Double Race Weekend

As I've posted before, I'm sort of going through a period of transition in my training and running.  During this period, there are plenty of phases of trial and error, and just trying new things in general.

At the tail end of a 4-week reverse taper from the Shamrock Marathon a month ago, I decided to try something new and have a weekend consisting of two short races.  There was no particular logic or insight involved with the decision, I just wanted to see how I'd feel running at a moderate-to-hard pace two days in a row.

The first race was the Kessler's 5 mile trail run at Gifford Pinchot State Park.

On a beautifully sunny and mild morning, around 150 runners set off on the trails on the southeast shore of the lake.  I'd never been in this section of the park, and was pleasantly surprised at the runability of the first few miles.  They were trails, but definitely not singletrack.  6-8' wide and mostly flat...just like what you might imagine surrounding a popular area in a state park.  I was also pleasantly surprised with my pace: maintaining just under 8:00/mi, and very relaxed.

The course was extremely well staffed and marked...like ridiculously well marked, as in bright yellow signs with black direction arrows that jump out at you in the brown and (slightly) green early spring woods in Central PA.  Even with the numerous intersections, there was definitely no excuse for getting lost out there.

Between miles 2 and 3 was about a half mile on pavement through a camping area, then at mile 3 we got to the "muddy mile".  I'm talking as much as 8-10 inches deep in some stretches!  It was so much fun slugging through that section, happy to report that I didn't see a single spill or lost shoe, though with SpeedLaces on my Brooks Cascadias I did get close to slipping out once or twice.

Caked on mud, post race

At almost exactly mile 4, we crested the final hill and the trail transformed to speedy, fine gravel, barreling downhill for the final mile.  I crossed the finish line in about 38 minutes, good enough for 17th.

The finishing chute

It was a well organized race that I really enjoyed.  I didn't stick around long enough for the hot dogs afterwards, I just headed home to shower and rest up for the race coming the following morning.  As long as my schedule is free next year, I'm definitely doing this race again.  Thanks to all the organizers and volunteers for putting on this event!

There was even another fellow runner/geocacher racing on Saturday!

After a nice pre-race dinner at Fenicci's, race #2 was the Hershey 10K, starting bright and early at 7:30am Sunday morning.  I was fortunate to join several of my friends in this race, including my buddy Ben (who I joined last summer at Savageman).  The race was sold out with approximately 2500 runners joining us.

Just like the day before, I was out there simply to give it a go with no intentions on pushing too hard.  The course was relatively flat, and almost exactly the same course for the first 3 miles as last fall's Hershey Half Marathon.

After weaving through the crowd for the first half mile, I settled into a comfortable pace with 2 or 3 others at just under a 7:00/mi.  Being completely content at this pace, me and my Saucony Kinvara's glided along until around mile 4 when we entered the hilly and winding part of the course through Hersheypark.  Out of all of the races that I've done in Hershey, this is the most distance through the park that I can remember.  After about a mile and a half going under and around roller coasters, there was a final short hill up to the stadium finish, where I just missed the 42 minute mark by the clock.

Later looking into my time at the kiosks inside the stadium, I found out that my chip time was under 42, making this an unlikely PR!   As with the other Hershey races I've attended, there was plenty of fellowship afterward, hanging out with friends on the artificial turf field inside the stadium.

Some of us went out for an amazing breakfast in nearby Palmyra after cleaning up a bit.  The Top That Cafe is a gem in the middle of town, and a "must stop" for breakfast or lunch with plate-sized pancakes and complex french toast creations at a reasonable price.  And with that, the race weekend was complete and I couldn't have been happier with the way it turned out.  The outlook in regards to shifting my training program is bright, even though I have no big races planned for the rest of the year.

To finalize this post, I'd like mention some critique on the Hershey 10K Race.  There are a few things that are just expected in a 10K event of this size:

• At least one aid station
• A tech shirt
• Possibly a finisher's medal
• Electronic timing
• A well marked course with plenty of volunteers
• Post race food/water

In some aspects of the event, my expectations were greatly exceeded, but of course there are others where the event fell short.

Falling Short:

1. Race shirts.  They were long sleeve, cotton shirts.  I would have expected a tech shirt, even if cheap.
2. While not a huge deal, after coming through the finish each runner received a bag full of some Hershey goodies.  The only issue was that the chocolates were being handed out within paper bags.  They really could have used a handle since the runners had their hands full with water bottles, heat sheets, cameras, etc.  It would have been easy to provide some sort of plastic bag with handles.

