kmag

Running in Topsfield...with a knife

2009-02-18T09:36:00.009-05:00

Well I guess you could say yesterday was an "interesting" one! It was a little chilly but the sun was out, so I decided to finally head back up to Topsfield and try to remember the 12.5mi loop from Stone Cat in November.

The run started out just fine, quite fun actually; staying atop the hard-packed cross-country paths as much as possible and trying to keep my footing on the looser snow. It was beautiful in the woods and I made it to the first aid station location in good time despite slipping once or twice. No one was around, the school parking lot had been empty, and (so far) no one in the woods at all. I kept looking over my shoulder expecting to see a coyote but of course it didn't happen. I freaked myself out a few times, stopping in my tracks and pausing the iPod to scan the forest...nothing.

About 3mi into the loop I was cruising down a hill (finally remembering some turns) to a main trail intersection when I caught something out of the corner of my eye. Two big deer were running the same direction as me, about 70 yards or so from me. Wait, what were they running from? I scanned the woods behind them and saw something shorter moving behind some trees but couldn't quite make it out. So, I decided it would be a good time to pull that little switchblade that I run with from my pocket and carry it in my right hand, with water bottle in the left.

I kept moving and made the decision that if I hit the 1hr point in my run and had lost my way I would turn around, as it takes about 2hrs to complete the loop and I didn't wanna spend all day in the woods. So :55 came, then 1:00 and I remembered a turn, then another! I was really excited to see some familiar landscape again - maybe I could finish the whole loop. Well that was short-lived as I ran another 10 minutes waiting for the 7.5mi, second aid station location and came up empty. I ran directly into another main intersection and had officially lost my trail. Worst case scenario, I had run alongside a paved road with houses about 20mins ago and could easily make it back there. But I headed forward and followed that main trail for another few minutes. Then suddenly I came out on the main loop but heading the opposite direction (good) and at about the 3mi point (awesome). So I would simply do the last few miles as an out-and-back...I chuckled.

I hit the hilly segment that would cover those last few miles and was cruising again, kinda pumped I'd still get a 2hr run in and was gonna get some lunch before my chiropractor appt. Well nothing is planned, I was heading down the first hilltop and missed a step somewhere, taking a nice tumble right for a downed log. I stopped short of that log, but hit another smaller one that was still alive, standing tall. I had smashed my knee pretty hard and inspected the damage. Bruised for sure but nothing major...so where was all that blood coming from? Somehow I managed to gash two of my knuckles on the left hand pretty bad. My middle finger was cut to the bone and bleeding badly, the ring finger wasn't quite as bad but bleeding just the same. I took the plain water from my waist belt and washed them...and again...and again, the bleeding continued.

After a few minutes I had to get up and moving, so I put the two injured knuckles in my mouth and ran while playing the role of vampire. I made it out of the woods about 25mins later, tired and a little dehydrated. Inspecting the cuts, they were way too clean and even to be anything other than the outside of the knife blade I'd been holding in the other hand...little bit embarrassing. It never opened but the outside "edge" had hit pretty hard. I won't be taking that thing out of my pocket while running anymore!

Starting the drive south I called Jana and had her cancel my appointment and she offered to drive me to the ER...what a sweety! She'd skip work for me? ;-)

In the end all was fine, I laughed about it all day...until she started sewing my fingers shut...

Finally back on the road

2009-01-30T09:26:00.002-05:00

After almost two months in physical therapy my hip is finally feeling better. I got out for 7mi of a Team Brigham long run 2 wknds ago and was sore all day, and the next. But with some good stretching the soreness was gone the following Monday and I was back to "normal". So this past weekend while in Florida (70 degrees is amazing in January) Jana and I did an 8-miler on Saturday evening, actually she did 10, and then another 4mi on Monday morning. Both runs felt great, only little moments of pain throughout and really no soreness after either.

So assuming that I am back and ready for about 3 days of training per week, roughly 15-20 miles, I can finally start my Boston training!!!

I'm being a little ambitious this year and am planning on attempting an out-and-back Boston Marathon, starting from the finish line at about 5am and reaching Hopkinton about an hour before we start the actual race. The way I see it, its a great training run in general since Vermont is only 5 months away...scary. And its a good way to learn the course! So we shall see...

So that being said I'm going to try to stick with the group runs with Jana as its a little more motivating to get up and run with 50 people on an icy Saturday morning than it is to run alone. Also, starting next week I'll start hitting the trails again up at the Fells and Willowdale in Ipswich. Cannot wait for the season to start :-) Hyannis is only a short month away, than the Fells Trail Race in March, and then Boston - here we come!

Physical Therapist

2008-11-21T09:23:00.002-05:00

The last week has been pretty rough. I got out a few seperate days but was having some serious hip pain during and after my runs, as well as the following day while simply walking around...not fun. I started to get nervous that I had a stress fracture or some sort of tear. The pain was very different from my past IT band issues.

