaiHPI9k</a>,
and note how Kilian drops about 400 ft in 45 seconds without ever planting his
feet at all!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also note how Kilian
puts about 30 seconds on Tim Olson and Julie Chorier, two world class trail
runners, on this one descent), but I’m good enough to run away from the more
typical competition on extended technical descents.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Lastly, a side note on food:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I grew up eating fairly large amounts of zucchini, on account of the
facts that it is green and grows well in my parents garden.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I did not, on the other hand, eat it
entirely willingly. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Zucchini,
while cooking, transforms from woody to soggy in a matter of moments and has
neither attractive flavor nor texture in either form.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve enjoyed zucchini genuinely twice in my life, once
during a French cooking class (don’t even think you can repeat the wizardry
shown by that chef) and once at the Moosewood Restaurant in Ithaca, NY.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Moosewood cooks proffered up a stew
of beans, various vegetables, and, shockingly, zucchini!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More shockingly, the flavor and texture
were amazingly awesome.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I haven’t attempted to recreate the Moosewood recipe directly, in part
because I’m sure I would fail and in part because it’s probably included in one
of their available cookbooks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
have, on the other hand, taken on the task of making palatable zucchini-based
stews.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The effort yielded a tasty
concoction, which I made twice for my families and in laws while home in
Montana.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The result, as described
below, naturally substitutes yellow squash for my green nemesis.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
What I used:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
½ cup red quinoa, simmered for 10 minutes with 3 cups water</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
1 cup black beans added at 10 minutes</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
1 cup garbanzo beans added at 10 minutes</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
4 cloves pressed garlic added at 10 minutes</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
2 medium size yellow squash, cut along the midline and then diagonally
to ½ inch chunks added at 20 minutes</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
20 mint leaves, finely chopped, added at 20 minutes</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
2 nectarines, diced, added at 20 minutes</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
20 fresh basil leaves added at 20 minutes</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
simmer until 30 minutes</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
salt and chilly infused sesame oil to taste</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The recipe essentially involves simmering a large pot of water and
adding ingredients every ten minutes over a 30-minute period.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you’re a fast chopper, it literally
takes 30 minutes to complete.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If
you’re a mere mortal in the kitchen, or if you have a three-year-old demanding
half your attention, I’d suggest getting a start on chopping the yellow squash,
mint, and nectarines (substitute 4 black plums if nectarines are out of season)
before starting the water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
resulting stew provides a complete protein, courtesy of the quinoa and beans,
so it can be used as a main dish on a low effort day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On an intense training day it serves as a tasty side to
something with higher calorie density.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Makes 4 servings.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
One last question: is it any good?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can only tell you this; my farther-in-law, David Tudor,
had two bowls.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An Iowa farmer turned Montana machinist
asked for a second serving of a vegan, low sodium stew.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Consider yourself warned.</div>
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Jersey Strong Trail Runnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15468992940091986449noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5308448982469091925.post-35663767143652024732014-05-05T02:07:00.000-07:002014-05-18T19:19:29.944-07:00Bear Mountain 50K, May 3, 2014: Wanting what you're going to get<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Wanting what you’re going to get:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bear Mountain 50K, May 2014</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“You’re not going to get the pitch you want. You have to
want the pitch you’re going to get.” ~Anonymous</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The four am alarm came as a jolt. In my head I immediately
heard “You’re late,” “You’re not going to get there in time,” “You don’t know
where you’re going,” and “You don’t know what you’re going to do when you get
there!” It was all of the usual type-A anxiety that I would normally face on my
way to Newark International Airport, post 9-11 style, where any combination of
early morning traffic, security line hiccups, and minuscule imperfections in
the weather could result in a delayed or all-out aborted flight. I took a
breath, rolled out of bed, silenced the alarm. This wasn’t the morning before
some long-awaited family vacation – it was just the morning of a race.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I looked around the room, the dark highlighted only by the
faint glow of the alarm clock, and found my shoes and race bag. I filled my
handheld bottle at the kitchen sink. I brushed my teeth and splashed water on
my face. Three hours until race time.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In the truck on the way up the Garden State Parkway I tried
to calm my nerves. I tried to take each small worry in hand, label it as
irrelevant, and push it to the back of my mind.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You don’t know where to pick up your race bib! It will be
obvious.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You don’t know the way to Bear Mountain! I have a GPS
enabled phone.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There’s not enough time! Seriously? It’s 4:45 AM. The last
shuttle to the start leaves Anthony Wayne at 6:15.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What if you don’t have enough quarters for the tolls?!? Stop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just stop. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Seriously.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I knew, even then, that the nervousness was misplaced.
Somehow, I wasn’t worried in the slightest about the race itself.
Retrospectively, I should have been.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’d signed up for the 50K only twelve days before the event.
I’d had Bear Mountain in the back of my mind ever since I’d read about the race
eight months prior, but in the midst of injury recovery I’d thought I wouldn’t
be ready. Then, two weeks out, I had one of the best training runs of my life,
27 miles of technical trail at an 8:38 clip, feeling good all the way. On the
way home from that run, I reasoned with myself that a steep, technical 50K was
just what I needed in the run-up to Cayuga Trails. It seemed like a chance to
get some more race experience - and vertical experience - and to see some new
trails before diving into the 50 miler. And it’s not every day that The North
Face puts on just that sort of race an hour drive from your house. Opportunity
beckoned.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The subsequent two weeks were a disaster. I decided that,
since I was using the race as a training run, I’d only taper for one week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the Saturday before the race, I set
out for a 30-mile long run only to pull up, cramped and bonking, at mile 22.
