Charlottesville Area Trail Runners

CAT in Red Rock Canyon, NV

2012-02-23T09:28:00.002-05:00

This is the part of the season where my trail running takes a back seat to teaching, kid sports, and work-related travel. This is especially true for Spring 2012, which has seen a big fall off in my mileage. So it was a big lift for me to get to check out some new trails this week during my travel to Las Vegas, Nevada. Yesterday (and hopefully again, later this morning), I drove the 25 or so miles from the Sunset Strip into the Mojave Desert-world of the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.

The park is this pretty vast area of red and brown mountain outcroppings rising up from the desert floor, and a world set completely apart from the flash and cheese of Vegas. Yesterday, I ran the White-Loop/La Madre Spring loop, a little over 6 miles, with not much more than a 1,000 feet of elevation gain. The loop took me on a crushed gravel trail around the backside of a large sandstone outcropping into the LaMadre wilderness area before circling back up over a pass that afforded great views of the desert valley. I went through pinyon pines, lots of scrub brush, and ran pass old Navajo agave roasting pits and hand prints on rock walls (OK, the hand prints were near the parking area and carefully roped off -- I didn't just stumble on those). Although I missed any wildlife sightings -- save a few lizards -- the area is a known hangout for all sorts of desert and mountain animals, from bighorn sheep and mountain lions to scorpions and gila monsters. Oh, there are also wild burros and horses in the area. The weather was gorgeous, dry with temps climbing from the high 40s into the low 70s while I was there (typical winter weather!).

In short, it was an all-around great experience, something I would recommend for anybody that ends up being in Vegas for some reason!

Holiday Lake 50k++ 2012 - A first Ultra experience

2012-02-14T12:20:00.001-05:00

I just wanted to share my experience of my first Ultra and get it into writing before I forget some parts!

I decided to sign up for this event after watching Unbreakable a few months prior. My training went pretty well and finally got to the point where I could complete a trail run without falling. The week before the race, I was becoming more nervous with each pre-race email. The weather report forecasting a chilly 16 degree start had me rethinking my decision to do this race however my family flew in from Colorado so I knew I was starting :)

I was a little less nervous race morning. Maybe it was the 30 degree weather that calmed me down more. The first few miles went great! I met someone from Philly and we started talking about our trail running experience. Well after falling twice while talking I decided I better first stop talking and start focusing on the trail and secondly walk off the pain from a second fall. After a few minutes I was good to go. I have to admit that I let out a little scream at the creek (I know trail runners are not supposed to scream at such things) but it was a refreshing break. The rest of the first loop went by pretty fast and before I knew it I was greeting my family at 16 something miles. I grabbed some Powerade, Advil and some quick hugs and I was off. At the first aid station after the turnaround I felt great and starting calculating how fast or slow I could run to beat 5 hours. I see Marc and chat with him for a while until he speeds ahead. I also see Sophie along the way and try to keep her in sight. The next aid station came pretty quick, now one more aid station and then the finish. At mile 27, I did a mini celebration of surpassing the longest distance I have ran to date. Now only 5+ miles to go. No need to stop at the last aid station, I had all I needed on me. I decided that my one GU was not going to get me to the finish so I took one more...still not feeling that needed energy to make it back so I decided to take one more. Guess I needed to take more nutrition earlier on! Oh well, no more time for carbing up...I was anxious to get to the finish. I get passed by a girl who speeds by and don't even think about trying to catch her. The rest was a blur until I hit the paved road. I knew I was almost there! I was so glad it was downhill because my left knee was screaming at me to stop running.

Yes! 32.5 on my watch and the finish line steps away. I was done! Hugs by family and friends made it even more perfect at the finish. I didn't break my 5 hour goal, but that is for next time I guess.

Kendra

O-Hilly Coffee and Donut 5K Training Run

2012-01-29T22:05:00.002-05:00

CATs and other runners interested in trail running: We are hosting a super-fun training run at Observatory Hill in Charlottesville on Sunday, February 12th at 9 am. The run will start from the northwest corner of Fontaine Research Park parking lot (located near Rte. 29 and I-64, see here) and follow a winding path of ups and downs on the trails of "O-Hill". Running at O-Hill can be lots of fun and good training for mountain runs.

To assure that nobody gets left behind, the course will be marked with ribbons and we will group together at the start in fast, medium and slower groups. This run is perfect for first time trail runners and for CAT runners that haven't run long trail distances for awhile.

Upon finishing up back at the Fontaine parking lot, we will have warm coffee and donuts awaiting runners. Our hope is to have everybody hang out so that we can get to know each other better. (Holiday Lake runners, who will have just finished up their 50K+ run the day before can join for a recovery run and/or coffee and donuts with the other runners).

Come join us on Sunday, February 12th at 9 am. For head count purposes, please RSVP to David (dcs8f@virginia.edu) or to the event on the CAT Facebook page.

Gap-to-Gap MMT Training Run

2012-01-20T13:50:00.003-05:00

Sunday morning I picked Christian up a little after 5:30 in the morning. We drove up to Target where we met Stuart, who we carpooled with to Gap Creek, off Chrisman Hollow Road in the Massanuttens. There we met up with fellow CAT Runners AJW, Sophie, and Marc and somewhere on the order of 40 members and friends of the Virginia Happy Trails Running Club. We were all gathered there for the Gap to Gap run, a marathon-distance training run for the Massanutten Mountain Trails 100 miler, which the VHTRC hosts. Since I'm boring and all text, here's some pictures from one of the other runners.

The gang before the start

Rumor has it that the temperature when we started was 14℉, and I'm inclined to believe that. We started in a bit of a valley, and the sun hadn't reached us yet, so I was pretty happy to start the run off with a climb up to a ridge. Throughout the day, my temperature-related comfort was a function of which side of the ridge I was on - out of the sun and windy (holding my ears to try to keep them warm), or in the sun and calm (ah, nice). I started near Christian and Marc, but I think they must have been more bundled up than I was, because they apparently weren't in quite as much of a hurry to get into the direct sunlight. By the top of the ridge, I found myself running with Keith Knipling, with only two folks ahead of us. AJW wasn't far behind - just far enough to have stopped to take off a jacket.

Gap to Gap Elevation chart (doesn't exemplify the amount of rocks which where plentiful)

I spent the next nearly 5 hours running along with Keith, not seeing any other runners (until the end as we caught people who had done an abbreviated loop) throughout the course of the day. Keith has run the MMT100 13 times now, so he knows the trails and was telling me tidbits about them and various variations of the course throughout the years as we ran. It was great not having to rely on a turn sheet, and I hope Keith wasn't too bothered running with me. As we got close to the first aid station, he made a comment about how he wasn't really going to stop for long, and I said that sounded fine. And then I asked if he was hoping I'd stay long so he could put some distance on me, but he said no. It should be noted that he'd run a 50k the day before, and that's the only reason I was able to keep up with him all day.

Also, speaking of aid stations, holy cow! The VHTRC is awesome! For this run, which was completely free, we had three aid stations with a delightful crew at each one. And the food! Chocolate covered bacon, homemade cookies, chocolate covered peanut butter balls, peanut butter filled pretzel nuggets, and more usual chips and snacks and drinks (and some less usual (for non-VHTRC event) aid station drinks - high proof!), ... At the end (with a campfire!) we had homemade chili, Brunswick stew (thanks Sophie!), some sort of delicious turkey meatballs (made by the personal chef of Joe Biden), and still more chips and cookies and drinks. So, maybe I run to eat - at least I've got a reason.

The small handful of runs I've done with the Happy Trails group have all been fantastic, and this run was no different. I'll be signing up for the club and getting a shirt shortly. This was my first time in these mountains, and running new trails is always fun. I'd like to thank Keith for putting up with me and guiding me along, the organizers and volunteers for a great event, and my fellow CAT Runners for making it easy, in a sense, to spend my weekends doing these sorts of long runs. Oh, and how could I forget Sniper, who, I'm supposed to let you know, saved me from hypothermia by lending me a hoodie at the end (while I waited for the campfire to get going, and Stuart, with the keys to the car, to finish his run). :)

Finally, a little tip I finally realized on this run: You can easily use your own body heat to prevent water pack tubes from freezing up. I've got one of the Nathan packs and on cold days the valve you bite on, and even the tube running to the bladder, can freeze up. About an hour in to the run Sunday, I decided to try tucking the tube down the front of my shirt, and in short order water was passing through without issue. After basically chewing my first Gu of the day, I decided to try something similar and tuck one into my glove for a few minutes before eating it, with similar success.

Nick

Pictures by Charlie Miracle. Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Re:New Years Resolution Rendevous Run!

2012-01-05T14:02:00.001-05:00

Some impressions of our rendezvous...

New Years Resolution Rendezvous Run!

2011-12-26T20:38:00.001-05:00

For all of you who were running the Winter Solstice Run last weekend and thought, "gee, these CATS are cool and fun, and I wanna run more trails with them in the new year" or "gee, that CAT Mike Stadnisky looks cool in the Santa gear and I wanna run like him" or even "I need to run more long miles in the mountains on trails in 2012"...do we have a run for you!

What: The second annual CAT Resolution Rendezvous Run with the CATS, the Harrisonburg Ridge Runners, Hash Runners, and generally cool runners from the Valley

When: Sunday, 1/1/12 at 9:00 SHARP for the C'Ville runners leaving from Sugar Hollow; and 9:30 SHARP for the H'burg/Valley runners leaving Madison Run Fire Road off Rte 340. If you arrive late, follow the trails to the Blackrock Summit of the AT. We will rendevous promptly at 10:50 am atop Blackrock Summit. Bring the map attached below!

Who: the CATs and H'burg/Valley crew (see above) and anyone who would like to try a low key but very fun mountain run

How far? This is a lollipop run with great flexibility of distances. Some folks may want to run to the Blackrock meeting point and then return home (about 14 miles round trip for the CVille folks, shorter for the H'burg folks). The whole Doyles River/Jones Run lollipop is 24 miles for the Cville runners, and about 21 miles for the Hburg crew. Of course, you can turn around whenever you want, but you will be having so much fun that it will be hard to leave the party!

What to bring: Enough water for 3+ hours for the 14 milers, and 4-5 hours for the 24 milers. Plus gels and food of your choice. In other words, bring your own stuff.

Map: PRINT these maps and bring them. We are running to Blackrock and then north towards Jones Run via the AT.

www.nps.gov/shen/planyourvisit/upload/rip_rap_area.pdf

www.nps.gov/shen/planyourvisit/upload/loft_mountain_area.pdf

Happy Holidays from the CATS!

Any questions? email Sophie at sophiespeidel@yahoo.com (C'Ville folks) or Jack Broaddus at jackb1101@gmail.com (Valley folks)

Hellgate 2011

2011-12-15T14:27:00.002-05:00

My apologies for the lengthy post, but I wanted to include everybody and an additional perspective (pacer & crew) rather than just a racer's report.

So quickly the scoop: Hellgate is another David Horton race but a special one. It has 66.6mi, 13800ft of elevation gain, a very tough course, unpredictable weather and it starts at 12:01am. Applicants are being deemed eligible by the RD.

Here the reports (in order of finishing times)

Mike Stadnisky’s Race Report:

Hellgate eyes are corneal e’

Run run run run run run run run run

Camping gap just before three,

Fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun

Handhelds, synthetic apparel

Br br br br br br br br br

Devil Trail Mr Hyde Forest Road Jekyll,

Fur fur fur fur fur fur fur further

See the blaze and lights below us

Run run run run run run run run run

Foreever section try not to cuss

Fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun

Bearwallow burger thing of pleasure,

Br br br br br br br br br

More than 62 by any measure,

Fur fur fur fur fur fur fur further

Shed your headlamp and your glasses,

Fa la la la la, la la la la.

Runners skinny with no @$$es,

Fa la la la la, la la la la.

Every CAT finished, now together

Run run run run run run run run run

No such thing as bad weather,

Done done done done done done done done done!

Entering the finish chute

Fo-real Report: Ultrarunning is a team sport.

…was my conclusion upon finishing Hellgate 100K this weekend. With preparation provided by the Skinny B runs; mentorship beforehand and first three hours pacing from Sophie; tireless support from Jamie, Drew, and Bob at the Aid Stations; critical pacing from 42.5 mi on from Drew; and finally, the sense of immense accomplishment that every CAT member finished the race.

Getting down to brass tacks, I ran the first three hours easy with Sophie until I began moving a little quicker from 3a-5a following Camping Gap AS. I felt pretty good coming into Headforemost AS, and executed a complete top layer and bottle change. I hit my first real low minutes later, and in the quiet of the climb out of Headforemost came close to quitting – inexplicably, minutes later I blasted through the wall like a wrecking ball (Thank God and caffeine) and blasted into Jennings Creek AS and the race with myself was on. The cheers from Bob and Drew here seriously lifted my spirits and with them the sun came up. By Little Cove Mountain I realized that I wasn’t going to hit solid food until Bearwallow (BUMMER) but definitely provided the incentive to RUN.

I hit Little Cove on or near my seed place (28^th) at this point, and made a pact with myself to be careful on the Devil Trail and keep keep keep keep moving. I rallied out of that aid station and rocked the next section of the course, and was pure focus coming into 42.5 miles where I knew I could finally get some real solid food (the expression on my face in one of Bob’s photos scares me with the intensity I’ve got). Horton and I exchanged some banter about the course, and Drew and I headed out of there in a hurry (with hot meat in my hand and and ginger ale in my handheld!).

There are not enough expletives in the English language to describe how I felt about the "forever section," though I used every single one as Drew and I joked, talked, and then shut up power-hiked, running the downhills and flats where I could (I can still move?). We hiked 3 miles up and ran the 3 miles downhill to the finish line at around 2p, during which I was nauseous from the pain in my ankles. Luckily, I had nothing to vomit so I just told myself "KEEP RUNNING." I shed my top layer so Drew and I could both brandish our CAT shirts because it was definitely time to REP MY CITY.

Horty tells Mike he should've run a bit harder to break 14 hours.

I finished in 14:03, 20th overall/2^nd age group, and I was pretty emotional when I finally sat down – tears for each thought as I realized I completed my first 100K at Hellgate, thought about the hours of training with CAT + B’s, overwhelmed with the tremendous support throughout the race, and disoriented since I have found a new place in my head with new limits to push.

Will I be back next year for it?

It’s tempting.

Christian:
The last race of the season, a tough 66.6 mi through the mountains around Natural Bridge, VA , basically Hellgate was a trip. I must admit I was a little under-prepared, even though there are many race reports and excellent course descriptions out there I didn't educate myself much before (Sorry Horty, I'll usually do better.). It turns out the race itself is a very VERY good teacher. I enjoyed it a lot, it was painful but very rewarding.

Creek crossing at mile 3 or so

I felt a little off and not quite in the mood for a race but figured it's hanging out with friends in the mountains, so its gotta be fun. I did nurse a knee-injury (?!) from MMTR and inflamed my right foot (the ball, must have hit a rock wrong or something) with RICE and didn't put in much training mileage (20, 20, 30 mi per week) and no real long run. But I managed to get in some strength work and elliptical, which helped a lot I think.

It was kind of interesting as I didn't exactly know where I was during the race and if I had worse terrain ahead of me or not. I started at the end of the pack and a few hours later got my first lesson without realizing it. Of course when you start at midnight you are kind of tired already, so I figured I'll take gels and Perpetuem Solids with caffeine the first couple of hours. I realized that there was chance of crashing but thought it can't be that bad. Well it can be, I crashed after a couple of hours and got super tired.

Sleep-walking to Aid Station 4, mile 21

While walking the climbs I closed my eyes and imagined how nice a warm bed would be.. - then a white bright light! a flash! A FLASH?? ..of a photographer at 3am in the morning on a steep climb woke me. I thought that's odd and went on, awake.

I kept going and got to chat with a couple of people: two were just talking about DNF's and "..that it's at all not that bad ... and if you don't feel like it just quit..." - that planted an idea in my head that I kept contemplating for the next hour or so but argued that I really wanted that finisher shirt (and don't disappoint myself nor the other CAT's who gave tireless support during the whole adventure), and it would mean I really have to come back next year to finish (which now of course I want to come back in 2012 regardless of the finish).

We had full moon that night which made it possible to run a lot without headlamp and that was amazingly beautiful. Wow! My knee and leg held up the entire race which was great and a good motivation boost. The balls of my feet were starting to hurt with every step. Walking made it feel less irritating, so I did that a lot. Every once in a while I found somebody that I could run with and made it a goal to keep up. Man, some of those downhills are really nice and fast. Love it! A motivation boost.

By the time of daylight I felt much better and the excitement of the race carried me. I was hoping to catch up to Sophie and even Mike which gave me goals to work for. I got passed by a guy (Gary) that I believed had a fun time blasting downhills at night and decided that I wouldn't loose him out of my sight. Then some kind of switch turned: "Accept the pain and stop suffering" became my mantra for the remainder of the race. In other words, don't think about the pain - just run. We kept a steady pace and ran as much as we could, even the Devil trail. I felt elevated by passing people and hearing from the CAT-Crew that I made up time. I heard that I was just 5min behind Sophie and so Gary and I decided to put it up a notch and a little while later passed her.Gary pulled me quite a bit and I am not sure if I had run that much in the end. In fact I stopped running in the forever section and let him go. The rest of the race I ran-walked and gave all I had on the last downhill to the finish. I was surprised to see my final time and just finishing 30mins after Mike. I was relieved to make it to the finish. A 100k was a new distance for me so finishing it was emotional and made me hungry for more.

It was amazing to have Jamie (my wife) at every aid station for crewing and moral support as well as Bob and Drew who did a flawless job in getting me quickly through. Often times you just think about when you hit the next aid station rather than what you want to get at an aid station. Those guys always knew what I wanted and when I wanted. Perfect!

Lessons learned:
- Avoid caffeine overdose at beginning of a race
- Accept the pain and stop suffering
- Having friends at aid stations crewing you is crucial!
- Make little goals and work for it.

Sophie: http://shiningsultra.blogspot.com/2011/12/time-falls-away-at-hellgate-100k.html

Marc:

Receiving my 5th time Hellgate finisher award and Beast award. To the left is Clark Zealand and to the right is the legend Dr. David Horton, each direct 3 races in the Beast Series.

I just wanted to say a quick thank you to all CAT members, especially Drew, Mike, Joey, Christian, Nick, Bob, Sophie and the husbands and wives of these great individuals.

Without all of you guys and the rest of the CAT group I don’t think I would have finished The Beast Series this year.

CAT in general has made training so much easier, more enjoyable and the miles seem to fly by on the long runs. The support from this group is amazing in such a short period of time!

I am excited for the new year, new trails and some hard training. I have new goals for this year, but most of all I can’t wait to get back on the trails with all of you and have fun!!!!!

As for Hellgate, things went so so. I was making pretty good time through aid station 5 then I slowed quite a bit. Nothing really horrible just felt tired and run down. I had been sick for the two weeks prior which may have had something to do with it but I was hoping to run faster. The goal was sub 15 hours, and once I knew that was out of reach I just slowed down and enjoyed the day. Still managed to get in right at 16 hours though. The weather was perfect, I would say in the 20’s when we started at Midnight and maybe 45 during the day. Rivers were full and flowing with all the rain we got. All and all a pretty mild Hellgate, as far as Hellgate standards go. Don’t get me wrong, cold or hot, snow or rain, the course is still one of the toughest around!

Jenny:

http://jendenichols.blogspot.com/2011/12/my-first-100k-hellgate-2011.html

Bob (Crew report):

Drew and I went out to Hellgate to crew, and Drew would pace Mike in from mile 42. I had a foot procedure done the day before and I wasn't even certain about making it out there, so I didn't want to commit to any specific crewing duties and then not show. We decided to skip the first part of the race to get some sleep, and Drew picked me up at some ungodly hour so we could be at Jennings Creek just after 6am. The race started at 12:01am.

The first trick of crewing is to finding the aid stations. They are often deep in the woods on back roads, even forest service roads. They had directions for crew to follow the whole race, but we weren't coming from the previous aid station. I found each of them on Google Maps before the race and drew myself a map and a turn sheet for all of them. I would not rely on GPS as sometimes roads aren't even marked. As long as you're on the right road, you'll see other cars and the lights from the aid station if it's still dark. We had an estimated time for our first runner to appear, and estimated times for each section. We also had the bib number for each of our runners, so we could check to see if they had already been through, or in case they dropped.

