Finding Mile 0 (Revisited)

322 miles. 7 days.  Lots of time on the trail, lots of time on my feet.  It passed too quickly, though at times I just wanted it to end.  Now, back at home a week after finishing in Georgetown the Friday before last, I can finally start to feel my body nearing normality again.  The soreness is leaving, my fatigue is vanishing, the blisters healed and my appetite returning to normal.  I even ran 5 miles this morning averaging sub 10s.  There is still some time before I go tear out a hard speed session at the track, but my physical link with the voyage is fading, all that will remain is the mental and emotional link.  I need to get all those thoughts down, both the pain and the joy, before that fades too.

DAY 1: After driving down to Pittsburgh from Meadville and dropping Maia off at Camp Bow Wow, we parked by Point State Park in Pittsburgh at 8:00AM, earlier than I was thinking we would.  Gina and I walked over the park, apparently tradition has it that you are supposed to dip you bike tire in the fountain in the park to signify the beginning of your voyage.  Well the park is still under some construction, so the fountain is off limits.  I just choose a line in the sidewalk that looked as good as any other for the starting line and declared this as the official start.  Really, this was the "ceremonial start" as I was only running 3.5 miles along the Eliza Furnace Trail to the Hot Metal Bridge.  The Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) has a "gap" in it here and Gina shuttled me to the "restart" off of Grant Avenue in Duquesne, about 9 miles away.  Here there is a small paper sign which unceremoniously announced that the trail is open to Cumberland and Washington.  The rain was just starting to fall, already I was one hour into our trek, half of which was spent in the car.  There's a long way to go...


The rest of the day sailed by, my spirits and energy level were high.  I cranked out the remaining 40ish miles without issue.  It rained aplenty to be sure, the most it rained any of the days we were on the trail, but neither the mud puddles nor soggy clothes mattered, I was finally on my way.  DC here we come!!

DAY 2: I knew that getting over the psychological hurdle of starting day 2, repeating what we had done the day before was going to be a major challenge of the trip.  The night before I was probably the most scared/nervous of any.  Is my chaffing too bad to go on?  Are those blisters going to be my downfall?  Did I eat enough?  Just how refreshed are my legs going to feel in the morning?  I'd run a multiday ultra before (3 Days of Syllamo), but never something of this magnitude.  The first two hours answered my questions definitively.  I kept clipping off 9 minute miles without a problem.  My feet felt fine, legs were motoring along, pace felt great.  The scenery here helped, this section took me through Ohiopyle State Park right along the Youghiogheny River, most likely the prettiest section of the entire trek.  After two hours though, I hit a pretty big low, I don't think I ate enough the night before and my fuel cells were feeling drained.  I took a couple of gels, walked a mile (I was a bit ahead of the schedule I had given Gina).  My stores recharged, I made it to Ohiopyle.  From here, Gina and I decided I would always carry a Power Bar with me whenever to prevent a repeat occasion.  On to Confluence, here I'd leave the Youghiogheny, a river I'd run next to for 70 odd miles and run along the Casselman.  Gina ran into meet me on the way to Confluence, it was great having a running partner for a bit.  As we neared Confluence, the three bikers we camped by the night before passed us.  These three gentleman were biking from Pittsburgh to DC and would end up camping by us for the first three nights.  We enjoyed their company, and I think they enjoyed us sharing our Oreos.

DAY 3: Last day on the GAP, also the last day with some uphill.  Not that the trail is ever steep, but from Connellsville to Deal, there is a steady uphill grade, after every bend in the trail you just see it rising and rising.  It would be good to get over the Eastern Continental Divide and start heading down.  More rain this day, welcomed as the trees were much smaller and opportunities for shade were fewer.  Through Big Savage Tunnel, the longest of the whole trip, across the Mason-Dixon Line (into a new state!) and down to Frostburg I ran.  Lots of cyclists on this section of the trail, good to see that it is getting use.  I waited out a down pour in Frostburg eating lunch in the car with Gina.  Gina rode up from Cumberland on her bike and was with me the last 7 miles of the GAP.  It felt good to finish one trail, tomorrow I'd start another.  From here on out, the miles would only get smaller and when they hit 0, I'd be done!  We got some ice cream in Cumberland and camped by the YMCA.  Great facilities, but you are nestled between train tracks and the freeway, it doesn't promote restful sleeping.

DAY 4: Starting a new trail, next to a new river, the Potomac, rejuvenated me and I was able to crank out some 9 minute miles again at the start, maybe two hours worth.  The three cyclists passed me again (for the final time although Gina would see then again over the next coupe of days as she drove ahead to meet me) and another cyclist that we had camped by for the last two nights passed me as well.  Traveling with her was her 15lb border collie that rode in a baby backpack carrier.  Too cute, that dog was on a mission and could care less about seeing me on the trail.  The C&O is flat and since the canal is no longer in operation, most of it is marshy, algae filled ponds and murky pools.   Not inviting at all, even considering the clouds moved out of the area and the temperature starting climbing.  A slight change in our camping plans that night.  We opted for a more expensive campground further from the trail as they had **showers**.  The routine:  I run a lot and finish wondering how I was going to run the next day, but then food (lots of it, any type, I was not picky, cold Campbell Chicken soup from the Can?  Mmm Mmm good) and more importantly a shower and I was a new man, ready for action.  How does it feel?  Well I gathered no moss.

