Ultra Running Building Endurance

JFK 50 Race Report

2009-11-24T09:32:00.002-05:00

The JFK 50 is the largest Ultra Marathon in North America. There were over 1,000 runners.
A quick note... while we were gathered at the starting line, we looked across the street and there was a guy, with running gear and a race bib on who was smoking a cigarette! Just when you think you've seen it all.
There was an early 5am start for runners who thought they might need more time to finish. Most of the field including myself were in the 7am start group.
The first few miles of the race were on the roads, it started out flat for the first mile and the next 2 miles were pretty much uphill with no letting up, you just climbed up all the way until the start of the Appalachian trail. It was too early in the race to start walking already so I ran the whole thing.
When I was near the top, I turned around to look at the crowd......it was awesome. 1,000 people all charging up this hill with 47 miles still to go.
When we hit the Mountain it started out on a paved road for about a mile or so, I asked one of the runners next to me if this was the Appalachian trail because I was expecting an actual trail?
He assured me we would shortly be breaking into the trails.
Thank Goodness, I'll take the trails over pavement any day of the week. When we finally hit the dirt I felt rejuvenated. I do a lot of my training in the mountain trails, so I am very comfortable flying over the dirt, roots, and rocks. That is by far where I am at my best.
I noticed a lot of the runners cautiously watching there footing through the whole Mountain, especially on the downhills, while I charged on by.
There are risks of doing a face plant right into a boulder, but when you've been running on this type of terrain for years, you don't really think twice about it. After the Trail ends there is a 26 mile flat section(the tow path) that I was way more worried about than the mountain.
So my strategy was to just plow through the Mountain as best as I could and then just put it in cruise control for the long stretch.
When I reached the back end of the Mountain there were some serious switch backs taking you down the backside of the Mountain.
This cost me some time for sure, I was caught up behind a group of about 25 runners who were taking it really slow, and there was really no way to pass.
Plus we were 2 hours in to the race and we were already passing some of the 5am starters.
When we got to the bottom of the mountain there was a short run to the next Aid station, on my way there I kept hearing a train.
I've heard of racers in other races getting caught up from a passing train and having to wait but I didn't think it would actually happen to me.
Yup, I get to the Aid station and they are holding up all the runners for a freight train passing by.
Ha ha, for a minute I wasn't really bothered by it because I just tore through a pretty tough Mountain, but after 3 or 4 minutes I was starting to get anxious and felt like I was losing valuable time.
I'm not quite sure how long we got held up, but I would say somewhere between 3 to 5 minutes.
The Train finally passed and I bolted over the tracks and hit the Tow path. An extremely long, flat, and straight stretch that runs along a river. It was a nice section, just a little monotonous, but a dirt path, and mostly tree covered.
Some say that it is a very slight gradual up hill the whole way, maybe it is, the river is flowing the opposite direction that you are running, but it is still basically flat.
This section really drained me, I think because I am so use to running on some variation of hills, when it's 26 miles of just flat pounding, it takes the life right out of my legs.
I just focused on running from aid station to aid station through this whole section. My wife was able to meet me at a couple of points along the way.
I carried 2 handheld bottles through the entire race. One was usually water and the other was either gatorade or Hammer Sustained Energy. I've used the Sustained E, for my last few Ultras and I'm not sure how I would get by w/ out it now. I never really have enough of an appetite to put enough food into my body, so this liquid food is a great alternative for me.
The only thing I ate from any of the aid stations through the entire race was a few orange slices, and one pc of starburst. (Cherry yum).
Other than that it was the SE, Gatorade, water, and many Hammer Endurolyte salt tabs.
I found myself leap frogging with a lot of run/walkers. Most of them seem to have a system because I see them checking there watches and knowing exactly when they need to start running or walking again. I basically just run it by feel. I run at a comfortable pace until I feel like I'm gonna cry, then walk for about 30 second, and the painfully start to run again.
I did that the whole race.
After you finish off the towpath there is an 8 mile stretch back on the roads to the finish line. The course is a horseshoe shape, so you don't finish at the same place you start.
Coming off the towpath, you are met with a very steep hill. It was a nice change, but really tough. I think most people walked that one.
After that for the first time they marked the countdown of each mile. Starting w/ 8.
I have to say, as usual at the back end of a race......every mile felt like an eternity. I slowly ran almost the whole 8 miles w/ some walk breaks on some of the hills.
When I got to about mile 47 I told myself I would not walk again, and didn't.
I crossed the finish line in 9:10:25, and placed 217 out of 1010 runers.
My 3rd 50 miler and a PR.
A lesson learned for me right at the finish line, I was about 10 ft from the finish and cruising right in thinking I was all alone, and a female runner came up out of no where and sprinted by me to finish ahead of me.
If I just turned my head back to check, I could of avoided it.
Oh well, good for her for finishing strong. Grrrr.
This race was really tough for me, I didn't train as hard as I wanted to in October because of a busy work schedule, and because of it, I felt like my head was not in it like it usually is.
It goes down as a memorable one for overcoming and digging deep to the finish line.
2010 will be my year to go after the 100 mile distance.
I have no races scheduled in December, first time since last June.
Next race, Winter Watchung 50k in January.

My Run Home

2009-10-04T09:22:00.007-04:00

After work at 8pm last night, I geared up and started a run from midtown Manhatten to Paramus NJ. I went through Time Square and then cut into Central Park at Columbus Circle to avoid street lights, Hung a left at 96th street and ran the path along the Hudson River all the way up the West Side. It wasnt until it was too late that I realized it was probably not the best route to take in the dark. Some pretty scary sections once you get past 125th street. I mean nothing really happened , but when you are running in the dark by yourself with the River directly on your side and no one in sight except for a random homeless person, you cant help but think of how easy it would be to get mugged and dumped in the River to never be found again. So basically I couldnt get to the GW Bridge fast enough.

After a run in w/ a skunk, a possum, and a couple of Rats, I missed a turn for the running path and ended up on a single dirt trail in the middle of woods(yup, woods in Manhatten) and couldnt help but think of how stupid I was. I ran about a quarter of a mile before I quickly turned around and sprinted back to where I got off track.

I finally found the crossing to get back over the West Side Hwy away from the river and hit the streets again. After carefully choosing someone to ask where the entrance of the Walkway across the bridge is (its a little tricky getting to it)

I made it to 178th st to the entrance of the bridge where pedestrians could cross and there is a big orange sign stating that this south side of the bridge walkway is closed to use the North side. So I run to 179th st and I find the entrance for the North side walkway, and there is a big gate with a lock on it!!!! OHHHH NOOOO, I'm thinking I am pretty much screwed. So with no other options, I mean I have to get over the bridge to get home.....yes, I jumped the fence! A little crazy to be hopping fences at 41 years old, but I figured worst case scenario, I would explain to a cop and possibly get a ride over the bridge if I had to.

Ok, one dilemna I get over that first fence, no little fence by the way, probably 8 feet tall and up at the top of the stairs, there is another very large fence, and in the distance I see a 3rd large fence! I panic and turn back.

So now I opt to go back over the first fence and figured I would see how many fences are locked on the other side. Back to the South side, I pass the big orange sign saying closed, I climb up the stairs.....and guess what, it wasnt friggen closed. They must of not changed the signs or something. So I am now running over the George Washington Bridge at about 10pm at night and it felt great just to have made it out of the city alive. Oh, and I did stop to send a couple of pics into my twitter account just for fun.