Above and Beyond:

1. Timing.  Literally within 5 minutes of finishing the race, I had an email waiting in my gmail inbox with my time.  As I also mentioned, they had something like 6 touchscreen kiosks to check your time, and various other placement stats immediately following your finish.  In addition to this, the results were online the afternoon of the race!  Bravo on this aspect, organizers, with your decision to choose Mid Atlantic Timing once again.
2. Medals.  As you can see from the photo above, these are very nicely crafted medals, especially for a 10K race.  This may be why they skimped on the shirts...it's one of the nicest medals I've earned.
3. Photos.  Holy crap I could not believe how quickly they got photos online.  I got an email notification that photos were up at 8:26pm ON THE SAME DAY AS THE RACE.  That's right, roughly 12 hours after the completion of the event.  Absolutely unreal.  Again, kudos to the race organizers for picking a great vendor.  In this case, it was Get The Picture Corp.

As always, here's the Strava activity:


Thanks to everyone who made this weekend possible.  In light of recent events in Boston, I'm grateful I had the chance to enjoy these races, and hopes of many more in the future.  Now it's time to strengthen up, continue to run faster, and look for some more races to run.

The Lure of Strava

So I had a 30 minute tempo run on the schedule yesterday, and my local running group had a 5+ mile run posted.  Naturally, I signed up for the afternoon run and notified the other runners that I might be taking off after a warmup.  Also knowing that there was a 2 mile loop on Strava around the Army War College Golf Course didn't hurt my motivation to give it a little go...and so I went, for around a 7min/mile tempo run for about two loops around the course.  I felt great, pulse was up, and the cinders beneath my feet had a great shuffling rhythm.  My lungs were working hard, just like a tempo run should warrant.

Glancing down at my watch every few minutes gave me the indication that I was actually running a solid 10-20 second under per-mile pace, but running by feel felt great so I wasn't worried.  Passing several men and women in grey and black cotton "army" t-shirts, I made my way to the second loop, and while the temp was way hotter than I'd been recently used to, the feeling was fantastic.

As you can imagine, I felt great after the run and as usual, uploaded the activity captured on my Garmin Fenix to Strava.com.   And....major buzzkill.  Even with a sub 7 minute mile pace, my rank on the loop is towards the bottom of the leaderboard....must be some serious athletes 'round here...

So...something I learned this week is: even with a fantastic tool like Strava to compare runs against others in your area, don't compare your runs against anyone but yourself.  Have fun out there and improve, but get better for your own sake.

Switching it up

After completely bonking at mile 22 of the Shamrock Marathon a few weeks ago, I decided it was a necessity to educate myself and become a smarter runner.

I believe the issues faced at the marathon didn't have anything to do with my race strategy, pacing, or nutrition...it was quite simply training.  You see, for the 4 weeks leading up to the race, I barely ran at all as a result of what I believe were shin splints on my left leg.

The motivation of not having another crappy race was enough to get me to hit the books (or more appropriately, the web) and I got my fill of advice on topics such as injury prevention and nutrition.  Being more of a math and computer type guy, I'm not a huge fan of diving into a bunch of detailed biology and chemistry, so articles written in layman's terms were easiest to digest.  Among a few others, I found a great resource in Jason Fitzgerald's Strength Running site, which provides a considerable amount of free information, mostly in the form of blog posts, but there are also a couple of PDF "articles" that dive in a little deeper.

I'm happy to say that so far, after applying a few simple principles to my training over the past week, I haven't had any major problems and things seem to be getting better for the summer season.

So what did I do?

Mainly two things:
1) Incorporated core strengthening exercises into my workouts, twice a week.
 - I found some WODs (Workouts of the Day) online that only use body weight exercises. (e.g. Burpees, Pushups, Flutterkicks, Situps, etc)  I'll do these on Mondays and Wednesdays, in addition to running.

2) Rotate different shoes and surfaces.
 - I think the last 4 runs I did were in 4 different pairs of shoes, including yesterday in my Vibram Five Fingers, which I haven't run in in at least a year.  I also got a trail run in at Gifford Pinchot State Park on Sunday, which was a gorgeous day and my feet felt great.

