Friday, August 31, 2007

5 miles, 11:10 pace, Trails

My work schedule this week didn't allow me to do any running. I am in my taper for Plain so it could have been worse timing, but there is a big difference between tapering and not running at all! I have found that whenever I go 2 or 3 days without running a start to get sick. This week was no different. It started with a headache on Tuesday, then progressed into a cold Wednesday. My run today was a good one. I was able to keep a good pace at a comfortable effort level. I plan to run about 20 miles spread out during the holiday weekend.
Only 7 days left until Plain! I really need to study those maps and figure out what I will be carrying with me in my pack and what I will have stashed in the drop bag area at mile 55.

Here is the list of the 33 runners. I am lucky number 7. Will there be live online tracking? They don't even have aid stations, what do you think? lol.

RUN# Sex Last-Named First Name
1 M Abbs Alan
2 F Anderson-Abbs Beverley
3 M Ballard James
4 F Berman Melissa
5 M Bostad Shawn
6 M Crockett Davy
7 M Dillingham Josh
8 M Elsbernd David
9 M Englund Tim
10 M Escobar Luis
11 M Goggins David
12 M Graham Jove
13 M Gruenewald Ray
14 M Hester Robert
15 M Holmes Todd
16 M Huff Jeff
17 M Jackson Tom
18 M Jegerlehner Beat
19 M Johnson Eric
20 M Kieffer Dimitri
21 F Lang Kathie
22 F Lawson Shawn
23 M Lee Joe
24 F Maislen Michelle
50 M Martineau Arthur
25 M Masterson James
26 M McIlvenna Ian
27 M Michel Roger
28 M Mignery Les
29 M Rogers Glenn
30 M Simms Matthew
31 M Stroh Tim
32 M Updegrove Jim
33 M Varner James

Saturday, August 25, 2007

17.5 miles, trails, 12:40 pace (including all breaks)

I got an e-mail from Bill last night telling me there was a group running at MAF Saturday morning at 8am. I was already planning to go out there sometime today so I was happy to tag along. I met Bill, Bob, Brian and Dan at the oval at 8 to start our run of the stone steps course. We all have races in the near future, some closer than others, so we were getting in some good trail miles. Bob and Brian will be heading to San Diego in October for the San Diego 100, which has been rerouted due to threat of forest fires. Bill is headed to Idaho for the Bear 100 at the end of September and Dan is going to Colorado in three weeks for the Run Rabbit Run 50 miler. We had a good run and I really enjoyed running with these guys, all accomplished ultrarunners with experience and all around good guys.

Thursday, August 23, 2007


Intrigued by Mikes blog, here I am as a simpson, Thanks to Simpsonizeme.com

It actually does look a lot like the picture I submitted, lol, here is a comparison. The wavy hair, squinted eyes, goofy smile...
5.5 mile, Trails, 11:45 pace

I ran the normal loop tonight at MAF inculding both big climbs, which adds the extra .5 miles. That extra half mile is a real killer. There is probably more elevation change in that 1/2 mile than in the rest of the loop. I am looking to run 50 miles this week, which will probably include to medium distance runs on the weekend. I am going to try to give myself a break from the long run this weekend as I never really gave myself a weekend to recover from BR. I was thinking about running a the Baker trail ultra Challenge in PA (50 miler) but decided it wouldn't be a good idea, two weeks before Plain.

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

2 miles, Vibrams, Road, 8:30 pace

I got in a nice short run with the Vibrams tonight. I ran the Hill loop around my block. It was hot (95 or so) and humid. I just noticed they posted the splits for BR a couple weeks ago. I was interested to see what my pace was for the last 9 miles. I felt like I was really moving well but couldn't really tell after 91 miles of running, I covered it at a 10:40 pace, I just wanted it to end!

