Sunday, March 16 - 20K - Day 3

At least it didn't rain on Saturday night. It didn't help my sleep though, it was too cold to go and sit in the creek after the 50 miles and my legs were really sore. I kept tossing and turning in my sleeping bag and never got comfortable.

With the race being so short, there were no drop bags and very limited aid on the course. I started with three Gus and a couple of bottles. I couldn't believe the start of the race. Everyone started out so fast! I was really struggling to keep up. Josh was ten minutes ahead of me and I knew that unless he completely collapsed there was no way I was going to pass him in total time. Also Paul, Matt and Ty were at least 50 minutes behind me so I knew that my second place was pretty much sealed. I still tried to run hard, but everyone kept passing me. I guess it shouldn't be too much of a surprise, on each of the previous days I didn't really start running fast until mile 27, with only 12 or so to go today, I knew I would never get warmed-up.

I finished in tenth place overall, sixth out of the stage runners in 2:08. My cumulative time over the three days was 16:30:28. Full results can be found here. Kudos to Josh and Ashley Nordell for taking the overall male and female.

Steve, his family and all of the volunteers did an amazing job putting on the race. The course was well marked (except for one turn on the 50 mile run), the aid stations well stocked with food, drink and smiling faces, the campground is well suited for an ultra and the terrain is gorgeous, hard and rugged. I definitely recommend it for any ultrarunner looking for a tough challenge in the Ozarks.



Running moment of the day: Finishing.

3/17 - 3/23
total miles: 21.3
time: 3:27

YTD miles: 638.9

Saturday, March 15 - 50M - Day 2

Although it hadn't started to rain by the time we went to bed on Thursday and in fact looked like the rain might hold off, it rained and stormed hard after we laid down to sleep. My legs were sore from the 50K, combining this with the thin thermarest pad and the thunder and lightning meant I didn't sleep well and I was already awake at 5:00 AM when the alarm went off. It was cooler outside than the previous morning and on a positive note we could see lots of stars so at least the sky was clear.

The 50M course was an out and back, apparently a last minute change because of down tress caused by recent snow fall. Drop bags were allowed at miles 9/41 and 19/31. In the first bag I put a hand bottle and waistpack in case I felt like switching from the Nathan pack I was starting with. In the second bag I put 10 Gus, some endurolytes, 2 Little Debbie StarCrunches and a windbreaker. Rumor was that even though it was clear that stroms were coming in were a high possibility, therefore I opted for the Nathan pack as I could stuff my rainjacket in it.

Everyone was moving slowingly in the morning and the race didn't officially start until 10 after 6 AM. It started looking like a repeat performance of the previous day, Matt, Ty and Josh took off up the ridge and Scott and I dropped into the chase pack. By the time we crested the ridge though, Matt and Ty were on a tear and Scott and I caught up to Josh. We bumped into Matt and Ty a few times before the first aid and mile 5 as they lost the trail marking momentarily. It was good to have trail veteran Scott with us to point the way.

By the time we reached the first aid station we could turn our lights off. Already the scenery was looking more spectacular than the previous day. For this first portion off the run we were on the North Sylamore Creek Trail. The anticipated clouds had rolled in and there was a layer of fog hovering above the creek in the canyon. It was mystical. From mile 5 to the second aid at mile 9 the trail passes along side of a bluff with a steep drop off towards the creek. It was some great running. The three of us chatted it up, everything from previous ultras to college life.

After leaving the Barkshed aid station the course heads about 50 feet up a gravel road before a sharp right hand turn. Josh and I would of ran past it without a second thought if it wasn't for Scott. Unfortunately, ahead of us Matt and Ty weren't so luck and kept running right on by. There is a large climb after the right turn and this is where Josh, Scott and I split up, Josh running ahead and Scott dropping back. We got about ten minutes of rain here and a clap or two of thunder. Nothing too worrisome. The trail is severely cambered and on every step my right ankle rolled slightly and I worried that it might get sore. I caught back up to Josh on a long downhill section and we arrived at the third aid station. Cal and Steve were there and told us that they hadn't seen Matt and Ty go by, we started wondering if they got lost.

