PROMISE LAND: People living life.

Dear Diary,

In the same vein? That's been my phrase for the past week. It popped into my head when we were losing 20-3 at the top of the second inning in intramural softball. D Rek pitched a strike and I rallied "eyyyy there ya  go number trece, in the same vein now whattdaya say?" It was odd. But I liked how it came out. I said it about thirty other times throughout the next few innings. I also imparted some "it never always gets worse" knowledge on my team. I don't think anybody else laughed besides me. I later struck out when I was up to bat. In slowpitch softball. Yeah, Fiji's pitcher threw a wicked 9-foot arc.

Couple of pitches

I swear I was a star shortstop in 4th grade. I guess I'll stick to ultramarathons now in my late, late age of 21.

Occasionally I feel 40.

Anywho, I LOVE PROMISE LAND. In fact, I just remembered that it is indeed the only ultramarathon I've ever raced more than once. The atmosphere is unbeatable--everybody camps out in a glorious field Friday night, bonfire, 530am start, big climbs, a gnarly decent, fellowship and burgers after the race. Those parts were what made this weekend fun.

The week before Chrissy and I ran the Bel Monte 25k which was FAST and felt great to push limits in a different way. We stayed at Bob's house Friday night (thanks Bob!) and woke up at a lovely 5am. The ~16.5 mi run was a neat out and back. I ran with a few dudes for the first half, then took off the second half. It was like running in an actual "chase pack." It was good to actually race people instead of a clock or previous time. A good fast medium-long run in and a podium finish, my confidence was boosted for the Promise Land.

Down down down down the mountain

Chrissy won!

ONWARD. After Bel Monte I decided I guess it'd be a good time to rest and "taper"...PL was only a week away! So I only did 10/6/1/4/2mi the days leading up to PL, which constitutes as rest for me lately I guess. My legs felt leaden but in repair mode. I could literally feel them mending themselves whenever I was lying down. Twitch twitch. Doing exactly what tapering is supposed to do. But you're supposed to feel a "pop" when your tapering...perhaps I need more than a one-week taper for actual end-of-season races. Learning myself and my body more and more. Good stuff! I got realllly excited to race on Monday in my room. Like to the point of adrenaline. Woah there. Five days away.

Come Friday I was only half my happy-go-lucky self. I wasn't necessarily focused but I was certainly ready to start running and not waste any energy being all bubbly at the pre-race meeting. I was reluctant to do much socializing and I hit the tent early. Which kind of sucks because the whole ultra-family was there. But as it is a Horton race, I felt the need to preform my best, and so with self-imposed pressure, I didn't seem that fun.

An early 420am alarm and oatmeal came. Wyatt and I blared the obligatory pre-race tunes and got to the start line on time (unlike last year when I woke up with 30 mins before the start and forgot all my gus; different vein). We were soon off. So it began.

I made sure I was in the front of the start line this time. Top 10 on my mind. I ALWAYS, unintentionally, start slow and work my way through the field, but with a field this stacked of good runners I thought I'd try to go out with the front-guys and see what happens (note: Glove said it correctly, "The number of guys vying for the win wasn't as deep as last year, but the number of good solid runners [us] after the top spots was huge, like 20 or 30.) So the top guys formed a pack of seven or eight and ran about ten yards ahead of a chase pack of maybe 5 of us. It was really neat. Actually a pack of leaders then a pack of chase-guys. It only lasted a mile though, naturally with the big climb right off the bat. I let the front guys go and hiked the steep uppermost part of the climb, then kind of ran alone till we hit the white oak trail. I think that's called the white oak trail?

I dislike the white oak trail. It's pretty, but it's douchegrade and just meanders along and adds miles. Once it opens up into the old grassy road I guess I started to slow, or everybody else started to run. Like really run. I felt like I was running with a marathon stride, not ultra stride, and hoards of people were passing me. Like 20 people passed me. I got pissed. "I know basically everybody vying for the top 15 spots, and these people aren't them. Who the heck are these people. Eager beavers, you're all just going to die later." Glove and I verbally told each other, quite loudly around the folks, that we were going to catch them all up the falls. I wasn't happy and I was being a passive-aggressive dick to  the rest of the field who was just trying to have a good time. And for that I wasn't happy with myself. My damn emotional history was getting the best of me. THESE THINGS ARE SUPPOSED TO BE FUN....This issue of races not being fun has been with me more and more steadily since I've started to run fast(er) and trying to "race" instead of just run. Sometimes I wish I was a midpacker who never wears a watch or looks at freaking ultrasignup.

So I caught up to Dmack and Glove and we walked a good bit of the douchegrade that is white oak trail. I knew I was mad, and told myself that I can't do anything about the other people, so I didn't stay mad long. I just got bored. I finally reached the Parkway and the dirt road and downhill, and started running because I wanted to be alone (Glove and Dmack, they had stopped for water at a spring a tad before the parkway and I didn't; the first aid station was not set up). I hit sunset fields and only ate a couple oranges then started to BOOK the DARKSIDE.