DAY 5:  More miles... more miles... more HOT miles...

DAY 6:  More miles... more miles... more HOT miles... The temperature broke into the mid 90s and even with shade, I was being cooked, both inside and out.  There were some wells alongside the trail at the hiker/biker campgrounds that I used to rinse off and cool off.  Even with this and the wet ice cold towels Gina met me with, this day was by far the hardest.  I got a slight boost of energy after Harpers Ferry where the C&O and the Appalachian Trail share a trail for three miles.  I saw three through hikers and thought about my friend Josh and his through hike several years ago and all the stories he told me about it.  What an journey, my little trot cannot even compare.  Another deviation on our plans, instead of camping in Brunswick, we got a hotel.  After the scorcher of a day, I wanted AC.

DAY 7: This was it, the last time I would need to start.  I was glad to see day seven, but I knew that I had 55 miles to run on day 7, 9 more than the average.  We started an hour early (6:00 AM), but even so I knew that it would be 6:00 PM at the earliest when I would finish.  Still more miles left to go Matt.

They passed by just like the previous 250+ had, one foot in front of the other.  I was able to turn out the first six at 10 minutes per mile pace, the days of putting down some miles at 9 minutes per miles were over.  Gina planned on meeting me at several locations, that helped to break up the run into manageable pieces.  With the exception of the last 14 miles from Great Falls National Park to Georgetown, the longest I went without seeing Gina was 10 miles.  The clouds moved in the night before, keeping the temperatures lower than the previous day, but the humidity was still high and my batteries were still low from the day before.  By the time I reached Great Falls I was done, both mentally and physically spent.  I tried to keep my energy high by eating more gels than usual but the trip was taking its toll.  We took a 15 minute sit down break and then spent 15 minutes looking a the falls.  I had no idea this was here, really gorgeous.  I finally got going again after telling Gina it would probably take me 3½ hours to cover the last 14 miles (that's 15 minutes per mile pace, about what I'd done for the previous section).  I started running and committed myself to a plan 25 minutes of running followed by 5 minutes of walking, repeat 8 times then you're in Georgetown.  The first block went by and during the second a runner came up from behind and passed me.  I wanted the company so I sped up, caught him and we ran together for about 15 minutes (probably at 10 minutes per mile pace).  We chatted for a bit, I told him what I was doing, he told me about a good bar in Georgetown.  There wasn't anything special about the conversation, but I was motivated.  From here on in I pushed it hard, constantly repeating to myself, "Just stick with the plan, the plan will get you there."  Two hours into this segment I was already within 5 miles of the finish, 15 minute miles be damned, I'm going to finish this my way!  Gina rode in on her bike (she was able to maneuver through DC traffic at 5 PM on the Friday before Memorial Day Weekend, I think she deserves a big fat medal!).  I shouted "BOOMER!" at the top of my lungs, which she replied to "sooner."

"Weak sauce love, let's try it again."  I yelled  "BOOMER!"

She replied "SOONER!"  Yeah, that's more like it!  I took a final walk break, then slid my hat downward, no more talking, it was time to go to work.  I increased my cadence, drawing from whatever remained from my muscles.  I would cover this last section in 2:40.  As I passed Lock 1, only a ¼ mile from the end I told myself to savor this, this is an accomplishment and I won't have this feeling again soon.  Hooting, hollering jumping up and down, I think most people walking through Georgetown though I was crazy.  Well, that may be, ... but then ... mile 0!

My body must of known it was done.  That night, after a shower, I was completely finished, there would be no running the next day even if I tried.  Again?

I put all of my times on the various segments into a spreadsheet, check it out:

RUN STATISTICS

Also, I uploaded more pictures from the trip onto Picasa, here's the link:

RUN PICTURES

The Allegheny Trail Alliance has a link on their website allowing you to make a certificate commemorating the voyage. The picture shows the Salisbury Viaduct (1,908' long) outside of Meyersdale, PA, mile 33 of the GAP. Not quite the same as a belt buckle...

Pittsburgh Marathon

Miles 0 - 3

With 16,000 of my closest friends, I awaited both the start of the race and the decision of mother nature regarding the weather. We had record highs the day before, with temperatures in the mid 80's and now at almost 7:30 AM it was in the mid 60's and humid. Yuck. The race started and even though people were assigned corrals according to projected finishing time, people just line up where ever they want to (I guess they have as much of a right as anyone else?) and I spent the first two miles running through the Strip District dodging slow runners and potholes in equal proportions. After the first mile, I kept passing the mile markers too soon. I was sweating already in the humidity. Somewhere around 15 minutes into the race I felt the first rain drop.

