Race: Grindstone 100 Miler (10/04/14)

I suffered but I didn't suffer enough. 

Results: http://apps.eco-xsports.com/reports.php?race=1&year=2014
242 starters, 189 finishers, 53 DNF, 16 DNS, 78% completion rate.

#162, seconds into the race

Training & Arrival:

I have been training well this year with only minor setbacks being due to work & non-running life schedules which of course trump ultra training. I’ve continued to utilize the same 8 month training cycle that I have used successfully for the last couple 100 milers. It has a strong base building phase, distance, speed & hill work with a lot of cross training and quality specific workouts. 

I pushed a little too much without enough recovery prior to Grindstone, truly feeling like I had a slight case of mono. Anyone running with me 4-5 weeks prior to Grindstone heard me complain how tired I was. I would take a day off, maybe 2 with some activity, but not enough. Ahhh....the mental struggle of the Type A personality.

I told my training buddy Dave about 2mi into the Punxatawney 50k that I was pretty sure I had mono, for which he harassed me for....then I proceeded to run the slowest 50k I have run in 5 or 6 years.

Dave was slated to crew / pace me at Grindstone but unable to make the schedule work, I was going to be on my own….I had wanted to experience that on a hard course so looked like I was bound to get it. Pam Rickard who lives near the course offered to pace me so I had her to help support. An Outrun teammate, Crystal had asked about who was crewing for me and when I mentioned that I was going at it solo, she offered to come out and pair up with Pam to crew for me. It’s a funny sport, ultramarathons, people spend a lot of time helping others complete events that take many hours to complete. I’ve said it before, it’s one of the only sports I am aware of that this exists in. I felt blessed. 

Grindstone was a 7hr drive from Ohio and a 6pm start in the rural & very hilly Swoope, Virginia. The course boasts 23,000 climbing and 23,000 decent due to the out & back 100mi distance. I was looking for a tough run, feeling pretty fit and shooting for 24-26 hours on this 38 hour cutoff, Dr. Horton course.

We made it to the race start about 3pm, so there was time to make it to packet pickup, meet Clark Zealand, Dr.Horton, meetup with Pam, setup camp, take in some more calories, & rest until race start. The weather was pleasant in the 50-60’s with rain on the forecast.

Gear:

Mtn hardwear coolrunner shorts 
MHW coolrunner shirt,
Ultimate Direction AK Vest,
Hoka Mafate Speed 3,
CEP socks, 
Black Diamond Revolt headlamp, & handheld light, 
MHW Ghost Whisperer Jacket

Nutrition:
I had planned to eat my Hammer Perpeteum and do 1 Hammer bar or Bearded Brothers bar every hour. I kept my salt stick pills about 1-2 every hour and nuun energy for the late hours when I needed caffeine in my body. Sport Leggs in the latter 1/2 of the race....as well as some Red Bull. 

The Race:

Apparently, they don’t believe in switchbacks in Virginia. We had a couple 3,000+ foot climbs that really just went up the mountain. I was pushing too hard WAY too early and it came crashing down at about mile 18 when I started to fight nausea from too much GI stress. I kept forcing food when I should have just relied on the perpeteum. I was trying to front load the calories and it was just too much. My pace dropped dishearteningly to a 20min mile due to heaving on the trail, the inability to run due to nausea, and just pure discomfort. I couldn’t believe it. I hadn't even made it to the first crew access at mile 22 and I was in a dark place already.

I made it finally to mile 22 where I stayed for a loooong time. Even with 4miles at a terrible pace, I was dead on track for 24 hours but my pace was continuing to decline. My crew Crystal got me out with fresh gear & a bag of pretzels which I managed 1 bite of over the next 8 miles. She later called that aid station "zero dark thirty"....it was a bad time and I was honestly worried that I felt that bad that early. 80miles in, okay....not 22.

I struggled for a while longer with the nausea & occasional heaving before I started to come around (~mile 30), by then I had dropped 60 places in the race and the climbing was really taking it’s toll on my pace. I met Crystal again at 37 but was still struggling, she got me all set with food, gear, etc... the miles from 37 to 43 were downright terrible, slow, uphill, terrible, I have never walked so slow, my headlamp died, my handheld died and I was barely moving along. I finally made it to Little Bald Knob at 45 and started to gain momentum after a hearty breakfast at the Aid station. 