While I have no goals in mind this weekend, I'm signed up to two races (1 Sat, 1 Sun).  I doubt I'll PR, and I have no intentions of pushing it hard, it'll just be nice to finish a race not feeling like total crap.  That feeling is tough to get over and I'm ready to move on...smarter and more healthy!

Shamrock Marathon Weekend

It's amazing how less than an hour can dictate the feelings, and subsequent memories of an entire weekend.  When thinking back on my Virginia Beach and Yuengling Shamrock Marathon last weekend, the only thing that comes to mind is final part of the race: mile 21 - 26.  But I'll get to that in a moment...

The weekend started out extremely positive, hitting some specific geocaches on the way down, filling in some Counties, Cities and Delorme pages for VA that I've yet to find, and visiting an expo at the Virginia Beach Convention Center on a sunny Saturday afternoon with plenty of vendors.

Expo Entrance

Yup...looks like an expo

After getting our fill of cheap and free stuff, I decided to go for a short shake out run the evening before the race, down the boardwalk and snagging some "highly favorited" geocaches along the shore in the process.  Our hotel was right on the beach and extremely close to the start and finish of the marathon...an absolutely ideal spot for all things shamrock this weekend.

Nice trident!

Enough bananas in the finishing chute to feed a small army

Here's a look at this nice biking path that goes along the boardwalk for quite a few miles

Pier view #1

Self shot (necessary for logging the virtual geocache)

Pier view #2

We had our pre-race dinner at a nice Italian joint and interestingly enough, our waiter had run two editions of the Shamrock Half Marathon a few years back.

Breakfast of (leprechaun) champions, green bagel and all.

Race morning started off great, although the weather could have been better: forecasted to stay in the 40's all day with a chance of rain.  I have to reiterate here how key our hotel location was.  I literally stepped out of my room 10 minutes before the gun was supposed to go off.  The race started a couple of minutes behind, so it worked out perfectly not having to brave the chilly morning temps.

I got lined up right where I wanted, between the 3:25 pace group and the 3:35

At least 10% of these people were shivering

The race started off great.  I didn't follow the "plan" of just going for a 155-160 BPM HR, but maintaining a 7:55/mi pace felt perfect, and even by mile 13, I felt like I'd have enough in the tank to push it down to a 7:30 or even a 7:00 during the final 10K.  Well, of course, that didn't happen...

Right at mile 21, like clockwork during the lonely stretch through Fort Story, I came face to face with "the wall".  I don't think it had anything to do with nutrition, rather, my lack of proper training over the past four weeks.  I hadn't run over 18 miles during a single run since the 50K back in January, and it really showed.  On this ridiculously flat course, my legs just quit and after a little research it looks like something to do with my IT band, but honestly I'm not sure.  It's sort of the same strained muscle feeling on the outside of my hips I get after a long day of backpacking.

Anyhow...I slugged through those final few miles continuing to run, but at the slowest pace imaginable, even though I'm pretty sure I saw a 79 year old lady in a walker pass me by at around mile 24.

I must have picked it up for the final .2 knowing about the enormous beer tent waiting after the finish.  It was a disappointing final time, but we got changed at the hotel and then made it over to enjoy the Yuengling brews and mass produced Irish stew on the beach.

Beach scene near the end of the finishing chute, outside the beer tent

Quality architecture inside the tent

"The Deloreans" rocking out some 80's classics

Though I didn't qualify for Boston this weekend (or even hit my secondary goal of 3:30), it was a fun time of geocaches and running.  The race experience was put together perfectly by J&A Racing, including the live race timing updates, and the post race party.  Thanks for a fun time this weekend, with the exception of that final hour of the race (totally not their fault, but not fun nonetheless).

If you're interested, here's a link to my race in detail.

Finishing off St. Patty's day right, with an amazing stout!

Sabotage

I've done it: pretty much ruined my chances for qualifying for Boston this weekend.  It didn't happen overnight however.  Over the past four weeks I've eaten too much, drank too much, and run too little.  The last part of those wasn't entirely a dumb decision, as I've been having issues with shin splints on my left leg, and rest has been a priority in order be able to complete all 26.2 miles just 5 days away.

I'm definitely happy with what I'm still capable of, given the way I've (poorly) executed training and nutrition over the past month or so, gaining close to 10 pounds in the process.  With that said, the new goal is to simply go Sub 3:30.  I'm planning on taking it easy for the first half, keeping my HR around 155-160 and if that goes well, maybe push it a bit for the final 13.1.

