tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8257700420395455112024-03-13T12:34:40.599-04:00Life Through the Eye of a RunnerMountain Goathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06461950075901993970noreply@blogger.comBlogger80125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-825770042039545511.post-51159555425644346392014-08-06T13:23:00.004-04:002014-08-06T13:23:57.746-04:00Enjoy More Mountain<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from Box Elder Peak - 11, 150'</td></tr>
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So it's been a while. I just got back from Utah where I was ran the Jupiter Peak Steeplechase on Saturday. It was the final race in the La Sportiva Mountain Cup. The race went pretty well. I finish 5th overall and got 4th place in the final standings in the Mountain Cup. My good friends, Ryan Woods and Megan Kimmel, were the winners of the Cup. Ryan became the first two time winner on the men's side and this was Megan's 5th Mountain Cup title. For my race, I ran quite well up the mountain in the first half. Not as much of a given as in the past, actually I've had more issues in the past year and sometimes climb rather poorly. Such as I did not run well as the USA Mountain Championships in New Hampshire in July nor two weeks ago at a Cup race in California. Back to this past Saturday, at the top I was not far behind Ryan who was in 3rd and right with Justin Ricks. I confirmed with Justin that Bret, 5th in the Mtn. Cup, was behind us and decided to let Justin go. I just wanted to cruise down the mountain, hold 4th place in the Cup, and not feel like I'd run myself into the ground once again.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View up Twin Peaks</td></tr>
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On the run down I was thinking about the run that I wanted to do the next day. I've have done a lot of thinking over the past year. Such as what is my purpose for being on this planet called Earth? How did we all get here? Is God really real? I think this is about the third time in life that I've really searched through many of these questions. The questioning was definitely prompted by my sister's passing. I was little surprised by how much questioning I fell into. To give my quick answers to those questions, my purpose is to enjoy as much as possible and do good. Not sure if the order should be do good and enjoy? I do want to enjoy responsibly, which makes me question all the traveling that I do. Is that good for the planet? Does my work benefit the planet either? How much does it matter? Maybe I'm just thinki<br />
ng in my own head too much. Anyway I base this purpose from the book of Ecclesiastes (3.12) in the bible and my own experiences. On the enjoying as much as possible, one my big goals for 2015 is to cut activities from my life. I want to enjoy the activities that I do more fully and do less things better.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JdBP24Q1lKM/U-Jg-l9-3mI/AAAAAAAAAWc/HE_kNqILVds/s1600/IMG_5607.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JdBP24Q1lKM/U-Jg-l9-3mI/AAAAAAAAAWc/HE_kNqILVds/s1600/IMG_5607.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a>How did we get here? I don't know! How much does it matter? I swing back and forth on that one, though I'm sure I'll keep asking it from time to time. Is there a God? I am 51% sure there is a God. I hope folks can understand that. I'm sure my parents would not. For me, 51% means that I've chose a path, I believe. Of course this is all about faith right? I have a lot of faith, 49% to be exact. So back to this past weekend and how<br />
all my thinking impacted it.<br />
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On Friday I did a 8-10 mile out and back with 4000'+ of elevation gain up to Twin Peaks. Not what I would have done in years past on the day before an important race or any race. I have been and still am a very competitive person. That has driven much of my running in the past. But maybe the competitiveness is fading a little. But I also enjoy being in and traversing mountainsides and mountain tops. So I wanted to enjoy Friday and Saturday, and Sunday. Sunday I went up on top of Box Elder peak. That was ~14 miles with 5500' of elevation difference from trailhead to peak. I was hoping to see some mountain goats on those runs, but I'll have to keep seeking.<br />
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Where is my running headed for the future? No sure on some of it, but it'll definitely include more mountain runs. My back is still intermittently a problem. Now I have some circulatory and heart rate issues. But my competitiveness is not quite gone yet. I'm training for Crystal Mountain SkyMarathon as of Sunday. Then I have the USA Trail Marathon Championships in November. Definitely more mountain enjoyment. Hopefully I'll do some good for someone too.<br />
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Thanks for those of you that have encouraged me to post some new blogs. We'll see how long until my next post, no promises. Maybe I'll get around to some of my adventures from the last year, no promises.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What happens when you meander wildlife</td></tr>
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Ready for quote out of context?<br />
I turned to Alison and said, "Suck more, squeeze less."<br />
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Come on, I guess I'll have to explain that one a little. I was telling Alison how to drink out of the Ultimate Direction bottle with out it dribbling on her. Anyway, thanks to UD for taking me on as a UD Ambassador.Mountain Goathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06461950075901993970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-825770042039545511.post-71685991399551916752013-07-05T04:32:00.001-04:002013-09-13T09:38:00.931-04:00Off Trail with a TurtleI’ve been lost up a strange turtle trail. To sort of explain that, I sometimes say I chase turtles through the woods for fun. So I think I followed a turtle off trail in past few months. Maybe I’ve found my way back on trail now, but somehow it feels a little different. Spain and France were a unique experience. I came back feeling relatively good with running and life. The biggest experience from the trip was how blessed I am to be in this life partnership with Alison. I missed her on the trip and thought quite a bit how good life is with her and I should do/be better. Two days after getting back, my sister Theresa was told she only had 3-6 months to live. She’d been diagnosed with a terminal illness 16 years ago and had a double lung transplant 3 years ago. Theresa died the following Tuesday, 6 days later. I was prepared for her death, but I was still left with an odd feeling that lingered or still lingers.<br />
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A couple of days later I destroyed my right ankle. It was really an accumulation of rolling it, but this did it in. I limped when I walked for two weeks. My motivation with running stumbled off trail and fell off a cliff. I was burnt out. Add the frustration of having to cancel the Beech Mountain 10K that I was race director for and I was a bit out mentally.<br />
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But I got better. (Say with a strong British accent for full effect.)<br />
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I'm currently in Wales for the IAU World Trail Championships. So hopefully I can get a little more time to post some updates of what's been happening on my "turtle trail" experiences.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Young Mountain Goat among the hills of Wales</td></tr>