Another climb and Josh took off. I was really starting to hurt and think that I might of gone out to fast and ran too hard trying to keep up with Josh. These aren't very comforting thoughts only 15 miles into a 50 mile run. The scenery was gorgeous though and kept my mind distracted. At mile 19 I arrived at the Cripple Turkey aid station. I grabbed some more Gu, ate a Little Debbie and ran on. Steve's wife told me as I left that now we were on the Ozark Highline Trail and needed to follow the white blazes. Leaving the station there is a steep downhill. I heard someone shouting my name, Josh had missed a turn. He came running back down the road toward me and we found a sharp right turn across a creek. Again a climb and again Josh took off and again at the top of the hill I heard someone shouting my name, Josh had got lost again.

The Ozark Highline Trail was just created a few years ago and it is not very well trod. Most of the time it is like connect the dots going from blaze to blaze. I arrived at the mile 23 aid station around 4 hours and 30 minutes into the run. Earlier Josh and I had talked about finishing in under 9 hours, possibly around 8. The course had something else in mind. From here it is 2 miles to the turn around. They said that they put up flagging and wrote a word at the turn around that we would have to tell them on the return trip. These two miles out to the turn around were the hardest miles of the day. Every step I was hoping that I would see Josh coming back at me and after every step he still wasn't there. After 25 minutes I finally saw him, two minuntes later I was at the turn around at 4 hours and 56 minutes, four minutes back of Josh. In case your wondering, the word was "Syllamo", which I probably should of guessed, I mean what else would it be? "Rabbit"?

Out and back courses have a unique psychology, on the way out you try to make little references to use to know how far you have left on the return and you keep waiting for the turn around. The constant waiting always makes the run seem farther than it should be. There is a huge mental lift once you reach the turn around and start heading back, knowing that you are over the hump, on the return. I experienced this exactly. With every step I took after the turn around I was getting stronger, I was getting faster. Good thing too, since the third place runner, Paul, was only eight minutes behind me and there was a pack of runners about two minutes after that. About halfway to the sixth aid at mile 27 I saw Matt and Ty. They had gotten lost but were now on the right track, I knew I would have to keep going or else they could still catch me.

At aid station 6 I shoved about five quartered pb&j's into my mouth and left feeling better than I had when I was there for mile 23. I was seeing lots of runners now and everyone told me that Josh has about 5 minutes ahead, I didn't figure I'd see him again. Aid station 6 back to Cripple Turkey at mile 31 felt entirely downhill. I'm not sure if it really is or if I was just running strong, but I felt great and just went with it. I loaded up with Gu from my drop bag and was supposed to fill up on endurolytes here too but I forgot and didn't realize it until I had ran for ten minutes past the aid station. Such is life, I had four left and figured I could probably ration them, I had plenty of Gu so I should be OK.

Past the unmanned aid station at mile 35 and onto Barkshed at mile 41. Strong and getting stronger. I stopped seeing runners coming the other direction. About a mile and half out from Barkshed I came into a big long switchback in a deep drainage. Just leaving the other side two minutes ahead of me was Josh. I hollered, "I'm coming for you Josh." Pretty stupid I know, but come on I'd run 40 miles, most of it by myself and can't really be held responsible for all of my dumb comments. I kept closing on Josh on the downhill leading to Barkshed and I finally caught up to him at the aid station where we left together.

The next four miles were amazing, perhaps the best of the entire weekend. I felt like I was running effortlessly, pure running bliss. Definitely part of my twenty miuntes (see John Bingham's article Runners' World April 2008). Josh stayed with me for about a half a mile then dropped back.

I got a pleasant surprise at Gunner Pool at mile 45, Gina was there waiting for me. Good thing too since there were no aid station wokrers there, they left the water and Heed, but pulled all of the food. Gina gave me some V8 (the best midrace drink) and I took off, five miles left to go. I kept looking for the finish. Having only run this section in the dark, I couldn't exactly tell where I was. Sure enough, I got the finish and was able to push it on in, finishing in 9:30:02. I'm most proud of the HUGE negative split, 4:56 on the way out, 4:34 on the way back.

Josh came in ten minutes later, Paul thirty-five after that and then more and more starting trickling in. Tough course. Only 20K to go the next day. Josh was in first overall, about ten miuntes ahead of me, Paul, Matt and Ty were all around 50 minutes behind me.