I emailed my friend, Holly, who is an awesome physical therapist for some advice. We spent an hour yesterday going over my issue (which at that point felt much better, obviously!) and discussing the different muscles and bones in the hip and knee area. It was amazing to learn how much is truly going on in each joint, and how integral they are to our movement.

After the hour Holly had come to the conclusion, to my delight, that I had "over-used" my muscles since my last race having lacked recovery time, as well as a stiff hip joint. The solution is simple; stretch, cross-train, and REST/recover when I know I need it :-)

I was really happy with the outcome and felt better just having gone through the stretches and exercises for the hour with her. Thanks Holly!!!

...next day to run will be Thanksgiving when we hit up an 8K in Maplewood, NJ!

Recovery week; day 2

2008-11-13T13:32:00.004-05:00

Stone Cat was awesome last weekend and I felt great getting back in the woods this past Tuesday for a loop @ Bradley Palmer. I picked up my pace a little to see what it would be like to run "with" the pros...good lord - how do they keep it up for 50-100 miles?!?

Anyway, today marked the second day back and my knee was bugging me a little. I cut the run after a single loop in the Fells Res. @ 5.62 miles...still don't know the actual mileage, as they state it as 5.2 on their website. Oh well, no big deal.

With no races scheduled until January 10th with the Stone Cat FatAss 50k, I'm really going to focus on resting and maintaining 25-35 miles/week with a lot of core strength work. That said, I'll be heading back into the woods of Willowdale Forest this Saturday to see if I can remember all the turns from this past weekend - wish me luck!

Stone Cat 50-Miler 11/8/2008

2008-11-09T08:24:00.004-05:00

Last year's Stone Cat race was brutal for me, dropping @ 37.5mi with a 'frozen' IT band. But the day was great overall because I met Scott and Mark, and we've stayed in touch throughout the year training and racing together when we could.

So this past Friday night I drove up to Danvers, MA to meet up with the guys and crash for a few hours before we tackled the course again. I was determined to finish this year...I had some unfinished business and wanted...needed revenge.

The race was completely different than last year. Temps were in the mid-50's with cloud cover compared to the mid-30's and bright sun from '07. The lack of frozen hands and feet really made up for the humidity; the only real downside on the day. We started out at 6:20ish in the morning, as soon as it was bright enough to see the course. We headed out on the first lap of 4 and reminisced about when we had all met, making jokes and having a blast already. By about mile 3 we had fallen into a fairly quick rhythm somewhere just over a 9min/mile pace.

We covered the first lap (12.5mi) together in about 1:57 which was awesome, and I was feeling good. We spent a quick couple of minutes at the turnaround and headed out; had to keep aid station stops to a minimum. On the second loop Mark and I seemed to be drifting a little bit ahead of Scott and Kevin, a buddy of Steve Nelsons. I was worried that we were pushing it too hard, covering the 2nd loop in the same 1:57. In the back of my mind the whole time was Scott's voice yelling at me for going out too quick as he passed me 35 miles in. But thankfully I was able to hold it together...until mile 29.

Mark took off through the 3rd lap's first aid station and I told him I needed some soup and a minute to break. He took off and yelled at me through the woods, "Magnus get the F*** over here and let's go!". I left the station and started up the small hill but had to wait at the top, I was hitting a wall. I stretched my legs for a second and got pissed off; I started moving. I wasn't letting this happen after getting that much time in the bank, and I was getting a sub-9:00.

I kept pushing on and fell into my own little groove with my iPod. I felt so bad that Mark was alone and Scott was too! We were all there together but at 3 slightly different paces. I guess that's the thing about ultras, you have to run your own race as much as it may suck. The music was helping me a lot though, and I finished lap 3 in about 2:23 with about an 11min/mile pace. At least I was moving consistently.

Coming into the turnaround before the 4th loop was so motivating; people everywhere, including a friend of mine from ELEMENTARY SCHOOL who I just found out lives in Boston! It was pretty awesome and was actually easy to take just 5 mins and get on out. As I was grabbing a cup of soup and some Gatorade at the main table, I saw Steve Nelson (#7 finisher at the VT100 this year) come through and start his 4th lap...what happened? He'd been doing great and I had no clue he was anywhere near me.
I changed my shirt and looked for my Aleve...no go, it was in the car. Oh well! At this point I could pull a 3-hour lap on the 4th and still PR. But I knew I could push it and still break 9 hours.