Then, on Tuesday, the rain started. By Wednesday night we were working the shop
vac constantly in our basement, ankle deep in water that poured from the skies
and gushed through tiny cracks in the foundation of the house, flooding across
the basement floor. On Thursday the rain abated and the skies cleared, but the
damage had been done. Around Bear Mountain, the swollen rivers seemed to prefer
the trails to their own beds.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At 5:45 am I pulled into the Anthony Wayne recreation area
and parked next to a grey sedan. I got out of my truck at the same time as its
driver. I said hello and learned that his name was James. He was from Ottawa,
so I told him that, as a native Montanan, I considered myself half Canadian. He
laughed and told me he was running the 50K too, so we chatted race strategy as
we walked across the parking lot to the shuttle bus. We watched the stragglers
of the 50-mile race, nearly an hour old, stopping at the aid station for water
and gels.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The bus took us to the Start/Finish area in a field by
Hessian Lake and the Bear Mountain Inn. I found the tent where volunteers were
handing out race bibs – as expected, its location was obvious – and grabbed my
credentials. With other runners I huddled around a fire in the chill morning
air. We swapped stories, questions, and advice, as mid-packers do, about our
shoes, the conditions, the trail, and the last race we finished. A short, fat
man with a white beard told us that the course was hard and slow. Glee radiated
from his eyes as he described the descent from Timp Pass - “downhill on rocks
the size of bowling balls" - that would await us in the final miles of the
race. Around the mountains where I grew up we had a similar phrase, “downhill
on marbles,” used to describe the crumbling scree slopes on the East face of
the Rocky Mountain Front. I remember being five years old in those mountains,
listening to my parents warn of the dangers of the rocks. “Never walk directly
below someone,” they said. “If they fall or dislodge a rock, you’ll have no chance
to get out of the way.” Of course, I was the one that fell, with the stitches
and concussion to prove it. But this was the Appalachians, and the man was old
and shapeless. I wasn’t worried. I knew that, by the time I reached Timp Pass,
he would be hours behind.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As the 7 am start approached I began to focus my mind on why
I was here. As I stripped off my warmups I thought about preparation and
experience. As Dean Karnazes echoed the old man’s words (“No one’s going to set
a PR out there”) I thought about Joe Vigil and compassion. As the “three – two
– one – go!” chant sounded, I thought about my wife and my three-year-old. As
the crowed charged up the first hill, I thought about transcendence.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I don’t know why I spend so much time running, not really. I
know that I like the endorphins and the movement. I know that I like having a
body that, at age thirty-six, looks more like thirty and less like fifty. I
know that I’m running away from aging and dying, and that I’m running toward
health. And I know that I’m running toward a chance at the experiences that
others describe, the experiences where the mind and body and earthly concerns
disintegrate while the spirit transcends. If I could ask for anything from the
hours and the effort, it wouldn’t be money or a Brooks deal; it would be
transcendence. It would be a moment of seeing the world in some purer, deeper
way. I would ask for a moment when the petty narcissism and materialism
disappeared completely, leaving me bare at the mercy of the world.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
On the first downhill my mind began to focus more on the
task at hand. I thought about keeping warm, then quickly switched to thinking
about keeping cool. I commented to one of the other runners how awesome it was
that the morning sun glinted off the water on the muddy, rocky trail, ensuring
that we would have no idea what morass or boulder would welcome our landing
feet. I thought about pacing, aerobic metabolism, and staying relaxed. I
shadowed the heels of the top women, Kristina Folcik and Amy Rusiecki, knowing
from experience that their pace was likely to be just a bit faster than my
best. I pulled off my shirt and tucked it into my shorts; the chilly 55-degree
start rapidly became a hot 55-degree day.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Before the first aid station at Anthony Wayne I’d left Kristina
and Amy behind, as usual throwing out caution in favor of valor. Moments later
James from Ottawa flew by me, a flash of brilliant orange cool-max fabric, and
I decided that he was either going to crash later, or that he was a far
superior runner; either way, I wasn’t going to worry about him. Shortly after
James passed me, a man with a long black beard, a Rastafarian tam, and a
cowbell rose out of the mist. He hammered the bell as we passed, cheering each
runner in turn. I smiled, waved, and ran on, marveling that a he would come so
far into the woods to support his friends or family.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
After the Anthony Wayne aid station I jogged over the
Palisades Parkway and crashed into the climb to Seven Lakes Drive. I passed a
few runners, noted that they didn’t know how to run uphill, and categorized
them as having gone out too fast. Black-Bearded Cowbell Man emerged from a car
on Seven Lakes Drive and appeared again before the Silver Mine aid station. I
told him that his bell would be my mantra for the race. He told me that he
wasn’t sure I wanted to know it, but I was running in the top fifteen overall.
I said that I thought that was awesome, that I couldn’t hope for better, and
beamed a smile as I ran by. I thought of my grandmother, now gone, who rang a
cowbell at graduation ceremonies for my sister, for me, and for my cousins, and
I thought of my mother, who owns that bell now. Her strength, and her mother’s
strength, and her mother’s strength; without them, what would I be? Would I be
anything at all?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The trail between Silver Lake and Arden Valley reclaimed my
attention, and, in honesty, broke me. For every stream crossing there was a
mile of water and mud strewn rock garden. At every incline the route climbed
straight up, eschewing switchbacks. At points I needed both hands and feet to
scale the outcropping walls. After brief respites at the rocky tops, where I
wondered if competitors behind could close the gap by cutting the course not
shorter, but longer around the bluffs, the route plunged down over cliffs just
as steep. Each step became a leap downward, a grave-digger’s six foot drop,
onto merciless grey rock. I thought of the story of the tortoise and the hare,
how the tortoise wins the race by running slowly and steadily. It’s a quintessential
ultrarunner’s story, but of course the race is not won by running slowly; it’s
the steady part that counts. But how could I run steadily, with consistent
effort, on a course that changed so drastically from moment to moment?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I knew, as I dropped down from one of
the ridge tops, that I'd underestimated the course.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All my work and effort had not prepared me for this.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As I approached Arden Valley, Black-Bearded Cowbell Man
appeared again. I tried to cheer him as strongly as he cheered me. For whom was
he here, I wondered? Certainly not me, no matter how much I appreciated his
presence. He must have had a friend, at least, if not a soul mate, running
through these woods. He must have had a reason to be here, a reason to
transcend his day-to-day, just as I hoped to transcend mine. As much as he
became my raison d’courir, his raison d’être must have been focused on someone
special to him. He must have cared so deeply for his one runner, and I could
only hope that his one runner would care as much for him.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
After Arden Valley I chased Matt Halliday, and Vincent
Gautier chased us. We coalesced at mile 16. I passed Matt, but then slowed as
my stomach began flip-flopping inside me. As Matt and Vincent ran by, I begged
them to ignore me, bent over in the in the leaves. We never saw Vincent again,
but I caught up with Matt and we ran together back to the Anthony Wayne aid
station at mile 21. Black-Bearded Cowbell Man was there again, cheering us on,
and I told him how happy it made me to see him. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
After Anthony Wayne I began something I had hoped never to
start in an ultra - the walk of shame. There are two legitimate reasons to walk
in a race; either the macro-terrain is too steep, or the micro-terrain is too
technical for running. Both situations indicate hiking as hard and fast as you
can. After the second pass through Anthony Wayne, I experienced neither. I was
left with the third reason for walking, which is pure weakness. My calves
cramped; Matt’s adductors screamed. We both walked through the parking lot.