So we settled in for the wait. Always dress for warmth because you will be waiting there for awhile. A chair is a good thing too, especially if it's a drop bag station where you runner might need to sit down to change socks. Christian's wife Jamie showed up, as she had been following him all race, so there was someone else to pass the time with.

Mike came in not long after we got there, looking very strong. This was the "breakfast" aid station so we made sure he knew what was available and where, and refilled his water, and got him back on the course as quickly as possible. Same with Sophie, who was running watch-free, and her first words were "I don't want to know the time!" Christian came in next, looking a bit more tired, so we kept him in the aid station a bit longer trying to push food (fuel) on him. Next was Jenny, who had JJ crewing for her, so I just gave her a few words of encouragement and stayed on the side to see if there was anything I could help with. Then Marc ambled in. I think he had been sick during the week and wasn't full strength, so he was just going for a finish and not too worried about time.

The 5 of them were within 45 minutes of each other, so it was great that we got to see them all, and all were in good to great shape. We moved on to the next aid station, Little Cove Mountain. This was a narrow road that we had to turn around on, so Drew parked further down the road to make sure we could get out easily. Mike was again first in our group, a bit worn from the climb. We reminded him that this was the last section he'd have to do alone. Sophie looked as strong as ever, and Christian seemed to perk up a bit now that the sun was up. We got their headlamps since they wouldn't need them anymore. We started walking to the car since Drew had to make certain to be at the next aid station to pace Mike, and as we got there we saw both Jenny and Marc cresting the hill, holding steady.

Bearwallow Gap was a drop bag aid station, so we found their bags so we wouldn't waste time on a search when they came in. Both Mike and Sophie wanted burgers from the aid station grill, so about 15 minutes before they were due in we had them get them ready. We started recognizing other runners and the order they were coming in, which helped us know when ours were due, if all was going well. Mike was fired up as he came in, and he and Drew took off. Runners took just a bit more time at this one to make sure they got what they needed from their bags and made any clothing changes as it was getting a bit warmer, but not much. Still, I was impressed at the focus as they got in and out efficiently. Nobody was dragging in, so our job was to expedite them through.

Off to Bobblets Gap. The field was spreading out, so we had to hurry. They were checking in runners at each aid station, and as we got there I saw Mike had already been through. I was sad about this for a minute until I realized it was A Good Thing as it meant he was zipping along, moving up from 28th to 23rd. Besides, he had Drew with him to help out, and they knew we might not make it in time. I was glad we made it in time for Sophie though, as I had another bottle that she was counting on. Christian was starting to close the gap and looked solid. Jenny was struggling a bit but another friend called her husband as she came in so she got a pick up talking to him. JJ offered to pace her in, and she took it. Marc came in next, no worse than before.

The last aid station was way around a mountain and we knew we couldn't see everyone, and didn't want to miss the finish, so we skipped it.

The Hellgate finish line was odd. There was a roped chute, a chalk line, and a clock, and absolutely no one there. Everyone was inside the building 10 yards beyond, even the time keepers. When someone came in, Horton would pop out and greet them. We set up chairs outside and sat and watched and rang the cowbell for each runner. I felt bad for one guy when Horton missed him, and he just stood there, and asked us if anyone was taking times, or what the deal was. It's nice that everyone else stays warm inside, but the finish is a let down when you are used to people cheering you in.

We figured Mike had an outside shot at 14 hours, and he breezed in at 14:02. We expected Sophie next, but recognized the guy Christian came into Bobblets with, and he said the two of them blasted the next section. Sure enough, Christian was next. He got stronger as the race went on. Sophie was not too far behind, very happy with a big PR. Runners had been trickling in every 2-5 minutes, then there was a huge gap of around 30-45 minutes. Finally a couple more came in, then Marc. We asked where he had passed Jenny, and he said "Huh?" Uh-oh. Another spectator said she saw Jenny at the last aid station so we knew she hadn't dropped. After a few more anxious minutes, she came in, all smiles. She had missed a turn and probably 15-20 minutes where Marc and a couple others passed her, but figured it out and got back on course.

All in all, a fun day. It's a nice perspective to watch the race. It's interesting to see how runners are doing at various points, and it's just amazing to see them sometimes getting stronger as they get deeper into a race. I was really impressed that nobody seemed to get too low out there. It may have been different at points between the aid stations, and that's a view that pacing can give you. It's really not that hard of work to crew, you just need to be prepared, and immediately switch from down time to full speed to get your runner through. And no runner wants to hear how cold or tired you are or any problems you had getting there, so you really have to keep in mind it's all about them. CREW stands for Crabby Runner, Endless Waiting, but we were fortunate not to have any cranky runners that day.

Andrew (Crew & Pacer report):

Crew report:

My alarm went off at 3:07 a.m. and shortly thereafter, I was parked at the Dripping Rock pull off on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The full moon illuminated a dusting of freshly fallen snow on exposed rock, and cast silhouettes from scraggy trees which faded into the dark of the forest.

I stood outside of my car, feeling the cold, and looked at the AT crossing the parkway. It was a beautiful night. A wave of jealousy came over me as I thought of my friends and 100+ other runners currently traversing the Hellgate 100k course.

I was snapped out of my day dream by a headlamp appearing through the trees, weaving up and down, flittering in and out as its wearer passed behind trees. Bob made his way down to the parkway, his shoulders hoisting bags full of food, blankets, and extra clothing. We piled in the car and the headlights of the car parted the early morning darkness as we made our way towards Jennings River Road.

We had planned on beginning to crew for our fellow CATs at aid station 5, Jennings Creek, at mile 30 (Horton mile 27). Our intentions seemed reasonable when we first calculated the estimated time of arrival for the CAT frontrunners. However, Hellgate maven Sophie informed us our estimated times were too late and that we would need to arrive at least 50 minutes earlier if we wanted to catch our runners. Having already made the decision to start crewing at aid station 5, we rolled back our alarm clocks to begin our morning 50 minutes earlier. Therein lies an important lesson- if Sophie has a recommendation or opinion counter to your own regarding anything ultra related…she’s probably right! No more than 10 minutes after we arrived, our first CAT runner came descending off the mountain into Jennings Creek aid station.

I’d recently read that CREW was an acronym for Crabby Runner Endless Waiting. With its 12:01 a.m. start time, wet course and long stretches between aid stations, I figured today of all days, this acronym would prove accurate. However, Jennings Creek set the tone for the remaining aid stations I would be present at- mentally and physically strong runners, focused on the task at hand and eager to continue on with their races.

I won’t get overly verbose in the specifics of my day; instead, I want to quickly dispel the CREW acronym I was expecting to encounter:

Crabby Runner-First, plain and simple, no crabby CATs were encountered. I attribute this to well trained/prepared runners. The training specificity of opportunities available to CATs helped create familiarity with conditions they were going to encounter on the course. Joining up with the group to tackle training runs with endless climbs and descents on the Priest and Three Ridges as well as running through the dark on the rocky leaf-strewn trails of OHill prepared runners for what they were going to encounter during Hellgate. Further, utilizing the knowledge of Hellgate veterans Sophie and Marc, everyone knew what to expect going into the event.

Endless Waiting- If I had crewed at this event last year, the waiting may have been noticeable. However, through CAT, I have had the opportunity to meet many other runners in the Charlottesville area, as well as a huge network of runners throughout Virginia by participating in VHTRC events. When I go to events now, running or crewing, I am amazed at the number of runners I know by name. Instead of waiting on a lone runner to make it to the aid station, I am constantly checking on the needs of other runners I know as they come through the aid station. If anything, we struggled with not having enough time at each aid station!

If you haven’t crewed, you’re missing out on an integral slice of the ultra pie. Many of us rely heavily on our crews during a race. It’s good to turn the tables and see what your crew experiences while you’re out there running. As runners, we often have the same approach to our crew as we do to utilities like water or electricity- they’re simply there when we want them to be! Of course there are behind the scenes logistics! See Bob’s take for more info on that.

Pacer report:

I joined up with Mike as he came through Bearwallow aid station, mile 46 (Horton mile 42.5).

Some of the highlights of our 20 miles together:

Along the beautiful traverse from Bearwallow to Bobblets Gap, we reached consensus about how great the course was and how funny it was that people let Horton play mind games with them. We also disagreed about the benefit of answering certain calls of nature during a race (It's totally worth it!).

The first climb of the Forever section needs a hug after the verbal lashing Mike gave it (but it totally deserved it).

Somewhere in the forever section-

Mike: Audible Grunt

Me: Is that a grunt of pain or satisfaction?

Mike: (long reflective pause) I don’t know

On the last climb of the race leaving Day Creek aid station, French runner Olivier passes us in a serious power hike. I prod Mike to keep him in our sights so we can catch him on the descent. Mike’s response, “Dude’s got UTMB thighs, I’m cool letting him go!”

Climbing and descending the final section I pushed Mike pretty hard. He dug deep and stayed by my side, eager to close out the race.

Mike made my job easy. He never needed me to spur him on or reminders to take an s-cap or a sip of ginger ale. I got him to take some extra calories in a few times, but that was about it. For a debut 100k, Mike was really strong, running almost all of the climbs up to the Forever section and hitting the descents hard despite his ankle having taken a beating earlier in the race.

I had an absolute blast pacing. I hope to be back next year and cover the beginning 46 miles, plus the last 20!

Drew

Exploregon

2011-11-18T10:06:00.003-05:00

While the CATs were up James River way

Running through the Blue Ridge

On a beautiful day

While Bob went delirious

And David got serious

Joey and Christian did impress

And Sophie clinched the L-U-S

Jenny coordinated with her mean green

Marc the Beast was a machine

While Drew sported his hipster hat

And Harry Landers chewed the fat

I ran the Lithia Loop

And that course deserves a trail “woop!”

Through the sleet and through the snow

A skinny b from the east

Gave it a go.

I had the opportunity to visit Ashland, Oregon for a job interview a couple of weeks ago and – sweet coincidence – the USA Track & Field Trail Marathon Championship was the Saturday after my interview.

The week before the race I ran with Hal Koerner et. al. (Race RD) from his Rogue Valley Runners store, which is great store in the heart of town. He is a nice laid-back guy, and frankly you would never guess he has a freak-of-nature, trail-eating, ultra-dominating beast within him that he releases for races – he just laid down a 13:47:46 @ Javelina. We had a good size group for their weekly run, and picked up trails right out of the center of town - “where Ashland ends, the trails begin.”

The Lithia Loop Trail Marathon starts and finishes in Lithia Park, which connects to the center of town. From the park, the course circumnavigates the Ashland watershed accumulating 9,200 feet of elevation change on dirt roads and trails with approximately 2 miles of asphalt. At the race start, the temperature gauge on my rented minivan (oh yes), read 36 degrees and it was starting to rain. I was wearing running shorts, gloves, a singlet, and a thin fleece. Hm. That’s when I noticed a shift in paradigm – instead of “What the heck and I thinking?” I thought “Good Hellgate preparation.”

Being from the Beast Coast and reading “9200 elevation change,” I assumed that there would be some rollers, technical trail, and plenty of pine trees. Imagine my surprise when I saw the elevation profile:

We kicked off the race with 8 miles of relentless climbing on gravel road, double track, and a smidge of single track. Yes, 8 miles. It appears that Oregonians are binge elevation runners. Having learned that tidbit, I then learned the advantage of running a USATF Championship – the guy sporting a USATF tracksuit at the top of the climb who told me I was in 32^nd place overall. To which I replied, unfortunately audibly...

“Oh h$## no.”

So, I took stock of the situation – there was a half inch of snow on the ground, my thumbs were numb, and there was a mutant squad out front that there was no chance of catching up to (Max King won in 2:31:58 and the top ten finishers all went sub-3). Maybe next year on the sub-3.

But this was a celebration of a fantastic week, and so it was time to hammer. I got my turnover up on the flat doubletrack which weaved its way through the watershed, admired the pines, and savored the special quiet of running in falling snow. We then turned down for the final 8 miles which was so aggressive it had come banked turns and I channeled my inner Christian/Drew (who are too humble to tell you this, but are great downhillers) and ran hard. My shoe came untied with 2 miles to go but I had people to pass and if Usain Bolt can break a world record with his shoe untied, I think I can muster 2 miles of downhill.

I finished 24^th overall with 3:19:18 and had a blast. I’m sure that next time with the ...ahem… freedom afforded by the skinny b shorts, I’ll be even faster.

For the aficionados, I also had the chance to visit Eugene while I was out there the weekend before and got to...

(1) run a sub 18 min 5K (still got it! see #9 below)

(2) get humbled by Pre’s training log

and (3) see Hayward Field.

-Mike

CATs at Masochist

2011-11-08T21:02:00.001-05:00

The CATs made a great showing at this year's running of the Mountain Masochist Trail Run (MMTR) 50-miler, held last Saturday starting at 6:30 am. Counting David Snipes and recent CAT-shirt inductee, Jack Broaddus, we had 12 CAT runners start the race and 12 complete it (the others were Neal Church, Bob Clouston, Joey Cohen, Christian Dahlhausen, Marc Griffin, Brian Kelleher, Jenny Nichols, David Smith, Sophie Speidel, and Jen Ward).

Christian Dahlhausen, Sophie Speidel, Andrew Krueger, Neil Church, Bob Clouston, Joey Cohen, David Smith, Quattro Hubbard after the race

You could not ask for better race-day weather. Cloudless skies and temperatures starting in the low 30s and rising midday to the 50s made for a perfect autumn day in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains.

The CATs performed well on this beautiful day, with two top-30 finishers (Joey, in his first Masochist, placed 22nd, and Christian, with a PR, came in 29th), the Lynchburg Ultra Series female winner (Sophie, also was 6th among the women racers and ran her PR), the Lynchburg Ultra Series female 3rd place (Jenny Nichols, who also PR'd with a 10th-place finish among the field of women), and an age-group winner (Jack Broaddus). Completing Masochist meant Marc Griffin and David Snipes were that much closer to capping off their fourth consecutive completion of the Beast Series, and newcomer Jen Ward finished her first Masochist after running the Marine Corps Marathon the previous Sunday. Overall, an impressive group!

The day could not have been the CAT success that it was without awesome crewing from Drew Krueger, Cristina Reitz-Krueger, Jamie Dahlhausen, Ann Rice, and Harry Landers!

Below are pictures from the race and individual summary race reports. The race reports reflect both the highs and lows from the race, so read on!

Christian
This was my second MMTR which made the race not less beautiful (peak of fall foliage) but definitely easier knowing the course. Last year I ran into IT-Band issues after 2/3 of the distance, had to walk quite a bit and soothe the pain with Advil. This year I was a lot better prepared: many more quality mountain miles of training with CATs, a couple of VHTRC events, and last but not least, Skinny B's workouts. My goal was to beat my time (9:55) by an hour and run a sub 9hrs - I figured that I had to run 10:06min/mile's on average to make this reality.

I ran the first mile or two with David and after wishing him well at the turnaround, took off. Generally I stick to the general rule to go out slower the first half of a race and run faster the second half - but not this time. I remembered Horty saying "Don't be stupid" and thought that I am right now but justified running faster by telling myself that the first miles are the easy, flat ones and that there is plenty of walking uphill ahead of me where I could recoup some energy.

During the race I felt a lingering pain in my right knee, immediately I thought this was my IT Band yet again but stuck to my plan and hoped it would just disappear after a while. The pain aggravated a bit but I could keep running without pain relievers. I convinced myself that if I'd run faster, the race would be over faster, hence the suffering would be over sooner as well. (What a stupid thought).

I was happy, felt strong and remembered parts of the course being very hard to run last year and this year everything felt much more do-able. I got to chat with a couple of other runners which made the time pass a lot quicker. At the half-way point, Long Mountain Wayside aid station, I could immediately spot the bright green CAT shirts - fantastic! The "Drew Crew" (Jamie, Cristina & Drew + Harry Landers) were a great team and provided everything what you could ask for (THANKS!!!), it felt like a quick pit stop in a Formula-1 race. A motivation boost. Now the real race began. I lagged a little behind my anticipated time but figured I could be able to make it up on the downhills.

A long way up Buck mountain, Rocky music, perfect running weather made the second part go by quick again. I kept up with my nutrition (two gels diluted in 24oz water bottle and one Endurolyte capsule every hour, a couple of snacks at aid stations). I felt much stronger running uphills than last year which kept my motivation going. I made it through the loop in 57mins (1hr 20min in 2010) and still felt I had lots of energy left. Great!

The final miles I ran with Kevin Smith, who was hoping to finish sub-9 as well. Despite feeling strong and keeping up the pace I couldn't quite make it and finished in 9:13. Still, I am really happy with that and felt the difference the better training made. Thanks to all the CAT's, especially the Drew Crew for support and going the distance.

Sophie
http://shiningsultra.blogspot.com/2011/11/race-within-race-masochists-2011.html

Jenny
http://jendenichols.blogspot.com/2011/11/mmtr-2012-redemption-run.html

Bob
I came into the race well-trained, healthy, and the weather was ideally cool for running. So why did this race suck so badly for me?

With my birthday 5 days away, this was my "50@50" race, to be enjoyed with plenty of friends running, and a few others crewing/cheering us on. A few are more or less my speed, so I figured I'd have some company along the way, and would hopefully come in under 10 hours.

The race starts in the dark at the James River on the Blue Ridge Parkway. We run 1.5 miles north, then turn around and head back to 501. I started with Jenny Nichols so we could keep each other in check early on. She peeled off near 501 to drop some warm clothes off with her hubby, and then I was running with Rachel Corrigan, who would become the youngest woman finisher in the 29 year history of the race, at 17. It was quite a sight to follow the string of lights on the loop off the parkway onto 501, and then see the string of lights from other runners following us.

3 miles or so on 501, and we hit the trail and our first climb as it got light. Jenny caught back up, with Marlin Yoder, and then Sophie Speidel came by and took them with her. They faded from view quickly, not to be seen again as they all had great races. I was a bit surprised to lose them but I felt ok about my own running so I wasn't worried.

At 16.7 I was thinking we were 1/3 of the way, but remembered that the course is commonly accepted to be 54 miles. It seemed to take an eternity to get to 18. Rachel dropped me and I was on my own now. More climbing, and things were starting to hurt. My butt hurt. My left ankle was stiff. My back ached. These are the same problems that used to bother me, and didn't last year because I did more flexibility and core exercises. Guess what I didn't do much of this year? I was also getting weaker. I had been taking a gel every hour and grazing lightly at the aid stations, but wasn't getting enough so I used the next hill to down a power bar and some beef jerky, along with an Aleve.

The downward spiral continued. Why am I doing this? I've already run a 50, why do it again? Do I even like running anymore? The halfway point aid station is coming up, and I know I can just get my warm sweatshirt and catch a ride or take the bus to the finish. The trail flattens, and I don't have much of a run in me. Everyone is passing me. A 19 minute mile clicks off. I do some math and figure that I won't make the 12 hour cutoff at this rate. It's simple math logic. If I can't finish, why go on? The course gets a lot tougher in the 2nd half, so there's obviously no way it'll get better. On an easy gravel road, I catch my foot on something and would fall but I'm going so slowly that I have no momentum, so I stay verticlal. Yeah, that does it, let's get to the Long Mountain aid station and bag it. I'm not going to trip and fall for another marathon distance, and I don't want anyone to see what a lousy time I'd have even if I did finish.

Drew sees me and tries to guide me to the food. No, I say, I need to go to my bag. What do you need? I dunno, doesn't matter, I can't make it anyway, everything hurts, might as well stop. No way, says Drew. He tears open my bag and tells me to get what I need, and to get moving. No, you don't understand (I'm telling the guy who barfed his way to a top ten 100 mile finish a month ago), I can't make it. Drew turns deaf and pushes back out on the trail, putting some food in my hands. OK, I say, but if I still feel like this at the loop (7 miles after a big climb), that's it.

I start up the hill and hear a couple other people call out "Go Bob". Great, I hope they didn't see how pathetic I look. This is a long hard climb, and everyone is walking. It dawns on me that I'll lose far more respect by quitting than registering any time, or at least trying. OK, what the hell, I'll probably miss a cut-off, then it's out of my hands, until then I'll keep going. Funny thing, on the toughest section of the course, I start to recover. Things stop hurting. The "Rocky" theme is blaring from the aid station at the top of the climb, and I take off my headphones to hear it. I get passed by a few more people, but before I know it, I'm at the top, out of the aid station, and running some rollers. The notion of quitting now seems absurd, and I'm kicking myself for nearly doing it, but I've got to forget about that.