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Mountain Goathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06461950075901993970noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-825770042039545511.post-69536390848526499992013-03-21T17:39:00.002-04:002013-03-21T19:03:53.111-04:00The Ups and Downs of SpainHola. I was blessed to be invited to race and visit some in Spain by a new friend that I met this past August at TransRockies, Lolo Diez. It has been a blast so far. My first race was on Saturday and went okay I was 6th overall and 3rd Master. It was cool to make to podium for Masters.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2600+' of vertical in 4K, and snow. Like 3' at the top.<br />
Pretty sweet photo by Ruben Fueyo, Thanks!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zinca is 3rd from left, Raul is to my right.</td></tr>
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My time was 34:45. The winner was Ionut Zinca in 30:55, who is a top European mountain runner. Raul Garcia Castan, a very well known Spainish mountain runner, was 3rd and 1st Master. </div>
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Sunday was a 31K mountain race, <a href="http://www.carreraaltosil.com/" target="_blank">Carrera Alto Sil</a>. The race was voted the best international mountain race in Spain by Outdoor.com. The course was challenging, beautiful, nasty footing, vertical; just right for me. My legs were done at 8K. I think it was a combination of travel, 40 hours without sleep while traveling, and the vertical race the day before. It was frustrating to be unable to race, but I walked a lot and covered the whole course. It was a beautiful course. Regardless of the difficulties, I hope I am learning to appreciate more of all the lessons that running, mountains, and God are teaching me, no matter how difficult for me to face. Below I'll post some photos. I'll try to write more about my experience and reflections when I return. You can also check my <a href="http://www.facebook.com/jason.bryant.52493?ref=tn_tnmn" target="_blank">Facebook page</a> as there are more photos and links to photos.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;">The Wall - At 4K<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Running up to mountain hut in Spainish Pyrenees</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some ruins under peak up the mountain behind our lodging</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oswaldo climbing behind ruins</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oswaldo, Stephan, and JB</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hopping around Spain</td></tr>
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Mountain Goathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06461950075901993970noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-825770042039545511.post-35244834927566030412013-03-03T13:15:00.000-05:002013-03-06T20:56:45.916-05:00I sipped the Water, but was denied the Drink at Nueces 50 Mile<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Straight up, this is a hard blog to write right now. My feelings are swinging between stop racing all together and I want to attack one, two, several races over the coming year. To be honest, Alison hears this somewhat often. Though, I feel at an even more unstable place than my normal mental and physical strain of racing. Yesterday was the USA 50 Mile Trail Championships at Nueces 50 Mile Trail Race. I was 3rd again. That is now ten 3rds at USATF trail and ultra championships. Plus I've been 3rd at many, many of my other races. Third is better than fourth, but...<br />
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As for yesterday's race, things were going quite well for a while. Nueces consists of three 16.67 mile loops. My split for the first loop was fast and I came through in a group comprised of 2nd through 5th. This pack was comprised of myself, Cody Moat, Brian Ruseicki, and David Brown. Paul Terranova had ran off early on and had about a 3 minute lead. On the first big climb about 5 1/2 miles into the second loop, I broke away from the pack. Only Cody was able to reel me back in after things leveled out. Around 11 miles into the second loop, we hit the second big climb of each loop. Paul was in sight. This climb is around 1 1/2 miles long. By the top, I had gapped Cody just a little, though Paul had surged a little upon seeing us. I was feeling good and moving. I came through this loop with another really good split, on track to break the course record. I was about 40 seconds behind Paul and almost 30 ahead of Cody. I could taste the cool waters of a win coming.<br />
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That did not last very long. Just a couple of miles later I was starting to struggle. I wasn't diagnosising my issue very well, I just was beginning to have problems holding pace. Had I pushed too hard, too soon? At least I had chased the win. Was this some new back issue? I didn't think so. I saw Cody closing on some switchbacks. We were together for a little ways. He moved on and I would not be going with him. I knew that was the end of my race to win. That was hard. I had really wanted to win; for myself, for friends at home who encourage me, for those who read my blog, for my sister in really bad health, for runners I meet in my travels and cheer for me at races all over the country, and all the folks who'd been encouraging me during yesterday's race.<br />
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My struggles increased and I eventually noticed that my watch was really tight. I looked at my hands. They were really swollen. I loosend the watch a notch. It had gotten warm and I just realized that I was not sweating. Soon my hands were so swollen that I could not straighten my fingers and the watch was tight again. I could tell my legs were swelling. Had I miss managed my hydration, fueling or was this just my issues with heat as I have problems adjusting to heat every spring? Those are questions I'll consider in the coming days. I was now walk/running the flat sections. I was ready to DNF, but 10 miles from the finish, still in third and first master. I had to just keep moving my feet and focus on the next step. The walking allowed me to cool a little, then run, heat up, and walk again. I would not be running any hills now, which is normally a strength of mine. Just walking the hills was over heating me plenty. I was trudging. Somehow I finished 1:50 faster than last year, but the last loop was my slowest loop ever.<br />
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I have to admit to being frustrated. I thought the win was going to happen. Some may say that I should just enjoy running and the beautiful places that I go. I think I do, but I have a competitive personality. Several who know me and my ablities would say, do say, that I am overachieving anyway. If you look at my PRs listed along the right, my times compare better to the elite women than the men. In fact, quite a few of the women have faster PRs than mine. And before you think it, yes I've trained and tried to run fast on the roads. I am often asked about running in college; I went to NC State, the coach told my high school coach that I was too slow to train with the team. I DON'T CARE. This is trail and mountain racing. I have a strange talent for the trails and mountains. All I know is to keep fighting for that big win against competitive fields. At the end of the day, there is something about the struggle that keeps pulling me back in regardless of how frustrated or despondent I feel. There is some truth in knowing who you really are that can only be discovered in some struggle. Does self-pity swallow you? Do you fight to the end? There is that something about the difficulty of these races that strips one bare of all your self protections. Again this is me probably being too honest, but that is me and the point of my blog. But I have won and could win more races somewhat comfortably. Granted you never know who will be at any given race, but I could pick what are typically less competitive races. I am drawn to competition that pushes me to the very limits of what my body can do. How will I repond to each struggle. I must say that writing this has been quite cathartic. I may ready for the next struggle.<br />