This is where I basically ran aimlessly the rest of the way home. Once I got over the bridge I had to somehow navigate around all the connecting highways while staying in the basic direction of my destination. Yup, I did this with no directions. Its a long story, but basically I couldnt get a runnable route printed out on map quest so I figured I would just wing it. I mean worst case scenario, I would be running all night.

On the backroads, I came to several dead ends and wrong turns that I'm sure added several miles to my trip and once I took a road that brought me right on to Rt 4, a pretty fast moving hwy that you really dont want to be running on, especially at night. I got off at the next exit. hehe

I made a gas station stop, a 7-11 stop and a McDonalds stop along the way to refill my bottles and try to make sure I was heading in the right direction.

The McDonalds doors were closed so I had no other choice but to get in line behind a car in the drive through. Lol, it was pretty awkward but my bottles were light and there was nothing else around. It was my turn ,so I walked up to the window and I guess since I didnt make my order through the speaker they didnt know I was there. So I proceeded to knock on the window, and order my bottle of water. The look on the employees faces pretty much summed up my whole night.

I did get a call from my wife at about midnight questioning my sanity, so I tried to convince her that this is normal Ultra runner behavior, She wasnt buying it as she laid in bed alone knowing I was out on the roads.

At one point in Teaneck NJ, I ran into a group of Asian guys on the street and asked them If I was heading in the right direction for Paramus, and after they got over the strangeness of this crazy runner asking for directions at 11pm to a town that is still 9 miles away they were a great help. How do you say crazy or stupid in Chinese? I'm pretty sure thats what they were saying.

My car was parked in Paramus at my brothers house and after it was all said and done, I made it back in Just under 5 hours. 25 mile trip.

I will definitely be doing it again.

The Northface Endurance Challenge Washington DC 50 mile Race Report

2009-09-24T11:52:00.014-04:00

5am start to the Northface Endurance Challenge. The weather was just about perfect. If I had to guess it was probably 55 degrees at Start and worked it's way up to 70 throughout the race. The sun was shining all day, but most of the trails were shaded. The run took place Right outside of Washington DC in a place called Algonkian Park. It was really spectacular, if you live anywhere near this area and have not taken advantage, you really need to check it out.

The first 2 hours were run in the dark. When you are totally reliant on a head lamp to navigate your way through very dark trails that you've never run on before, it makes it a bit tough to stay on course. When you run in the trails, you point your light to the ground so you can watch your footing, but the trail markers are marked in the trees, so it's very easy to blow right by a simple turn on the course. Luckily most Ultra Runners are a very kind and considerate bunch and someone will usually yell out to you if you make a wrong turn. There were several times that I was saved from traveling into the abyss from a fellow runner behind me, and I was able to save a couple myself. I was off to a quick start as usual, it's kind of becoming my style......go out faster than I should and try to knock as many miles as possible out and then hang on for dear life later in the race. The way I look at it is that I'm most likely going to be hanging on for dear life later in the race anyway, so I might as well run strong while I can. Plus I also read that this first section of the course was very runnable compared to the hills that come later so I tried to take advantage.

There was a woman in front of me that appeared to be running by the light of the moon, I couldn't believe it because with all the tree cover it was basically pitch black. Turns out her Head lamp was low in batteries and she asked that I please take the lead. I gladly took the lead but warned her that just because my light was working does not mean that I will take us in the right direction! Boy did she pick the wrong guy to lead, I must of made 2 or 3 wrong turns with her having to yell out to me that I was going the wrong way. She was an excellent navigator using me as a light. hehe.

I knew I was going too fast and I was now leading a pack of people. I really didn't want to be leading, especially since I knew It was pushing my pace faster than I wanted, but I must admit I felt great so I just went with it. There was Gatorade, water, and a bunch of other goodies at every aid station. As far as Electrolytes go, I basically stuck w/ my Hammer endurolytes and gatorade. I think during the whole race I only ate one gel (Hammer banana) and a few pcs of orange Gu Chomps. I don't like taking in to much gels or chews during a really long race.

At about mile 13 Jason Eads blew by me running about a 6 min mile pace. Lol, ok maybe it was a 9 or 10 min pace and he didn't blow by me, we actually ran together for about a half mile or so., but I can tell Jason was feeling strong. He went on to finish in the top 10 percent.

The trails in Algonkian park are excellent, a lot of single lane packed dirt (my favorite) with just enough dips, logs, roots, and rocks to keep it interesting. When you run single file with a bunch of other runners behind you and you come across a fallen tree that you have to hurdle you yell out "tree" and then each person in line behind you yells it out also. "Tree", "tree", "tree", "tree". Lol, it amuses me every time. "Root", "root", "root". Ha ha.

When you reach the 16 mile mark (approximately) the 50 milers start a 6 mile (approximate) loop that you have to circle 3 times. It consisted of a bunch of hills, and a really cool section of a VERY HIGH rocky cliff that overlooks the Potamic River. Running through this Cliff section the sights were amazing, with many people repelling down the cliff, and many Kayakers down below.

Coming up one of the hills around the loop I saw my friend David Lee ahead of me. He looked like he was limping and struggling. I remember thinking how tough this guy was considering 2 days prior he told me that he had an injury to his upper thigh but was still going to give the race a shot. Sometimes us Ultra runners might not be the best decision makers when it comes to whether or not we should run. I walked w/ David for a couple of minutes and I could tell he was trying to stay positive, but he was hurting for sure.

For me, the middle part of the race went very well, I got into a comfortable pace and for many miles I just cruised along enjoying the run. I walked the steep hills, and later in the race walked all hills. Walking the hills slows you down, but you don't gain that much time by running them considering the extra energy it takes you.

At about the half way point I picked up a bottle of Hammer Sustained energy that I kept in my drop bag. It's basically liquid food. I love this stuff, because I really don't have much of an appetite for solid foods when I go long, so this stuff works wonders. The difference in energy for me is noticeable after drinking it. I did a good job the whole race of hydrating myself and taking my Endurolytes, I carried one handheld bottle all the way to about mile 34 and then picked up a second out of my drop bag.

There was one Aid Station on the loop that I forgot to fill my bottle and I had to make it all the way to the next aid station with no fluids. That hurt, I think it was only about a 3 mile stretch, but when you're at mile 30, with a lot of hills in front of you, and no fluids, it feels like 8 miles. That might of been the time I struggled the most for the day.

Once I completed the last loop, I had the same 16 mile stretch to go back to the finish that took me out to the loop, except this time it won't be dark! There were a couple of real hard hills in this section, but overall a much flatter section then than loop. I told the volunteers at the last Aid station of the loop that although I loved them, I was glad that I would never see them again! They said they were getting a lot of that.

This last section was most memorable for me. You finish the loops but still have to pull out 16 more miles to the finish, so you really have to dig deep. I pushed myself really hard to run this whole section. I passed many people through this part because a lot of people were walking, even on the flats. At about mile 44 I was running through a single lane dirt trail section, with 5 foot high grass on both sides. Coming in the opposite direction were 2 women walking their dogs. The first Dog looked like a cross between a boxer and a pitbull, he was black and white and strong looking. The dogs were both on leashes, but the first lady had the Dog in between her and me so as I ran by this pup decided to take a chomp on my thigh. I was completely in the zone at this time and getting bit was the last thing I expected. I jumped and said "What the ....."! She immediately grabbed the dogs leash tight to her, screamed at him, and gave him a wack. The 2nd woman asked me if I was all right, I replied, "I'm not quite sure and I really need to finish this race", and I just kept running. I had compression shorts on under my running shorts and I didn't want to pull them up and see until I got to the next aid station. ( Thats my dog Bandit in the pic, wish he was with me!)