Mile 1: 7:00
Mile 2: 6:46 (13:45)
Mile 3: 6:42 (20:26)

Miles 4 - 8

16^th St. Bridge over the Allegheny River is the first of 5 bridges the marathon route crosses. As I ran over the bridge to the North Shore District, the rain started to pick up and by the time I got to the other side, the rain was coming down hard. Sweet. Well at least the humidity isn't such a factor anymore. Even though I was carrying a bottle and it was raining, I still grabbed a cup of water at the aid station to dump over my head. In hindsight I don't think I drank enough early on. Like swimming, it is so hard to tell how you are sweating in the rain. After about 10 minute though, the rain let up to a drizzle which continued for the remainder of the race.

A quick over and back across the Allegheny again on the Andy Warhol and Roberto Clemente Bridges at mile 6 then the course goes right next to Pittsburgh pride, PNC Park and Heinz Field. Somewhere here there was the first relay point for the relay runners and I think I passed the mile 7 marker without hitting my watch. At mile 8 we cross the Ohio River on the West End Bridge and great a great look back at ll the runners on the course behind us and a great look at Point State Park, my Mile 0 for my upcoming GAP run! I was still hitting these miles way too fast. I kept trying to slow down, but slowing down 10 seconds per mile is hard. Next time, I think I might walk after each mile to soak up the extra seconds.

Mile 4: 6:51 (27:17)
Mile 5: 6:43 (34:01)
Mile 6: 6:39 (40:39)
Mile 7&8: 13:31 (54:10)

Miles 9 - 12

Along the the south side of the river, the course has its first hill as we go under the mouth of the Fort Pitt Tunnel in front of the Duquesne Incline cars the ride the rails up Mt. Washington. For such a hilly city, the first 10 or so miles are pretty flat, they spoil (deprive of the fun?) the ½ marathoners. At mile 11, the ½ marathoners turn back to downtown, we pass another relay stop and turn to cross our final bridge, the Birmingham Bridge over the Monongahela River, and begin a mile and half long climb. Even up this climb I couldn't lower my splits. But that would soon change.

Mile 9: 6:44 (1:00:54)
Mile 10: 6:46 (1:07:39)
Mile 11: 6:50 (1:14:30)
Mile 12: 6:49 (1:21:19)

Miles 13 - 18

We topped out (or so I thought) in the Oakland area by the University of Pittsburgh. Finally, my mile split was slow enough. It only took a huge hill. This part of the course had my favorite scenery, but ever time I though the course was going to level out for a bit or start to descend, we'd climb another little riser. Awesome. I kept up with the splashing water on my head and by this time had needed to stop and refill my bottle a few times. Before the race started I don't think I was drinking enough and continued this for the first few miles, not wanting to have to stop and refill my bottle while there was a crowd of runners. We ran through a rich neighborhood, a little boy yelled out at me, "Go naked man!" (I was only wearing my red shorts, no t-shirt), then we ran through a not-so-rich neighborhood, a lady cat called my from her front porch. My splits started to fall off.

Mile 13: 7:12 (1:28:31)
Mile 14: 6:46 (1:35:17)
Mile 15: 6:55 (1:42:12)
Mile 16: 7:16 (1:49:28)
Mile 17: 7:15 (1:56:43)
Mile 18: 7:12 (2:03:55)

Miles 19 - 23

After I saw the Mile 18 sign, I took my first walk break, 20 seconds. I felt good and afterward I was able to resume my pace. But the wheels were starting to come off, I put the blinders on and got to work. Every mile I would calculate what I pace I needed to run to finish in under 3:10 (with the way I was feeling, even though a sub-3:00 was mathematically possible at this point, I didn't see it happening). Several runners and I leap frogged each other, they seemed to pass me on the uphills and I would pass them on the level and downhill sections. Just holding on...

Mile 19: 7:30 (2:11:24)
Mile 20: 7:33 (2:18:58)
Mile 21: 7:49 (2:26:47)
Mile 22: 7:30 (2:34:17)
Mile 23: 7:38 (2:41:54)

Miles 24 - 26.2

A huge downhill on Liberty Avenue and I could feel the end of the race. The race ends while 2 miles through the Strip District again, back along the road we ran almost 3 hours earlier. My pace picked up and I started feeling better. I was glad I was able to finish so strong after a few miles of drudgery.

Mile 24: 7:36 (2:49:30)
Mile 25: 7:02 (2:56:32)
Mile 26.2: 8:50 (3:05:22)

RESULTS

Forget the PR, Mohican 50K

Last weekend Gina and I ventured over to Ohio for a 50K at Mohican State Park. In one sense, it did live up to it's name, I didn't get a PR (although my PR is on a course whose measurement accuracy is definitely not certain). Challenging, yes - kind of, there were enough ups and downs to keep things interesting, obviously Ohio has limited potential for long ups and downs and I bet most of the longest ones are in this park. There was plenty of technical terrain (read: hand-over-hand root ladders) and beautiful landscape to enjoy. It is a very gorgeous park and the race course cut through the best of it.

The race course is best described as a 3-leaf clover with the starting point on the tip of one of the petals. We started just a few minutes after 8:00 AM on Sunday. 150ish runners took off over the dewy grass, around an orange pylon, onto an asphalt road for a short stretch an then we hit the trail section. Luckily, the RD's announced before the race his pet peeve: Mid to Back of the Packers starting fast then slowing to a walk on the first hill section. This can be a problem at some races, at Squaw Peak 50 in Provo, UT, I've ran the initial 2 mile bike trail at 7 minutes/mile and still hit a log jam once the trail section starts. Luckily, the RD announcement helped, I hit the hill on the trail section and just kept boogying.