My progress will be posted automatically on my Facebook Page and Twitter Page at mile 7, 13.1, 18 and the finish line.  Follow along on Sunday for all of the St. Patty's Day action...good, bad or ugly!

Blood, Sweat and Beers Trail Half Marathon Race Report

I don't travel for work often, but when the opportunity came up to attend a conference in Vegas within days of a trail race in the desert, I had to jump on it.  After 3 days of Data Warehousing classes, my wife and I played around in Red Rock Canyon on Friday and made it to another Canyon (Bootleg), near Boulder City on Saturday for this year's edition of Blood, Sweat, and Beers.

Interesting Nevada History during the prohibition days

Sweet medal lineup.  Yes...they're bottle openers!

It was our first race in Nevada, yet alone in the desert.  We weren't sure what to wear, but knowing the sun would be out and temps in the 40s and 50s, I opted for shorts and a short sleeve shirt.  Coming from PA and growing accustomed to winter runs in the teens and 20s, this felt like summer (or at least spring).  We were definitely in the minority, as most folks showed up in long sleeves and pants.

Who wears short shorts?

The race started about 20 minutes late, due to some last minute registration and head counts.  The 30K and Half Marathon runners started off at 9:20am, and the 10K'ers (including the wife) around 5 minutes later.

Having some recent shin splint issues, I hadn't run all week but felt surprisingly good throughout the entire race.  There were some decent short climbs around mile 6 that left the quads burning, but overall it was just a great time to be roaming around the hills east of Vegas.  There was one particularly playful section around mile 9, hugging the hillside and winding through various small canyons that I really, really enjoyed.  The view above the golf course was an interesting green canvas among the sea of brown (why do races always bring me alongside golf courses?!?).

Aid stations were well stocked and staffed, I didn't really take any nutrition at any of the 3 I passed, only stopping briefly at the second for some HEED.  My water bottle and stash of Powerbar Energy Blasts were enough for 2 or so hours on the trail.

Killer bike jumps

The only issue came in at around mile 12 where the orange flags marking the course disappeared.  I took a left turn which in hindsight was correct, but ended up turning around after about a half mile of not spying any flags.  Several others followed me and we eventually made our way back to the finishing area, adding about a half mile on to the course via the wrong direction.

Admittedly, I came through the finish line a little frustrated and I apologize to the race organizers that I bitched at a bit.  But some great fellowship with other runners, and (unattended) coolers full of cold local craft beer from Joseph James Brewing Company made up for it pretty quickly.  What more could a guy ask for after running for two hours!?!?

Post race smiles

After the race we made it over into Arizona for a geocache, then a quick visit the nearby Hoover Dam, and lunch at The Dillinger in Boulder City.  I highly recommend the Dillinger Burger.  A Burger, Bacon, and Brisket...yep, it was awesome.

On a geeky note, I found it interesting when I uploaded the activity to Strava and Garmin Connect that the distances were vastly different, around 0.6 miles.  Based the mileage recorded on my watch, Garmin is more accurate.  I believe Strava only takes most of the data points recorded on the GPX/FIT file, making several of the short twists and turns not read on that application.

The activities can be found at the links below if you're curious:

Strava
Garmin Connect

Even with the SNAFU towards the end, I would totally run this race again.  I can't express how much fun it was to experience a completely different trail run than I'm used to.  Some individuals got a chance to do just that, as the race offered a night time option for all day distances, plus a 5K.  We didn't have time for a second run though, Anthony Jeselnik's comedy show at the Mirage was calling...and we were ready to be offended.

Thank you to all the volunteers and organizers for putting on the event.  It was great to snatch up the opportunity to do a little work and a little play in sin city.

Frozen Sasquatch 50K Race Report

It turns out January is a great time of year to visit West Virginia for a little trail running, sightseeing, and some good eats.

Last weekend my wife, mom, sister made the 6 hour drive down to Charleston, WV to support my efforts in completing my first ultramarathon, the Frozen Sasquatch 50K.  In fact it was a weekend of quite a few firsts:

- 1st ultra
- 1st race in WV
- 1st race of the year
- 1st race with my new Christmas present: Garmin Fenix

We got into town on Friday just in time to pick up my packet at the local running shop, being certain to get some restaurant recommendations from the friendly staff.  That immediately led to lengthy, but tasty dinner at Bluegrass Kitchen.