I pulled into the AS and immediately looked at my thigh and yes, I had a bloody gash on my leg from the very scary and ferocious beast that attacked me on the course. Haha, ok, maybe he wasn't that scary and ferocious, but it makes for a better story. Lol It was actually a killer Chihuahua that had to jump all the way up to my thigh to reach me!

Haha Just kidding, the dog was just like I originally described it.

The medics at the Aid Station, sprayed it for me with some antibacterial stuff and bandaged it up. Overall I don't think the incident cost me any time on my race, it might of even helped me a little bit. There's nothing like getting a bite in the ass with 5 miles to go in a 50 miler. Lol

I pressed on and finished the last section strong passing a couple of more people that were walking the last couple of miles. I crossed the finish line w/ my wife and sister in law cheering me in (they both ran the half marathon).

Someone pointed out a tub of ice water to me and I imediately threw my shoes and socks off and jumped in. It felt really good and is probably part of the reason I am already running w/ no problems this week.

Amazing race for me, I was hoping to finish under 10 hours and I finished in 9:29:42. That gave me 38th place out of 212 runners. 21 DNF's.

I asked Jason and David if they had seen Dean K yet, and they pointed him out to me. He was meeting, greeting, and signing. He had just got back from running 100 miles in Brazil, broken ribs and all. As usual I got the warm smile and hello that I always get from Dean, and my wife finally got to meet him.

I ate some food, and waited around until my drop bag showed back up to the finish area and then we took off. We drove through Washington DC before heading home and took in the sights. I had never been there, it was pretty cool. Next up for me is the Steamtown Marathon on Oct 11th. It was originally supposed to be a BQ attempt, but I have not kept up w/ any consistant speed work since training for this Ultra, so I will see if I can atleast pull a PR out. 3:29 or better.

The Self-Transcendence Marathon 8/25/2009

2009-08-26T09:39:00.001-04:00

A marathon on a tuesday morning?
9 loops around a lake?
Serving cups of seaweed at the drink stations?
Yup its the The Self-Transcendence Marathon and I ran it for the 3rd time this year.
If you can dodge the smell of BO from some of the Europeans in this race that for some strange reason don't feel it necessary to wear deodorant..... its actually a great race. I don't say that to be rude, but I've run this race 3 years in a row now and its the same every year. I just don't get it. Anyway...I just find it a little strange.
Since this is an August race, I don't ever expect a pr, I do it for pure enjoyment and training.
The first year I ran it in 2007 was the longest it ever took me to finish a marathon, 4:30 because it was 90 degrees and humid out.
Second year I finished in 3:55 and this year I finished in 3:53.
I'm not a big fan of multiple loop races, but they do have their advantages, well atleast one advantage....You can keep your own cooler right on the course as a personal aid/drink station. It takes a little time away stopping at your cooler, but its worth the ice cold drinks and its really only seconds if you do it right.
The race went well for me this year, I kept my pace right around 8:30 a mile for the first 15 miles or so, and then dropped back just a little bit towards the second half of the race as it got a little warmer.
The great Ultra runner David James was running it this year, as if it wasn't enough getting lapped over and over by him 2 weeks ago at the Turkey Swamp 50k, now he lapped me a couple more times yesterday. Really good guy though, always throws words of encouragement at you as he runs by.
Also my friend David Lee was running it again this year, always nice to see David. We've run a few Marathons together now and are both running the NF DC 50 miler next month.

By the way, I always pass on the seaweed. I really don't know how anyone could stomach it while running a Marathon. Where do they get it from anyway? Are they pulling it right from the lake we are running around? I even have to look away when I see someone else slurping it down. Ewww.

I do really enjoy running this race, its nearby to where I grew up, it's
around a beautiful lake, and the race is very well done by the Sri Chinmoy Marathon team.

NYC Half Marathon race report 8/16/09

2009-08-16T15:26:00.002-04:00

Wow, listen to this! I set my alarm for 4:30 today for the NYC Half Marathon(7am start). I have about an hour commute to Manhatten from my house in NJ.
I'm not quite sure what happened to my alarm, but I woke up on my own at 5:30 in a panic!! An hour late and only one and a half hours to get ready, drive to NYC, hand in my drop bag, and get to the start line. Yikes!
I grab my stuff and run out the door, no shower, no breakfast.
I was making good time on the commute so I made a quick stop on Rt 4 to Dunkin Donuts. Grabbed a coffee and a Muffin. It was worth the few minutes for me to try to get something in my stomach.
Ended up only eating one bite of the muffin and a few sips of the coffee. (Couldn't stomach the muffin). Not my normal pre race breakfast.
I made it to the city at 6:30, I parked the car and started getting my drop bag ready and my stuff together. As I am packing up my bag I realize I don't have my wallet anymore!!! I used it at Dunkin Donuts so I think I either left it there or must of dropped it as I was getting back in the car. I searched the car 10 times. I called information and got the DD's number and called them. Of course they say they have no wallet.
Oh brother! Now I have like 15 minutes to bring my drop bag and get to the start line. I considered not racing and going back and looking for my wallet, but that only lasted a few seconds.
I dropped my bag, and ran to my corral as they are announcing they are closing the corrals and everyone else would have to go to 10 blocks away to the end of the line. Whew, made it!
Now I'm in desperate need of a porta potty! That's right, I didn't go to the bathroom before I left the house either!!
5 minutes to race start and I get on a very long line to use the bathrooms, (porta potty's in the corral) I'm prepared to wait as long as I have to at this point because I felt like I was about to explode (if you know what I mean).
The corrals start to move forward a bit so most of the people on the bathroom lines blow off their chance to use the toilets and they move forward. I jump in the next available porta potty. (Lesson to everyone, I always bring a couple of wipes w/ me on race day, just in case!!) Guess what, there is no toilet paper left in the porta potty! Thank goodness I had the wipes!!
I finish up, jump back in line and the gun goes off!
I am now sweating, and I haven't even started running yet.
Lol, I made it though! I'm now running.
After being late, and losing my wallet, I decided that I would wear my I-Pod for the race. (Something I never do) Figuring I could just crank the music so loud I wouldn't be able to distract myself thinking about this crazy morning. It worked pretty well, I just cranked it up and ran. I started off nice and easy around the park and about mile seven I started pushing it hard. It's only my second race ever that I ran Negative splits, passing many people in the second half of the race. Even though it was not a great overall time for me 1:49:20, I was happy that I finished really strong. The last two FULL marathons I ran earlier this year I made it to the half way point in 1:39 and 1:40. But it is August now and I just ran a 50k last Sunday, so I'll take this performance and be happy.
After the race, I pick up my drop bag and realize I have no wallet or money to get back uptown to my car. Ughhh.
So check this out, I'm walking by the subway entrance and I say to one of NY City's finest "By any chance are they letting runners ride the subway for free?" I knew damn well they weren't, I figured I'd just throw it out there. I explained to him briefly that I didn't have my wallet. This police officer walked me from the street, all the way down to the subway and swiped me through the turn style to ride the subway uptown!!!!
What and amazing guy, and so deserving of the title "NYC's Finest"! I thought I'd be running back uptown, but really wanted to get back to my car quickly and search for my wallet.
What a morning! All this happened and it was still only 10am. I never did find my wallet, so I spent some time when I got home cancelling a credit card and a Bank card.

