Just got back from VA. I will right the report in the next few days, this is just a brief update. I ended up stopping after 17 hours and 60 miles. Not so much because I was hurting, but I just didn't feel like running anymore. I made a lot of mistakes and learned a TON about what it will take to finish a 100 miler, and how mental it will be. It was a great race, I met some awesome people and had a great time. I felt pretty good today, very little soreness or pain. The only problem I have is a huge bruise that has developed on the ball of my right foot, which makes it crazy painful to walk, I'm icing it right now. I spent most of today in D.C. lounging in the grass by the reflecting pool in between the Washington monument and Lincoln memorial. It was a really nice day.

"Until you push yourself right to the edge, you haven't really pushed yourself. I have absolutely nothing left right now. That's really what I came here for."
-Brian Robinson, after dropping 80+ miles into the Barkley

check out this awesome article

without going into detail there is some solid evidence (literally) that my stomach issues are subsiding. I hope to be mostly recovered by my early flight tomorrow morning.

"There are great rewards in a 100, but you'll have to risk
failure to enjoy them."

Karl King

Since yesterday morning I haven't had much of an appetite. I felt horrible all day today. I think I have some type of stomach virus and am feeling week from not being able to eat. I had a similar problem around Thanksgiving. Luckily it only lasted one day then I was able to recover. I am hoping this is the same thing. I will be super pissed if this screws up my race this weekend!

no running today. I did a nice long session of stretches after work. I may run 5 tomorrow to further break in my new shoes, but wont be doing any running wed, Thurs or Fri Resting up for the race. There is so much more to a 24 hour race or 100 miler than a 50m or 50k. This should be quite the learning experience. I am sure I will come back with loads of mishaps to blog about!

side note to ROB: Do you know why I can't leave comments on your blog anymore?? It has been like that for about a month, I don't know what is going on!

5 miles, 10:45 pace

I went back to the Lunken bike path today after work for a recovery run. I felt a lot less sore when I woke up this morning compared to how I have been feeling lately after my long runs. I hope it is not a coincidences that I used Hammer Nutrition's Recoverite after my run yesterday. Although I wasn't sore, my legs were tired. I wore my new Keen Wasatch Crests to break them in. I am hoping to break them in enough this week so I can wear them in Virginia for this weekends race. I kept a slow steady pace and tried to get into "24 hour mode" for my race this weekend. It was a beautiful day which equals beautiful women out for an evening run. I did get in brief speed intervals as I ran by all the hotties. I'm a sucker for a female runner, plus Chicks dig the speed.

The inaugural “Yeah, there’s a gas station 2 miles up the road” Marathon +

28.23 miles, 7:30 total time (including all breaks)

Mike and I woke this morning at 5:45 to drive to Kurt’s house where we then drove to the start of the BR course. Actually, I woke at 5:45 while Mike was still asleep on his couch downstairs because he couldn’t hear his alarm! We meet Kurt, Debi and Cindy at about 6:30 for the drive to Kurt’s mom’s house where we would be ending our run. We dropped off Mike’s car and piled into Cindy’s “Mom Van” and drove to the start of our run at Squire’s Castle metro park. Our original plan was to run the first 18.6 miles of the Burning River course, as Mike, Kurt and I are all training for that race coming up in August. Cindy and Debi are training for the Cleveland half so they went the first 6 miles with us and headed back for a total of 12.

The first 9.6 miles of the BR course are on Chagrin River road, so we started off on our jaunt down the road. After making the 30 minute drive to the start and taking pictures in Squire’s Castle I could tell the personalities of Cindy and Mike were sure to make this an interesting run. I could share some of the conversations, but I think it’s something that needs to be experienced first hand. I will say the idea of a “Butt Beacon” is something I will carry with me throughout my running career. Thanks, Cindy! I was disappointed when you missed your opportunity for the blog photo of the year with Mike’s full moon at Squires Castle!

