Training Log Archive: PG

Up to the north country (NH) for a round with Mike Fritz. Totally enjoyable -- the golf, the company, the course. Despite numerous water hazards and woods, played the whole round with the same ball, no trivial accomplishment.

Both hands and big toe still complaining, but tolerable.

Perfect weather, 50F, overcast, windy, forecast was also for showers but was dry the whole time. Perfect because we had the course totally to ourselves.

Photos from Vermont. The first two are at about 12 miles, just over 2 hours in. The last two are at about 41 miles, about 8 hours in. Looks to me like in just 6 hours I have gotten significantly older and shorter (and also looking more like my dad and my older brother)....

C • You know, I'm going to emba... 11

Results from Sunday. Seems like I was 39th out of 118 finishers, 145 starters (plus another dozen who paid $100 to enter and didn't even start.

Found a few reports on the web. Some folks were miserable, a distinct minority seemed to enjoy it. Glad I was in the latter group. A positive attitude does wonders sometimes.

Legs are getting better. Only annoying part is bionic toe, didn't bother me at all during the run, but swollen and sore since then. Maybe a little improvement this afternoon. Hope it calms down soon as there is O' to be done this weekend (and a walk chasing the little white ball tomorrow).

C • A fine showing... 17

Oh, things hurt, though with any luck nothing that won't be a good bit better in a couple of days. Mainly the quads. Walking is not particularly graceful, stairs are a real challenge, hell, even standing up is a challenge.... :-)

But I think I'm glad I did it. And I think I did about as good as possible. I certainly ran as good a race mentally as I could -- once or twice (after falls) I cussed the mud, and then immediately decided that that was non-productive thinking, that getting pissed was just going to make everything worse, so I kept pretty positive the whole time. Also paced myself well, ate and drank appropriately, dressed appropriated. Really did nothing stupid.

Up at 3:30, raining hard, Donna came by to pick me up at 4:15, very nice to have a chauffeur especially on the way home. Got up to Ascutney about 5:45, a zillion people -- there was a bike race as well as a run, maybe 600 bikers and 300 runners. Got organized, the place slowly cleared out as all the bikers started before we did. We started at 6:40, just getting light, raining, about 50F. Shorts, t-shirt, long-sleeve synthetic shirt, hat, one contact, a hand-held water bottle, and of course a map. I figured the long-sleeve shirt would come off soon, but I wanted to have it with me in case I got cold later on.

I find it useful not to think too much about how much is left to do, just think aid station to aid station. The course was continuous up and down, mix of dirt roads and trails, the latter some old woods roads and also quite a lot of single-track bike trails. Early on the footing was good, the first bad part was a steep downhill/sidehill section about 12 miles, must have passed a dozen people there just by letting go and just keeping my feet under me. That was a sign of things to come later.

For time I was thinking probably something about 10:00 to 10:30 was reasonable. 10:00 converts to 5 miles an hour, so I figured I should be a little faster than that in the first part of the course because it had relatively more roads.

Aid station #1 -- 4.2 miles, 39:27 (included 3 gently downhill road miles)
#2 -- 4.3 miles, 45:20 (8.5 miles, 1:24:48)
#3 -- 3.8 miles, 42:01 (12.3 miles, 2:06:50)
So far so good, though easiest part of the course.

#4 -- 7.0 miles, 1:25:32 (19.3 miles, 3:32:23)
Lots of uphill, aid station was at highest point of the course. Still just plugging away. Always changing between running and walking, depending on the grade (would run gentle uphills, walk anything steeper). Aid station totally fogged in, no views.

#5 -- 3.9 mile, 42:44 (23.2 miles, 4:15:07)
More downhill, fewer road sections, still just cranking along.

#6 -- 4.4 mi, 56:45 (27.6 miles, 5:11:52)
A lot of long, slow uphills. At some point in here I passed in quick succession a marathon still to go, and then halfway, and then a marathon done. Figured I probably had another 5 to 5.5 hours left, assuming slowing down but not total collapse.

#7 -- 4.3 mi, 52:05 (31.9 miles, 6:03:58)
As would be the rest of the way, few road sections, mostly trail, passing more bikers now, back and forth with some runners but not too many.

#8 -- 5.4 miles, 1:06:08 (37.3 miles, 7:10:07)
Started to rain hard towards the end of this sections and you could see the trail getting worse as the ground was no longer absorbing it and the bikers and runners chopped it up. I started feel quite sorry for the bikers, everything covered with mud, pushing their bikes up the hills and then struggling with the downs. Ad quite a few stopped, working on their bikes.

#9 -- 3.8 miles, 43:58 (41.1 miles, 7:54:06)
Psychologically nice to pass 40. Had a couple of calf twinges at some point, worried, that could stop me dead if it got worse, walked a little extra and it went away.

#10 -- 6.0 miles, 1:26:49 (47.1 miles, 1:26:49)
This section was just awful. The trail was now 3-6 inches of slop. I'd try to find the firmer edges when I could, but a lot of the time it was just hoping you got some sort of traction and if you didn't, try to keep centered over your foot until you could get the next one down. Fall a half dozen times (and maybe 10 times overall). Needless to say, getting tired too. No longer running any uphills and struggling at times to run the flats.

Finish -- 2.9 miles, 44:45 (50 miles, 10:05:40)
Just a long uphill slog, more bad mud. Then a long sidehill slog on a narrow trail, trying to keep traction. And then a little bit down on the ski slope at the end to the finish. No racing to beat a time or another person, just get it done.

Covered with mud, sore, tired, but totally satisfied with the effort and the result. Had a couple of different runners ask me at different times out on the course how old I was, and after telling them and getting some admiration, dusted both of them. :-)

Stomach was OK, even though I ate a bit of dirt -- at each aid station I'd fill my bottle and grab something to eat, usually several cookies, and eat them on the go over the next few minutes. At least a couple of times, I took a spill, 2 or 3 cookies went flying into the mud, I'd retrieve them and polish them off anyway. Still went down easily, even if a little gritty.

So a good experience. I'm tempted to say it will be the last one I ever do, but you never know what life brings.

Pace, per section, and cumulative:
1. 9:23, 9:23
2. 10:32, 9:58
3. 11:03, 10:18
4. 12:13, 11:00
5. 10:57, 10:59
6. 12:53, 11:17
7. 12:06, 11:24
8. 12:14, 11:31
9. 11:34, 11:31
10. 14:28, 11:54
F. 15:25, 12:06

Regarding the statement that 50 miles is longer than it used to be, a look back shows this was indeed a personal worst. I've run 50-milers 13 times in the past, all trail except the first one:

6:59, 8:24, 7:47, 8:31, 8:36, 8:57, 7:36, 9:28, 7:59, 7:32, 7:20, 8:26, 7:55.

Though I suppose they all could have been short.

And I suppose it would have helped (a lot) to do a little more training.

C • From some guy's AP log 10

Headed out to the golf course for a few holes to see if I could (1) swing, and (2) walk. Managed both, with difficulty.

Vermont 50 Mile. Finished, 10:05:40. The weather was actually just right for running, 50s and rain, except for the fact that when you mix a bunch of water with a bunch of dirt and stir vigorously with either bike tires or runners' shoes, you get mud, a lot of mud, a lot of really horrendous mud, especially the last 10 miles after some heavy rain while I was around miles 35-40.

About what I thought I might do, though given the conditions, actually a good bit better. Thought about pushing to get under 10 hours, but the mud at the end was really bad and I just decided to come in at whatever pace felt comfortable. Wise decision.

First really old fart (60-69), for what little that's worth.

And one definite conclusion -- 50 miles is a lot further than it used to be.

Things hurt (feet, quads, especially), but maybe nothing really bad. Thought I had done another finger job, right little finger, reducing usable fingers to 4, but it seems not to have been serious. Bopped the other culprits a couple times, but no significant damage there either.

Actually ran a pretty smart race. There is a virtue to experience, even it is a decade (or two or three) old.