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

5.5 miles, trails 12:10 pace

I Went out to MAF for the first time in a few weeks tonight for the 5 mile loop. From now on I am going to incorporate both big climbs into the loop, which I often skip. Both of these climbs are included in the Step Stones 50k so I want to start training on them. I also ran with my full pack today to simulate what I will be carrying at Plain. Running with the pack isn't much fun, but I was running at a faster pace then I will be for the race so there wont be as much bounce and pressure from the pack.
Total miles: 8.5 Total time 1:25

2 mile warm-up: 8:30 pace
400 meter walk
1 mile repeat: 6:52
400 meter walk
1 mile repeat: 6:48
400 meter walk
800 meter repeat: 3:16
400 meter walk
800 meter repeat: 3:08
400 meter walk
2 mile cool-down: 9:03 pace
400 meter walk

Since the Flying Pig Marathon at the beginning of May I can probably count on one hand the number of sub 9 minute miles I have run. I have also had trouble getting back into my morning workout routine I was in before BR. So today I thought I would kill to birds with one stone, a morning speed workout. It was tough going, and I was definitely reminded of the fact I haven't done any speed work in months. I am going to try to incorporate a speed workout once a week. I think the increased leg turnover will help me in the later stages of long races, not necessarily making me faster, but allowing me to run smoother for longer.

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Fallsberg Marathon Race Report

26.2 miles, 4:48


While sitting at work on Thursday afternoon, annoyed with my job, I did what I usually do when I get stressed, look for a race to run. I was itching to find a race for this weekend. There was nothing on ultrarunning.com so I had to do the unthinkable, look for a marathon. I’m not big on marathons, mainly because most of them are run on roads, which I avoid like the plague, but I thought I would look at marathonguide.com to see if there was anything worth running. I came across the Fallsberg Marathon in Lowell Michigan. It was advertised as a mixture of back country roads and trails, sounds pretty good, but I still wasn’t sure. Then I read the first paragraph on the website.

You have better be in shape if your going to tackle this one...this race is not for beginners. But if your up for a challenge, looking for a GREAT workout, or are just One Tough Old Fart...then this is the Race for YOU!”

Is that a challenge? Hmm, sounds difficult, where do I sign up? I still wasn’t sure if I wanted make the 6 hour drive for a marathon that would involve a good amount of road running. I E-mailed the RD just to see if he had any spots left for the marathon, being that it was only 2 days before the race. He e-mailed me back, telling me I was now entered in the race. Sweet, I guess my mind is made up now.

I made the drive Friday night after work. After stopping at a few rest stops along the way and sleeping in my car I got to the race start at 7 AM Saturday morning. The race was to begin at 9. I decided that in preparation for the unsupported 100 miler I will be running next month, I should wear my hydration backpack and my two hand held bottles to get used to the system. I put a few energy bars in my pack, filled up my water and was ready to roll.

This course has two loops that are, for the most part, separate. The first loop is mostly roads with many large hills while the second loop is mostly rolling trails. This is knowledge that would have come in handy before the race. We started off on a hilly asphalt road. I was confused as to what type of pace I should set early on in the race. I thought we would be hitting the trails soon so I just took it easy. Little did I know the first 9 miles were all on asphalt or dirt roads. About this time I started to wonder “Did I really just drive 6 hours to run a road marathon?” The trails lasted about 2 miles before spitting us back out onto the road and back to the start/finish line where the half marathoners would end there day. At this point I was frustrated because I thought this was a single loop course repeated twice, and I had no desire to repeat that loop.

To my relief the second loop was much more entertaining with more trails. My pace was very comfortable throughout the race, seldom disturbing my rhythmic breathing and never even breaking a sweat. My legs were still feeling the last 2 weekends of racing (100 miles and 38 miles) My joints were stiff, my legs were heavy but they felt steady and strong. Both loops had beautiful scenery. The first took us up and down past corn fields and farms while the second wrapped around sandy trails through pine tree forests. I ran a very comfortable race and didn’t have any trouble running with my hydration pack which was comforting.