The initial "1 mile hill" though from the pre-race instuctions did not quit live up to its name. It leveled out for long stretches in the middle and was never really steep, I mean it is designed for mountain bikers, there is only so much you can expect from that population. They cannot seem to build a trail that isn't somehow a Grand Prix loaded with tight unnecessary turns, log jumps and quick, short drops (they called these "dogs" in OK, I don't know if this was a OK thing or not). Anyway, I started in a pack of 4 runners, a group of 3 took off at the start and we never did see these guys again. Right before the 1st aid, I followed the runner ahead of me (Richard Cook, the winner of Oil Creek 100), who was following the runner ahead of him and we missed a turn. In about 10 feet we realized our mistake and made the quick turn around. I ran through the aid station for the most part, just pausing long enough to get my bottle filled, and left before anyone else from this little pack of 4. They left quickly too, but after another mile or so, I never saw them again behind me.

Aid station 2 is right at the center of the 3-leaf clover, the "vertex" as us math folk say. I crossed over a covered bridge, got my bottle filled again (all of the aid station crew were amazing, I never stopped, someone grabbed my bottle and filled it up whiel walking next to me, I've never seen such helpful aid station workers!) and helped out on petal #2. About a mile or so into this section, the trail made a left turn and started picking its way through a small creek bed, hopping over fallen logs, around boulders and to top out required a short hand-over-hand climb up a tree's root system that looked like a ladder designed for someone just in my shoes. A bit later, I popped out by a resort by Pleasant Hill Dam. There is a short (~¾ mile) loop around the resort before you start heading back to the central vertex. Right as I started the loop I saw the lead runner (who would eventually win) heading back. After I passed through aid station #3 and was heading back myself, I saw some of the group that I had been with before. I figured I had a bout 7 minutes on them, more than I was expecting, so I relaxed a bit as I didn't feel anyone breathing down my back and turned my attention to the three guys I knew were ahead.

Back at aid station #2 again, I started up the climb to the Fire Tower (aid station #4). I think this is the longest climb on the course, really the only time I felt like walking at all. When I pulled through the Fire Tower aid station, I was a bit disappointed as I still hadn't seen Gina and we had planned on her meeting me both at the Resort (which I cam through sooner than we planned) and at the Fire Tower. About ½ mile down the trail though I saw her waiting for me in a parking lot. It picked me up to see her, plus I could finally ditch the glooves and long-sleeve shirt I had been carrying around my waist for the last 8 miles. Of course, following a climb to something called Fire Tower is an equally long descent. This felt good and I worked the down hills, unfortunately, I didn't seem to make up anytime on the guys ahead of me.

One last time through aid station #2 and I had only a 4 mile segment left, mostly flat along side a creek. After walking for 2 minutes to let me legs get a break after the downhill section, I put my head down and went to work. I made it through the flat creek side section and got the cruelest part of the course, a steep ½ climb followed by an equally steep descent. Yeah, I walked most of this climb.

I finished in 4:31:30, a time I'm very happy with. My toes on the other hand, probably wishes I took the down hills slower, or moved up to size 11s.



RESULTS

St. Patrick's Day 10K

On Saturday Gina and I made trip up to Erie to run a local 10K. It was put on by the Erie Runner's Club and hosted at Presque Isle State Park. The race course primarily was an out and back along the thin neck of the peninsula with a short out and back blip at the finish. Warmer temperatures over the last week vanished before the weekend leaving us with rain/fog/mist and temperatures in the 40s. However, the warmer air stayed around long enough to melt the snow so at least we didn't have to fight the ice and slush as we did at the 5 mile race held at the same place on New Years.

There was some confusion at the start. People lined up were previous races start, which turned out to be about 200 feet up course from where the real start was. The race director marched everyone back the 200 feet through the parking lot to the real starting line. The back of the pack stopped at the starting line once they reached it and created a mass of runners lining up between cars. I ended up having to start a few rows back from the start and when the race started had to slip by several folks to get out front. By the time I broke free of the main pack, the lead and chase pack were already a couple of hundred feet ahead and making ground.

I set a solid pace and starting picking off runners. By the half way point, I had moved up to about 10^th place. The wind blew in our faces on the return leg. I turned my hat around (aerodynamic!) and tried to keep the same effort and focusing on picking off more runners. I kept sliding by more runners and moved into 4^th place with about ½ mile remaining. I finished strong, but I don't have a kick. At the end I felt like I still had gas in the tank and should of pushed it harder throughout the race. This time was about 17 seconds off of my PR, but with the weather I still think it was a good effort.

time: 38:09
pace: 6:09/mile
place: 4/257
age group (30-34): 1/11

Gina ran strong too and did get a PR (54:21). I was able to run the last ½ mile with her and enjoyed watching her pass some folks and keep her foot on the gas. No news or information on the GAP, hopefully I'll have something next week. Spring break is the week of March 22 - March 26, the plan is to write a working itinerary that week. I'll post whatever I write.