C • You can blame it on the mud if you want, 10

Ultra Tales, part 6 -- You do what you gotta do

Angeles Crest seem to satisfy my ultra needs for a while, and it wasn't until a year later, October of 1987, that I ventured out again, this time a 50-miler along Virginia's Blue Ridge. Nice course, point to point, mix of dirt roads and trails, nice cool day, finished 5th out of 83, no disasters, no strange happenings, no great agony, nothing much worth writing about.... :-)

I must have had a pleasant reaction to that one as I signed up for another before too long, another 50-miler, this time in the vicinity of San Luis Obispo in central California in April of 1988. Similar course, reasonably hilly, mix of dirt roads and trails. Met up with Charlie DeWeese, who had also been doing some of these ultra things.

I don't remember the race director's name. What I do remember about him was that he seemed much more interested in the fact that he was running the race himself than in his duties as race director. His pre-race briefing left you with the feeling that most anything could happen -- the course might be marked well, or not; the aid stations might be there, or not. But that clearly was not his main concern. Wonderful.

It was a hot Saturday in early April, way to early in the spring to have acclimated to any heat, and way too hot for it to do much good if I had. Not so bad early on, but into the low 90s by the time we were doing the last 20 miles.

And, of course, fears were realized. The course was marked sufficiently, but an aid station at about 40 miles just hadn't shown up. Nothing. Blazing sun, not much shade in the rolling California hills, out of water, and starting to overheat quite badly. I remember staggering up one hill, moving slower and slower, than down into the next big gully, just a little bit of shade, and also a bit of a stream, not much water flowing but there was some.

Now understand that this was also a horse race to (or maybe a ride-and-tie, I'm not sure), and I was regularly passing the various signs that horses leave behind. It sure looked like they had stopped here to drink (and pee), and thirsty as I was, there was no way I was going to drink from this little stream.

But I wasn't just dehydrated, I was also overheated, and that I could do something about. Found the deepest spot I could, maybe 8 inches deep. Got down on my back and got most of my body underwater, just my face sticking up, and just lay there for 5 minutes or so enjoying the coolness. I can't remember if anyone else came by, or what they they might have said or thought if they did, but I didn't care. This felt so good.

Eventually I extracted myself, since at some point I still had to do the rest of the course, I couldn't just quit there. Three or four more slow miles (but not nearly as slow as pre-dunk), then the last aid station, which was there, even had some ice, I grabbed a bunch, put it in my hat, and managed the last 5 miles at a decent pace. 8:57, 13th of 88 starters.

Charlie made it around too. We spent the night in town. Slept well, but woke up at about 6 am (still on east coast time), and both very hungry. We headed off to find some breakfast, wondering if anything would be open that early. In the course of searching we passed an Embassy Suites, hmm, I had seen their advertising promising full breakfasts (if you stayed there). Maybe we could pay something and eat there.

Walked in. Nobody at the front desk, but there was a woman who was doing some cleaning, sweeping the floor. Breakfast is right over that way, she said, pointing the way. So off we went.

It was probably the best breakfast I have ever had, and I'd guess the same goes for Charlie. A full buffet, plus a guy cooking to order whatever you wanted. Charlie may have been worried that he would only get one trip through the line, so his plate was loaded to the max, to the angle of repose I think it's called. He polished that off without difficulty, went back for a similar refill, polished that off too. And I was equally in pig's heaven.

Eventually we could eat no more and it was time to go. Thanked the cook. Went out by the front desk to see what the bill would be. No one there except the same women, still cleaning.

Did you have a good breakfast?

Oh, yes, it was wonderful.

Well, have a good day.

Whatever ethical dilemma we may have faced -- we should go find someone to pay, but they should be out here, and does it really matter -- was resolved quite easily. Out we walked, big smiles all around.

Our plane wasn't until early afternoon. We went to the beach for a while, killed a little time. It was maybe 11 when Charlie let on that he was getting hungry.

What kind of food are you looking for?

Something just like breakfast would be mighty fine.

C • a fine story 1

Hmm, beautiful today, beautiful tomorrow, Sunday's forecast is for rain and thunder. I guess things are not meant to be easy.

So, got to think positive. Ran the Kettle Moraine 100, bunch of rain early on, about 3 miles of the course flooded ankle deep, still finished well. Did the Laurentian 24 hour rogaine, rain, wet the whole time, managed fine. Lots and lots of orienteering in the rain. Got to think positive.

But damn.

Managed pretty well to work around the bad fingers.

Just a little bit of the track workout. 2x400 in 1:39.2, 1:39.1, and 800 in 3:19.8. Wasn't pushing. Glad I wasn't as the legs felt sluggish. Which is OK, don't want them feeling good today and bad on Sunday.

A couple laps before, a couple after.

Ultra Tales, part 5 -- Well, finishing at the Rose Bowl sounded cool

So Leadville in 1984 showed I could make it 100 miles, and a reasonable person might think that having proved the point, then there was surely no reason to do one again. In defense, all I can say is I never claimed to be a reasonable person....

Not much ultra excitement in 1985, just a 50-mile in the mountains northeast of Phoenix (the Four Peaks Fifty). So 1986 it was time to step up again, with the target this time the Angeles Crest 100 Mile, starting in Wrightwood, CA and ending at the Rose Bowl after a trip up and down a lot of mountains. The course, leaving out lots of turns. (A good bit of the area has been burned in the last month.)

It was probably the nicest collection of trails I have ever run. Long climbs and long descents but always at a moderate grade, hardly any rocks or roots or mud, awesome views. The first 30 miles were tough, but you were fresh so it wasn't too bad. The next 40 miles were easy (relatively speaking, that is, meaning no big climbs and a downhill bias). The challenge really started at 70 miles, coincidentally just as it got dark, also just as you were starting to feel real tired, and sleepy too.

Once again I ran a real good 70 miles, and then ran out of gas. And a few things hurt. I can't remember if I ran any more; if I did, I don't think it was too much. At least I had some company for the last 30, a friend (Walter Goodridge) as a pacer, he'd been concerned about keeping up with me, little did he know how slowly we would be going. We started off with a forever climb up Mt. Wilson, then more up and down and up and down and up and down -- all I remember other than the endlessness were the astonishing views of Los Angeles at night -- until at 96 miles you come down to Pasadena, and then it was just 4 flat paved miles to the Rose Bowl.

Which was not so impressive. We finished just outside it. There had been a football game Saturday afternoon and the grounds were littered with trash. It may hold 100,000 folks, but the crowd at this finish numbered in the single digits. There was a finish line set up on the lawn. I crossed it, just before dawn, decided that was far enough, and lay down, totally wasted, 25:19, 9th out of 59. After a couple of minutes Gail suggested it might be a good idea to go to the motel.

Where was the car?

Over there, maybe 50 yards.

How about going to get it, I'm not sure I can make it that far.

She got the car, she and Walter hauled me in, we decided to stop at a Denny's for some food. She got a parking space right near the front door. I looked things over, contemplating my route and it's difficulty.

How about driving up on the curb....

Regular loop on the other side of Mt. Toby -- run to the start of the power line power climb (6:29), hike up (17:35), run back down the jeep road (22:08). Easy pace. Shoes feel good.

Vermont in 4 days. It's been 12 years since I've run something this long (rogaines excluded, they are a different species), so my confidence level is not that high. Ran this race 13 years ago, 8:26. The course is different now though probably similar. Ought to be able to someplace between 10 and 11 hours, though there's a reasonably good chance some system will fail and I won't finish. Sort of curious to see what happens.

Course profile, supposed to have about 8,500' climb.

C • Should take your mind off your smashed fingers at least. 9

The run/hike was fine, no falls, nothing hurt, so under the theory that every day should have a little pain, I went off to the golf course, though only after hitting a couple wedge shots in the back yard to determine that it was possible to swing and make contact without actually passing out.

Joined a couple of friends, thought I might play a hole or two. An interesting experience. On some shots just the left hand hurt, on some just the right hand, on lots of them both, and on some neither actually hurt, thought those were all short putts. I decided early on that I would quit when the hands were still hurting from one shot and it was time to hit the next one. But that never really happened, within a minute or two after each shot I could stop moaning.