For a small race (about 25 registered runs for the full marathon) Fallsberg really hooked us up with the swag. I got a t-shirt, hooded sweat shirt, and an embroidered towel. In all this race was a nice experience. I can’t say I will mark my calendar for it next year, but I’m glad I was able to make the trip this year.

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

The Bearcat Challenge

This is a non running post but still entertaining.

Background: Near the UC campus there is a piazza place, known by all UC students, named Adriaticos. While Adriaticos has many different pizza dishes, there is only one that keeps us all coming back, The Bearcat! The Bearcat is a rectangular shaped pizza with measurements of 18 inches wide by 24 inches wide. With 30 large square slices, according to the website, The Bearcat will feed 12 people.

Fast forward to Monday afternoon:

While sitting in out office two of my co-workers and I were talking about how hungry we were. the conversation went like this.

Todd: "I ordered a Bearcat yesterday, it was so good."
Tim: "Nice, that sounds so good right now, did you eat the whole thing."
Todd:"yeah right, I hardly even put a dent in it, there's no way anyone could eat the whole thing."
Tim: "You Pussy!"
Me:"I could eat the whole damn thing."
Todd:"no you couldn't"
Me: "easily"
Todd:"alright, lets do it, whats the bet?"
Me:"If I eat it all, you pay, if not I pay"
Tim: "I'll go in half on that to see him eat the whole thing."

Later that night Tim and Todd told our boss about it and he got pretty excited, we all talked about it the next day and decided that Wednesday night would work best. Around 5:30 today we placed the order. By 6:30 the beast of a pizza was sitting on my desk staring right back at me. I was given 1.5 hours to complete the task. My strategy was to try and eat it fast. I have heard that your stomach doesn't realize it is full until 20 minutes after it actually gets full. I figured I had a 30 minute window before the pain set in. The first 6 pieces went down with ease. I hadn't eaten all day in preparation, so I was very hungry. At the 10 slice mark I knew I was in trouble. I tried the bounce techniques I had seen on the Nathans hot dog eating contest, trying to push the pizza further into my stomach. At 12 slices I was falling of pace and was getting very very full. I hit the wall at slice 14 and began to have thoughts of a reversal (competitive eating talk for puking.) The clock was closing in one 1.5 hours and I had no shot at finishing the whole thing. I was able to stuff one more piece down the hatch, coming very close to losing it, but able to keep it down. That brought my total to 15 pieces, half of The Bearcat. Tim and Todd were both surprised that I was even able to eat half of it, so they let me keep my money. I sat at my desk in front of my trash can for about 30 minutes before deciding I could make the drive home without hurling everywhere.
I found out I couldn't eat The Bearcat, not because someone told me a couldn't, but because I tried it for myself and failed, spectacularly. When we ordered the pizza Tim asked the guy on the phone if anyone had ever eaten the whole thing by themselves, the guy said no one ever had and he thought it was impossible. I didn't prove him wrong. DNF at 15 pieces.

Needless to say I didn't run after that.

Sunday, August 12, 2007

Howl at the Moon 8 Hour Run Race Report

I got a late start on my trip to Illinois Friday night. I got to Marla’s place around 10pm, plenty of time to crash on the couch and wake up at 5am for the race. Saturday morning consisted of me sitting in Marla’s kitchen petting her cats while she ran around the house flipping out about the race, making sure she didn’t forget anything and talking about how terrible she was going to do and how she would probably only be able to do about 40 miles because of the heat. She seems to be like that every time I talk to her before a race. She worries way too much!

Howl at the Moon is an 8 hour timed race. My main goal was to cover 50k, so I could call it an ultra. I was far from recovered from Burning River, but I felt good enough to run. The course is a 3.29 mile loop consisting of about 1 mile of roads and the rest gravel or grass. There is only one hill to speak of in each loop. It was steep but very short, about 25 yards long. Other than that the course was flat and runnable.