Running moment of the day: Mile 41 to 45, this is Barkshed to Gunner Pool, beautiful trail, I ran strong, felt invincible, pure transcendence.

Friday, March 14 - 50K - Day 1

It rained Thursday night, a heavy downpour accompanied by lots of thunder and lightning. The thunder echoed off of the limestone wall next to our tent and sounded louder than any thunder I have ever heard. The storm system moved out of the area by morning, but there was still an overcast.

We woke up at seven, too early for a nine o'clock race, but I knew my nerves wouldn't let me sleep in so we got up. I ate a cold Pop Tart (chocolate chip cookie dough - I didn't even know they made this flavor) drank some coffee provided by the race and got my drop bag ready. There was one drop bag station at the halfway point. My bag consisted of 4 Gus, a windbreaker in case I was cold and a pair of dry socks. Temperatures were in the mid fifties and I started in my white sleeveless tank.

The lead pack of John Muir, Matt Hart, Ty Draney, Josh Nordell and last years winner Dave Wakefield took off at a fast pace. I tried to hang but quickly realized this was one way to not enjoy the next three days so I backed off and formed the chase pack with Paul Schoenlaub and Scott Eason.

Inside my head I was already questioning if I had run too fast at the A-OK 50K two weeks prior and was in for three days of hurt. But the joy from being on real trails again took over and I started not to care about place and time. The course is designed by Arkansas ultralegend Steve Kirk and is absolutely amazing. There's enough ups to keep you working, enough downs for fun and enough flat to still be runnable. Many times I just found myself looking around and soaking up how gorgeous it is to keep me going when I get stuck running roads in Norman.

The course was very well marked but it was nice to run with trail veterans Scott and Paul who told me what was coming up before we got to it. In particular Paul told us to look back over our shoulders to catch an awesome view of Sylamore Creek around mile 25 or so.

Oklahoma ultralegend Tom Brenan caught us around this point. He had been smartly taking it easy on day one. As the winner of last years A-OK 50K, he warned me (a bit too late) about the Okie Dokie wine. We ran as four until the last aid station at mile 27, which was unmanned. I looked back and saw a pack of two more runners about to catch us. My competitive spirit took over and I told Tom, "It's time to start running." I took off, never looked back and ran my fastest four miles of the day bringing it on home. About a mile or so from the finish I caught Dave. I don't know the official time, but I think it was around 4:52. I finished fifth overall, fourth out of the stage runners, about twenty minutes behind the third place stage runner and a half an hour behind the first place stage runner.

After the run I soaked in the creek, showered, ate some pasta and had a beer. I was pretty nervous still about the 50 mile run the next day, especially after hearing some say there was 16,000 feet of elevation gain. Gina made a campfire and we sat around with some of the other runners and relaxed. By nine o'clock, everyone was calling it quits for the day.

Running moment of the day: From the unmanned aid station at mile 27 to the finish I ran strong. It felt really good and it was a big confidence boost to be able to have my best miles of the day happen at the end.

3 Days of Syllamo

The race is over. I'm beat, both mentally and physically. My legs feel like lead weights and I just want to lay down and zone out. I'll give a proper race report here soon, you'll at least need to give me three days. (That's a joke.)

My preliminary results:

Friday, March 14 50K
time: 4:52
placement: 5

Saturday, March 15 50M
time: 9:30
placement: 1

Sunday, March 16 20K
time: 2:08
placement: 10



3/10 - 3/16
total miles: 99.3
time: 17:26

YTD miles: 617.6

Ultralist

The aches and soreness from the A-OK 50K left pretty quickly and I am ready to run 3 Days of Syllamo this weekend. Most of this week was spent sitting on my butt and relaxing/recovering and trying the bottle of wine I won. (A special note to any Oklahomans who might try this wine - it's way sweet, as in sweet tasting, not sweeeeeeet.) I did go on some runs with Maia and Gina, in fact every one of my runs this week was with Maia.