The first mile felt pretty good and I fell back into that same 11:00ish pace. I knew it was a little slow but if I could keep it up I would be in OK shape. Throughout the loop I would bump into Steve here and there and we chatted a bit. His knee was killing him, IT band and the front of the knee which had been bugging him the previous week or so. I felt so bad for the guy, and at the same time was so pumped to see him - he would pull a sub-9:00 with the injury. I ended up covering the first 4.2 miles in about 45mins, the second section of 3.3 in about 35mins, and the final 5miles in roughly 1:03, walking a bit at the end when I knew I was about done. However, as I was walking down the last stretch (I knew I shouldn't have) , a voice from behind me yelled out, "no slacking now man! C'mon the finish is RIGHT THERE!!!". It was Steve Nelson - the guy was a machine. I sighed and put my hear down, upping my pace back to where I was, where I should have been! As I crossed the field and onto the playground, Steve had taken me by a minute! I was soooooo happy to have finished right there with him, and it was inspiring to have been able to chat with him while we kept our minds off the task at hand.

As I pulled into the finish Mark was right there, already cleaned up and feeling great, he gave me a high five and said congrats. He had come in 10th place, pulling off an amazing 8:07 - crushing his time of 9:23 from last year. I was pumped to have come in @ 8:44:34 - taking 1:13 off my PR from the VT50 five weeks ago. Now we waited patiently for Scotty...we had no idea where he was until a mutual buddy of theirs told us he had come through and left at the 6:45 mark! He was only 20 mins behind me - and I was pumped that he was pulling it off. After pacing him through the final 30 miles of his first 100-miler I realized that Scott had an amazing ability to pull through and force himself to finish, and finish strong.
He came into the field just about 13 minutes after the 9hr mark, finished at 9:15 - a PR by 30 mins. Three guys hitting PR's, it really couldn't have gotten much better. We all had to do our own thing and we made it work. Way to go CTrain!

We washed up and got changed, but had to cut the adventure there. Mark was scheduled to fly out @ 4am Sunday for a business trip, and both of their families were waiting back home in CT. I jumped in my car and let out a scream as I drove down Rte 1 - that was the best day I've had on the trails and I was proud of our little "team".

Sidenote: We were without one of our "team members" this weekend in Jana, my girlfriend. She had an event during the evening and couldn't make it up to the woods. We missed her greatly!!!

Vermont 50 9/28

2008-10-15T08:47:00.004-04:00

Well it's been a few weeks...time to write about the VT50!

Back on the 27th of September Jana and I drove up to Mt. Ascutney, VT for the Vermont 50-miler. We would be joining a few of our friends at a campsite the night before the race for a good old-fashioned campout - in a pimp camper. We met up with Mark, Scott, and Bruce at Running Bear Campground, just a 15 minute drive from the race start.

The camper was already setup when we got there (thanks guys!) so the four of us started getting our drop bags in order and talking gameplans. After that we headed over the start-line to register and drop our drop bags...sounds weird. There were under 200 runners this year, not including the 50k-ers, but it seemed that there were 1,000 bikers! It was nuts. We had a great dinner with pasta, zucchini, and homemade bread (from Mike, one of the guys' CT biker buddies), and it was aweomse. Bed time came pretty early though, with thoughts of raceday creeping into our heads.

We woke up at about 5:00am and started getting dressed for battle. The weather was pretty good with temps in the mid-50's and good cloud cover. It had rained through the night but seemed to be holding off now, which was awesome. We hit the bathrooms one last time, great success! Now it was off to the start...

Arriving at Mt. Ascutney was like a scene out of some racing movie. The parking lot was dark and packed with hundreds of vehicles. Jana and I had fallen behind the guys on the way there and were searching for them - I needed my running buddies!!! We walked down the last part of the hill to the start-line where we realized it may be difficult to find our guys; there were bikers everywhere, bikes strewn about the dirt lot as far as the treeline. Runners were huddled in little groups here and there, mostly inside the registration building. We started looking, making loops, and looking more. Finally after 15 minutes or so we saw them walking down the steps towards us...phew :-)

We gathered together for one last group shot before we headed over to the front of the pack. The last wave of bikers would go off about 5 minutes before the 50-milers. I kissed Jana goodbye and we settled into a small group within the mass of runners. The four of us would head out together, knowing full-well that Mark and Scott would probably be taking off on their own after a little while. This was technically my first 50 having only run a 100k before, and was Bruce's first ultra other than a solid Reach The Beach relay a few weeks prior - the guy has cahones! (not sure on the spelling there)

"Remember your race numbers! 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, see you at the finish!" And we were off! This VT course is quite beautiful - and from the start you realize that you're part of a great race. We headed down the main road and turned onto the first dirt road of the day. The groups were thinning out into smaller running packs. We stuck together and chatted, doing somewhere around an 8:00 pace for the first mile or two. We passed by Sherpa John...but we would all see him again! He ran a solid race and a PR that day. Anyway, we battled the hills and small patches of mud (which was very surprising having rained the day before the race) and quickly passed through the first 2 aid stations, taking only sips of water and Heed. We were doing well and came into the first handler station almost as a foursome, Mark and Scott getting in a minute or so before Bruce and myself. We met up with Jana who was basically crewing for all of us - thanks hun!!! The guys headed out just before us and we told them we'd see 'em later, knowing we may not. Bruce and I filled up our bottles, got a few GUs and bites of food before we headed out on our way.