Another climb and then it flattens as I approach the loop. I knew exactly what Drew would do, he wouldn't even ask how I'm doing, he'd just ask what I needed to get me in and out, and I play along. Harry is there too, he says I'm looking good, and I call him a liar. But I am doing better. The 5 mile loop starts easy and then gets tough, but now I'm the one starting to pass people or at least hang with others. The dynamics are different back here where cutoffs are in play. Someone asks me what I think about making it in 12 hours, and I say that if it's really 54 miles, we have to average 16 minute pace, and with these hills, that means it can't be walked in. A bit later, the trail seems to peter out. There's someone behind me, and I ask if we're on trail. Yep. So I go on. Campsite. We're off trail. Don't be stupid, Horton said before the race. If you stop seeing the course markers, you're off course, don't keep going. We double back and find the turn we missed, only a minute or so lost.

Out of the loop and I see Drew and his wife again. I want to ask how others are doing but I don't want to hear if anyone else has dropped or missed cutoffs, so I don't ask. I really have to just focus on my own race. Going downhill now, and every step I'm taking at 8 or 9 minute/mile pace is putting me in safer territory to finish. I see Jack from Harrisonburg, who was at my dinner table the night before, and we chat a bit and then he picks it up to try to break 11 hours, which he does. Up, down and around we go. I thought there were going to be 3 climbs after the loop, but a 4th one comes, and even though it's not long, it's steep. I never, ever, completely stop on in a race just to rest, but I take 5-10 seconds here, and then take it. I ask someone if there is just one aid station left, or two. Just one. We get there and they tell us it's 3.8 miles, downhill. I'm at 10:22, so if it's really 3.8 miles, and I can do 10 minute pace, I'll break 11 hours. Whopee!

The next mile or so goes ok, and then everything starts hurting again, especially my feet, and my knee feels like it's about to give out. I decide 11 hours isn't a meaningful goal, so I go to a run/walk, then a walk/run, then a walk. I don't care, I just want to finish. I hear 2 girls coming behind me, I think one is pacing the other in, leading her runner in army marching songs and generally screeching her home, probably being the best pacer ever, but I can't stay with them. Finally the road comes, and I catch a glimpse of cars at the finish, and jog it in. My running buds spot my orange jacket and cap and cheer me on, and I'm in, at 11:11. I've got 51.4 miles on my Garmin, which SportsTracks later corrects to 52.01. The 54 mile course is a myth. I wonder what that would've done to my outlook mid-race, since the math probably would've worked out to finish. Next time I'll know, but the course will be changing anyway.

Post-race I'm a bit down about my time, but happy that all of the CATs runners finished, with a few PRs. As a day or two go by I feel much better about finishing on a bad day, and more grateful that I had the help to go on, and I get overwhelming support from my friends. I'm also feeling pretty good physically, since I ran it more at training run pace than race pace.

Lessons?

- Come in stronger with a "don't quit" attitude, and if a race starts going back, forget all about time and just concentrate on finishing.

- Have a crew that will push you onward unless you are truly injured or ill

- Slacking on my flexibility exercises bit me, badly. I think I also didn't do enough mid-week medium long runs.

Next up, Three Bridges Marathon on Sugar Hollow Road near the Charlottesville reservoir, Dec 4.

David
I entered race day pretty nervous, as this was my first 50-miler. I knew too that my normal pace on a good day would put me not-too-far ahead of the race cutoff of 12 hours (which meant averaging sub 14-minute miles over the 52-mile course and 9,200 feet of elevation gain). I had trained for the race steadily since the summer, so I wanted to believe that my training would payoff. Indeed, I started to feel like I could even maybe pull a sub 11-hour finish!

I don't want to bore you guys with a blow-by-blow of the day, much of the run was a blur. What I will say is this: It was a very hard race, with both low and high points. I finished 20 minutes short of the twelve hour cutoff, in 11 hours, 40 minutes. Now I can't wait to try the race again and improve on my time. I need to turn the race blur into something more coherent to analyze because I think with some tweaks here and there, and continued quality speed and hill work, I could achieve my sub 11-hour goal next year. And I loved, loved, loved the race. Especially after I was finished!

Here are the high points for me: Great undulating course, with nothing too technical and lots of beautiful mountain scenery; seeing Drew, Cristina, and Jamie at the halfway point at Long Mountain Wayside -- Oh how I had looked forward to that point through the first half of the race; getting to the Loop and being helped again by the "Drew Crew," with the added surprise of having Harry Landers escort me on my run through the Loop -- great time and conversation with Harry; and finally, the hammering, quad-busting run down the last two miles to the finish. What a blast!

I will also talk a bit about one of my lowest points during the race. It came during the last 1/4 of the race, when I wasn't sure how the last "Horton miles" translated to actual remaining mileage on the course. Horton miles are longer on average than real miles, and can vary in their accuracy from station to station. I began to fear that because the actual remaining miles were probably much higher than the Horton remaining miles, I wouldn't make AS cut-offs, and even if I did, I would still end up not finishing under 12 hours. This was especially true through the second-to-last AS (with 7 Horton miles remaining), where I inquired about the actual remaining mileage. I got a shrug from the AS volunteers -- after all they were about ready to pack up -- and an answer along the lines of, "the next four miles are tough, then it is all downhill." Well, I knew that meant 4 rough Horton miles and then 3 Horton miles downhill. But what I remembered from earlier conversations and advice from Marc Griffin was that the last 6 miles were downhill. So I said to myself, "Geez, assuming the next four miles is actually four miles (they could be longer), I still got 6 actual miles of downhill after that." Doing the math in my mind, I calculated that there was no way I would make it down in time for the 12 hour cutoff. And yet. . .I had hit all aid stations with 10-15 minutes on the cutoffs, so I didn't get it. Was this some master Zealand/Horton trick, to take you all the way to the last AS with OK cutoff times, only to shut you out at the bottom?? I spent a lot of time pondering this and hating the run of "four miles" to the next aid station.

Then, as I continued to run/walk this section, hating life and hating running, I realized something . . the downhill sections seemed to be staying with earnest, and I could even see that there was really no way to go BUT down now, towards the valley! OK, so the last six miles of downhill begin BEFORE the last aid station. . .I love you Marc, it all makes sense now! In no time, I was at the last AS, it was 5:32 pm, and the volunteers there informed me that we had only 3.8 actual miles straight down to the finish. And that was the end of my lowest, low point!

CAT Road Trip November 19, 2011

2011-11-02T17:42:00.001-04:00

CATs,

Clark Zealand’s Aid Station running store is opening on November 19^th with a 5K, and we’re going on a road trip!

What: The Aid Station 5K (link)
Start Time: 10:00 AM
Where: The Aid Station (1035 Avalon Drive, Forest, VA 24551 | Map)
Entry Fee: FREE

Please note that while it is free, you must register!

We’d like to get in more than 3 miles that day, so our plan is to get another 13 in on Terrapin Mountain, site of the eponymous 50k. So here’s the schedule for the day…

7:30a Meetup @ Greenberry's
7:45a Depart Greenberry's
9:15a Arrive Aid Station/shop/hang out
10:00a Race

10:45 Depart for Sedalia

11:15a Start running up Terrapin Mountain (13 miles total)
2:00p Stop running

3:30p return Greenberry’s

…if you plan on joining us, please let me know!

-Mike

Run Around the Gorge: One Skinny B in Double-U Vee

2011-10-24T20:16:00.000-04:00

Photo credit: Matthew Eluk (thanks Matt!)

My wife and I headed over several mountains and deep into the heart of (former) coal country this weekend to celebrate our anniversary by doing the second annual Run Around the Gorge.

I’ll put the punchline first here: Do it next year.

Mark Lattanzi, an accomplished adventure racer and unbelievable host, has set a course in and around the New River Gorge that is an awesome mixture of rail to trail, shag trail, contouring rollers, uphill, downhill, and country roads (total breakdown is 46 k of trails and 16k of country roads). The weekend is more “running retreat” than race, depending on what your mentality is. It is 100% the most beautiful course I’ve run to date and is a fantastic bridge weekend for those looking to move to longer distance (ask my wife Heather who had a blast this weekend) and a killer training weekend for those of us who love to go real long.

The weekend centers around the opossum creek resort, which *you run back to each day* after starting at two different trailheads. The resort is quiet and the accommodations are beautiful and nestled privately in the woods (our cabin had its own hot tub, yes, you read that correctly).

Heading in:

This weekend was the apex of my high mileage week, and it was a test to see if I could maintain a steady, quick pace after the several months of much higher turnover workouts (including the potentially infamous Skinny B workouts). I also wanted to check in with myself mentally before I toe the starting line at the Lithia Loop trail marathon in two weeks which sees some serious trailblazing (2:40 was Max King’s winning time last year). In other words, I had set myself to run fast and see how it would last.

The Weekend:

Friday night kicks off with a pizza party, friendly outgoing runners, beer, wine, and a very laid back race brief (the best kind). We headed out the trailhead Saturday for a 24 mile run, beginning with some flat rail trail spiced with a dash of technical downhill. Yes, please, I’ll have seconds. We then climbed up a country road into old mining territory and along contouring trails with a full sweeping vista of the gorge as we ran through miles of shag. We then dumped back onto an impossibly switch-backed country road leading up a wall of pavement too steep to be believed. The last quarter mile was a rip-roaring trail back to the cabins. I ran out in front after the first couple of miles and very narrowly edged out two awesome (and very fast) adventure racers & ultra runners Kristin Eddy and Scott Pleban. Day 1, 24 miles, 3:05. Recovery included a massage from a therapist on site, hot tub, and smores. Yes, indeed.

Sunday was a little colder at the start, and it was staged so that the last runner from Saturday started first. It was awesome to see everyone over the first several miles of the course and kiss my wife on the way down into the gorge and then the steady hard climb up Beauty Mountain. It was a technical climb at points, but steady, and I was ready to turn it on so I blasted it up the mountain and out onto a connector gravel road. The second half of Sunday presents a runner with a choice of the “adventure trail” which has bouldering and ladders, or I guess what could be called the “bobsled run” a very fast, spectacular trail along the rim of the gorge and plunging through rhododendron on your way back to the cabins. Day 2, 16 miles, 2:14.

Photo credit: Kristin Eddy (awesome running!)

The Skinny:

This run is a blast, and a HUGE value when you add up all meals, aid, marked course, transport to start, accommodation (refer to hot tubs above) , beer, wine, sodas, water, fleece, finisher medal, prizes…it is really amazing. Add that to the camaraderie of a small group of runners, running back to your cabin site, and the fall colors it is an awesome experience. There is a ton to do in the area with mountain biking & hiking galore, and most everyone was there with their spouse (though we were the only couple that both ran).

Interested? Mark your calendar now!

Next year's race will be 26-28 October 2012. Saturday will be a full marathon and Sunday will be 12-13 miles. Check the website for results and info for next year will be posted in several months time…

http://www.runaroundthegorge.com/

Recap of Beautiful Training Weekend: SMUT and 3 Ridges/Priest

2011-10-20T10:05:00.000-04:00

Fall mountain splendor. Courtesy Jenny Nichols

Last weekend saw several great training opportunities and for many of us it was the last long-run weekend before the upcoming Mountain Masochist 50 miler. It was also a spectacularly beautiful fall weekend to be in the mountains.

Below, Christian provides a quick summary and some nice pictures from Saturday's SMUT (Southern Massunutten Ultra Trail) 50K, put on by Keith Knipling, and David does the same for Sunday's CAT training run at 3 Ridges and the Priest.

Christian's report from SMUT

The SMUT (Southern Massanutten Ultra Trail Run) is another low-key fat ass event that Keith Knipling from the VHTRC has put on every year for five years now. Keith offers a 50k and a 100k option (both fall a little short of distance though). We CAT's (Joey and me) opted for the 50k option and had a blast. As an "entry fee" everybody got assigned aid to bring to stock up the aid stations. Needless to say, there was a wide variety of aid and plenty for everybody.

Since there are no course markers we hung with Gary Knipling and Marlin Yoder (both team VHTRC) almost the whole way to not get lost. We dropped Gary when he realized we were "just" in for the 50k. In addition we were provided turn sheets and Joey even brought a PATC map. It was just over 50F at 6:30am in the morning as we started up a gravel road for about 1.5 miles, and entered the singletrack trail by sunrise. Fall foliage and the sun coming up behind the mountain range offered gorgeous views as we ran on the first ridge. With 6000ft of elevation gain over 28.8 miles it was a good workout and I cursed the Massanutten rocks a couple of times. The course offered lots of rocks, some jeep roads, single track, beautiful views and great company. The run was very nice and Joey and I finished in 6hrs 30mins.

A really nice low-key, no-pressure fat ass event with lots of VHTRC love, I would definitely recommend it! Here some impressions from the beautiful fall day.

David's report from 3 Ridges/Priest

Fall colors on AT. Courtesy Jenny Nichols.

We had a great and fun group turnout for Sunday's run, with folks from all over Virginia. When Nick Hamblet and I pulled into the Rte. 56 parking lot around 7:15 am, we met up with CAT-regular Bob Clouston, Matt Bugin and two other friends from Richmond, IMTRers Jenny Nichols and Guy from Southwest Virginia, and VHTRCer Quatro Hubbard from Richmond. And then, CAT-regular Neal Church showed up from Richmond to round things out.

It was a picture perfect day with temps in the 50s as we got started. Guy and Skinny B Nick started out with Matt Bugin and friends in a fast group, followed by Bob, Jenny, and Neal. Quatro and I decided to "sweep" in the last grouping. We first headed up the AT towards The 3 Ridges. The colors were great; we started down in green leafy late summer, ascended through oranges and reds, and came up to yellow-colored trees and paths of fallen leaves on the top of the ridges. The views were outstanding, as Bob's and Jenny's pictures, included here, can attest to. The Mau-Har trail was great -- much nicer in autumn than in the humidity of the summer IMO-- and Campbell's Creek flowed strong and clear from recent rains.

Jenny and Neal on the Third Ridge. Courtesy Bob Clouston.

Quatro on Third Ridge with Priest in background.

Nick, Bob, and Neal on Priest outcropping. Courtesy Jenny Nichols

Quatro and I finished the first leg in just over four hours and found Jenny, Bob, and Neal still hanging out in the parking lot. So we grabbed some quick food and drink and headed up the Priest trail all together. We were met by another beautiful climb and great scenery at outcroppings as we ascended higher. It was at the first outcropping about 2/3 of the way up that Bob, Jenny, and Neal met the fast group on their way down. I caught up as they all snapped off more pictures (Q returned to the parking lot about a mile up the trail as the 24 miles he ran with Sophie Speidel plus several hours of UVA tailgating on Saturday began to catch up with him). On top of the Priest, we visited the other outcropping with its incredible vistas, before turning for our descent. As this was my first time up the Priest, I was sort of dreading the descent, figuring my quads were shot.

Tailgate! From L: Guy, Jenny, Quatro, and Bob.

But we got down in what seemed like no time at all with my quads still intact. The big surprise upon our return was the spread that Q had set up at his car. It was the UVA tailgate all over again, complete with fried chicken, lots of chips, a variety of beers, and bourbon and cokes. Jenny added some 5-hour energy shots and Lusty Monk mustard and we were in business!

Overall, the day included 22 miles of distance and 7350 feet of climbing.

CAT Shirt Unveiling/Group Order

2011-10-17T13:56:00.001-04:00

I am extremely excited to unveil our first official clubshirt! David put in a great deal of work with Patagonia to arrange specialpricing for our group and Christian worked through numerous drafts of our clublogo before finally nailing it! We are now taking orders for shirts, in hopesof getting shirts out to everyone in time for Mountain Masochist. The final logo features cat claw marksforming the outline of our familiar trail running playground-the Blue RidgeMountains.

An image of what the shirt will look like is pictured above. The shirts are Patagonia Capilene 1 long sleeve in a light green with theCharlottesville Area Trail Runners logo screen printed on the front. TheCapilene 1 shirt is an awesome base layer and great for fall/winter running.These shirts are available in women’s/men’s specific sizes.

The price of each shirt (including screen printing) will besomewhere between $30-$32/shirt, which is a great price, considering theseshirts cost $35 from Patagonia.

To order a shirt, please email me (andrewjkrueger at hotmail dot com) with your name, number ofshirts you are ordering, and the size of each shirt (men’s/women’s size noted,please). Ex. John Doe, 1 shirt, men’ssize large. Please email me with your order by the end of the day Thursday,October 20. We will be placing our order first thing Friday morning.

Upon delivery, payment of cash or check will be expected forthe number of shirts ordered. The final price of the shirts will be availableafter we place the order on Friday.

Feel free to contact me with any questions.

See you on the trails (in sweet matching shirts!),

Drew

David Horton comes to Charlottesville

2011-10-12T12:41:00.002-04:00

David Horton at the Tour Divide, 2011

"Do you have a bucket list?!"

David Horton, legendary ultrarunner, teacher, race director, and newbie mountain biker, asked that question many times throughout his talk to CAT and CAMBC members last night at UVA.

"Everyone NEEDS a bucket list! What's yours?!"

Mixing humor, self-deprecation, Malcolm Gladwell, sobering facts and stats with passion and candid reflection, David shared both his triumphs of 30+ years of ultrarunning along with his feelings of doubt, fear, and sadness upon learning from two doctors that he could no longer run.

"Do you know those people who can't stop talking about something, whether it be music or cars or computers (or running)? They're the ones to look out for, they're the ones who are going to make it." -Bob Lefsetz

Horton is passionate about running. But he is equally passionate about getting other people excited about being active. His talk was not "woe is me, I cannot run"; it was "find your passion and do it now, before you can't do it anymore!"

It was an honor to hear the endurance "genius" of David Horton last night: former speed record holder of the AT, PCT, Long Trail, Barkley Marathons winner, Hardrock winner (2x), and, a little over eight months after learning to ride a mountain bike, Tour Divide finisher.

"When you see a genius at work, you feel something. Those Apple keynotes, you could see that Jobs himself was thrilled, the excitement was contagious.

Loving what you do is not enough to succeed. It's just a beginning, it's an ongoing force. It keeps you going when the spotlight's gone, when everybody else tells you to give up.

But it also drives you to innovate, to do it different." -BL

DH greeting a grateful Promise Land finisher, 2011

This Tuesday! Tour Divide Presentation - Dr. David Horton

2011-10-04T11:13:00.006-04:00

Tomorrow, Tuesday October 11th, is our second CAT-Talk and it should be very exciting! The talk features well-known trail runner/ultra runner/long distance expert and now mountain biker, Dr. David Horton. The talk will be held on Tuesday at 6:00 pm in Room 123 of Rouss & Robertson Halls (McIntire School of Commerce). The talk is co-sponsored by the Charlottesville Area Mountain Bike Club (CAMBC).

Dr. Horton will talk about his recently completed Tour Divide, a ultra-cycling challenge to pedal solo and self-supported the length of the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route (2745mi)...as fast as possible. Hear about his fascinating trek and transitional journey from ultra runner to ultra mountain biker. As part of Dr. Horton's presentation, we will have a moderated Q&A session, so you bring your questions!

Following the presentation, we plan to meet up for a social gathering/dinner at Mellow Mushroom Pizza on the University of Virginia "Corner".

We are asking for a donation of $5 to cover Horton's travel costs. All lefttover proceeds will be donated to to a fund devoted to developing and maintaining the new Albemarle County park, the Patricia Ann Byrom Forrest Park.

Prior to the talk everybody is welcome to join Dr. Horton at a mountain bike group ride or trail run at Observatory Hill. Here's the schedule:

4pm - Group Ride/Run: Meet at Blue Ridge Cyclery and ride at Observatory Hill
6pm - Tour Divide Talk: Room 123, Rouss Hall, McIntire School of Commerce, UVa
8pm - Dinner social at Mellow Mushroom Pizza

Please comment on this post if you intend to come or RSVP to the Facebook event here.