After a while, I looked over and said “we can do this”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I started running, and Matt started
running, but we weren’t fast. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Matt
slowed to nurse his muscles, and my stomach restarted its queasy churn. Soon
the freight train of high-level runners began to flow by us.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My buddy Jeff Bagdanoff once told me that happiness is not
getting what you want; it’s wanting what you’re going to get.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’d once heard a baseball player talk
about hitting that way, how success came from wanting the pitch he was going to
get.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I tried to focus on wanting
the steps before me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I tried to
want the hills and the rocks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
tried to want muddy trail, but it was hard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t try to want the pain and nausea, even though I knew
they were still coming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I reminded
myself that, if nothing else, I was getting the experience I came for.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Eventually I recovered and started running along with Kevin Ravasio
of Lansdale, PA.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I followed the
trail with Kevin for what seemed like hours. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was a remarkably nice guy, and he helped me with water when
my dehydration became acute. We ran together for five miles and talked about running
and about work. I talked about the pharmaceutical industry and how, all else be
told, when we succeed, people’s lives get better. He said his cousin was a
chemical engineer with a pharma company, and that he understood the industry.
He talked about sales and how, if we couldn’t get medicines to patients, all
the effort was lost.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I lost Kevin at mile 27. He was feeling strong, and my
stomach rebelled again. Several pounds lighter, I jogged into the Queensboro
aid station. Jordan McDougal, a top competitor in the 50-mile race, arrived
simultaneously with me. We replenished water together, then bounded out of the
aid station. I told him that Mike Wolfe, another elite 50-miler running second
in the race, had passed me only a few minutes before. Jordan said, “Yes, I can
see him,” and flew away. Jordan seemed weightless, bodyless, as he flowed up
the incline. He looked like water exploding upward under reversed gravity. The
elite athlete is an amazing thing to behold.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I followed Jordan and Kevin up Timp’s Pass. Early in the
climb I heard voices. They weren’t anything special; it wasn’t the bodhisattvas
or Jesus speaking to me. It was just Kristina and Amy, chatting away as they probably
had been ever since I passed them at mile 2. They caught me just after the top
of Timp’s Pass. Amy assured me that it was all downhill to the finish. I smiled
and waved good-bye, and noted to myself that pity is even worse than scorn. I
admired them, but simultaneously I wished that I’d been strong enough to finish
ahead of the women for once. Fortunately for me, Amy was (mostly) right. After
picking my way over the “boulders the size of bowling balls” - the old man hadn’t
been exaggerating after all! - I ran down to Timp’s brook, then up and over a
small ridge, and down to the finish area. I sprinted to the finish as hard as I
could, coming in 16th overall at 5:19:19.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As it turned out, I didn’t transcend anything in the race. I
ran with joy through mile 15, concern to mile 22, and terrified exhaustion
until the finish, but through it all I was restrained within myself and the
typical realities of life and running. After the race I congratulated James Galipeau
who came in 3rd overall; needless to say, he was the better runner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I commiserated about cramps with Matt,
and I reconnected with Andrew Seigmund, a fellow New Jerseyan, who came in 14th
in the 50 miler.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He told a great
story about running an hour each alongside both the men’s and women’s champions
of the 50 mile race. I refrained from interrupting Rori Bosio, the women’s 50
mile champion, to say how much I admired her. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe she would have appreciated it, but I doubt it.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
On the way home, down the Garden State Parkway, I stopped
for calories at a rest area.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To
borrow a line from Ani DiFranco, the building was filled with cranky travel
people, all tired and hot and rude and mind-numb from miles on the road.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In line at Sbarro’s Pizza I waited for a
truly unhappy pair to make their order, slowly, painfully, offensively.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I began to smile.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A sense of joy began to pulse through
me, and I wanted nothing more than for those two people to be happy, to feel
that joy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wanted the people
behind the counter to feel it too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I wanted that peace and joy to flow over everyone in the building.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I got my slice of pepperoni, tipped
lavishly, and sat down to eat. After finishing, I walked over to the trash bins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A woman there had dropped her tray. She
was embarrassed and flustered; I helped her clean up. She thanked me, and I
smiled back. I felt beneficent enough to help anyone with anything. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I felt warm enough to love everyone in
the world.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The feeling didn’t last, of course. Soon enough I was stuck
in the hyper-aggressive traffic on route 22, amazed that people could drive
that way and live with themselves. I got home and returned to my life, where I
love my family and wonder a bit about everyone else. But just for a moment, I
lived and felt something outside of anything I would ever have experienced
otherwise. It wasn’t visionary or transcendent, but it was about as close to
that as I’ve ever gotten. For that moment, exhausted, physically stressed,
dehydrated, and hypocaloric, I felt like I would do anything for the benefit of
anyone and be happy about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I will continue to seek transcendence in my running.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s too attractive a goal to abandon,
even if I never reach it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And,
while I seek it, I will be happy with the endorphins and the movement, the
health, and the joy.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Jersey Strong Trail Runnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15468992940091986449noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5308448982469091925.post-56218427506567064842013-11-10T18:03:00.002-08:002013-11-14T19:13:14.606-08:00Eulogy: Delaware Water Gap, November 9, 2013<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Runners speak of feeling absorbed into the universe, of
seeing the story of life in a single weed on the side of the road.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
-Scott Jurek</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I remember an old story about a Native American dying
ritual.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t know how much of
it is based in fact and how much is Hollywood imagination.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Regardless, the story stuck with me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It tells of an old man who thought that
his body was failing him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
climbed up on a mountainside and sat down, waiting to die.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Three days later he came back down, and
only much later did his life finally end.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My grandfather died this week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He didn’t climb any mountains, his body was too sick for
that, but I am glad to say that he had his wits about him until the end and
that he was able to live out these past few months as much as possible on his
own terms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This week my family and
I will fly to Colorado to celebrate his life and mourn his death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For our family this is a dramatic passage.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You could call it a sea change, or
an earth-shaking event, or whichever other metaphor you like; as my mother
said, we have lost our patriarch.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When a man dies we might think of building memorials,
casting statues, or erecting obelisks with his name inscribed on the side.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For most of us it’s more likely to be a
stone marker placed by our graves, which is both understated and more
fitting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Regardless, the goal is
the same.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We place stones and monuments
to ascribe a sense of permanence to the life that has ended.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I think that we as a people are far too concerned with
permanence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mostly, this is a
matter of security. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We want our
houses to stand forever, so we will always be able to come home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We want our jobs to be untouchable, so
we will always be able to support ourselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We want our relationships to endure indelibly, so we will
never be alone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course this is
illusory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The next hurricane
blowing across New Jersey could knock one of my neighbor’s towering white pines
onto our roof, most jobs are under constant layoff scrutiny, and I’m writing
now because one of the people I loved has just died.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are temporal beings, and life is constantly changing
around us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I try hard to accept
this daily, and I try hard to maintain versatility and flexibility, which makes
the changes less threatening.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Mahatma Gandhi once said, “Whatever you do in life will be