Ps. I finished in 1909th place out of 10,100. racers with a time of 1:49:20.

Added 8/17/09- Some one that lives a couple of towns over from me brought my wallet back to my house later that day!!! He found it on the parking lot floor. SEEEEEEEEE, People are good!

Turkey Swamp 50k 2009 Race Report

2009-08-10T11:49:00.001-04:00

The Turkey Swamp race has 4 distances to chose from, the 10 miler, 25k, 20 miler, and the 50k.
Last year I ran the 20 miler and Marybeth ran the 10 miler.
This year I ran the 50k and Marybeth ran the 10 miler again.
The course is a 2.5 mile (or so) loop consisting of some trail, dirt road, and grass fields. Last year there was only one short stretch of grass, this year the course was changed and it seemed like almost half of the loop was grass. It wasn't easy running by any means.
On the drive to the race, about half way there I realized I left my bag (that I spent an hour packing the night before) home! It had all of my gels, endurolytes(salt tabs), extra clothing, hat, Glide, band aids, basically everything. Thankfully I had my running clothes, sneakers, and Garmin with me, so no need to freak out. We stopped at a rest stop on the way down and I picked up some band aids for my nips. 33 miles with out my nips covered would not be good for me. I would have to improvise with the rest of the stuff I forgot.
My wife was running the 10 miler again, and she had some shot blocks and gels that I would end up using.
The race started and it was raining lightly, it felt nice actually. The grass was wet for the first half of the race though, so my sneakers stayed wet the whole race basically.
I'm not gonna put a positive spin on this report, cause basically this race sucked for me. I'm not quite sure why, but I just had a horrible race and struggled about as hard as I've ever struggled from mile 19 to about mile 22.
When the race started all of the 50k'ers had to hang a left and do an extra 1 mile loop before starting the loop which would supposedly complete the 31 miles.
I felt strong for the first 15 miles or so, averaging between an 8 and 9 minute pace easily, then I slowed it down a bit for the next few miles, but then suddenly the wheels fell off, I found myself starting to walk and wonder if this would be my first DNF, since I was already dead and I still had 12 miles to go.
The only thing I could think of was that it was really humid and I didn't have my salt tabs (I left them in the bag at home), I have been training with them the whole summer. I felt like my stomach was bloated from the fluids I was taking in, but I was still really thirsty. I found myself nauseas at times and light headed and was trying to force down liquids but it was hard with a bloated stomach.
I started to remember all the little tricks I've learned along the way, most importantly to keep moving forward no matter how bad I felt and hope things would change. I started to pick a tree or an object in the distance and force myself to run to it.
My youngest son came to the race with us and sat by the cooler and did some crewing for us, handing me drinks, filling my bottles. Then at one point, probably the turning point in the race for me, it was about mile 22 and I was walking, and he came running up to me with a stick and said "Why are you walking, go, go, go" and he started hitting me in the back of my legs with the stick!! Lol, I immediately put a big smile on my face and started running again. I ran the rest of the race at about a 12 minute pace, but never walked again. (Other then some very short moments). Probably the deepest I've ever had to dig in a race.
My last loop I managed to run a 10 min pace just cause I wanted it to be over so bad. I passed about 3 or 4 racers in that last 3 miles.
There was a lot of rumblings during the race about the course being long, which was correct. I clocked over 33 miles on my Garmin, and several other people clocked the same as me. I was fine with it though, I'd rather go long then short. My only concern was that it was fair and everyone did the same distance. There were some stories about guys who clocked only 30.5 miles on their Garmins, which means they were supposed to do another loop, but since they didn't know the course was long, they thought they were finished.
There was one check in point for the 50k'ers on the loop where you checked in every time around, so hopefully they will have an accurate count of who did the correct amount of loops.
Either way, it was a great training run for me in preparation for my 50 miler next month.
I finished in 5:59, over an hour longer than my last 50k but very happy with my effort.
No matter how bad of a race time you put in, if you give it your all, you will always walk away feeling good.
http://www.bestrace.com/results/09/090809TS6.HTM

Train Hard, Race Hard.

2009-07-30T10:58:00.006-04:00

"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.

Badwater crewing report

2009-07-22T16:55:00.002-04:00

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.

Ramapo Mountain Madness 50k -1st Ultra

2008-12-05T10:42:00.000-05:00

I ran the Ramapo Mountain Madness 50k today. My first Ultra Marathon. 2007 has deffinitely been my year for running, cause in the last 6 months ive run a 5k, 10k, 15k, Half Marathon, 3 Marathons, and today a 50k. I'm feeling like an Adams.The race temp was 42 degrees at start and raised to about 55 max. It was perfect.It was a very small race, held by YTD lifestyle sneaker company.It was an extremely hard course of very rough terrain and some serious hills. I actually ripped the mesh on my Arnuvos from the rocks.Race was going really well for the first 10 miles, I stayed with the top 5 runners for the first few miles then I dropped a bit back on some of the hills. At about mile 10 I passed one guy and then another at mile 12. It was around that point that 2 runners that were in the front of the pack came running in my direction,they were lost.I showed them the marker on the tree that I just passed to assure them that they were going in the right direction, but they said they ran a half a mile down the trail and all the markers were gone. So I ran back down there with them to see if they missed something, but they were right, The trail was really well marked and all of a sudden there was nothing. Now there was 5 of us all running together back tracking when a friend of mine also in the race came running towards us. I was so glad it was him cause he knows these trails pretty well. So we ran in the direction that he thought the trail should go and within a couple of miles we started to see the trail marking again, alot of them on the floor. Apparently some Hunters or maybe some kids decided to take the markers off the trees. It must of been a disaster for all of the racers after us also. For me it only put me about a mile out of the way. We started off again and I was able to maintain 4th place for the remainder of the race.I finished 4th overall out of 48 people with a time of 4:34, I felt so good today! After mile 20 or so I walked most of the steep hills, and ran everywhere else.After I finished I waited an hour and only 2 other people came across the finish line.Even though the course was so hard, the race seemed to fly by. I think when you run in the mountains you are so focused on watching your footing and the trail markers that it occupies your time so much better then just pounding the pavement for hours. The longest race ive run in the trails prior to this was a 10k. I could see why most Ultras are on trails.I'm probably going to run the Philly Marathon next month.

The Adirondack Marathon 9/07

2008-12-05T10:40:00.001-05:00

Hey all, I ran the Adirondack Marathon this morning. I'm pretty happy cause I set PR for myself 3:54 on a pretty hard course. the results arent posted yet, but I think I placed 61st overall and 8th in my age group out of almost 300 racers.(Bib # 247) The whole first half is pretty nice sized hills, but you get rewarded with some down hills also. The second half felt alot tougher for me, cause it seemed like about 10 of the 13 miles was just one never ending up hill stretch. Every time you thought you made it over the top of a hill, there lies another huge stretch of hill, not really too steep, but just really long.Part of me felt like the different elevations helps a bit cause you use different muscles and you are not always pounding at the same flat pace. When the race started, the announcer said it was 36 degrees, it felt a little warmer though. It probably warmed up to high 50's by the half way point, I ate around 4 gel packs and carried my water bottle till around mile 21. When I was at mile 26 I was right behind a guy that looked like he might of been in my age group, so out of nowhere I got this sudden burst and started sprinting to the finish and passed him. As I was sitting on a bench having my chip taken off the guy I passed sat down next to me and said where did that come from? I said I have no idea but I must say Vickie Adams was in my head a bit with the whole age group thing and my wife and kids were there cheering me on.I think I'm ready for a 50k now.

