Fifty Miles

11th Place overall, 9:19:xx


race report soon...

Preparations

I made a run to the drug store to start preparing for saturday. So far, I've got:

- A Large bag of beef jerky
- A big bag of pretzels
- a 20 oz bottle of Mt. Dew currently de-fizzing
- Immodium (i take no chances, i'll take it even if there isn't a sign of problems)
- several powerbars
- brand new large Nike duffle bag, which I obviously didn't get at the drug store

I think I've got most everything else already stocked up at home except for gatorade.

Three miles tonight and all training is done. I got my first couple waves of anxiousness/nervousness today as I thought about the race.

I also ran across this quote the other day:

"If you start to feel good during an ultra, don't worry you will get over it." - George Thibeault

2008 Olympic Trials Men's 800m Final

One of the best races I think I've ever seen.

not sure how long this clip with stay on YouTube because NBC has been cracking down, but you have to watch this. The top 3 guys were in the last 3 places until the last 150 meters. I've watched it multiple times and it is still hard to believe what happened.

Accomplishments

Tonight, as I logged an easy 5 miler, I thought about this weekend's run and what kind of physical accomplishment it will be for me. Assuming I am able to finish, it will definitely be one of my top physical accomplishment. I also starting thinking about where it stacked up against what I've accomplished physically thus far in my life. I've done a lot of runs, rides, races, etc but here's what I think my top accomplishment are:

1. Texas 4000 for Cancer - This is a no-brainer. Cycling for 70 days 4600+ miles from Texas to Alaska is a monumental task. The cause was greater, but the physical accomplishment is easily number one. I could probably pick my next 4 (or 10) accomplishments from things I did during TX4K, but I'll lump it all into one inclusive deal. I could go on for days talking about individual things accomplished during the sumer of '04. This one will be hard to top.

The rest of these are in no particular order:

2. Four PRs in Eight Weeks - Part of this feat was due to the fact that my marathon PR was pretty crappy at one point, but I still think this was a pretty nice accomplishment. I raced the Newport Liberty Half Marathon in Jersey City. The course was flat and I came in with a then PR of 1:38:17, breaking my old record by about 2.5 minutes. Two weeks later found me in Chicago battling the heat in my first marathon in 6 years. I struggled through and was able to finish about 33 minutes off my intended pace, but still setting a new PR at 4:03:xx. Three weeks later at the Marine Corps Marathon, I cruised through the first 17 miles before crashing fairly hard, but I was able to hang on for a new PR of 3:48:36. Three weeks after that, I ran in circles for the better part of the day in Central Park as part of the Knickerbocker 60K, where I finished with a new PR of 5:56:45 beating my previous year's time of 6:34:30.

3. Finishing the Jay Mountain Marathon - It took me 8:32:20 to finish 33.5 miles of hell, but I was able to cross the finish line. Knee-deep mud, rivers, ski slopes, killer hills, massive sand dunes, nor boulders stopped me. They slowed me down and broke me mentally, but I ran through it all. It was definitely one of, if not the, toughest races I've ever competed in. The race was more about finishing and the camaraderie than a competition among runners.

4. Completing a 42 mile training run - I think once I finish the 50 this weekend, this one will probably fall off the list, but for now it is here. The run was the longest of my life by almost five miles. Jim and I ran through two very severe and scary thunderstorms. I experienced severe nausea and even slight hallucinations during the middle of the run. Somehow we managed to finish, which makes me feel good about this weekend.

5. A New Marathon PR at Poconos - I was simply trying to run under a 3:45 with a optimistic goal of breaking the 3:30 barrier. I'd done 50+ miles the weekend before, trained through the week with no taper, and got only 3 hours of sleep the night before the race. When I crossed the halfway point at 1:37:xx, which was a new PR, I thought I was in deep trouble. However, had I not had to make an unfortunate bathroom break at mile 19, I would have run a negative split and PRed the half marathon for a second time in the same day. I ended up running a 3:15:42, which shattered my old PR and completely changed the way I think about myself and my running.

Honorable Mentions:

First Marathon - I was very under trained and should not have run or at least not finished the race. I was stupid and ignorant. Knowing what I know now, I was also very lucky to not have ended up in the hospital or seriously injured. I managed to finish in 4:52:xx. I distinctly remember telling my sister after finishing that, "I'll never do that again." Four marathons, three ultras, and countless half marathons later I'm on the eve of a fifty miler. I guess I lied to her.

