Trail Monster Running

What's Next?

2008-07-24T19:02:00.004-04:00

Despite the swollen ankle, vomiting and diarrhea I’m still able to look ahead towards the next few races.

Hopefully I’ll be back to running in time for the Tuesday night run at Twin Brook next week, and then do a few more easy ones over the course of the week. The following weekend we’re headed up to Baxter State Park for a family camping trip so instead of running I plan to get a few good hikes in. The weekend after that is the Bradbury Mountain Breaker so I hope to be recovered enough to get a good run in there (in addition to organizing the race).

Then there’s a gap in my racing schedule so it will be a good time to work on rebuilding my endurance after recovering from the 100. I plan to get in a few 20+ mile runs and at least one over 30 as I train for the Vermont 50 on September 28^th. But before that is the final race in the series at Bradbury, the Bruiser on September 14^th.

After the VT 50 there are 6 weeks until the Stone Cat 50 Mile and Marathon Trail Races. I haven’t decided which race I’m going to do yet. Stone Cat was my first ever 50 miler last year, and it would be great to return and put in a better time this year, but I think I better wait a while and see how everything else works out before committing. It is a fun race put on by the best bunch of trail runners in New England so it’s one I definitely don’t want to miss.

Lots of good times ahead. Bring it on!

Oh yeah, there may be some ink thrown in there too...

VT100 Race Pre-Report

2008-07-23T21:52:00.002-04:00

My race report is still in the works, but here are some photos of the race (thanks Jamie and Stephen for letting me borrow a few).

The race was as difficult as I expected, I knew it was going to be hard work with a lot of suffering and I wasn't disappointed. As I was warned I went through many high and low points, but thankfully the highs outweigh the lows and I have to admit to having thoughts already about the next 100.

I didn't make my goal of 22 hours, but given the high temperature and humidity on race day I am very pleased with my finish time of 22:54:04. That put me in 44th place out of 158 finishers, 261 starters. That's only a 60% finish rate which is low for this race, considered by many to be one of the "easier" 100's. As my only 100 miler I don't have anything else to compare it to but I can say that I didn't find anything easy about it.

Thanks to mom and dad for crewing for me all day and night, I couldn't have done this without you. Extra big thanks to Emma for being my biggest motivator, best training partner, amazing crew, and I wouldn't want to run behind anyone else for 30 miles! I can't wait to support you in your first 100.

Busted

2008-07-16T22:07:00.003-04:00

Last night running at Twin Brook we got a warning from the local police:

I've got a 100 miler to get ready for, I don't have time for rules!

Maine Woods Trail Marathon Cancelled

2008-07-09T07:27:00.006-04:00

Sad news about another trail race cancellation. Although I wasn't planning to do the Maine Woods Trail Marathon this year, since it was scheduled for the week before the Vermont 100, it is a race I hoped to be able to do next year.

A message from Gene Roy the race director:

The Maine Woods Trail Marathon has been cancelled for this year! A storm went over the area last week and took down many trees which made the trail impassable in many places. Six bridges were washed out, one cannot be found. Bruce Farnham the park supervisor reports that they can't even predict when they will be able to have all the damage repaired. I will plan on the fifth annual being next year, I'm sorry to have to tell you about this so late. I have tried to notify anyone who had shown an interest in the run and hopefully I have. I any case we will also put up a sign at the start to let everyone know that the race is off for this year.

Gene Roy, race director.

If anyone out there knows the course and would like to lead a group run of the marathon route later in the summer let us know! Or if there is anything we can do to help rebuild the trail.

Baldfaces Hike/Run

2008-07-04T21:16:00.006-04:00

For the second consecutive July 4th I headed up to Evans Notch in the White Mountains to run the Baldface Circle Trail with Jim, Jamie and new this year Erik. We were lucky today to have perfect weather, warm but not too hot, no humidity and perfectly clear skies. The 10 mile loop had a great variety of terrain, some parts runnable, other parts that are pretty challenging hiking. All in all a great workout that took us just over 3 hours to complete.

The trail starts with a pretty easy first mile that's all runnable then becomes gradually more steep and hiking is required in many parts. At a little over 2.5 mile in you reach a clearing and proceed up an incredibly steep shear stone face. After what feels like a lot of climbing the trail levels out somewhat and the final push to the summit of South Baldface Mountain comes along pretty quickly. From here there is an incredible view of the White Mountains including Mt Washington, as well as the entire Baldfaces Circle Trail that we were taking.

From South Baldface (3570') there is a nice gradual descent along a ridge before making the short climb up to the slightly higher peak of North Baldface (3610'). Once again there were spectacular views from here. From North Baldface we made our way to Eagle Crag through a mix of forested and open rocky trails. Most of the way down from Eagle Crag is runnable, or would be if the trail wasn't so over grown. In parts it felt like we were running through a jungle and the trail virtually disappeared. The more open areas were filled with large loose rocks, many of them wet and slippery which made for a somewhat tricky run but it was a lot of fun.

About 3/4 mile from the end of the trail (where we started) there is a short trail that cuts off to the side to go to the Emerald Pool. This is a great little swimming hole with about a 15 foot drop into icy water, and as the name implies there is a beautiful green tint to the water, presumably the effect of algae growing on the rocks below. After a refreshing dip and a chilling soak we finished the run.

Mt A Decuple

2008-06-29T10:11:00.010-04:00

How do you make a small mountain feel like a big one? Run it ten times. And spending more hours running it than you were sleeping the night before also helps.