About halfway through my first loop I could hear ambulance sirens somewhere in the distance. I didn't know where they were coming from but after going another mile I could see that the ambulance was on the course. Apparently there was a 52 year old man on his first loop of the day when he collapsed, he was pronounced dead on the spot or very shortly after. From what I gathered he was a regular at Howl and everyone was very shaken by this. I hope his family is able to find some comfort in the fact that he passed away doing something he loved. The 18th annual Howl at the Moon will be held in his honor.

My strategy was to run at a normal pace for the first 3 laps (roughly 10 miles) then walk and run the rest of the way to cover 50k in the 8 hour time limit. I felt pretty good when I started running. I was able to keep up a 9:50 pace for the first 5 laps (16.45 miles) then I started my walk/run.


I thought I would be walking a lot more than running for the rest of the race but I didn’t feel like walking for very long periods of time so I was still doing a good amount of running. When I completed my 6th lap I realized that my walk/run was a lot faster than I thought it would be. I at this point I thought I would be able to complete the 50k distance very easily in under 7 hours with this walk/run strategy. As I continued on laps 7 and 8, I thought I might be able to do it in 6:30. It was surprising, because I was going about as casual as I could. I could definitely feel the 100 miles from last week, but I didn’t have any pain in my legs, just muscle fatigue. When I started the 10th lap I looked at my watch and saw that If I just ran two 10 minute miles I could reach the 50k mark in sub 6 hours. Those 2 miles were pretty tough, as I was tired at that point but I passed 50k in 5:58.

I don’t know when it became so easy to run a sub 6 50k but it was a nice feeling. I walked the rest of the 10th lap then decided to take a rest. I had 1.5 hours left. When the clock gets down to 30 minutes they open a short course which is a .25 mile out and back. I was going to rest for an hour until they opened that and run a couple more miles. About 20 minutes into my rest I saw Rosie about to start another loop, She had been at Mohican and Burning River and we had talked for a while earlier in the day.

She asked me if I wanted to go out on another loop with her. It didn’t take much arm-twisting, I decided to join her. We ran/walked that lap while we talked about or running. She is a very experience runner, with many 100 miler finishes and she is just a really nice person. We finished that loop 30 seconds before they opened the short course, perfect! The short course was all on grass and didn’t have very good footing. I went out and back four times. When I got back the fourth time there were only 4 minutes left on the clock. I was pretty worn out at this point but I thought I would see if I could cover the last ½ mile in less than four minutes. I finished up with about 15 seconds spare, Bringing my 8 hour total to 38.69 miles. Not bad one week after a hundred. I’m not sure what I could have gotten on fresh legs, maybe 45 or so. I was happy with the race, glad that I was able to take it easy but still reach my goals.

Are you wondering how Marla did? She won the women’s race, it wasn’t even close. She ended up with something like 51.5 miles, finishing second overall! What a freak! I was happy for her, but I wasn't suprised. I think she was the only one who didn't think she would break 50 miles.

Thursday, August 9, 2007

My recovery is going pretty well. The bruises on my feet have gone away and I don't have any blisters to deal with like at Mohican! I still have a bit of inflammation behind my left knee, but no soreness. I could have run today but I am saving my legs for my 8 hour race this weekend in Illinois. It is going to be another hot weekend, that will be my only advantage in this race. My ultra friend Marla, who lives in IL and is also running the race, is letting me stay with her Friday night so I will be driving there after work tomorrow.
I plan on taking it pretty slow and doing a lot of walking. My goal is to do at least 50k. I can't spend to much energy, as I have to get back to normal training next week. I only have 2 weeks left before I have to start tapering AGAIN for Plain 100!

Monday, August 6, 2007

Burning River 100 Race Report

What a race!