The next few miles felt pretty good as we were really getting into our groove. We met up with a guy from western MA who was on a similar pace and kept up with him for a bit, chatting and pushing one another with stories. Eventually Bruce and I would get back into our own race and chat on our own, but only for a little while. Around mile 18 we came to a hill and decided to power-walk for a bit. Looking up the hill, however, we saw a familiar shirt - it was Scott! I told Bruce I was gonna jog up and grab him. "Turco!" I yelled out as I approached. He turned and smiled putting his arm on my shoulder, he was hurting a little. We talked for a few minutes while Bruce caught up with us on the top of the hill. It turned out that Scott was having a rough stomach day, and was in and out of the woods a few times over the last few miles...no bueno as anyone will tell you!

So the 3 of us stuck it out for a while, passing through another aid station around mile 20. Bruce was tending to some hot spots on his feet while Scott needed to head out, so I joined him after telling Bruce the deal. He'd catch up to us. I caught Scott and we talked a little more about his stomach. Everyone has a bad day here and there, and Scott was starting to think this may be just that.

While we jogged along waiting for Bruce to come up behind us, I took the lead and we started down some single track. After a few minutes of silence I heard a cough behind me, turning to ask Scott if he was ok. Well it wasn't Scott! It was someone I hadn't even seen before and had no clue was behind me. Scott had fallen back and I didn't even notice, I felt so bad but there wasn't much I could do. After all I know what Scott would be saying had he been there, "plug it up and move yer ass!" - so I did. I kept my own pace for the next few miles feeling pretty good. I think this was where I first saw Keely, who would (without knowing it) push me for a good part of the day.

I strolled down the hill into the mile 30 handler station about 15 minutes past a 9-hour pace, and there was Jana! And there was Scott :-( Jana told me he had pulled out of the race at the last aid station and got a ride up here to Dugdale's to meet her. Know I felt really bad - I wished I had stayed back with him but I guess it was inevitable. I patted him on the back as he sat in a camp chair. He looked better but I could tell he was pissed, and still not feeling 100%. He told me that Bruce wasn't too far behind, and sure enough he wasn't. He rolled in just a few minutes after me and looked great! What a guy, rocking out on his first attempt at a 50. I was pumped to see him and we all chatted for a few minutes while we changed shoes, ate, and stretched out a bit. We said goodbye and parted ways with Jana and Scott, both feeling good, but agreeing that we would each do what we had to over the next 20 miles.

We stuck together for the next few miles hitting another aid station and meeting some more little groups along the way. It's always cool to chat with the other runners, and in this case, bikers, that you meet along the way. At the bottom of a big, muddy hill we would say "hey how ya doin? See ya in a minute!" to the riders, as they would always pass us once they conquered the sticky uphill terrain. After about 35 or so miles Bruce and I would part ways for the last time. I pulled ahead at some point and we got seperated. I knew he was feeling good and had to do his own thing, and he was rocking out on his own now. I wanted to stick with him but also wanted to run my own race, and I knew I had something left in the tank - I wanted a sub 10-hour finish.

At this point I was shirtless due to the humidity and was drenched from head to toe, half sweat and half water. I was moving pretty good but had to walk the hills. Then I saw Keely again, who was the "woman with the orange shorts" at that point. She ran in front of me mile after mile and I studied her pace: she was an awesome runner! No matter what the terrain she was doing almost the same pace. Uphill and downhill, she was rocking, and I forced myself to follow her. When I would hit a tough spot and felt like slowing down to a power-walk, I would look up and see her hitting it just as hard as she had been on the flats and I would suck it up. Finally just before Goodman's at 39.9 miles I caught up and started chatting with her. She was a mid-30's wife and mother with a 1-year old (on race-day!) waiting for her. I was stoked to have met her and she inspired me when I needed it most. Coming into the aid station she told me she had a friend of hers meeting her to pace her for the last 10 miles. As I was getting some food and Heed they headed out in front of me...what a rockstar.

Somewhere over the next mile or so I met up with the duo and ran behind them silently, sort of pacing myself and pretending we were all together. We gradually started talking again and were excited that we had stuck together to this point. Over the next couple of miles I would push forward a little bit and take what I could when I had it in me. I made it to the last handler station (around mile 45) having just plowed through a fairly unavoidable mud bath, and was hurting a little. My left hip was starting to burn so I popped a few advil and started chatting with Jana. She was awesome! She helped my get my shoes off and hosed them out, along with my gaitors. I stretched my hip and IT band on the grass and felt a little better. After a few minutes rest I saw Keely and her pacer on their way out. We laughed and smiled as I said goodbye to Jana - "see ya at the finish!!!"