First Ultramarathon - Knickerbocker 60K 2006. Its pretty much what started all this. I was again under trained, but not as poorly as my first marathon. I'd done a few half marathons, but had not done enough, or any, long runs. I suffered through the race and managed a respectable 6:34:30. I also ended up with a stress fracture. I learned the importance of the long run, not only for stamina, but to avoid injury.

The "My Next Triathlon" - After being one of the last of my wave out of the water, I blew by people on the bike and the run to finish in 36th place out of over 800 people.

I can only hope for this list to change and grow in the coming years.

T-Minus 4 days

its technically tuesday, so 4 days until saturday.

Two big things happen on saturday while a large portion of the U.S. sleeps off an Independence Day-induce hangover.

The one important to cycling fans such as myself is that Le Tour starts Saturday. The field is wide open again this year. I'd make a prediction, but I'd be completely wrong. I hope SlipStream...er Garmin/Chipotle makes a good showing. No prologue this year. It'll be an interesting race. It's hard to believe its been a year since I was in London watching the opening ceremonies, the prologue, and stage 1.



The second thing, which is more important to me is that I run my first 50 miler. People keep asking how I feel. I don't really have a feeling about it yet. It still seems distant. I'm not nervous. I'm not excited. I'm not scared. I partially feel prepared and partially feel completely unprepared. All I can do is show up and run. And run. And continue to run.

Five miles tonight, but it was one of my worst runs in years. Mostly due to "stomach" issues. Seven miles tomorrow..er tonight, five on Wednesday, and three on Thursday. Then my training is complete. Early forecast is for 78 degrees and 30% chance of rain. I won't start believing the weather till around Wednesday though.

No Sleep 'Till Brooklyn

So I seem to be consistently a week late with these reports, which in turn causes me to miss updating on some of the lesser workouts during the week.

Anyway, last weekend for the summer solstice, I joined Coach Cane and his crew for the No Sleep 'Till Brooklyn Century in Prospect Park. It was the first century I had completed since Texas 4000. I'd done plenty of rides in the 80 mile range, but just hadn't logged a century. I really hadn't put a whole lot of miles on my legs this year either due to training for the 50 miler.

I met up with Ross and we rode over to the park together. Once there, I consulted google maps on my phone, we rode down to City Coach and we dropped off Ross' bag. We rode back up to the park with Jonathan Cane and met up with the rest of the group, including my friend Dave who I met on the memorial day weekend rafting trip and Johanna and Doug who I worked with at JackRabbit. We started riding at 7 p.m.

Starting out, we were hammering pretty hard and riding at well over 20 miles and hour. We had to slow down and the first several laps due to and ambulance treating a rider who had been hit by a car. The park was packed with people and we found ourselves dodging runners, riders, balls, and children. I got a flat fairly early on and Ross stopped with me while I patched my tube. We both lost a lap, but hopped back on the pace line when the riders caught up to us. As the sun set, the park began to empty, which made for easier riding. I flatted again around mile 40 and just swapped out tubes. I jumped on the pace line when it came around and continued riding.

I knew we had a quick rest break somewhere around mile 70, so I was trying to hold off stopping to go to the bathroom. Every lap completed, I wished for the stop because I felt like I was going to explode. We kept going and going. Eventually I got my wish and we made a quick stop and I was able to relieve the pressure, fill my water bottles, and grab a quick bite to eat before we were back on the bikes.

Around mile 89, I got dropped fairly severely. I knew there was little chance to catch the group and I was fighting even harder by riding alone. However, I was determined to finish even if I had to ride by myself. I started hammering hard (I don't know where I got the energy) and was able to catch the group after a couple of miles. I latched onto the back of the group, where I stayed for most of the remainder of the night. When I caught back up, Ross informed me that we had 4 remaining laps.

My legs were very fatigued and felt like jelly, but I just kept pushing. We were almost done. I finished out the ride with the group. Although I was 2 laps down from the flats, I ended up riding 117 miles due to the ride to and from the park. It was the first time I'd ever done that distance (nearly) straight through. I'd always had break. It was definitely a challenge and a struggle, but I hung and and finished. There was definitely something very cool about riding in the dark with the park mostly empty as well. That ride struck something in me. I think I want to try a few bike races.