By 46-7 I was the food was setting in and I was starting to come to life. Morning had come and I was only a few miles from getting to Pam for pacing. I ran into Ash Walsh who I've only known through social media.

We ran a mile or so together before I really started moving along. I was eating and running really well, hovering around 9:30min/miles and bombing on the downhills. I picked up Pam at 49, & reloaded some nutrition from Crystal and off we went. It was around mile 60 where I was really feeling my Wheaties and was starting to race. Pam was a bit hesitant on the technical downhill back to mile 66 so we agreed to have her meet up with me at mile 80 to finish pacing.

From 66 to 72 it was a lot of long climbing, no switchbacks, windy and beautiful. Although the effort was high, the pace was slow and I just settled into a hard fast speed hike with occasional running. The temps were begging to drop and the winds on the ridges were really consistent. Crystal & Pam had hunted the area for some calories for me, knowing that I was in need of more and they had found some pizza at a not-so nearby store. I changed jackets, gloves, devoured the pizza, go re-fueled and off we went. I can't thank them enough. I felt really good but it was heartbreaking to be so far off pace.
Pam & I cruised along to 88 where Crystal met us again, got us in and out, then off to mile 97. I recall telling Pam that I didn't feel like I had 90+ miles in my legs. I wasn't bragging, I felt like I hadn't pushed enough. 

The internal struggle going on was that I felt like I hadn't given the race enough, knowing that I should push it but wasn't. I was pretty disappointed in myself but at this stage I was no where near the sub 24 goal and was well within the cutoff times. I was having a hard time letting my mind enjoy the process as I knew that I was so far behind. At some point I finally accepted it. Pam was a pleasure to talk with and was really helping me to push the pace, we were cruising along on the technical trails. At some point Pam burst out "do these blessed rocks EVER end?!" I laughed that this was with just a couple miles to go and they really were never ending.
The last couple miles were elusive, I had passed about 72 of the 80 people that had passed me in my darker miles and I couldn't find the path that led us through the trees across the lake. For the first time in dozens of miles, someone was coming in behind me and I kicked it in for some random 8:30min/mi for the last bit. Pam & Crystal were cheering me in and it was rather surreal to be finished. I have never "run" that long in my life. 29hrs 34min

Pam (pacer) & Crystal (crew)!

Peg Leg at the start. 

Mile 3 or so....long before the pain. 

Blurry finish...102miles complete 29:34

I will say that the nice thing about a Friday 6pm start is that I went to sleep Saturday at about midnight and was up at 7am driving back home. I made it in time to hang with the wife & kids, make some dinner and catch up on what I missed over the weekend. Back to work Monday morning....

I'm writing this about 5 weeks after the event. I slept well the week after, no soreness, minimal foot swelling, was running and doing cross-fit about 2 days after the event.I would love to go back and give that race a hell of a lot more. I am proud to have finished a sub 30 at a Dr.Horton and truly had a great experience. RD, Clark Zealand did an excellent job. I would recommend it and I WILL be back for a significant PR. I really can't thank Crystal & Pam enough for the support, ultra runners create the most amazing and supporting community. It would have been hours longer without the help.I suffered, but I didn't suffer enough. 

So, now I've qualified for Hardrock and Western....I've put my name in the lottery for both. We'll see what happens. I am assuming on a 1st time try, i will not get in to either. 

Next up....I raced a 5mi with my daughter, have a 5k turkey trot with her again, and a 50k in January. My custom carbon Fat Bike is on it's way....so I am super excited about that!

z

Race: Groundhog 50k 9/6/14

Groundhogs abound in the famous little town of Punxsutawney, PA a town around 6,000 people & 85 miles from Pittsburgh. It's only a 3 hour drive from home and timing was perfect for a tough 50k in preparation for Grindstone 100mi. in Oct.

I will note that I've gotten to that phase in my training where I hear myself telling my running partners how tired I am. I usually push it another week and then take a down week. I did that last week after a lot of late nights and early mornings and long runs. I've felt more tired than normal and just chalked it up to lots of work, family, training, & not a lot of sleep. I was hoping that things would pan out and I would shoot for about a 5hr 50k in Punxy. We (Dave & Sarah) drove to PA Friday afternoon and as the hills started to grow, I realized this would be a good race.

