Grand Canyon Article

Just thought I'd share an article from the Nicholas Chronicle about the Grand Canyon trip in May.

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Rattlesnake 50K

The 16th Annual Rattlesnake 50K was this past weekend in Charleston, WV. I ran this race one other time (2006) in 4:30. This year my approach was much different than the last time I ran the race. I went into it with very little expectations. It was going to be a fast "training run".

I've been experimenting with my training the past month and running much higher mileage than I have in the past. Normally I run 65-80 miles/week all year round with a few big weeks mixed in - very little exception. Lately I've added in 2-3 extra runs per week and lengthened some of mid-week runs a bit to bring my weekly average up around 100 miles. My goal race is the Superior Sawtooth 100 in September and I'm interested to see how/if these adjustments help me.

Nonetheless, I came into this race tired - 118 miles the week before and 60 miles already the week of the race with no taper or days off. I had no idea how my legs would feel or respond? This was uncharted territory. My goal was to try to run around or a little better than my time from 2006, but with a controlled effort.

The race started benignly enough with no one really stepping up to lead on the first climb - so I did. Early on I settled into a rhythm of running the uphills solid, then would get reeled in by a couple of guys on the flats and downhills. This is where I lacked that "pop" in my legs or the "next gear" to go as a result of the new training stresses (at least that's my assumption). Kind of strange or counter intuitive that it would be the hills where I felt the best though. It was a humid day - not nearly as hot as it was even the day before - but I knew steadiness would be the key to pulling away in this race. I just had to bide my time and be patient. I focused on my intake of fluids, calories, and electrolytes.

About the half way through the race, I was told at the aid-station that I had a two minute lead at the last one. I remember thinking, "Well. . . it's time to see what I can do!". From that point on I started pushing a bit, gradually increasing my lead, and ended up running strong to finish with the win in 4:27. I was definitely pleased with my effort and the result. My time was certainly not "fast" based on previous years, but would have presumably been at least five minutes faster had the course not had so many blow downs and treetops to weave through that had not been cleared. I'm not sure what was up with that?

All in all a wonderful time. I had a great time hanging out with all the great friends that were enjoying this classic summer ultra. That is without a doubt my favorite thing about running these things - the people. Some of the finest people I've ever met in this world are folks that I've met running ultras.

So, does this mean that my higher mileage experiment is a success? The data is still way too meager and early to make a conclusion. There's still some major training to be done between now and Sawtooth. I hope I can survive it! If I can withstand the training load, I'm confident that I'll be very fit come September. I really want to put myself in the best possible position to win a 100 miler - we'll see what happens. . .

RT Weekly Recap

RT Weekly Recap

Saturday's 50K

Saturday I ran the WV Trilogy 50K course with Dan. What a day we had. It was just a gorgeous day to be out on the trails. These long self-supported runs are often times more fun for me than races.

I know I've said it before, but man this race is going to be special. We wanted to run the course to see "how it runs" and check out a few logistical issues. Well . . . it runs very nicely!

RT Weekly Recap

Thought I'd start sharing the link here to the weekly trail recap I'm writing over at RunningTimes.com (just click the picture to follow the link).

Highlands Sky-ing

(All smiles at the start: Photo from Jeremy Ramsey)

What a great year it was for the 8th running of the Highlands Sky 40 Mile Trail Run. The race was three people shy of filling and had what was deepest field the race has seen - a good year to be in the mix racing.