This Saturday was supposed to be the 35th running of the Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run which Jamie had spent the past 7 months (at least) physically and mentally preparing for. As he was traveling out to CA Jamie found out that the race was going to be canceled this year due to the effects of forest fires in the area. You can read more about this situation and what Jamie got up to instead of running 100 miles this weekend on his blog.

Every year on the same weekend as the WS100 a group of guys in Southern Maine have been organizing a Western States Commemorative Run at Mt Agamenticus. This 6 hour, fat-ass style run also serves as a good opportunity for folks planning to run the Vermont 100 in July to get in a last long run on some very hilly terrain. The course is a 3 mile loop that people run as many times as they can, or want to, between 7 am and 1 pm.

Last year Emma and I went along with Erik and Jamie for only a few laps (we weren't training for any ultras then) and got to meet a few members of the Southern Maine and Massachusetts ultra running crowd. This year we planned to cram in as many laps as we could in 6 hours, as my last long run before I begin tapering for VT, and for Emma it was partly prep for the Escarpment Trail Run at the end of July and partly just for the fun of it (it's not really necessary to train for 6 hours for a race that will only take you 4 hours).

Emma and I drove down to York with Jim, and shortly after we arrived so did James. Everyone brings food and beverages to share and as we were setting out our contributions to the "aid station" we got to say hello to a few familiar faces and to meet a few new folks before setting off on the first lap. Members of GAC made up the biggest contingent of runners, but Trail Monsters in our matching shirts were awarded "Best Dressed".

The 3 mile loops starts off on an unpaved section of Mountain Road that descends about 180' over the course of a mile, then turns onto a flat double-track trail for about 1/4 mile, and then the climbing begins. Mt Agamenticus used to be a ski area many years ago and the trail we take up climbs what I'm sure was a fun hill to ski down. The Vultures View trail climbs about 480' over 3/4 mile and features a variety of terrain from lose gravel to stone steps to large expanses of smooth rock face. Once at the summit it's a short run across the grass in front of the old ski lodge and fire tower, through the parking lot and then down along the Horse Trail. This single-track has some fun switchbacks which force runners to keep the pace under control before opening up on the double-track Ring Trail that make a gradual descent back to the starting point of the loop.

After getting split up on the first loop Emma, James, Jim and I stuck together and found a good pace to run for the next 7 laps. The pace was interrupted a few times by fits of laughter where I had to stop because of stomach pains or fear of choking on my Lara Bars. Nothing worth repeating here though, I'm sure it wouldn't be funny out of the context of a 6 hour run. I think it was on our 5th or 6th lap when we eventually caught up to Erik who had arrived late. His tardiness was excused since he had run 50 miles on the Wednesday last week.

I forgot to restart my watch during the 7th lap which is why that one looks different.

Although it wasn't too hot on Saturday it was extremely humid and I was sweating like a pig (and smelled like one too!). This was made all the more noticeable by the fact that it wasn't hot enough for the sweat to evaporate so I stayed soaked the whole time. The good thing about sweating so much is that it gave me a good opportunity to put my nutrition/hydration strategy for the VT100 to the test. I was drinking Hammer Perpetuem, taking S!Caps every hour, Gu every 90 minutes or so, eating solid foods and drinking soda at the aid station. I was happy to find that I never felt dehydrated, hungry or low on energy.

I also tested out a new set-up I put together for night-time running. Inspired by the Go-Motion packs I saw at the Inov-8 open house in December, I recently bought a Petzl Myo XP headlamp and mounted it to my CamelBak chest strap with the battery pack on my back. Unfortunately I found that the plastic backing of the headlamp caused chafing on my chest after a few hours and I know that I'll be running in the dark for more than just a few hours during the VT100. So this needs a bit more work to get right but I'll work on it and post the results here.

After 6 hours and 11 minutes Emma and I finished our 10th lap with Erik who (I think) finished his 7th. James and Jim both completed 9 laps. Thanks to the Trail Monsters for the great company on this run, to the fine folks of GAC, and to the local boys who put this fun event together every year. See you all in Vermont!

Mt W Double

2008-06-22T14:29:00.015-04:00

Several months ago I had the idea of hiking Mt Katahdin twice in the same day as training for the VT100, but as time passed and other things came up I never managed to work it into my schedule. As luck would have it though I managed to find an even bigger mountain to double up on. My friend Dora wasn't lucky enough to get into the Mt Washington Road Race lottery this year so Emma offered to volunteer at the race to allow Dora to get one of the 10 spots in the race that the MTC gets every year. The week before the race Emma found out that she was to be awarded a scholarship for her achievements in nursing school and was asked to attend a luncheon the same day as the race. I decided to step into Emma's place volunteering at the race and take the opportunity to get some good hill training in.

I've run up Mt Washington 3 times before, but had never taken any of the trails so I sought the advice of Jamie, Danielle and Ryan who helped me figure out a route. The plan was to start at Pinkham Notch, take the Tuckerman Ravine Trail to Lion Head to the summit, then descend on the Nelson Crag Trail which intersects the auto road and do the last two miles down on the road. This would bring me to where I needed to volunteer, and then I'd return the way I came later in the day.

I woke up at 4:30am, was on the road at 5:05 and hit the trail at 7:05. The hike started out well, I was actually able to run all of the first mile, and part of the second, but then it just got too steep and technical so I settled into a fast paced hike. The temperature was in the low 50's which was very comfortable for hiking, but it didn't take long to break a sweat. I stopped on the way up only long enough to take a few photos of the mountains all around me, I wasn't sure how long this was going to take and I needed to get down to the race start area by 11:00am.