Played 10 holes. 4 pars, 4 bogeys, 2 others. Life was good. Looks like my round with Mike Fritz next week may be possible.

Finally getting around to routes/comments from last weekend....

Sprint. Skipped #4 completely. Which was just a result of mental laziness throughout the run.

What I mean by mental laziness is that I wasn't taking advantage of the times when the running was easy to look ahead, and to look ahead both on the map and in the terrain. So there were many times when I was not prepared as I should have been. And for orienteering that was basically very easy....

Examples:

-- Plenty of time on the way to 1 to look at the 2-3-4 loop, but never got past looking at the general direction to leave 1.
-- Somehow on the way to 2 I thought I was on the line and heading for the saddle just right of the line, having forgotten I'd displaced myself to the north. Totally surprised to see the big trail through the saddle I went through.
-- Recovered quickly, but no idea which way 3 was when I punched 2 other than vaguely north. And so leaving 3, still no advance planning, a quick look at the map, didn't see 4, that was that.
-- Though of course I didn't know it at the time. 5 was OK, but left 5, out to the trails, was about to leave trail to attack control when I realized I was looking at 10. Quick correction, but missed the shorter route to the left to 6.
-- 7 and 8 OK, but on way to 9 made plans to take the north route to 10 but didn't bother to check the woods along the way to see if cutting the first corner made sense.
-- On the way to 10, looked at route to 11 just a little, nothing beyond that, so 11-12-13 were all more a struggle than needed, and each one a few seconds slower than they should have been..

None of these are big things, but they probably add up to at least a minute. And that's not the way to run a sprint.

Middle.

Tried to be a little more disciplined in the afternoon, but still somewhat dissatisfied. 1-4 were fine, knew what I was doing. A little shaky approaching 5, not comfortable with the contours, so as a result I wasn't ready for the departure from 5, slow/sloppy. 6 was OK, also 7 and 8. Then overran 9, right by it, didn't think I'd gone far enough. And then 10 and 11, both just winging it, not just finding a simple to execute route and doing it. The damage wasn't much, but you don't want to encourage bad habits. The rest was easy.

Not a bad run, just a little disappointing.

On the other hand, totally pleased with how I dealt with the morning's DQ. Didn't spend more than a few minutes pissed, decided that I could choose between being pissed and miserable all the rest of the day/weekend or not, and it was just up to me. And when I put it that way, the choice was easy. Ending up having a very pleasant afternoon and evening, lots of good conversations, subjects ranging from Team stuff to interest rate swaps to pediatric endocrinology, in over my head on most of them, but fun anyway.... :-)

Ultralong.

Navigating was excellent, physically not so bad, just had a lot of times when I was tripping/stumbling/falling. And most of the time when off-trail had a very hard time reading the map without stopping. So time was a little slower than I hoped (I thought 70-75 was doable for me, ended up doing 80). But still a decent run.

1. Very hard time reading the trail and the contours on the map, even when running on the trail or in the field.
2. Was on an unmapped trail just coming into 1, thought it might continue through the green afterwards. It stopped within 50 meters. Nasty getting back to the trail. Ran all the way up the hill, then took the control pretty well from the corner of the field -- compass, pace, past the top of the first reentrant complex, then a little slower past the next one making sure I was at the correct height, then the final knoll was right in front of me. Nice.
3. Easier than it looked. Compass just left of north, past the two wet spots which were very distinct, then up the spur and along the marsh. Simple.
4. Careful compass from the pond, aiming off just a little to the right and then dropping down.
5. Silly me, I thought it had been field-checked and would be fast running and good visibility, just stay on the high ground and go right to the control. Lots of downed trees, very annoying. Got up to the high ground, careful compass, pulled up just right of the control, guessed correctly.
6. Figured by the time I got out to the road I would have been most of the way there on the straight route, so straight it was. Compass, plus pace to know when I should expect the cross trail. Past the marsh, didn't see the little trail, but placed myself correctly on the big one, rest was easy. Only problem was falling down a bunch of times, plus twice within 100 meters getting my contact knocked off-center, but fortunately not out of my eye. So a very slow time for spiking the control.
7. Interesting leg. A mix of techniques, using handrails when I could, but the terrain and visibility meant that it wasn't so easy to tell how far along you were and when it was time to flip to the next handrail. But generally in control the whole way, map and compass and pace. Last approach was very careful, not much to go by, spiked it.
8. Across the grain, trying to keep good control on direction, combination of map and compass, distance was easy. Spiked it.
9. Simple, just getting there. Took the big trail because I could run most of it.
10 and F. Simple. Actually running quite hard, had plenty of energy left.

So very pleased with finding the controls, just unhappy that I am getting less and less coordinated in the woods. But that's the way it is.

And overall a very nice weekend.

C • Broken link 2

C • Interest rate swaps? 3

Not off to a good start. On the way to yoga class, the garage door opener wasn't working, reached up to close the door, the tips of two fingers (middle and ring) of the right hand got hold of the end of a panel and as the door straightened out, there was no room for the fingers. I suppose it's like getting fingers in the wrong place when a car door shuts.

It's been a long while since something has hurt so bad.

I don't think there's any serious damage, though I will probably lose a couple of fingernails.

On the positive side, I'm not sitting here berating myself for doing something stupid. Though perhaps I will when I stop moaning.... :-)

C • Finger injury 10

Left hand is still hurting and now this, feels like the skin on the ring finger is about to pop, it's so swollen. And I have a date for a round of golf next week....



Plus a visit to the dentist, did something to a tooth last week, it didn't hurt, but the gum felt like it was being speared every time I tried to eat on that side of my mouth. Turned out a piece had broken off and wedged itself between teeth, and yes, I was getting speared. Got that removed, have to go back on Friday for a filling. Whoopee. The reason the tooth didn't hurt is I had a root canal there some years ago, never thought that would be a good thing.

And then finally got the cable guys to come by, got a new modem, checked the wires. Speed now seems to be 18 MB rather than 5 for downloads, 3.5 rather than 1 for uploads. And maybe will even work all the time.

I've been thinking I needed some different shoes for the Vermont 50 this weekend -- the 212 X-talons offer not quite enough padding, I was worried about the heel counter in the Mudclaws over that distance, and the Salomons are both on the heavy side and getting quite beaten down. So I went shopping, nice little running store in Northampton. Nice fellow there, he saw my Mt Toby Trail Run shirt on and asked if I was looking for a trail shoe, and a bit later I asked if he'd run any trail races, and he said "Seven Sisters" (which is one of the nastiest meanest races around). So that was a good sign, plus he seemed to know what he was talking about. Ended up with a pair Roclite 305s.

I like to shop locally if I can. So I hadn't even looked on the web, like at Zappos. But I just did. And the shoes are on sale for $85. So I got to shop locally and even paid less, $81, after the 10% standard discount to the local running club. And got to try them on, and run around some, outside OK. Nice, and the shoes felt good too.

A short outing with them today, power line and back, walking very briskly on the way up (24:99), running back easily (14:15). Shoes felt good, enough padding, not too heavy, good traction, and seemed to fit well. Will put a few more miles on them before Sunday just to break them in, but not too many.

No falls, thank goodness, as neither hand is much good. Though sometimes you just have to laugh -- driving over to the dentist, right hand with both the middle and ring fingers sticking out straight, I think I tuned the wipers on about 3 or 4 times when I turned the wheel to the right. Cars aren't designed for drivers in such conditions.

Time for a very easy week. Rode the bike a few gentle miles, but it was bothering my hand so that was enough. Will post more about the weekend, but I'm in the homestretch of my Swedish book (quite remarkably, reading long stretches at a time, normally I don't last more than 10 minutes without a break), and first things first.

But I will say one other thing before I forget.

I think we've done the right thing by hiring Glen Schorr as executive director for USOF, and I hope we have the fortitude and the resources to keep him for quite a while. It may be a while before big results are evident, but so what. Far better to be trying.

