"Passion is pushing myself when no one else is around"
Someone printed this Ryan Shay quote on Dean K's blog this week and I loved it so much I wanted to write about it. I get such a rush out of training hard, I mean don't get me wrong, I enjoy a nice easy run once in a while also, but the reason I run is because of the challenge. Running wouldn't be the same for me if I wasn't continuously challenging myself.
I've done 26.2 on a treadmill, I've done 20 miles on a HS track, and I've done 50 miles in the Mountains, and I love all of them because I'm pushing myself each time.
When you follow the schedules of people like Dean Karnazes, Phil McCarthy, and Jamie Donaldson, some of these numbers I've run are nothing compared to what they've accomplished, but if I pretend like they don't exist for a minute I am very impressed with myself. Lol Just kidding, without these people, especially Dean, I probably woudnt be pushing myself at all in this sport. I follow these people for a reason, one is that I really love this sport, and two is that I have found these people to be good, kind hearted people, who are amazing at what they do. They are the kind of people that set the bar, and would love for nothing else than for you to achieve the same, or even better success than they have had.
They are awesome!
Ok, back to Me! .....me,me,me! :o)
I definitely prefer to be outside running, especially in the trails, but as long as I'm running somewhere I'm happy. Mixing it up is good for me, it keeps it interesting.
When I crossed the finish line in my first 50 miler last year, only 19 people finished the race out of 86 starters and I came in 18th place, 10 minutes under the 13 hour cut off.
I first said to myself. "You idiot, you picked the hardest race on the East Coast to run for your first 50" but then I realized, I'd rather it be that way. Everything on my body hurt for weeks after that! I mean, muscles, bones, joints, everything. It hurt when I peed, and my teeth even hurt for some reason. For the 2 weeks leading up to that race I had a really bad cough, and didn't think I was going to be able to run it. I decided to do it anyway, and I felt amazing. I coughed through the whole race, but my legs kept on going. I actually took some oxygen from the medic tent after the race because I had a hard time regulating my breathing afterwards. My wife and my mom were at the finish and didn't like it very much.
3 weeks later I went out and ran a marathon just because I felt like I needed to "get back on the horse again". I limped for the last 5 miles but I finished it.
It's the challenge, it's how much punishment my body is willing to let me afflict on it. I figure it will let me know when it's too much. I try to push myself as hard in training as I do on race day, that way there are no suprises. I've run 30 races now and do not have a DNF yet. Only 13 of them were over 20 miles though, so lets see if I can keep the streak going now that I'm adding longer harder races to my schedule.
Besides all the regular Marathons I've run in the last 2 years (10) I'm running a couple more 50 milers this year, and then in 2010 I'm going for the 100 mile distance.
I'm not sure what race I want to be my first 100 miler, but someone recommended Umstead to me. They told me it's a good race to make it your first. When I heard that I started looking elsewhere. I'm sure it's a great race, and really if you think about it, any 100 mile race is TOUGH, but I'm gonna pick something that's tough even for a veteran. That way I know I'm really testing myself. I'm looking at The Vermont 100 now.
The harder the race the harder I will push myself in training.
Let's keep pushing hard and see how far we can go.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Badwater crewing report
Badwater crewing Report;
There are 3 time starts for this race, 6am, 8am, and 10am.
The runner I was crewing for, Phil McCarthy, started at 10am. The race starts at Badwater. It's the lowest point of Elevation in the Western Hemisphere. 282 ft BELOW sea level. There is actually a small pool of Bad Water there (which is where the name comes from).
There is no pacing your runner for the first 17 miles from Badwater to Furnace Creek and only one support vehicle is allowed.
This is too keep the amount of traffic and congestion down until everyone starts to space out.
We had 5 crew members along with our runner. One other guy, Tim Henderson, and myself on the crew were runners and we decided that we would break up the pacing between us into small increments so we would both stay fresh for our runner throughout the whole race.