More info about Tour Divide: http://tourdivide.org/
More info about CAMBC: http://www.cambc.org
Meeting spot for the ride: Blue Ridge Cyclery

Talk location:

View Larger Map

This Saturday: UROC at Wintergreen

2011-09-22T14:00:00.004-04:00

The inaugural TrailRunner Ultra Race of Champions (UROC) 100K will be held this Saturday, September 24th, at Wintergreen Resort. The race, directed by Charlottesville Running Company owners Gill and Francesca, has as its goal the creation of "the championship event for the sport of ultra distance running." To this end, the inaugural race features an impressive collection of elite ultra runners including Geoff Roes, Anita Ortiz, Devon Crosby-Jones, Ian Sharman, Michael Wardian, Anne Riddle Lundblad, and David Mackey. These top-names will compete against other elite and citizen racers, including local fast talents like Ragan Petrie and Eric Grossman, for prizes totaling $10,000.

Race-day promises to be an exciting one for spectators, as over half of the course will be held on roads in and around Wintergreen and on the neighboring Blue Ridge Parkway, and the race will be covered live by iRunFar.com's Bryon Powell, with commentary help from local ultra running great, Andy Jones-Wilkins. Friday evening features a "Meet the Elites" panel from 7-8 pm at Wintergreen's Discovery Ridge, preceded by an Expo and TrailRunner interviews with some of the top racers. To top things off, Wintergreen is also hosting its annual Oktoberfest which features food, oompah bands, and a beer tent!

Most importantly, CAT runners Bob Clouston, Nick Hamblet, and Chris Engle will be running the UROC sister event, the Uber Rock 50K! So come out to Wintergreen Friday and Saturday to see and greet the elites, drink some beer, and cheer on our CAT runners!

Cascade Crest 100

2011-09-13T13:16:00.000-04:00

I’ve opted not to provide a blow-by-blow race report, but I’ll share a couple of thoughts and some photos that you may find of interest.

Me and Wes (who paced miles 47-68 and 96-finish) on race morning (Saturday, August 27). Wes ran/walked with me from about midnight to about 6 am. My second pacer Geoff (miles 68-finish) is shown on following pictures.

My training may have been somewhat unconventional for a 100-mile race. Basically, I alternated easy and hard weeks, and the easy weeks were really easy (often 10-20 miles, sometimes less depending on what was going on with life otherwise). I primarily needed the easy weeks to allow for reasonable time for family and work. But I think the frequent easy weeks were helpful for several other reasons. They allowed adequate physical recovery: I certainly did not overtrain, and I did not have significant injury issues during the buildup. Also, I was psychologically ready to tackle the hard/long week when it rolled around. This kept things from getting old and helped preserve general enthusiasm. I basically started training for the race in October/November, increased the hard week mileage no more than about 5% every 2 weeks, and slowly built up to a peak of 75 miles in one week. In the 8 weeks leading up to my peak mileage, my weekly mileages were 24, 62, 6, 64, 12, 70, 3, 75 (then started a taper: 51, 30, 23, 5). This training plan is probably not good for optimal performance, but it was certainly enough to get me to the finish uninjured and feeling well.

The scenery at Cascade Crest was unbelievable. The above two photos are at Thorp Mountain, approximately mile 84. (Note Mount Rainier in background.) My friend Geoff was my pacer from mile 68 to finish. He got me through two tough sections, the “Trail from Hell” (~68-73) and the “Cardiac Needles” (~80-88). The two photos above were taken by Glenn Tachiyama, the official race photographer (photos purchased from him).

I took the advice of Sophie et al to heart by making completion my only specific goal. So a really conservative pace was the name of the game from the start. I had no idea what to expect after mile 50 or 60, so I wanted to preserve my legs as much as I could over the first 50 miles. I started the race toward the back and stayed there. I attached myself to a grizzled veteran (attempting his 6th Cascade Crest) for 20+ miles; this was really helpful as it kept me from unwittingly pushing the pace early on. I did lots of walking from the beginning. If it looked remotely like an uphill that took more than 5 seconds to crest, I walked it. I only ran if it was flat or downhill, but I sometimes walked some during these sections as well. I slowed myself down a number of times. I only pushed a bit a couple of times in the last 40 miles when I thought I might possibly be putting myself close to cutoffs. Overall, I finished tired but feeing pretty well—better than I felt at the end of my two 50 milers and my hard-effort marathons.

Photo taken by my brother at about mile 47 (left).

Beautiful, but I found running/walking throughout

the night (about 9.5 hours total) to be mentally challenging.

I had two notable bad patches, although they were relatively mild as far as bad patches go. One started at about mile 37—shortly after dusk—when I turned my right ankle pretty bad (something’s not right with my right ankle). I then decided that, as long as it was dark, I would walk the single track to avoid another turn of the right ankle (which I worried could jeopardize a finish). So I was walking much of the next 3-4 hours alone in the dark, and this was tough for morale. I also started to develop stomach cramps at about mile 45, and this persisted until about mile 60. Not sure what this was about, because I wasn’t pushing the pace at all. My second tough patch was through the “Cardiac Needles,” an 8-mile segment (miles 80-88) marked by 5 relatively short but significant climbs/descents. This was the most physically demanding section for me.

The crew at the finish: Geoff, me, Wes, and my brother Steve. Final time was 31:20 (40 minutes under cutoff).

Gary Knipling and Wes joking around at finish. Many thanks to Gary for being so encouraging.

Overall, the trip was one of the most remarkable experiences of my life. Completing a 100 mile race in a beautiful area was a big part of it. But perhaps the best thing about the trip overall was being with the guys (Steve, Wes, Geoff). We made the race an occasion for a “boys night out” of sorts.

Me and brother/crew member Steve on the Pacific Crest Trail (Thurs, August 25)

Me and buddy/pacer/crew member Wes on Pacific Crest Trail (Thurs, August 25)

VHTRC had a big showing at Cascade Crest 2011 (2 additional VHTRC runners were present but aren’t shown in this picture).

At some point (it will take some time), I’m hoping to put together a lot more of the photos (and videos) we got while out there.

Sophie's 111 mile trek of the SNP

2011-09-11T20:02:00.000-04:00

Sophie Speidel has just published a great and thorough report on her blog of her 3-day trek last weekend of the entire length of the Shenandoah National Park (SNP). It is a must read, particularly for those thinking of trying this themselves!

Link to blog: http://shiningsultra.blogspot.com/2011/09/snp-adventure-run.html.

TrailRunner magazine spotlights Cville as a "Virginia Playground"

2011-09-04T12:11:00.002-04:00

The October issue of TrailRunner magazine just hit newsstands and features an article on Charlottesville, which the magazine describes as "a diverse mix of talented trail runners and endless miles of singletrack."

CAT (and VHTRC) member Sophie Speidel is featured in the article, with a great picture of her motoring on the Rivanna Trail. The article includes a reference to Sophie's Winter Solstice run, along with a plug for our blog page. Way to go Sophie!

Gill and Francesca, owners of Charlottesville Running Company, also appear in the article and discuss the upcoming Trailrunner-sponsored UROC race at Wintergreen on September 24th.

The article was written by VHTRC and WUS runner Neal Gorman. Right now, the issue is available in hard-copy form only and can be picked up at Blue Ridge Mountain Sports, Charlottesville Running Company, Barnes and Noble, or by subscription. A digital version will appear on Trailrunner's website next month.

Elevation

2011-08-31T12:46:00.001-04:00

My wife and I just returned from vacation/adventures in Leadville, Colorado (10152 ft) and surrounds – what a blast! Leadville is the ...ahem, highest incorporated city in the US and site of the Leadville 100 Mountain Bike Race and Trail Run. (Huge congrats to David Snipes for his completion of the run!) Leadville is also a great base camp for trail running, hiking, road/mountain biking adventures in the area with quick access to a great number of the fourteeners.

While we biked the start of the Leadville course around Turquoise Lake, and had several biking adventures, I’ll cut to the chase and get to the trail running races.

Saturday, August 27th Bergen Peak Trail Run
I woke up on Saturday morning to the sound of my quads and calves arguing…

Quads: Wake up! We’ve got to get to the Bergen Peak Trail Run!
Calves: ZZZZzzz….oh man, are you serious? We just did Mt Elbert (14,440 feet) yesterday, are you nuts?
Quads: I’ll go make coffee, you sit here and get psyched.
Calves: Yeesh, I’m hurting. Alright, feet let’s find my Inov-8 Roclite 285’s, woah I forgot how red they are…that’ll wake you up.
Quads: I’m back, let’s go!
Calves: I’ll sleep in the car on the way.

I eventually convinced my legs to get in the car and we drove to the appropriately named Evergreen, CO for the Bergen Peak Trail Run (10.4 mi). It was a low-key mountain running race that drew people from Boulder, Denver, and a couple from a place I just read about in Trail Runner Mag.

The fine gravel trail followed a meadow up to the base of the mountain and we ran the switchbacks up from 7220’ to 9708’, on what an east-coaster would describe as not very technical trail. Luckily, this terrain continued on the backside of the mountain, which I bombed. Having just read about Killian Jornet’s musical performance at Western States 100, I gave it a shot while downhilling. I can happily report that smiling and singing “Street where you live” from the 1956 Broadway musical My Fair Lady is a great way to approach gravity shredding. If you sing something from Andrew Lloyd Weber, however, expect to fall flat on your face.

The race was a blast, and I ended up finishing 8th overall 1:26:37/1st age group.

To check out a video of the start, get an idea of the terrain, and watch an interview where I describe the trail, check out http://www.applecorecafe.com/ and click on Evergreen, and check out the video in the top left.

Sunday, August 28th XTERRA Snow Mountain 20K
5:00a alarm sounds

Calves: You’ve got to be kidding me.
Quads: I promise we’ll take it easy today.

My quads are lying. We headed over to the Winter Park area to Snow Mountain Ranch/YMCA of the Rockies for the inaugural XTERRA Snow Mountain Ranch 20k. At 8800 ft, the Ranch is the largest Nordic center in CO, with 5200 acres to play on. The race was on the rolling hill trails and tractor roads, and in contrast to Evergreen, the course was essentially desert meadow with sweeping mountain vistas.

Every time I start a race, I hear Mark Lorenzoni’s voice in my head - “START VERY EASY, STAY DISCIPLINED.” Thanks to his three years of committed coaching before I started ultrarunning, I hear him shouting this for the first few tempting steps.

The first 1.5 miles I took it very easy, loosened up and kept the leaders in sight as I thought the course could end up being pretty quick and the field was pretty small. The leaders were not pulling away considerably, so I made a move and went for it. I took the lead after the 1.5 mi mark and just tried to stay on course and keep it steady for the first half of the race. I heard footsteps behind me at several points, but followed a lesson from my 3000m racing days (link) – never, ever look back. I threw the hammer down on the second half and fed my pace with some downhills, just relaxing and enjoying the terrain. I finished 1st overall at 1:33, and ended putting on a 3 min lead on second place who upon finishing exclaimed “You are from sea level!?”

Which sounds astonishingly like…“You are from Cville!?”

Luckily the affirmative answer covered my confusion. Thanks to it being an inaugural race, my time is the current the course record. Not too bad for a boy from sea level/Cville.

Huge thanks to Wild Bill and Cathy at the Leadville Hostel and Inn for being awesome hosts!

-Mike

Bryom Park - First Impressions

2011-08-23T13:11:00.007-04:00

Past Sunday a couple of us made it out to the newly constructed, and on Friday officially opened, Patricia Ann Byrom Forest Preserve Park (Byrom Park). If you follow our blog and local news you probably already heard of it. This 612 acre park lies on the foothills of Browns Gap near Shenandoah National Park.

A recent comment on OUR blog by one of Patricia Ann Byrom's grandchild sounds exciting:

Laura Lee Neva said...

It is awesome! I grew up there with the bear, mountain lion, deer, good trout fishing back then too, brookies! ENJOY it ALL!!! Patsy Park is Heaven on earth!
8/12/2011 2:42 PM

Following some first CAT impressions:

Christian:
The park features a couple of mostly shaded double-track trails with some significant elevation gain, my GPS showed 2615ft on our 7.5mi. We didn't see much wildlife, besides some deer ticks or chiggers I took home and discovered later. Parking lot and restroom facilities are nice. There weren't many overlooks but who needs that when doing hill repeats ;). Trails itself are fairly soft and have some rocks/roots here and there but nothing too technical really. So far I like the park for hill workouts. Due to short trails you can't really cover much distance but the park is still in development, close the the SNP which gives hope for a connector trail.

Sophie:
This park is what I call a "climbing park." If you want to get in some good vertical without having to drive south to the Priest, this is the place! As the trails get used and linked up into circuits, I can envision multi-loops that will provide perfect training for any mountain 100, Mountain Masochist, or Hellgate. It is a beautiful area and a lovely memorial, and I enjoyed knowing that generations of a family had grown up there and were happy to share it with the rest of us.

Mike:
From the very start, Byrom Park lets you know that it is not kidding around. With a climb out of the parking lot on the red trail to warm up the hamstrings, we started with an out-and-back the white trail, which will eventually form a longer loop. I counted myself lucky to be joined by my "unusual friends" Sophie, Christian, Bob, and Chris on this inaugural run, as trail runners are the only people who would readily (and happily!) cover 7.5 miles with ~2500 ft climb in more than 2 hours.

Climbing Park indeed.

We headed over to the western park of the park, where the county has painted over the bear scratching post (read: trail marker at intersection of blue and red trails), for a double loop of the blue trail. Parts of the Blue Trail loop make the climbs of the dreaded "purple trail" on the Catherine's Fatass Course look downright flat. I had to laugh as we faced what appeared to be a wall of jeep road on the trail, only to have to climb it to the "summit," which was blocked off by a enormous fallen tree and brush. It was a thrill to run on the soft side-hill down the blue trail which I had the opportunity to work on several weeks ago, which dumps into a serious downhill (that runs like the backside of Terrapin).

Overall, the trails are still raw, soft, and cover an unbelievable amount of vertical over a short distance. It is the hardest I've worked for 7 miles in a long time, and what a place to get strong at climbing, and to top it off it is only a 30-35min drive from town.

Byrom is a fantastic park and I can't wait to get back out there. Tough, beautiful, and rugged.

Bob:
Good place to get some climbing in with >10% overall grade and much steeper sections. Hopefully it will connect to some SNP trails someday. Paved parking for maybe 20 cars plus there is horse trailer parking that I guess we could use if the lot fills. The trails will only get better with use.

More info:
http://www.cvillepedia.org/mediawiki/index.php/Byrom_Park

http://www.albemarle.org/department.asp?department=parks&relpage=12998

Garmin Data:

Team Effort: 100 on 100 Relay

2011-08-18T14:58:00.003-04:00

This past weekend, I joined my friends Mark and Marty in Vermont for the 100 on 100 relay. Both are Captains in the US Army and are currently stationed at West Point (USMA) teaching combatives and PT, and are both fantastic runners having run for the West Point Marathon Team and South Dakota CC and T+F teams, respectively. Hence our team name...Running Commando.

Just an upfront warning, only part of this race is in trails/gravel roads. But it is an ultra (divided up into sections), and as a team we crushed it, so hopefully it will make interesting reading…

The 100 on 100 relay starts on ~3 miles of trail in Stowe, Vermont and follows the drop-dead gorgeous highway 100 for 100 miles south up and over Killington and down to Ludlow, VT. So it was a great chance to see Vermont and get some fast gravel and road miles in. angles The course really runs through all Vermont has to offer from small towns and farms, to mountains and lakes, skirting the Green Mountain National Forest.

View Larger Map

107 teams, made up of either 6 or 3 people had a handicapped start from 5:45a-10:15a and were all slated to finish in the 8:30-11p window. We were the only ultra (3 person) team at the starting line at the 10:15a final start window, and our first runner Mark toed the line with some very fast 6-man teams (all these teams ended up going sub-7 minute pace for the 100 miles as a team, and the 6-man team winners took it with 6:22 min/mi pace).

What we didn’t realize is the challenge we would be undertaking for the first ~40 some miles of the race, as our goal pace maintaining of 7:00 min/mile pace would leave us running alone, with no one in site on our legs until we caught up to the earlier starters.

The race legs (18 of them) are divided into 5-8 mile sections, with a transition area at the end of each leg with a handoff window (we had a reflective wristband as our baton). So, upon finishing your leg you have ~15 min to recover, hydrate, fuel, and then get in the car and navigate with the other team member to the next transition area for the hand off.

Luckily, having 2 soldiers and 1 A-type nerd meant our logistics were keyed in. We had calculated times beforehand for our leg completion, kept track of our pacing by start and finish time, and had mapped out the route and driving directions on an old-fashioned road atlas. In addition, I’ll mention some other keys to success that we lucked into, as I know there are others in CAT doing relays in these next months and (hopefully) some the advice applies to ultrarunning which we frequently approach as a “team” on our group runs and races. Top 10:

Personal:

1. Think about your needs and what you need to re-cover/hydrate/fuel during the current leg. You only have a certain amount of time when you will be the center of your teammate’s attention and then its off to the next transition area so use it wisely.

2. Only focus on the current leg, and do not calculate your overall completion.

3. Metering out your effort means keeping an extremely consistent pace for your legs, so that your body "knows" only how to run at a certain pace. The pace of my legs only varied between 6:40-7:10, and my 36^th mile was run at 6:30 pace. As a team, our variation was almost nil and we kept it dialed in.

4. Visualize and prepare for your legs before the race and take quick notes on the leg and your strategy so you will know what you want to do e.g. “Slow uphill 2.5 miles, then hammer the downhill.” =7:40 first two miles followed by sub-7 downhill miles to bring your average to 7.

5. Ease into each leg, you will make up the time as you loosen up again and as you near the transition area.

Team:

6. You cannot plan enough and talk about your plan for pacing, when to meet up, if a runner wants aid, where you will do this on the course, etc. Constant communication is critical.

7. Be honest and open about your current state – both mental and physical. We honestly appraised both of these frequently and it allowed us to stay on target and keyed into each other’s current state, especially as the day wore on.

8. Stay positive. All the time. If someone gets lost or has a bad leg, don’t dwell and don’t allow them to focus on it – start getting focused on the next leg.

9. Distract yourself with caring – you get one leg to recover, and then you are caring for your teammate’s needs. If you commit yourself to this, you will distract yourself and ensure your team’s success while distracting you from your cramps/pains/tightness.

10. Get excited. Energy is contagious.

We hit a really rough patch for all of us, with a very serious climbing leg (Mark), exposed lonely bit (Marty), and two bookended runs of 8 and 7 with very little rest between (me) but we rallied through the lows and "loneliness" on course, and then began passing teams that had started earlier. Our energy started rising exponentially as we passed more and more teams on our legs beginning after 3-4p and we started crushing the legs. It flew by, interrupted only by Marty and I getting leeches on our feet after a welcome soak in a lake and changing into my Dorothy costume for the Killington climb leg (photos pending).

We finished in Ludlow, Vermont at the Okemo Resort 11 hours and 50 minutes after we began, thus averaged 7:10 pace for the distance. We won the ultra division, and had a blast.

A great race, and a fantastic team effort.

-Mike

50K in Norway

2011-08-17T14:22:00.027-04:00


My run began in the small community Snippen

Today I ran about 50K, mostly in the wilderness, Nordmarka, that surrounds Oslo, Norway. I lived in Norway back in the 1990s and consider it to be my adopted home away from home. I especially love the country's beauty and the way Norwegians keep in close touch with nature. Nordmarka is an extensive wooded area with thousands of miles of trail, both for x-c skiing in the winter and hiking in the summer. The area also has a large network of gravel roads that are open to biking, horseback riding, and hiking, and to limited car traffic for those possessing keys (mainly cabin owners) that open gates at the boundaries of the areas.

I mapped out a trail loop of about 50K starting and finishing at the lake, Maridalsvannet, which isn't far from my hotel in Oslo. Nordmarka is hilly -- with heights that top out at around 2100 ft -- but it is not a trip in which you have to worry about climbing too much.

Calf-deep in myr muck

The biggest problem with hiking/running the summer trails in Nordmarka is that the area is covered in an spongy marsh called myr, which means that almost no matter what, your feet are going to sink into a mucky, stinky mess while on the trail (I am pretty sure our word "mire" as in "mired in muck" comes from the same linguisitic root as myr. It is fitting). Norwegians often hike Nordmarka in rubber boots for this reason. I started the day thinking "no problem" because my Inov-8 295s are often wet and stinky when I run, if for no other reason than because I sweat a lot. But what I didn't take into account is the fact that we have had steady rain here in Oslo for the past several days. The three days of rain meant that most steps in the myr went ankle to calf-deep.