insignificant, but it is very important that you do it.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think he was speaking of this same
impermanence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The insignificance
he mentions is a result of the temporary nature of our selves and everything we
create, even the statues, stones, and monuments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The things we do or make will fade away in a day or week or
month or, at most, a generation or two.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Even the pyramids of Giza will one day dissolve in the desert sands.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The question, then: why it is so important to do
things?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The key is the difference
between durability and meaning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Little in life is as meaningful as joy, sorrow, and inspiration, and none
of these last beyond the moment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A
job well done is a wonderful thing; don’t forget that it will have to be done
well again tomorrow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not sure
if anything is more important than teaching a child, but every day he will have
new things to learn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Meaning, not
permanence, is what matters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Water
flowing down a river is ever changing, each current different, each current
necessary.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If I were a stonemason or a sculptor, I would probably
ignore what I’ve just said and try to make a permanent memorial for Granddad anyway,
but I’m not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead, I am a
runner, so I decided to build my memorial by experience on the trail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I chose the Appalachian Trail in the Delaware
Water Gap National Recreation Area; Granddad was a park ranger for much of his
life, so I thought he would appreciate the location.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Appalachian Trail runs through the Water Gap from the
Totts Gap boundary in Pennsylvania to the I-80 crossing of the Delaware River,
then south along the river to the confluence with Dunnfield Creek.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I planned to intercept the path there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wanted to follow the trail through
the Worthington Forest to Yards Creek Crossing, and then retrace my steps.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
From the bank of the Delaware the trail ascends the
Dunnfield drainage to Sunfish pond, climbing a thousand feet in the first three
miles and resembling the relentless growth of childhood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It circles the western edge of the lake
through a garden of stones, a rocky adolescence where the path is not so much a
trail as the idea of a trail, a general sense of direction discernable only by
the occasional white blazes on the most prominent outcroppings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are many possible routes, some false-leading
and some true, but all crossed only with determination and effort.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After reaching the head of the lake,
the route climbs further along a clearer trail to the crest of the Kittatinny
ridge, whose name is derived from the Lenape phrase for endless mountain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The trail rolls along the ridgeline for
five miles, a firm, steady adulthood, then descends to the Yards Creek
valley.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The descent is sometimes
smooth and even, sometimes sudden and rocky.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the end, it arrives at the stream with finality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is even a bridge to the other
side.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I arrived at the Delaware River at noon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I walked down to the bank and placed my
hands in the icy river.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I splashed
cold water on my face.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All of us
are born from water, and in Christianity we believe that the water of baptism
begins our life with Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
wanted the symbolism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I picked up
a broken tree branch and wrote in the sand “Oak Park, Illinois, 1920”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then I turned and ran.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I ran the first three miles as hard as I could, trying to
channel the boundless energy of my three-year-old, the boundless energy my
grandfather must have had in 1923.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I pounded across the bridge over Dunnfield creek and hammered up the
rocky incline.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I sprinted the
first flat section with abandon, flew down the slope to Sunfish pond, and then
slowed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was no reason to
risk a sprained ankle or fall in the rock garden, and moreover, I had things I
wanted to say.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When my grandfather was a child and young adolescent, the
world descended into the great depression.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He told me once about his father, who, if I remember
correctly, was an engineer in Chicago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>My great grandfather was able to keep a job longer than most, but
eventually it was lost, just like so many others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My granddad remembered with awful clarity the day that his
dad came home and told the family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He didn’t say much about the following years, but I’m sure they were
hard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My grandmother told me once about
a Christmas during one of those years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The only present her parents could afford was a brand new pencil painted
bright red.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She treasured it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Having grown up during opulent times, I
can’t really imagine what those days must have been for them, but they got
through the time with grace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
knelt in the rock garden, took a piece of chalk from my pocket, and wrote on a
flat stone “Greater than the depression”.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As my grandfather grew, the world got more violent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Eventually, he became a marine in the Second
World War.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He always liked to tell
about the shooting drill competition that happened before he was deployed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That day his squad had the highest
aggregate score, and he had the highest score in the squad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was one other marine from a
different squad who beat him, but he was always proud nonetheless.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I ran a few hundred feet over the
rocks, knelt again, and wrote “Target practice”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I got back up, started running, and almost immediately
passed a pair of hikers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were
talking about skeet shooting, and as I passed one of them said, “target
practice”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can say whatever
you like about coincidence, but if you’re wondering whether Granddad was
watching me, I think that was the answer.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My granddad was sent to Peleliu Island, one of the bloodiest
battles of the Pacific theater.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
told me many stories of his time there and his experiences of the war, most of
which I’ve forgotten.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The story I
remember most clearly isn’t really about war at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In early October 1944 there was a typhoon aiming directly
for the island.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He and one of his
buddies were stuck out on the beach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They had two big earthmovers and a giant metal drum, so they trapped the
drum between the earthmovers and climbed in to ride out the wind and rain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They had a radio in the drum with them,
and for most of the storm they were able to hold a station that was playing the
World Series opener between the St. Louis Cardinals and the St. Louis Browns,
who later became the Baltimore Orioles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The Browns won that game, 2-1, but I think the radio batteries had run
down before the 9<sup>th</sup> inning, so they didn’t know the result until later.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wrote on a cliff face “typhoons” and
“World Series”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Later, after I’d
finally gotten through the most technical stretch of the trail, I wrote
“Surviving Peleliu”.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When my grandfather got home from the war, he was set to
meet my grandmother at the airport.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They’d met before the war, and while my granddad was in the Pacific my
grandmother sent him a pistol, but after so much time apart they weren’t sure
that they would recognize one another.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They must have though, because it wasn’t much later that they were
married.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wrote “love at first
sight”.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My granddad was fond of saying something else about my
grandmother.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He said that one of
the things that made her such an incredible person is that, whenever there was
a debate or disagreement, she would always come more that half way to make it
work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He would try to come more
than half way too, which gave them plenty of common ground in which to live
their lives with peace and cohesion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>At the crest of the Kittatinny ridge I wrote “More than half way”.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My granddad spent much of his career with the National Park
Service as a park ranger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There
are hundreds of stories from those days, but as I was running I thought of only