As I neared the summit I could see Jamie up above me perched on a rock, he was driving Stephen and a few other folks down off the mountain after the race but had to get up there before the race even started. Once the trail intersected the road near the summit I had to weave though the tourists and spectators who had driven up. As we climbed a big wooden stair case I heard one lazy bastard say "man, I'm tired already!" This inspired me to push past and run up the rest of the stairs. I said a quick hello to Jamie and then went off to tag the actual summit.

1:55:58
4,250 ft up

After chatting with Jamie for a few minutes I headed off to find the Nelson Crag Trail. The way down proved to be much more difficult than I had expected. Once I got below the tree line the trail was soaked and the rocks were treacherously slippery. I was forced to move very slowly and came very close to taking some major falls on several occasions. I had hoped to be able to make it to the intersection with the Auto Road in time to see all the runners come past, but by the time I got there it was 10:42 and there were only 4 runners still coming up at this point. This left me just enough time to get down to the race start area a few minutes before 11:00.

1:39:01
4,725 ft down

After spending a few hours on my feet serving food to all the runners I wasn't exactly looking forward to hiking up and over the mountain a second time, but it needed to be done. I was still a few miles away from where I started and I wasn't about to take the easy way there, even though Danielle and Ryan informed me of a shortcut across the mountain. Besides, I had bumped into a lot of people that I knew and told them about my plans, so I had to follow through. At about 3:00pm I set off up the Auto Road to get back to the Nelson Crag Trail. This was the least enjoyable part of my day because there was a motorcycle rally going on and a steady stream of bikes was passing me going up and down the mountain. Too much chrome, leather, carbon dioxide and burning brakes for this trail runner. After about 30 minutes I made it to the trail head and was grateful to get off the road. I was also delighted to find that the trail had dried out quite a bit in the 4+ hours since I was last on it and the climb up went very well.

I bumped into two couples whom I had passed going up the mountain early in the day, they were just coming down and had a hard time comprehending why I was going back up again. I couldn't understand why the hell it took them so long come down. One woman was very concerned about me finishing before dark and tried to force a headlamp on me. Probably a good idea actually, but I planned to be off the mountain by 7:00pm and being the longest day of the year I really wasn't concerned about running out of daylight.

2:19:51
4,725 ft up

Once again I had soaked myself in sweat on the way up so I went into the summit building to change my shirt and refill the bladder in my pack. I didn't stick around too long this time because by now the summit was crawling with fat bikers and slutty chicks and it was making my stomach turn. I ran the first part of the descent just to distance myself from the appalling crowd. Lion Head and Tuckerman are great trails to descend on because they aren't too steep and you can keep a pretty consistently quick pace. I was surprised to find that my legs weren't very fatigued and I didn't find myself tripping over my own sloppy feet the way I sometimes do at the end of a long trail run. I did encounter a lot of hikers coming down the same trail, and most didn't seem appreciate me hurrying past but it was fun. As the trail flattened out I was able to run for the last 2+ miles. The trail is covered with sports ball sized rocks (baseball to slightly bigger than basketball size) which makes for some fun technical running.

1:27:20
4,250 ft down

How's that for hill repeats?

For shoes I decided to wear my Brooks Cascadia which are the shoes I plan to wear for the VT100. I've done a few runs in them but nothing too long or technical so I really wanted to put these shoes to the test, and they held up very well. I was particularly thankful for the roomy toebox that kept my feet from getting too smashed up on all the rocks. I complemented the shoes with my Inov-8 Debrisoc, which is a sock with a built-in gaiter. A genius invention that works perfectly. My feet were comfortable all day despite being wet for hours.

I carried with me a Bigelow Day Pack that I picked up from LL Bean. This was probably a bigger pack than I needed for the day, but given Mt Washington's reputation for bad weather I didn't want to take any chances and this pack allowed me to carry enough gear and food for a whole weekend in the wilderness. I have never done any real backpacking, but I have to say that this was the most comfortable pack I've ever worn. The fit and weight distribution made it perfect for fast hiking and for the short amount of time I was running I hardly noticed it was there.

For the first time I can say that I really feel good about doing the VT 100 four weeks from now. One last long run at Mt. Agamenticus next Saturday and then it's time to taper!

30 Miles, Scuffle Prep, Ticks and Turtles

2008-06-14T21:00:00.006-04:00

Today I had a great run at Bradbury. I planned to meet Chuck and Stephen there at 6am, hopefully they didn't mind that I was running a few minutes late. We headed off on a loop that I ran a few months ago while there was still snow on the ground HERE. The only problem was that there was snow on the ground the last time I ran this loop, in fact I had never seen it any other way and without the snowmobile tracks I wasn't sure how easy it would be to follow.

As I feared the trail looked completely different and was quite overgrown in places. We made a few wrong turns but were generally headed in the right direction (with the exception of a half mile out and back along Lawrence Rd). Just before reaching the power line trail, about 4.5 miles into the run, we crested a hill in a field and could see the Pineland equestrian center and the Gray weather station further off to the west. Once on the power lines the trail seemed to disappear completely under long grass, but we pressed on. Not long after entering this "trail" we spotted a large, low flying hawk that was moving in our direction and we even got to hear it let out a sharp cry. That was a nice distraction from grass.