Feet sinking in the myr isn't so bad because the woods are really special. The tall spruce and fir trees, with their Christmas-tree looks and smells are wonderful, as is the myr flora, chock full of pretty little flowers, wild berries, and mushrooms. Often, the woods are like something out of a kid's book of fairytales. I swear I have actually seen a troll or two up there, hiding under a toadstool or wooden bridge. Nordmarka also has lots of old cabins and mountain farms that are fun to explore. Some are used today to serve food and provide lodging.

Fairy-tale woods. Blue blazes mark trails.

My problem with the myr today was that it was slowing me down considerably. For instance, I covered only 5 miles in my first two hours on the trail and 8 miles in three hours. At that rate, I would be doing a 12-hour 50K -- too slow even for me! So at about mile 9, I opted for taking gravel roads for awhile to catch up on time.

Myr flora

Not only are the gravel roads easy to run on -- they are more packed dirt than gravel - they also stay pretty flat, so you can make up a lot of time traveling the roads instead of trail. So I pushed on by road to my turnaround point, a lodge that serves food called Kikutstua.

Gravel road - At last!

I know the Kikutstua lodge well. I skied to it with friends several times when I lived here in Norway and it was part of a run I did last year. It is a popular destination spot, particularly in the winter, as you get there by crossing a long frozen lake. It has a nice cafe and even rooms if you want to sleep over. Within a couple of miles of the lodge, all I could think about was getting there to buy a Fanta orange soda, some chocolate, and maybe a cup of coffee.

Kikutstua

Kikutstua appeared at about mile 18. But boy, was I sorely dissapointed! You see, I brought only my Visa debit card to pay for my food. Electronic terminals are even more popular here than in the U.S. and so I thought I would be fine. But no, the dude working at the cafe at Kikutstua insisted that his terminal only took Norwegian cards, not the card of some dumb foreigner. I was pissed, because (a) I didn't believe him, and (b) he was being such a jerk (most Norwegians are very nice to foreigners, by the way).

No matter though, I had plenty of gels with me. So I filled up my hydration pack, gave the dude the finger, and booked out of there fast without my Fanta, chocolate or coffee.

Back on the road out of Kikutstua, I had one long hill to climb, and then everything was literally downhill back to town . During my trip down, I veered back onto a trail I knew called Helvete, which means "hell" in Norwegian. Despite its name, Helvete is a very nice trail that climbs steeply up the side of a ravine and then drops back down again. Most of the trail is myr-free.

Helvete, passing near power lines

But Helvete only lasts a couple of miles, and then it was back on to gravel road the rest of the way down to the forest-road gate. On the trip down, I passed lots of cyclists out for the day, but no other runners. I arrived at the gate -- mile 28 -- about 7 1/2 hours after I started. From the gate, it was another 4 miles of running on paved road and biking trails back to my hotel.

Gate at end of forest road

Overall, it was a fun day out in Nordmarka and decent time on my feet for MMTR training.

Note: I took some liberties with my story telling: 1) I have never actually seen trolls in the woods in Norway, and (2) I never really gave that guy at Kikutstua the finger.

More photos from my trip are available here

Martha Moats Baker Memorial 50k

2011-08-15T12:10:00.012-04:00

This past Saturday some CATs (Bob, Drew, Sophie and me) ran another free event put up by Dennis Herr from VHTRC. As always, VHTRC events are guaranteed fun and you can experience the dedication those folks put into their events.

Joe Schramka running through the clouds

Drew and I carpooled to "in-the-middle-of-nowhere"-Stokesville, VA (the Harrsionburg side of the Massanutten. The complete course is about 35 mi long and provides a decent elevation gain of 8400 ft. Thanks to the Waypoints Drew put in his GPS, we made it to the parking lot at 6.20am, and got one of the last empty spaces. After gearing up and packing map (and yes, Thanks Snipes for giving us an extra map) & turnsheet in the hydration pack we (25-30 runners) came together for a group picture. Many of them took the shorter, 26/28mi option of the course. In a short pre-race briefing, Dennis pointed out that we shouldn't cross the "flower" line, I thought this was a little odd, but given that we trail runners usually are nature conscious it made sense, kind of. (It took me about 20some miles to realize that a flower-line was a flour-line as in course marking. Go figure.). In perfect weather (in the 60/70s) we took off.

The plan was to run with Drew and go for the full distance. Coming back from a beach vacation (and 34ft elev gain runs) two days prior, I figured I need to get in some extra climb. We ran with Sophie, Bob and a few others for the first miles. Sophie gave us some tips along the course of easy to miss turns that served us well in the end (and yes, also arrows put down by David Snipes!). I separated from the group and ran in front with Joe Schramka, one of the WUS'ses (Woodley Ultra Society). I enjoyed getting to know him and talk about running. Drew caught up with us a few miles later and we refueled at the first aid station at Reddish Knob:


1st Aid Station at Reddish Knob (13mi)

We kept checking the turn sheet as we continued on the course as some turns were not obvious. The vegetation of parts of the course seemed like in California, pine trees and lots of grass - a nice change compared to the AT & Blue Ridge. Quite a few times we had to bushwhack as the bushes were covering the trail. We ran at a good pace and didn't think anybody would catch up soon, shortly after - out-of-nowhere, Eva Pastalkova, flew by with a quick "Hi, guys!". Even though she started 34mins late, she passed everybody! Crazy!

After the second aid station (21mi) we hit a short but nice cooling rain shower. Sweet! Some more uneventful ups and downs until we stopped at the last aid station, Grooms Ridge (27mi).


If I had known that the final "brutal climb" meant brutal climb I might have not smiled here.

The final stretch (that many skipped for a reason) was about 4mi up and 4mi down. At this point my legs were quite tired from going out fast on the downhills earlier and I noticed that I didn't keep up with my nutrition too well - I felt a little empty. Also the weather turned to the sunny side and let the temps rise to 85-90F?! Yay! I think it took us about 2hrs for the 4mi up and 1 hour down. I let Drew take off and ran/walked the rest.

Rewarding views on the final miles..

The finish party was great (as VHTRC-usual), lots of food and drinks and good company. We were surprised to hear that Eva didn't make it to the finish yet... as it turned out she had run 10-bonus-miles. Drew (7:50hrs) and I (8:01hrs) made the first two places (out of 6 that did the whole course). Good times!

Party at the finish.

Thanks to Dennis Herr and all the wonderful volunteers who made this event possible. It was a great day, beautiful course, and a fantastic race.

Link to the event: http://www.vhtrc.org/events/mmb.htm
Photos by Christian:

Photos by Quattro:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/qhubbard/sets/72157627318827081/

Photos by Doug Sullivan:

https://picasaweb.google.com/geemaildoug/MarthaMoatsBakerAug132011#

Byrom Park Inaugural Run Sunday, August 21st

2011-08-10T11:14:00.003-04:00

I've gotten final word that Byrom Park will officially open Friday, August 19th!

If you are interested, I'll be "hosting" an inaugural run out there Sunday, August 21st at 7a.

There will be a map posted in the kiosk and there *should* be 8.5”x11” maps at the kiosk as well. There will be a 5-6 mi loop and a couple of 1-2 mile long "dead ends" that should hopefully whet your appetite for what is to come. We can run every bit of it and then if some of you would like to double the loop, I'd be game. Expect a run (with climbing) of about 8-12 miles, though you could always triple the loop for 18-20 mile run.

As usual, you will be responsible for your hyrdation (Bring a handheld or two) and navigation (grab a map at the start).

I have put directions at the end of this email, and it should take about 45 minutes driving from Greenberry's if y'all would like to meet up at 6:10a there to carpool. I'd love for someone to bring an accurate GPS as well so we can figure out how close we can get to SNP/AT.

I hope you will be able to join me, and I'm looking forward to it!
-Mike

Directions to Byrom:

Byrom Forest Preserve Park

6610 Blackwells Hollow Road

Crozet, VA 22932

Directions from town (takes approximately 45 minutes):

1. Follow Garth Road to the Piedmont Store

2. Go around the curve to the right onto Rt. 810 (do not go straight up to Sugar Hollow)

3. Follow Rt. 810 for 7.8 miles and parking area is on the left

CAT blog gets recognition in Charlottesville's Daily Progress

2011-08-09T10:31:00.009-04:00

Mark Lorenzoni, owner of Ragged Mountain Running Shop and running coach extraordinaire, also writes a weekly running column in Charlottesville's Daily Progress. This week, Mark highlighted the recent significant achievements by area trail runners, Jennifer Pharr-Davis, who lives in North Carolina and just blew away the AT thru-hike record (a 1994 record held previously by a man), and Andy Jones-Wilkins, the new head of Tandem Friends School, who finished in the top 10 at this year's Western States 100-mile race (It is Andy's 8th top-10 finish at Westerns!).

Mark finished off his column by pointing to our blog and noting that Sophie Speidel, among other talented runners, are part of the exciting CAT scene. Thanks for the support Mark!

You can find Mark's column here.

Coverage of Pharr-Davis' accomplishments can be found here and here, among other places. Catch a pre-Western's interview of Jones-Wilkins by Byron Powell here and a post-race interview of Powell by Jones-Wilkins here.

Catherine's Fat Ass 50K

2011-07-24T15:18:00.005-04:00

Drew, Mike, Chris, Christian and Joey joined me up in the Massanuttens for the annual Catherine's Fat Ass 50K. Here is my blog post on our adventure!

Pictures by Christian

Made with Slideshow Embed Tool

Pictures by Brad Koening (VHTRC)

Byrom Park

2011-07-19T16:28:00.001-04:00

The Scoop: The Patricia Ann Byrom Forest Preserve Park

After a quick Blackrock Gap jaunt Saturday morning, I headed to Byrom Park to do some trail work and get the scoop on what is sure to be a great addition to the county park system and a climbing park for trail runners.

Climbing park?

Byrom park is 612 acres cut right into the base of the Blue Ridge, and the trails start with an aggressive gravel road climb out of the parking lot. We rode a gator up the “draft” trails on Saturday and my quads were twitching with excitement. At present, the plan is to have one of the loop trails totaling 5-6 miles completed by August 19th, which is when the park will open officially. The next phase will be to finish clearing and then open a larger concentric loop and connect a trail that currently goes to nowhere (Shel Silverstein part II) back to the entrance (old logging roads have been converted to trails to deer stands as the property was leased to a hunting club).

Bears? You bet, with the plentiful berries around and the clear evidence that one had been using a wood trail intersection marker as a scratching post.

Blaze? The current “blazing” is letters on foam, which are temporary markings from the county-sponsored “Bioblitz” (a summary is available here). The recommendation relevant to trail building that came from this exercise was to “[p]lan trails and recreation areas so that there is minimal disturbance to the few identified unusual species (ex. American chestnut, American elm, Big-toothed aspen), groups (ex. ferns, orchids), geology, and habitats (ex. seeps, wetlands, and streams especially where streams and old logging roads intersect or adjoin (along trails A and E)).” I'm sure the first trail will be blazed at opening, and its would be a true joy to get the first runs on it with the CAT group.

So what is in store for the future of Byrom Park? Why should I be so excited?

1. SNP Connection: The property has a thin corridor that makes it contiguous with Shenandoah National Park. It is a mere 8 miles by road away from the turn that goes to Sugar Hollow on 810 (just keep going right at the store). The county is going to apply for a trail connection, which is complicated as it will require (1) the approval to build a trail leading out of Byrom, (2) a trail built from the SNP side, and (3) the federal government paperwork mill. By my cursory map-gazing, this puts a possible connector trail to Loft Mountain/Big Flat Mountain? I could be wrong here, any insight from the more map-able is welcome.

2. Mountain Running: This will be a mountain running playground, and its unlikely to receive the same pummeling as Preddy Creek as the grades are quite steep. Your calves and quads will thank you when you knock out >3-4k elevation in a 5-6 mile run.

3. The work continues!: Tucker Rollins who has been organizing the volunteer trail work, and has a passion for the park and its potential, will be hosting monthly workdays again September throughout the winter. In addition, he would be more than happy to schedule a workday for us sometime. Anyone game for August 6th?

-Mike

More SNP fun July 16, Grindstone July 17

2011-07-11T11:35:00.002-04:00

We had so much fun running back-to-back mountain runs over July 4 weekend that we decided to do it again! This time we will run the gorgeous 24-mile lollipop from Sugar Hollow to Blackrock, Jones Falls, Doyles River and back to Blackrock via the AT on Saturday, July 16 ay 7:00am. Bring enough fluids for 4-5 hours. There is a spring along the course, and incredible waterfalls, but better be safer than sorry and death marching it.

Sunday, July 17 we are going to run on the Grindstone 100 course, starting from Dowells Draft ( mile 20/80) and going to the top of Elliotts Knob (mile 10/90) and back. We will have aid at mile 7ish and 13ish. This run is 20 miles and has big climbs and lovely descents.

No need to RSVP but if you need directions or have questions, email me at sophiespeidel@yahoo.com. hope to see you out there!

Here is my story about 2011 Western States

2011-07-07T04:55:00.005-04:00

Report filed by Sniper

The flight from Richmond to Dallas went went until we landed and I got a phone call as soon as I turned on my phone. It was the Reno police, spcifically the drug unit calling me. I could barely understand since I was still on the plane but the package that I had sent federal express to my hotel with my dropbags in it has raised some suspicions. I explained to him that the contents were the following: juice boxes of yoohoo since northern California doesnt have any there, cups of applesauce and baggies of white and brown powder which everyone on the east coast knows is my tea and sugar mix. All of the bags were labeled with the aid station names and my bib number and also a note inside explaining what everything was for. After telling the officer all of this he agreed that I was in fact telling the truth, could anyone in their right mind make this up? haha. He told me that the package was already on its way to be delivered, and I work for the company too.

So, after that situation was averted I met up with Mark Rodriquez, who paced me at MMT, at the Dallas airport and took him some VHTRC shirts. Even when I am on my time I am still making deliveries, haha. We hung out for a bit until it was time to get on the flight to Reno, NV. The flight went well until we got there and it was a rough landing, lots and lots of wind. Got the rental car, called Mike Bailey and headed to Squaw Valley. My pacer would arrive later tonight. I got to the start line of the race and met up with Mike and Ed and we walked around a bit. I did get to meet some of the other people who are trying to run the Grand Slam this year. The GS consists of Western States, Vermont, Leadville, Wasatch. I am trying to run the Last Great Race which includes those 4 plus Old Dominion and Angeles Crest. I recently ran Old Dominion along with Dan Brendan who is going for the LGR again this year. He's got fire in his belly this year since he just turned 60, this guy is tough. We have run about 16 races together, putting in at least a few miles together during each. After the meet and greet, I checked into the hotel and went back to Reno to get John may pacer. We arrived back at the hotel and met up with Mike who was staying with us and settled in for Friday's check in.

Friday Check-in:

We got there about 9:30am and there were a lot of people already there. Check in is more like marathon packet pickup than most ultras. You get in line, get your schwag, weigh in, get your blood pressure taken and get your medical wristband. It was pretty cool all in all, I met new people and saw old friends and had a good time. Western States is a point to point race and I enlisted the help of Mike Ryan, brother Dennis, and Dad Lou to help get the cars to the finish line. I don't think Mike ever grasped the idea of how his car was gonna get to the finish line but I told him to trust me and he did. Mike seemed in a daze on Thursday and Friday, not sure why but we all have our own way of getting into the mindset we need to run a race. We had lunch with the Ryan boys and James from the UK, James is also trying to run the GS this year. We met at Old Dominion in 2008, this year he has had a stress fracture and not sure how WS would go. We listened to the pre race briefing and saw all of the frontrunners, they didn't call my name but I know they didn't want to cause a big disruption, haha. We all separated for the evening and would see each other in the morning. John, Mike, and I just bummed around town for the afternoon.

Race Check-in:

We left the room and got to the start a bit later than I would have liked but it was ok, just a simple 10 minute drive. We checked in and got our bib numbers and before you know it, it was time to start. I left the car issue up to John to find Ryan;s dad and brother and work it out. Mike almost lost his pack and jacket because he separated from us and left it inside the building, John got it for him.

Start:

We started out and Ryan and I did not start out together as we planned since it was so many runners. No worries. I started up the climb and eased into a powerwalk, it is afterall a ski slope. The first aid station at the Escarpment was about a half mile sooner due to snow. I filled my other handbottle and then hit the snow. We had a beautiful sunrise and the temps were perfect, the snow wasn't too bad but I knew it would get deeper. Ed C and I went up together and then headed down the other side and then we got into the snow. I took my time somewhat and did not have that much issue with it until a couple of miles into it when I jumped down about 3 feet and I didn't stick the landing. My feet went through the snow and my right knee hit a rock or stump or something. OUCH!!!

I got up and limped down the trail and took a look at my knee and it was bleeding and cut up. I started running again and made it to the aid station, fueled up, and headed on down the trail. I got to the Poppy aid station and met up with Ed again and we left together and ran around French Lake Reservoir. The trees are HUGE and the pine cones are HUGE also. Further down the trail getting to Mosquito Ridge it was like going up the Bald Mountain jeep road. It was hot which wasn't bad but there was no breeze at all. James and I ran the loop together and then I left him and headed to the dreaded Devils Thumb climb around mile 47. I went up the climb with a couple of guys who had run the race many times before. It was one of the few times that I was with someone and we were talking. The best way to describe the climb is to give you the numbers. Elevation gain 1500 feet, distance 1.6 miles, switchbacks 36. There were places where you would see someone who is ahead of you and you look straight up to see them. Upon reaching the top I promptly gave Devils Thumb a good look at my middle finger, haha.

The next couple of sections went by pretty good and I got to Forest Hill mile 62 a couple of minutes slower than last year but considering the course change I say the same time. I changed shoes picked up my pacer John and kind of knew at this point that breaking 24 hours was not going to happen so I decided to have some fun. Leaving the aid station I acted as if I were on tour and yelled "Hi, I 'm David Snipes from the east coast. I'm big time over there and I'll be in town all weekend." Everyone was laughing and it gave me some much needed energy. The next game to be played was to see how long I could go before turning on my headlamp. John turned his on behind me around 9pm. I was a few feet ahead of him and could still see and his light didn't bother my nightvision. Finally at 9:26pm I decided to turn mine on only because we were in a hollow and under tree cover.

I got to the Rucky Chucky river crossing and weighed in, by this time I had weighed in about 7 times during the race and I think the first scale at mile 31 was off because it said I was down 4 pounds from my starting weight of 169. Mile 43 I was up 6 pounds to 171 and from there all the way to mile 93 aid station the weight stayed the same, no problems there. On the climb up to Green Gate at mile 80 I told John that considering what we had left it would be too much of a push to try and break 24 hours for sure and I was ok with just finishing and feeling good. He too was ok with that. Leaving Green Gate the next section is a worn down section of trail that runs long and at night it kind of sucks, it seemed to take forever to get to the next aid station. I was also starting to fall asleep on the trail, caffeine wasn't really working anymore either.

Dawn came as we were on our way to highway 49 aid station at mile 93 and I started to wake up and finally was able to take off the headlamp. After awhile you just get tired of looking through LED lights. We left there after I was interviewed by this guy doing a documentary of Western States, of course I had been telling everyone the same thing as I did at mile 62, which got tired crews and aid station workers laughing. When we got to mile 96 at No Hands Bridge there was a volunteer eating a breakfast burrito. We asked for one and he said "you don't want one of these this late in the race" I said I had run 96 miles and could eat anything. Two of them were quickly made and OMG that was so freaking good. Eggs, bacon, potatoes, and cheese all together. AWESOMENESS wrapped up in one tortilla just for me.

John and I set out for Robie Point, the last aid station, and then I was in need of a bathroom. No worries, I told John that after the finish while he was getting stuff to cleanup with, I would be in the medical tent for the weigh-in and blood pressure check and stuff I would meet him at the showers. My stomach had other plans. At the last aid station there was a port-a-john, I stopped there and then asked John how many runners had passed me. He said 2 along with their pacers, no problem. I ran the last mile and caught up to each one and gave them a hard time about passing a runner when they were taking a bathroom break, haha we laughed and then we hit the track. I sprinted as fast as I could and I got the to the finished line in 26:35:22, a bit slower than last year but it's all good.

James finished in 28:28:00 and Mike Ryan in 29:05, Mike Bailey in 25:29, and Ed C in 27:08. These are close to correct without looking at the results.