The first six miles were pleasant. The sun was beginning to show itself and the dawn of a beautiful day was upon us. We took a short break as Cindy and Debi started there journey back to Squire’s Castle. As we continued down the road I began to feel the fact that I hadn’t had a large breakfast, I mentioned my concerned to Mike and Kurt. We decided it would be best for all of us to get in some extra calories before hitting the trail. As we came to the intersection at mile 9.5, where we would begin our trail section, we asked a bicyclist if he knew where the closest gas station was. He told us that if we went 2 miles up the road there would be an intersection with a gas station and convenience store. We thought since we were already running 19 it was worth the extra four to get some grub. We thanked the biker and began our 2 mile trip up the road. We decided that we would just walk there and back then run once we got to the trail. So we walked and talked, and walked and talked. “How many miles have we gone” asked Mike. “I show 2 on my GPS” I reply. Still no gas station in site. “Maybe it is just over this hill” Kurt says. As we crest the hill all we see are more hills, still no gas station. Another mile goes by and we see a guy out in his yard doing some work. We asked him if he knew how far the intersection was. He replied with a precise “.9 miles.” Of course, as soon as he said that I looked at my GPS so I could test his accuracy. .9 miles later, no more, no less, we were standing right in front of the intersection. I wish that guy would have been available to give us the original directions. At this time we were all pretty hungry after our 2 mile walk had just been turned into 4. We walked around the store picking our fuel sources, which added and extra .1 onto our total distance. We Sat on the curb and consumed our treats. After that our spirits were high and bellies were full.

We used a run walk method back to the trail as our food settled. We got back to our trail and continued our originally scheduled run. The buckeye trail, which is what we were supposed to follow, isn’t clearly marked at all times in this area so we spent a lot of time at certain intersections from here on out deciding which way to go. I guess I shouldn’t really say we, I stood in the background while Mike and Kurt hashed out the plan. Where they went I followed, but don’t worry guys, I didn’t use you as my “Butt Beacon.” Maybe if Cindy was still around… there were some nice creek crossings that Mike and I enjoyed running across and it was such a great day out on the trail. We ran most of the way from that point while taking short breaks. It was a great run and turned out to be a full day adventure.

After we got back to the car (and jump started Mike’s car with his faulty jumper cables.) Mike and Kurt took me to Vertical Runner. I wanted to get new trail shoes and this is the place to go! Vince was very helpful in finding shoes that were right for my feet and I walked out with a great new pair of Keens.

After so much training alone, I am beginning to find that running with a group is an invaluable asset, and now that I know all of the crazies are up in Cuyahoga Falls I might have to come up more often. Thanks to Mike, Kurt, Cindy and Debi, for letting me join you all today! You guys are the best!

Special thanks to Mike and his family for letting me crash at your house Saturday.

For a much better account of the first 6 miles of this run see Cindy's blog!

and I am sure it wont be too long before Mike puts up another of his great blogs.

5 miles, 10:30 pace

one lap around the Lunken bike path today. 7o and sunny. Who can ask for anything more. I am going to be driving up to Cuyahoga Falls tonight and staying with Mike. I will be joining him and the rest of a local running group on a 20 mile run on part of the Burning River course.

Mike if you are reading this I should be there by 10... I know I said 8 but I got side tracked.

5 Miles, 9:24 pace

Back to a much more enjoyable pace today. Of course my legs were shot from yesterday. My calf's are all knotted up. It wasn't one of my better runs, but the weather was great and it was nice to be outside.

I found a great race to use as a tune up for Mo. It is the 24 Hour Adventure Trail Run in Triangle, Virginia. The race is next Saturday which is relatively short notice, but it fits into my random and compulsive training/racing schedule. The goal will be to run 70 miles. I will fly into D.C. on Friday morning and make the 35 mile drive to Triangle. I found a great deal through Travelocity.com and there last minute travel deals. $250 for my plane ticket and rental car. Which I can afford on my poor college kid budget.

Another reason I chose this race is because it is part of the Trail Runner Trophy Series.
I want to see how many points I can rack up by the end of the year. So far I have completed three series events in the ultra division giving me 130 points (the website is not totally updated.)

5 Miles, 7:11 overall pace

first 5k: 23:08, 7:27 pace

mile 4: 6:59

mile 5: 6:30

As I walked out the door for my run I decided I would go for speed. My speed training is basically nonexistent so I didn't know what kind of pace to set. I wanted to try to run 5k at a sub 7:30 pace so I started running around that speed. I ran a 2.5 mile out and back so when I got to the 5k mark I still had a 1.9 to get back home. I was feeling OK so I just decided to lay the hammer down and see have fast I could go.
This run reminded me why I always hated running until I started my marathon training. It wasn't that I hated running all those years. I hated running fast and hard for short distances, and as I found out today, that is still very much the case. Before I started training for my first marathon 2 years ago I thought running is running and it was all bad. now I know there is a big difference between a 5k and a 50 miler. It was nice to see how fast I could go but I find nothing enjoyable in running as hard as I can for 5 miles. I think it is safe to say I will not be signing up for any 5 or 10k's in the near future. I will leave those 21 minute 5k's to you, Mike!

Speed sucks!