FULL RESULTS

Camping with a Wedding Dress, Garbage Can and a wet Border Collie (or How to DNF a Marathon)

Time, the last two weeks, has passed quickly. Like when you're at concert for your favorite band, it slips right past you and before you know it the encore is over and you're left with heavy feet from dancing, a sore throat from singing along too loudly, a headache from the pounding music and a soul that doesn't want it to stop. If you were thinking you wrote down the set list so you could relive it later. Here's the set list from my last two weeks:

Set One
Pack It Up, Pack It In, Let Us Begin
Driving Song ->
Rocky Mountain High
Running On Empty
Let's Get Down To Business
Euphoria

Set Two
On The Road Again
Traveling Light ->
Highway 6 Revisited ->
I Know You Rider
The Long and Winding Road
Oklahoma

Encore
Running On Empty (reprise) ->
Fast Enough For You

Show highlights:

Set One
Pack It Up, Pack It In, Let Us Begin: Somewhat surprisingly, Carmen (our 92 Subura Legacy wagon) held all of our stuff we were bringing to Utah with quite a bit of space left over. Considering we were planning a week and a half trip from Oklahoma to Utah and back that involved getting married and camping, this was no small feet. There were over a dozen flower vases, several large cardboard signs, various other decorations, a wedding dress and my outfit along with a tent, two sleeping bags, three sleeping pads (Maia has her own), cooking equipment, food and dog packed into the car with us. We had just changed the oil, O₂ sensor and rotated the tires. Ready to go, we left Norman by 5 AM on Tuesday, May 13^th. The plan was to drive ~750 miles to Fort Collins, CO to stay with our friends the Thompsons.

Driving Song: We saw our last Oklahoma sunrise as an unmarried couple as we passed the Stillwater exit on I-35, the reds and yellows sending us on our way with an early wedding present. The skies were clear, the temps were cool and there was no wind, a perfect day to drive across the open prairie. We were in need of stretching our legs in Kansas when we spotted a sign for Lake Wilson State Park. The park is only ten miles north off of I-70 and features some nice trails on rolling hills adjacent to the lake. We were both very pleased with the park and appreciated getting to see some of Kansas away from the highway. Maia loved wading into the lake chasing after sticks. After a brief stop in Olathe, KS (home of Buffalo Bill) for lunch and a quick session of fetch, we headed west to Colorado.

Rocky Mountain High: Around Limon, you can start to the see the mountains. Shortly thereafter, you can see the madness that is "The Front Range". After paying $6.00 to drive the ten miles skirting around the NE side of Denver (true highway robbery) we braved our way through some heavy traffic and construction on I-25 to get to Fort Collins around 5:00 PM. Our friend's house was easy to find and after a first little apprehensive bark, Josh was Maia's new best friend, can't say the same of their cats though. The four of us went to a stroll around town, they made us dinner and we all had a good time catching up after not all being together for almost a year. We stayed up too late and awoke too early. By 6:30 AM the next day we we're on our way to Laramie, WY. There's not much to say about the drive across southern Wyoming, a little rain, some light flurries and Little America is still an oddity. We did stop at Bear River State Park outside of Evanston, WY and had a good stroll. From there, it's a short drop through Echo Canyon, over Parley's Summit and down into the Salt Lake Valley.

Running On Empty: From the time we entered the Salt Lake Valley, we had 48 hours until the wedding. In this time we needed to drop off Maia at doggie day care, meet the photographer, pick up Gina's sister, pick up the flowers, unload our car, pick up my brother and his fiancee, get a marriage certificate, meet Gina's family, buy a lot of alcohol, rehearse for the ceremony, eat dinner, arrange the flowers, make the final decorations, set up a portable PA system, carry 72 chairs a quarter mile into a field and create a safe haven for the girls to hang out before the ceremony so I wouldn't see Gina before she walked down the aisle. All this and I snuck in two quality runs in the foothills and one in Mill Creek. Hopefully Rob has recovered from the run in Mill Creek. I took him over the west side of Grandeur and down Church Fork then up the pipeline past Broad's Fork a bit and then back down to Wasatch Blvd. Erik Storheim and Rich McDonald where directing a race on the same day. Besides Erik, I also ran into Scott Jamie and Dan Margalit (math colleague).

Let's Get Down To Business: We got married.

Euphoria: EUPHORIA!


Set Two
On The Road Again: While we were packing the car, we hung Gina's wedding dress off of the rack on my groomsman's truck. He has a gigantic greasel with a stout rack over the back. As we hung it there we joked how tragic, but funny it would be if we forgot it and Eric was cruising down I-215, arm out of the window, Ned's ears and tongue flapping in the wind along with the dress. This almost turned out to be a reality, but luckily for us, when he got to corner of our street he noticed the dress hanging there. A few loose ends in SLC to take care of, opening gifts, talking math and packing and we were off again.

Traveling Light: Just you and I ... and Maia, a wedding dress, garbage can, tupperware set, large picture frame, leftover cheese and alcohol ...