Western States is a good race and it is very well organized, but if you are like me and like to be sociable while you are running it will be hard to find it here as everyone is in the mindset of not talking much. I think the weigh-ins are a bit much, between pre race and post race I weighed in a total of 12 times. The aid stations are great and the fans are awesome but you have to remember to run this race like you run any other and not get caught up in the hoopla of it all.

Below is a link to my pics that were taken during the race. The guy in the white shirt with black stripes is John my pacer. The pics of us with life jackets on are of us crossing the Rucky Chucky river. The pics of me with the lake in the background I think are the best and that is French Meadow Reservoir that we are going around. The last pics are of me running around the track finishing up.

http://www.backprint.com/go.asp?102934890

Happy reading,

Sniper

Sophie's Summer Death March (SSDM)

2011-07-06T10:39:00.011-04:00

This past Saturday Sophie Speidel hosted a group run at White Oak Canyon in the Shenandoah National Park. The course was a slightly changed version of the popular VHTRC event Vicki's Death March that takes places in the winter. Of course, if VHTRCs' ambassador calls, many cool trail peeps come together because they know that this will be a guarantee for a fun and good organized run.

Shortly after Drew, Nick and I arrived at the lower parking lot of the White Oak Canyon trail many others followed so that we soon filled up the parking lot and had about 45 (!) people gathered. People came from a multitude of places: Lynchburg, Harrisonburg, D.C., Richmond, Charlottesville, Morgantown WV....

Quickly we came together for the obligatory "before" picture:


45+ Runners of at least three clubs (VHTRC, CAT, WVMTR)

Sophie gave out maps and turn sheets that looked very straightforward and manageable. We took a quick look at the info and off we were....

Lots of climbing shortly after we started...


oh yeah, did I mention climbing?

Little pace groups formed pretty quickly, the fastest being lead by Sabrina Moran and Neal Gorman. The weather was moderately warm in the beginning and trails were mostly shaded. Later in the day it got hotter and more humid, carrying a 70 oz plus a 21oz hand bottle was a good choice. The trail offered stunning views and varying terrain..

Who would want to run roads if you can have this?

...off course towards Fishers Gap

Marc Griffin, Jack Broaddus and Jared "from Lynchburg" and I were cruisin' down the mountain enjoying the technical trail, stopped briefly to verify our direction and kept going.... until we ended up on a Fishers Gap parking lot - not where we should have been (5mi north on Hawksbill Gap). Oh well. After looking for trail markers, consulting a hiker and the map we took the AT north towards Hawksbill. About 3/4 of the way at another intersection we ran into Matt Bugin and Holly Baker who also got lost.
We had hoped to make it to Skyland Lodge in time to meet at least some slower runners of our group but didn't. Upon asking an older lady at a cash register if they had seen runners she just replied "Runners?.... oh yeah, I've seen runners.. lots of them! But that was about 30mins ago." Anyways, after re-fueling we decided to take a short cut on White Oak canyon fire road to be back at base in time for the party. ...and we made it! We actually ended up with the same mileage as the planned route:
Distance: 25.53 mi | Elevation Gain: 5,572 ft | Moving time: 5:08hrs

Tailgate with lots of good foods and tales from the trail

It was a fantastic day with many old and new friends and good times on and off trail. Thanks again Sophie for hosting this great event, I am sure many of us will make it a regular event to attend to.

Q's pictures of the VHTRC trifecta:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/qhubbard/sets/72157627137419294/

Sabrina Moran's blogpost:
http://notallergictoadventure.blogspot.com/2011/07/sophies-death-march.html

Phil Turk's blogpost:
http://philipturk.blogspot.com/2011/07/death-marches-loops-and-appalachian.html

North Face Endurance Challenge 50 Miler - Washington DC Race Report

2011-06-08T10:41:00.001-04:00

The CATs were well represented at the North Face Endurance Challenge in Washington DC this weekend. Mike Stadnisky ran a fast 4:25:26 in the Marathon. and netted 13th place overall (7th in his age group). I crossed paths with Nick Hamblet around mile 19 of his 50k (mile 19 of the 50 miler) and he was running strong on his way out to the rocks on the River Trail. His 6:05:57 finish time is a great time for a deceptively tough course. As for my race in the 50 Miler, I started out strong, hitting my planned splits through the first 28 or so miles then fell behind, finishing in 10:32:17. Looking at the splits, it seems that most people in the longer events had a tough time on that trip back from Great Falls Park.

Race Overview

With three simultaneous races, big name sponsors, prize money and a finish line festival I was expecting more of a typical road marathon atmosphere than a trail ultra vibe at The North Face Endurance Challenge in Washington DC this weekend. But The North Face surprised me and put on a great trail event.

Packet Pickup was at the North Face store in Georgetown on Thursday and Friday afternoons and evenings. If you live in DC and can take the Metro there, that's great. For everyone else, consider either doing your pickup and being out of Georgetown before 3pm or picking up up your race number the morning of the event. Parking was a breeze with plenty or available garages and once in the store, there were no lines and no waiting. Leaving packet pickup at 4:15pm on Friday was not the best of ideas as every road in the area had turned into a parking lot.

Race Morning

The 50 Milers got started just before dawn at 5am, with the 50k starting at 7am and the Marathon at 9am. I arrived at the race start (Algonkian Regional Park) a little before 4am and got a great parking spot in field next to the race start and had no lines at the drop bag drop off. Being so early and only having the 50 Miler participants milling around, the starting line atmosphere was very low key. Notes for future participants, a jacket would have been nice for standing around as it had gotten down to 50F at 4 in the morning and label your drop bags well as the provided labels were a wrist band with your race number written on them. The restrooms are hidden about 50 yards behind the finish line 'village' - bring a flashlight.

The first 6 or 7 miles of the race are flat and fast. You start out running around some playing fields (covered in just enough dew to get your feet wet), turn onto a golf cart path, then onto the Potomac Heritage Trail which is a wide fireroad at that point. Things got sorted out quickly and small groups formed early on. The side loop around Sugarland Run was nothing exciting (so the 50k runners that got to skip this loop didn't miss out on anything special). Then it was back on the PHT as it turned to single track and passed though a golf course. It was peaceful. The group I was running with stayed silent as the sun rose and got to see a deer bounce through the woods. Around mile 6 we encountered the first series of hills. None of the climbs were much longer than 100 yards and climbed no more than 100 feet, but they were steep. The first set of hills had 3 or 4 climbs like this back to back with similar descents in between.

It was flat singletrack through the Potomac flood plain. It twisted and turned quite a bit with plenty of downed trees to hop over and only a single unbridged stream crossing. Fraser Aid station appeared out of no where in the middle of the woods at mile 8. Stock up here as the next section can take a while. The trail is flat for a while, the you get to another series of three or four hills, then it's flat until you get to Riverbend Park. Riverbend Park takes you up a gravel road away from the river. According to the course profile this should have been the toughest climb on the course, but I found it to be much easier than the earlier hills that didn't even show up on the course profile. Scenery changes quickly in Riverbend Park as one minute you're in the woods, then out in an open field, alongside a road then back in the woods for a nice downhill into Great Falls National Park.

It was party central at the Great Falls Aid Station - biggest aid station on the course and as the day went on, it reminded me of the Long Mtn. Wayside Aid Station at Mountain Masochist - lots of people hanging out in a large field in folding chairs cheering people on. Three 7 mile loops, this shouldn't be too bad - right? The loops were rather distorted with each loop consisting of two over-lapping loops and an out and back section. And each loop provided quite a variety of terrain: flat, uphill, roller coaster, downhill, uphill, roller coaster, downhill, rocks, flat, rocks, stairs and more rocks (the loops had the technical sections that the marathon runners missed on).

The race leaders lapped me on my first loop and I ran into the leader 50k runners on my second loop. By the third loop I was never running alone (with the 50k runners on their loop and the 50 milers on their second and third loops), but rarely was it crowded and passing and being passed was quite easy.

After 35 miles I passed through the Great Falls Aid station for the fourth an final time. I was far enough off of my goal time by this point, that I decided to take a little side trip to the observation deck to actually see the Great Falls of the Potomac. There were lots of great views on the course of the Potomac above the falls and in Mather Gorge (if you could take your eyes away from the rocks long enough to catch a glimpse and not tumble down the steep cliffs), but only at one point could you actually catch a small glimpse of the falls. Next aid station in 6.7 miles. Talk about the longest 6.7 miles ever. I think the hills were steeper on the way back. And the flat twisty section on the flood plain seemed like it would never end. The aid station at the Fraser Preserve was never just around the next corner. From there it was mentally easier (though not physically so) - two more aid stations and the finish. The unbridged stream crossing was nice for soaking sore feet. Then came the last set of hills, the singletrack through the golf course, a trip around Sugarland Run and the home stretch.

Overall this was a great event. I'm not sure I'd go back to run the 50 miler again, but the 50k or marathon would be fun.

Flipped Truck Fat Ass 50k++

2011-06-08T09:37:00.008-04:00

A few months ago I decided I wanted to do a long 30-40 mile run on June 5^th. I would be going on vacation a few days after that date to an extremely secluded area where the surface area of water far exceeds that of land. Given the lack of continuous land mass, the possibility of running would be out of the picture during this vacation. Since I wouldn’t be running during the majority of this time, I figured I should probably get in a nice long run before my vacation started so I could utilize the downtime as true recovery time. I knew the North Face 50k/50 miler was going on in DC during this time, but that race didn’t appeal to me. I really wanted to get up into the mountains during my long run.

After looking over my options, I decided two loops in Sherando would be my best bet. The first loop would be around 16 miles and the second loop around 15 miles. I could start the first loop really early and hopefully begin the second loop around the same time as the usual CAT Sunday run. I thought by starting the second loop at the usual time I could get some folks to join me for the second loop and provide a bit of a mental boost. After putting out some feelers, however, it appeared there was no interest in joining up for the second loop, but there was quite a bit of interest from folks in joining me on the FIRST loop at 5:15 a.m.!

Come Sunday morning, I was on the road shortly after 4:00 a.m. Ground to lightening strikes were illuminating the sky north of Hwy 64, and I was questioning if the weather would permit running along the mountain ridges of Sherando. Shortly after 5 a.m. Bob, David, Christian, Joey and I were all standing in the dark parking lot off Coal Rd. contemplating which direction to run the first loop. The plan was to set out in the Mill Creek direction. However, I seemed to overlook the need for a headlamp at this early hour, and Bob had the good sense to recommend we start off running on Coal Rd. first where the running would be much smoother and safer without a light. The only concern we had with this option was that none of us had run the Mill Creek-Kennedy Ridge-Coal Rd. loop counterclockwise and there was some question to how easily we would pick up the Kennedy Ridge trail off Coal Rd.

We were correct to question our ability to locate the Kennedy Ridge trail from Coal Rd., as we ran ¾ mile past the trail before we decided to consult the map and better determine where the trail was. We eventually found the Kennedy Ridge Trail, but not before running an extra 1 ½ miles and losing a bit of time fumbling around. Unfortunately, David was in a bit of a time crunch and decided he wouldn’t be able to run the full loop with us, given the lost time trying to find the trail. While David got some extra miles in on Coal Rd., Bob, Joey, Christian and I started the climb up the Kennedy Ridge trail.

The Kennedy Ridge trail is both steep and quite technical in the miles closest to Coal Rd. When descending this trail, one is pushed into a feverish pace where you feel like you’re barely ‘holding on.’ Ascending the trail, however, offered the opportunity to take in what one hurriedly passes during these descents. With the mountain laurel still in full bloom and some exceedingly steep pitches, you’re literally forced to stop and smell the flowers now and again.

After regrouping at the top of the climb, we continued along the jeep road towards Bald Mountain. After rounding a corner a few miles into this section, Joey and I were stopped in our tracks. These trails are heavily populated with black bears, so being halted by a bear on the trail is not uncommon. However, instead of staring down a predatory mammal, Joey and I were staring, jaw-dropped, at a lifted Dodge pickup truck flipped on its side, consuming the entire trail. After getting over our initial shock, we had the good sense to run down and check to make sure the occupants of the truck were not in need of medical attention. Luckily, we found no people or signs of injury to the occupants (we did, however, find several empty beer cans that were shaken out in the tumble). We had some fun taking pictures and trying to piece together how the truck ended up where it was before continuing our run, a bit dismayed, at what we had just come across.

I think all of us were pondering all sorts of questions as to how that truck ended up where it was after we returned to running. About a half mile down the trail, some of these questions started to get answered. Joey and I were again forced to a halt as we saw two bodies lying motionless across the road. We gave pause and waited for ‘back-up’ from Bob and Christian before we approached any closer. As we stood waiting, the trail sleepers woke up, and they quickly identified themselves as the drivers of the truck. Aside from appearing a bit hung-over, they didn’t look any worse for wear (from the truck flipping, at least). Some terse conversation yielded a request for us to help them push their truck right-side up, which we declined, and we again continued towards Bald Mountain. Peeling off the trail to take the switchbacks down towards Mill Creek trail, we ran into a group of what appeared to be Boy Scouts. We informed the group of the two guys on the trailside and the overturned truck, and the adult leaders of the group put things into perspective further by recalling the caravan of pickup trucks, beds full of coolers and people boozing it up, that had been parading across the jeep road the previous night.

The rest of the run was much less eventful! We saw a bear, we finished the first loop. Restocked at the cars, and headed out for a second loop running from Coal Rd.-Mill Creek Connector-Torrey Ridge-Bald Mountain-Mill Creek back to the cars. Joey, Christian and I ended up running 35 miles. I’m still amazed that Christian (on his PT recovery path) busted out an impressive 35 miles. I was struggling during the second loop and here Christian is, still not 100%, running 35 mountain miles like it was nothing!

After finishing the second loop, we sat at the cars, ate some melted ice cream sandwiches, and relived the exciting moments of what came to be known as the Flipped Truck Fat Ass 50k++. Mark your calendars now for the first Sunday in June next year!

(Photo Credits to Bob C.)

Christian adds:

To be a-tune with my return-to-run program I was only planning on doing the first loop or at most 1,5 loops but couldn't say no to the opportunity and would have felt bad 'quitting' early. I suppose I ignored the 10-15%-weekly increase rule and replaced it by 10-15mi... I know it was probably not the smartest thing to do but what can I say, I am young and naive :) The run was great and I am glad I did it. I had to keep it slow and walk plenty of times but that was OK. woot woot mountains!

North Face Endurance Challenge Marathon

2011-06-07T17:00:00.001-04:00

This Saturday, I ran the North Face Endurance Challenge Marathon. I went into it as a training run, another nice long run with some speed work following the Harry Landers.

Four miles into the race, I came around a blind corner and tried to duck under a overhanging branch…unsuccessfully. I hit my head on it pretty hard running at near full clip through the hit. It shook me up a little bit, and I was worried about my history of skull fractures (3 of them forced me out of rugby in college).

No cerebrospinal fluid came out of my nose, thankfully, but about a minute later I put my hand up to the left side of my head and my hat was soaked in blood (and now my hand as well). I figured I had taken off a bit of scalp, which if I hadn't been wearing a hat would have definitely happened. I ran the next two miles with blood dripping down onto my neck (as head wounds do) to the aid station, where the medics took me aside and sat me down for some wound cleaning, eye checking, and a discussion about continuing the race. The EMTs rightfully detained me for 10 minutes or so, which seemed like an hour but I was glad for their attentiveness and assessment (“You can keep going if you’d like.”).

I got some water, the put some paper towels under my hat to soak up the blood, and kept running. The hit to head woke me up, and I threw caution to the wind and ran like heck for the rest of the race (which was ~28 miles) finishing 13th overall with 04:25:18.

The reactions to my blood stained hat, neck and ear were varied "Holy $#^! man, did you get shot!?" to "Are you okay?"

The race photos are copyrighted so I can’t reproduce them here, but you are welcome to check out my blood soaked hat at the finish: http://www.ultraracephotos.com/tnfec/

Overall, the course is flat and not very technical, ripe for a very fast 50K (props to Cville triathlete Skylar Lyon for 04:50:01 – 14th overall in the 50K). Charlottesville was well represented in both the marathon with 5 runners and 3 in the 50K. If I’ve missed you in the results, I’m sorry!

The North Face races are expensive but good value if you are into road-race style finish line carnivals with ice baths, unlimited chocolate milk, beer garden, massages, and a catered lunch. Felt very pampered, though nothing beats a soak in the North Moorman’s.

-Mike

Harry Landers Memorial Trail Run

2011-05-31T14:02:00.010-04:00

The gang before the run

Report from David and Christian
(see links to other reports from the day below. All pictures are by Sophie Speidel).

Last Saturday was Sophie's "Harry Landers Special/Wildcat-Rip Rap run 2011." This 21+ mile loop begins and ends at Sugar Hollow Reservoir and takes you over and down the west side of the Shenandoahs along a beautiful path to a "super secret swimming hole" before returning. With 20+ signups on her FB page for the event, and talk of a post-run picnic that included Knob Creek, Sophie's plan promised an exciting day. And it did not disappoint.

Christian and I rolled in to the Sugar Hollow parking lot at 6:45 am. The parking lot was already teeming with runners awaiting the exciting day. The crowd included folks from different corners of Virginia and beyond, including Jenny Nichols from down in Bristol, lots of VHTRCers and WUS runners from DC, Marc Griffin from Waynesboro, and Neal, Quattro and Gary from the Richmond area. Sabrina Moran was there too, hailing from as far away as New Jersey(?)! From Charlottesville, we had both CAT and Boston Bound runners, including the run's namesake, Harry Landers.

Sophie & Jenny at Chimney Rock

The weather was overcast and mild as we started off. The runners quickly broke into groups by speed and Christian was nice enough to hang back "in the middle" with me. The climb up the North Fork Moormans River trail included knee-deep creek crossings and lots of beautiful glimpses of the Moormans River. At Blackrock Gap, VHTRCer Marlin Yoder join the group after coming up the west side of the mountain from Harrisonburg. The only downer for me for the day was I didn't appreciate that we still had a 2.5 mile uphill jaunt on the AT south before getting to the RipRap trail. From running this section of the AT before, I had this vision that the Rip-rap trail was right across the road from the Blackrock Gap clearing. Wrong!

Once to RipRap, it was smooth and beautiful running, first along the ridge looking out over the valley, from Chimney Rock and other great vantage points, and then down the "hollow" trail, past the 20 ft Waterfall, and finally to the swimming hole. On the way, we began to pass larger and larger stands of mountain laurel in full bloom. The flowering laurel were remarkably beautiful, creating this sensation of being in a popcorn forest, but with a much more pleasant smell than popcorn (five years at popcorn-crazed Indiana University made me hate the smell of popcorn).

Like a trail from a fairy tale, Mountain Laurel in full bloom

Meanwhile, Sophie -- splendid event hostess that she was -- had busied herself running back and forth to the different speed groups to make sure everybody was OK. By the time Christian and I arrived at the swimming hole, Sophie had set up shop as the pool photographer, snapping pictures of each of us as we dunked our heads in the crystal clear, but chilly, water.

"Super secret swimming hole" cool-off

The day's excitement came as Christian and I continued down the Riprap trail from the swimming hole. Coming towards us via a heavy rustling in the bushes was . . . Gary Knipling, all sweaty, scratched, and smiling. Confused, since we thought Gary was behind us, we learned that, "It's a long story, but I got separated from the group, and I am OK, so please relay that message." After chatting with us a little longer, Gary headed back towards the swimming hole in search of the rest of his party, but not before saying, "Watch out for the flourescent orange salamanders. I saw a couple and they are beautiful creatures, so please be sure not to step on them!".

Shortly after meeting Gary, we arrived at the Wildcat trail for the 2.5 mile run/power walk back up to the AT, where Sophie and husband Rusty had the night before stashed water. From there, it was all familiar territory, with the fun downhill segments on Turk Branch Trail and the South Fork Moormans River Trail .

We arrived back at the parking lot to find Neal, Gary from Richmond, and Jenny Nichols hanging out; the faster crew and others had already left, while the large group of VHTRCers behind us had stopped to swim at Blue Hole. We shared fried chicken and good stories (but no Knob Creek, unfortunately) with Jenny, Gary, and Neal before heading out.

All in all, this was a wonderful, wonderful trail day. Big thanks to Sophie for doing such a great job!

-- David

Christian adds:

I think David's report covered the day pretty well, so just a few remarks. This was my return-to-the-mountains debut after a stress fracture in February and it couldn't have been better. Being "off" running makes you appreciate the trails and mountains a lot more and thankful for being able to do this. It was awesome to run with so many different peeps from all over VA and a few other states.