The Self Transcendence Marathon 8/07

2008-12-05T10:37:00.000-05:00

Hello all, a little unexpected, but I ran a Marathon today. It was called The Self Transcendence Marathon. It was in Rockland County NY, where I grew up. It was held at Rockland Lake wich is a 3 mile loop around, so you had to circle it almost 9 times.lol.I used to jog around this lake when I was younger, never more than one loop though. I only found out about it a week ago, so I sent a check out and got in just in time. I originally signed on just as a training run for the 50k in Hartford next month, but that has been since cancelled. (So I will be looking for a new event). Anyway, I had no idea what I signed up for, it is a very low key race. It is held by SRI Chinmoy Races. At the beginning of the race everyone ( probably around 800 people) pushed all the way up to the starting line as an old man who could barely walk made his way to a stage. I have no idea who he was, but everyone seemed to be in awe by him. It was so silent that all you could hear was the crickets, and I noticed that some people had there hands together as if they were praying. I immediately wondered what I had gotten involved in, some type of religious cult or something. The old guy started speaking and everybody seemed to understand him but me, Im still not sure if he was speaking a different language or some kind of secret code. Anyway he ended his speach by saying Now Start, and everyone started. I finished in 4:28. I carried my bottle the whole way until the last lap, I dropped it cause it was empty. I took it nice and easy for the first half and actually felt pretty good all the way to around mile 18 or so and then my legs and feet started really feeling all the pounding. I tried to make a conscious effort to shuffle along and not pound so much, but....you know....it still hurts. Around mile 23 the old guy that gave the speach in the begining drove by on a motorized cart surrounded by an entourage of about 8 people. ( I never found out who he was). He was either some religious head, or maybe some type of Yoga Zen Master of some kind.The last lap couple of laps was absolutely all heart pushing me along. I'll tell ya what.....its really hard to run for 4 and a half hours!!My last marathon was just under 4 hours, that extra half hour hurt a lot.

NJ Marathon 4/07 1st Marathon

2008-12-05T10:33:00.000-05:00

My First Marathon Race report:Wow...... that was really hard! :o)As usual I set a high goal for myself and started off running with a pacer to finish at 3:30. I stayed with him for most of the first half of the race and clocked 1:44 It was at that point that it suddenly became really hard! I slowly started dropping back for the entire second half of the race. Once the 3:45 pacer passed me I thought it was a good time to change my goal, and decide that ld be happy to just finish at this point. :o). I finished the second half in 2:12 for a total race chip time of.....3:57.29.From mile 17 to mile 26 there was several times when I thought i wasnt going to make it, but I just kept on going as Dean mentions and finally made it to a very glorious finish.
In between mile 12 and 13 I started to feel a little sluggish for the first time in the race. I took a vanilla bean GU out of my shorts pocket as I was coming up to a water station. I never could stomach them, but I knew I would have to get some energy into my body somehow. I squeezed it into my mouth, but nearly gagged on it. I held it in my mouth as I ran up to the guy holding a water cup for me cause I figured I would wash it down with the water. The poor guy handing me the water cup ......to him it must of looked like I was foamimg at the mouth , cause my mouth was opened with this white GU in there and he had a look of terror on his face like he thought I was having a siezure or something.I tried to drink it down but ended up just spitting it all on the floor. This was a good learning experience for me. From now on for me it will only be solid food, maybe Sports beans or Shot blocks or something.Later at mile 18 I grabbed a handful of Gummy Bears and started chewing on them, but at the end of this station there were orange slices that looked amazing so I swollowed about 3 or 4 of the gummy bears whole and grabbed 3 orange slices and wolfed them down!! They were the greatest thing on earth at the time.At about mile 22 when everyone else was turning left......I was in LALA land and kept going straight even though there were cones set up to stear me to the left. If it werent for the guy behind me calling out to me ....hey you're going the wrong way. I was about to run straight through the cones and start my own course.I really had no specific problems at all the entire race other then losing overall energy , legs felt good ( no specific pain) and breathing was good.

Philadelphia Marathon 11/07

2008-12-05T10:29:00.001-05:00

The race started at the staircase of The Museum Of Art. Made famous by Rocky's triumphant training run to the top of the stairs. Maybe they were famous before the movie, but I'm sure that is what they are recongnized most for now as you see hundreds of people run up to the top and raise their hands in the air when they make it up. My wife told me that during the race the announcer for the race held a run to the top and they blasted the theme music to Rocky and hundreds of people all ran up the stairs.The starting line for the race was a sea of people as far as you can see. They start the half and the full marathons together so I think there was about 12 to 15 thousand people total. The largest race I've run in yet.My plan was to run w/ the 3:40 pacers. The roads were so crowded with runners that it wasn't easy staying with the pace group so I found myself fading back a bit and continuosly dodging slower runners just to keep the same pace. My first mile was 9 minutes and I still had the pacer in my sights but I knew I had to start making up some ground. I learned quick that if you wanted to move faster you needed to stay to the sides of the streets as opposed to running down the middle where it was always jammed up. It was around mile 7 or 8 when I finally caught up with the pacer but the roads were still packed with runners. I was starting to wonder if it was going to ever thin out. At around mile 10 I unintentionaly started pulling away from the pace group and pulled a little further ahead of them for the next few miles. At one point I turned back to see where the pacer was (they carried balloons) and I couldn't see them at all, and I was about 2 minutes ahead of where I should of been. At about mile 17 the people were thinning out and I was starting to feel a little fatigued. I think I was keeping my original pace, but I deffinitely wasn't gaining any ground on the 3:40 group at this point. At mile 18 I took my 2.99 knit gloves off and ditched them to the side of the road. It was like 40 degrees and a little windy I think. At around mile 19 I was starting to question my ability to keep pace and mile 20 I was deffinitely feeling like it would be almost impossible. I had eaten around 3 gels since the start and did not have the stomach for anymore. I forced another one down just cause I could feel the energy leaving my body, but it didn't seem to really help much. At mile 21 my pace group that I had a lead on earlier was coming up behind me. I could hear the pacer yelling behind me "cmon 3:40's, keep it up you're doing great". I said ok, I will try to run with them for the rest of the way, but it was wierd, my legs just could move that fast anymore! I stayed with them for a few moments and the watched them slowly pull away in to the distance. Mile 23 was my slowest mile yet, I wouldn't be suprised if it was a 10 minute pace. Mile 24 to 25 felt like an eternity!! I was convinced that they did not measure this mile correctly at all, until I reached the mile 25 marker. Mile 25 to the end of the race was the most trying thing I have done since I've been running so far. So many questions were running through my head like, How bad do I want this? How important is this to me? Should I just stop and walk? Will I ever run another Marathon again? Can I possibly pull the last 1.2 miles out in under 10 minutes wich is what I needed to do to come in under 3:45. I put my head down, staired at the ground and pushed as hard as I could until I had the finish line in my sights! I knew now that they probably had mile 24 marked just fine cause the last mile felt even longer.The theme to Rocky playing when I crossed the finish line, my wife waiting there with a big smile on her face, and all I could think of was "Thank God its over".I wrapped a thermal blanket around me as fast as I could, cause within a minute of my finish my body temerature must of been dangerously low, my teeth were literally chattering together and my body was shaking like crazy.I went in the tent real fast and drank some orange juice, but didn't have the stomach to eat anything yet. I hooked up w/ my wife and we had about a mile walk to the parking garage with no time to waste cause I had to be at my youngest sons last soccer game of the year back in NJ. ( 2 hour drive). It was the coldest walk that I have ever had to do and you know I wasn't moving very fast at all.On the way home I was suddenly STARVING! We made one stop at what might of been the best Italian Deli I've ever been in. I ordered a Ham and Swiss hero w/ lettuce tomato and mayo and I think it might go down as the greatest thing I've ever eaten in my life!At one point in the car, I had my seat pushed all the way back and my wife was driving ofcourse, I stretched my legs out and my calf locked up and some wierd lump popped up out of it like there was an Alien trying to brake free from inside. My yell scared the heck out of my wife and she nearly drove off the road. I immediatly grabbed it, put pressure on it, and started rubbing it until the lump went back down. I'm still not really sure what that was all about but I'm fine today. It was an amazing race.