Soon after, we crested a hill and came to a spot where the grass was cut short and we discovered just how well the Maine tick population is thriving. Between the three of us I think we removed close to 30 ticks from our legs and socks. Kinda creepy. Back into the long grass and swampy trail we trudged for another few miles until we eventually came to Poland Range Road. Just beyond this spot is (I think) Chandler Brook which we ran across all winter, but with the exception of Stephen we didn't want to attempt to get across now. The road actually crosses the river and we took the opportunity, now that we were finally out of the grass for good, to do another tick removal session. Just as we crossed the bridge we discovered a large turtle on the side of the road, close enough that we almost stepped on it before realizing what it was. We stopped for a minute and debated whether or not we should try to move the turtle to a safer place where it wasn't at risk of getting hit by a car. Not wanting to lose any fingers Stephen and Chuck attempted to encourage the turtle to move by lifting it's back side with some carefully placed sticks. This is when we discovered that she was laying eggs in a hole she had just dug! We moved her carefully back into place and decided to leave her just where we found her, even though this was a highly dangerous place to be laying eggs, literally inches from the pavement.

From here we stuck to the roads for a little over 3 miles to get back to the park where we were supposed to meet Emma at 8:00. We were a few minutes late (at least) but luckily Emma waited for us. We had covered nearly 12 miles by this point so needed to refill water bottles and get a quick snack before heading out for more. With Emma we ran the complete Scuffle race course to assess how much more course marking needed to be done. Emma and I had met up with Blaine and his wife Erin to make a start marking the course on Friday night but we didn't get it all done. The trails in the park were so much nicer to run on than the ones under the power line trail, I can't wait for the race tomorrow to run them with a big group.

Since Emma had to work this afternoon/evening she left after we completed the race course, while Stephen, Chuck and I headed back out with a handful of arrow signs and surveyor flags each to run the course again and finish the marking. By now it was getting pretty warm but the densely wooded trails provided enough shade to keep us from getting too hot. Unfortunately the part of the course that needed marking was the furthest section from where we started so we had to carry all our supplies for several miles before we could begin to unload them. Oh well, it's all good training.

With the course all marked and 24 miles under their belts Chuck and Stephen decided to take off, both of them were in a hurry to get to the post office to send off their volunteer service requirement forms for the Vermont 100 in July, the deadline is tomorrow! I decided to keep going for another lap of the Scuffle course since I wanted to get in at least 5 hours of running today and there were a couple spots on the course that needed a little more attention to ensure that no runners would have trouble finding their way during the race. Without anyone else to push me along this third lap was pretty slow, but I was still enjoying myself and there were plenty of friendly mountain bikers out there to keep me company.

I'm not sure how fresh Stephen, Chuck and I will feel for the race tomorrow, but at least we have the advantage of knowing the course very well.

time: 5:15:15
distance: 30.17 miles
pace: 10:27

After the run I went to Classic Custard in Freeport and gorged myself on vanilla custard with peanut butter cups. Delicious.

Run on the Bruiser Course

2008-06-10T07:28:00.006-04:00

Sunday morning I met Randy and Ben at Bradbury to run the 12 mile Bruiser course. It was already very hot and humid at 9am but luckily the course is entirely in the shade of dense forest so it wasn't too bad.

It had been about 7 months since I last ran this course but I didn't have any trouble finding my way around. Of course when I got to the O-Trail in the last 2.5 miles of the course I had to work hard to find the trail through all the hairpin turns on rock and root infested ground.

One of the reasons I wanted to run this course today was to get an elevation profile to add to the Bradbury races website, which I was able to do.

I also brought my video camera along for the run to add to the little collection I have on the race website. Bradbury Mountain Trail Running Series The video, although very shaky, seems to capture the density of the forest and narrowness of the single track trail.

time: 2:06:22
distance: 12.0 miles
pace: 10:35

Pineland Night Run

2008-06-07T16:55:00.006-04:00

10 of us started at 8pm, but only 3 made it all the way until midnight. Not that it was everyone's intention to go until midnight, that's just the way it happened.

We started by running from the YMCA along the River Loop trail to the Yurt, then through the Valley Farm Trail, and back along the River Loop. From that point on it was really dark and we stuck to doing multiple laps of the Campus Loop.

At the end it was just myself, Emma and Erik. Just like the Fat Ass at Bradbury a few months ago.

time: 3:46:55
distance: 22.6 miles
pace: 10:03

Farewell to a Friend

2008-06-01T18:27:00.002-04:00

Yesterday I heard terrible news about the loss of a friend and fellow Trail Monster who was killed in a car accident in Colorado. Chris Douglass was just about to embark on a 2,500 mile walk from Colorado to Maine which was to be the latest in a life full of fun and adventure.

Sun Journal story

I first met Chris in the summer of 2006 on the summit of Bradbury Mountain. He had heard about our running group, and although he arrived late headed out on the trails to track us down. That summer we enjoyed many runs and I was grateful for the sense of joy and adventure that Chris brought to the group. I'll never forget the way Chris would run full steam through puddles and ankle-deep mud when others would skirt around the edges looking for an easier route. To me that seemed to represent the way Chris lived his life, throwing caution to the wind and charging head on into an adventure, from the Vermont 50 to the Dublin Marathon, driving his motorcycle from Maine to Arizona and his latest plan to walk from Colorado to Maine.

Although his life ended tragically early I try to take some comfort in the fact that Chris lived life to the fullest and brought joy to the lives of many.

As a tribute to Chris I have decided to dedicate the Bradbury Scuffle trail race to his memory. Following the race I would like to invite any of his friends and family to join me on the climb to the summit of Bradbury Mountain to say goodbye.

Emma and I have also decided to run the Vermont 50 Mile Ultra Run in his memory. This was Chris' first ultramarathon and I know that he was planning to run it again this year.