Highway 6 Revisited: The route from SLC to Moab is primarily along highway 6. This is great drive featuring narrow cobblestone canyons, alpine grass lands and a tight river canyon opening up to Castle Valley and the Bookcliffs. The road stretches forever echoing the immensity of the desert. After grabbing dinner to go at Moab Brewery and some essentials from the supermarket, we drove another ten miles south of town on Kane Creek Boulevard to the Spring Campground by Hunter Canyon. It was hot and it was beautiful. In the morning we tried out our new stove, lathered on some sunblock and hiked up the Amasa Back trail. I think it was a bit hot for Maia, she kept seeking out the shade, even the smallest little bits behind tiny rocks. We followed the Colorado River out of town and up to I-70. At Hittle Bottom (a site of a previous misadventure of mine involving rowdy Canadians (are there any other kind?), PBR and hitchhiking) we found a boat put-in that is sheltered from the current of the river. We let Maia out to swim in the water. The water was colder than I expected and cooled my legs. Once we tossed Maia into the water, she lost her apprehension and kept diving back in for more. We took our wet dog back to the car and continued following the river to Grand Junction, CO.

I Know You Rider: We arrived in GJ around 1:30 in the afternoon. One of the reasons we stopped here was to check out the wineries in Palisades, CO, just about ten miles up the road from GJ. We found a Motel 6 (they all allow dogs), checked in and vegged in the air conditioned coolness. On the way out to Palisades we took the back roads and around some residential areas of GJ looking at the neighborhoods, just taking our time. We arrived at the wineries at 5:05 PM, they all closed at 5:00 PM. Bummer, good thing this is just our "Practice Honeymoon". That night we ate a nice dinner at Il Bistro on Main Street in downtown GJ. Gina ordered some beet cannelloni, which ate she half of and forgot to take the rest back to the motel with us. Bummer, good thing this is just our "Practice Honeymoon". The next morning we headed out over the southern Colorado Rockies, passing through Gunnison and Alamosa before staying at Lathrop State Park, the only campers there, our only company the cool Colorado rain.

The Long and Winding Road: I-25 again, open prairie and miles more to go. We cut across the NE corner of New Mexico, feedlots stuffed like the Walmart megastores where the cattle will be sold. There's a volcanic National Monument out there, we stopped by for a stroll but they didn't allow dogs on the trails so we turned around and kept driving. From the small US highway we turned onto a smaller New Mexico highway. We dropped off of a mesa, took a right onto another small New Mexico highway, crossed a bridge over a dry stream and were in...


Oklahoma: The plan was to hike up to the top of Black Mesa, the highest point in Oklahoma at an elevation of 4973'. The trailhead parking is only about 5 miles off of the little highway we were on, right next to the Cimarron river. It was 2:30 PM central time, but there was some question about what time zone we were actually in, when we set off on the hike (8 miles round trip) into a wind so strong we had to lean into it ("wind sweeps down the plain" ring a bell to anyone?). A little less than 2 hours later we were at the top, marked by an obelisque and no true "summit". Check out the video below of the windy view from the top. That night we camped in Black Mesa State Park, just ten miles or so down the road. There were a few people there, but the place was quiet and we felt good to be back in Oklahoma. The next morning was Friday and we were planning on making it back to Norman. After breakfast in Boise City the road became flat. We drove all across the panhandle past the miles of farmland and cattle. For a leg stretch break we stopped at Boiling Springs State Park outside of Woodward. Here some springs bubble up in the sands by the North Canadian River give the appearance of boiling water. Stepping out of the car, the humidity hit us hard. The springs themselves are kind of a let down, but we enjoyed the trails. Somehow I got us lost and what was supposed to be a half an hour walk turned into a hike of more than an hour. Oops, I told Gina that this wouldn't be the last time I got her lost (rule 5(?): when hiking, don't follow Matt). Back to the car, back to Norman, back to our house, a newly wed couple. Yippie-I-A!



Encore
Running On Empty (reprise): Those of you who are frequent readers of this blog (all two of you - and that includes me) know that I was planning on running the Andy Payne Marathon the Saturday after we got married and planning on breaking 3 hours. Well, plans be as plans are and we left the house early the next morning in time for the 6:30 AM start up at Route 66 Park by Lake Overhosler in OKC. It was overcast, but windy and humid. From the gun I went out fast, the first couple of mile markers must be off since I passed mile 2 in under 10 minutes. The marathon is small and already by the time we left the park to run 3 loop around the lake there was a large gap before the person behind and a narrowing gap between me and the person ahead of me. I passed him shortly after mile three and was all alone. I decided not to carry any water, big mistake. The east side of the lake was sheltered from the wind, but that just made it feel way too hot. Someone at an aid station around mile 7 gave me a bottle of gatorade to carry, this helped. I came around the first lap in 1:05:00, somewhere around mile 10. What was I thnking, this was way too fast. I came around the half marathon point in 1:26, already slowing down to 7:00/mile. I put in a few more of these then dropped down to 8:00/mile.

Fast Enough For You: I walked a bit and came around the second lap in 2:02, needing to rip out eight more miles at 7:00/mile to finish in under 3 hours. I just didn't have it in me. I DNF'd still three minutes ahead of the second place runner.