I LOVE THE DARKSIDE. The course doesn't require attention until the darkside because you immediately have a steep, ROCKY, decent after sunset fields. I flew and loved it. I was with freshman Darren (dudes fast!) and was starting to enjoy the race, running with a friend and nobody else. We came into Cornelius Creek AS and I verbally stated that the previous section was great. Positive reinforcement. Potatoes hit the spot. Darren was filling his pack and I bolted off down the road, which I like because you can really run. I was alone and enjoying the scenery and happy. Funny how things turn around in such a short period of time.

I eventually caught up with Matt Bugin and we ran a few miles together back to Cornelius Creek. He's always very very solid, so I knew I was in a better spot when I was with him. He's gonna rock MMT 100 in a couple weeks (as is Joe Dudak!). Matt remarked that he considers the bottom of the falls the end of the race because "nobody I know can run up the whole falls." I was feeling pretty solid, and I was looking forward to what I could do on the climb.

I ran Apple Orchard Falls in ~42:30 and passed eight people. Stoke.

Short and consistent strides, I started grooving and digging. LOVE that climb proper. Seeing people is always good, then passing people is always great. Jared, a friend from the first time I witnessed MMTR, remarked that top-10 was close when I started the climb. Hm....At SSfields I passed a man to hop into sixth place. What? Where did everybody go? Heck yes. TOP TEN?! I felt heroic surprising Tammy at SSfields. Earlier at the same AS she remarked I didn't sound too good, and now three hours later I was cooking. Just seeing her made me smile inside. I hope I smiled outwardly, but who knows, I was working. Dmacks girlfriend flawlessly handed me my other bottle (truly flawless, thank you!). Five miles to go, all downhill. Let's go. I passed a man before the final gravel road. When he finished I learned he ran more than 25 miles with a BROKEN RIB. TOUGH TOUGH TOUGH. Mad respect.

Feeling heroic. Photo: Beth Minnick

I finished 5th! 5:11:26, only a minute faster than last year. In the same vein. Haha.

I was surprised. I was shooting for 5:10, maybe 5:05, and loosely top 10. I thought I was going to run a 5:05 and get 15th place, but that didn't happen. I'm a much better runner than I was this time last year, so I was surprised I didn't run faster, but no complaints!

One of the first things out of my mouth was "that wasn't very fun."
Three hours later I was saying, "That was so fun."
The devil and god are raging inside me.

HOKIES CRUSHED IT.
LIKE, REALLY CRUSHED IT.
We had fourteen hokies run. I think maybe even a couple more than that. Last year it seemed like it was just glove, rachel, dmack and myself. And now we have so many people! It's great.
Jordy finished 9th, Glove finished 10th, FRESHMAN Darren 12th, FRESHMAN Steve 15th, Earp and Mike Jones in the 30s. Incredible. We really have developed something in our little ultra team here in Blacksburg. I'm proud of everybody.

What's next? Who knows. I'm debating a 50k or 50mi for the sake of a PR just to put something down fast. Then it's 100% GRINDSTONE training. I'm really looking forward to that because it's just run as much as you can (well, it's a lot more than that, but that's how I'm approaching it). I was just kind of aimlessly running highish mile weeks before promise land, topping out at 90, just for the sake of running. I enjoy the constant training.

The post race was so enjoyable. Hearing how everybody did, catching up with friends I only see at races, sitting in the sun, eating, nothing else really beats that. I had one clear thought:

Here, people are living life. 

5 hokies in the top 15!! 

TEAM!!!!

Judgement--DON'T DO IT!

A quick little blurb about what's been on my mind the past few hours that I think is useful to pen.

Judgement. I think it's inherent to us humans on some degree, to judge other people, "I'm better than them/ they're wearing that?/ Drinking that?/ That persons slow/ Your major is sooo difficult..." Stuff like that. But I think it's probably one of the most unhealthy things us humans can do. What does judgement accomplish? A little ego-boost? If that's the case, hurting someones feelings (by actually verbally judging) is not worth a little ego boost. And internal judgement has to have some kind of negative pessimistic narcissistic fault in the brain. I'm no full-blown scientist or nothin'.

Anyway. This morning I hopped in the Xenia Marathon (small, middle of nowhere farmland Ohio) as a training run, doing nothing special in preparation. I was a little burnt out of Tech/trail life, so I went home for the weekend. I was planning on doing 22 around my neighborhood, but Xenia was only an hour away and running long in Ohio is much easier with people. My decision was spontaneous and I was actually pretty excited and got brief pre-"race" nerves before the start line. The marathon scene is not my usual.

So within the first mile, I ran up to some 30-something year old and asked, "Hey man, what's the name of this race?" (I didn't know the name of the marathon...it never said on the website. I thought it was OHRRA or something but I was curious so I asked). The guy gave me an odd look (understandably), and said "Xenia Marathon. X-E-N-I-A." I responded, "Cool, thanks man." And ran off a bit ahead of him. Like five yards ahead of him. And I heard him laugh out loud and remark to his friend "This kid thinks this is a mile fun run, hahahaha." He probably thought he'd pass me in two miles. He didn't pass me at all.