"The only things you live to regret are the risks you didn't take"

Wrapping up a good week of training

2008-06-01T17:49:00.002-04:00

I ended up doing a little less than my planned mileage for the day, but still got in more than 70 miles for the week so I'm not going to beat myself up about it. Emma and I slept in today, had a good breakfast of pancakes and then ran over to Mackworth Island for a few laps. On the way back we were really feeling the mid-day heat and decided to take a short break and cool our legs in the chilly waters of Casco Bay. Feeling somewhat refreshed, but still a little tired from the previous day's run we made our way home and were glad to stop running for the week. I'm looking forward to a day off tomorrow.

time: 1:54:06
distance: 12.9 miles
pace: 8:50

weekly total: 70.7 miles

Sticking To The Plan

2008-05-31T22:03:00.005-04:00

This morning Emma and I picked up James and met Jamie, Jim and Stephen at Bradbury Mountain State Park. We started out by running the 6 mile Bradbury Scuffle course on the east side trails and then crossed the road to run one lap of the 9 mile Bradbury Mountain Breaker course. The first 6 miles got progressively faster from an 11 minute pace down to sub 8. Once we got onto the mountain trails on the west side the pace was more varied due to the severe ups and downs. There seemed to be some surprise at the incredibly technical course of the Breaker, at least it's appropriately named.

time: 1:41:45
distance: 10.5 miles
pace: 9:41

This evening I headed out around 5:20 pm for my long run. From home I headed over to the Fore River Sanctuary trails and then further out Congress Street to the Stroudwater Trail. It was good to get some trail miles in during the dim, overcast evening light. I finished the run with two laps around back cove. I was going to try to keep my pace for this run under 9 minute miles but the trail sections were pretty slow going and set me back.

time: 3:04:10
distance: 20.1 miles
pace: 9:09

Back to my own running

2008-05-29T23:20:00.007-04:00

Now that the Pineland Farms Trail Challenge is over it's time to refocus on my own running and get in some serious mileage in preparation for the VT 100 on July 19th and 20th. I love the fact that the race has two dates! Last year only 14 people finished on the same day they started.

In the weeks leading up to Pineland I was so busy and stressed with race preparation and hosting my in-laws that I didn't get many quality runs in. When I did find the time to get out for a run I just didn't seem to have the energy to put in many good miles. I should mention that Emma and both her parents were a big help with race duties including making the awards, marking the course, timing the races and cleaning up afterwards, as well as household chores like cooking and dishes. I should also give a shout out to all the people who volunteered to help with the race, it wouldn't have been possible without the contributions of the 80 or so people who stepped up to support this event and I know that the runners all appreciated it. I have been getting e-mails all week (in addition to dozens of comments immediately after the race) from happy runners saying how great the volunteer support was at the race. Thank you to everyone who helped make this year's race the most successful yet.

So after a day of rest on Monday I was determined to kick off what will be 6 weeks of pretty intense training. This will be followed by two very easy weeks right before my first attempt at running 100 miles. That's not to suggest that all my training is going to be done in 6 weeks. I had a terrific winter of long runs which built a very solid base, then a 50 miler in April followed by some more good long runs. Now I'm coming off of two weeks of a low mileage period in my training and am ready to step it back up again.

So far this week...

Tuesday:
8.1 miles @ Twin Brook

Wednesday:
10 miles @ Pineland

Thursday:
9.1 miles @ Back Cove

This is already equal to my weekly total from last week and I haven't hit the weekend yet. I originally had on my schedule a 6 hour run for this Saturday, but recently found out about a lacrosse game that my nephew is playing in so I decided to break up my long run.

What's ahead...

Saturday Morning:
10 miles @ Bradbury

Saturday Evening:
20 miles @ somewhere

Sunday:
15 miles @ somewhere

This will get me up over 70 miles for the week. This is high for me, but if it doesn't kill me it will make me stronger. I figure that this is the time to really push myself.

James' MMT Result

2008-05-18T07:45:00.005-04:00

I just spoke to James' daughter who said he finished in 25:23:50 and in 7th place at the Massanutten Mountain Trails 100!!

Congratulations James, you are amazing.

Current standings are posted HERE

Bradbury Race Course Running

2008-05-11T16:52:00.006-04:00

Today I decided to run a few of the courses for the races I am planning at Bradbury Mountain State Park this summer.

I began with the more difficult Bradbury Mountain Breaker 9 mile course which covers most of the trails on the west side of the park. The route starts with a very gradual climb on the wide, gravely Northern Loop Trail, then bears right onto the more hilly Boundary Trail. This section of trail is like a root festival, with so many wonderful opportunities to trip. A few hundred yards short of the mountain summit the course makes a sharp right onto the South Ridge Trail and then makes a steep descent to the "lower" parking lot and the lowest point in the race. After weaving through a few picnic sites comes the location of the first aid station at about 2.25 miles. This is a great place to catch your breath because the next 1/4 mile climbs 250' up the Summit Trail to the summit of Bradbury Mountain.