And in connection with that, I'd say the same about Mike Waddington as team coach -- it may be a while before big results are evident, but so what. Far better to be trying.

It's worth giving a little thought to how each of us can support both of them as they work to move orienteering forward.

C • I agree with both... 3

My courses from yesterday -- sprint, middle.

C • sprint 9

Ultralong Brown (an oxymoron?). OK, though rather uninspired and uncoordinated effort. Fall down a lot, 20 times perhaps, a few real hard. Found the points OK, but just really had trouble moving through the woods, very much feeling my age. I realize that most people reading this will have no real idea what that last statement means. You may think you do but you don't. Just wait....

Beautiful day. And a really nice weekend too. I've been orienteering at Rochester events a number of times over the years and have always enjoyed it. They just have a knack for it -- good orienteering, of course, but also just a really pleasant vibe. I'd give Rick Worner a lot of credit for that. He's both so relaxed and so together, and it rubs off on the others. You could learn a lot by just watching how he handles himself. Very cool. He'd be the first to say he doesn't do anything, but he sets the tone, and the tone is important. And then add a lot of other folks working very hard (Linda, Will, Rob, Mike, many others), the whole thing just seems to click. Thanks, guys.

C • I'll 2nd that! 3

I find it interesting and a bit difficult to read (and make sense of) detailed comments about a course, such as a course from today's ultralong champs, but with no map for reference.

So, because (1) I want to create more of a sense of balance on AttackPoint, and (2) it is getting near bedtime and I want knock off a few more pages of Luftslottet som Sprängdes this evening (I'm currently 460 pages in, 240 to go, and moving quickly), here is today's ultralong Brown map with no comments.

Red and Green used much the same area (red had two loops); didn't see the blue course.

Routes and comments tomorrow, perhaps.

C • More fun 1

UltraLong: Brown - Splits

Event: US Sprint & UltraLong champs
 

Sprint Champs at Mendon Ponds in Rochester. Did great.

At least that is what I decided after a bit of a jog and then a long slow walk, pondering the state of the universe in general and my particular spot specifically. The pondering was about how I wanted to spend the rest of my day, especially what sort of mood I wished to be in, and how spending it pissed off was really something that should be avoided if at all possible. So I determined that I had run great.

And in retrospect, that was clearly the right thing to have done, and a sign of progress.

Before and after.

Middle distance (not a championship), great again!

And this time I even went to all the controls.

Before, legs felt OK.

Such a very fine end to the day, dinner with the CSU gang at Alex Jospe's parents, just up the road from Mendon Ponds. Totally first class in all regards (company, food, vibes, ....).

Middle: Brown - Splits

Made it to yoga class. Hand was just good enough to tolerate all the downward dogs and other stuff, so glad I went.

Holyoke 5K XC just for the hell of it. Ran about what I expected, 20 seconds worse than a couple months ago but still perfectly fine. And the 20 seconds, well, I weigh maybe 3 pounds more than then, and I was talking with a friend after the race and he happened to say that the formula he'd heard was 2 seconds per pound per mile. Which sounds just right if you do the math.

Perfect evening, low 50s, clear. Maybe started a little too fast, the start was a bit later than expected and I'd been standing around for 15 minutes, and then 90 seconds into the race I was breathing way too hard. Backed off just a little, but then ran a good hard pace the rest of the way. Probably could have pushed a little harder, but no need to.

Had Kevin Teschendorf along, he's here a couple of days, ran about 19:30.

C • Nice 1

Before and after.

Feel quite battered, lots of aches, thought about going out on the bike but it was rather gloomy, so just a short outing up to the power line and back. Walking on the way up, very quick (24:50), running back pretty slow (14:36).

Swelling slowly going down in my left hand, now it just hurts. At least I haven't taken any falls the last couple of days.

Ultra Tales part 4 -- Not a whole lot of oxygen

The DNF at Wasatch didn't seem to curb my interest in ultras, though I wasn't in a rush to start another right away, and things had to be worked around the orienteering schedule.

Next came a very short ultra in February 1983 called the Tanque Verde Loop, 28.5 miles, in the hills just east of Tucson. Don't remember much about it except that it got real hot towards the end. That was all for 1983. And then in May 1984 I showed up for the Ice Age 50 Mile in southern Wisconsin, remember even less about it other than I had a good run, 13th of 148 in 7:47.

I do remember a lot more about the next one 3 months later -- Leadville.

This was the second year for Leadville, and it had already gotten a reputation. To have any chance of finishing you had to live at altitude. The first year only 10 of 44 starters had finished, and all 10 lived higher than 5,200'. If you were a "flatlander," forget it.

The reason, of course, was that Leadville's low point was about 9,000' and it's high point was 12,600' Hope Pass (aka No-Hope Pass). It was an out-and-back course so you got to go over Hope Pass twice.

So there were trails, and hills, and the long night, and no air. I remember standing on the start line with 50 other starters at 4 am feeling quite apprehensive.

I had done my best to get acclimated. The race marked the end of a three-week trip out West. The first week was in California where I was controller for the California 5-Day (how many know that ever happened?), with a quick trip to the top of Mt. Whitney squeezed in the middle.

Then a drive to Colorado Springs, staying there with Bob Ellis at nearly 9,000'. Saturday Bob did the Pikes Peak ascent, we drove our rental car to the top to pick him up, almost killing the car in the process and getting a good altitude headache. Up (and down) Pikes Peak again the next day, this time on foot, as I was running the marathon, maybe not the best tapering program 6 days before Leadville, but even back then life was short.

Then spent the next 3 days with a friend in Aspen, 9,500', by Thursday my quads no longer hurt. And then the last couple of days in Leadville, 10,200', checking out the course. All of this didn't add up to anything close to living out there, but it was a whole lot better than just flying out the day before.

So the race started. It got light in an hour or two. The course went up, the course went down. By midday I was heading up Hope Pass for the first time, walking of course, but also breathing as hard as possible just to get enough oxygen.

I had also discovered just prior to that I was in third place, despite having had at least 10 folks in front of me earlier in the race. I found out later that once again not all ultrarunners are good at staying on the course, and a group of guys had missed a turn and blindly followed each other a long long ways off course. I really was in third.

Down Hope Pass, the turnaround at 50 miles was not long after, I got there in 10:38. Stop for a minute, get weighed, and head back. The goal still was just to finish, the time limit was 30 hours, with buckles given to anyone under 25.

Over Hope Pass again, lucky that the thunderstorms kept their distance. On the way down I remember several times feeling really faint, and then I realized that I hadn't been breathing enough. Several deep breaths made an immediate difference.

Back through Twin Lakes, then a long trail section on the eastern slopes of Mt. Elbert, the day was getting on and I hustled along as fast as I could, wanting to get off that section before dark. Which I did, 70 miles done in 15+ hours, 30 miles to go, I was ecstatic. And after having been so psyched to get through that last section as fast as possible, I crashed, big-time. Left the aid station, now on a gently sloping downhill dirt road at 10,000', time to start running again, but my feet hurt and my legs hurt and my energy was low. And my psyche, well, it crashed too. Think about it -- it feels like you've been going forever, and now if you can't run here, the easiest possible place, you're not going to be doing any more running, so you've got 30 miles to walk. Including up and over Sugarloaf Pass. Realistically 3 mph. Do the math. 10 more hours to go. Depressing, isn't it?

Nothing else to do, I just kept walking, fast as I could though it wasn't very fast. At some point, maybe 80 miles, I happened to see a light behind me, and it closed pretty quickly, the guy was running. At this point I was still in third, and both guys in front of me, way in front, were from altitude. The guy came by.

How you doing? I asked

OK. You?

Real tired. Where you from?

Vail.

Way to go....

I had heard all I wanted to hear. I was still the first flatlander. But I still had hours to go.

Headed up Sugarloaf Pass. Real tired, sleepy, too. Long climb. Passed a boulder just the right height to sit on. I sat. Really sleepy, but still thinking. Turn off your flashlight, save the battery. Now sitting there in the dark. And a little voice said, if you don't get up right now, you'll fall asleep here. And I reluctantly flicked the light back on and trudged onward.