I ran an hour, then he ran an hour, and then I ran an hour, and then he ran an hour......and so on and so on.... We did this from mile 17 all the way to the finish line at mile 135......with no sleep. It was like a 118 mile relay w/ 2 people.
There was 3 miles or so when the other 3 crew members ran for small segments, but me and Tim put in between 55 and 60 miles each. We both loved every minute of it!
The crewing was tougher and more intense then the running.(Not more enjoyable though) We pulled the vans over every half mile for the entire race. Sometimes maybe longer or shorter depending on available places on the side of the road to pull over or how steep the hill was.
The road was tight the whole way and often had no shoulder at all. There was usually some flat dirt, rock, or tumble weed you could pull the van over on.
Our crew was pretty well on point. We kept logs of everything he ate and drank with time and mileage marked for each stop. It got a little stressfull at times because pulling over every half mile doesn't give you that much time to get reorganized and check the log and prep for the next stop before he catches back up to you, so it was tight at times trying to have everything ready. I'm not going to go into too much detail about what he drank and ate and other cooling techniques. (If I did I'd have to kill you :o) ), but the further we went, the better we got at it.
We did everything you would expect you'd have to do for crewing someone for a race like this, a lot of pacing, carrying bottles, spraying him down with water, sun lotion, popping and fixing blisters, and whatever else you can think of. There was some tension in the air at points, just because 6 people going non stop for 29 hours with no sleep tends to wear you down a bit. Overall we were a very pleasant bunch through out the race including the runner and got along really well.
The scenery through the race was incredible. Rock Canyons, Sand Dunes, Mountains. We even had the pleasure of F-22(?) Fighter jets flying by us sideways through the canyons as we were running, they were loud and intense! (Got buzzed really close on the drive back after the race also).
From Badwater(start) to Furnace creek(mile 17) everything was smooth. I jumped in at mile 17 and started pacing w/ Phil and we picked up the second van there. As a pacer in Badwater you can only run to the left of your runner or behind. You can not run in front of the runner.
At about mile 35 Phil started feeling sick, minutes later he threw up just about everything he had taken in, up to that point. A little concerning, but the guy is an animal (like alot of Ultra runners), he took no time and started running again right away.
After some long rolling hills, we came to Stovepipe Wells at mile 42(it's where our Hotel was for the previous nights). It also brings the elevation up to Sea level.
This is when you have to brace yourself for the start of some serious hills! I mean hills!
5,000ft of hills over the next 15 to 20 miles.
I live in the mountains, and I train on hills all the time, but the mountains by me peak at 1,200ft or so. The Hills in Badwater are never ending! They go UP for miles and miles. You don't hear that much about the hills in Badwater because everyone is so focused on the 125 degree heat.
Lol, Speaking of the heat, it was glaring all day, when you look into the distance in the desert you can see waves of heat in the air coming off the ground, it looks like a mirage. We were decked out in full desert gear, white hat with neck and ear flaps, long sleeve white shirts, and long white pants. It seems like the best way to protect yourself from the Sun. Sun tan lotion would probably just wear off too quick and the rays from the Sun are to intense to allow them to beam down on your skin for that long of a period. (We still put on sun lotion on any exposed areas and under the clothes though).
From Stovepipe Wells (42) all the way to Panimint Springs (72) was an extremely long trek of up's and downs and windy, zig zagging roads. There was often no shoulder at all and you never knew when a car was going to come flying around the next corner.
At 7pm the runners and crews must wear reflective vests with some sort of blinking light for safety purposes until 6:30am.
It was a pleasure when the Sun went down. It's the intensity and the severity of the Sun that gets you, I mean, it's still hot without the Sun, but a whole different ball game when it's not up there cooking you.
So I switch my Desert hat to a bandanna and head lamp and I put on shorts and a t-shirt. Same for the runner.
It was one of only two real stops that our runner made through the whole race. To change clothes once, and to fix a blister another time.