I kind of smiled and ran ahead. But his remark kept creeping back into my head. This dude doesn't know me. He doesn't know I've run 10 Ultras, that a marathon is a "fun run" for me, and that I'm ending an 80 mile training week. I'm no better than this man, but his comment irked me.

I ended up having a great time at the race, talking to one dude in particular who was trying to qualify for boston, saying positive things to people along the course, and smiling. Having no time goals whatsoever made me enjoy the race. I was gonna pick up headphones but opted not to because I was having FUN at a race. It was much more FUN than the DEATH RACE. It was hot an I happily ran shirtless. Marathoning is certainly different than ultraing, and still certainly hard. It's no better than ultrarunning. Just different. And I enjoyed switching my routine up.

I met an older man at 50sforyomomma race in Ohio last May. He said, "One thing I've learned over the years is to stop caring about what other people are doing during a race. Don't judge anybody. You don't know if they're in the middle of a 100 mile week, or if their spouse just died, or if they're completely tapered and overly obsessed."

So. Don't judge people. At least catch yourself and correct yourself when you do. Something I work on.

Mom and Pops came!

Got to see a lifelong friend I grew up with--Eric!

Getting Out of the Grumps

I had the hardest recovery I've ever had after the Georgia Death Race. I didn't run for six days, which I think is the longest non-running break I've had in a long time (after hellgate I played basketball and semi-running stuff). I was prevented from running because a nasty case of pitting edema in my left calf which still isn't 100%. More so I just didn't want to run. Zero desire. I didn't even think about going for a run Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday. I thought about it Thursday but opted to spin instead. Basically I ran myself into the ground physically which translated to mentally because I was frustrated about my calf. Major case of the grumps. I was no fun to be around and I knew it. I never had any real lingering post-race endorphins. Major case of the grumps.

I HAD to do something to get me out of the grumps, and I think swimming and spinning helped, but the true cure was Terrapin Mountain. I love this mountain. With a bunch of friends running the half marathon and 50k, I decided to tag along and run around/volunteer during the race with roomie Wyatt and friend Chris Demasi. Friday evening my calf was feeling alright and Chris started out to hike up to the summit of Terrapin while Wyatt and I ran up. We arrived just in time for the sun to drop below the ridgeline. Biting cold, wind, beautiful light, and companionship, combined with moving my legs for the first time in a long time, combined to finally bring a smile to my face.

Terrapin Mountain Summit--Wind!

Rec buddies--Cold!

A dark decent, homemade pizza, plenty of Icona Pop, and sleeping in the freezing temperatures on the ground are more things I love.

The next morning Wyatt and I were off to camping gap before 6:30am and arrived in time for a gorgeous sunrise. The aid station dudes put us to work quickly and we ferociously jotted down bib numbers and times with freezing pens and hands and helped fill bottles. I LOVE working aid stations. You get to see the race up front play out (instant inspiration when the dude in 8th books it into the AS at mile 21 and shouts HOW FAR UP IS KEITH IN THE SINGLET? and RUNS up the steep incline out of the AS with positive information that he's only two mins behind).  Also seeing the mid and back of the packers who are just having fun is a nice change of pace. And of course, filling bottles, packs, and giving ibuprofen and course info to all the hokies as they run by. Seeing friends rock races = instant inspiration. Sharing time with friends in training then seeing them run while you're not with them is incredible. All the hokies ran well (like usual :)). As Glove said, "somebody must be spiking the water in Blacksburg."

Wyatt Earp just after sunrise.

So whenever you get the grumps, just find a baller 2400ft climb, see a sunset and the following sunrise, and volunteer. Also partying with your bros during the daylight never hurts. Make love/take love #2013. See you round the mountain.

Soothing light, beautiful sunset

DEATH at the Georgia Death Race

Woof. Rough intro to the racing season!

We (Guy Love and I) ran the Catawba Runaround the Saturday before GDR. The Runaround covers the most beautiful parts of Virginia's AT, and it's an honor to be invited, so even though we knew it was a bad idea (35 mi a whole lotta gain) a week before the GDR, we decided to roll with it. "It'll be more fun anyway...and the Death Race isn't a Horton race so there's no external pressure to perform." Well, it was a horrible idea--there was loads of snow on the course and the already difficult course took almost 8.5 hours. 8.5 hours a week before a huge effort = recipe for disaster. The Runaround itself was really fun with a great community, really something that'd be great to do every early March!

Good thing Glove and I were going to the beach to taper! We hung out at Hilton Head all week leading up to the GDR and barely ran at all. Solid taper? Prolly too little running and suuuper flat. The pines were pollinating in HH which caused for the worst allergies I've ever had--another solid recipe for disaster at the GDR. Also, the drive to GDR that was supposed to take 5.5 hours took 10. The Universe was totally saying "DON'T GO TO THE GDR." We missed most the pre race meeting and were unable to do a shakeout run. All signs pointed to death....that's enough bitching to last me the rest of the year, so let's get to the "race."