Over the pass, Gail and the car were parked on the other side at a road crossing. Maybe 2 am. She was asleep, I woke up up for about a minute of assistance, then onward again, endlessly it seemed. 3 am, 4 am, 95 miles done, finishing was certain now, just the doing was left, and then with two miles to go a light way behind in the distance. I sent Gail back to find out where he was from. Chicago. Shit. Picked up the pace. The last long hill up into Leadville, sky starting to lighten for the second dawn, 25:42. First flatlander by 15 minutes. You take pleasure where you can.

Everything hurt, of course. But if you had asked me at any time, from right after I finished to now, if I was glad I did it, the answer, of course, would have been "Absolutely."

So, the maps and a few comments from Pawtuckaway --

First, the horror show, and this was during the daytime.

1. I don't like making excuses, but the map is flaky here, the boulder is a good bit south of where mapped in relation to the end of the spur, and it's all thick woods with low visibility. Spent a couple of minutes....
2. The clue was depression, of course I didn't look at it. Perfect to the boulder, did a full loop around it, no control, a loop around another small boulder nearby, and then looked in the middle of the depression and there it was in plain view.
3. OK
4. Dropped down to the flats, didn't see the boulder in the young pines, circled, eventually ventured a little farther in the right direction.
5. OK
6. Hmm, the plan was to go to the right of the marsh partway, nice compass work. And nice compass work on the final approach too.
7. OK, caught Alexei here, he'd started a minute ahead of me, wonder what fun he'd been having.
8. OK
9. Meant to go left of the pond/marsh, more nice compass work.
10. OK, very thick, caught Alexei again.
11. OK
12. OK until the end, more nice compass work from the pond. What was I doing?
13. OK, Alexei on the way out when I was on the way in.
14. OK
15. Off line at start, but OK. Caught Alexei again, last I was to see of him.
16. Off line again at the start, too far left. Then sailed right past the control, visibility not so good.
17. Somehow I thought I was right on the line, so I turned left when I saw the water. Oops.
18. Just about gave up here, quite disgusted with myself. Just sort of mentally sauntered the last bit from the hilltop, so when no control showed up in front of me, I wasn't sure which way I was off. Back up to the knolls on top, figured it out, rest was easy.
19. OK, even though my line at the start was off.
20. OK, except I crashed halfway and did bad things to my left hand.
21. Just didn't read the terrain right, don't know what I was thinking.
22. Spiked it!
F. Spiked it too!

I guess the whole run was a mental saunter. Unreal, mistakes on 11 controls/legs. Don't think I've ever missed that many on a course, even at JJ's mega.

And now the easy stuff, JJ's Wicked Hard Night O'. The rules were simple, mass start, get as many as you want in whatever order you want. Results based on the most and then the fastest.

No reason not to go for all of them, even though I was going to be walking almost all of it (I fell down enough as it was, just walking, running would just be insane, don't have the balance and coordination any more).

2. It seemed like every one had disappeared out front by the time I got there, though I guess there were some behind me too. Got to the second marsh, looked and there was the control (reflector tape on a dowel) lit up like a full moon. My new headlamp is nice.... :-)
1. In touch all the way. Almost all alone, saw Jim Arsenault briefly but we drifted apart.
3. A little shaky on the approach, never saw the big boulder, but guessed correctly where I was.
4. Tough approach because the visibility was very low, but read the boulders right. A couple lights off to the left.
6. A bit to the right going up the hill but read the big boulder and thickets right. Fredrickson (he lives!) and Andrew Childs arrived just after me, they may have been the lights at 4.
5. A little farther left initially than I meant, so was left of the marsh instead of between it and pond. But hit the east tip of the next pond just right, then the marsh, then up to the control, John and Andrew coming up from behind (I'd seen them part way, running the wrong was on the bike trail). A crowd there including Phil and Charlie, checked the knoll on the left first, not there, then the one on the right.
7. Down to the marsh, then east, don't know why I stayed on the hillside when I needed to be up top. Went too far, hit the steeper downhill, turned back. Alone again.
10. Nice, no problems.
14. Also no problems, except almost totally submerged in the marsh,
15. No problems, in this marsh only waist deep. Barb and Dave at the control when I got there.
11. Barb said it was time to follow me and watch how I did, so the pressure was on. Picked up the pace (very fast walking). Spiked it nicely.
8. Picked up Charlie and Phil for the train. Spiked it nicely.
9. Really trying to drop them, but it's hard when you're just walking. But at least spiked it nicely once again.
12. Spiked it nicely.
F. And pleased to be done in 2 hours and a few seconds, I'd been expecting a little longer. Maybe 5 minutes lost, not bad. And would gladly have had a longer course, I was really enjoying it, very little of my normal high anxiety at night. Nothing like a really good light.

Tuesday Mt. Toby run with Dave, Donna, and Sarah. Couldn't decide between this and the Northampton 5K XC. My legs were sluggish, so the XC would probably have been not so satisfying, though this choice meant I got to enjoy sluggish legs for an hour and three-quarters. The hope is that a very easy week next week will have me fully loaded for the 50.

Getting dark the last 20 minutes. Just took a small light, but in a couple of weeks it will be worth taking the big guy.

Gate - 3:12
Power line - 25:20 (22:08)
End of Muck - 32:20 (7:00)
Bottom - 45:09 (12:49)
South Mt. pass - 59:33 (14:24)
Hairpin - 1:23:55 (24:22)
End - 1:43:15 (19:20)

Ultra Tales, part 3 -- And why did you think you could do this?

With two 50-milers under my belt, it seemed time to try something a little longer and a little more challenging. Well, maybe a lot longer and a lot more challenging. Namely, the Wasatch Front 100 Mile in the mountains immediately east of Salt Lake City, Utah. My guess is that Fred suggested we go do it, and I wasn't smart enough to refuse.

The appeal was undeniable. Great scenery, an adventurous course, a chance to enjoy the mountains both at day and at night. But I think the main attraction was that this was only the second year for the race, and in the first year there had been 7 starters, and no finishers. Tell me that's not irresistible.... :-)

The race was in mid-September, be we were actually committed to going back in March when we got our plane tickets, just $196 each, so what if the routing was Hartford to Baltimore to Houston to Denver to Salt Lake. We talked Dave Southworth (an orienteer in the early days, ran in the first Billygoat) into coming along as our crew.

The course was just brutal. 24,000' of climb (and 24,000' of drop). A mix of jeep roads and trails and a few places where there was no trail at all. As much as 20 miles between aid stations. You started out with a 5,000' climb. The course was barely marked, instead you got several pages of directions (and of course we had the topo maps)..

Were we in over our heads? Absolutely. But so was most of the field of 19 who showed up at the start line. The best of the bunch was a fellow who had run the Western States 100 in 18 hours. He was moving way faster than us, running up some serious hills, but he was directionally challenged -- he must have expected the course to be marked. He passed us at 35 miles, after some long detour, passed us again at 60 miles after another detour, and was waiting for us at 65 miles so we could show him which way to go.

By then it had long since gotten dark, and cold too, below freezing, and snowing on and off. We had a stretch from 67 to 71 miles on an open ridge near 10,000' and Fred couldn't keep warm. I was warm enough, but my ankles will killing me, and knees starting to act up too. We finally dropped off the ridge down to the Brighton ski area, where Dave was waiting for us with hot soup and sandwiches.

73 miles done. What lay ahead was about a marathon, two more mountain passes about 10,000', cold and windy and accumulating snow. One more pass, maybe another 10 or 15 miles, I think I could have done. But not this. We climbed in the car, maybe 2 in the morning, enough was enough.

The fast guy finished in just over 30 hours (the time limit was 36), and two other guys paced themselves well and finished in 35.

Was it fun? Of course. How could it not be? I would be back....

The course, very approximately, leaving out lots of turns and switchbacks so the distance looks way short. But it wasn't. Course went north to south.