I told Keely that I wanted to go sub 10-hours and was on pace to do it if I could do the last 4.6 miles under an hour...shouldn't be a problem, right? We started out together and hit a couple of hills - the last miles of the course were changed from previous years and were a bit hilly to say the least. We ran together for about 3 miles until we got an open field that had just a slight grade to it. There was a wide path worn through the reeds that populated the field, and up ahead about 1/4 mile you could see the tree-line. It was surreal as it was, and just then, the rain came. I turned and smiled at the duo behind me and waved. I ran with my arms up welcoming the rain as it cooled my body temp down nicely. Without a doubt one of the most enlightening moments of my running days to date.

Entering the woods I knew I was getting close, but I had to push. I had put on my old running shoes and was without grip. Even in the woods the rain turned the trail into mud instantly. I was slipping down hills and trying desperately to maintain speed as I climbed. The trail was cut into a hillside and was far from safe at this point. Finally the rain ceased and I saw the "welcome, you did it!" signs through the woods. Up ahead I could see the "1 mile to go!" sign and I started pushing harder, with 9:47 on my watch. I was not going to be over 10-hours!!!

Coming through the final turns, runners and bikers do a reverse switchback across the ski trails and down the last part of the mountain. I finally reached the base where the chairlifts were stationed and a few random people sat to congratulate finishers. Then came the last hill, straight down and into the finish where hundreds of people waited to bring us in. It was an awesome sight, and I was so pumped to have done it - 9:56:00 on my watch :-)

I met up with Jana, Mark (9:07!!!) and Scott, along with their families. Bruce came in just about 10 minutes after me - I was so happy for him, he really killed it! Scott was upset but knows that he'll get it next year. In fact he and Mark both qualified for the Boston Marathon 2 weeks after the race @ the Hartford Marathon! Guess he's back on track after all :-)

Good job to everyone and huge thanks to Jana for all her help, once again! Thanks also to the CTrain for bringing up the camper and getting us a good night's sleep before a killer race. See you guys next year!

New outlook on training

2008-08-17T03:53:00.002-04:00

Over the past few days I've decided to train more for speed than just distance. With RTB and Cape Cod coming up, I think I'll be better off knowing that I've had some solid speedwork; after all you can only push as hard as you know how. So I will try to maintain decent distance runs on the wknds, but will focus mostly on a quicker overall pace. With any luck I'll be able to qualify for Boston...who knows though!

With all that in mind I did about 17.5mi today at a 7:26 pace. Not too bad, but certainly not qualifying. Let's see where the next 2 months take us...

Pacing Vermont 100 7/19

2008-07-30T11:08:00.003-04:00

So I haven't posted here in a while for a few reasons. 1) I haven't had any races of my own lately and 2) I'm lazy! So I thought I would write a quick note about the Vermont 100-miler a week or so ago, where I paced my buddy (Scott) for the final 30 miles.

Jana and I drove up Friday night and arrived in the Woodstock area around 8:45pm. As we were driving to the race start, where we would sleep in my car for the night, we passed a small "house" that turned out to be the Skunk Hollow Tavern. Being two Bostonians out of our element, we worked up the courage to step inside. Opening the door, we walked into a room of about 30 people, including 4 band members ready to play...it was silent, and they stared at us. It kind of felt like we had slipped back in time to grade school and walked into class late, just as the teacher was about to start for the day.

After we jokingly said "we're here" and the crowd chuckled a bit, we walked to the back of the house to the bar. Surprisingly enough they had quite the wine selection for Jana, and I got local beer on tap. All in all a great place, typical small-town Vermont watering hole.

After a bit we headed back to the car and drove the final miles to the start. Temps weren't bad at all and the sky was mostly clear. We put the seat down and got sleeping pads and bags to cover the "floor". Finally, we fell asleep around midnight (to the sounds of horses 20 feet from the car) as we had decided to wake up @ 3:45 to see the start of the race. But we didn't wake up at 3:45, we woke up at about 2am when it started sprinkling on the ol' "Subaru-tent", so I grabbed my keys to shut the windows. As I was maneuvering in the back of the car, all of our gear in the front seats, I somehow managed to trigger my car alarm! The wagon double-honked maybe 15 times before I could slip into the driver's seat and start the engine, turning off the alarm. "Good start" I thought, "you just woke up everyone who was resting for a 100-mile run!".

So at last we got up around 4:00 and walked through the wet grass to the starting tent. It was loud and bright for this early in the morning. These crazy people were fired up and restless, ready to go. We scoured the tent for Scott and Mark, obviously finding them among the last group that we came across, hearing Scott let out a "there they are!!!". We chatted for the final few minutes til we heard the race director's countdown...it was time.