For once I arrived at Mike’s house when I said I would, noon on Saturday. His daughters were out front selling lemonade, they made more than 25 dollars by the days end! Tony came over and we talked for a bit. Kim got there later on. We went to lunch them went to the pre-race meeting around 5:00. It was fun getting to see all the friends I have made. After the meeting We went back to Mike’s house to get some sleep in preparation for our big day, and night, and next morning. Tony, a runner coming from Texas who was also running the race, and Adam, my badass pacer, were also staying with Mike. Lasheda and Mike we’re nice enough to house all of us runners.

I didn’t get much sleep Friday night (2 or 3 hours) but I wasn’t worried because I hadn’t gotten much sleep before Mohican and it didn’t seem to effect me. We made the long drive to the start where we made final preparation. Mike and I got a few final pictures with Rob at squires castle and before I knew it, 5:00 had come and it was time to get started. I wasn’t paying much attention when the race started and soon realized I was towards the front of the pack. It’s good I noticed this now instead of 20 miles into the race. I stepped off to the side and began my slow trot until I was comfortable in the very back. Within 2.5 miles I was dead last, right where I wanted to be. I had run this part of the course before and knew that I would have to employ a run walk strategy to keep from going out too fast because the first 20 miles are so flat. As I came to the first aid station around mile 5 I noticed I was under 24 hour pace, when I wanted to be on 27 hour pace. Oh crap, I thought, but I was in last place, how could I be going so fast? I had a feeling people were going to go too fast on this section, but this was just crazy!

It was 18 miles into the race before I even saw another runner, at that time I was still at about 24 hour pace, despite me efforts to slow down. The hillier terrain to follow was a welcome sight; it helped me slow my pace. I was cursing pretty well at this point. Coming into an aid station at 23 or 26 miles (I can’t recall) as I was crossing the street I heard “is that Josh?” it was Sara aka Skirt chick, made world famous on Red’s blog and fellow buckeye trail 50k runner. She gave me a big hug and wished me luck as I continued down the trail.

As I approached my 30 Adam (my pacer) was there and cheered me as I came through. I also saw Rob who was 6 miles ahead of me, after he just got back from the loop from 30-36. He said Mike was about a half mile ahead of me, and was having problems with his hip. I caught up with mike a few miles down the trail and walked/ran with him for a while. His hip was bothering him but other than that he felt good. Texas Tony caught up to us about halfway through the loop, I guess I had passed him at the aid station. Tony was looking forward to the heat of the day as he was well trained for the heat being from Texas. I underestimated the distance between the aid stations at 30 and 36 so when I got back I was very hungry.

I had to eat quite a bit of food which I knew would cause me problems for the next couple hours but the mistake had already been made and this was the only way to fix it. I changed into my new Keen’s at mile 36 I hadn’t started in them because they only had 5 miles on them, but my current pair had 500-600 miles on them and I could feel them wearing out in the midsole. The new pair felt fine despite my worries. This was my first low point in the race. It worried me because at Mohican I hadn’t experienced any lows before mile 75. I wasn’t even half way to that point now and I already felt like crap! How was I going to go 64 more miles? It wasn’t just a problem with my stomach digesting all the food I had just eaten. My quads were already fried, 36 miles into a 100 mile race. My mood grew wary but all I could do was keep moving forward, so that’s what I did. This gloom continued for the next 10 miles or so with short reprieves. At the Snowville aid station, mile 46, as I was stuffing my face I heard a familiar voice. Mike had made a nice recovery and was look strong coming into the aid station. I waited a few second for him to finish up at the aid station and we once again set off together.

I could tell that he was a lot strong than me at this point so I just tried to keep up. His company really improved my mood and we cruised along for a few miles, But before the next aid station I was back to feeling pretty low and watched as Mike ran away from me. At Boston Store aid station (51 miles) I was surprised to see Steve Sutton, who I ran many miles with at Mohican. He was planning on running BR but decided to come and watch instead. I was very excited to see him. I was instantly in a better mood, until he asked me how I felt. The reality came back to me. I was halfway through the race, and I felt like crap, and had felt this way for 15 miles. Steve told me “You are about 30-45 minutes ahead of the cut-off so you don’t have to much time to mess around.”