From the summit the course bears left onto the Tote Road trail which descends for about a mile before looping back uphill and bringing you back to the summit again. Just as the trail opens up towards the view from the top the course makes a sharp left and descends steeply down the Switchback Trail which - in typical trail naming obviousness - includes a series of hairpin turns to bring you back down to the starting point of the race and the second aid station. This is only half the race. The second loop of the race is the same as the first until you reach the summit from the Tote Road Trail, this time the course bears left onto the Terrace Trail which makes a pretty straight shot down gradual descent, which can be run extremely fast if you've got anything left in your legs at this point. The last 1/2 mile comes back along the Northern Loop Trail in the opposite direction as the start of the race where you should be able to maintain good speed to the finish.

time: 1:33:52
distance: 9.0 miles
pace: 10:25

After a few minutes to catch my breath I headed across the road the the east side trails to run the course of the Bradbury Scuffle 6 mile race. This course felt easier right away, mostly because it starts out downhill, but also because it's generally less technical than the Breaker course. I began on the Knight Woods Trail which is mostly double-track. This leads to the wide, gravely Snowmobile Trail that climbs very gradually to about the 1 mile mark. You then make a sharp right onto the Fox East Trail that begins a 2.75 mile stretch of a twisty, somewhat technical, single-track section that is definitely the most challenging part of this course (but still easier than the Breaker). There are some rolling hills and several wooden bridges to cross that make this section a lot of fun.

At about 3.75 miles the course bares left onto double-track trail at the location of the one and only aid station on the race course. From here the course climbs gradually for about 1/2 mile and has some great mud pits in the trail, then opens up to a wider and even less technical downhill section on the Snowmobile Trail that should make for a very fast mile. Just as you're getting sick of the easy running the course turns right onto the Knight Woods Trail for the last 1/2 mile which is a gradual uphill on somewhat narrower trails. The last few hundred yards of the race are the same as the Bruiser, and anyone who ran that race will be glad to bypass the entrance to the O-Trail on their way to finishing this one.

time: 58:58
distance: 6.0 miles
pace: 9:49

Stephen: if you're out there, I could really use the .GPX file from one of your runs on the Bruiser course last fall so I can add the elevation profile. Or maybe I'll go out and run it next weekend.

P.S. Congratulations to Emma for running her fastest time at the Muddy Moose 14 mile trail race today (2:00:00) and finishing 3rd woman!

BIG Pineland Run

2008-05-10T16:40:00.000-04:00

Last week while I was running the 7 Sisters Emma ran with a big group at Pineland. She later suggested that we change our regular meeting place from the small parking lot next to the pond to the larger lot next to the YMCA since our group was outgrowing the small parking area. It was a good thing that we decided to make the move this week since we had a record turnout of runners to join us for a tour of part of the Pineland Farms Trail Challenge race course.

17 people showed up in all, and we stuck together pretty well for the first 3 miles. When we entered the Valley Farm loop the hills started to thin out the group and the numerous felled trees that blocked the trail really got everyone spread out. I have been assured that these trees will be removed before the race which is now only two weeks away. We decided to skip the field loops of the race course since the grass was starting to get a little bit longer. This brought us back to the Grove at about 8 miles and we crossed the road to the Oak Hill trail with the goal of tacking on an additional 2 miles to bring our run up to 10. Somewhere along the way we got distracted, missed a turn and ended up running a little over 11 miles.

It was great to see so many people out there running together, I hope everyone had a good time and found their way around o.k. after the group broke up.

time: 1:40:40
distance: 11.25 miles
pace: 8:57

How not to recover from a 50 miler

2008-05-05T23:09:00.010-04:00

Week 1: 23 miles at Pineland

Week 2: 24 miles at Pineland

Week 3: 7 Sisters Trail Race

I did take 4 days off after the Bull Run Run 50 Miler, but then I remembered that I have a 100 miler to get ready for so I kinda jumped right back into training. The great thing about running really slowly on trails, even for 50 miles, is that the recovery time is a lot quicker than compared to road running.

Going into the 7 Sisters Trail Race this past weekend I was a little apprehensive because I knew I wasn’t well rested, and this has to be one of the most rugged trail races in New England. I know that there are plenty of trail races out there that I haven’t done, but I have never seen a race with more steeply rock infested hills than this. I’m sure Sherpa John will correct me, but mile for mile this has got to be one of the most rugged races around. When it rains all day and night before the race, and the rocks become slick there are fantastic opportunities for injury.

My goal was to beat my time from the only other time I ran this race, back in 2005, and to come away from it without a serious injury. My original plan was to run the first half of this out and back course conservatively and then push hard for the second half. What actually happened is that I ran hard for the first half and struggled through most of the second, pretty typical for me. Not that I’m blaming Jim for my lack of ability to execute a race plan, but his suggestion of starting out near the front of the crowd to make better time up the first climb lead me to run amongst a group that ultimately I couldn’t keep up with. One of the many unique challenges of this race is the start, where there are 250+ runners crowded along the shoulder of a well-travelled road all trying to squeeze into a single-track trail that ascends to the 1010’ summit of Bare Mountain in the first half mile. Jim realized last year that by starting nearer the front he could run most of the first climb without being stuck amongst the masses in the middle of the pack who are forced to walk because of the shear volume of people on the narrow rocky trail.

So the six miles going out went by pretty quickly and without any problems at all. I was working hard but having a good time. I couldn’t help but compare this to some of my recent longer runs, I also wondered how this compared to the course Erik recently ran at the TNF Bear Mountain 50 Miler. In the context of an ultramarathon there is no question that most runners would end up walking hills like those on the 7 Sisters course, but being in a 12 mile race I tried to run as much as I could. I’m glad that I wasn’t wearing my heart rate monitor, I don’t think I would have wanted to see it go over 200 bpm.