4am start was rough. I managed to fall asleep at 11 despite being in bed at 9, and 245am came quickly. The start line had the usually nervous vibe, and all 5 of us UltraVT gang manged to find eachother and wish every one luck. One of my favorite moments of every race. All giddy, ready to start running, friends sharing what's inevitably going to be an incredible experience.

Sean RunBum race director recited a poem about death and the field counted down from 10 and we were off. The giddiness dwindled to zero by the time we hit the trail 5 mins into the race. I thought nothing of it. Glove and I started up the large climb to Coosa Bald (really a great climb, enjoyed that part at least) which is the tallest point on the course. We had a train of 15 or 20 people following us for the first hour which we were quite surprised about because although we were going easy we were still "race pace easy." The pack shortened naturally and we found ourselves running with Jon Barker, a fervent adventure racer kind-of gone ultrarunner. Getting to know Jon was one of the most fun parts of the day. It was still dark and he was telling us about running in Greenland and getting lost and running as a team and all sorts of great stories and tips.

Before we started running with Jon, about an hour? into the race I took a fall on a downhill section and hit my upper shin HARD on a rock. Big scrape, blood. Throbbing pain. Walked a step and stopped. I'm not afraid to admit when something hurts, and this one hurt. I stopped hands-on knees for 20 seconds or so and tried to take another step and stopped again. I was alright, but it throbbed. I thought I was lucky cause I missed my knee but later I learned from team-PT Jordan Chang that I knocked it right where a bunch of muscles come together. Oh well.

Oh well? Oh no. Pretty soon after the fall I noticed my calf/soleus was suuuper tight. I stopped to stretch it a couple times. I had to change my gait. I didn't think at the time that the tightness was due to the fall. The really tough sections, feeling tired, and now fluid-filled calf wasn't making for a fun time. I wanted to drop. I hadn't felt good all day, and you usually feel good at the start of races. In fact the more I thought the worse I felt. I legitimately thought about dropping and it was less than 2 hours into a 14 hour race. I've never contemplated dropping in a race before, and I think this is my 12th ultra. I ran through the scenarios--I could go back to sleep! I could train more next week. I DO like running a lot of miles more than racing. This racing thing isn't very fun. I'd rather enjoy. But then I thought, "what's my reason for dropping?" An answer of calf tight is ridiculous because I could still make forward progress. I'm not having any fun was my only real reason to drop. And that's not a good reason to drop. It's too early anyway. So I stopped thinking about quitting and resolved to go till sunrise, then just run aid-to-aid. Who cares about placing or time. This run is gonna take awhile. I knew I felt bad, but I knew I'd get out of it. I just didn't know it'd take over 9 hours to get out of it...

Daylight came with a gorgeous view on the N. Ga. mountains. Really large mountains. The view didn't last long though as the trail dictated total attention with its steepness. Ga doesn't believe in switchbacks--straight up and straight down. Nothing like that here in Virginia.

We soon came to the out and back section where I saw friend and dude who inspired me to start racing ultras Henry Wakley who was in 3rd place! We descended to the aid station where I filled my bladder and really hung out at. The race was so hard that all day I took more time at aid stations (~3-5min) than in any other ultra where you grab-and-go. Ate too much food at this aid station, didn't eat anything till the next aid.

On the way back up I saw fellow Hokies Fletcher and Rachel and semi stopped to exchange greetings. How are you doing? Rachel asked. Eh was my response. And eh stayed for a looong time. Good thing Guy was dragging me along or else I would have quit.

At mi 25 aid station (really mi 27.5) I had an aid station worker rub my calf (THANK YOU!) which helped a little bit. The hard part of the course was over and we found ourselves on a forest service road. I had waited for Guy at the AS who was a couple mins back. I didn't want to run by myself and Guy was helping me along all day. Great teammate.

I resolved to plug in my headphones and just get through this extended-crappy patch, but we found ourselves admist Sean Pope, a really fast an awesome young runner similar in age to Guy and I. I'd seen Sean around but never talked to him so it was fun to get to know him a little. I was in a grumpy mood and didn't say much, but it was good to listen to him talk to Guy and his laughs lifted my spirits a tad. Unforgettably he was having foot problems and had to drop later.

So, there Guy and I were, alone in the middle of nowhere Georgia, and it started to get really hot. Hot enough that we dropped our packs and hopped in a creek on the side of the road at one point. We crossed a field somewhere, and I was looking so awful and feeling so bad that Guy even noticed it. He gave me the "it never always gets worse" pump up speech, and I was like, "dude I know but I HATE THIS and I've felt bad for the past EIGHT HOURS. This isn't running this is slogging and I'm learning I don't like to slog in a race. And I want to die and quit and boooo." Woe is me. Psh.

The temperature was rising, the grades of the course were lessening, and I knew I had a drop bag of new shoes and shirt at mile 40 (really 45). We got there after walking a lot of runnable forest road, and Guy said he was taking off as I was changing my shoes. I was totally cool with that. I didn't think I'd see him again. I felt like I was slowing him down all day, which I think I was, but he said he didn't want to run alone that early. He was feeling pretty good and I was stoked for him to fly the last marathon into the finish.