As the final minute approached it started raining...hard. Slowing to a drizzle, the runners trotted off under the welcome banner and into the night. We wouldn't see them until mile 21.1 at the first handler's aid station. So we drove about 30 minutes to the site and pulled in for a nap, which was needed at that point.

To our surprise, Scott and Mark cruised in the aid station well ahead of schedule. We snapped a few pics of them coming in, and walked with them to their gear. They sounded great and were having a good time so far. Some tough hills but they were through the dark, at least the first dark, and were upbeat. Next stop was 10 miles later with basically the same outline for activity; ahead of schedule, happy for the most part, but Scott was starting to trail behind Mark as the heat was building and the hills were hitting them pretty bad. He looked a little tired but still strong. We gave him a dry shirt and sent him off until mile 47.

Things took a turn for them over those 16 or so miles. The temperature was rising, I think it hit high-80's into the 90's my mid-day. The hills were killer from what they told us, and Scott had to walk a bit. In his full report from the race he describes the point where he had to stop and walk a hill only to stop a few times and sit, his chest was heaving and he couldn't catch his breath. At this point the runners faced their first medical check. Mark weighed in and was good to go, trotting out of Camp 10-Bear and up the hill. Scott came in a little later, but still ahead of schedule. He was hurting a little and went to the weigh-in...he had lost 10lbs!!! That was no bueno, but not enough to get him dropped from the race and certainly not enough to stop him from running. His family and friends were there to see him and we all took him in for a few minutes, sat him down, changed his shoes, talked to him, and hoped it would help him stay motivated...

It took almost another marathon distance to get he runners back to 10-Bear where pacers would join in the fun. Scott rocked that section, although he may put it differently, but he cruised in to mile 70 looking better and having gained back 4lbs! Awesome...he was back in the game and ready to rock. But leaving 10-Bear was no easy task. I joined in and we crossed the road, immediately hitting one of the most technical pieces of the course (from what I've read). The hill was steep and rocky, giving very little traction. We started up and began hiking, which was demoralizing at best for Scotty, I felt bad that it hit him again right after we met up. But Scott would come through this overall low-point extremely well. We made it to the top of the section and started trotting on the flat dirt roads, with amazing houses by the way, which helped him catch his breath at last.

Atop this crazy little section (somewhere around mile 75?) we came across a runner sitting on the side of the road. He was young but a sturdy guy, and he was hurting. "Stress fracture", he said with a smile as we passed. We asked if he'd be ok and if help was on the way, he assured us all was just fine. What amazed me was that after this many miles, and in so much pain to be sure, this guy ended up asking how we were doing! It's so awesome to see the inner strength that comes out during these races, very humbling.

We kept pushing on into the approaching dark. Scott was doing better and really getting a grip on the fact that he was absolutely going to finish the race. We hit a lot of hills with a great stride; he honestly surprised the hell outta me. I could not have done a better job then he was doing...it was awesome. He also mustered up several great sets of roughly 10-12minute-pace sections of about 2-3 miles at a time. He was killin this thing with every step, whether he thought so or not. He brushed past the final few aid stations, knowing for sure he was going to make it and really wanting to be done. Coming into the final mile we passed a sign that said "99: 1 mile to go"...I was pumped, and I can only imagine what Scott was feeling. Passing the sign we had a few little hills to hit before the final flats out of the woods. Breathing hard, Scott pushed through and we covered that final mile in 10 minutes - AWESOME!!!

It took us a while to cover the 30 miles when all was said and done. But Scotts perserverence was incredible and he did an amazing job pulling through some really rough spots, many on his own. I was psyched to have paced such a solid runner - it was a blast for sure. Great job to Scott and I look forward to having you as my pacer someday soon :-)

Minuteman Trail

2008-06-28T19:05:00.004-04:00

Today was going to be a 33mi out-and-back on the "Minuteman" bikeway trail here in the Boston area. The trail, although paved, is basically an old railroad track converted to a path; similar to the rails-to-trails system we ran a week ago in CT.

Started the run in Newton and headed north on sideroads to get to the start of the trail itself at the Alewife T station. It's roughly 6.8 miles to that point and I was slacking a little, took about 1:03 to get there. Every once in a while I battle with what I think are shin splints for about 20-25 minutes at the beginning of my run; today was that day! Fun fun fun...

After a slow start I got into the swing of things and reached the train tracks and partner trail that lead to Alewife. It's amazing how built up the area has become; on Google maps there is nothing but open fields, now there are houses and apartments everywhere. Through the woods for a few minutes and traversing some overgrown path segments, I reached the start of the bikeway.
There were quite a few people out and about as it was a nice saturday afternoon after a few days of crazy rainstorms. The path is not the most exciting on earth, being mostly flat and straight with only small road crossings every few miles. But I got used to it and made it 7 out of about 10 miles in when I decided my hips and knees had had enough torture on the pavement. I turned at Revere St. and headed back the same way.