We ended up averaging 18.95 mph, which definitely isn't too shabby. I'm in for next year!

Western States: Canceled

--Story--

For the first time ever the WS100 has been canceled. This must have been an excruciatingly difficult decision for the RD. People have been training for a long, long time and put in a lot of miles for this race. Knowing the disappointment and backlash the RD would face had to make the decision even more painful. I can only think of the disappointment if I were to receive news that my 50 miler had been canceled. Then I have to take that and double it. Runner's for the WS100 have trained much harder and much longer than I have for my race.

I can only wonder what they will do for entries in 2009. The fair thing would be to transfer all 2008 entries over and have a waiting list for new entrants. However, I was planning on throwing my name into the lottery, so I selfishly hope that they don't go the fair route. It will be interesting to see how this pans out. I also wonder if any of the other 100 mile races near the same time period (Vermont comes to mind) will see an influx of runners.

New Bike Gear!

I finally brought home my new purchases for my bike. Both of these made the migration from work to home today:




I can't wait to actually get them on the bike and then ride. Should shave off a decent amount of weight. I gotta pick up a new cassette before the wheelset goes on, but that should be happening soon.

On a side note, my awesome nephew PRed in the long jump at his meet this past weekend. I'm excited for him, and it'll be cool when he starts competing in other events and PRs in those as well. As a runner, I obviously want to see him tearing up the track, but he'll get there when he's ready.

The Human Body is capable of amazing things

This past saturday was my 40 mile run. The longest run of my life thus far. I went through the gamut of feelings during my run...everything to phenomenal to completely beat down and back again.

My friend Jim (who is also running the 50 miler) and I left Niketown just before 11:30 on saturday morning in high spirits. We were both about to embark on the longest run of our lives. I'd previously done 60K (37.2) a couple times and Jim had done 33 miles the weekend before. We entered Central Park at 5th and 59th and headed up to the northern end to meet up with Ramon (a RUN NYC and TNT coach) who was celebrating his 41st birthday by running 41 upper loops of the park (57ish miles). We ran into him on the west side and joined his entourage for about half of an upper loop before parting ways at 110th street. Ramon had already done 37 miles by the time we caught up with him. Jim and I could only hope to be feeling as strong as Ramon seemed when we hit the 38 mile mark.

We ran west on 110th until we go to Riverside Park and then proceeded north until we found a path down into the park away from Riverside Drive. We ran along the dirt path until it ended at the tennis courts, where we followed a narrow path around the edge of the courts. When that path ended, we found ourselves on a road just above the West Side Highway that didn't have much traffic but looked like a highway. Eventually, that spit us out up near 125th street where we navigated our way back onto the greenway. Continuing north we eventually made it up to the GW Bridge and walked most of the ridiculously steep path and road that led us up to the MTA station at the bridge. We ran inside, literally ran through the station, and picked up some gatorade and some quick snack food and started the traverse across the bridge.

Once in Jersey, we jumped onto the northern trail in Palisades State Park and began our assault on the woods. I started feeling very fatigued and a little nauseated, but continued running on. I mentioned my state to Jim and he agreed to slow down the pace and take it a little easier, but my condition continued to deteriorate. My pace continued to slow and I became more verbal about how bad I was feeling. Jim, always thinking of others first, stated that he thought we should walk for awhile. I agreed and we started alternating walking and running as my nausea continued to worsen. Eventually we were doing more walking than running. I told Jim he could continue running and I'd fend for myself, but he wouldn't budge.

We were closer to the park headquarters at the north end of the park than we were to Manhattan, so we decided to keep moving forward and make the 5 miles to the headquarters and reassess the situation there. As I continued to feel worse, Jim kept encouraging me. Eventually we came upon a staircase where I sat down to try and recover a little and to try and calm my nausea. As I sat there with my arms resting on my knees, I saw the skin on my legs begin to undulate wildly. Realizing I was hallucinating, I knew my day was over. There was no way I was going to finish the run.

After a couple minutes, I got up and Jim and I crossed a small service road and reentered the trees. Jim offered me a GU saying that the ginger might settle my stomach. Just the thought of trying to eat anything was making my stomach turn, but I knew I needed some sort of nourishment. I was completely falling apart. Minutes after taking in the GU, my stomach settled and I was back to running. I still felt very fatigued, but I was able to run again.