C • Great story and odd coincidence 2

The absolute high point of the Pawtuckaway weekend was the debut of my new Lupine Tesla X at the night-O'.

That's a headlight (Lupine is the name of the German company that makes them, Telsa X is the model). It is the least powerful light they make, and it still puts out 700 lumens at the high setting. I had it at the middle setting, at which the battery is supposed to last all night, and it was awesome.

A whole lot of money to spend for a light, but I hopefully have some more rogaines in me, plus our Tuesday evening Mt. Toby running group will start needing lights within the next week or two, plus whatever else may come along. And I already got a whole lot of pleasure out of it.

C • New headlamp 8

Mill River to Juggler Meadow (27:06) and back (24:44). Legs very tired starting out, got a little better after a while. Not pushing it, just a bit of junk mileage.

C • junk mileage 2

I will put something up later about the Pawtuckaway weekend -- disasters, defeats, and triumphs, plus something about my dire short-term outlook for any activity with either yoga or golf -- but the most important stuff needs to be taken care of first.

It was clear as could be on the drive home this afternoon that it has been a very bad weekend for raccoons. Nocturnal though they be, they were out in broad daylight in significant numbers, and unlike possums, these fellows seemed to be really dead. So what's going on?

Is this just normal, that any Sunday drive will reveal the carnage from too much Saturday night partying among the masked and furry set?

Or is there a segment of the human population (Republicans, one assumes) that, after a bit of partying themselves, head out on the roads to see who can nail the most raccoons?

Or maybe it's just the fact that in this era of budget deficits and furloughs, the local highway departments are no longer doing their roadkill patrols?

Who knows. But I couldn't help wondering if somewhere in here was a fine subject for a Masters thesis, possibly even by someone in a geography department somewhere (you would have to have maps showing geographical distributions), and based on what I know about geography departments, I assumed the one at Kansas University would most likely be involved.

So I Googled "raccoon roadkill data" and top of the list is a study from the University of Nebraska -- I wasn't far off.... :-)

And it seems like there are all sorts of academic types are studying raccoon road kill. Hmm, maybe it's not so bad after all to be a philosopher or a taxman....

C • Pretty sure it's dead 12

No orienteering today, as I was tired (didn't sleep well), but mainly I didn't want to fall on my hand, as it was objecting to most everything I tried to do with it.

So I went for a trail run, which I suspected would include some walking, as the goal was South Mountain, still in Pawtuckaway SP but west of the O' map.

As it turned out, though, I never got there. I decided to go out via the Woronoco bike trail, took me about 30 minutes as opposed to the 10 it would have taken to go down the access road. And by the end of 30 minutes I was feeling quite wiped, sweating a lot, feeling weak. Plus I'd already fallen once, such that my left hand was going down first, and I had to do quite a contortion to take most of the impact on my thumb, not so comfortable but a whole lot better than on the outside of the hand.

So I stopped for a moment, then decided to carry on, just walk for a while. Walked for 30 minutes, briskly, up to where the trail up to the firetower starts, the sign said 0.9 miles. And I looked at the time and thought, enough is enough, better just to head back. Actually ran all the way back, 30 minutes via the road at the end, and certainly felt better than the first 30 minutes. So not so bad. And certainly a reminder that you can feel like crap and still carry on for quite a while.

Maps and other stuff will have to wait until tomorrow....

Event: Pawtuckaway Camping Weekend
 

Pawtuckaway camping weekend. Ran a rather short Blue course with lots of controls. As bad as I've orienteered in a long time, and not much I can blame on anyone else.... :-)

Raining, not that that mattered a lot. Just kept being off. Don't know where my head was. 22 controls. Mistakes on more than half of them. Left the finish determined to forget the run as fast as possible, so the gold star for the afternoon goes to JJ, who came up to me quite apologetically with a tax question regarding his mom, and perhaps was surprised to see how eager I was to talk about it right then, or anything else in fact other than my run. So we chatted some about possible strategies for her, and by the time we were done I was in a much better mood. That's what friends are for....

The worst part of the run had nothing to do with my bad orienteering, rather a fall about 5 minutes before the end. Went down, my left hand hit on a rock, not very hard at all, the only problem was that three fingers went one direction and my little finger went quite a different direction, and a direction it really has no experience going. So the knuckle and the area a little upstream from it are not looking so good....



It may be a while before I am swinging the D1 again or doing any downward dogs.

C • You better watch out! Sere... 1

JJ's Wicked Hard Night O' at Pawtuckaway. Beautiful conditions, at least compared to last year when a hurricane was passing by and it poured all night. Though in reality it wasn't much different -- the all-day rain had stopped but the woods were still soaked, as we all were within the first minute.

A different format this time -- score O', 14 controls, get as many as you want but please be back by midnight (we started at about 8:30 pm). I think my route to get them all was 7+ km.

A whole lot of fun. In all honesty, I would have gladly done a longer course. The orienteering was challenging but doable.

I'll post more later, and JJ will put up the results. But I do believe I won, the individual competition that is, there were a couple of faster teams. Another CSU triumph.... :-)

Only downside was that of my many falls, half a dozen or so involved my left hard hitting the ground pretty hard, and each time it took a little longer for the pain to subside. The hand looked significantly worse by the time I was done.

Note that I do not count as something negative the time when the only parts of me above the surface of the swamp were my head and my map hand. That just added to the experience.

C • swamps 4

Here's the course for my first ultra. Pretty exciting!

Finished Flickan som lekte med elden, 630 pages in Swedish. Certainly not great literature, but a good story and a fun read. And of course there is still the third volume in the trilogy (the first one I read in English), 700 pages for it. At least I got one done in time to pass it on to Lisa at Rochester, though it seems unlikely that I'll get the second one done by then too.

Thanks again to Per Nyström (Erik's dad) for sending over the two books.

C • Millenium 2

C • Flickan som lekte 2

From the gate, over to the start of the power line power climb (6:28), then up it (800', 0.8 miles) in 15:48, back down in 6:49, then checking out a couple of extra trails on the way back to the car. Light rain and cool. Didn't want to do too much in advance of tomorrow's night O', though I may make a short outing tonight to check out my new light.

Ultra Tales part 2 -- The Rocky One 50 Miler

Yup, that was the name of the race. The name seemed justified. About half the course (this map is only vaguely accurate) was on the Appalachian Trail, which in Pennsylvania is just a long narrow rock field. The rest was a mix of jeep roads plus about 6 miles along an abandoned railroad bed, the rails were gone but the big chunks of gravel were still there. One thing the name didn't seem so good for was drawing a big crowd. There were just 11 of us at the starting line in late November, 1981.

It had been a year since my first ultra, and apparently I'd been in no rush to do another. Though I think another consideration was not wanting to do one in the middle of orienteering season when events were beckoning. It took a while before I learned that you could race quite well just a week after a 50, if you did it right.

I don't remember a whole lot about this one. It went up, it went down, it was a bit hard to follow at times (some folks got lost a little), it was cold, there wasn't a lot of daylight so we started at dawn. But I do remember a couple of things.

One was that this was one of my first exposures to coming back from the dead, meaning you've bonked -- and I don't mean that in the Australian (or is it British?) sense -- and can hardly keep going, and then you get a little something sweet in you, and then 5 or 10 minutes later you are just ripping along. You go from feeling just awful to feeling quite wonderful, and you haven't even taken any controlled substances.

In this case I'd been doing quite well through 40 miles, but then started to die, and then by 45 miles died big time. Got something to drink and a couple cookies at the last aid station, and when the sugar kicked in in a few minutes I was off to the races. Caught and passed one guy (the race director and winner the previous year), finished strong (8:24), and would have won the race except for the fact that I'd made the mistake of talking Eric Weyman into coming. And Eric, with a 2:38 marathon to his credit, had dusted everyone with a 7:49.

Now second place is pretty good, but all it really did was move you up in the pecking order for claiming your award (Eric got first choice, me second, Damon Douglas 5th, among others, Fred got lost and was a DNF at 42 miles). The awards were all roughly the same -- big chunks of anthracite coal, hard coal. It's still sitting on display, a source of energy for heating the house I suppose if times get really bad. I do look at it once in a while and it always brings a smile.