two.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One happened around a
campfire, where a group of dads and their sons were boiling hot dogs in a large
pot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of the kids, Stuart, was
walking circles around the fire, and every time he came close to the pot his
dad said “Stuart, watch the weenies”; you can imagine his stern dad voice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stuart didn’t touch the pot though, and
eventually his dad got up to do something, walked by the pot, and knocked the dogs
into the fire.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stuart piped up
immediately.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wrote “Dad, watch
the weenies!” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The other
story:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>my granddad and his partner
were on fire watch duty at a remote station.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They’d stay up late at night chatting, then get up on time in
the morning, radio the morning report to headquarters, and go straight back to
bed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wrote “don’t worry, fires
burn low in the morning anyway”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
also wrote the names of the parks where I knew, or at least thought, that he’d
been stationed:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yosemite, Mount
Rainier, Yellowstone, the Blue Ridge Parkway.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Another story I thought about occurred much later in
Granddad’s life:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our whole family
had gathered at my grandparent’s house in Colorado, Aunt Jan and Uncle Ron, Mom
and Dad, my sister and I.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were
playing volleyball outside in the yard, late in the evening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The teams were by age, with the
youngest playing the oldest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
made a deal that we would play until the porch light, which was set on
automatic timer, came on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Granddad
went inside and turned off the timer, figuring that he’d excuse himself for a
bathroom break as soon as the old team was ahead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then he’d turn on the light and ensure victory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The problem was that the young team
never lost the lead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Eventually it
got too dark to play and he had to confess.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He said he’d been banking on the adage that old age and
treachery will defeat youth and vigor every time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I dropped down the switchbacks to Cold Spring I stopped
by a smooth-barked beech tree.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
wrote down the adage followed by “except in backyard volleyball!”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The sorrow hit me at the Cold Spring crossing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d been thinking about our last visit
to Colorado, 9 months after Jacob was born, in July of 2011.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jacob was the first great grandchild,
and we wanted to get four-generation photographs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We got those pictures, along with many other groupings, at a
studio in Fort Collins, and the prints are beautiful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The one I keep with me, though, is a simple snapshot taken
on the back porch of the house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Granddad, dad, and I are seated around the glass table, and Jacob is
perched on top.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’s leaning
forward, giggling, with the most mischievous grin imaginable on his face.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Granddad is leaning back in his chair,
drinking it all in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I stopped at
Cold Spring, tears on my face, unable to breathe, knowing we’d never get a
chance to sit together like that again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I dropped to my knees in the moss and stared at the water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Later, I walked to the other side of
the creek.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I found the flat top of
a sawn stump and wrote “Legacy”.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
After a while I recovered, got up, and started running again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Six miles in I came to a high rock outcropping
that’s a favorite of New Jersey wilderness photographers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The view is 360 degrees, and it looks back
down on Sunfish pond.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I remember
fishing in the reservoirs with my granddad and Laurie in 1986, catching actual
sunfish with worms and grasshoppers on the hook.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Grandma filleted those sunfish and fried them with corn
meal, and they tasted good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wrote
“fishing with Granddad”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On that
same visit my grandmother signed Laurie and I up for horseback lessons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We rode around a field and along a
bridle path following the teacher.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I was young and afraid to be in charge of such a large animal with just
the two thin reins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wrote “hold
on tight”.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
After Olivia and I were married we visited my grandparents
in Colorado, just the two of us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We talked long into nights, visited the elk in Estes Park, and road
bicycles along the local bike paths.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Granddad said that he didn’t understand why people ran, because all the
runners on the path had such pained expressions on their faces.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He said all the cyclists he saw were
smiling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I did everything I could
to keep a smile on my face as I ran along the ridge, and I looked up at the sky
every chance I got.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>See
Granddad?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not so bad.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A few days ago my dad told me that his dad was the best dad
you could have.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would agree,
except I think that my dad is the best.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I guess he learned a few things from his old man, and Granddad probably
learned them from his father.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
wrote “Father and Son”, then, above, “Grandfather” and above that, “Great
Grandfather”.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I paused at the top of the descent to Yards Creek.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I rested by a downed tree that crossed
the trail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My granddad died of
congestive heart failure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It seems
a tough way to go, your body failing to expel liquid, slowly compressing your
lungs and heart until you can’t get enough oxygen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’d held off the disease for a long time with a portable
oxygen tank, which allowed him to maintain mobility and do many of the things
he liked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of those things was
spending Wednesday mornings at McDonalds with old friends, talking and telling
stories over 25 cent cups of coffee (no reason to splurge on a $2.41 venti at
Starbucks!).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the heart
failure got worse and they had to up the oxygen, he couldn’t go to the coffee
sessions anymore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m sure that
wasn’t as important as many of the other things, personally and medically, that
were happening at the time, but it seemed to me to be as sad as anything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’m not sure what I believe about heaven.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I doubt it has much to do with clouds or
white robes or naked babies with wings; at least I hope it doesn’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What I hope for my granddad is that his
heaven is full of high mountains and green trees, clear rivers and fiery
sunsets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hope it has a McDonalds
where he can sit down with old friends and enjoy a cup of coffee that he gets
for a quarter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hope his body is
strong and fit, and that the physical pain is gone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hope that he can breathe deeply and easily, and that the
air is sweet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hope there is a
spot there for each of us, because we’ll all be heading that way
eventually.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I pulled out my chalk,
sat by the downed tree, and wrote “Breathe” and “Coffee with friends”.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
During the descent to Yards Creek I looked up at the sky,
costing me bruises to both feet on the sharp rocks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The sky was clear and blue and timeless, bespeaking neither
today nor tomorrow nor yesterday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The descent was not though.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It seemed to take only seconds to cover the mile down to the creek.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I crossed over the bridge, my planned
route complete, but I didn’t want to stop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t want the symbolism anymore, and I didn’t want to
think about dying, so I kept going.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I ran up the next hill to a rocky meadow and sat there, looking out toward
the ocean, feeling the breeze on my face.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’m sad that my granddad is gone, and I’m sad that he had to
suffer at the end.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m glad that
he had his mind though, and that, even when his body would no longer let him be
a strong actor in the world, he could still be a cognizant observer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m glad that he got to see the
incredible play of Peyton Manning and his Broncos, and I’m glad he got to watch