We stopped in at the Gobbler's Knob for race packet pickup and some words from Rob Lott, the RD (through 2014). It's the normal ultra atmosphere, humble, talkative, & friendly. The race will be directed by an new RD for 2015 and will be held in May on Armed Forces Day. We walked across the lawn to take our photos as the famous Punxsutawney Phil stage, found ourselves some great dinner at Mary's Place a few minutes away (dry county, byob) and highly recommended.

The 50k started at 7am around the corner from the Community Center. The 25k started at 9:30am. Weather was pleasant with high humidity. We took off after a veteran who parachuted into Normandy, France on this same day in 1944 (D-Day) gave us the instructions to limber up and...well, start.

pure focus prior to the race

Race start

It's hilly....we climbed up out of town, through the high school, then wandered up a dirt road before we hit the trails. I could feel it in my legs, the same tiredness I had felt the last 2 weeks...figured it would wane and I would find my legs later in the race.

About 4,500' of climbing over 31miles.

The hills are steep! We hit ESPN hill, then Two Beers, then Yellow Bus...wooooo! they are not to be scoffed at. My immediate thought was I was not going to be sub 5 hour today...matter of fact, thought it might be a good idea not to kill myself less than 4 weeks from Grindstone. I found my pace and figured to just stay on track with nutrition, hydration, keep the pace easy, and turn this into a training run. That's pretty much what I did for the entire race...

The course is beautiful, the golden rod was flowering all over the place. Once you get to the top of the hills, you have to take a couple seconds and take a look around.

Top of Yellow Bus hill I think (photo from Sarah Hummel), the hill just drops straight down, not a single switchback on this course!

Speed walking the hill to Buck Run aid station. 

This was the course. You essentially run out and at the Buck Run aid station you begin a loop that you do twice. At the completion of the second loop, you're at mile 23. Head back the way you ran out but with a divergence up to water tower then back to the base of Two Beers hill which is simply humorously steep on the way back up. It's the hills that really make this race tough.

Finishing downtown Punxy. 

The entire course is runnable if you are trained for it & I think under normal conditions, I could've been around the 5 hr time frame, but ended up just over 6 hours...my slowest 50k since I began running ultras.

So, recovery was great...I didn't push hard but still ran for a long time on some tough trails so I skipped my Sunday run and worked on the lawn :) back to running Monday for a couple weeks then work on an taper for Grindstone.

I wore the new Hoka Mafate Speed 3 along with a new pair of CEP compression socks that fall just below the calves. I will admit, they were perfect. No blisters, no issues, great traction, & great cushion. 1 handheld bottle, Mountain Hardwear CoolRunner shorts & Pearl Izumi InR Cool tank. Did gels for most of the race along with Salt Stick caps, & pretzels at aid stations. Also, utilized Nuun energy tabs for the second 1/2 of the race....great for electrolytes & caffeine. All in all, a pretty solid nutrition.

so, that's it. Great event, really cool award as well.

- @ultrailz

Race Report: 2014 Laurel Highlands 70.5 Mile

Trying to write this race report on Laurel Highlands Ultra while my legs are not fresh but my mind still is. It’s a 70.5mi trail ultra that takes place on the Laurel Highlands trail that starts by the waterfall at Ohiopyle and finishes just outside Johnstown, PA. This is the race that people say it may be 70miles, but it feels like 100. This is good, this is what I was needing since I didn’t have a summer 100 on the roster.

Rick Freeman, RD and Tim Hewitt, co-RD took over the race 15 years ago which has now been in existence for 35 years. It used to be a self-supported race with an 18 hour limit, no aid stations, and just the 70.5 mile distance. Today, they have great aid stations, 50k distance, 70.5mi relay, and 70.5mi individual distances. I think all total, there were about 340 runners amongst the various distances for the 2014 event.

I had talked to a few folks who have run it in the past and depending on who you asked, the response was something like It’s runnable after mile 35….take it easy on the first 35 miles….don’t run until you’ve finished the 3,000’ climbing after mile 8. After looking through the times from last year and looking up people’s names on ultrasignup.com, I figured I could be somewhere around the 15 hour mark and it things went really well, in the upper 14 hr range.