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A final positive for me from yesterday came from Big Chris who mans the Texas aid station. He told me after the race what he thought as I approached Texas aid station for the last time. He said I was the picture of suffering and thought to himself, this guy really knows how to suffer. I do like to think suffering is one of my abilities and appreciated his comments. I wish I could have won for Chris too.<br />
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Top Results:<br />
Men<br />
1. Cody Moat 6:26.03 Course Record<br />
2. Paul Terranova 6:32.10<br />
3. Jason Bryant 6:46.09 1st Master - Masters Course Record<br />
4. Brian Ruseicki 6:55.22<br />
5. Brandon Ostrander 7:08.46<br />
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Women<br />
1. Michele Yates 6:53.25 Course Record<br />
2. Melanie Fryar 7:33.58<br />
3. Pam Smith 7:39.19<br />
4. Sydney Pitt 7:53.16<br />
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1st Female Master - Anabel Pearson 9:16.31Mountain Goathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06461950075901993970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-825770042039545511.post-61175259490178705912013-02-25T03:01:00.003-05:002013-02-25T05:19:04.500-05:00How to Have Fun on the La Sportiva Mountain CupNumber 1, find someone willing to do foolish things with you. Your chances seem better with younger folk, but I am 40. Plus my friend Bernie who's 48 seems to be willing to do foolish things so maybe age doesn't matter. My foolish someone this weekend, Everett Russell, a La Sportiva Marketing guy.<br />
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Number 2, don't worry if what you doing seems necessarily wise. This sounds seems odd for me to be saying as I told Everett that one of the life lessons I think people should learn is to stop and ask yourself, "Is this a stupid thing to do?"<br />
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Number 3, run more on trails... at any time.<br />
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To shorten my foolish story, I drove up to Reading, PA with Ryan Woods on Saturday for the Chilly Cheeks trail race as it is on the <a href="http://www.mountaincup.com/" target="_blank">La Sportiva Mountain Cup</a>. Ryan wisely chose to run near the hotel, get something to eat, and relax at the hotel. I got Everett to meet me and we went over to run the course in the dark, in a light rain and heavy fog. The Petzl headlamps were a must for rough trails and no moon. The new Nao light is like having a car headlight lighting the way. Not sure exactly where the course was, we roamed around a bit until we found some flagging. We were running it backwards, but that works for me. It was muddy, so at times you'd start sliding downhill and it was best to just go with it. It was rocky, so it was best not to crash down onto them. It was really foggy, so it was just really hard to see some rockiness, mud, or even course markings. It was a blast and great to get to know Everett more. It was the right kind to stupid for my head.<br />
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Everett and I got some food. Then I went back to the hotel to grope Ryan's butt. He made me do it. Don't take me too seriously, Ryan is a professional... chiropractor. He was just having me help him do some active release on a tight glute muscle. But I am going to try it on Alison. I then did some self massage which I have been doing quite a lot of lately, seriously. Actually, I think it has helped a lot with my back issues. So back to Reading. Shortly after we got there race morning, I saw Matt Byrne who I expected to be there. Later I saw Jordan McDougal. I knew he'd be quick and near the front. I've gotten to know several folks up in that area from the races I do there, plus several come down to my 10km Trail Championship every year. It was good to see some of them. Megan Kimmel was also out from Colorado for the women. Races seem to be almost as much visit with friends as race.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CKHCkMvWD7E/USsWwbzEJaI/AAAAAAAAAT4/jijhSIJk3fM/s1600/Ugly+Mudder+'12+-+jb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CKHCkMvWD7E/USsWwbzEJaI/AAAAAAAAAT4/jijhSIJk3fM/s320/Ugly+Mudder+'12+-+jb.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo from last years finish.</td></tr>
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I had been tight all week from the Red Hot race and actually took a couple days completely off. Instead of running, I did an hour plus of yoga and another hour plus of self massage one day. Then on the other day off, I did more than 2 hours of self massage. I was a little unsure how the race would go. Quite a few guys went out fast. I had seen the first mile of the course during warmup and decided to be a little conservative. There was steep, bushwhacking scrabble about a 1/2 mile into the race. I was back past 10 place. Once up that on the road briefly before the trail I settled into 8th. My legs were still feeling the Moab. Nothing hurt, there just wasn't a lot of life and I noticed it most on the climbing. Plus I spent a lot of the race thinking about various things, not entirely focused on racing. I had moved up to 5th about 3 miles in and could see the white singlet of 4th throughout and often catch sight of another yellow La Sportiva singlet. I thought this was Ryan, but it turned out to be Matt. I kept thinking if I could keep focus I might catch 3rd, but I kept having trouble with the focusing thing. Eventually I stopped seeing the yellow singlet and just tried to focus on 4th.<br />
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Coming up to the aid station at 4 miles I could hear the cheering for 3rd as I was close enough to know it was not for the 4th place guy. I was told that I was 2+ minutes back of first. I was actually surprised to hear I was that close with how I felt and my lack of focus. As I was nearing the big, technical climb at 5 miles, I was closing on 4th. I put my head down and set about closing the gap. A couple of minutes later, I looked up to see Ryan coming back down from missing a turn. I took the turn right in behind 4th and Ryan. Honestly, I knew the next 1 and 1/2 miles were technical and suited my strengths. My instincts were to race. Ryan and I traded place a couple of times across the hill. We turned steeply up and I thought I could pull by, so did. Then it was my kind of tough, technical down. I got a small gap on Ryan in getting down the next 3/4 mile. Now we were on more flat terrain for a almost 1/4 mile. I knew Ryan was close, then I could hear him closing. I knew there was a short trail and steep climb about 150 yards from the finish. I thought to just run like the turn onto the trail was the finish. As I turned onto the trail, I could tell Ryan was now on top of me. Then I looked up to see Matt. I had a quick thought of whether I could catch Matt, but knew he was only 50 or so yards from the finish. There was a guardrail to go over which I hopped cleanly. Now we were on the climb and I knew it would be hard for Ryan to get by there. But there was a flat 30-40 yards at the top. I hopped over the last big rock at the top and sprinted. Ryan was right on me, but said that me hopping up that last rock left him with no chance to sprint in with me.<br />
