Coosa Backcountry Trail FKT

Ok so, last Saturday 7/22/12 I decided to try for the Coosa Backcountry trail FKT.  I ran it pretty hard last fall and missed it by about 4 min.  This time I knew I was in better shape and had run some decent workouts in the last few weeks so I had a chance.  With it being July in Georgia the heat and humidity didn't exactly lend themselves to a super fast time but I decided to start really early and hope for the best. 

On the morning of I made it to the trail head at 6:20 and started running the approach trail nice and easy to stretch out the legs.  At the start of the loop I did a few strides and stretched a bit until I was confident that the trail was light enough to run fast on.  I checked the garmin to make sure it was reading right, took a deep breath and off I went.  Not a minute into the run I felt a searing pain in my left shoulder, a wasp stung me somehow  without even landing on me.  I debated briefly stopping going back and starting the run again but thought better of it.  I continued on to the first road crossing not a mile in which gave me my first split.  It was 5:46, already 15 seconds ahead of pace.  As I entered the woods for the 2.5 mile descent I spooked a medium size bear and sent him crashing down the hill breaking anything in his path.  The split at the bottom of the descent marking the start of the Coosa Bald climb was 20:15, still ahead of schedule.  As I started up the climb I just tried to focus on running where I could and not lingering when I did have to hike.  All without using too much energy too early in the run.  As I approached the top of the climb there was a great cool breeze flowing over the top that was much needed in the Georgia humidity.  The split at the top was 1:02:30, from here I just had to find my efficiency and flow and get on down the mountain.  The descent to wolfpen gap went well and I recovered well for the last climb up slaughter.  As I crossed the road I took the split at 1:14:02 still well ahead of schedule.  Slaughter gap justifies its name every time I see it, no matter what pace I am trying to run and today it hurt a lot.  I didn't know where to split my watch at the top of slaughter so I took the split at the true beginning of the descent in 1:30:06.  From here I just had to get to the bottom in less than 23 min.  I let it flow where I could and just pushed through where it didn't flow.  There are just a few rises in the last couple miles but they really showed how tired my legs were.  Finally the last turn came into sight and there were Mitch and Brandon yelling and cheering me in.  They even had a finish line tied up for me to break.  I have won a couple races in the past but this was the first time I was able to break a physical tape.  I stopped the watch at 1:51:16 setting the new fastest known time for the loop by just under 2 minutes.

This was one of the toughest efforts running I have made in a long time.  But this run is a great check point in my training for the summer and looking ahead to the fall.  I will definitely look back to this run in November when I toe the line for the Duncan Ridge 50K that shares the first and last 8 miles with this course.

Yonah Race?

On Saturday April 14th I, along with a few running buddies held the first ever and hopefully annual Yonah Race at Mt. Yonah in Cleveland GA.  The trail is about 4.5 miles round trip with just over 1500ft. of gain.  Yonah is one of my favorite mountains and training spots around and I was happy to share it with some friends as it is easily accessible and offers good technical trail running.  We decided to hold this pseudo race to have a larger selection of people that have run the trail in order to post a fastest known time, however since the race I still can't bring myself to go post it.  I guess I still want to see more people run it and have a larger collaboration of times on the trail first.  On the flip-side if I put it out there more people may find out about it and go run it.  Maybe I'll decide to post it by the end of this blog but we will have to see.

We had a great time running the mountain and in the end I set a new personal best time on both the ascent and descent.  I still think I could find another 45 seconds to a min. on the ascent but am not sure I could get much on the descent.  I'm sure someone else could and would love to see a lot of people try this trail.  Recently I found a trail that connects Yonah Mtn. to Pink Mtn. next door.  With this new trail there is easily 10 miles of trail within 5 min of downtown Cleveland that would have roughly 2500 ft. of vert.  Great trails with great views, go run it.  Keep an eye out for the next Yonah race next spring around Easter time.  Just not on Easter because we will be celebrating the payment made by Jesus for our sins when He died on the cross and three days later rose from the grave.  He did this so that anyone who calls on His name will be born again to live forever in Heaven with him.  Pretty sweet deal.

Duncan Ridge 50K Trail Run

So the race was 5 months ago I guess it is about time to make a blog post about it.

The weather on race day was great, a little on the cool side but no rain, snow, or wind to speak of so I considered conditions pretty perfect for this time of year. My training leading up to this race had been good in some areas and not in others. My day to day runs and speedwork seemed to be in pretty good form, however I had not really had a successful long run in this training set. My two longest runs were 20 and 25 miles and in both runs I had fallen short on my nutrition and had a rough finish although otherwise they were solid runs. Even still I had pretty high expectations for the race.