Pocono Marathon 5/08

2008-12-05T10:24:00.000-05:00

I was able to start running pretty strong this week for the first time since my 50 miler 3 weeks ago. So I made a last minute decision on saturday night to run the Pocono Marathon in PA this morning. I felt the need to answer that question again.....Whats wrong? Boredom and my addiction were calling me.
It was a point to point marathon , a first for me. Touted as a downhill race,....part of the reason I convinced myself to try it. I was a bit nervous about how I would do since I've only been back running for a week now, 3 times, and 8 miles the longest.I'll try to make this a quick report.I felt really good for the first 16 miles or so and then I started to feel the pain come back into my legs from 2 weeks ago. There was a lot more up hills then the website made it seem and thank goodness because the downhills were killing my knees. With every step I had shooting pain through both my knees and my pulled right quad that I thought was healed was now back. My pace slowed from 8min, to 9 min, to 10 min, and I was able to suffer through the pain keeping the 10 min pace through the last 6 miles or so. I finished in 3:49. I havent seen the results, so I'm not sure of my placement yet. This was one of the harder races for me. I did jump in an ice bath as soon as I got home, and I am actually feeling pretty good right now as long as I dont get up.

Philadelphia Marathon 11/08

2008-12-05T10:19:00.000-05:00

Philly 2008This was my 9th Marathon(including 2 Ultras) since starting in May 2007.It was 27 degrees with some wind at race start. I decided to wear shorts, a long sleeve NF baselayer shirt, one short sleeve shirt over it, gloves and a hat. I wore a ratty old sweatshirt at the starting line that I ditched right before the start. I followed one of Hal Higdons training plans for this race and it worked out great. I really recommend it. If you work full time it's a great plan because the workouts during the week are really hard, but not time consuming, and then most of your miles come on the weekend.They broke the race up into different time starts this year because last year it got way to clustered at the first few drink stations. I was in the first group that started at 7:04am.I wore my Nathan fuel belt that holds 2, 10oz bottles and I stuffed 5 gels in the pouch, plus 1 in my shorts pocket. (Mostly GU Vanilla Bean and a couple of GU Octanes).One bottle had gatorade and one water. I ran the first half of the race exactly like I wanted to. I keep my Garmin on a mile lap, so I can see how fast I'm clocking each mile. I maintained just under an 8 min pace easily for 13 miles. The race splits at this point, the Half Marathoners cross the finish line and the full obviously keep going in the opposite direction. A large portion of the second half is run on a highway along a river, so it was windier and colder. The drink stations on this open road all had ice on the ground from all of the dropped water. The volunteers were all great about warning everyone, but you had to go slow or you could of easily wiped out. Next year some salt at each station might be a good idea. (Only one station had salt on sunday).I continued to feel great all the way to mile 20 before I started feeling a little tired. My mile 20 came in at 8:15, which I wasnt happy about. I knew that if I was gonna hit my goal I couldnt start dying so soon. I regrouped, had a talk with myself and pushed out an 8:05 mile 21 and another 8:05 mile 22. Then my mental struggles really began on mile 23, I was happy though because I still felt good enough to push pretty hard, but I just didnt have enough in the tank to maintain that earlier pace and get that negative split. my slowest mile was 25 at 8:38 and my last mile was 8:23 and I finished pretty strong with my hands in the air knowing that I beat my PR by more than 10 minutes. I guess I let to many miles go just over that 8 min mark cause I ended with a 8:09 pace average for the race.After the race I was wondering how bad I really wanted to Qualify for Boston. Training for this race was really hard, not to mention all of the pain and struggle in those last 4 miles. Knowing that I need another 14 minutes off my time was very disouraging to me.Proving that the pain was only temporary, I was looking for a good Boston Qualifier the very next day to run in the spring.It might be the NJ Marathon on May 3rd 2009. It would be fitting, since that was my first ever Marathon in 2007. My wife finished her first Half Marathon also on Sunday. 2:06.She loved it and had a great time, but said she might not do it again until we go back to Philly. For her, I think the mental build up you go through leading up to a big race messes with her head too much and causes her some anxiety.
I can't go without mentioning how great the spectators are in this race!! It was below freezing and the streets were filled with cheering crowds. It's such a great race to run. Thanks to everyone on the blog for your positive support and thoughts, and all of the motivation you provide.

The Self Transcendence Marathon 8/08

2008-12-05T10:16:00.001-05:00

The Self-Transcendence Marathon report;a.k.a- The seaweed marathon, cause they serve little dixie cups of seaweed on the course. (Funny that you remembered that John).This was my second year running this Marathon, Its in Rockland County NY where I grew up. A 3 mile loop around a beautiful lake that you have to run 9 times. A 7am friday morning start. The temp started very nice, probably 70 degrees. I met David from the blog near the starting line, a real nice guy from Brooklyn NY, we spoke briefly and I introduced him to a friend that was running the race w/ me and Marybeth who was there for support and to man the cooler. She ended up not being a great person to be in charge of the cooler because she just wanted to run herself. She ended up doing 3 loops (9 miles) and I ended up stopping and flling my bottles my self at an unmanned cooler. lol, I actually thought it was great, I would rather her be running than handing me off drinks. She wasnt even at the finish line at the end cause she was still running. lolWhen I ran this Marathon last year and I really struggled finishing in 4:29, my slowest time from all the Marathons I've run. This makes 6, not including 2 Ultras dating back to last April.I've been in a bad habit of going out too strong ( Just like Spurgeon mentions) so this Marathon I wanted to be very calculated because I really wanted redemption from last years time. I started at an 8:30 pace and really felt like I would be able to maintain this for the whole race. It would be a PR for me if I did. I was knocking off the miles like clockwork, checking my Garmin every few minutes to make sure I was staying on pace. For the first 19 miles I was right on it, every mile was right on the money. At mile 20, I was starting to feel the heat from the Sun beaming down on me, the temp had jumped up and it was much hotter then at the start. I clocked this mile at about 8:50 and here is how the last 6 miles looked;21- 9:1322- 9:3023- 9:3824- 10:1625- 9:5026- 9:54I keep my Garmin on a one mile lap count so I can see each miles pace.I ended up finishing in 3:55..... so much for pacing myself. lolI fueled myself pretty good in this race, I ate 4 GU packs the last one being the new Roctane GU which seemed like it helped if you look at the difference from mile 24 to the last 2 miles. I have to say, I feel really good about this race. I improved over a half hour from last years time and as Dean mentions in his book, When you give it your all in a race, I mean 100% pusing through agony, no matter what the time at the end, You feel great knowing that you left it all on the course. I cheered my wife running back from her 9 mile run, and we walked over to the finish line and cheered my buddy and David come in also. The heat was deffinitely getting alot of people, August in NY is always tough.The results just came up this morning, I place 87th out of 398 people.Great race, great day.