A few miles later at around the 20 mile mark, we reached the park headquarters just as rain started to fall. We entered the small building and refilled water. Jim found a vending machine and I grabbed a Mt. Dew, which I immediately drank along with another GU. As I regained some strength and Jim drank two Brisk Iced Teas, the thunderstorm unleashed its fury while we huddled under a small porch trying to decide what to do. I was feeling much better, but we weren't sure how long the storm was going to last.

There was a small break in the storm, so we decided to try our luck. The rain was still falling, but not very hard. We ran down the road and then entered the trail getting our first taste of the new terrain created by the rain. Mud and water were everywhere. My shoes were soaked through within minutes, but we continued running. The driving rain returned and brought thunder and lightening with it. The storm worsened and the light strikes were so close we could feel the heat. We had not choice but to press on, there was nowhere to take shelter except for a bunch of trees. The trail was covered in sometimes six inches of water. We continued on.

Eventually after a number of miles, thousands of raindrops, and countless lightening strikes, the rain subsided and we found dry ground again. With the absence of the rain came the reemergence of the heat. One foot in front of the other. The pace was slow, but we were still making progress. Eventually reaching the GW Bridge, we ran back into Manhattan and went back into the MTA Station to refuel once again.

Once again, I started feeling ill, but once again, a GU quickly settled my stomach and we were able to make some slow progress again. We continued down the west side debating how far we were going to run and where we were going to end the epic run. Eventually we decided to run all the way downtown to the Runners' Station located at Harrison and the West Side Highway, which would make our total somewhere around 42 miles. We were both beginning to feel the fatigue set in as Jim started calling some of our friends so that we could laugh at ourselves and tell them how bad we felt.

The sun began to set and the dark clouds began to roll in as thunder rumbled in the distance. It was now a race against Mother Nature's impending fury. She'd already beat us earlier in the day and as much as we wanted to hurry our pace to thwart her, we lacked the energy. With each slow step, our doom was sealed. Just north of Chelsea Piers the rain began. The pouring rain soaked us in an moments. We sought shelter for a short time, but decided to just get the day over with and went back out into the driving sheets of rain. For two miles we continued a slow, sloshing trudge down the West Side Highway. About a mile away, I knew I was on deep energy reserves and found myself grunting my way down the path. Eventually the Runners' Station came into view and Jim and I knew our long test of will had come to an end. I unlocked the station and we went in to wait out the storm and recount our run.

I was amazed I was able to bring my body out of the poor state it was in at around mile 13 and run another 29 miles. It was a test of both physical and mental fortitude that I was able to pass with Jim's help and encouragement. I was the weak link, but we were able to work through it and finish out the run. I think we both learned from the experience and it will benefit both of us on race day.

Thank you Jim. There's no one else I'd rather pound 50 miles out with. Let's crush this race and then look forward to bigger, tougher, and more insane. We both have trouble stating why we want to do these things, but I know we both understand.

Bunion Derby

I ordered this book a few weeks ago and just finished it the other day. There was an article in Runner's World a few months ago about the 1929 footrace across America, so when I saw this book on amazon, it grabbed my attention.

It amazes me that the runner's involved in this race were able to accomplish what they did in the conditions in which they ran. Day after day they logged 30-50+ miles. These guys didn't have the advantage of modern running shoes. There was no "air." There was no EVA. There were no medial posts. Their apparel was just whatever they owned. These guys were running in wool sock and flannel shirts. There were no bandaids for blisters. No body glide to prevent chaffing. Many of the "roads" they ran on were little more than wide trails. Their nutrition was sub par. Yet somehow these men were able to continue running day after day.

The book itself seemed to read more as, "this happened, then this happened, and then this happened" than a flowing story, however, the subject matter was interesting enough that it kept me glued page after page. I found myself rooting for different runners as the race progressed. I pulled for all the black runners as I read about the disgusting things said to them as they traversed through northern Texas and Oklahoma. I pulled for other runners as they passed through their hometowns being welcomed as heroes.

One of the things I found most interesting was the final appendix. I had no idea that endurance running was second only to horse racing in popularity prior to the advent of modern team sports. Thousands of people would show up to watch endurance running events during the early and mid-1800s. I had always thought that ultra running was a somewhat new sport.

Anyway, if you are at all interested in running and endurance sports, I'd suggest picking up the book.