I've come to realize that paved running may not be for me...my joints were really aching for the bulk of the run, and it was a pain to suffer through. I did however stop with about an hour to go and ate some watermelon which was amazing. After that it was just trotting back home. I made it a total of 27.5 miles in just under 4:25. Not too bad given my current lack of training, and considering the joint pain that was going on...

Training with Scott and Mark

2008-06-26T10:24:00.005-04:00

So this is officially my first post, and possibly my last as I never seem to remember to update things like this, but I will try!

Last weekend Jana and I drove down to a buddy's place in CT for a training run. I'll be pacing my friend, Scott, for 30 miles of his first 100-miler in VT next month...very exited! He's a solid runner and a great guy so I knew we'd have a good time. We ran with another friend of his who I met last fall at Stone Cat; Mark - owner and operator of the Hotel Buongiorno. Mark is another great runner - actually we think he's a robot, but either way...

So we crashed at Mark (and Amy's) house Friday night after preparing for the much anticipated 50-mile training run the following morning...at 4am! I tossed and turned probably getting a solid 3.5 hours of sleep. But 4am wasn't so bad after all - the temp was perfect, somewhere in the 50's, and there was mist in the air for the first few hours until the sun came up. Awesome weather all day :-)

We tracked 11 miles on some moderately hilly backcountryish roads to the "rails to trails" trail. Not a bad trail at all, consisting mostly of dirt and gravel across a 10' path through the woods. Relatively flat and straight, the trail did get menotonous after a while but we were only doing 14 miles in and 14 out so it wouldn't be that bad. And it wasn't - we hit the 1/2 way point at about 4:20; which equated to something near a 9:50 pace (including stops). Scott had driven the course on sideroads the previous day and dropped water jugs at a few crossroads. This was a terrific idea and helped more than I could have imagined. We only stopped at 3 other "refueling stations": a 7-11, a KwikMart, and a Mobil at (roughly) mile 47.

So the trail section ended and we got back to the pavement..."great!", I thought, "I can walk a little on some hills". Turns out the hills, at least the first 2, were BRUTAL! Walking still felt good for a bit and I knew it would save us some energy for the upcoming flats and downhills. Mark and Scott have a bit more experience than me so they took small leads throughout the day, waiting for me at turns and hills. We made it to the final stop, the much needed Mobil station. We walked into the a/c and I wanted to lay down and sleep! It was a great feeling, but we weren't done yet. We bought Sobe Elixir, Coke, bananas, and water...and downed it all.

The fellas took off ahead of me as it was an easily navigable straightaway back to Mark's house. I took my time getting going again as it was a slight hill to start. Cramping a little bit I managed to start jogging a little than finally got a nice wind and got back into a 10:00/mile pace, it felt great. I still walked some hills but was able to keep up on the flat stuff and downhills. I was no longer just wanting to finish, I wanted to break 10-hours, which I've never done before. And sure enough approaching 9:55 I could see the white street sign ahead on the right, "FernWood". It was the best sight ever. I took the corner and stepped onto Mark's driveway at 9:57:34 for a sub-10 50-miler...but wait, we gotta upload Scott's Garmin and confirm the mileage. Turns out we went a bit too far on the trail and finished at about 52.6 miles! This gave me somewhere around a 9:35 50-miler, I couldn't be happier!!!

Jana pulled up soon after we had showered and relaxed for a few minutes. It was awesome to have her there for support over the quick weekend; she offered to come with me and drive home that night so I wouldn't fall asleep at the wheel...what a great girlfriend!

Awesome weekend with some great running. Mark and Scott are ready for Vermont - it will just take some hard work and determination the day of, along with a little yelling and screaming from the pacers, but we cannot wait...

MiWok 100k: May 3rd, 2008 - Sausalito, CA

2008-05-07T10:47:00.005-04:00

I had trained quite a few miles for this race and still wasn't too sure that I'd be able to finish. My girlfriend and a few of my best friends from the hotel joined me for the journey out to San Francisco - what a great city!

The first 2 days we were there we travelled through wine country and explored some of the sights the city had to offer. I tried to stay off my feet as much as possible but it's tough when your race is the backbone of your vacation! I did manage to get some sleep the night before the race, probably banking about 5 hours.

Jana and I got up @ 3:15am...I hope I get used to that time of day soon. We got to the hotel lobby and Dave (IT-man for Jurys) met us in his Audi rental - why did we get a minivan? We made our way through the city and up towards Sausalito. Taking the Alexander Ave exit north of the Golden Gate I started getting really nervous. The furthest my training had taken me was about 37.2 miles and that didn't sit well with me - but I knew I had to try it.