one more World Series.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wish his
Cubs could have won one while he was alive, but I’m glad he at least got to
watch my Red Sox win theirs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of
course, he was rooting for the Cardinals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>With the last stub of my chalk I wrote “I can’t believe you were rooting
for the Cardinals!”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
On the way back I tried to let my animal instincts do the
running, leaving my mind free to wander.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I tried to let myself be absorbed into the universe, and I tried to see
everything around me with greater clarity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I saw the dried green lichen on the stones and the dried
brown grasses among the barberry bushes. When I’d been on the ridge a week
earlier the trees had been resplendent with autumn leaves, yellow and red
maples, bronze beech, orange oak.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Now their branches were empty, long grey fingers reaching for the
sky.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The moss by the side of the
trail seemed browner, and the only insect I saw was one orange wooly worm
crawling across a patch of dust.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It seemed that even the endless mountain itself was, if not mourning
Granddad’s passing, at least taking note of it and marking it with the descent
of this summer’s life into winter.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When I got back to Dunnfield Creek it was already getting
dark.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The few clouds in the sky
had light pink linings, and the trees’ shadows had dissipated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I jogged past my truck, through the gap
in the fence, and back down to the riverbank.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I cooled my hand in the water and washed my face, marking
the end of my memorial.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I picked
up the tree branch, still there, and wrote in the sand “Fort Collins, Colorado,
2013”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then I threw the branch as
far as I could out into the water.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tomorrow the wind will blow, and soon the rains will come,
then the snow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the spring my
memorial will have disappeared from everything but memory and the sinews of my
body.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a temporary, impermanent
thing, marking a temporary, impermanent life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is only momentary, soon forgotten.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But for me it as a moment filled with
meaning, marking a meaningful life.</div>
<!--EndFragment--></div>
Jersey Strong Trail Runnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15468992940091986449noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5308448982469091925.post-35660074982890727882013-10-19T20:37:00.001-07:002013-10-19T20:46:12.788-07:00Broken: South Mountain Reservation, October 19, 2013<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
You can ask the mountain</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But the mountain doesn’t care</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
~Antje Duvekot</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’ve forbidden myself to run until November.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Coming into my last race I was carrying
four injuries: strains to the proximal left hamstring tendon, distal left
posterior tibialis tendon, and left gastrocnemius, and a strange undiagnosed pain
in the fifth metatarsal on my right foot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>All of these became worse during my last LSD run and even more so during
the race.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The gastroc injury is
probably nothing; if that were the only issue I would just keep running.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The tibialis tendon pain is also minor,
although, to quote Drake, “like a sprained ankle, boy, I ain’t nothing to play
with.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It requires rest, but I’m
fairly confident that it will solve itself with some strengthening of the glute
med on that side.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The other two,
contrarily, could be real problems.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The reason I worry about the metatarsal pain is that I don’t
know where it came from (no memorable trauma to that foot), and it doesn’t seem
to get better with time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These are
classic signs of a stress fracture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>WebMD will tell you that rest will heal a stress fracture, which sounds
great, but when was the last time you heard about Yao Ming?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m probably just being paranoid over a
bone bruise or a poorly fitting shoe, or perhaps I just forgot kicking whatever
it was that I kicked, but the pain occupies a corner of my mind nonetheless.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The most serious injury, though, and the real reason for the
4 mph speed limit, is the left hamstring.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I first injured it in June, at the very beginning of my summer distance
training.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was running a
Sierra/History trail loop in the Watchung Reservation, which always seems to
take me an hour, and I saw myself behind pace with a mile to go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The last mile is slightly downhill on
reasonably smooth surface, so I opened it up as far as I could and basically
sprinted until I felt the stiffness behind my hip.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5308448982469091925#_ftn1" name="_ftnref" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[1]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I slowed down, finished the run, and
hoped it would be okay.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My leg didn’t feel too bad when I woke up the next morning,
but after driving to work I could barely walk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ouch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I cut
back on training for a few days, decided it felt better enough, and tried to press
through.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The muscle and tendon
held up well enough through the intervening months for me to train and
eventually to race, but they never felt quite right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On top of this, there are two very clear training
indications that something is wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>First, my top pace in mile repeats last spring was just over 5 minutes,
and now I’m struggling to get below 5:30 for even one mile.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Second, my left leg can barely lift 40
pounds on a single leg hamstring curl, while the bar actually lifts up off my
foot from the upward acceleration when pulling that weight with my right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What does all this mean?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Left hamstring strain leading to muscle
weakness leading to proximal hamstring tendonitis leading to “Oh crap now
what?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d even bet that the other
left leg injuries resulted from a breakdown in my stride as the hamstring tired
on long runs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now I’m just hoping
that three weeks off will let me heal enough for the leg to withstand mild
running and strengthening.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Rest may heal my body, but what about my mind?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sitting around in the evenings is driving
me stir crazy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My sleep is
suffering, and I can almost feel the daily uptick in my blood cortisol and
thyroxine levels.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My wife is sure
to reference me as an irritating and obsessive jerk any moment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ugg.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
These are the feelings that sent me fleeing to the South
Mountain Reservation today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
were blessed with beautiful fall weather in North Jersey, low 60’s with a few
clouds, dry air, and brilliant sunlight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I’ve been meaning to explore the reservation as a close-to-home training
backup to the Watchung, so after entertaining my (now three-year-old!) son with
a hayride and pumpkin patch in the morning I set off for Washington Rock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stopped short by the “Authorized
Vehicles Only” sign, I left the truck at the dog park and walked among the
oaks, maples, and beech trees.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’ve read many passages by runners claiming that running is
“meditative”, and a scathing reply from a runner/monk who claims that the
others have no idea what meditation is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I’m no expert in meditation, but I tend to agree with the monk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Meditation is about stillness and
reflection.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Trail running is about
motion and engagement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But what
about trail walking?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
challenges of a technical surface disappear below my 4 mph speed limit,
allowing me to disengage from the immediate and apprehend the slow rhythms of
the trees, the breezes, the deer, and the chipmunks (I admit it, the little
stripy guys are one of my favorite animals).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I walked, I watched brown and yellow leaves drop
from trees and float slowly to the ground, their photosynthetic work complete.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I scared up a white tail doe, and
warned an eight-point buck that I could catch him if I got hungry (false
bravado, given the injuries).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
stared back, uncomprehending and unconcerned, never having had to worry that a
running human might actually pose a threat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He chewed the cud of whatever plants he’d been eating,
storing fat by the moment. I told the chipmunk that I knew he was tiny, no
matter how much noise he could make in the fallen leaves, and he rustled across