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I felt a bit bad about beating Ryan that way, but between gun and finish all my instincts are race. I then found out that Ryan had actually been in 2nd when he went off course. I had been seeing Matt throughout the majority of the race. I felt bad for Ryan. He was really cool about it and knows that's one of the sucky things with trail racing. I had a missed turn last year in New Mexico that ruined a race. It just sucks. On the drive home, Ryan pointed out that I had been 5 minutes behind he and Matt last year. Last year was a similar distance and in the same area of trails. I was just 11 seconds behind Matt and 2:48 behind Jordan. I am feeling quick. I'm looking forward to next weekend at Nueces and feeling really good about my fitness and speed going into it. Especially with my races these last two weeks. I have done a bit more speed work on the track this winter. Plus I've done 10 x 1 mile with 1 minute recovery a few times over the winter. My last mile repeat workout started in the low 5:50s and finished at 5:45. I'll see how it goes in a week.<br />
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If you want to see my race coverage and Mountain Cup standings report, go to <a href="http://www.mountaingoatracing.com/" target="_blank">www.mountaingoatracing.com</a>. Also if any of the folks up in PA got some pictures again this year, I like to get a couple again. I really appreciate the ones I got last year. Sorry I wasn't able to stay and visit more. I hope to see you at my 10K this year.Mountain Goathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06461950075901993970noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-825770042039545511.post-42833605414243268662013-02-18T12:22:00.003-05:002013-02-19T18:15:41.914-05:00Something is Wrong with Me, Mountain Cup - Moab Red Hot 33K<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5rG-W19XDdQ/USJbecSIRkI/AAAAAAAAATI/nyc0HVqe3Ew/s1600/Private+Arch-jb+Running+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5rG-W19XDdQ/USJbecSIRkI/AAAAAAAAATI/nyc0HVqe3Ew/s320/Private+Arch-jb+Running+1.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Running over Private Arch</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I went out to Moab knowing that Red Hot is not my best course, but then again there aren’t many courses that really match my talents. Though some courses are better than others. Overall, Red Hot 33K has more of my less preferred terrain, than my more preferred terrain. There is a lot of road or jeep road on the 33K course. Actually, the whole course is road or jeep road, but about half is drivable with any SUV 4x4. The other half would need a need a modified, big wheel, high clearance 4x4. There is a decent climb at the beginning, but it is only a mile and not steep. I’m not sure that there is another sustained climb for the rest of the course, but there are several steep ups and downs in the middle 9-10 miles. I like this part of the course, except I need to work on my slickrock navigating skills, or it’d be helpful to run the course more before the race. I spent a bit of time stopping or at least slowing down to try and find the course markings. I wasn’t the only one.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yZfws9g1XEA/USJb7CW89JI/AAAAAAAAATQ/7F4pj1EcwH0/s1600/Double+O+Arch.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yZfws9g1XEA/USJb7CW89JI/AAAAAAAAATQ/7F4pj1EcwH0/s320/Double+O+Arch.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">As for how my race went, it was unique I guess, but positive. I led up the climb of the first mile which I wasn’t too surprised by. Once we crested and the road flatted, a parade of runners cruised by. Again, I’ve grown very accustom to this. I heard from some of these guys that they were doing low to mid 5 minute pace. Not a pace I do for more than 1-2, maybe 3, miles and then stop running. I was quickly in 6<sup>th</sup> and by the first aid station at 4.4 miles, even 5<sup>th</sup> place was completely out of sight. I was very glad to finally get off the dirt road. The course mostly climbed up to the aid station at 8.1 miles. This section was good for me as I got into 5<sup>th</sup> and even 1<sup>st</sup> was in sight as I approached the aid station. The section between the second and third aid station was a challenge to follow the course. I was never really off course, I just couldn’t click along at a pace. Again, I wasn’t the only one. However, Justin Ricks knew the course a little better and made good use of this knowledge to break away. He and second place made a point to get out of sight quickly so no one could follow them. For me, it was run, then slow down or stop to look for flagging. James, the guy who I’d caught for 5<sup>th</sup>, kept directing me back to flagging and I eventually gave up on breaking away from him as he was better at finding the flagging. We eventually caught 3<sup>rd</sup> and 4<sup>th</sup>, one of whom being Josh Brimhall. We searched for flagging and ran as a group to the third aid station. I knew the last 5 miles were on relatively fast jeep roads that were flat to down. I was screwed.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Speed is not a talent of mine. I had meet Josh in 2011 when we ran at the IAU Trail World Championships in Ireland. Ireland was harsh, my kind of course, like really my kind of course. Well, except for some road sections. I knew Josh had good speed. I could tell the other guy that James and I had caught with Josh had good speed. James seemed to have solid speed as well. I would say that it was decision time in the race, but that is not entirely true. I’d made my decision well before the gun was shot at the start. I was there to race. At times it doesn’t matter what you may be good at or not be good at. I knew it was time to take all systems to the red line and see how long it’d last. The only other option was to surrender and jog it. Not an option as far as I was concerned.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hPmyFzhO6eY/USJcOivW1JI/AAAAAAAAATY/nM6gIfHyYdI/s1600/Arches+NP-Alison+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hPmyFzhO6eY/USJcOivW1JI/AAAAAAAAATY/nM6gIfHyYdI/s320/Arches+NP-Alison+1.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Alison running up a spine in Arches NP</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">I have noticed that I have the ability to access basically whatever speed that I have regardless of fatigue. I’ve noticed that can be hard for others. The abuse of climbs and descents does not kill my legs or the speed they can produce. I have trouble doing 5:30 for 1-2 miles fresh, but 6 minute pace is available almost anytime. So at 15 miles I dropped my pace to 6 minute pace or just under and was going to hold it for as long as I could. I was a little surprised to be catching Josh who had gotten out of the aid station first. I worked by him, slowly. I could hear the other guys behind me, but no one was pulling up on my shoulder. Eventually, I could only definitely hear one guy close, breathing hard. Just over a mile from the finish he pulled ahead and now I was hanging on. Again, what other choice was there, I was racing. As we got closer to the finish, he created a small gap. Then we hit a steep, rocky downhill. I knew that was now in my wheelhouse and was able to catch him and get a very small gap. Then it was flat again and again he was able to pull by. A couple more turns and I saw the jeep road get rocky again. Problem was I could also see the finish less than a 100 yards ahead. Too few rocks and too late. I hate getting beaten right at the end. Seconds after crossing the finish, I got the guy’s name, Trent Briney. No consolation, I hate getting out kicked. As my friend and former high school coach said, “The good thing about getting out kicked by good people... you were at least racing with them at the end.” You know what, I hate getting beaten right at the end.