Since Gina and I forgot a lot of essential for Bandera we decided to make a list of all the things we need to bring to ultra. Here it is:

Running Clothes

[] shirt/singlet
[] shorts/tights
[] socks
[] underwear/jockstrap
[] shoes
[] visor/hat
[] gloves
[] wind/rain jacket

Extra Clothes

[] shirt
[] shorts/jeans
[] socks
[] whitie-tighties
[] crocs/sandals/flip-flops
[] warm jacket

Nutrition

[] Gu/sport gel
[] power/clif/granola bars
[] cookies/candy/little debbie snacks
[] potato chips
[] V8
[] soda
[] sandwiches: turkey/cheese
[] soup/noodles
[] endurolytes

First Aid

[] neosporin
[] ibuprofen
[] baby powder
[] band-aids
[] moleskin/duct tape
[] body glide/vasoline
[] chap stick
[] sun block
[] aloe/solarcane/lotion
[] hand sanitizer
[] poopie paper
[] tums

Hydration

[] hand bottles
[] waist pack
[] camelback
[] Gu2O
[] water

Miscellaneous

[] face towels
[] batteries
[] flashlight/headlamp
[] camp chairs
[] quart/sandwich/snack bags
[] ice
[] cooler
[] dirty clothes bag
[] ipod
[] bug spray

If you want a nice pretty pdf version click here.

Running moment of the week: I helped Gina run her 21 mile long run today. I biked along side of her for the first 15 miles and ran next to her for the last 6. She did awesome. So often she helps out with my running: crewing at races, biking along side of me, meeting me on training runs and just pushing my butt out of bed, it felt good to be able return the favor.

3/3 - 3/9
total miles: 21.0
time: 3:11

YTD miles: 518.3

I'm OK, you're OK, let's all go set a PR at a 50K

Last Sunday I ran the 14th annual A-OK 50K outside of Atoka, Oklahoma. As you can tell from the title of this entry I set a PR and actually achieved my goal of breaking 4 hours in a trail 50K that I set out for myself in an earlier post. My time was 3:53:19. I might be shooting myself in the foot though, I was only supposed to be using this a last long run before "3 Days of Syllamo" and was only shooting for a time of around 4:45. I feel good today though so hopefully I'll recover quickly and go to Arkansas with a new confidence gained from breaking the 4 hour barrier.

At the house...

I woke on Sunday morning at 3:30 AM, the radio playing the overnight BBC news feed. There is something different about waking up really early, for some reason it doesn't feel like you're really getting up and for me it is actually easier than usual to get my butt out of bed. Ask my fiancee, most mornings it's like pulling teeth to get me to give up the covers. The coffee pot was prepped the night before, so I plugged it in, made a small bowl of cereal (mostly because we have Cracklin' OatBran and I didn't want Gina to eat it all without getting my share). My bags were packed the night before, I threw them in the car and left 5 minutes ahead of schedule.

On the road...

I listened to The Slip - Eisenhower, Michael Franti - Everyone Deserves Music and Cake - Prolonging the Magic on the way down. The stereo in our car doesn't work, some sort of computer/electrical malfunction caused by too many rust holes and too much rain so we have a little battery operated speaker that we plug our ipod into. The road was dark, only a small sliver of a moon and there was lots of roadkill but very little traffic. The estimated driving time from Norman to Stringtown I got from Google maps was about 45 minutes longer than what it actually took. Even with the sketchy directions I had from Stringtown to the race start and a wrong turn or two, I still made it to the start about 45 minutes earlier than I anticipated. Plenty of time for a quick snoozer.

Pre-race...

So I didn't really sleep. I can never sleep in a car and have a hard time napping in general, but shutting my mind down, closing my eyes and listening to Paul's Boutique by the Beastie Boys just felt good. I got out of the car at 7:30 AM, a half an hour before the start, pooped and checked in. I wish I was a better writer because the woman who puts on the A-OK (Mary Ann Miller) is one interesting character. The race takes place on her private land and the check-in takes place in a large metal shed. I got number 1119, which might make you think that the runners numbered in the thousands, however this is far from the actual number of 13 runners in 50K (including earlier starters) and about twice that again in the 25K. After receiving my number I was instructed by the race director to grab any of the "freebies". These "freebies" consisted of hats, socks, water bottles, t-shirts and something still in its cardboard box. I scored a hat. Go on and say it, you're way jealous.