It was about mile 65 when I saw one of the Dean Karnazes crew vehicles. Dean had been ahead of us the whole time and I figured something must not be going so good for him if I was seeing his crew vehicles. I was pacing this stretch and I spotted Dean ahead of us. Dean is a hero and a friend of mine for a few years now. As we ran up to him, I put my hand on his back and asked him if he was ok. He was definitely hurting, but still coherent and friendly as usual. He said hello and asked me how I was doing. He even asked me if it was everything I thought it would be. My enthusiasm probably wanted to make him puke. Misery loves company, not some over enthusiastic babbling idiot. Lol, I couldn't help it though, here I was running/pacing the course for the "Toughest Footrace in the World", and along the way I get to see Dean, my hero in this sport. My first marathon was only 2 years ago in 2007, and now 10 marathons and a couple of Ultras later I find myself in Badwater crewing and pacing.
It was strange running in the dark. I do it often at home, but in Death Valley, when the stretch of road is so long, your eyes and sense of perception start to play tricks on you and it is really hard to tell at some points whether you are running up hill, down hill, or flat.
I guess it really didn't matter by that point anyway, but the runner asked me at one point if I could tell whether we were going up, down, or flat, so I said we were going downhill, but truthfully, I couldnt really figure it out.
At Panimint Springs(72) we filled the vans w/ Gas. There is still a lot more climbing to do now to get back to 5,000ft because we went back downhill before reaching here.
After about mile 80 or so I started to put my feet up in the van and eat and drink in between my running shifts. I never slept because I was too nervous that I would not wake up in good enough condition to go back out and run again. It was starting to get hard to start each shift of running, cause the legs were tightening up in between. Once I got going though it was fine.
At about 3:30am I got out of the Van to go to the bathroom and I immediately realized that it was freezing out, I actually started shivering! I had to jump back in the Van and crank the heat! Lol. No joke, the temp dropped to about 70 degrees and when you weren't running it felt cold. Big drop from 125 to 70, but the elevation was higher now.
Through out this long trek, you never forget that you are in a race.
You have highs and lows in all Ultra racing, so you pass people during the highs, and you get passed during the lows. Sometimes you can go back and forth with the same runner several times. Like we did with Pam Reed.
The night time went by quickly, before we knew it, the Sun was coming up again and our reflective vests and headlamps were coming off. We passed Gorge Pacheco about mile 85 or so, he was the winner of the race last year and is an ubelievably nice guy and amazing runner. As we passed him he patted me and Phil on the back and said good job guys. Not sure what was wrong with him.
We finally made it into Lone Pine (120) at around the 25 hour mark, a little behind where Phil wanted to be, but I knew if he could finish under 30 hours he would be happy on this first attempt. The hill up Mt Whitney is almost comical its so steep. I mean the fact that you have to climb this hill after just running 120 miles through the desert is insane! I think most runners walk it, and try to throw in a little running here and there. Gorge Pacheco must of been feeling better, because out of no where he came running up the mountain behind us, passed us, and continued running up. I checked the time splits after the race and he made it up that mountain portion of the race faster then everyone, even the winner.
Pam Reed was about a mile ahead of us all the way up the hill, but every time we tried to make a strong push, she knew it and pushed harder also. She told Phil at the finish line that he really pushed her to the top.
We made it to the finish line(8360ft) and the entire crew ran across together with Phil in 29 hours and 12 minutes. He finished 8th place overall. The race was epic as you can imagine.
On a side note, the running before and after the race was awesome aslo out there. Sat, and Sun before the race we ran through a place called Mosaic canyons in Stovepipe Wells, It was amazing. The day after the race we ran/walk up to Mt Whitney lake and went in the freezing cold lake and then ran back down.
What a trip, running Badwater is now on my list of races to do.
There are 3 time starts for this race, 6am, 8am, and 10am.
The runner I was crewing for, Phil McCarthy, started at 10am. The race starts at Badwater. It's the lowest point of Elevation in the Western Hemisphere. 282 ft BELOW sea level. There is actually a small pool of Bad Water there (which is where the name comes from).
There is no pacing your runner for the first 17 miles from Badwater to Furnace Creek and only one support vehicle is allowed.