Once the race was under way I settled in just behind a few guys and really intended to stay put until about 5 miles into the race. But about a mile in I felt myself putting a little distance on the pack with very minimal effort and it even felt a little better to not be stumbling over my feet trying to go out extra easy. So going into the first aid station I was already running alone with no way of knowing where anyone else was. Heading into the first of many big climbs(Coosa Bald), I just settled into a conservative pace and pressed on. At this point I was feeling great. At the top of the climb I was still in good shape physically and mentally and really feeling good about the way this was unfolding. After the second aid station my stomach began to be a little queasy, which is what I think was the thread that I pulled that resulted in the unraveling of my DRT50.

When my stomach started feeling off I put a few extra minutes between gel and water and those minutes became more and more minutes and before I knew it I was way behind on eating and drinking. At the turnaround I was still feeling okay but could see the writing on the wall of what was to come, but for some reason did not start pounding the water yet. I left the turn-around station at 2:50 on the watch and started counting to see what the lead was. It turned out to be a 10min lead. Which should have been plenty to get me to the finish before anyone else. But coming out of the Mulkey Gap aid station on the way back it hit me, and I walked a little slower up the climb. By the top of the climb I couldn't even start back running the downhill. I was cold and throwing up and ready to drop out. The only reason I continued moving was that I knew I couldn't just stop and quit there. I would at least have to go on to the next aid station. So I started to walk with every intention of dropping at Whiteoak Stomp aid station. I worked on my water bottle as I could and even ate a gel just trying to feel better. About a mile before the aid station the 2nd and 3rd place runners came by and I knew that my hopes of winning were gone for good then. I walked for about an hour total with no running at all and just before the aid station a few more guys came by and one of them was my buddy Mitch Pless. He gave me some encouraging words and convinced me to try to run on in to the aid station with him. I tried running but still just didn't have it. Nothing was firing quite right in my legs.

At last I rolled into the Whiteoak Stomp aid station where I was planning to drop, but I just couldn't do it. I have never dropped out of a race and for some reason I felt the need to finish this no matter how bad I thought my ultra-signup ranking was going to drop. The aid workers gave me some food and some kind of electrolyte drink along with an s cap which I had never taken before but at this point I figured it couldn't get much worse so bring it on. Mitch gave me some more much needed encouragement, then he and the others headed on out ahead of me. I waited until all the guys had gone on since I didn't want to slow anyone still racing down. Once they were all out of the aid station I began the 2 mile climb back to the top of Coosa bald in 8th place. A few minutes out of the aid station I caught two of the guys putting me into 6th place. Another few minutes and another runner came into view and I quickly passed him. With each pass I was begining to get more motivation to not only finish but get back as many places as I could. By the top of the climb I had the next two guys in sight. As I crested the top and began the long descent I was feeling pretty good and caught those two guys quickly. One of them was my buddy Mitch who yelled for me to go on after the next guy. I really hoped he would tuck in behind me and roll on down but as it turned out he was going through a bit of a rough patch and had to let me go. About half way down the 3 mile descent I caught the 3rd place runner and passed him putting me back up to third which is as high as I would climb on this day.

In the end it was a bittersweet finish. I hated losing a big lead and the race but was happy I didn't drop out and was able to battle back to third. I am usually not one to repeat races but I want to go back to DRT and do it right.

Here is my garmin data from the race. The elevation profile only shows the second half for some reason, but all the splits are there.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/130006121

September 11th weekend of Running

Friday afternoon would serve as the starting point for my biggest weekend of running in a while. I began with 8 miles of what was supposed to be just easy running, but ended up being one of the faster runs I have had since beginning regular training again last month. Friday night I met up with the guys(Kelly, Mitch, Brandon, Gary, John, Darryl, and Dan) for a night hike on part of the Duncan Ridge 50K course. What I discovered is that this course is no joke and that I think the key to doing well will be restraint in the first half. I was using the navigation mode on my watch for the first time and in doing so failed to record the first 2 miles but the rest of the hike is detailed at this link. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/113141557 I will be very interested in doing more reconnaissance and trying to run the trail in order to get a better feel for what of the course is runnable and what is not. We covered 14 miles total, running about the last 6miles or so.

Next was Saturday afternoon. I was supposed to meet up with some college buddies saturday night and just hang-out, but they bailed on me and I was stuck at home with only my kitchen cabinets that needed painting. So I put it off a little longer and went running. For the record I did get them painted on Sunday. Now where to run? I decided to on Yonah as a suitable option for this outing. It provides plenty of elevation gain, single-track, and a short drive. I thought the run went really well on pretty tired and a little sore legs. This was the first time I had done 2 laps on the single-track. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/113365618 The weather was nice and cool and clear and was perfect for running. On this run I took my Camelbak handheld with water, one GU, and the MountainSmith Dart waist pack packed with a light and a jacket. I also swung by the truck on one lap to get a bit of First Endurance gel, which is now my go to gel. On my second lap I was startled out of any rhythm I had obtained by a four foot very dark colored Timber Rattlesnake traveling down the trail as I went up. This wouldn't have been too much of a problem had I seen him before my foot was six inches from him. Luckily the cool weather and the pace I was travelling helped me avoid any real altercation and we both continued onto our destinations. Needless to say when I came back down the mountain I found a little extra spring in my step while traversing the snake area.