The first 2 aid stations on the course consisted of a few dozen 1-gallon jugs of water placed on the ground. At the turn-around point there was a bigger aid station with water, Gatorade, oranges and some other food items that I didn’t really notice. This is the lowest point of the race in terms of elevation, which means there is more uphill on the way back than on the way out. The second half of the race begins with a climb up from the level of the Connecticut River to the 940’ summit of Mt. Holyoke. If it weren’t for the fact that the sky was cloudy all day, and that it’s a very bad idea to take your eyes off the trail even for a second, there presumably would have been some great views from up on this ridge.

I knew that I was starting to slow down, my legs were getting tired and my form was getting a little sloppy. Every now and then I would get passed by another runner. Sometimes I gave up a good fight, other times I just stepped aside to let them go. One such moment came late in the race when I heard two way too cheerful women approaching: “oh my gawd, this is so much fun!” “I know, this is my first trail race and I love it!” I couldn’t listen to this shit so I gave them room and let them go past.

Coming into the last aid station at about 10 miles, which is the only flat non-technical part of the race, I leaned over to pick up a jug of water off the ground and my ankle rolled. I usually pride myself on the flexibility and resiliency of my ankles, but this time it didn’t roll back and I screamed out a very bad word. I was certain that this race, and perhaps my life as a runner, was over. I tried to walk but couldn’t support my weight, so I went through the list of all the bad words I know. This seemed to help and before I knew it I was off running again, first with a limp but it wasn’t long before I was back into that familiar tired stride.

I was definitely a little more cautious during the last two miles. I realized that I had narrowly escaped an injury on the trail, but the race was far from over and I still had to make the wet rocky descent down Bare Mountain, but not before another mile and a half of rugged ups and downs. Thankfully my ankle held out for the remainder of the race and I even managed to pick a few people off along the way. The fear, adrenaline, and profanity explosion gave me enough of an energy boost to pull out a relatively strong finish. Official results haven’t been posted yet, and I only caught a glimpse of the unofficial results, but it looked like I finished in about 2:32. That’s 10 minutes faster than the last time I did this race and I came away with only a minor injury. Not too shabby.

Official time: 2:33:28 (12:47 pace, that's slower than my 50 mile pace)

60/241

COMPLETE RESULTS

Preview of Bradbury Trail Races

2008-04-24T06:22:00.008-04:00

Bradbury Scuffle - 6 Miles - June 15th
Bradbury Mountain Breaker - 9 Miles - August 10th
Bradbury Bruiser - 12 Miles - September 14th

Videos by Peter Buchanan

Presumpscot River Run

2008-04-21T22:11:00.005-04:00

Tonight I ran at along the Presumpscot River in Portland from Summit Street. This is my favorite trail in Portland so it was great to get back out on it for the first time this year. The trails were remarkably dry, with only the occasional patches of snow/ice that were easy enough to avoid.

Water in the Presumpscot River was still pretty high from all the snow melt and the Presumpscot Falls were roaring. Portland Trails had clearly been out there recently creating drainage ditches, building bridges and filling in a few washed out areas. Nice work!

There was something a bit wrong with my Garmin tonight. I'm pretty sure the mileage was off because as I was running it told me I was doing close to 10 minute miles for most of my splits and I know it was a lot quicker than that. When I uploaded my data to SportTracks it also told me that I hit a point 350 ft below sea level, I don't think so. I also know that the first and last mile were run on exactly the same trail but there is a big deviation in the routes that were recorded. I hope it sorts itself out, maybe it got confused after the trip to Virginia.

time: 52:38
distance: 5.7 miles
pace: 9:11

First Pineland Run of 2008

2008-04-20T20:45:00.004-04:00

Since not all of us are lucky enough to work at Pineland, like John, this Saturday was the first chance that many of us got to run there this year. James and Jamie started at 5 am, Emma and I met Jim, Jim, Shauna, Tom, Randy and Tom at 7 am. Emma's plan was to get in 31 miles as a training run for the Pineland Farms Trail Challenge 50 miler, and my plan was just to run for as long as I could. This was only my second run since completing the Bull Run Run 50 Miler last weekend so I wasn't sure how my legs would hold up.

There were still a few snowy/icy patches on the trials but for the most part we were running on dirt with a little mud thrown in. Most of the snow and ice was found on the steeper hills which made running up and down them pretty difficult for those of us without screw shoes. Emma and Jim were the only smart ones who came prepared to deal with the ice. So at an early stage in the run we found ourselves being forced to walk some of the steep hills in both directions. Conditions in the fields were good enough to allow us to run most of the Pineland race course, one complete loop of our run worked out to be a little over 14 miles (as opposed to the 15.5 mile/25 km race loop).

I didn't bring quite enough water/fuel to get me through a really long run so I decided to call it a day at about 4 hours after covering approximately 23 miles. Emma continued on with James and Jamie to get in 31.5 miles in just over 5.5 hours. James and Jamie both got in 40 miles, and this was the first time I ever heard anyone say "I only did 40 miles" with a genuine hint of disappointment.

Bull Run Run 50 Miler

2008-04-13T17:43:00.018-04:00

This isn't much of a race report yet, mostly photos with a few brief descriptions.

I didn't run as fast as I had hoped, but with an average temperature on race day more than 40 degrees warmer than the average temperature of all my training runs, I'm just glad it didn't kill me. The Bull Run Run is a very well organized race, the course is beautiful and very hilly.

Pre-race photo. I'm happy because at this point it was only in the mid 60's and I couldn't see all the hills.

photo by Anstr Davidson
Bull Run River near the 9.4 mile upstream turnaround

The course runs upstream, turns at 9.4 miles, returns to the start at 16.6 miles, runs downstream with a few short loops thrown in and then back up to the start.