With my shoe change and another calf massage (THANK YOU) and shirt change into my VT Triathlon singlet I felt a ton better. I was bitching aloud to friends about how horrible I felt when the first place woman, Valerie came up to the AS and said, "hey I resolved to walk it in awhile ago and then I drank a ton of coke and put in my headphones and turned it around. do the same!" She was so motherly and kind--really what I needed to hear.

Rocking VT Tri at a December 10k with Chrissy

Who knows if the shoe change actually helped (I think the lower drop of the Mantras did, opposed to my worn out S-Lab XTs) but I drank coke and popped in the headphones. I was able to RUN now FINALLY. The bad patch was gone. Nine hours of feeling horrible in basically every way. I got through it. I didn't even think about the fact that I had 20-26 more miles to go, I just ran. On the long decent, I passed Guy who stopped to pee and unfortunately I think my bad patch passed to him. I was bummed and felt pretty badly that I had passed him cause he really helped me all day long. But Guy knows how to slog and loves it, so he'd be alright.

A Day To Remember, (what a horrible video hahaha. 2008.) flashing back to my agnsty high school days, was sounding pretty great. Stupid lyrics like "I will never faulter; I'll stand my ground." Made me proud that I didn't quit and really pissed me off to start running hard. The decent was long and we were running through a recently burned forest which is definitely with my interests so I was occupied with firefighting thoughts.

I was running well now, calf not hurting, taking in caffeine pretty regularly, and feeling good. The shuffle switched to Mac Miller which I further got stoked on. I found myself arms wide-airplane style- running down the mountain rapping egotistical lyrics. "Best day ever." Thinking about my alter-ego of college kid partyer and some fun times. Because this still wasn't really that fun. Ok it was alright.

Uneventful next 10ish miles.
Caught Henry right before an aid station and ran with him for a mile or so which was nice. Suuuuuper stoked and privileged to accompany him to Barkley in two weeks. I really think he's gonna do it.
I was running behind Valarie on the road section and eventually took off once it climbed. The climb to the last aid station was forever and Kap Slap had me running up steep grades. But then I walked the flats haha. You do what you can.

I did one of those check-your-pulse-in-your-neck and felt nothing. I was officially dead.

Got to the top of the mountain and had a six mile decent to the finish. I ran it hard as possible for fear of getting caught. Saw RD Sean close to the finish which he had to reroute and he ran me in, which was really kind of him because I was unable to hear his directions of how to get to the finish haha. Finished. Totally spent.

......So I'm not really happy with the race. My recovery is the hardest it's ever been. I had a LOT of pitting edema in my calf which is still recovering. Mentally it was such a hard race I don't really want to run anymore. I'm tired. Understandably. You usually have that super-high for a few days after these races, but I'm just grumpy man. Looking back, the race wasss a little fun. The trails were gorgeous and the running at the end I enjoyed. The bad patch was just so long and I felt so badly. Whatever.

UltraVT killed it!!! Three in the top 10, and 5/5 finishers!! I'm so proud of our team. I wish I had pics from the weekend but it was so spread out and rushed and tired that none were taken. It's gonna be a good season. Once we recover. Which is taking awhile.

The rest of the GDR community was great. A facebook event page made for playful banter before the race and the small field had that ultra-family feel. I think the vast majority of ultras should stay like that. Sean RunBum did a great job for a first year ultra. So many people toughed out the race and finish. Everyone did a great job, and that communal accomplishment is whats so great about ultras.

13:53:58 was good enough for 4th (!!). More than an hour longer than I've ever ran. Man. Maybe you can tell I'm wiped. It was certainly a death race. I still feel like death. I learned that I like RUNNING more than slogging up and down mountains. I LOVE mountains but if it's a race I want to feel like I'm running? I'm not a biased runner- I like roads, trails, steep, flat, etc. I just like running. I foresee myself going young-Anton style soon: just trying to run as many miles as possible. We'll see where it all goes.


Dear Death Race,

You win.

No love,
Rudy

Somewhat of a 2012 Recap

The other day in the shower I thought that my life is just a happy blurr. And why should it be any other way? I used to hate it when my dad quoted those quotes, "life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it." But alas, I've concluded that those quotes are true. I don't have anything to complain about. I might hurt 25 or 40 or 50 miles into a race, but that's something us kids like to call a "first world problem." Running is such a trivial and luxurious activity, and I'm thankful I get to partake and that I'm healthy. Goodness, my little blog posts always begin so sentimentally.

Dare I say 2012 was the best year of my life. School went well, I made and developed some incredible friendships, summer was a unique experience, and my running continually improved and improved. It's 2013 now, and it began with new friends in New Zealand. Blacksburg brought snow, and a UltraVT 50k to go along with it. I have nothing to complain or worry about.