This is too keep the amount of traffic and congestion down until everyone starts to space out.
We had 5 crew members along with our runner. One other guy, Tim Henderson, and myself on the crew were runners and we decided that we would break up the pacing between us into small increments so we would both stay fresh for our runner throughout the whole race.
I ran an hour, then he ran an hour, and then I ran an hour, and then he ran an hour......and so on and so on.... We did this from mile 17 all the way to the finish line at mile 135......with no sleep. It was like a 118 mile relay w/ 2 people.
There was 3 miles or so when the other 3 crew members ran for small segments, but me and Tim put in between 55 and 60 miles each. We both loved every minute of it!
The crewing was tougher and more intense then the running.(Not more enjoyable though) We pulled the vans over every half mile for the entire race. Sometimes maybe longer or shorter depending on available places on the side of the road to pull over or how steep the hill was.
The road was tight the whole way and often had no shoulder at all. There was usually some flat dirt, rock, or tumble weed you could pull the van over on.
Our crew was pretty well on point. We kept logs of everything he ate and drank with time and mileage marked for each stop. It got a little stressfull at times because pulling over every half mile doesn't give you that much time to get reorganized and check the log and prep for the next stop before he catches back up to you, so it was tight at times trying to have everything ready. I'm not going to go into too much detail about what he drank and ate and other cooling techniques. (If I did I'd have to kill you :o) ), but the further we went, the better we got at it.
We did everything you would expect you'd have to do for crewing someone for a race like this, a lot of pacing, carrying bottles, spraying him down with water, sun lotion, popping and fixing blisters, and whatever else you can think of. There was some tension in the air at points, just because 6 people going non stop for 29 hours with no sleep tends to wear you down a bit. Overall we were a very pleasant bunch through out the race including the runner and got along really well.
The scenery through the race was incredible. Rock Canyons, Sand Dunes, Mountains. We even had the pleasure of F-22(?) Fighter jets flying by us sideways through the canyons as we were running, they were loud and intense! (Got buzzed really close on the drive back after the race also).
From Badwater(start) to Furnace creek(mile 17) everything was smooth. I jumped in at mile 17 and started pacing w/ Phil and we picked up the second van there. As a pacer in Badwater you can only run to the left of your runner or behind. You can not run in front of the runner.
At about mile 35 Phil started feeling sick, minutes later he threw up just about everything he had taken in, up to that point. A little concerning, but the guy is an animal (like alot of Ultra runners), he took no time and started running again right away.
After some long rolling hills, we came to Stovepipe Wells at mile 42(it's where our Hotel was for the previous nights). It also brings the elevation up to Sea level.
This is when you have to brace yourself for the start of some serious hills! I mean hills!
5,000ft of hills over the next 15 to 20 miles.
I live in the mountains, and I train on hills all the time, but the mountains by me peak at 1,200ft or so. The Hills in Badwater are never ending! They go UP for miles and miles. You don't hear that much about the hills in Badwater because everyone is so focused on the 125 degree heat.
Lol, Speaking of the heat, it was glaring all day, when you look into the distance in the desert you can see waves of heat in the air coming off the ground, it looks like a mirage. We were decked out in full desert gear, white hat with neck and ear flaps, long sleeve white shirts, and long white pants. It seems like the best way to protect yourself from the Sun. Sun tan lotion would probably just wear off too quick and the rays from the Sun are to intense to allow them to beam down on your skin for that long of a period. (We still put on sun lotion on any exposed areas and under the clothes though).
From Stovepipe Wells (42) all the way to Panimint Springs (72) was an extremely long trek of up's and downs and windy, zig zagging roads. There was often no shoulder at all and you never knew when a car was going to come flying around the next corner.
At 7pm the runners and crews must wear reflective vests with some sort of blinking light for safety purposes until 6:30am.
It was a pleasure when the Sun went down. It's the intensity and the severity of the Sun that gets you, I mean, it's still hot without the Sun, but a whole different ball game when it's not up there cooking you.