the forest floor anyway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I spread my
fingers on lifted hands to sense the soft movement of the air, smelled the dust
of the fallen leaves crunched beneath my feat, felt the weak warmth of the
autumn sun on my arm as it played over the newly scarred skin, a memento of a
misstep during my last run.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
tried to empty myself and allow the void to be filled with the timeless flow of
life over the earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I tried to
fill myself with the unhurried and unworried preparation that the animals and
plants were making before the coming winter, building nests, storing energy,
pulling back to roots, dying with secured eggs prepared to hatch when the
seasons turned.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I am human though, unable to escape worry and
distraction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a species, our
ability to project possible futures is a great and defining tool, but a bother
also.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know no peace, because I
know my present is built on an unsustainable construction of culture and
infrastructure for which I bear no responsibility.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know my future will unfold amidst an unpredictable torrent
whose currents I cannot affect and whose waves can pull me under in a moment or
lift me up and shatter me against the rocks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know that the coming winter is the least of my problems.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It takes great strength to find serenity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What makes it so hard is that this
strength is the strength of inaction, of weakness even, of letting go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not a strength of doing, of making
a better future, because those efforts can easily fall in vain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nor is it a strength of faith, which
would promise that tomorrow will be okay, when in truth it might not be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Serenity is the strength of accepting
the torrent, accepting the waves and the rocks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Serenity is the courage of living your life and striving for
goals in full knowledge of their present and future irrelevance. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">I’m not going to lie to you and claim that I achieved serenity
today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The preceding paragraph is
purely intellectual for me, so I’m not even going to claim an ability to put
one word of it into practice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When
I got back to the truck, I’m sure the cadence of my heart matched exactly what
it was when I left. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My leg and
foot still hurt, and my mind is still full of whispered urges to let loose,
take off, and run until I can’t run anymore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I quieted the whispers, got in the truck, and drove home to
my beautiful wife and compelling son.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Tomorrow I will get up and perform the duties that my life requires of
me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I will walk, empty my self, and hope to be filled by the serene.</span><br />
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<br />
<div id="ftn" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5308448982469091925#_ftnref" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[1]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a> For anyone
who is new to distance training, this was sheer stupidity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was begging for the injury that I
got.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s no reason to sprint
out the last mile of a training run when I couldn’t keep pace for the first
seven.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Far smarter would have been
to coast in, feel bad about the slow time, get a good night’s sleep, and rock
it the next day.</div>
</div>
</div>
<!--EndFragment-->Jersey Strong Trail Runnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15468992940091986449noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5308448982469091925.post-48996699726762954912013-10-19T20:35:00.003-07:002013-10-19T21:22:28.412-07:00Carpe locum: Blues Cruise 50K, October 6th, 2013<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
I remember being seven or eight years old, lying on the
grass in my parent’s front lawn on a lazy June morning, enjoying the sun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our neighbor told me that I should stop
lying there, that I should get up and play.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He said that the summer would be over before I knew it, that
the days would just fly by.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
said “Carpe diem”.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Seize the day” gets said quite a bit, usually to tell
someone to quit being lazy; to get up off the couch and do something, which can
be an important reminder for a runner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In graduate school, as we drank copious amount of coffee and worked in
the lab late into the night, my classmates and I would jokingly alter the
saying to “carpe nactum” - seize the night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The meaning, however, wasn’t really changed from the connotation
of carpe diem; we meant that there was an opportunity presented to us, and that
we should jump at the chance to exploit it.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There is a deeper meaning to the phrase though.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It means not just to exploit the day,
but more importantly to live in and experience the day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It reminds us that this day is all we
really have.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It reminds us of
something said by sages, philosophers, and mystics; that we should live in the
moment, enjoy what we have, and not worry too much about a tomorrow that might
not even come.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As I’ve grown older, and run farther, I’ve tried to adopt
this deeper meaning of carpe diem, the notion of living in the day that is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve also tried to adapt it further to
the notion of living in a place, focusing on the people who are actually
present and the landscape that is actually around me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I try to remember that it is important not just to be someone,
but also to be somewhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You
could call this “seize the place”, or better, “carpe locum”.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Focusing on your environment is important when running trails.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s particularly important for me to pay
attention to the surface of the ground extending from my toes ahead about eight
feet and a few feet to either side.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Missing an aberrant rock or root within this box has put me on my face
in the dirt plenty of times, and I greatly prefer to stay upright.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More than that, though, the great
benefit of running trails is that they take me places I’d otherwise never
go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, when I pick my trails
well, those places can be beautiful, inspiring, and serene.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Paying attention to them can bring joy
and strength that would melt away on asphalt roads and rubberized tracks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Running trails keeps me in touch with
my immediate place, and my life is fuller for it. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Carpe locum.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
On the first Sunday of October I tackled a new trail as part
of my first ultra race: the Blues Cruise 50K around Blue Marsh Lake near
Reading, Pennsylvania.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My wife and
two-year-old and I drove over from New Jersey on Saturday afternoon, checked
into a rather questionable hotel, and then drove over to the starting line at
the Dry Brook public access.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While
the little guy played on the beach I jogged out about a mile and half to
familiarize myself with the opening hill, descent, and stream crossing, and to
get a sense for the technicality of the trail surface.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Happily, it was largely smooth single
track with only occasional sections of rocks and roots.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The bugs were plentiful, but luckily
not of the biting variety.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
trees provided plenty of shade, and the leaves where an appealing mix of
summery green and autumn yellow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>All in all, very inviting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Encouraged, we headed back to the hotel to carbo-load on rice and quinoa
with black beans, mangos, plumbs, and apples.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I awoke the next morning at 4:30 am, an hour before my alarm
was set to go off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was jittery
and clearly a bit nervous, which might be understandable before my first
ultra.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I tried to calm my myself
by pacing in the dark, added to my carb balance with an Ezekiel muffin and
another apple, then woke the family for the drive back to Dry Brook.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I was a little intimidated by the field of runners I found
at the starting line.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I spent
quite a bit of time examining shoes and hydration packs, T-shirts and tattoos
(my favorite T: “that which doesn’t kill me had better start running”).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I looked for people wearing Altra’s, a
zero-drop but non-minimalist shoe I’d been thinking about buying for technical
trails, and I looked for the Jurek/Krupicka style race vests with the bottles
up front on the straps.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There
where plenty of both, and plenty of other gear showing that the people here where
serious about trails and serious about ultras.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Partially because of that, and partially due to my
longstanding habit of flying and dying in races, I started far back in the
pack.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The 8:30 start came with a cool but humid “Ready, Set, Go!”