2012 miles

Jan: 210
Feb: 84        (mono)
Mar: 190      (Terrapin)
Apr: 195      (Promise land)
May: 147     (Yomomma)
Jun: 98        (NF50)
Jul: 129
Aug: 180
Sep: 280     (IMTR, uberrock)
Oct: 254
Nov: 250     (MMTR)
Dec: 126     (Hellgate)

Total: 2,134 miles

2012 Training

Fire Class

PL Training

PL 

Few days after NF50

Sister's bday

Again

Drinkmas 2012

Roomate love

Pink takes Tech

Uber rock

Post hellgate

Mt Rodgers

MMTR finish

PL

Mens team minus Earp in the car w. hypothermia

Post Terrapin

2013 New Zealand

Southern Alps, NZ

HELLGATE. Fantastic.

The event all started with me half-knowingly strolling into a women's restroom. The door was open in the cozy building at Camp Bethel (great place), and I didn't see the "ladies" sign until I was two steps in the door.  As I was using said bathroom, I heard a merry band of people chuckling. Whoops. As I exited the opposite sex's bathroom I was greeted with a round of applause and laughter. "Can't you read!?' "I go to college I swear!" I felt part of a loving and joking family.

But the door was open!

The event actually started well before the bathroom-incident. I was so stoked after Glove's Grindstone 100 that I decided to put my name in the Horton-selected-lottery-type-thing that is Hellgate. Without thinking about it, because yes, it was probably a bad idea, I put my application in the mail. AND I was accepted! Hellgate is a small and intimate and SPECIAL race, and I was thankful? and anxious and stoked that I got in. Had to do justice now...So I ran a very good MMTR and kind of kept training, which was probably a bad idea again. I had some foot issues, I couldn't really walk without limping but I could run. I got new shoes with support in them (highly recommend Solomon Sense XT 5s. They should last awhile too). I finally did a little rest and then got called to a wildfire on Sunday night and was out until early Wednesday morning. And I was sore! I don't have the upper body to fight wildfires I suppose.

Anywho, come Friday afternoon and my dad came to Blacksburg and the UltraVT crew piled in two cars and headed to the camp. Picking up my race number, Horton said "show me you earned your entry" to me and Fletcher. Glove remarked, "that's encouraging." Haha. Anxiety was really setting in. I'd never run more than 52 miles and more than 8:40mins. I was about to add at least four hours onto that. Starting at midnight. EEEK! During the pre race briefing I felt like I was getting a fever I was so freaking anxious. Yuck.

Come to the start line and we were quickly off. Fletcher was running next to me and I was happy about that. Glove took off, but about five mins later pulled back and hung out with Fletcher and I. We went up the first climb to AS2 WAY too fast. I was sweating bullets in my long sleeve. We basically ran the whole climb. I was flusssstered and using way too much energy by the time we saw our fab crew at AS2. I switched shirts and told myself to RELAX.

Top left: weird. Top right: not happy. Bottom: Fletcher hanging with a pinched nerve

Fletcher had wisely backed off as he was having some weird foot tingling issues. We think he has a pinched nerve in his back, BUT HE FINISHED!! Major props.

For the rest of the night Glove and I ran together, which realllllly was nice and helped. We moved swiftly. Never breathing hard, but not going easy. My plan was to go easychair the first third, hang the second third, then work the last third when I would pick up Henry Wakley to pace me in. That didn't really happen haha. Glove and I chatted a lot through patches of dense fog and fun climbs. I didn't caffeine until 4am or so, which I was pleased about. We didn't listen to music until about 5am, which was also good. I thought one of the biggest struggles would be to keep awake, but that really wasn't a factor until maybe 11am.  

4am and happy!

Sunrise came with smiles and a fistpound to Glove. Well, we made it past dark. I needed to eat. We barely missed our crew at the breakfast aid station, and I thought breakfast was the following aid station so I didn't eat too much there. Bad mistake. I ate well the first 5 hours, then basically dropped off from there, still eating, but not nearly enough. Powerbars weren't tasting very good, and neither were gu's. Perhaps one of the biggest things I came away with from this race: ALWAYS take more water and food than you think you'll need (for a race this long). You can kind of struggle through a 50k or maybe 50miler with not enough food, but 100k you will DIE. Thankfully I didn't die until the last 6 miles. We'll get there.

After AS6 Glove began to fade a tad, which was a little bummer cause we ran so well through the night together and had loose plans to finish together. I enjoyed the section into AS7, where I found out top 10 was viable by Horton shouting "THEY'RE CLOSE! YOU CAN GET A JACKET! DO YOU WANT A JACKET!? HURRY UP WHAT ARE YOU DOING GO GO GO!" Horton's enthusiasm got to me, and I way too hastily ran out of Bearwallow too fast. I had plans to eat a whole PB&J and drink some redbull, but I completely forgot. Not good. 

Forced smile :) Mile 44ish. 

Dad saying, "hey stop and eat" and me ignoring him. Typical relationship.

Pre-race I didn't think about post-bearwallow at all. My thought's were basically: Henry will get me through. AND HE DID! We talked a good bit through the "forever section" which really didn't feel like forever because AS3 to 4 was over 10 miles and that felt like forever. I was loving the forever section's trails too. Beautttyful. Views too! I ran this section well and eventually popped in headphones again because I was plain tired.