Other Harry-Landers-run links:

Garmin output from Christian and David's run:
Harry Landers Memorial Run by cdahlhausen at Garmin Connect - Details

Sophie Speidel's report:
http://shiningsultra.blogspot.com/2011/06/if-you-build-it.html

Sabrina Moran's report:
http://notallergictoadventure.blogspot.com/2011/05/sophenator-et-al.html

Jennifer Nichols' report:
http://jendenichols.blogspot.com/2011/05/rip-rap-wild-cat-21-mi-run.html

Ultrarunnergirl:
http://ultrarunnergirl.blogspot.com/2011/05/loveliest-trail.html

The Science of Ultraendurance

2011-05-13T15:54:00.001-04:00

Thanks to fellow CAT Mike Stadnisky we are able to present a talk about the science behind ultra endurance. I hope many of you are able to come, it should be interesting.

Monalto Saturday, Three Ridges Sunday: good climbs, good times

2011-05-09T15:24:00.003-04:00

I posted a report of our adventure at Three Ridges, as well as the Montalto Challenge 5K, on my blog here.

We had a great time and hope to get back to Three Ridges in June or July---it is a 14 mile loop, perfect distance for someone looking to increase their mountain trail miles gradually and get some good climbing in. Plus the swimming holes are awesome! Afterward we can go to Devils Backbone or Blue Mountain Brewery for brunch.

Thanks for joining us, Drew and Nick! Hope you had fun running with the big dogs!

Western Albemarle Gravel Roads Run

2011-05-09T11:23:00.002-04:00

While Sophie and other were climbing up Montalto on Saturday, Kendall and I took a nice tour some gravel roads in western Albemarle County. Smaller loops on these roads would make for a nice weeknight training run. Kendall and I would love to get a group run together out here in the fall with lunch at the Batesville Store following the run.

We started out at the Victory Hill Church of God off of US 250 at the Crozet exit of I-64. Heading east, the road quickly turns to gravel as we encounter the first hill of the day. I knew we were in for rolling hills all day long, but as soon as we got to the first one, we knew we were in for a hard day of running. The first 2/3 of the run are nicely shaded by trees lining the road. Occasionally the view would open up as we passed by a field to spectacular views of the Blue Ridge. At any given time we could see from south of Humpback Mountain to well north of Calf Mountain and Jarman Gap.

Turning onto (the popular with runners) Dick Woods Road, we quickly picked up a pair of four legged running companions. Hoping they'd turn around after a few house, we kept running with our new canine friends in tow. Well, a couple of houses soon turned into several miles miles. Our golden retriever friend latched onto a couple walking in the other direction (that had managed to pick up a traveling canine friend of their own), but the Boxer wouldn't let us out of her sight. As we ran up and down White Mountain Road, the conversation turned to who was going to have a new playmate for their dog at home. Let me tell you, this was one fit Boxer. She kept up with us for 12.5 miles only stopping for water twice. Now before you accuse us of dog napping, we flagged down several cars and stopped at an Episcopal church to ask for help in getting "Buddy" back to her home. Our plan became to make it with her into Batesville where hopefully some one at the Store would be at least king enough to watch her until we got back to the car and could drive her home. She turned out to be a good running companion only causing trouble on the paved sections of Batesville and Craigs Store roads where we'd have to shoo her out of the way of on coming cars (the leash we fashioned for her out of twine didn't last very long).

As we rounded the corner and walked across the one lane bridge into Batesville and made our way towards the Police car managing traffic for the Batesville Day Parade, a guy with a Golden Retriever calls out, "there's my dog." So that concludes Buddy's story, but our run was still 8 miles from being done. We stopped in the Batesville Store, to refuel (lemonade and ginger snaps for me) but didn't stick around for the parade or "Legendary Folk Singer Rusty Speidel." The next part of the run was more exposed to the sun as it took us behind the Miller School on a nice long leg-stretching downhill on Pounding Creek Road. With every downhill comes and uphill and we had several more rolling hills before topping out on Midway Road. One last drop down to a stream, almost getting bitten by a not-so-friendly dog, and back up again, the gravel turned back to pavement and we were back at the car.

A good day in country side. A short drive from Charlottesville and miles and miles of low/no traffic rolling unpaved country roads.

The details:

24 miles / 2400' of climbing / 19.5 miles of gravel road

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=4487682

written by Blake

Sunday Training Run This Week (May 8th)

2011-05-03T06:58:00.008-04:00

In addition to Sophie's mountain run -- meant only for runners with extensive mountain mileage and races under their belts -- Christian and David will be back at the Park for a more "traditional" RT run that starts at 8 am.

The run will be a relatively short run of 4 to 6 miles, with opportunities for varying speed groups. This is a perfect run for those CAT members who have been dormant these last months because of injury, time pressures, or other conflicts.

So longtime friends that have felt left out because of the long mileage runs: Please come rejoin us this Sunday!

We also plan to invite some new runners to this run and maybe meet up at Greenberry's for coffee and food immediately after the run.

Hope to see you at the Park parking lot at 8 am!

Promise Land 50K+ -- Big day for the CAT!

2011-04-28T05:46:00.036-04:00

David Horton and the CAT gang (David, Sophie, Drew, and Joey)

As many of you know, a group of Charlottesville Area Trailrunners were among the 300 or so racers at last weekend's 2011 Promise Land 50K+, a David Horton race with about 34 miles of distance and 8,000 ft of climbing.

We had some big finishes, including a 15th place finsh for Drew Krueger and 20th for Joey Cohen (this was the first run of PL50K for both of them), and 1st Master's female for Sophie Speidel.

Congratulations to all racers!

Sophie's race report can be found on her blog here:

Here are reports by Drew and David:

Drew:

In the aftermath of Mountain Masochist in November, I found I had done a number on my left IT band. I cut back my running quite a bit and, while rehabbing my leg, watched the pages of the calendar turn along with races I had hoped to run. It was tough to be missing several races I had really been looking forward to; however, I knew not rushing a return to higher mileage and racing was the right decision. I set a soft goal of toeing the line at the Promise Land 50k to mark my return to full health, and this past weekend, that goal came to fruition.

I had put in enough miles training that I felt confident I could have a good day at Promise Land. However, I also had a healthy dose of trepidation as the race approached-my last few long training runs were tough mental battles. Following these tough training runs I was left questioning whether I had over-trained or if, perhaps, I was having a tough time acclimating to running in the heat again. I was hoping for the latter. In either case, I took solace knowing that tough mental runs are small victories in and of themselves, and if I hadn’t overdone my training, these small victories would aid me during tough spots in a race.

Thursday night/Friday morning before the race, things started to go haywire. Our dog become very ill over night, which resulted in very little sleep that night, and a morning running to the vet’s office and various stores around town to fill prescriptions, etc. Our poor guy was in rough shape, and I was reluctant to leave him in the care of a stranger, given his condition, so we decided my wife would stay home with him instead of hanging out at an aid station during the race. I was starting to feel a bit panicky with the dog situation, all that had to be wrapped up before I could take off, and getting out the door to Promise Land! It was great to ride down to the race with David, as hanging out and talking helped to take my mind off everything else that was going on.

I usually feel a good bit of excitement/nervousness prior to a race, but before Promise Land, I strangely didn’t feel much of anything. I made a comment along these lines to David and Joey as we stood around the bonfire the night before the race, and thought to myself that I needed to start thinking about the race and get in the right mindset, and soon! However, as I laid in my tent that night trying to get mentally excited for the race, I felt like I was being steeped in a pool of negativity. Out of nowhere, I started feeling really negative about being at Promise Land, about running the race, and that I would have a really terrible run. I tried to invoke some positive self-talk, but before I knew it my alarm was going off and it was time to get ready.

Getting ready in the morning is fairly regimented for me. I tracked through my mental checklist and was wishing David and Joey good luck at the starting line in no time. As Horton counted down to the start of the race, I did a quick mental check-in. Instead of feeling giddy and ready to run, I felt a wet blanked of negativity wrapped tightly around me. 30 seconds! I took a deep breath, accepting that for whatever reason I was feeling negative and understanding that I was just going to have to utilize some positive self-talk to bring myself out of this funk and get through this race. 5,4,3,2,1, GO!!!!!

The beginning miles of the race climb fairly steadily, and I was a bit alarmed to find myself running side by side with some folks I knew to be very strong runners early in the race, so I backed off the intensity a bit, reminding myself I had a long day ahead of me. Physically, I felt good in the early miles- my legs felt strong and my HR was staying relatively low, despite the incline. After passing through the first aid station, the group I had been running with got spread out a bit, and from about aid station 2 to aid station 6 Keith Knipling, Sandi Nypaver and I played leap frog. I ran for long periods with both Keith and Sandi, and then there were periods where I was running by myself for a long time and I’d suddenly come through the heavy fog and find that Sandi was only 10 yards in front of me, or that Keith was right behind me.

Throughout this period of aid 1 to aid 6 I felt good physically, although I was starting to get a bit hot as I approached aid station 6. Mentally, I was still having on/off bouts of negativity. The negativity was really just annoying. I didn’t feel like it was affecting my running at all, since I was feeling strong, but I would have to remind myself with each little bout of negativity of the mentally tough training runs I had completed and how I would come out of this funk if I just kept putting one foot in front of the other.

As I came into Aid Station 6 I was anxious for the spur to/from the aid station to see if anyone was just in front or close behind me. It turned out Sandi and another runner were about 1½ minutes ahead of me here and I was about 1½ minutes in front of Keith. While I was hoping to feel a surge of adrenaline, knowing that after the climb up Apple Orchards Falls it was all downhill, it just didn’t come. I think I had missed a few drinks of perpetuem, and I was feeling a little low on energy. I took off up Apple Orchard, knowing that I wouldn’t be seeing Sandi again and that Keith would be closing on me shortly. As it turned out, Keith started catching up sooner than I had hoped due to some navigational issues on my part. A few minutes after starting the climb up Apple Orchard Falls I came to a diversion in the trail and didn’t see course markings in either direction. I stopped running to assess if I had overlooked any course markings. Again, I didn’t see any course markings, so I decided to keep running for about 30 seconds. If I didn’t see any course markings in that time I was going to make my way back to this point. I ran up the trail, didn’t see any markings, so in frustration I ran back to my original location to wait and ask Keith where the trail went. Just as I got back to the original spot I saw Keith approaching. Keith apparently noticed my confusion and yelled out that the trail kept going straight. Keith eventually caught me on the climb and I watched him speed ahead of me. The climb was getting me! I felt like I was overheating, so I stopped at several stream crossings and doused myself with the cold water. Also, my calves were cramping up a bit, so I popped an S Cap and continued plodding up the trail.

It was a huge relief when I saw Bob up the trail and realized the climb was over. I pulled into the aid station, took down a few cups of water and prepared for the fast downhill. I had little hope of catching back up with Keith in this section, but I still tried to run the first bit fairly fast. I hadn’t seen anyone coming from behind, so I wasn’t too worried about being caught from behind.

After a few miles of the downhill my abs and back were seriously revolting. It felt like my abs were about to burst they were so tired. I looked back up the road behind me and didn’t see anyone coming. Also, I hadn’t seen any signs of Keith ahead, so I felt I had my spot in the race fairly well sewn up. As such, I decided to back off the pace a bit and enjoy the last couple miles into the campground.

Despite the significant core pain, I was feeling pretty good. I appreciated the opportunity to relax the last bit of the race and reflect on running strongly despite an oddly negative mental day for me. It would have been easy to phone the race in and just run relaxed the whole day, but I was pleased that I had continued to run fairly aggressively all day. I started to see cars in the distance and knew the end was near.

It was great coming into the campground to a bunch of cheers and enjoying the last few yards. As I crossed in 5:38 Horton yelled out my name, and congratulated me. Perhaps the biggest highlight of my day came next when Horton looked down at my race number (#94) and yelled out, “Boy, I seeded you wrong!”

The post-race celebration, like the entire race event was a blast. It was great to meet so many runners and to cheer in the rest of the CAT runners as they came into the campground.

Congratulations to all the CAT runners on races well run. Again, the support of the club has been absolutely great throughout the build up to the event as well as during the event (thanks again for coming out to cheer us on, Bob!)

David

This was my second running of the PL50K and my fifth 50K since I began running ultras about 18 months ago. By far, this is my favorite. The natural beauty of the course, the tough uphills and long, gentle downhills, combined with a kick-butt atmosphere at the Promise Land Campground, makes for a great race experience.

Last year, I ran a very slow 8:22 but was still all jazzed up after finishing. My plan this year was to use a substantial buildup in training volume and speed work to make a significant improvement in my race time.

Things during training season didn't go quite as planned. After putting in very high quality training prior to Holiday Lake in February, my volume slacked off considerably because of heightened problems with my piriformis, and because of a busier work schedule during my teaching semester.

But I wasn't about to give up on running the PL50K given how much fun I had last year. And I was inspired in recent weeks to go for it, both by Bryon Powell's discussion on iRunFar.com of enjoying races when not as well trained and by Bob Clouston's great effort this year to finish at Boston with an injured calf.

So we when Drew and I set off by car for the race Friday afternoon, I was feeling pretty good. The ride down was great, as were the camp atmospherics that night. It was fun joining up with Joey Cohen there and hanging out with him, great to see Marc Griffin, fun to see Sophie and meet her gang at the camper, and of course, very entertaining to watch David Horton in action during the "schwag" giveaways.

The race started promptly that morning at 5:30 am in light rain. At first, I was far from inspired as I trudged slowly up the first long hill, which seemed to go on forever and which I seemed to walk slower than everybody else in the race. But at AS 1, I knew from last year that the running would get more fun, so I perked up and started to pass folks. The run down the grassy jeep trail to AS 2 was as fun as I remember last year. It was here that I saw Quattro "Q" Hubbard for the first time and heard him giving race advice to others as he ran with them. Nothing was more inspiring then rolling into AS 3 in the fog and seeing Bob Clouston there. What a big spirit lift! Bob reported to me that Drew was running well, I grabbed some more water and eats, and was feeling now like this race was going to be a lot fun.

And the rest of the race WAS fun. I followed mentoring advice (mainly from Bob) and made constant progress forward, moving quickly through aid stations, and made sure I was popping Endurolytes and eating gel on a regular basis to stave off cramping and keep the energy up. I also let gravity be my friend as I could see that I could pass many on downhill sections --I guess my thick body provides the mass needed to gain momentum downhill while not giving up much in terms of energy. At the beginning of the race, I often got passed again on the way back up a hill, but by the second half of the race, once I passed someone on the downhill, I never saw them again until the finish -- a good feeling.

From Colon Hollow on, I met up and ran near a couple of newlyweds, Kelli and Craig, from Gainesville, FL. They were fun and great to chat with, both because I lived in Gainesville for two years when I taught at UF and because Kelli and I ran near each other in last year's PL50K and both wondered how we would finish in this year's race. Kelli and Craig were great too because they were a young couple that were just finishing up school and readying themselves with new careers and a life outside of Gainesville.

Anyway, as the three of us made our way up the Apple Orchard Falls trail -- shuffling and power walking but never needing to stop -- we decided to shoot for a sub 8-hour finish. By the time we got back to Sunset Overlook that meant booking down the last 4+ miles to the race finish in less than an hour. And that we did! My legs felt amazingly good during that last stretch as I continued to pass many faces familiar from the first half of the race.

By the time I reached the Horton last-mile marker (at 33+ miles), I was ready for the race to be over, but knew that sub-8 was in the bag. I finished in 7:52:29, or about 30 minutes faster than last year! (Kelli and Craig came in together right around the 7:50 mark).

For any of you that have not run this race, it is a challenging but very rewarding run, especially if you love the great mountain outdoors!

The Sweetwater 50K

2011-04-22T14:56:00.003-04:00

Last weekend, Mike Stadnisky ran the Sweetwater 50K in Atlanta. Here is his report:

I was in Atlanta this past weekend visiting family and I ran the Sweetwater 50K. If you ever get a chance, I would grab your fiddle and follow the devil down to Georgia

- it is a killer race!

In the first 3 miles, I saw the sun rise over Sparks reservoir, slid down and rope-climbed out of a gulley running with water, and dunked into a hip-deep creek. Unfortunately, the river crossing was cut out of the course as we got torrential rains Friday night in Atlanta (which came up to Cville on Saturday and turned Riverview Park into a sand-dune). The river was flowing great, so well in fact, it inundated the riverside trail at several points.

The first half of the loop is wonderful, moderately technical singletrack following the eponymous creek, falls, and past ruins of an old mill. This part of the course is beautiful, and is best compared to a highlight reel of the best parts of the Potomac Heritage Trail and Great Falls trails.

And then there is the second part of the course, which is a meat grinder. The website modestly states that the course includes "some area outside the park nicknamed Top of the World (TOTW) and Powerlines. These areas are where runners will find some of the more challenging terrain." The grades and relentlessness of the parabolic, pain-inducing powerline are truly fantastic. You simply *cannot* run up these hills - you climb and then you bomb down the other side, sip and repeat. It's worth it though, from TOTW, you can see the downtown Atlanta skyline and the course mercifully returns to singletrack, giving way to shag for the last 2 miles.

Then you do the loop again, mentally steeling yourself for the powerline section. The race was a blast, my race-day nutrition was finally in place, I (uncharacteristically) tapered - all adding up to taking third in my age group/28th overall with 5:57:49.77.

Get down there sometime and run it!

-Mike

Congratulations Bob!

2011-04-18T15:00:00.002-04:00

Despite injury Bob made it and finished the Boston Marathon in 4:35hrs. I am sure it was a tough one. Go get some beer now Bob, you deserve it!

Appologies to post this road race result, but Bob assured us he will be back on the trails soon!

5k	10k	15k	20k	Half	25k	30k	35k	40k
0:28:13	0:58:33	1:29:51	2:01:11	2:07:38	2:33:16	3:10:00	3:44:17	4:20:27
Finish:		Start Offset	Pace	Proj. Time	Offl. Time	Overall	Gender	Division
Finish:		00:07:10	0:10:30		4:35:01	17799	11019	2204

Bull Run Run 50 miler – Volunteer reports

2011-04-15T09:44:00.008-04:00

Last weekend, Sophie, Drew, and my daughter, Ceci, and I all volunteered at VHTRC’s Bull Run Run 50 mile race. Sophie acted as a sweep on the north part of the course, Drew worked the Marina aid station, and Ceci and I worked the Wolf Run Shoals aid station. This is one of VHTRC’s signature events, so it was very exciting for me to take part and also to see what is like on the volunteer side of things at a big race.

Here are quick rundowns from Sophie, Drew and me on our experiences:

Sophie's report:

I have started BRR four times, finishing in 2005 (9:03) and 2006 (9:00) and dropping due toa calf injury in 2008 and heat issues in 2009. After these DNFs (my only DNFs in my nine years of running ultras), I realized that training for and racing a 50 miler in early April was not a good idea for me---there are too many work-related stressors at this time of year, and, coupled with the threat of the first hot day of the year and being a very poor heat runner, it made more sense for me to volunteer and give back to the event than run it.

Last year I swept the last 15 miles of the course and ended up missing the post-run party. The last runner finished thirty minutes after the race cut-off, and we arrived back to the finish to be greeted with a closed finish area and folks packing up. This year I wanted to help out but also experience the post-run festivities, so I was happy to sweep the first 15- mile section with my good friends Jill Quivey and Kirstin Corris.

I arrived at the start about thirty minutes after the race had begun, and ran down to the first creek crossing in time to see the middle of the pack attempt to cross one of the many creeks of the day. Some folks actually took the time to remove their shoes while most others were smart and ran straight through the water instead of waiting in a long line to cross the stone pylons. The next creek crossing was very dicey, as the pylons were all submerged in at least a foot under water, and the current was moving swiftly. One poor foot placement and you would be in the water! In fact, a runner did fall in and get fully submerged at a creek crossing upstream, but escaped (relatively) unscathed. Other runners were a muddy mess, having wiped out several times on the slick mud. Needless to say this was a "mud year" and perhaps the worst since 2006.

Sweeping is fun because you can see the entire race field, greet your friends as they run past, clean up the course markings, and then take a shower and cheer at the finish line. It was a perfect day, temperature-wise, for a 50 miler in the woods. I would strongly recommend Bull Run as a first 50 because of the impressive organization, course marking, great schwag, and post-run party...but mostly for the beautiful, runnable course that winds along historic Bull Run with the bluebells in all their glory.