from race director Stephan Weiss.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The pack jogged out across a short stretch of road to the trailhead,
then spread out along the single track going up the first hill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We pattered over the crest and down the
first decent, splashed across the tiny stream, and climbed up to the rolling,
partially forested hills along the north side of the lake.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The first ten miles were pure joy, smooth, gentle, and beautiful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I moved up slowly, competitiveness
getting the better of discretion, picking off a few runners each time the trail
widened, and slowly the pack cleared out to small groups of runners carrying
similar pace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By mile ten I was
running nearly alone, until I smacked into the group that slowed to a walk on
the course’s first real hill, the ski slope climb.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I tried running up it, using all the advice about
maintaining cadence and shortening stride, but ended up walking the top anyway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A great warning sign hangs at the top:
“Long Downhill Ahead”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A few of us
joked that we could have used a warning sign at the bottom instead!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
After bombing down the “Long Downhill”, I found myself
running along with eventual 6<sup>th</sup> place finisher Andrew McDowell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I told him that the Blues Cruise was my
first ultra, and he told me about finishing the Vermont 100 four of the last
five years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He told me that this
race was his fifteen-year-old son’s first ultra, and I mentioned that my two
year old likes running trails too, but that I usually have to carry him back to
the truck after a mile or so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
kept up with Andrew for much of the middle section, eventually letting him go
shortly before the bag pickup at mile 18.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I’m proud to say that he and Scott Thomas were the only two runners to
pass me during the race, but that pride is tempered somewhat by the fact that
they are ten and thirteen years older than me, respectively.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who said old guys can’t run?!?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The aid stations at the Blues Cruise are particularly great,
far more entertaining than the simple “table full of plastic cups” version I’ve
found at shorter races.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At one a
grass-skirted Hula girl pressed a cold towel to my head.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At another a Bavarian waitress filled
my water bottles and joked that I might be faster running in lederhosen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My favorite, though, was the Blues
Brothers station at mile 26.5.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d
had a tough time from mile 23 to mile 26, bonking and dehydrated, and I had
trouble getting the lids off my bottles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A guy in black suit, black tie and sunglasses took them from me, filled
them, and handed them back while I grabbed salted potatoes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We laughed about what health inspectors
would think about the sweaty hands of so many runners picking through the food,
and I looked at the 26.5 mile sign, officially farther than I had ever
run.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I left with renewed energy
and optimism.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The last few miles were tough anyway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was hard not to look at my watch, hard
not to calculate the miles remaining and how long they would take.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had to keep reminding myself that the
race was not about finishing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
was about running.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had to remind
myself that I came here to run, that I came here to be here, in this place with
the beautiful lake and autumn leaves, and the smooth box of trail, two feet
wide and eight feet long, stretched out in front of my feet. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Carpe locum.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">I did finish eventually, of course, jumping up to tap the banner with
both hands at 4 hours, 39 minutes, and 28 seconds, good for 13<sup>th</sup>
overall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I congratulated Scott
Adams, who finished 11<sup>th</sup>, and asked him if he was famous because I
thought I recognized his face.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
said he thought he recognized me too, but we couldn't fathom where we might have
met.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We reflected on how we were
both nobodies, really, and maybe it was just two guys who liked running
recognizing the similarity in one another.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the finishers' barbeque I sat at a table next to Rob
Steffens, who finished 3<sup>rd</sup>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I joked that I was glad I didn’t have to carry his heavy award stone,
and he told me that his girlfriend was going to kill him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was her first ultra, and he’d told
her that the course would be flat and the temperature cool in October.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She didn’t kill him though.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I saw them together later, after she’d
finished, and I realized that I’d run most of miles 2 through 4 next to her and
enjoyed snippets of conversation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This is one of the things I love about trail running: in the midst of a
quintessentially solitary activity, both momentary and lasting friendship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I love the runners, all of whom had
come today to do something.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And to
be somewhere.</span><!--EndFragment-->
Jersey Strong Trail Runnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15468992940091986449noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5308448982469091925.post-71920426960665208282013-10-19T20:34:00.001-07:002013-10-19T20:34:38.152-07:00Lost in Ringwood Park Run, September 8th, 2013
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
I ran in Ringwood State Park this weekend with the goal of
tracing out portions of the Mountain Madness 50K route.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That race will be run later this month
(without me; I haven’t had time to prepare for 5000 feet-up and down-of
elevation change).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The map and
course description on it’s web page make it seem like it might be the most
interesting trail race in New Jersey, so I thought it might be a good place to
spend a Sunday afternoon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
terrain also looked like a nice testing ground for the SJ Ultravest that just
showed up in the mail from Ultimate Direction: more on that later.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The race starts at Sheppard Pond in Ringwood State Park, a
few miles west of I-287 just on the Jersey side of the NJ/NY border.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The intended route follows the carriage
path around the south end of the lake to the red-blazed Ringwood-Ramapo Trail,
which heads south toward the Ramapo State Forest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not having a map with me, and misunderstanding the term “carriage
path”, I first ran back down Sheppard Pond Road looking for a trail. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I stopped at the construction zone for
the cross-park natural gas pipe, thinking that runners and bulldozers might not
make the greatest mix.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I turned
around, ran back to the parking lot, and then ran up Mansion Road past a chapel
to a skeet shooting range.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
shooters and spectators at the range shot me a few “why don’t you come up here
and trade places with the clay pigeon” looks, convincing me that I’d again run
astray.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Back down to the parking
lot, and finally, by chance, along the packed soil carriage path, which does
indeed lead to the red blazes of the Ringwood-Ramapo trail.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I followed those blazes for about a mile, at which point I
again came across the gas pipeline construction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I chanced it past the first and second “authorized personnel
only” signs, but at the third sign I lost the trail and, with it, my
willingness to risk contentious discussions with construction workers in hard
hats and lug-soled boots.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I snuck
back through the construction zone to the last point I seen a blaze and then
followed the trail back toward Sheppard Pond, eventually taking a right turn on
an unmarked two track that appeared to head away from both the pipeline
construction and the constant bangs and crackles of the skeet range (by the
way, what happens to all those steel bb’s?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t hear any raining through the trees around me at any
point, but given that the range was on a hilltop, they must have had an opportunity
to rain on someone).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I followed the double track along the edge of first Sheppard
and then Potake ponds to the point where it crossed a set of high-voltage
transmission lines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A sign reading
“Trespassers will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law” (quaint,
really.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Where I grew up in
Montana, those signs read “Trespassers will be shot on sight”) sent me
backtracking to a trail that followed the path of the high voltage line.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This trail climbed to a hilltop, then
dropped down a nearly vertical back slope toward the Cranberry pond
drainage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As it turns out, the
area is a favorite with ATV enthusiasts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The startling roar of unmuffled engines contrasted greatly with the
friendly waves, grins, and calls of “Hey, Runner Guy!” of the people riding up
the trail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hopped up on a bolder
to let them pass, then dropped the rest of the way down to Cranberry
creek.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I followed a fork of the
trail up to Cranberry spring, then climbed the side of Bald Mountain to a
hilltop swamp.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After a brief
respite, double-espresso Cliffshot gel, and some water, I headed back to the
truck.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Note post writing:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Just posted the run on Strava and found out that I set three segment
course records.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Come on people, I
was jogging!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Get back out there
and kick my butt!</div>
<!--EndFragment-->Jersey Strong Trail Runnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15468992940091986449noreply@blogger.com0