Got to Boblett's Gap at AS8 and my crew wasn't there. Had plans to eat the PB&J and redbull again but that didn't happen. I drank some mtn dew and that instantly didn't sit well in my stomach. I started to have issues running downhill. Slow. Till AS9 I had passed maybe 3 people and caught up with 10th place. He was gingerly picking his was down the rocks but I didn't pass him, just stayed on his tail for maybe 2 miles? Got to AS9 and crew wasn't there again. I ate a couple oreos and had some gingerale but that didn't sit well either. I took two tums and that helped, but my stomach was aching for food and I couldn't take it. 10th place guy started to run up the 3 mi climb, and I basically let him go, giving up the jacket. That was fine. My goal when I sent in my application was to finish. I was going to finish. 

Walked the whole climb, Henry trying to push me but I was out of it. I was in a low patch. That was becoming lower and lower. My inner thoughts were something like "bleeeep this stupid bleeeping climb and all this bleeping elevation gain and I'm bleeping tired and I want to stop and sleep and for this bleeping race to be over and this bleeping sucks bleep bleep bleep" but I was consciously telling myself "you're ok. recognize how you're feeling and move on. you're almost there, you can do it, you're still hiking relatively well. you asked for this. it's not supposed to be easy. embrace it. you're alright." It was a weird dichotomy between what my body and mind were telling me. I was out of water. I wanted to die basically. Drama. Forcing myself to respond to Henry, trying to smile, forcing grimaces that might have been smiles. Looking back on it, it was bad, but I'm sure it could have been worse. 

Once we topped out the climb we got some water from the kind volunteer sitting there. I just wanted to sit there too. Henry and I started to jog down the climb. The plan was to run it well all the way in. But my stomach was doubling over itself in hunger and cramps. I felt like I had to throw up but I had nothing to throw up. My head hurt. My feet were tingling. I felt top heavy. I had to stop a few times to collect my stomach then tried to run a little more. I never hated a downhill so badly haha. I was surprised nobody had caught me (Sam Dangc and I were yo-yoing for the past 20 miles or so and he was downhilling way better than I was but I was hiking better). The road finally turned to gravel and a straight shot to the camp. Henry said Sam was behind. I didn't have the energy to look. My head was spinning but my legs were moving, actually running now. Henry wasn't going to let Sam pass me. We hit the 1mile mark and started moving. A blur. 7:15 last mile, what the heck, I was struggling to walk downhill fifteen mins ago. I thanked Henry and ran in where Horton was yelling, "WOW! You did it! I didn't think you'd do it!" :-)

Posture says most of it.

Pops!

I'm stoked and tired at the same time now. I toughed out some hard miles. I survived the worst bad patch I've ever had, and I ran for more than half a day. That's odd. The human body is incredible. I'm ready for two weeks of zero running and then easy running after that. I need a break. Eight ultras in one year might be too much for a still-newbie like me. Horton said he'd give me a proper seeding next time ;-) and that I had to live up to it and that this year wasn't a fluke. It wasn't. Unfortunately the next Horton race for me won't be until Promise Land. I never really felt good in the race, minus maybe a couple hours when I started to listen to music at 5am. Other than that I was working all day. Which was fun and new. The new ground past 8:40 was incredible. But I was tired. I need to race less! I'm excited to rest and then get back into running a lot in training, which is what I love. Races are a time to race for me now, still enjoy it of course, but the whole stop-and-smell-the-roses fun is for those everyday runs that leave me in continual awe. Hellgate was certainly the hardest thing I've ever done. Period. 

Gotta say thanks to Henry, Earp, Catherine, Rachel, Darren, Kelly, Fletcher, Guy, and Jordy. And pops! And Horton for putting together this, yes, special, race. I can only guess what it would have been like if the weather was horrible. Eeek. Ultra VT repped hard! Glove came down with some bad tendonitis (understandably, I mean he did the BEAST series!) but still finished sub 14, which is great. Jordy finished right ahead of Glove with more energy than I could imagine. Fletcher deathmarched the last 20 and made it. I love our team.

The crew!

Would I do it again? Like Fletcher said, not for another year hahaha. In one year exactly? Sure...

Now: sleeping. eating. doing college. Recharging. Being thankful.

See you round the mountain!

Fantastic

MMTR 50 mile: Serenity

To any typical onlooker, the scene a half mile from the finish line of Mount Masochist 50 miler looked pretty bleak this past Saturday. A windy mountain road, snow atop the surrounding mountains--the scene must've been dim with gray colors of the cold afternoon. But I was cooking a 6:18 mile, catching 12th place, hyped on caffeine, the leafless trees vibrant with brown, the sky emitting warmth. Trying to keep my breath under control, blaring one hell of a remix in my headphones, I passed a man to land myself 12th place, took out my headphones, and crossed the finish line. 51 miles, 8 hours, 40 mins, five seconds.