10 miles, 9:20 pace

It is always a relief for me to get in my first normal training run after a race. It took me 4 days, but I finally did it. The run felt good today. Nice and easy, with a little tightness towards the end. I am starting to see a lot more runners out on the streets. It must be Spring, those seasonal runners, shesh, what do they do all winter?

The results are in from McNaughton. 10 of 40 finished the 150 miler, 27 of 50 finished the 100. I finished 33 out of 100 in the 50 (including 33 DNF's)

The registration is already Open for McNaughton '08. I went ahead and signed up for the 150. I figured it would be better to do it now so in 8 or 9 months when I am thinking to my self "Are you and idiot? You can't run 150 miles!!!!!!!!!" It will already be to late. who's going to join me?? Rob? Kim? Mike? Commit now, suffer later!

2 miles 8:00 pace

My recovery from McNaughton isn't coming along as fast as I would like. I was still sore Monday and a little bit today. My run felt pretty good today but I wanted to get back to my normal 10 mile runs, hopefully that will happen tomorrow, but we'll see. I really want to start waking up early in the morning and run 2-5 miles before work/school. Maybe tomorrow? Of course I have been really wanting to do that for the past month now. I am not a morning person. If I have to be at work by 9 I wake up at 8:15, get ready in 15 minutes then make the 30 minutes drive. I think I am going to need 2 runs a day at least on some days if I want to reach 90 miles a week for four weeks before Mo. I don't like doing more then 10 milers on weekday nights. My mileage build up isn't going so hot either. I have been short on miles my last 2 weeks. I am hopeing to get in 70 miles this week, with 2 20 milers on Saturday and Sunday. I think I am going to make my first visit to Mo on Sunday, I wonder how lost I can get up there...

McNaughton Park Trail Run Race Report

50 miles, 12:26

I had heard from many people that this was a tough course…they weren’t kiddin. This race consists of a 10 mile loop repeated. The 50 and 100 milers started at 6am Saturday morning, while the 150 milers had already been running for 12 hours. The park had seen a lot of rain recently. The course was muddy and the water was high. The loop has many short steep hills, one which requires the use of a rope to climb. That was fun the first two loops but after that, not so much. I can only imagine how the 150’s felt after pulling them selves up that damn rope 15 times. The first loop went by smoothly with a moderate amount of slipping and sliding, but after looking at my watch I know it was going to be a long day. I felt good but I could only move so fast over all those hills. I made sure to take in food and electrolytes early and often. At the start of the second lap it started to rain and with all the runners on the course the trail started to get extremely muddy. There were about 3 or 4 down hills where I didn’t even bother trying to go down standing up because I knew I where I would end up so I just got a running start and acted like I was on a slip and slide. Karl Meltzer past me on the third lap (Ok, It might have been his fourth, but who’s counting, right?) He had a big lead over Akos Konya, who passed me about 4 miles later. I have never been so honored to be lapped. Coming out of the second loop I was covered in mud from head to toe, I even had mud all over my face from wiping it with my muddy glove. Going into the third loop my joints strated to tighten. This is the thing that slow me down the most in my races. My legs weren’t tired and I felt like I had a lot of good running left in me but I just could move my legs fast enough. I don’t know what causes this; maybe I need to start stretching more. At each aid station on the third and fourth loop I stopped and stretched out my legs which seemed to help. The rain stopped after the second loop and the course conditions had improved drastically. By the fourth loop my joints were really tight and I walked for the first half of the loop. I was still feeling good but I needed to give my joints a rest. I started feeling a lot better after the first 5 miles of loop 4 and went strong for the last half heading into the final loop. I always feel best when I cross the start/finish line in a loop race. I figure that is a good thing because it’s such an easy place to drop out of a race. As I left for my last lap I started thinking about my finishing time and calculated that by maintaining a 15 min/mile pace I could finish in 12:30. I kept that number in my head and kept chugging away. I didn’t have any more trouble on the last lap and was able to maintain that pace finishing in 12:26. I was happy with my finishing time. Although It took me nearly 2 hours longer than my first 50 miler I ran a better race this time, more consistent and no big blowups. I don’t know any finishing times yet but in the 2006 race there was only 1 runner that finished the 50 miler in under 9:00 and only the top six finished under 10:00 and only four finished in under 24:00 for the hundred. Caulk this one up as time on the feet.

“I now know why Illinois is so flat. They took all the hills that are supposed to be there and put them ALL into one spot in Pekin IL ... and called it ‘McNaughton Park’.”

-anonymous McNaughton Runner

I leave for McNaughton tomorrow after work. The 150 milers start tomorrow at 5:30 pm (I think.) The only 150 mile race in the country! All three races should be really great. There are some really big names in the field. Karl Meltzer(100), Akos Konya(100), XY weiss(150). Looking forward to enjoying a great weekend of running.