Second place is actually real good, because my list of triumphs in running races is really really short, meaning 2, and each has a certain amount of bogusness associated with it.

The first was quite early in my running life, October, 1980, a trail half-marathon, one-way along the M&M trail from where it crosses the Mass Pike north to the tower on the top of Goat Peak (which is on the Mt. Tom O' map). Rocks and hills, rocks and hills. I think 9 of us lined up at the start, a motley crew as might be expected. The clear favorite was Roland Cormier, very good local runner, did some orienteering too including the Billygoat.

Roland was a lot faster than I was, but he had one problem, he was scared of heights (even more than I am). Where the trail winds along the top of the Mt. Tom cliffs, Roland was bushwhacking 50 yards in the woods the other way, just to be safe. Even with that, he was still out front all the way, past Mt. Tom, past the top of the ski area, past Whiting Peak, and right past Goat Peak too, missing the turn for the last 50 yards up to the tower, going quite a bit further north and showing up at the tower quite a bit later.

Meanwhile, I was the best of the rest on that day. This being an early Fred Pilon race production, the amenities were slim and the organizational support none. The instructions were to take you own time at the tower and he'd compile the results afterwards. I got to the tower, no sign of Roland, son of a gun, I'd won, not a soul there to witness it. I swear, really, I won....

The other win was much more recent, and it too smelled of bogus, it was the Soapstone Assault, put on by Clint Morse and his club, the Shenipsit Striders in NE Connecticut. The course was once around the loop trail circling Soapstone Mt., interrupted each time there was a side trail up to the top for a quick up and down. Five times up and down (vertical maybe 200 feet), and then on the last side trail at the end of the loop we just had to go up, finish at the top of the lookout tower.

Maybe 30 of us lined up at the start. What was bogus was that it was handicapped based on age and gender, so those of us rather old got big head starts. It was a big enough lead to hold on and be the first one up the tower. The crowd this time? I believe it was one guy taking times.

So really second place was the best I've ever done. And in just my second ultra. There were possibilities in this ultra stuff.... :-)

Thursday evening track group. It is so much nicer when it's cooler (mid 60s this evening).

"Comfortably hard" is what our fearless leader says we should be doing, which I usually do with the emphasis on hard. Tonight the plan was to put at least as much emphasis on comfortable, if not more. Which I did. Felt totally in control through the 1200s, even though the rest was quite short. Then breathing a little harder for the last three, but still keeping something in reserve. Felt really good.

Distance, time, rest
400 - 1:35.1, 55
600 - 2:21.8, 1:41
1000 - 3:57.5, 1:31
1200 - 4:46.6, 1:12
1200 - 4:46.6, 1:13
1000 - 3:56.9, 1:34
600 - 2:17.2, 1:43
400 - 1:25.0

C • 'our fearless leader...' 8

3 laps before, one after.

With the Vermont 50 Mile looming on the horizon -- and I would say at this point that it is very likely I will make it to the starting line, but not at all sure I will make it to the finish -- it seems to be time for a few ultra memories.

Part 1 - First Steps on the Road to Insanity

I ran my first ultra November 9, 1980, a 50-miler in Maine. Now why did I do that? I certainly didn't plan to. I was doing some good training with the idea of running a marathon within a few months, but at that point the longest run I had done was the 22 miles I ran at about 6:45 pace at the Foxboro Marathon in 1978 before packing it in with aching legs.

The ultra was on Sunday. I think it was Wednesday my old friend Fred Pilon called up. Could he borrow my car for the weekend, there was this 50-miler on the weekend and his car was out of commission. I said I'd check with Gail to see if we had any plans.

He called the next day with a slightly different proposal -- how about both my car and me going to Maine with him, and me running the ultra too?

As I said, I'd never even run a marathon before, but I had been at an ultra before, a 100-miler in Virginia, where I'd crewed Fred. Very enjoyable experience, with the highlight being around 90 miles in the middle of the night when there were some barking dogs at a spot where I was waiting for him with supplies, and he was getting quite testy, and he yelled at them some, and then he turned to me and said, "Next year you run this damn race and I'll crew." And at the moment that sound like a great idea. Seriously. it just looked like a great adventure.

That didn't materialize, but it must have planted a seed, because when he suggested I run the 50 a couple of days later, I agreed with no hesitation. Sounded like fun.

We were on.

I had a couple days to figure out how to run 50 miles. There was no internet then. I did find one article in an old Runners World, and the one bit of advice I took from it was to take walking breaks on a regular basis, and to start taking them before you really were in bad shape. Walk early and walk often, in other words. So for lack of anything else, that was my strategy.

To Maine on Saturday, near Brunswick. Up early the next morning and out to the course, a totally undistinguished 4-mile paved loop on country roads, not quite flat, there were a couple of hills, each rose maybe 30-40' over a couple hundred yards, nothing you would think twice about running up in a normal race. But since I planned to walk early and often, it seemed like these two hills were the perfect place to walk.

We ran a mile out-and-back first, and then 12 laps of the circuit. On the first lap, no more than 4 miles into the race, here came the first "hill." I started walking. A guy next to me gave me this incredibly condescending look as he cruised by, as if to say -- man, if you're walking now, are you sure you should be here.

But I walked for a minute or two, and then back running again. And did it again on the other side of the loop. And then a lap was done, I think about 33 minutes or so.

And the laps kept going by. The walking breaks were wonderful, both mentally and physically -- you looked forward to the change, you didn't have to run up any hills, the running part was a little downhill and that was easier, and it was a nice change of pace. And the legs hung in there, and so did the lap times, all between 33 and 34 minutes.

At some point I passed the marathon, must have been 3:35-3:40, didn't seem like a big deal. And the laps done kept increasing and the laps to go kept getting smaller, and still the same pace, 33-34 minutes.

And I passed 40 miles and then 45, still mostly OK, though I was starting to get a little weary, mentally and physically. I remember one lap to go, and it was starting to hurt and I was feeling a little out of it. So it was time for a little self-evaluation to see if it was safe to go on, my version of the field sobriety test. I held up a hand, stuck up two fingers. Then I asked myself, How many fingers do you see? The answer came very quickly and easily, Two.

OK, I was good to go.

Though I was fading. Walked up the first hill, ran some more, quite a struggle to keep going, walked up the second hill. Reached the one mile to go point. Looked at my watch. About 6:52 elapsed time. Nothing like a little motivation, to see if I could break 7 hours. Ratcheted up the pace and busted my ass for the last mile, hit the finish at 6:59:23, delighted. And beat. And delighted.

The knees hurt for a couple of weeks. I never wanted to run an ultra on pavement again. But the idea of running an ultra again on trails, now that had some appeal.

C • Fred 1

Haven't played much golf this year, and haven't played well at all, but somehow today was good, some bad holes/shots of course, but also four 3's and a 2, the latter on a par 4, and a 79 for the day. Used up my share of luck for the year. Ah well, one good day a year is better than none. :-)

C • Awesome! 2

Just a little more ultra training. Up to the top of Toby (36:13), back via the S curves (33:24), working on moving as quickly as possible while using the least amount of energy. Sounds silly but it's not.

Very tasteful medical report -- I still wash my running shorts out every day, they're usually soaked by the time I finish, but these days it just about all sweat. Definite progress.

The Tuesday group loop on Mt. Toby (roughly 10 miles, 1700' climb), except I have a conflict this evening, so I went and did it in the middle of the day by myself. Which was actually better, because I wanted to do it as a bit of ultra practice (walk any time it goes up, except for the gentlest grades) and see how my time turned out. Did the loop in 1:40 last week, and figured about 2 hours this time.

Probably a little too fast, but still surprised I didn't lose more time. On the other hand, the thought, when I was done, of another lap was not very appealing. And 4 more laps, no way.