This was the first time I had really thought I might not finish this race. I was losing time fast and I was in no condition to make it up. Steve continued “Hey man, if you this doesn’t happen, don’t worry about it. There’s nothing to be ashamed of.” I knew he was trying to make me feel better. This light a fire under me. I thought to my self “This race might take me down, but I’m giving it everything I have. They’ll have to scrap me off this damn course.” I took off out of the aid station, focused, trying to maintain a steady pace. Things started looking up at this point and I was able to make up a little bit of time in this 5 mile loop. I was back at Boston Store, this time at mile 56. Almost as soon as I left the Aid station my mood was back in the dumps, this time stronger than ever before. I was having flashbacks to my 24 hour race in Virginia.

In that race I had started out to fast then was on a death march from mile 56 to 60 where I stopped. So far this day had been an instant replay of that one. I began to flip out. Searching my brain for any bit of information that could help me out, trying to take experience from all of my race, any thing that might help. I knew getting to mile 65 and picking up Adam (pacer) would help, but I wasn’t convinced it would be enough, and if I didn’t do something soon I would even get to mile 65. This was by far the closest I have ever come to defeat in a race. When I reached mile 65 I could only think of on more thing that I could try to save my race.

I was going to sit in a chair for 20 minutes and try to sleep. I haven’t done this before and feared it would only make things worse, but I was the definition of desperate at this point. Lloyd was the aid station captain at 65 so I told him I was going to sleep for 20 minutes and asked him if someone could wake me up. I could tell he didn’t want me to do it. He tried to lure me to the next aid station, telling me there was a cot there if I still felt like resting, he also told me that Kim was there. I knew he was only trying to help, but I also knew if I didn’t do something right now, I wouldn’t make it to 65. I was a fumbling mess at this point and asked Lloyd 3 or 4 times if someone would be able to wake me up in 20 minutes, “yeah, just sit down!” he said, he should have just told me to shut the hell up. I couldn’t help it, I have a reoccurring dream that I fall asleep during a race and don’t wake up until it is over.

About 10 minutes later I popped up out of the chair, downed a cup of Coke and took off out of there on a mission. I was refreshed, rejuvenated and ready to go. I was now feeling better than I had in the last 30 miles. All of my negative thoughts were washed away. I employed a nice run/walk strategy to the next aid station where I finally met up with Adam and saw Brian, Kim and Maria. I was still only about 40 minutes ahead of the cut off so I grabbed a few pieces of Andrew’s peanut brittle, said my hello’s and thank you’s and took off down the trail with Adam.

Having Adam with me really made the difference. With out him there I think I may have slept back into my low to the point of no return. We had a good conversation about important world topics like the Kool-Aid man and the gay’s of Mount Airy Forest. We were keeping a steady pace but we still were not making up any room on the cutoffs. At this point my feet were beginning to really bother me. I wasn’t getting blisters like at Mo, but the pounding had created intense bruises on the balls of my feet. It especially hurt when I walked because my feet were in contact with the ground for a longer period of time. Because of this I tried to run when the terrain allowed but also made sure I didn’t go too fast, because I remembered what happed at Mohican when I took off at 67 miles! Along this stretch I had to stop and rest for 10 minutes 2 more times at different aid stations. I had to take the pressure off my feet.

Each time I rested it helped a lot but was a little less effective after each time. I knew I was fading fast. When we arrived at mile 80, covered bridge aid station, it was once again gut check time. We were only 17 minutes ahead of the cut off. We had to do the 4 mile loop back to the covered bridge in 1:30. I taped my feet, hoping it might relieve some pressure, I also downed my Monster energy drink and we took off. I told Adam I wanted to do this loop in one hour. I was cautious not to spend all my energy but I knew that if I took to much time I wouldn’t have anything to save energy for, I would be over the cut off. At this point we were back and forth with Fred Davis, so I knew I was in good company and could still do this. I came back into the aid station in 1:01, perfect.