Here’s my take/experience:

We were on the bus from the finish at 3:30am sharp, arrived at the start about 45mins later where they had some water, coffee, drop bag drop-off, & check-in. It’s your typical atmosphere pre-ultra….lots of people chatting, hitting the portos, sipping coffee, adjusting gear, and telling stories. Rick urges us over to the start and within a few minutes, we're off and after a short stint on the road, we hit the Laurel Highlands trail and begin the muggy ascent. I kept trying to run easy, run easy, run easy, speed walk easy as it got steeper, but even going easy on those sections was just not easy. A few miles and a few very solid climbs later, it was apparent that this was going to be a true challenge. The humidity was incredibly high, the roots & rocks made for a lot of focus on the foot placement. So, about 8 miles in, there was some respite on the hills…and about after mile 10, it simmered down a bit more and was much more runnable. Yes, runnable. Lots of rocks, lots of roots, but the hills were calming down. For the next 25 miles, there were lots of rolling hills, some short steep ones, beautiful trails and it varied from speed hiking at 15-16min miles to running 10-11 min miles. The first aid station was at mile 19, I was using Hammer Perpeteum so I had two multi-hour bottles to last me to mile 46 where my first drop bag was. I wore my Altra Olympus which has ample cushion, lightweight, but not much lateral support which was wearing on me a bit due to all the off-camber trails. Otherwise, they were pretty good for the race.

The trails are absolutely beautiful. The ground cover is almost all ferns or mountain laurel. There were so many sections where you would look out for a moment and it was just ferns all around, with the trees creating a high canopy. Periodically, you weave through these verdant rock structures, covered in moss, with the trail winding through them. Every so often, you get a moment to peek through the trees and see that you are in the Highlands and how high up you’ve run. Somewhere around mile 35 or so, the trails came up to a ski lodge where you see a sign saying you are at the highest point in the Laurel Highlands, it was beautiful. I was running with the lead female at the time (Johanna) and we chatted about running as we plodded along. I kept with my 1 Salt Stick every 45 mins, perpeteum, and lots of water. I felt good and as the trail smoothed out, it was great to be able to actually run for long stretches.

Mile 46 Aid Station, new socks, new shoes,
loading up on calories. 

I hit the mile 41 aid station where Dan & Anne from Ohio were helping me out, Johanna was starting to feel the effects of the run and I told her to take her salt before she headed out. She was leading at that point but fell back a few spots by the end of the race. I got to 46 where Rich was waiting for me, changed my shoes, socks, drank a redbull, took some food, soda, water, Gatorade, and headed off with a full stomach. It made a world of difference…I was really needing calories so when I got to 57 I ate a lot more, grabbed my 2^nd drop bag with headlamp, did another redbull, ramen soup, grilled cheese, soda, water, and took off. I was feeling good  and decided I was done playing leapfrog with some other runners (as enjoyable as the conversation was) and with a sub 16hr finish in sight, I focused and pushed hard. I got to mile 62 after a quick stop in the woods to take care of business and loaded up on some soda, & food. They told me 2 miles flat, 3 miles rolling, and 2mi downhill to the finish…and they were right. I pushed hard, seeing 10min miles and faster until I hit the hills, speed walked only when I had to, and mile by mile, reeled in the finish. I passed a few people and with just 2 miles to go and a lot of really rough downhill, I pulled out the headlight. Jody from Fleet Feet had loaned me his Garmin Fenix 2 to try and it was pretty accurate throughout the trail (which is marked EVERY mile with a cement post with that mile) and I kept checking to make sure that the variation between the garmin and the mile markers were accurate so I could make it under 16hrs.

I emptied my bottles, barreled down the last 2 very rocky downhill miles, and with a few hundred yards to go, passed one last runner. I rolled in at 15hrs 36min where Rick immediately gave me the award which is a beautiful wood rendition of the 70^th mile marker.

Rick Freeman (RD) smiling bigger than me....my legs hurt. 

This race is hard, it’s very technical, it’s very hilly, but it was absolutely beautiful, historic, and was extremely well organized with a great atmosphere. I will say that if it wasn't so beautiful, it would quite possibly be a really hard race to want to come back to...but it's just beautiful. I stayed downtown Johnstown (which has a significant history from the Great Flood in 1889 which killed over 2,200 people then two more floods in 1936 and 1977) and opted for the pre-race dinner which I recommend for meeting these amazing people, answering questions, and getting some good food.

I’m writing this 6 days after the race, I’ve ridden the bike and run hard twice. I would’ve run a little more but work travel has just not  allowed for the time, which is probably a good thing. My quads were sore and had some post race swelling in the feet but that all subsided within day 2-3. My metabolism was off the charts for the last couple days! This almost has the feel like I completed a 100 miler. Great race, great people, I’ll be back to do it again.

z