My training before the race had been solid after my three weeks missed in April from my knee injury. I knew I was in shape, but I also knew that since I had done zero quality (I just ran - no "workouts") this year that I would not have the turnover to make an honest go for the win with the guys up front. I did two training runs on the course after I got back from the Grand Canyon; one of which I ran hard as a time trial. My splits on that run were as follows:

AS 2: 1:46 (Mile 10.5)

AS 3: 2:47 (Mile 16.0)

AS 4: 3:21 (Mile 19.7)

AS 5: 3:45 (Mile 22.7)

AS 6: 4:17 (Mile 27.0)

Based on these times, I thought I could easily shave at least six minutes off my time between the start and AS 6 (4:11) with the race day "magic", people to chase, carrying less water, and not having to stop and fill-up from creeks like in the trainer. Here were my goal splits:

AS 2: 1:42

AS 3: 2:41

AS 4: 3:15

AS 5: 3:39

AS 6: 4:11

AS 7: 5:12

AS 8: 5:56

Finish: 6:29

I started our conservatively and just fell in behind all the other guys going out hard. I came through AS 2 and 3 pretty much right on schedule and feeling fine. I was only concerned with hitting my splits. My pre-race plan was to run conservatively until AS 4, then start letting it all hang out from the road all the way to the finish - not my normal style. I felt good on the dreaded Road Across the Sky and ran every single step at what felt like a decent pace. I believe I moved up two positions on the road and came through AS 6 (mile 27) in 4th place, 4:15 into the race. . . 4 minutes off of my goal, but certainly nothing to panic over.

The next section is where the wheels simply came off. No question of what happened - The heat got to me in the open meadows and my stomach just quit cooperating. What felt so smooth and fluid only moments before, became drudgery. Knowing that I was not very heat acclimated and seeing the large amounts of salt on my skin, I really started pushing the S-caps in this section. Too little too late though - I was off my splits and thrown into survival mode. The finish line was the only cure for my disease at that point.

I love Highlands not only because it is a great race in my home state, directed by my good friend Dan Lehmann, but mainly because it was my first real test in my early years of ultrarunning. Even though I was feeling puny the last 10 miles or so of the race, I still soaked in the meaning and beauty of it all. I thought back during that section to when I ran the race for the first time back in 2005 and had no idea of what the heck I was doing. Many things have changed since then, but some have remained the same. It's always a wonderful feeling to cross the finish line of any ultra and this day was no different. I crossed the line in 6:43, nearly an hour less than when I last ran the race in '07. It was not the result I was capable of running or planned on running, but I was and am satisfied nonetheless. Any day that I can spend running and enjoying the beauty of God's creation is certainly a good day.

Then: 2005

Now: 2010

Highlands Sky Video

My friend Joel Wolpert recently completed a video about Highlands Sky for Running Times Magazine. He covers some of the trail work that our club recently did on the course and some of the history of the area. He really did a phenomenal job -- check it out here, I'm sure you'll agree.

Memorial Day Weekend

It was a great Memorial Day weekend for training. Sat-Dolly Sods; Sun-Rich Mtn; Mon-Spruce Knob. It was a gorgeous day on the Sods Saturday. All the water coming off the mountain came in handy since it got a little hot and muggy on the Highlands Sky course. Sunday was a more impromtu run where I had Kadra drop me off late in the evening to run an old ridge road/trail on Rich Mtn home while she went to visit some friends. Less than five minutes into the run I made a wrong turn that added 45 minutes of running once I confirmed my mistake- something I couldn't afford with darkness approaching and no light. I quickly assessed the situation, ran down a side trail that I knew of and ran roads toward where Kadra was heading. Good call-when I got there they had a full spread of food. One of the people said, "You need to get yourself a gps." My answer was something I often say in such situations, "You just have to make sure that you're fit enough to outrun your own stupidity."

I had a fun day wrapping up the weekend running at Spruce Knob yesterday scoping out some of the trail conditions for the WV Trilogy. Kadra and her sister Karly came along since Karly had never been up there before. They dropped me off up top and met me down lower after three or so hours and did some trail running themselves. The only thing I love better than trail running myself is seeing other peoples' eyes light up when they experience it for the first time. I think Karly might be hooked. Here are a few shots from the day:

(My first bear of the year)

(Upper Falls of Seneca Creek)

(Kadra and Karly finishing their run on the Horton Trail)

Running Times

Just thought I'd share with everyone that I've started writing a weekly ultra/trail race recap for Running Times. I'm very excited to have this opportunity. The first edition can be found here.