The tape on my feet did a great job in relieving the pressure, for about 5 miles. Now my feet hurt so damn bad I couldn’t think about anything else. At mile 85 I was back to moving very slow, in a lot of pain. I thought about how I was *only* 15 miles from the finish but that was still so far away. I thought about how bad it would suck to come this far and not finish. At mile 88 I grabbed a piece of cold pizza rested my feet for a couple minutes then Adam and I headed out. A couple miles later I told Adam I would need another 10 minute rest at the next aid station (91.3) a few minutes later I couldn’t wait any longer.

I just laid down in a ditch on the side of the road an rested. When I got up I felt a little bitter but the pain in my feet came back almost instantly. Right as I got up Fred Davis was running past. We stayed with him for a couple miles until the aid station. About ½ a mile before the aid station, Adam and I got in a nice grove. As we approached the Aid Station I saw E-speed! I was so glad to see her and she was very cheery, as usual! She walked with us for a minute or two and wished me luck. Right after that it was like a switch was flipped in my brain. I had 9 miles to go, I had to get there. We started running faster than I had run all day.

I wasn’t worried about blowing up and had nothing left to save for. My feet were in intense pain. It hurt worst to walk than it did to run, and the more I walked the longer it would take, so I ran, and ran. I skipped the aid station at mile 95, I didn’t want anything to disrupt my rhythm. I said hello to Maria as she was STILL out there working hard for all of us looney runners. Adam grabbed some food for me and caught up to me as I continued to run. If I had to guess I would say we were averaging 12 minute miles at this point. My mood began to sky rocket. I was now absolutely positive I was going to finish this race. I swelled with pride after thinking about everything I had overcome in this race. I only stopped to walk on the 2 stair cases and a few technical sections of glens trail with a couple miles to go. As soon as I hit the road with 0.6 miles to go I took of running. With a quarter mile to go there was a volunteer with a radio jogging along side of us radioing into the finish.

He was trying to run along side of us so naturally I speed up trying to lose him. Adam and I ran strong into to finish and this phenomenally challenging journey was complete, 28 hours 24 minutes later, a new PR. If you would have told me at mile 60 I would have a new PR I would have told you, you were crazy.

When I got to the finish Tom volunteered his self to be my personal servant. He gave me his sweat shirt, pain killers, blanket and held an umbrella for me while I sat in the rain. This man is a saint!!!!!

This was be far the most difficult physical challenge of my life. The course at Mohican was more difficult in terms of terrain, but the set up of the Burning River course really sucked everyone in to going out to fast. Even though I knew the course was like that I went to fast anyway! I was very proud of my self for resurrecting my race at mile 60 after I had almost no hope of finishing.

I want to thank all the volunteers for taking care of us all the time we were out there, offering us a smile when we needed it the most. I couldn’t have done what I did without my Kickass pacer, Adam. He kept me on track and entertained the whole way, “what would you like to drink?”

KOOL-AID.” (you had to be there.)

This race meant more to me than any other, I went through hell and came out alive. I can’t wait to run it again and again.

Thursday, August 2, 2007

Here I go again...I leave tomorrow morning for Mike's house, and my attempt at 100 miler number 2! I will be taking nothing for granted this weekend as I witnessed two experienced 100 mile running friends dnf on there second attempt for 100 at Mohican! My goal for this race isn't necessarily to run faster than Mo, but I want to run more consistently and feel better at the end, meaning figuring out my blister problem. I will be going for 27 hour pace the first half of the race, then either maintaining that, or slowing down depending on how I fell.

on a side note: I just saw a mouse run across my kitchen floor! I blame Addy for this! see her blog and you will understand : )