I am not sure if I am going to run at all this week before McNaughton on Saturday. I feel really good right now and I think I could have a really good race, plus I would like to do some pacing. Ideally I would like to run 70+ miles a McNaughton, this would give me confidence for Mo. But I will have to see how things work out, the main goal is just to finish the 50 miler, I will go from there.

my running schedule is a bit unconventional this week. I have 70 miles on the schedule and a 50 mile race on Saturday. So that leaves 20 miles for the rest of the week. Instead of stringing together a few 5 mile runs I am going to rest my legs and only run three days (10,50,10) I will probably run 10 tomorrow, take off Thursday and Friday, race Saturday and run 10 on Sunday. I would like to pace for the 100 milers at McNaughton on Saturday if I have the energy after my 50.

4 miles, 10:53 pace

I put in 4 miles today to finish off the week. My legs were really tired but at least they weren't hurting.

Weekly Mileage: 60.5

10 miles, 9:26 pace

I slept most of the afternoon but was able to pick myself up off the coach around 6 to go out for my second run of the day. My legs felt pretty good but I could definitely tell I had run 20 miles this morning. I dove to campus to do my regular 2 mile hill loop. It went pretty smooth, although I was a little low on energy from not eating enough in between runs. There was on brief exciting moment in the run. I was feeling inspired by Rob's post about a week ago about his run in with his neighbor and the biting dog. So when a car stopped right in the middle of MY cross walk and refused to move as I came closer I gave the tail light a little love tap. Unfortunately there were no words exchanged and that was the end of it. I work to protect the rights of the common runner. You can thank me the next time you see me. After I finished my run I made the mistake of going straight to the grocery store. Needless to say I came back with some food I didn't plan on buying. I hope the weather improves this week. I think the picture Kim posted today sums it up quite nicely.

20 miles, 8:53 (moving pace) 3:05 total time

I woke up at 6 this morning to meet the ECHO running club downtown at 7 for our 20 mile run of the Flying Pig course. It was SOO cold this morning and difficult to pull myself out of the car. Once the run started everything felt a lot better. We skipped the first 5 miles of the course (Northern Kentucky) and 1 mile in the middle (marriemont) to make it 20 miles. There were a lot of runners out training on the course today. I wanted to run between 9-9:30 but I was really at the mercy of the other runners, as I don't know the course all that well. Although the pace was faster than I had planned It didn't feel like I was pushing at all. We stopped 4 times for water, a few minutes each time. I didn't like stopping but it was nice to have aid on the course. The whole run went smooth, I had a little pain in my left shin towards the end but that was my only discomfort. This was the first time I had run on the course since the race last year. It was funny to think back to how I felt while at each section during the race (my first marathon.) I was really struggling during that race and it's nice to look back on it now and see how easy it is now. I was happy with the pace, and I think I can keep that pace for the race next month if I choose to. I don't know if I am going to try to break 4 hours or just have fun and run around 4:30.

I hope to get back outside today for another 10, as long as my legs still feel OK.

resting today, Running 20 miles on the Flying Pig course tomorrow with a local running club. Hopefully some extra mile after that too.

10 miles, 9:44 pace, roads

I ran the 2 mile loop around campus today. I took it easy and walked some of the hills. My legs have been feeling heavy lately.

6.5 miles
3.5 at 11:40 pace on trails
3 at 8:14 pace on roads

I wanted to get all my miles in on trails today but it didn't work out that way. The weather is so screwed up here. It was 80+ degrees yesterday and today it snowed a little bit.

10 miles, 8:49 pace

Today's run was quite a challenge. My legs were still tired from my weight workout on Monday, and the weather was less than cooperative. By the time I got of work it was pouring down rain and gusting wind. It is very important for me to stick with my mileage build up with Mohican so close, so I just had to deal with it. The rain and wind really chopped down my pace, I wanted to run at 8:30 pace but I was happy with the effort. I ran The hill loop around campus.

1.2 mile walk, 23 minutes

I was feeling more sore (Sorer??) than usual today. I guess my body isn't used to the 9:30 pace for 31 miles. I went for a walk at my parents house. I finally got the correct model of the Garmin Foreman 305 that I ordered a MONTH ago, So I was able to try that out. I went to the gym in the evening to do some stretching and lower body weight training. I am going to try to work in more lower body weights into my training, hopefully that will help the nagging injuries I have been suffering from. I am going to start my mileage build up for Mo this week. Starting at 65, going up to 90.