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7T-iN35DNok/USJf6dQr43I/AAAAAAAAATk/3UFNoWGAZJ0/s1600/Landscape+Arch.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7T-iN35DNok/USJf6dQr43I/AAAAAAAAATk/3UFNoWGAZJ0/s320/Landscape+Arch.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Landscape Arch - Arches National Park</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Okay I’ll stop with that. There does seem to be something wrong with me. I'm still getting ever so slightly faster as I get older. Turning 40 has actually had some negatives physically, but some positives. The biggest positive being my improving performance. I surprised myself in that last five miles. I had honestly expected all three guys to run away from me in those last 5 miles to the finish. Though I was not just gong to let it happen. I felt really good about that finishing section. That was definitely out of my comfort zone, but rewarding in that I feel that I performed reasonably well. The getting out kicked is still eating at me. For most who read my blog, you expect my honest feelings at this point and I wanted that place. I was glad to set a new </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">masters course </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">record by several minutes, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">breaking that of my friend Bernie.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> My final thoughts on the race, what is up with me breaking previous course records and not winning races? I've done this at least 10-15 times over the past few years.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I'm headed up the Reading, PA next weekend. I always seem to enjoy the races in PA, plus I'll get to see several folks I know up there. In two weeks I head to Texas, for </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Nueces 50 mile which the bulk of my training has been geared toward. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I've done a little more speed workouts over this winter, plus some 10 x 1 mile with 1 minute recoveries this winter. I've been doing these miles at 5:50-55 pace with the last one a little faster. Seems to be working based on Saturday. I hope that I'm ready to knock off a bit of time from my previous performances there. I'll find out in two weeks.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">For my race coverage and Mountain Cup results/standings, check my website <a href="http://www.mountaingoatracing.com/" target="_blank">Mountain Goat Racing</a></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I also hope you'll check out my race on that site as well. Plus I hope you check my <a href="http://lifethroughtheeyeofarunner.blogspot.com/2013/02/designing-10km-trail-championship.html" target="_blank">previous blog</a> and give more input on my 10K course, what is too tough?</span></div>
Mountain Goathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06461950075901993970noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-825770042039545511.post-16491057428028141802013-02-13T10:35:00.002-05:002013-02-19T00:04:53.836-05:00Designing the 10km Trail Championship course. Is this guy crazy? Your job to keep me Sane.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">What is too hard? Does such a thing even exist? Want to have some input into a Trail Championship course? What is Jason talking about?</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AbKdvJjJr3o/URusoZlzl3I/AAAAAAAAAS4/GZBCXRjffks/s1600/Ugly+Mudder+'12+-+jb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AbKdvJjJr3o/URusoZlzl3I/AAAAAAAAAS4/GZBCXRjffks/s320/Ugly+Mudder+'12+-+jb.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">East Coast Hills - Reading, PA</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">See you in a couple of weeks.</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I am doing some races at Beech Mountain this year with one of those races being the USA 10km Trail Championships. Thus I have been working on laying out a new course. At my new site there are options of twisting single track multi-use trails, grassy ski slopes, wide tree covered trails between slopes, and some primitive off the mountain single track trails. My previous race, Continental Divide Trail Race, got to be known for its challenging layout. I like challenging courses. When I think "Trail Championship", I think about, well... trails, mountain trails. I actually looked up the definition of trail, which of course there are several definitions of trail. Plus we use the word trail in many ways and add bike trail, horse trail, but I digress. The definition from Free Dictionary was "a marked or beaten path, as through the woods or wilderness." I like words like "beaten," "woods," "wilderness." Merriam-Webster defined trail as "a track made by passage especially through a wilderness; a marked or established path or route especially through a forest or mountainous region." Again words like "mountainous," I like that. "Trail Championship" to me doesn't mean a run through the local park that requires basically the same skill set a running on the road. Nothing against running on the road, but my sport is "trail" running. IT IS a different skill set. Trail running has very little to do with setting a rhythm and getting in a groove. It is the antithesis of rhythm. Trails are all about irregular, off-balance steps, so do you have the skills to maintain speed on that. Trail racing is about the ability to constantly shift gears, from a grinding uphill hike, to nearly flat out speed across a ridge or valley, to almost unconscious plummets downhill, and so on. Trail racing is a mental exercise of constant focus, yet loss of time or distance traveled. Trails often travel irregular terrain to get somewhere inconvenient often up and down steep grades. Trails are about taking a path less traveled. Maybe I will have to stop writing now because I've made myself want to go for a run in the mountains.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />Okay I'll keep writing for now and look forward to running some Moab, UT trails this weekend. Alison says I can take things too far. I would disagree, but I do have to acknowledge that after listening to others comments about me for 40 years, I am an extreme personality. I had learned to keep some of my thoughts, and activities, to myself. Though when I found the trail community, I found my people. Quite a few in the trail community seem to find me almost normal. Well maybe at least not too out there by their standards. So anyway, about laying out the course for the 10km Trail Championships. I took Alison to run my idea for the course. I think she knew that it would tough, but she thought it may be a little too tough. I'll confess that I love to virtually dive straight off a mountain or grind straight back up, which you can see below. It is the shortest, quickest way down or up. But this route has a 1/2 mile 20% descent that Alison thought was a bit much. I just said, "Bend your knees more and think quick feet. It's kind of the position of downhill skiing, but you're running." This descent was followed by a 1/4 mile run on a fireroad, then a 3/10 climb at 30%. Yes, it goes straight up the mountain. So does this sound like too much?