Bear Mountain 50 miler 4/08

2008-12-05T10:12:00.001-05:00

The Northface Endurance Challenge Bear Mountain NY.. 50 mile report:My wife and I arrived at Bear Mountain at 4am. She was volunteering and was assigned to the 1st Aid station from 4:30am to 11:30am. She had a scary 4 wheel ride up the mountain in a park utility vehicle in the dark. ( Some of you might of seen her, she was the only female at that 1st station).After she headed up the Mountain, I drove to the local 24 hour gas station for a cup of coffee. I got back to the park at 4:45 and I'm all set. I looked around for Dean but couldnt find him. I hit the porta potty for the last time and was ready to start my first 50 mile Ultra. As I'm standing at the starting line I hear the announcer say " If you don't have your timing chip yet, you have one minute before we start". Well.... Guess what? I realized for the first time that I don't have my timing chip!! In a panic I run over to the booth and grab one and as I am hooking it to my laces the race starts. I make It across the starting line just as the last person is crossing the mat.I've never ran a race that they didnt give you the timing chip at the same time that you pick up your packet. I picked up my packet for this race the night prior and didnt even realize that you had to get your timing chip the next morning, so I forgot all about it.Anyway, off I went. The temp was probably in the 40's and it was a slight drizzle.Sports bottle in hand and fanny belt around my waste filled with 4 packs worth of cliff blocks that I took out of the packages earlier and moved them into a snacksize ziploc so I didnt have to worry about the empty wrappers.The first 2 miles of the race was slightly up hill and rocky terrain but since I had run this part of the course before I knew this was the easy portion of this killer first section. So I pick up my pace for the first 2 miles and pass a large portion of the runners.Right before we hit the serious climb it started downpouring. I mean just about as hard as it could rain, followed by lightening that lit up the whole mountain. When the lightening struck it was really the only time that you could see where you were going, because the headlamps were barely able to shine through the pouring rain and fog.By the time I made it to the first aid station where my wife was the rain broke and the daylight was starting to shine through the trees. I had slipped a half a dozen times and completely went down about 3 times.I took off my soaked long sleeve shirt and gave it to my wife along with my headlamp and put back on a t-shirt and visor. She filled my bottle with blue accelerade, I kissed her and headed out.I learned in this race that it is extremely important in an Ultra marathon that each aid station signs you in or you could be disqualified.I reach into my pack as I leave this station and chew down my first few pcs of cliff blocks (strawberry).About a mile after leaving the first station there in the middle of the woods is a fully dressed fireman standing all by himself. Helmet, jacket and the works. If it was later in the race I would of thought for sure it was a mirage.He said, " This is where the dangerous descent starts, so be careful". I welcomed any descent, even the dangerous ones cause the climb ups were so hard and often. So now I run for another mile or 2 further uphill before we get to the dangerous descent he mentioned.He was a little off, but I appreciated the warning and the random fireman sighting. My wife told me later that he was a rescue ems worker not a fireman.Before hitting the second Aid station you have to cross a major parkway with cars moving around 65 mph in the fog. There was a policeman to guide the runners across the street safely.I hit the second aid station feeling pretty good and out of accelerade.I filled my bottle with Accelerade again and I must say, every aid station throughout the race had ice cold Accelerade and water. They offered me food, but I was still good with my cliff blocks and accelerade.Took off to the next Aid station wich represented the first hard cutoff of the day. Meaning if you were not at this 3rd aid station within 4 hours and 10 minutes of the start you would be pulled from the race. I knew I was in pretty good shape so I didnt sweat it to much. Although this section had some serious climbs, cause I kept thinking "Wow it's just non stop climbing for the first 3 sections". Seemed like there was no letting up.I arrived to the 3rd checkpoint in 3 hours and 50 minutes, 20 minutes under the cutoff. Thats when I started to realize that some people were going to be in trouble, cause there was still racers behind me and I only made it by 20 minutes. My accelerade was finished when I arrived at this station and I was starting to notice that the one bottle of accelerade wasnt really doing it. So I decided to spend a few minutes at this station and just drink some cold water and accelerade. I tried eating a bit but wasnt really in the mood for anything, so I sucked down a few oranges and threw a few skittles in my mouth but the skittles were hard so I spit them back out. The volunteers filled me up again with accelerade and I was off.This section is where the 50k and the 50 milers split. So now instead of following blue and white ribbons, it was just white and much harder to see. So ofcourse I was a couple of miles in and all of a sudden didnt see any more flags. I turned back to see if I missed any and a runner was heading in my direction so I assumed I was ok. I let him pass me and he suddenly turned around and asked me if we were going the right way. I said oh crap, I guess not. So we turned around and found our missed turn around 200 yards back. We start running together and he says to me, " I think we are close to the next aid station". I didnt think we were, but I really hoped he was right. I slowly pulled away from him and of course it was another 40 minutes before the next aid station came, I was starting to wonder if I missed it because his innocent comment totally phsyched me out. I never saw that runner again.I'm now at the fourth aid station (mile 21) and have already been going for over 5 hours. Some negative thoughts started creeping into my head at this point cause I was really hurting and I wasnt even half way. I started thinking about the people on the blog and the advise that Heather gave to me a while back about how you will go through really hard points but then you just start over and keep going.The amazing volunteers filled my bottle and I once again tried to drink as much as I could while I was there cause I didnt feel like the one bottle was enough. I drank a little chicken soup, and took a few bites of a pb&j. I probably wasnt fueling myself as much as I should of been at this point but I was sucking down tons of accelerade and it seemed to keep me going. I was also on my 4th serving of cliff shots. This next section was a tough one because I knew the next station was the half way point (mile 26) and I had my only drop bag of the race waiting for me there.I stopped to pee along the way and got a bit nervous of how dark my pee was. I guess you can't expect it to be clear at this point, but I was starting to worry that I was dehydrating. 30 min later I had to pee again, but this time when I stopped to pee... nothing came out. So now, I'm like...."Great, I've run out of pee.".At this point my mind is starting to mess with me and I am trying to stay focused on continuing forward. I remember Dean saying to just focus from one Aid station to the next and when thats too far, pick a spot at the end of the trail a run to it, and then pick another spot, and so on. ( I heard it somewhere, I think it was Dean)So I did that all the way to the 5th aid station and it got me there.I was 6:45 in now and made it half way and am dangerously flirting with the cutoffs at this point.This was the station that I really came to realize the amazing appreciation that an ultra runner has for the volunteers at these stations. These guys were amazing, totally making me feel great and catering to everything that I needed. The thing they told me that made me feel really good was that I had alot more people behind me then in front of me.I was like wow! Cause I was flirting with the cutoffs already, so unless they all pick up there pace none of the runners behind me will make it.I went through my bag and grabbed a new shirt, my I-pod, some Margarita flavored (extra salt) Cliff shots and my second sports bottle, so now I would carry 2 bottles for the remainder of the race. These guys were asking me how my feet were and totally pushing me to eat and drink. My feet were feeling pretty good, Smart Wool socks and my Rucky Chucky sneaks held up amazingly.I ate some chicken soup, pb&j, and drank some mountain dew. They asked if I wanted some advil but I had no pain serious enough to start taking Advil. They even cleaned up my gear for me cause I basically dumped my bag out on the floor. They even put my sweaty shirt back in the bag cause I just left it wherever I took it off. Those guys from the Grove rd Station were awesome. ( They were all runners they told me).Now I feel like a new man! I have 2 bottles now, my music, a full stomach, and I'm more than half way! I start back up a very steep incline and about a half a mile from the station I pass 3 runners who are not to far behind me heading down to the Aid station that I just left. I wave to them and start running.The next section went by smoothly, a rather large black snake did slither right across my trail but wasnt interested in me at all. This was the longest stretch of the race between aid stations. I think it was 6.7 miles.This is when things got a little interesting for me, I pulled into the 6th aid station, wich is one station away from the second hard cutoff.You have to make it to the 7th aid in 10.5 hours and when I pulled into this 6th station I knew I was pushing it close but still on track.The Volunteers at this station told me that I need not worry about the cutoffs anymore because they extended them! I was running in 19th place right now and if they didnt extend it more then half the racers wouldnt make the cutoff.So my exact words were, "well I guess I can spend some more time here and eat some food and drink some more". I was dipping apple slices and cut up pb&j sandwiches into a bowl of salt and forcing them down, talking to the volunteers, and answering questions. I head out to what was once the next hard cutoff at a very relaxed pace. At about 10 hours and 20 minutes a guy comes walking towards me on the trail, carrying signs and says " Do you realize that you only have 10 minutes to make it to the next aid station or they are taking you off the course. I said, "No they just told me at the last Aid station that the cutoffs were extended.". He in turn says, "nope, that was wrong info, you will be cutoff!". So now I freak out in what was my only moment in the entire race that I wasnt having fun, and I start sprinting to the next station even though I have no idea how far I am from it and I have already run atleast 38 miles at this point. I've never pushed myself so hard as I did right at this moment, I'm looking at my watch and the time is ticking away and all I see is never ending trails! No sign of an Aid station at all! I look up ahead and I finally see a woman with dreadlocks standing all by herself at the bottom of a hill that I would now have to climb with only 4 minutes left on my watch. She says to me, " I'ts right over the Hill." I start running as hard as I could up the hill and the volunteers were all clapping and cheering and informed me that I was the last person to make the cutoff and to be allowed to continue in the race cause they are now closing the Aid station.Holy Crap! I probably spent too much time at this station, but I was so shocked at the series of events that just took place.I tried to drink and eat a bit but now I know I have only 2:20 to finish the last 10 miles of the race. I know that doesnt seem so tough, but on this course you never know when you are going to hit a hill that slows your pace to a 25 min per mile pace cause you are nearly climbing using your arms and legs.I make it to the last Aid station with 55 minutes to finish the race.It's a short portion, but I've run it before and I knew there was some hills that would slow me down.I ran as hard as I could whenever I could, and tried to walk as fast a I can on any steep hills. Sometimes the hill ends but you catch yourself still walking and you have to force yourself to get your ass moving again.I kept telling myself that I didnt come this far to miss the cutoff by 5 minutes so I pushed, and pushed. About a half of a mile from the finish line I actually passed a runner, it took me a minute to realize that he was part of my race, but I just kept going and never looked back.I ran across the finish line in 12 hours and 51 minutes, 9 minutes under the cutoff.According to the results online, 65 people started the race and only 19 people made the cutoffs. I placed 18th.There were points in the race that I had to clip my Nathan water bottles around my fanny belt cause I needed my hands to climb up or down some serious inclines.I drank approximately over 200 ounces of Accelerade. Northface did a great job, and gave a generous bag of goodies and a nice finishers medal.
2 days later, I can barely move my legs but I'm still basking in my Glory and feeling as proud of my self as I've ever felt.