Gate - 3:47
Power line - 26:15 (22:28)
End of Muck - 34:12 (7:57)
Bottom - 46:53 (12:41)
South Mt. saddle - 1:05:23 (18:30)
Junction below S curves - 1:22:00 (16:37)
Hairpin - 1:31:01 (9:01)
Done - 1:48:23 (17:22)

Forgot I went to yoga class this morning. Must be making some progress as downward dog is actually starting to feel like a rest position. Mainly, though, I think it does good things for backs of my legs, feet all the way up to the butt.

Same route as Saturday, South Deerfield and Whately. Legs not bad, but feeling low energy (low blood sugar?) partway through, though it seemed to last only a few minutes. Or maybe it was that was the section where the few hills are?

Status after yesterday's run -- no blisters or sore toes, almost no muscle or tendon soreness, right big toe a little swollen as always, a little tired. Not so bad. But 50 miles seems more formidable than it used to, probably because it will take me 2+ hours more than it used to.

Splits from yesterday --
Barrett Mt - 1.4 mi, 18:41
New Ipswich Mt - 2.8, 29:13
Pratt Mt. - 3.8, 44:52
Aid station - 5.2, 57:59
State line - 6.4, 1:09:54
Mt. Watatic - 7.8, 1:24:47
Turnaround - 8.8, 1:36:15
Mt. Watatic - 9.8, 1:54:20
State line - 11.2, 2:06:47
Aid station - 12.4, 2:18:17
Pratt Mt. - 13.8, 2:37:14
New Ipswich Mt - 14.8, 2:50:44
Barrett Mt - 16.2, 3:07:51
Finish - 17.6, 3:24:10 (1:47:55 coming back)

Results.

C • You almost picked off the girl! 8

Wapack Trail race. Not so bad, though it is clear that age is taking its toll. Very nice day, probably mostly in the 60s, perhaps 50s for the first hour or so, couldn't have asked for much better. Ran a decent race, meaning I paced myself OK, didn't croak in the last hour though I was getting tired. But the damn watch I got recently just seems to go faster, so despite running like I've run in years past, the watch shows I took longer.

They need to come up with a watch where you punch in your age and it then adjusts your time to what it would have been 10, or 20, or dare I say 30 or 40 years ago. That would be much more fun. I would pay extra for that.

But all the whining aside, still a good race. Fell 3 or 4 times, no serious damage, plus tripped a bunch more times on the way back, just not quite lifting the feet as high as I thought. And afterwards I feel the usual feelings -- feet like the slab of meat you see on a cooking show where they have been pounding on it a while to tenderize it, legs/tendons maybe starting to get a little twitchy, stomach a little off. Quite good in other words. :-)

Drove over with a local runner, Rob, much better runner, he finished 4th in 2:43 (though my records show I ran 2:46 15 years ago, how far I have fallen...). The most important thing about going with him, to get right to the essence of it, was that on the way home, when he was really trying, we got 94.7 miles per gallon of gas used. I shit you not.

He has a hybrid made by Honda, an Insight, I think they made them back 6 or 8 years ago and then stopped. Not too big but not a midget, not much steel, lots of aluminum, all sorts of data displayed about gas consumption and battery charges. All very cool.

Unless, perhaps, you are the passenger. Because when the driver is really trying to minimize gas consumption, you drive, well, differently....

-- You certainly don't go very fast, no more than 55 unless it's a steep downhill and you are coasting.
-- You do some strange shifting on the longer hills to minimize the drain on the battery.
-- You accept the fact that, even though you aren't in a hurry, there might be cars behind that are, but so what.
-- When offered the choice of an alternate route home, same time, different scenery, it gets axed because it is hillier.
-- Tires are overinflated, air conditioner isn't used, luggage is kept to a minimum, and of course he would have done better without me in the car.
-- And there is a general increase in the odds of an accident because the driver is concentrating on all the data, plus enjoying explaining it to the passenger, so things like other traffic and turns in the road tend not to get the attention they deserve.

But we made it home safely, I certainly enjoyed the trip, and 94.7 is very impressive. Though, when he dropped me off, I was so consumed with the effort in trying to stand up and get myself into the house without falling over that I totally forgot to give him a couple of bucks for the gas....

C • braking 30

Today's route, more or less (missing all the little zigs and zags, so the distance is shorter, but I think the actual distance given is pretty accurate).

Taking it easy today, just a short ride, South Deerfield and Whately. Haven't been out on the bike for quite a while.

Wapack tomorrow, 17.7 miles more or less. Previously --
1992 - 2:49:58, temp in the 60s
1994 - 2:46:01, ditto
2000 - 3:46:56, 70s, very humid
2006 - 3:13:15, rain, wind, cold

This time? Seems like 3:30 would be a good target. Forecast is for low 70s, sunny.

M&M trail east from Bay Road in South Amherst. Hadn't been on this section for 20 years, and it was hillier than I remembered, lots of steep little ups and downs. Legs were sluggish, so I wasn't moving very fast, nor trying to, just trying to keep running. And I managed that, barely.

Sharpening for the 50-mile....

Thursday evening track group. As usual, wasn't looking forward to this, but then, as sometimes happens, the legs felt good. The plan was to run at a 6:20 pace, i.e. average 95 seconds a lap. Did that for the 1200s, and a little better for the 400s and 800s. Very satisfying.

Distance, time, rest
400 - 1:32.8, 57
400 - 1:31.8, 1:00
400 - 1:32.2, 1:00
800 - 3:07.4, 1:33
1200 - 4:45.2, 1:45
1200 - 4:45.0, 1:48
800 - 3:08.2, 1:30
400 - 1:29.8, 1:01
400 - 1:30.9, 1:03
400 - 1:29.4

First few felt easy, then reasonably hard work but not all out, as the rest was calculated to not allow full recovery.

Nice evening, 70F.

C • Nice work 4

A couple laps before, a couple after.

Early run with Dave, up to the power line and back, relatively leisurely pace which suited me just fine as the legs were tired from the last couple of days. Another perfect day. And good to see that my assumption about the hot and humid weather of most of August -- that just keep putting in the effort, don't worry too much about feeling crappy, it will get better when the weather cools -- has proven to be true. Sure is more fun now.

I was looking at the IOF world rankings just to see where we stood, Sam is out front at 104th. And you can also pull up the federation rankings, either based on the top 20 men/women, not sure what that is used for, also the top 10 men/women, which is used to allocate entry spots for the World Cup events (other than WOC).

It was just a couple of years ago when they introduced this. I think the first proposal would have limited the entries from the lesser nations to 3 men and 3 women. There were a lot of objections, including from the USA and especially Canada, and it was eventually revised so that every country could enter at least 6, the top six countries 8, and the host country for the event a bunch more. And that quieted things down.

And now a couple of years later it's amusing to look at the World Cup events.

1. It's a "World" Cup as long as "World" means European.

2. For all the complaining about not enough spots in the original proposal, this year Canada has sent no one to World Cups events outside of WOC (and only 2 women to WOC), and the USA will send only one (Sandra to the Swiss events at the end of this month).

3. For all the concern from the IOF about fields that were too large, take a look at the Swiss events this month. Entered at this point are only 51 men and 48 women, and a quarter of those are Swiss.

It's hard to think that this is the direction things were intended to go.

C • 1 and 1 6

Class is now offered both Tuesday and Thursday early morning. Don't know whether I'll try to make both or not. I think it helps.

Another perfect evening for running, uppers 60s and low humidity. Mt. Toby with the group. Wasn't sure how I'd manage after yesterday's outing, but it turned out pretty good. Legs were a little sluggish to start, but seemed to get better and I got up the long hill (14:01) without any hard breathing other than the last steep bit right at the end. Almost ready to sign up for Vermont.

Also getting a little dark by the end. Will need a light in a couple of weeks.

Gate 3:08
Power line 25:17 (22:09)
End of Muck 32:24 (7:07)
Bottom 44:55 (12:31)
South Mt pass 58:56 (14:01)
Hairpin 1:22:23 (23:27)
End 1:40:17 (17:24)

C • VT 50 11