</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Just look at that beautiful dip!</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A friend, Ryan Woods, has agreed to go out to preview the course with me. He has said that I hate road runners. Not true, I love trails and mountains. I've never seen a mountain too big or a trail too hard. Not to say that I won't someday, but not yet. But I don't care for road runners complaining about trail running not being running. For my previous Continental Divide course, Bobby Mack converted that track and road speed into a win, a second, and a third on that tough trail course. Another great example is Max King. He has run fast on road and track(6th in the steeple at the 2012 Olympic Trials), plus is the 2011 World Champion at mountain running. Don't tell me that covering hard mountainous trails has nothing to do with speed. I'll have to ask Max for his opinion. But here is your chance to give me your opinion. Help me plan the USA 10km Trail Championship course at Beech Mountain. Seriously, I want your input. Don't be afraid to be honest, Alison gives it to me all the time. You can tell me that I'm a psychopath, just let me know that you like said psychopath. I will take any input into consideration, but I reserve the right of final decision. As I see it, my opinion and that of Joyce Hodges-Hite are top of the list. She is 70+ and has finished Continental Divide every year winning her age group. Her opinion will carry a lot of weight as I want a course she would do. Finally, keep in mind that challenging trails are just my opinion of what are fun trails. I like the challenge and beauty offered on most tougher courses. I believe variety is good, if others like more tame trails, that is the course they should design. I have no problem with parks or gentle paths, just this is my idea of what a trail championship race should be. But I would like it to be an event others like as well, thus my call for your opinions.</span><br />
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Interview on MTN 18</div>
Mountain Goathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06461950075901993970noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-825770042039545511.post-81934133875833810542013-02-04T00:00:00.001-05:002013-02-04T13:29:26.461-05:00My Uncomfortable Uwharrie Mountain Run 2013<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ss728GrRBzw/UQ886oolEVI/AAAAAAAAARI/oS8c2GhYA6s/s1600/IMG_3998.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ss728GrRBzw/UQ886oolEVI/AAAAAAAAARI/oS8c2GhYA6s/s320/IMG_3998.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sean Andrish, Alison, JB</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yesterday I ran the Uwharrie Mountain Run. I didn’t run any races in January and had only run one small uphill 5K since my DNF at Hellgate 100K in early December. I have been enjoying just going out to Doughton Park running from the Longbottom area every weekend in January. Training has been going well with several fast long runs(16-18 miles), some solid mountain workouts, and some good track workout. The back has been mostly manageable, just becoming more irritated in the last week. I started having some exceptionally sharp and harsh pains just under my right shoulder blade about a week ago. My back pain tends to bounce from side to side and up and down. It is seldom consistently just in one spot. So that left me a little concerned going into Uwharrie. I had been hoping to go for really fast time yesterday, but had begun to doubt that in the days before the race</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Race morning was rather crisp with the temperature at the start around 17 degrees. Once we were off, the cold was never a problem and I could have actually done with a few less clothes. Sean Andrish and I took the lead fairly quickly after briefly going up the wrong trail in the first ½ mile. I knew in the first 3 miles that it was not going to be an especially fast day. I was tight, uncomfortable, and the right leg wasn’t functioning correctly. I turned the right ankle 4-5 times in the first 5 miles as I was not feeling the ground fully with that foot. Plus both of my plantar fascias were aching. Oh well, I figured that I’d try to stay relaxed and hope for the best. I was prepared to face another DNF. Sean and I stayed together for the first 14 miles or so. It was good to talk a little off and on, plus a nice distraction from my discomfort. I didn’t talk as much as I am sometimes known for in races. I was just too distracted with own discomfort.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On Longbottom loop with Jan Kriska</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">I had finally loosed up some and the right leg started to feel mostly functional after about an hour. Around 14 miles, there is the steepest and longest climb on the out section. As climbing comes quite naturally to me, I pulled away from Sean a little on the long climb. I had enjoyed Sean’s company, but I was hoping that things might come around a little more and I could possibly surge a little on the return trip for a sub 6 hour time. I hit the turn around in 2:55 and thought I might be able to get under 6:00. My feet were aching something fierce though and this rocky, technical trail was not helping. The best part of the day really had to be heading back into all the 40 and 20 mile runners. I was surprised by the number of the runners who greeted and encouraged me by name. That was simply humbling. I wanted to run a fast time for all the runner’s encouragement. But my body just was not cooperating. It was a long day as I was never really comfortable. The last 12 miles was all about thing in small pieces and don’t look at the watch. I try to lose track of time and distance, just keep moving efficiently. I was glad to see the finish in 6:05.15. I was ready to sit down and give my feet a rest.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Me looking normal?</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Alison was waiting at the finish after winning the 20 mile race for the women. Congrats to Duncan Hoge on winning the 20 mile race. It was great to see Shannon Johnstone and Anthony Corriveau at the finish. I think I’m known for enjoying some post race socializing which I indulged in yesterday. My back began to relax fairly quickly after finishing so hopefully things are going in the right direction with it. Strangely, my back has actually hurt less after the race than in the days before. My plantar fascias are going to need a few days to recover now. Otherwise I don’t have much else that is very sore. Up next is something fast, the kickoff of the <a href="http://www.mountaincup.com/" target="_blank">La Sportiva Mountain Cup</a> at Moab’s Red Hot 33K. I plan to do some Mountain Cup coverage on my new website, <a href="http://www.mountaingoatracing.com/" target="_blank">www.mountaingoatracing.com</a>. I hope you’ll check out some races that I’ll be putting on this year at Beech Mountain, info on my website. The first is a 4.7 mile ~9% hill climb on April 6<sup>th</sup>. Then the USA 10km Trail Championship on June 29<sup>th</sup>, more coming soon this race.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">40 Mile Results</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">1. Jason Bryant - 6:05.15</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">2. Sean Andrish - 6:19.20</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">3. Sebastian Welterlin - 6:30.04</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">20 Mile Results</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">1. Male: Duncan Hoge - 2:47.32 Female: Alison Bryant 3:17.45</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-U1Rv-CSN7w0/UQ8-xWa6osI/AAAAAAAAARk/uCDjm-_iQGk/s1600/Mt.+Rogers-JB+&+Jan+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-U1Rv-CSN7w0/UQ8-xWa6osI/AAAAAAAAARk/uCDjm-_iQGk/s400/Mt.+Rogers-JB+&+Jan+1.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At Mt. Rogers with Jan a couple of weeks ago.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zH32_Ai3sUQ/UQ8_RcQ5lsI/AAAAAAAAARs/ftGuhfQZuoI/s1600/Mt.+Rogers-JB+1+.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zH32_Ai3sUQ/UQ8_RcQ5lsI/AAAAAAAAARs/ftGuhfQZuoI/s400/Mt.+Rogers-JB+1+.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On the way up to Mt. Rogers Summit</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">More of Alison’s quotes taken out of context: </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">“Size doesn’t matter to me, obviously.”</span></div>