Turkey Swamp 20 miles 8/08

2008-08-11T13:10:00.001-04:00

Marybeth and I ran the Turkey Swamp trail run in Freehold NJ yesterday. I ran the 20 miler, and Marybeth ran the 10 miler (her longest distance yet).
It's a 2.5 mile loop through Turkey Swamp Park. It's a really nice trail, especially for beginner trail runners. Mostly single track dirt trails with a lot of roots and a few stretches of soft sand. Basically a flat course with a couple of very short inclines. Almost every root on the course was marked white, so they would stand out, although I did see one girl in front of me go down pretty hard. She was real tough though, popped right back up. I asked her if she was ok, and she said she was fine.
It was about 70 degrees and sunny, but we were mostly running in the shade, a really nice day. I think the news said about 83% humidity.
For me and I think most people, I would rather run one large loop or a point to point race then multiple loops around a small course. I had to complete this loop yesterday 8 times and it does mess w/ my head and slow me down after a while.
I have a marathon in 11 days called the Self Transcendence Marathon and it is also 9 loops around a 3 mile course. There are not many choices around here in August.
I don't have many exciting details about the run, but I will tell you one thing that I've learned from doing these loop races. I instinctively seem to speed up when I am passing other runners, and I slow down when I am getting passed. I'm not sure why, it just makes me feel better to be passing people(Obviously).
Marybeth overcame a bunch of adversity to complete her race; she almost bailed out 20 minutes before the start. (Personal women issues) One of those times that make you appreciate how easy us men have it compared to women sometimes. She took on her longest distance yet and conquered it in a time of 1:44.03. She continues to impress me.
I finished my 20 miles in 2:47.50, it came out to an 8:23 pace which was the same pace I ran the NY half 2 weeks ago. I don't know, I guess I'm stuck at that pace for now even though I've picked up my speed work, it doesn't seem to be paying off yet.
It was a great day at the races, really nice people, and a well put together race by NJRR club. We both felt really good afterwards. I took an ice bath when I got home and have only a little bit of soreness today.
After running 50 miles and many Marathons, maybe I took this 20 miler for granted, but when I was on mile 18 yesterday I realized that 20 miles is still a really long way. Lol

Dean Karnazes Documentary Report 50/50

2008-08-01T17:26:00.000-04:00

As I was leaving my Manhattan office with all my running gear on, one coworker asked me "Where are you running today"? By the look on their face I don't think they were expecting me to say "Edgewater New Jersey to See the Dean Karnazes movie".

As I sat at the end of my chair watching the 50/50 Documentary, My wife and I couldn't help but feeling proud that we had the insight years ago to realize that Dean was doing something special.
The movie was inspiring, touching, funny, and moving on so many different levels. For the experienced runners, to the beginner runners, to the people who have not yet begun to run, it touches all and makes everyone realize how important it is to have passion and purpose in your life.
It was interesting to watch how Dean tries to cope with so many different variables that came along with running 50 in 50, his family, his new found stature, time constraints, the safety of the other runners, and of course the effects on his body of actually running 50 marathons in 50 days in 50 different states.

I think back now of when I was running over the George Washington Bridge on my way to the movie, marveling at the amazing spectacle of NY City, The Hudson River, and New Jersey and I am so thankful that Dean urged everyone to run to the theater.
Now, instead of my memory being sitting in the theater watching the Dean Karnazes movie,...... my memory will be running out of NY City over the George Washington bridge into NJ to see the Dean Karnazes movie.
I won't ever forget it.