My Garmin (via SportTracks) tells me that there was over 9000 ft of elevation gain, and an equal amount of elevation loss over the course. This was more than I had expected and really took it's toll on my quads. For the last 10 miles I was walking the downhills and moving faster on the ups.

photo by Anstr Davidson

Near the 9.4 mile upstream turnaround, the flattest part of the course was found early on in the race. This image is not typical of the terrain.

photo by Anstr Davidson

Much of the first 1/3 of the race featured schemes like this with a carpet of bluebells.

photo by Anstr Davidson

The upstream turnaround point. Melissa, who is right ahead of me here, should be coming up to run Pineland with her friend Lisa. They both ran good races (finishing ahead me) and provided some good company during the run.

Fountainhead aid station at 37.9 miles. This is where I saw my cousin Jon for the first time during the race. He fed me one of my mother's delicious molasses sugar cookies and provided a much needed emotional boost.

Heading out of Fountainhead, with a little over 12 miles to go I decided (immediately after this picture was taken) to get rid of my hydration pack and just carry my handheld bottle for the rest of the run. A good decision because my back was getting seriously chaffed.

Coming into the Marina Aid Station at 44.9 miles.

The finishing stretch where I was able to fend off several runners who had been chasing me and even got ahead at one point during the last mile.

photo by Anstr Davidson

The last few strides to the finish line.

10:13:45
83 out of 265 finishers

Making Gaiters

2008-04-07T22:10:00.005-04:00

Not a lot of excitement in the world of tapering. I'm starting to suffer from long run withdrawal.

Tonight I decided to make some gaiters out of an old long sleeved technical running shirt.

I started by cutting the sleeves off, then slipping my feet through the cuff, putting on my shoes and cutting the sleeve to the right length.

I hemmed the cut edge and attached a strip of elastic.

Voila! Gaiters.

Tiring Road Run

2008-03-22T16:38:00.005-04:00

The plan for today was to get in 22 miles on the roads of Falmouth starting with the Maine Track Club group that meets every Saturday at the Freaky Bean (formerly known as Maine Roasters Coffee). Emma decided on the distance, I came up with a route and Jim decided to up his mileage and join us. The route consisted of two loops, to allow others to join us for the first 10 miles, and then we continued on for another longer loop. For a road run we encountered an abundance of wildlife: 5 dear, a fox, cardinals, woodpecker and a hawk.

I discovered today that, contrary to what I thought two days ago, I have not fully recovered from last week's 30 miler at snowy Bradbury. Not that I felt too bad during the run, but it was harder work than I was expecting and it left me feeling pretty wiped out. This could also have something to do with the hills we encountered, not that they were particularly big but consistently rolling which required a fair amount of effort. I think the elevation profile tends to over-dramatize the hills, but it is representative of the lack of flatness on these roads.

My average heart rate for the run seems pretty high at 168, a few weeks ago I did a 16 mile road run at a 7:44 pace and my heart rate was only 159. Todays pace was a much easier 8:36 so I would have expected my heart rate to be lower. Perhaps someone out there who has more experience tracking their heart rate can tell me what this means. I suspect it means that I need to take it easy for the next few weeks to make sure I'm feeling fresh for my 50 miler.

At least my ankle felt good.

time: 3:12:47
distance: 22.4 miles
pace: 8:36
heart rate:168/189

3 Runs

2008-03-20T21:23:00.000-04:00

Trail and ultra running is an interesting thing. When I used to do most of my running on roads I had a few injuries, some minor, but the most serious was a stress fracture in each of my femurs, at the same time. That really hurt. I’ve run two road marathons, one in 2003 and one in 2004, and after each one I took two weeks off from running altogether. Since I started doing the majority of my running on trails, about two years ago, I’ve been injury free and have discovered a love a long distance running. Two and a half weeks ago I did a long run of about 32 miles, and last Sunday a long run of almost 31 miles. In the 4 days since that last long run I’ve run three times, and I feel great. Mostly.

Monday morning I got up at 5am, met a few folks at 5:30 and ran to Ri-Ra for a pint of Guinness to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, then ran back. The hardest part of this run was just getting up that early, my legs were stiff but the beer helped to loosen them up. That was about 4.5 miles with a 10 minute beer break in the middle.

Tuesday I ran at Twin Brook with Emma, Chuck, Jim, Colleen and first timer Nate. Although I started out feeling just a bit sluggish I quickly perked up and was really enjoying the run. The snow on the trails was pretty soft (it was shorts warm) and my right ankle was feeling a bit sore. I really wanted to do 8 miles but Emma encouraged me to stop before the pain in my ankle got too bad so I ended the run at 6 miles. I’m glad she was there to talk some sense into me, the last thing I want three weeks before a 50 mile race is to turn a minor pain into a real injury.

Wednesday I took the day off from running, probably long overdo since I had run 4 days in a row for a total of almost 60 miles. Emma and I went to a circuit training class at the Y, I was relieved to see that our regular ass-kicking Marine of an instructor wasn’t there and a more easy going guy was in his place.

Thursday (tonight) I felt fully recovered from my long run and went out for a medium paced run around the Portland peninsula and Back Cove. I started out at an 8:30 pace and picked it up to 7:30 as I was going around the Back Cove “trail”. 8.7 miles at an 8 minute pace and the ankle felt good. I decided that I should stay away from the snowy trails for the next few weeks to make sure my minor ankle problem doesn’t get any worse. So I’ll be sticking to the roads for now, which I actually find a bit scary since every running problem I’ve even had has come from running on roads. I hope I’m doing the right thing.

Up next: 22 miles Saturday morning.