Later that night in the hotel, I spent the better part of an hour organizing all my race stuff.  Being my first race of this distance, I wanted to be sure I had everything laid out beforehand (literally).

Gear organized in 3 sections, before, during, after.

Race morning went smoothly and we found ourselves at the pool area in Kanawha State Forest around 30 minutes before the start.

Right away, I got a glimpse of how pure and intimate a trail race like this can be.  The field was small (around 200 total) and everyone enjoyed conversation before the race, huddled in the heated luxury indoors.  Even the bathrooms were heated, which was an extremely welcome refuge on this West Virginia morning in the 20s.  After a short briefing (Blue ribbon good...yellow bad) we were off for a few hundred meter road run before we hit the trails.

We're off!

Up...slowly.  That's pretty much how the first mile went.  I should have known but I didn't realize it until we hit the trail: I'd started a little farther back than I wanted and I'd soon be caught in the never ending "conga line" up the first climb.  Being my first ultra, my strategy was to take it easy and in hindsight this slow start probably helped.  But during those first 20 minutes, all I wanted to do was run!

Conga line

The course was about half single track, and the other half forest roads, with a couple of short pavement sections sprinkled in.  The 50K was two 25K loops and only about 50 participants were signed up for the second go around.

Once we hit the forest roads around mile 2, it was time to start passing people and even surprised myself with one mile under 9 min!  By the time we got back on single track for an aggressive descent, I was in a group moving at a pace I was comfortable with on the still (mostly) frozen ground in the western portion of the state forest.

We hit the first of the well stocked and well staffed aid stations at mile 5.  I honestly couldn't believe my ears when approaching several stations hearing "What can I get for you?"  I've never encountered this type of amazing hospitality during a race before; each was such a welcoming oasis after each 4-5 mile lonely stretch in between.

At one point during a paved "rail trail" like section about half way through the course, I remember thinking..."If I feel good during the second loop around, I could really open it up here".  Yeah...that definitely didn't happen.  The way the legs feel at mile 7 is a far cry from how they feel at mile 22.

Paved section around mile 7

There was a tough 500' climb coming out of the second aid station which proved to be the emotional low point of the day during the second loop.  It was slow going, but once we hit the fire road at the top of the ridge, it literally was "all downhill from here".

The next portion was a playful section of single track known as the Middle Ridge Trail - my favorite part of the course, featuring some zigs and zags, but nothing technical or taking on much elevation change.  It was also extremely well marked and easy to follow despite having no other runners around me on either time through.  And it was during this section when I felt most comfortable, having the peace and freedom I feel in the woods (minus the AS3 dog barking every few seconds and the fellas in the valley below enjoying some high powered target practice).

The final downhill mile was the most technical of the entire 15 mile loop, surely to test our agility after 30 miles of running.

Coming through the half way I greeted my family, got a refill on water and grabbed a single Clif bar out of my drop bag and headed out for a second loop.  That's right...after all that crap that I shoved in my drop bag, I only needed a Clif bar...better safe than sorry I guess.

Coming through the half way point - feeling good!

"Crunchy" trails

The second loop was, well basically the same as the first except: lonelier, slower, muddier and much much more difficult.  I walked most of the climbs on the second half, and it was nice to not really care about my pace.  It was difficult enough already, ya know...running 31 miles and all.

After coming down the final sketchy descent unscathed, my wife ran alongside me for the final 200 meters through the parking lot, with words of encouragement like "run faster and get in under 5:53!" all while wearing her winter boots!  A short sprint meant that I made it in as she directed, with 6 seconds to spare.

A full, detailed view of my race can be found here.

Wow - I look thrilled to be done.

It was an extremely rewarding experience that couldn't have gone much better, especially given that it was my first race > 26.2.  My nasty ankle sprain from two weeks prior barely bothered me, I didn't have any stomach issues, and I left with nice handcrafted artwork as my finisher's award.  Later that night we took advantage of the other recommended restaurant: Pies and Pints, both of which were enjoyed to the fullest.  Leaving the Mountain State with full stomachs, good memories, sore muscles, and smiles all around is the best and only way to do it.

A big thanks goes to all who made the race possible, and providing the opportunity for me to really enjoy my first ultra!

I rigged up the finisher's award as a medal!