Running moment of the week: Thursday night I needed to hit the trails after two days in the car. I parked at the horseshoe turn in City Creek, ran up puke hill past where I'd be getting married in two days, over past the bobsled to the saddle at City Creek and back. Great run, in the epic battle of Matt versus the mountain bikers, I went 4-3.

5/12 - 5/18
total miles: 47.0
time: 7:27

YTD miles: 1076.8

Running moment of the week: Putting in the first half of the Andy Payne Marathon in 1:26. Cooler temperatures and lower humidity and I think I can break 3:00.

5/19 - 5/25
total miles: 24.0
time: 2:56

YTD miles: 1100.8

Lake McMurtry Trail Run

I ran with Gina up at Lake McMurtry by Stillwater as she rocked out her first 50K. The race consists of two figure eight laps. We ran this race last year, I ran the full 50K and Gina ran the 25K. Last year it was a dreary, cold and windy mudfest and with the torrential downpours we had here in the first part of last week we thought we were in for similar conditions. The sun came out though on Friday as it warmed up and it looked like at least we we're going to have gorgeous running weather. On the drive up to Stillwater we saw some swollen lakes and streams, a little foreshadowing of what was to come. Earl Blewitt (race director) postponed the race for thirty minutes since some of the roads heading into the park were flooded. As for the course, I think a quote from Earl sums it up the best:

"The trail is in good shape where it isn't covered in water."



I'll let Gina tell you the whole story:

Gina's race report:This is my first (and hopefully not my last) race report. Matt suggested I tell you a bit about how I felt during, before and after the race. So hear it goes..

Before the race, I honestly felt alright about everything. I actually wasn't thinking about it too much, because I had had a very busy week - getting back from Seattle after a cancelled flight and a red-eye, I started a new program at work, and then I had to come back to my computer that had crashed right before I left for Seattle. So, yeah, the race wasn't at the tip top most of my mind. But I was excited and looking forward to the challenge. I tried to get Matt to go to bed early on Friday night, but he was basking in the humor of "Still Standing" (ask Matt). So off to bed I went, because we had to wake up at the early morning hour of 5AM. During the very peaceful drive up to Lake McMurtry, I tried not to get to antsy or too nervous. I really just wanted to get things started, so I didn't have to think about the next 31.1 miles. But, it was not to be. We got there and the race was postponed for a half hour because of flooded roads. Well, I tried to keep my cool and take a forty minute nap, but my nerves coupled with Matt's java drinking kept the sleep at bay. No worries, though because the race started soon enough and we were off.

Honestly, my favorite part of the run was crossing the "river." Water up to mid-thigh, kept me alert and made me feel tough. It was also like a nice cold ice bath, that soothed my muscles, which I really appreciated on the second loop. I'd like to say that this run was fun the whole time and that I had a stellar performance, but ...well it wouldn't be the truth and it wouldn't be as interesting! I did have fun and I did meet one of my goals (to finish under 6hr 30 min.). I also felt like crap, and wasn't sure I was going to finish. Half way (ok, not even half way) through the race my legs felt like lead and I felt so tired. I just lost all my energy and it was pretty demoralizing because I knew I had 15 more miles to go. Luckily, I had the just the thing I needed to get through the race...Matt. He was the best cheerleader, crew master, pacer you can imagine. He advised me to keep going, even if I was just walking, to try eating whatever and whenever I wanted (there's a reason they put potatoes out on these long races), and to just try to enjoy the scenery. And you know what? I did all those things and I had a good time. I walked a lot over the next 8 miles, ate a bunch of things from pretzels and potatoes, to animal crackers and lots of GU, and I was able to move from a tired walk to a slow shuffle, and eventually even picked up my feet for some actual trail 'running!' My last 7 miles I think were some of my best, because I stayed focus and just tried to listen to my body. There are probably a lot more moments I could recount, like the people who hitched a ride on the back of a truck for 10ft to avoid getting their feet wet, passing someone in the last mile who had passed me at the half way point, almost falling on my face after a root jumped up and grabbed my shoe, and the joy of never getting lapped, but if I kept going you'd be reading a novel.


So, how did I feel after the race? Tired, sore, happy. Amazingly I didn't cry at the finish, though I was pretty emotionally spent. I popped some Vitamin I (ibuprofen) pretty quickly, but the next 24 hours were a bit rough as I was definitely sore. Yeah, I pretty much felt like an old lady, with bones cracking and an early bed time! But, surprisingly 48 hours or so later, I'm feeling a little bit better, a little less sore and more than a little excited to go out on a run on Wednesday (I figure one more day of rest would do me good!).

Running moment of the week: Watching Gina finish her first ultra! Check it out below. Don't mind my heavy breathing and woo-hoo's, I had just run for the past 6+ hours, I'm allowed to sound like a dork.




4/7 - 4/13
total miles: 49.6
time: 8:50

YTD miles: 803.1

Red Bud Classic

Thursday afternoon:

Me: Chisholm, do you want to go on a run this weekend?
Chisholm: Actually, I'm going to run the Red Bud 50 on Saturday morning.
Me: What's that?
Chisholm: It's a 50 mile bike ride, but I'm going to run it. I plan on starting at 2 AM. You interested?
Me: Let me think about it.