Happy Trails!

Drew's report:

I had a great time volunteering at the Marina Aid station (miles 21 & 44.9). I thoroughly enjoyed seeing all of the runners come through the aid station, and it was especially neat to be able to see them come through twice. (Picture of Drew hard at work.)I was amazed at how positive the runners all were, especially the second time through. Some of my personal highlights for the day were the runner who came through into our aid station and unfurled a Ziploc baggie full of bacon-and chowed down on it, and the unfortunate runner who came through caked head to toe in mud. When asked what had happened he simply replied, “There was an incident….” Additionally, I think we sometimes get focused simply on the front runners of the race and, in a way, tend to overlook the stories and struggles of the rest of the runners. It was very cool to be among some VHTRC vets who pointed out the stories of runners as they came through the aid station and helping to urge on runners who were struggling towards the finish.

Aside from enjoying the runners coming through our station, it was great to hang out with all the fellow volunteers at Marina. While I was slightly envious I wasn’t among the runners out on the course, I certainly enjoyed spending the day with a great crew of individuals and helping some fellow runners to enjoy what appeared to be a wonderfully run event.

For anyone looking for a great 50 miler to run or volunteer at, I highly recommend Bull Run Run!

David's report:

Ceci and I worked at Wolf Run Shoals (WRS), which is the aid station for miles 26.1 and 39.9 in the race. WRS is a bit special because it has long been organized by a couple from Baltimore, Stan and Margie, who have taking to dressing up each year according to a theme. Themes are kept top secret until race day. This year’s theme was “Toy Story” and so I dressed up as Woody and Ceci was Bo Peep. Other characters present included Buzz Light Year, Mr. Potato Head, Jessie, Ham, and the slinky dog whose name escapes me (See here for a picture of the Toy Story crew). Dressing up made for lots of fun as the runners came through and my daughter had a great time with it too.

Personally, I liked having this great perspective that one misses as a race as a middle- to back-of-the-packer: I got to see all runners from the start to the back! It was enjoyable to see the leaders coming through, especially the impressive Matt Woods, who won the race, and Annette Bednosky, who I have heard a lot about and who seemed very pleasant. It was also wonderful to see all the happy, joking, and friendly folks that stop in for hydration and food. And, I also felt for those that struggled some. Overall, it was a great day. I look forward to volunteering in a race again soon!

Rip Rap/Wildcat Loop 1.5 times

2011-04-07T22:45:00.016-04:00

Yesterday, Rebecca and I got to enjoy the extremely nice weather on a tour of the Riprap/Wildcat trail loop that branches off the AT inside the Shenandoah National Park. The loop was Rebecca's idea. I had never done it before and couldn't believe how beautiful it turned out to be, especially the rocky ridge run that then descends down to the gorge, waterfall, and swimming hole.

Our goal was to do the loop twice for about 19 miles, but time constraints and some tired feet and butt (mine) gave Rebecca the idea to stop at the swimming hole on the second go-around, soak sore extremities/trunk, and then head back up the way we came.

So we ended up doing just under 16 miles with 3,788 feet in elevation gain.

By the way, haven't we seen pictures of this swimming hole before via Sophie? It is heaven!

Carter's Mountain and Secluded Farm Trails

2011-04-03T21:07:00.007-04:00

A beautiful early spring morning greeted us as we explored the trails and woods surrounding Carter's Mountain and Monticello today. Blake, Drew, Joey, Rebecca, Christian, Quatro and I had a great run up the Saunders Trail boardwalk (the first two miles of the Montalto Challenge 5K), then we took a special trail for a little Promise Land 50K quad trashing preparation before hitting the awesome single track that climbs and descends Carter's Mountain. These trails are perfect for hill repeats as they have sustained climbs of 15 minutes and more, and they vary in technical-ity: some are so smooth they would be hard pressed to be described as "trails" and other sections are rocky and craggy like parts of the Massanuttens.

We ran for a total of two hours and put in about about ten miles at an easy pace, but we hammered the downs and tried to run the ups as much as possible. This is a perfect training ground for your next hilly trail race, or for just a relaxing run very close to downtown. In the fall, hike the main trail up to Carter's Mountain Orchard with some cash and a backpack and come back down with apples, pies, donuts and the satisfaction of not driving up there with the masses!

Thanks for joining me, everyone. Let's do it again soon!

Photos by Christian:

Map of these awesome trails

Race weekend 03/26/11

2011-03-28T14:03:00.010-04:00

A few CATs enjoyed the mountains at race pace this weekend. Congrats to Sophie Speidel (2nd overall female!), Michael Stadnisky, Marc Griffin, and David Snipes for their performances at Terrapin 50k and Chris McCartney and Nick Hamblet for rocking Bel Monte. Nick also received the Standout Award to Virginia from La Sportiva.

Race Results:
Bel Monte 50 mile Bel Monte Results
Terrapin Mountain 50 km Terrapin Mt Results

Article in iRunFar on Bel Monte 25K and Nick Hamblet's Standout Award: Bednosky and Woods win at Bel Monte 25k

Sophie Speidel's blog on Terrapin: Going Big at Terrapin

March madness" Mike Stadnisky's notes about Terrapin:
According the to the forecast, it was supposed to snow on Terrapin Mountain late Saturday night and early Sunday morning. This snow never made it to the trail however, as it was set ablaze by Sophie and Eliza on Saturday morning. Early reports say that the overlook is still smoldering this morning.

Congratulations to Sophie who took second female in the 50K with 05:44:15, Eliza who won first female in the half with 2:01, and Sniper who ran a 06:22:25 and then had us aching with laughter poking fun at the "prize purses" given to the male winners (new CR of 4:02!).

If I missed anyone, I'm sorry!

I'm not good at race reports, sorry in advance. From what I remember, it wasn't as cold as we expected it to be, there was a mountain, we ran for a bit, and Horton yelled a bunch at the finish. Fun was had by all (and the barbecue was awesome).

On a personal note, Terrapin was the finish to my "March Madness" series of races, spurred on by an icy relationship with winter running and exuberant spring fever. I ran three races this past month - Seneca Creek 50K (4:44:42), Instant Classic Trail Marathon (3:49:01), and Terrapin 50K (5:49:18). Time to recover before the devil goes down to Georgia for the Sweetwater 50K.

Nick Hamblet's blog on Bel Monte

And Chris MCartney's rundown on the Bel Monte experience:
-- It was really beautiful out there. I got a bit too cold a few times, but it was great running weather overall.
-- Bel Monte was my first ultra 3 years ago, and for whatever reason, I had forgotten about how rocky some of it is. Conversely, the rocky stuff along Torrey Ridge (which I've previously recalled with some abhorrence) wasn't quite as bad as I remembered. (But it was still terrible.)
-- The long climb/slog up the switchbacks to Camp Marty somewhere around mile 22 had me seriously questioning whether I'll make it through a 100 miler. (Explanatory note: I'm signed up for an August 100, and the elevation gain/loss profile is similar to that of Bel Monte.) Fortunately, I felt better after Camp Marty, so I haven't yet withdrawn from the August 100 -- but I'm still questioning the sanity of it.
-- I didn't wear my Garmin or use a stopwatch. I was going by feel only, with a big goal being to not push too hard. I think running "by feel" and not worrying about pace might be a good approach for me. I only had one bad patch (i.e., the aforementioned climb to Camp Marty), I felt reasonably well the last 8 miles, and I've had only moderate soreness since Saturday. With one exception ...
-- I turned the fire out of my right ankle three separate times. Ugh! This meant I had to walk the technical stuff on Torrey Ridge. (Hmm ... maybe that's why it seemed better than I remembered.) I don't typically twist my ankle very much; but when I have one good twist, it seems much more likely I'll twist it again later in the run. My ankle was pretty swollen yesterday, but better today. I'm optimistic that it won't be a long-term problem.

Running Becca: Holiday Lake 50k++ Race Report (2011 Edition)

2011-03-28T13:40:00.001-04:00

Running Becca: Holiday Lake 50k++ Race Report (2011 Edition)

a little later, a HL race report from CATster Rebecca

Rockfish Gap to Turk Branch Gap Out and Back- Sunday Run

2011-03-21T09:07:00.001-04:00

For this week’s edition of the CAT Sunday run, Joey and I met at Rockfish Gap at 8a.m. We were looking at blue bird skies, and hopefully a morning of great running…or, at least great running weather. Joey was coming off 18 miles on Saturday on the Rip Rap trail, while I had done a more modest 12 at Walnut Creek. Either way, we were thinking we would be feeling a bit heavy legged, especially on the immediate climb from Rockfish Gap to McCormick Gap.

Given our tired legs, we both agreed that today would be a nice relaxed pace. With that in mind, Joey started us off towards McCormick Gap. While I enjoy running this section of trail, I never really care for running it right off the bat. I would certainly prefer having a nice warm-up before the double whammy of climbing and technical trail, but be it as it may, this route doesn’t give one that luxury. Aside from a catching our feet here and there, this section was nice and smooth. It was great to be moving along the trails as Waynesboro, to the west, started waking up.

* * *

I always take great pleasure in runs such as this one where you start in a high traffic area (literally starting from Hwy 64 with Waynesboro within ear shot) and hearing the sounds of cars slowly give way to birds chirping, trickling water and wind blowing through the trees. I feel this transition period of entering a more tranquil environment helps me slip into a more relaxed mindset and excites me for the day’s run.

* * *

By the time we arrived at McCormick Gap, we were warmed up and decided to keep moving towards Beagle Gap. It practically seemed like the next thing I knew, we were at Turk Branch Gap. Once at Turk, we refueled and took a look at our watches- 2:06. Joey sarcastically remarked, “Negative Split?” which was laughable because we both were really starting to feel the effects of the weeks’ mileage. The more immediate goal was to make it back to the cars before the wheels came completely off! And with that, we started the slog back to Rockfish Gap.

The return trip was difficult, but again, it just sort of went by, and like that we were again back on the section between McCormick and Rockfish Gap. We were both ready for the run to be over and were met with great relief when the intersection with Skyline Drive appeared. We plodded down the parkway and back to the cars. I stopped my watch and was quite surprised to see 4:07. We apparently got our negative split, which we laughed about. I certainly didn’t feel like I was running too strong, so I’m going to chalk this effort up to some lingering effects from the super moon the night before.

It was a great day to be running up in the mountains!

Congratulations to Neal for his BQ

2011-03-21T08:28:00.004-04:00

Congratulations to fellow CAT(R) Neal Church for getting his Boston Marathon qualifying time in 3:28 at the Shamrock Marathon!

Neal is a tough ~~dog~~ CAT who deserved it well and worked hard for it.

Way to go Neal!

Sunday Group Run 03/20/11: Rockfish Gap to Turk Branch Gap

2011-03-15T16:35:00.001-04:00

For anyone looking to get out into the mountains this weekend, I'll be running on Sunday at 8:00 a.m. from Rockfish Gap. My plan is to run from Rockfish to Turk Branch Gap and back. Round trip, this should be around 24 miles, I believe.

Please don't feel like you can't come out if you aren't going to run 24 miles. Instead, look at it that I'm willing to run up to 24 miles with anyone! If you'd like to run less, you can turn around earlier. This section of the Appalachian Trail offers a great variety of trail and some great views. Not to mention, it looks like it's going to be a great day to be up in the mountains on Sunday.

If you are planning on running, please comment on this post or email me directly, so I know how many runners to expect.

Drew

Sugar Hollow Loop Group Run 03/13

2011-03-15T10:14:00.000-04:00

Rebecca, Drew, David and I met up at Greenberry's at 7.30 to carpool to Sugar Hollow. Since my injury wouldn't be happy running, I decided to join them by mountain bike. It was a gorgeous day and you definitely could smell and see that the spring is just around the corner. After getting ready for the trail we took off on the North Fork Moorman’s Trail up to Blackrock Summit after the Skyline drive. The rain a few days before made some parts of the trail look like a creek. So we had to run on the shoulder a bit. The Moormans river had a refreshing temperature and cooled us off up to the knees each time we crossed it. Mountain Biking was not as fun as running but was a good mountain time.

Some pictures:

David adds: After Christian turned around, Rebecca, Drew, and I continued up the trail to Blackrock Summit. The weather was spectacular, making for great views of the Shenandoah Valley, Massanutten, and surrounding scenery.

From Blackrock Summit, Rebecca headed back down the North Fork trail to minimize potential IT problems that day. Drew and I continued south on the AT, with Drew being so gracious to stay with me at my -- hopefully improving -- speed. We passed lots of dayhikers and weekend backpackers on our way and it was overall a perfect running day, with temps hovering in the low to mid 60s. As we neared Turk Branch Trail -- our return trail -- we came across a giant doe (deer from Amazonia?) that jumped in front of us on the trail. No bear, although there are signs up this year warning that the area near Turk Gap is very bear-friendly.

We finished by returning on the South Fork Trail to Sugar Hollow -- with a few more refreshing Moormans crossings -- at about 1:15 pm for 20.4 miles in about 5 hours. Overall, a great day of mountain running. Here is my Garmin report:

Training Group Run Sunday, 03/13

2011-03-11T12:52:00.002-05:00

This Sunday we are thinking of heading back to the mountains for a Sugar Hollow Loop run. The plan is to run north on the North Fork Moorman’s Trail up to Skyline Drive, then north to Blackrock Summit, before turning around and heading south on the AT to Turk Branch Trail down to the South Fork Moorman’s trail back to the start. The roundtrip would be about 20 miles (The route is approximately 2 miles longer than the one mapped above because we are adding a climb to Blackrock summit.).

We will meet at the main parking area just west of the reservoir at 8:00 am (Remember the time change to Daylight Savings!) to start the run. I believe Drew, Rebecca, and I are in. Who else would like to join?

The beauty of trail running

2011-03-02T10:06:00.002-05:00

UltraRunning from Matt Hart on Vimeo.

Holiday Lake 50k– 2/12/11

2011-02-26T10:03:00.002-05:00

Holiday Lake 50 k– 2/12/11

Robin Ramm

After a hour and a half -ish drive to the 4-H camp, we settled into our cabins and had the Horton Dinner which consisted of salad, sketty and meatballs and some delicious cheesy bread. There were a ton of desserts and lasagna too that I didn’t eat. Horton gave his speech which was a hoot, and then threw free gifts at the crowd. We heard this was going to be a record crowd of nearly 315 runners. Many doing their first 50K. I got a T-shirt for Montrail, but it’s too small for me.

Rebecca, who drove me, gave me many pointers for the day as this was her first 50k last year but has since accomplished so many races – including JFK 50 miler. We thought we had it made in our cabin, 4 of us with top bunks to lay out our goodies for the morning. Got my #167 pinned to my pants – who knew that ultra runners do this. Crystal, the sleeping back you gave me was very comfy and super warm! Loved it!!

We were all up at 4:45 am dressing and went over to the cabin to get hot water for my oatmeal and a bagel. Excitement was in the air. TMI alert, but runners understand…3 attempts and a no go – I was worried. Perhaps I’ll become an ultra runner and have to do it in the woods! LOL, luckily I was told to bring wipes and tp for that special occasion. Amazingly, it never happened…anywho….

6:30 sharp we were off. There’s a long .6 mile uphill on a road leading to the trail turn off. I walked it since I heard that even if you rush up there – you need to wait for everyone to funnel on to the course. Why bother. My goal was to be in the back anywho. Once on the course, I was glad to have my headlamp be so bright and illuminate the roots and rocks. We were pretty close for the first mile or two but then soon the group spread out. At the first aid station, mile 4, we were able to drop off our headlamps into a box in hopes of seeing it at the end. There were so many goodies on the table from chips, M & M’s, pretzels, bananas and the usual drinks. I grabbed water and a piece of nanner and was off.

Things are fuzzy from 4-8 miles but I think the stream crossing was in this part. It was icy cold and ankle deep, but I decided to not try and walk the rocks since it was so icy and others were saying very slippery. After all, part of being an Ultra runner means running thru streams right? It was like icy daggers stabbing my feet after going thru but only lasted about 10 minutes and I moved on to the next hurdle. Grabbed more banana and a few chips at 8 miles and kept up with my regimen of Salt tablets, Perpetum blocks by Hammer and a few peanut butter pretzels. Boy they tasted good.

By the time I got to 12 miles, runners were already coming the other way! Seriously I was thinking? They went to 16 and were back at my mile 12…calculated quickly - they were 8 miles ahead of me! Unreal. Everyone was so supportive and saying “great job” or “looking good” as they passed our pitifulness. Ha ha.

My favorite part of the course is around the lake and within a few miles of the turnaround you go down a series of steps and then over a bridge that is very thin but beautiful overlook of the lake. I loved it even with my fear of heights. Soon after, I was at the turn around and the clock said 3:18. Great, I made the cut off point …I can move on. I quickly went to my cabin undressing along the way and took off some layers and did a pit stop and grabbed more fuel. I was feeling like I could still take on the world and eager to go on.

Miles 16…Loop 2 we go backwards so soon I was up on the bridge again and wishing I had a camera – so pretty. I was passing a few people on the way back, so I knew I wasn’t dead last – comforting. I knew they needed to be at the turnaround by 3:45 ish so it was sad to think they didn’t make it to do the 2^nd loop.

Aid station #5 at 20 miles they asked what I wanted, so I asked for a scotch. Apparently…they didn’t find that very humorous…so I asked for a “new body”? Ha ha. Nothing. Okay, give me a banana and I grabbed a ¼ of a pbj. YUMMY. That hit the spot.

Soon after this I felt twinges of the darn IT band kicking it. I stopped to do some stretching and rub the leg…but by mile 22 it was locking down and my knee kept feeling as if it would buckle. Frustrated – 11 miles to go, I tried doing the gallop dragging my left leg along, going down hills sideways to prevent the pain and of course walking fast. This kept on to the finish. Every down hill made me cringe and I looked forward to power walking in between. The stream, while it was a bit warmer outside – still felt like icy daggers to my feet but I decided it was good for healing them! Ha ha.

I was happy to see the next aid station and filled up with a few more pieces of PBJ and grabbed another slice of nanner. Bruuuuuuuce came on my iPod at mile 26.2 (at 5:30 hours) which inspired me to move a little faster and put a smile on my face – Born to run. It makes me think of Mark when I hear any Bruce song and I got excited thinking he was probably waiting at the finish for me now.

Last aid station, mile 29 - 4 more miles to go – I was mentally doing great even with the bum leg. I had no doubts I could finish and I calculated it would be 7 hours and 10 minutes now. I had hoped for a sub 7 hour, but hey – it is what it is.

Some beautiful horses were next to me for part of the last few miles and were just gorgeous, gotta love a horse smell! I told the one lady I was tempted to jump on and she said she would if it wasn’t against the rules. Bummer man. I guess I’ll just pet them and move on.

Finally off the trail and the last .6 down to the finish on the road, I was all alone…I hobbled and galloped with my bum leg, walking fast. One lady was getting in her car and said “great job” and I asked if I was last? She said “no way, and you look great – I didn’t even make it to the 2^nd loop and I’m exhausted!”

I finally spotted Mark waiting and we waived at each other from a distance. I’m so thrilled to be done! Horton shouted my name and grabbed me at the finish saying how proud he was of me finishing! That was cool!! Gave Mark a huge stinky hug and kiss as he told me how proud he was of me! My finishing time was 7 hours 11 minutes. I made my goal of finishing standing up and NOT last!! Many runners came in even past the 8 hour cut off. I ran a total of 33.26 miles. Incredible.

“Walked” back to cabin to towel off my smelliness and pack up. I didn’t even eat the lunch I paid for or get my finishers Tshirt (didn’t see them) I just wanted to leave at that point! I did however get my headlamp back! Yes!

I’ve learned that I love trail running more than road running because of the beauty and less people, but that I’m much slower on the trail than on the road. It’s odd to be at the end instead of the middle of the pack…but I’ve made peace with it as it’s just beautiful. I also like running by myself which I within the last year found out works for me. Who knew? Don’t get me wrong BJ, our runs are great – but give me an open trail and 8 hours and I love to stretch out and enjoy it.

Would I do another 50K? Probably, but I’m not sure I’d want a real technical trail. This one was perfect for a “beginner” and I enjoyed it so much. I won’t say never, because I will likely be signing up for another within a few weeks, right – ha ha. Thanks to all my friends and family for the support and advice J