The start/finish was on Rodeo Lagoon just off the beach. Even in the dim twilight it was beautiful. Headlamps and reflective gear were everywhere, bouncing up and down, making it easy to find check-in and dropbag areas. Runners were stretching, peeing, talking, laughing, arranging...I was sweating. Jana and Dave were going to take off shortly after the start and get some more sleep. They wouldn't see me until mile 42.8 - that's where pacers are allowed to meet up. They did stick around to get some sweet shots at the starting line. All of a sudden, Tia (RD) started to count down; 90 seconds...60, 30, 10...GO!!! We were off through the sand for about a 1/2 mile, then up, up, up...

The first few miles were on pavement and uphill, allowing for some amazing views of the Golden Gate and surrounding Sausalito, all the way down to San Fran. The sun was already making its way up at 6:15am; it was going to be a long day. Ascending the tougher of the opening hills I was running beside a young man who had run MiWok in '07 - he commented on how he'd walked a lot last year, but that it "wasn't that bad". Next up I met Zeke...this guy was awesome. I believe he's about 63 years young and he's run 11 100-milers. This was his first actual 100k however, so in a way we were both on the same page...at least I talked myself into thinking that.

I would bump into Zeke a few more times throughout the day. The most memorable of our jaunts, however, came at about mile 21 jsut before a nasty climb for about 2 1/4 miles. We jogged and walked together for a few miles exchanging stories and talking about our lives. Zeke's a true trooper and you could see it in his consistent stride. He borrowed some sunscreen from me and took off up the worst of the hill as I walked. We joined again just a bit up the road and started at it again through the woods atop this hill (seemed like a mountain to me). Coming through a shaded area around mile 25 Zeke took a baseball-slide-like dive over a root and fell toward the edge of the trail, which was only about a foot wide at this point, with a fairly steep descent on the left bank. Being only a few feet behind him, I rushed up and grabbed his outstretched hand, halping him back up onto his feet. He laughed it off after realizing he was o.k. and actually ran better afterwards! The guy was inspirational and intelligent - he helped me through some of the hardest miles of the course.

Through Bolinas Ridge @ mile 28.4 I had felt pretty good. My poor hydration caught up to me though, and within 20 minutes of leaving the aid station I was cramping bad and had to walk. Zeke had given me a salt-tab but it wasn't working yet; I had let it go a bit too long. I struggled on the downhill where I should have been under 10:00/mile, finally making my way to the Randall Trail turnaround (mile 35.6), only to have to go back up the same hill for the same 7.2mi stretch. I decided that I was done and would catch a ride back to Bolinas Ridege, where my pacers were waiting by the way, to call it a day.

Well as "luck" would have it I met a young woman at the turn who overheard my pleas to the station attendants. Julie came up to me and said "you're not done yet, you have to go back up the hill". Well, I thought, isn't this nice - this lady is gonna give me hell for wussing out! "You're going to take this salt pill and half of that banana, and a bite of the PB & J over there, and here - have my spare water bottle, and you're going back up t hat hill". Turns out Julie was pacing for a girl and just happened to be checking up on her a few miles before pacers were allowed...she was also training for her first 100-miler; no wonder she was busting on me.

Well Julie was right, I took her advice and headed back up the hill with more energy than I had coming in. Within 45 minutes I felt better and the cramps had been long gone...it was time to run again. I passed people heading back up the hill who had passed me on the way down. "Looking strong" they would say as I jogged past them; "right back at ya, keep it up", I'd reply.

Coming back into the Bolinas Ridge aid station, now mile 42.8, I felt like I was back in it. I met up with Jana, Tracy, Dave, and Brian - who was strolling the trail a bit while waiting for me. My timing had been way off and I came in about 2 hours later than I had planned, but I made it - now I had a pacer for the first time in the race, and in my life. Dave and I set off up the hill and made our way back along the same ridges I had come in on. MiWok isn't all out-and-back but there are a few miles to re-trace if you're going to finish. Jana and Dave would switch back and forth, each taking turns pacing me - they helped me more than I can even express.

Finally coming into the last aid station, we decided that it would be awesome if the 3 of us all crossed the finish

line. So my 2 pacers and I set out to cover the final few miles, which of course turned out to be quite hilly. The finish, however, was amazing. We were still a ways up in the hills when we came around a turn and could see the finish line down below. Voices were audible, calling us in, waiting for us...it was amazing. The sun had begun to set and the headlamps came back out for a few runners. We wound down the final hill and crossed the finish line @ 14:17:58, avoiding the need for additional lighting.

It was over, and I was tired. I ate as much as I could and drank a bunch of fluids - apple juice being the most surprisingly refreshing one. We drove back to the city and headed for the hotel. After showering and changing we got some dinner at a local restaurant. I think I smiled the entire time.