Thursday evening:

Me: Sure. I mean what else would I be doing at 2 AM on Saturday morning?

And so it began, Chisholm had a crazy idea and I was crazy enough to go along with it. We drove part of the course on Friday evening, planting some food and water along the way. 1:30 AM came really quickly, by 2:15 AM we were off and running. In my mind's eye picturing the run I imagined running along country roads, a low sun and pleasant tshirt running temps. Somehow that fact we would be running for almost five hours before the sun rose slipped right past me. Oops. I actually wasn't even planning on wearing anything over my tanktop. Chisholm lent me a long sleeve shirt and I'm glad I used it, it was in the upper 30's at the start and it went down to 32 before it started to get warmer.

The course is made for bikers, as such it is entirely on pavement (Chisholm's training for Badwater this summer and doesn't want to step on trail until it's over) and features very few turns. I think there is like 10 turns total, one of which we missed and ended up running on I-44 for a short while before we hopped a fence to get on the service road. Good thing is was 3:00 AM and there was very little traffic.

Around 6:30 AM the temperature got low as it was going to, I was starting to feel tired and I was definitely wishing I brought the gloves Chisholm set out for me. He let me borrow his hat as an insulator between my hand and my water bottle, that helped. The sun just started to shed some light when we got to the corner of NE 36th and Triple X (such a bad ass name for a road, I told Chisholm I want to steal the sign). Here the road actually curves a little as it crosses the North Canadian River. The sun was cresting the horizon and I was starting to feel better although it wasn't until 7 miles later, at the corner of Wilshire and Hiawassee when we first saw some bikers heading the other direction that I really picked up.

Everyone was waving to us, saying hi. I don't think anyone knew that we had started over 6 hours ago and were planning on running as far as they were biking! Some people asked us where our bikes were. Our best responses:

"Free your bike, your mind will follow."
"It's more fun to run."

It was harder on the way back. Now that it was light we could see how far the straight-a-ways were and how far we had to go. We just had to keep our eyes on the road and put on foot in front of the other. Bikers now were passing us on the way back in. We were feeling tired, but we finished in 9 hours and 20 minutes. We snagged a finisher medal and went to grab a burger. Good times to be had by all.



Running moment of the week: Besides the above (which was definitely the run of the week), today I had a great run with Maia out at Lake Thunderbird. She did awesome, no slacking and she seemed to always have smile on her face.

3/31 - 4/6
total miles: 71.8
time: 12:20

March miles: 221.4
YTD miles: 753.6

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

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

A new year, a new ultra

To start the year off with the right foot, Gina and I ran in the Bandera Trail Run in Hill Country State Natural Area outside of the small community of Bandera, Texas.  Gina ran the 25K and I ran the 100K.  There is also a 50K.  The 100K consists of two loops around the park and the 25K consists of the hardest part of the loop.  It was my first time ever at this distance, so I set a PR.  The course was much more runnable than the horror stories I heard going into the race.  One local had even told that I would need to rock climb at some point during the course.

We camped at the start/finish area the night before the race, arriving just in time for the pre-race briefing and dinner.  The amount of pie on the dessert table was a sight in and of itself.  There was even a gigantic birthday cake decorated like the course for the race director Joe Prusaitis.  I was able to fall asleep easily in the tent and since the race didn't start until 7:30 AM, we both got plenty of sleep.

Once the race started I thought was in for a day of hurt.  After an initial grassy half mile, the race soon climbs up Sky Island.  Then after dropping quickly off of the back side the race goes up and over Ice Cream Hill.  Both of these climbs and descents are short, but steep and littered with rock of all sizes, none that stay put.  All of this in the first 5 miles, I was starting to believe the hype.  Luckily, after the first aid station (Nachos, I have no idea on where the name came from) the race becomes very runnable for the next 12 miles.  By that time the sun had come out in full force, it was 75, I was getting sunburnt and looking forward to some more hills so I could walk a bit.

The middle portion of the race was uneventful, just putting in the miles and trying not to kick any of the rocks too hard.  I came around the first lap right around 5 hours.  The most memorable part of the race was leaving the second to last aid station (Crossroads) at 5:00 PM.  The sun was really starting to go down quickly, air temp was really cooling and my energy level was rising.  I ran the last 9.2 miles in 1:53, I know a 12:17/mile pace may sound slow, but the last part of each loop contains three of the five major climbs and after 53 miles just speed walking the hills felt fast.  In the Arkansas Traveller I also felt an energy surge as the sun went down, but was able to maintain the pace to the finish.  With the shorter distance in Bandera, I was able to keep feeling strong to the finish line.  I came in second overall with a time of 11:22:22.

Gina also really enjoyed the race and we will probably consider running it next year even though it is a long drive from home and even though it's in Texas.  Getting ready for the race we packed too quickly and forgot three essential items: sunblock, baby powder and ibuprofen.  We need to be more careful next time.

12/31/2007-1/6/2008
total miles: 72.0
time: 12:38

YTD total miles: 72.0