My last run of the weekend was Sunday afternoon. I took Gina(the dog) for the first 2.5 miles of the run. It was a pretty easy and uneventful run on the dirt roads around the house. I ran 8 miles total and averaged somewhere around an 8 min/mile. I don't know for sure because my garmin battery went dead at mile 2.5. All in all it was a good weekend of running but I was ready to see Em and Rush who had gone to Pigeon Forge for the weekend with her Aunts and Mom. This was my first night not being with Rush since he was born.

Finding the Training Rythym

So I am picking my training up again, but with a little different approach than I have had in the past. I am running when I get up and feel like running, but if I feel tired or beat up then I bike. Even though my mileage has been low getting back to normal miles can be as hard as running big miles sometimes. But for the time being I am not using the watch much in the way of pacing just trying to push when I feel good and back off when I don't. In a few weeks I will probably add some speed but just a little, since you don't need a whole lot of raw speed for ultras. In racing news I am planning on doing the Currahee Mountain Adventure Duathlon in November. It is technically an adventure race with running and biking. The race director, Clint Sanders, a friend of mine has been trying for a couple of years to get me to come out and try to win it without using a bike. How is this possible? The course is made up of checkpoints scattered throughout the Currahee Wilderness with some areas being bike accessible and some being no-bike zones. Clint's theory is that a runner could save time by running through the no-bike zones and not having to reroute to pick up a bike and go around said zones. He guesses that I will run about 30 miles that day which makes it a really fun long run opportunity.

In other life news Emily and I went to the doctor last week and were able to see our baby again! It is truly amazing to see God's creation grow before your eyes. We heard the heartbeat first and it was nice and strong(about 162). Then we had an unscheduled ultrasound since our midwife is a friend. She found the baby immediately and the pictures were incredible. We could see shim's facial features and arms and legs and even fingers. I could actually see the chambers of the heart that one day will pump gallons of blood to my child's oxygen deprived muscles as they power them through a race. We could see shim move and bounce around and even get the hiccups! I am so thankful for the little miracle that is only about 2.5 inches long right now. Next month we go back and should be able to find out if it's a boy or a girl.

So I haven't blogged in a while

I don't know if this can really be considered much of a blog since I only blogged once and then left this alone for almost a year. Anyway, since being on here last I haven't really raced seriously or what I would call seriously. But more importantly Emily and I are expecting! This is a huge answered prayer and I thank God everyday for the great gift he has bestowed upon us to care for. The miracle of pregnancy continues to amaze me everyday. Our child has reached its first milestone this week by graduating from an embryo to a fetus, as well as losing its tail this week. At least I hope our little Pat did. We are calling our fetus Pat for the time being since we do not know if it is a boy or a girl yet. Our due date is April 2nd and seems like an eternity away. Luckly we do get check-ups along the way that help ease the anticipation like our 8 week ultrasound. There we were able to not only see our child but hear the heartbeat and see it move. It can move! At the size of a grape it is just now begining to look like a child in there. Our next appointment is September 17 and we are told that it will look even more human at that ultrasound. I like having ultrasounds for two reasons: First and foremost it gives me a chance to see my baby and second it contains one of my favorite words(ultra). Speaking of ultra I don't have one directly on the schedule but I am training some and maybe can make a transition into a race between now and April if it is Gods will to do so.

Thanksgiving day long run

So today (thanksgiving) I began my day with a long run. 17 up at one of my personal favorite spots Chattahoochee river road 44. I tried a new road that looked on the elevation profile to gain a lot with few downhills on the out route. I have been trying to target these types of road in hopes of preparing for the Mount Mitchell Challenge in Feb. I really believe in specificity training so I look for runs that have a long climb at the beginning of the run with a long downhill at the end. Anyway this road turned out to be great. A nice fairly even climb and great views. I was very thankful to be out in the wilderness without anyone around just enjoying the woods. I am also very thankful to spend the rest of my day with my wife(who is very patient with me and my training madness) and her family. I think in the next week or so I am going to try and get my blood levels checked. I have a sneaking suspicion that my iron levels could be low. Maybe it's just one of those lulls in training that one goes through but honestly I haven't been training that hard to not be recovering like I am. So to start with I am back on the Ferrous Sulfate and we shall see what comes back with the test. That being said the run this morning was great and so was thanksgiving.