I changed into my running attire, lubing up the necessary areas as needed. Even with the cloud cover and wind it was warm enough for a tank top. Roughly speaking, the race is "T" shaped, starting from the bottom then out and back along the cross bar and back to bottom of the "T". One lap is 25K, the 50K runs two. I took another poop (damn buffalo meat) and made sure my bottles were full and set some Gu out on the car seat so I could reload in between laps. At 7:55 AM, Mary Ann called everyone over to the start, gave some last minute instructions and seeming mid sentence broke into "Ready,

GO!

A tweet on her whistle and we were off. The race starts on a single track trail around a small pond on Mary Ann's property. The trail is outlined by some logs and looks very soft until you take a closer look and see all of the ankle twisting rocks buried under the leaves. After a small stream crossing, a push up and over a steep little hill and another stream crossing, the race leaves the single track and turns right up a fire road. The fire road is pretty rocky too, but wide enough so that you can navigate a mostly dirt/sand path. After about three-quarters of mile on the fire road, the trail crosses a turnip (radish?) field. This, as is the rest of the course, is extremely well-marked with yellow flagging. A little further along after a little more uphill and you get to AID 1 at the center point of the "T". By this point I was all by myself, as I would be the remainder of the race, although with the trail doubling back on itself so many times, I saw the other runners often.

From AID 1, the race goes left and this meant straight into the wind. Did I mention it was windy? This is Oklahoma people, it's always windy. And Oklahoma wind seems to come at you from every direction. After leaving the aid station the trail becomes very smooth, runnable and slightly downhill. About two and a half miles of this and I arrived at AID 2. The second aid station is unmanned and there is a sheet of paper to sign and initial. All of the aid stations were well-stocked with water, Gatorade, cookies and other typical ultrafare. It was at this aid station that I first ran into the woman runner with the large backpack (see Running moment down below).

Turning back toward AID 1 from AID 2 is slightly uphill but mostly the wind was at my back. Back at the center point of the "T" at AID 1 the race continues straight along the cross bar out toward AID 3. For some reason, the stretch from AID 1 to AID 3 and back felt slightly uphill both ways, which probably means it was pretty flat. The condition of the trail here is similar to the stretch from AID 1 to AID 2. Once back at AID 1 for the third time, it was a quick downhill trot along the rocky fire road back the starting line. I finished the first lap around 1:49.

I slammed a V8 (the best mid-race drink), grabbed some more Gu and headed out for lap 2. Somewhere around half way into the second lap I started feeling tired. I took a couple of walk breaks in the second half of this lap. It was already looking like I was going to set a PR and maybe break 4 hours. I kept looking at my watch calculating how much time I had left versus how quickly I ran a particular section in the first lap. Leaving AID 1 for the last time I dropped the hammer and pushed it to the finish.

Post-race...

I changed my shirt, put my Crocs on, got a bowl of chili (made by Mary Ann) and a can of Busch, the best post-race drink. There were only two other runners that that finished around the same time, one was the woman with large backpack who ran the 25K and the other was woman who was an early starter for the 50K. We all chatted a bit, made some congratulatory comments and were happy to be done. I picked up a jar of honey and my first-place prize - a bottle of Oklahoma wine. Mary Ann: "I don't know how good it is, I just bought it because I liked the label." Isn't that how everyone buys wine?



On the road...

Back in the car, I finished listening to the Beastie Boys. I stopped at a gas station by a casino to fill up and call Gina. Other music too, but I don't remember. More traffic now than before. I had to stop for batteries for the speakers.

At the house...

Shower. Beer. Napoleon Dynamite. Zzzz...

Running moment of the week: It doesn't matter how hardcore you might think you are, there is always some else out there pushing the envelope further. During the race I passed a woman carrying a very large backpack, the kind you might use to go on an extended backpacking trip. I spoke with her after the race and discovered she is training for a race called the Bataan Memorial Death March. Check out their website for the complete details, but very quickly the race is a marathon by White Sands National Monument in New Mexico. The race is a memorial to a group of World War II POWs in the Philippines that were forced to march across the island, many to their death. There are two primary divisions in the race, lightweight and heavyweight. To be in the heavyweight category you must carry a 35 pound pack throughout the entire race. Hardcore, but nothing in comparison to what the POWs must have experienced.

2/25 - 3/2
total miles: 55.6
time: 7:13

February miles: 246.7
YTD miles: 497.3