It's been three days since, and my head is still foggy with lingering endorphins.  I think these ultra things make us better people. Daily tasks seem so insignificant after embarking and completing a journey like MMTR. These really really long runs force you to be patient, force you to be present, and force you to relax. On one hand you're so hyped up and just focusing on running the next step, but on the other hand you're at such peace. I've spoken a little about peace in past race reports, and I'll say it again: I have this strange sense of peace about me.

Anyway enough musing, to the race report.
UltraVT repped hard at MMTR this year, with six of us running and six of us finishing! Even though I placed higher than Guy Love I think he had a better race, still breaking 9 hours in the snow course less than a month after Grindstone 100. Incredible. Rachel Corrigan had high hopes for the race this year, but with a stress fracture still finished and completed the LUS. Incredible. My man Earp chilled all day and completed his first 50. Dmack died hard and still finished. Kelly Summers threw up before the first aid station. And still finished. Incredible. My team is so inspiring!

Even after my best training block ever, getting up do decent mileage and maintaining it (70-75 mpw), I found myself sitting at the pre race dinner Friday evening not very confident. I didn't really want to run. Reported knee deep snow in places on the course, coupled with some external (and internal) pressure to run fast and place high left me not really wanting to run. But I slept really well in my tent Saturday at the start line and woke up feeling good to go.

The gun went off, and a mad dash to the first turn around. Glove went out ahead, like I knew, and David stayed by my side which I was stoked about and didn't realize till 5 mins in.

Runners around the little pond. 630 am

Creek crossings, soaking feet, running by headlamp, and not trying to spend too much energy summed up the first hour and 15 mins. The sun came up and was stunning. It boded well. I kept telling myself aloud that it was going to be a good day, but in my head I kept having slight doubts. The temperature was cold, but I felt comfortable and was almost 2 hours in without realizing it. David and I yo-yoed with AJW for a bit and he remarked that we were running a smart race starting slowly. That boded well. It didn't feel slow, but it didn't feel fast. I told my doubts to "shut the fuck up. you're doing great. it's going to be a good day." I didn't have any doubts the rest of the day.

David and I had a super smooth transition with our crew at mile 11 (Mike and Darren and Fletcher--THANK YOU!) and plugged along and starting having some good conversation. We soon caught Glove and started climbing, mostly running. Dmack started breathing too hard and wisely backed off. Glove and I ran the next 17 miles or so together, which really made the time go by quickly as we've run together so often this semester. We ran fast too, almost missing our crew at mile 22. 

Mile 26, halfway, and the climb started. I pow-hiked it all basically, just keeping at a good clip. Saw a friend Chris and chatted. Started to get really cold, and started seeing snow. Went ahead of Guy and got to THE LOOP (mi 33). AND SNOW. 

Super super snowy. Completely different course than the first half. I was under sub 8hr pace, but the snow really slowed things down. I think the snow made people mad, or maybe I can just run through snow (doubt it), but I started to catch people here. I knew the loop was the place to begin to slowly start working, and I caught Krissy Moehl (pro female, winner, she's awesome) and yo-yoed with her for awhile. I whipped out my headphones and listened to some good tunes. Starting to get out of the loop (mi 38) and I was breathing just a tad too hard. I knew I had to calm down. Coming out of the loop, Fletcher perfectly in his chill manner calmed me down, got my pack filled, and I stuffed my face. Fletcher asked if I was gunning for top 10. Before the race that was a very loose and somewhat unrealistic goal. I asked if I was even remotely close to top 10 and he said, "I dunno, just catch mofos."

So I started to work. I started to caffeine and was running on my own. I took out my headphones for a section, and found out I was 16th. Climb. Fell going uphill fiddling with ipod. Then really started to race. Blared rage music and just went. 13 miles left. Leggo.

Ran, ran, ran, caught people and people, lots and lots of snow (4-9" my estimate). Got to the last aid station and found out I was in 12th. 10th was only a min up. I only drank coke and sprinted, too fast, got a side stitch, and backed off. Got passed which was a little deflating. Really just got into the music and started running really fast. Felt confident. My legs were working really well. Booked the rest, all downhill, caught a guy in the last 3/4ths mile, and beat my crew to the finish line. 12th. A little surprised :)

Post race UltraVT runners!!

Training run a couple weeks ago, atop Mt. Pleasant.

I flowed the last 13 miles. I flowed all day really, just in two different ways. The first half was just getting the miles through, the second half was racing, which, like I've said, isn't always as fun as just running, but it was def enjoyable and the right time to do it. Looking at race splits, I might've gone out too conservatively? But that's how I like to race. We'll see. Perhaps I'll gun it from the start in the spring ultras.

Here's an awesome video the Doc compiled. I've gottan appearance coming out of the loop at 5 mins! Woo

It was a great day, continually remarking how incredible it was that we're able to do this sort of thing. Running thankful is the best. I'm stoked about our team and my recovery is going really well. No soreness, just a little ache in the right ankle but it's getting better. Next up is HELLGATE baby, yup I got in! Glove and I are the youngest two people entered. I HAVE to finish and I'm going to. I'm super excited for it. It'll be a very long night and day, but I'm going to love every step. 

Post race at the finish line. Tired. Pure serenity.

See you around the mountain.
With Serenity.