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Mountain Goathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06461950075901993970noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-825770042039545511.post-92052327352289048712012-12-22T21:59:00.002-05:002013-09-13T09:37:09.740-04:00The Good, The Bad, at least I'm Not Ugly<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zJfwZhM2Q6s/UNfgwFU943I/AAAAAAAAAQc/B9Ho3zbV-E4/s1600/IMG_3479.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" eea="true" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zJfwZhM2Q6s/UNfgwFU943I/AAAAAAAAAQc/B9Ho3zbV-E4/s640/IMG_3479.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jungfrau in Switzerland</td></tr>
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Sorry folks, I was lost in the woods for a couple of months and was finally led out by a box turtle. Or I wish that was the case maybe. What follows are my false truths and I’m standing by them. Rob Livengood requested more of my foolishness this past weekend, so blame him. I expect a comment Rob. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sage, me, Josh, & Galen with silver medals</td></tr>
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In September I went to Switzerland to run the Jungfrau Marathon which was the 2012 World Long Distance Mountain Running Challenge. I was part of the US Team with Sage Canaday, Galen Burrell, Zac Freudenburg, and Josh Ferenc; our team won a silver medal. It was a highlight running experience and great honor. Unfortunately, a couple of chupacabras attacked me around 18 miles and I struggled to the finish. For those that don’t know, a chupacabra is a mythical creature known for sucking the life out of goats. Personally, I can attest to their existence. Jungfrau was a great experience because of my teammates. You can go to my report on the La Sportiva website if you’re interested in more on <a href="http://mountainrunning.com/community/race-report/jungfrau-world-trail-marathon" target="_blank">Switzerland</a>.</div>
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Early October, I had another bad race locally in Boone, The Knob, a 2 mile hill climb. Then some strange object fell from the sky and knocked me straight. Mid-October to December 8th seem like some magical dream. In mid-October, I ran North Face Atlanta 50 mile. I was second behind Hal Koerner, finishing only a couple of minutes behind him. He did miss a turn late in the race, so would have run faster. Still my time was less than 5 minutes off his course record time and Geoff Roes’s best time there. That’s not even the best part of the race. My back was quite good during the race. It had been rather bothersome from before Jungfrau up to North Face. My back seemed even better the day after the race, my legs were never sore. I had never felt this good after any ultra and seldom feel this good after anything over a 5K. I did strain my illiopsoas muscle at North Face, but I’d take that any day over a mild back issue.<br />
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So three weeks later, I went out to Moab, Utah for the <a href="http://www.mtairynews.com/view/full_story/20753906/article-Bryant-grabs-third-in-USA-Trail-Championship" target="_blank">USA Trail Marathon Championships</a>. It should be fairly easy to guess how I did. I broke the previous course record and finished third. For those that don’t know that is my 9th third place finish at a USATF trail or ultra championship and 5th third while also breaking the previous course record. The competition was stout, fast stout, but at least it was a somewhat challenging course. Guys all around me had 2:15 to 2:22 marathon PRs. Mine is over 20 minutes slower as you can see in my Personal Best list to the right. Some felt the course was overly technical, it was not! I would consider it legit trail running. A few sections were highly technical, but I point to several races I’ve done that are harder technically. Rothrock 30K in Pennsylvania is much, much more technical throughout. I love Rothrock. It is on the <a href="http://www.mountaincup.com/" target="_blank">La Sportiva Mountain Cup</a> again by the way, yeah! Back to Moab, the course just did not allow you to set a smooth rhythm in very many places. I know most fast guys don’t like that. With that, I finished ahead of Ryan Bak and Kalib Wilkerson, a good day for me. Again, the back was great. For about 2 months it was as good as it has been anytime in 10 years, maybe more. Running was just fun.<br />
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My mental state of mind with running was enthusiastic and just fired up. On the drive to Virginia for Hellgate 100K, I was talking with Alison about much I was looking forward to the race and enjoying running in general lately. Hellgate 100K starts at 12:01 am and a lot can change in a matter of hours. I was feeling fine and running well, comfortably. Things started to feel a little off around 2 hours in. At 2:37, a huge pack of chupacabra leapt from the woods and pulled me to my knees. I suggest you avoid the chupacabra. I turned around and barely made it back to aid station 3. By the time we were driving home while the leaders were still moving to the finish, I was ready to quit running entirely. What had happened to the guy from 12 hours earlier? Since then my back has just been a wreck. It’s not that my actual back really hurts all that bad this time. I’m getting absurd phantom pains and muscle spasms all over. They are rather sharp at times. These pains appear and disappear randomly in either leg and down my right arm. I can’t find any pattern of what brings these back issues on or how to make it go away. It just seems to be my burden. I can just assume there is some lesson for me to learn from it. Or lots of lessons maybe. This seems a better attitude than surrendering to frustration and resignation. Alison and I were talking today about our perseverance in running. Alison has been getting going again after another suspected stress fracture for herself. That word, perseverance, seems to best describe the lesson that our running and racing teaches us. Both of us agreed that we wouldn’t mind learning how to deal with success gracefully. That would be a fun lesson to learn… I think.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xfcWu9Hz4rM/UNfaQ6L9eVI/AAAAAAAAAPw/UOh_uVyLzOA/s1600/JB+eating+chili+in+award+after+race-close.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" eea="true" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xfcWu9Hz4rM/UNfaQ6L9eVI/AAAAAAAAAPw/UOh_uVyLzOA/s320/JB+eating+chili+in+award+after+race-close.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">How to use my Pilot Mtn. Challenge award post race,<br />