So I switch my Desert hat to a bandanna and head lamp and I put on shorts and a t-shirt. Same for the runner.
It was one of only two real stops that our runner made through the whole race. To change clothes once, and to fix a blister another time.
It was about mile 65 when I saw one of the Dean Karnazes crew vehicles. Dean had been ahead of us the whole time and I figured something must not be going so good for him if I was seeing his crew vehicles. I was pacing this stretch and I spotted Dean ahead of us. Dean is a hero and a friend of mine for a few years now. As we ran up to him, I put my hand on his back and asked him if he was ok. He was definitely hurting, but still coherent and friendly as usual. He said hello and asked me how I was doing. He even asked me if it was everything I thought it would be. My enthusiasm probably wanted to make him puke. Misery loves company, not some over enthusiastic babbling idiot. Lol, I couldn't help it though, here I was running/pacing the course for the "Toughest Footrace in the World", and along the way I get to see Dean, my hero in this sport. My first marathon was only 2 years ago in 2007, and now 10 marathons and a couple of Ultras later I find myself in Badwater crewing and pacing.
It was strange running in the dark. I do it often at home, but in Death Valley, when the stretch of road is so long, your eyes and sense of perception start to play tricks on you and it is really hard to tell at some points whether you are running up hill, down hill, or flat.
I guess it really didn't matter by that point anyway, but the runner asked me at one point if I could tell whether we were going up, down, or flat, so I said we were going downhill, but truthfully, I couldnt really figure it out.
At Panimint Springs(72) we filled the vans w/ Gas. There is still a lot more climbing to do now to get back to 5,000ft because we went back downhill before reaching here.
After about mile 80 or so I started to put my feet up in the van and eat and drink in between my running shifts. I never slept because I was too nervous that I would not wake up in good enough condition to go back out and run again. It was starting to get hard to start each shift of running, cause the legs were tightening up in between. Once I got going though it was fine.
At about 3:30am I got out of the Van to go to the bathroom and I immediately realized that it was freezing out, I actually started shivering! I had to jump back in the Van and crank the heat! Lol. No joke, the temp dropped to about 70 degrees and when you weren't running it felt cold. Big drop from 125 to 70, but the elevation was higher now.
Through out this long trek, you never forget that you are in a race.
You have highs and lows in all Ultra racing, so you pass people during the highs, and you get passed during the lows. Sometimes you can go back and forth with the same runner several times. Like we did with Pam Reed.
The night time went by quickly, before we knew it, the Sun was coming up again and our reflective vests and headlamps were coming off. We passed Gorge Pacheco about mile 85 or so, he was the winner of the race last year and is an ubelievably nice guy and amazing runner. As we passed him he patted me and Phil on the back and said good job guys. Not sure what was wrong with him.
We finally made it into Lone Pine (120) at around the 25 hour mark, a little behind where Phil wanted to be, but I knew if he could finish under 30 hours he would be happy on this first attempt. The hill up Mt Whitney is almost comical its so steep. I mean the fact that you have to climb this hill after just running 120 miles through the desert is insane! I think most runners walk it, and try to throw in a little running here and there. Gorge Pacheco must of been feeling better, because out of no where he came running up the mountain behind us, passed us, and continued running up. I checked the time splits after the race and he made it up that mountain portion of the race faster then everyone, even the winner.
Pam Reed was about a mile ahead of us all the way up the hill, but every time we tried to make a strong push, she knew it and pushed harder also. She told Phil at the finish line that he really pushed her to the top.
We made it to the finish line(8360ft) and the entire crew ran across together with Phil in 29 hours and 12 minutes. He finished 8th place overall. The race was epic as you can imagine.
On a side note, the running before and after the race was awesome aslo out there. Sat, and Sun before the race we ran through a place called Mosaic canyons in Stovepipe Wells, It was amazing. The day after the race we ran/walk up to Mt Whitney lake and went in the freezing cold lake and then ran back down.
What a trip, running Badwater is now on my list of races to do.
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