fill with chili.</td></tr>
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We did both run and win a local trail 5K, the Pilot Mountain Challenge this past Saturday. Unfortunately, it did not feel great, physically. Oh well. Life is good otherwise so I won’t complain too much. I have good friends and family. I think that I do fairly decent job of enjoying life. I have a great wife, we have fun together, and she laughs with my foolishness. Plus running has been exceptionally good to me. My back just isn’t the most kind to me or my running. So no need to shed any tears for me, especially not if you read what’s below which comes with my usual warning. If I tend to say too much for you, you should stop reading. Do read on if you share my warped sense of humor.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jyK-VZuHDBY/UNfbSOdq6pI/AAAAAAAAAP4/h2NCLCwhsSU/s1600/Alison+Rides+Turtle.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" eea="true" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jyK-VZuHDBY/UNfbSOdq6pI/AAAAAAAAAP4/h2NCLCwhsSU/s640/Alison+Rides+Turtle.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alison rides a turtle</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5dcVq0R-nSw/UNfii0vy5DI/AAAAAAAAAQ4/oAj8tRgHVaQ/s1600/USA+guys+-+Lauterbrunnen+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" eea="true" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5dcVq0R-nSw/UNfii0vy5DI/AAAAAAAAAQ4/oAj8tRgHVaQ/s640/USA+guys+-+Lauterbrunnen+1.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me, Zac, Galen, & Josh at Jungfrau Marathon</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<br />
Now for your bonus - Does anyone ever heed my warnings?<br />
<br />
Conversations taken out of context (though I’ll give some context so it doesn’t sound too absurd this time):<br />
<br />
I said, “I wouldn’t put my penis on it.”<br />
Alison replied, “I told you you wouldn’t want to put your penis on my radio.”<br />
Alison’s radio was quite hot, literally.<br />
<br />
From a conversation about 8 hours into our drive to Michigan for Christmas.<br />
<br />
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Mountain Goathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06461950075901993970noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-825770042039545511.post-56127255218010464062012-09-06T14:50:00.000-04:002012-09-06T14:50:11.916-04:00TransRockies Delayed Reaction and Getting Old with a Masters TitleBack by pouplar demand. Well not really, just Leon was missing me after only a week or so. Thanks for the love, Leon. My postings on TranRockies actually ended because of no wifi or even cell service for about 3 days. Then I wasn’t sure what to report, plus I’ve been really busy since returning home. TranRockies became more of a good training week and a chance to rediscover the place running holds in my life. One, running provides enjoyment. A large part of that is the social side of trail running. Trail runners are my people, they are messed up. I had a blast hanging out and a being my stupid self. One day, my friend, Jan, convinced me to try to pee on my goat beard, because that’s what real mountain goats do according to Jan. An hour later I was talking life and faith with Leon and his running partner, Sean. That’s me. Some would say something is wrong with me, those people would be right. I’m an odd mix of stupid and serious, or maybe I’m normal for trail runners.<br />
<br />
<br />
The other thing I confirmed at TransRockies is that I run to be competitive. I’ve struggled some with the grind of training and punishment of racing in the last couple of years. It was hard to not be racing at TransRockies. I wanted to go at it and mix it up with other men’s teams. I’m not ready to be an entirely social or easy going runner. My competitive fire hasn’t gone out yet. I’ll keep experimenting with the right balance of hard training and just running in the woods. Equally important is planning the appropriate number of A+ racing efforts. Racing takes so much out of me, mentally and especially physically.<br />
<br />
So with that, my last race was our own 10K Trail Championship that we put on here in NC. I’ve found it quit hard to race direct and race in the past 3 years. Pre-race, my focus and motivation fluctuated once again. I’d start to be focus on racing, but then be distracted by all the RD duties. Race morning was all RD and when someone asked about me about racing, I said, I’ll be on the line if I have everything done. I made it to the start line. Fortunately, in the first half mile I found my racing motivation and some focus. I had just turned 40 earlier in August so this was my first race as a master. I saw Chad Newton, as well as Todd Callaghan and Dave Dunham, early on and just lock on to them. No thinking. They were the masters that I expected to contend for the top masters spot. My back was a little out, probably from all the RD work, so I held back on the climbing through most of the race. Chad and I passed one another a couple of times in the first ¾ mile as it would roll or turn steeply down. Chad and Todd went by me on the first climb. I got back by them on the first trip into the technical singletrack section. Chad went back by me on first big climb of the singletrack. The battle was on. After the race, I counted that we traded places 21 times. I’ve never had a race experience like that before, a one on one battle. It was awesome. Chad and I both know each other. We knew each other’s strengths and weaknesses. We are able to acknowledge our own strengths and weakness. I knew Chad would not surrender. I think both of us knew no foolish surges or anything would work on the other. I hated that either of us had to lose. I would go by on the technical parts and steep downs. Chad just has more speed and in general was climbing better. I knew that I had to keep in close over the fast parts of the last half. Chad knew that he needed to get a lead.<br />
<br />
We turned into the final mile of singletrack with Chad holding about a 30 yard lead. It starts with a steep, technical switchback descent. I was able to catch and go by Chad here. He stuck right on me. As we approached a steep gully crossing, I just kept the hammer down and took leap off the rock at the top, dropping about 6’ down. I used the momentum to pop back up the 6’ embankment on the other side. I knew this would give me a little gap. Crazy is trail skill of mine. With the small gap, I started to attack all the little ups going across to the last climb. No need to worry about the back tightening up anymore. I was committed to running most the last ¼ mile 22% grade climb. It was a rewarding “win” of sorts, I was 6th overall, but 1st Master. Battling Chad made it a memorable race. After Chad, the next two guys overall were Todd and Dave.<br />
<br />
I am current in JFK airport headed to Switzerland for the World Long Distance Mountain Challenge at the Jungfrau Marathon. Even though it is not the best course for me, I am looking forward to racing and representing the US. The first 25K is relatively flat, then turns up for the last 17K. I’m looking forward to the test regardless of how it turns out. We should have a strong mens team as well as a strong womens team. Our mens team is Sage Canaday, Zac Freudenburg, Galen Burrell, Josh Ferenc, and myself. The womens team is Brandy Erholtz, Melody Fairchild, Kim Dobson, Gina Lucrezi, and Ashley Arnold. Hopefully I can get wifi to report on our results.<br />
<br />
Mountain Goathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06461950075901993970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-825770042039545511.post-40033130757944975792012-08-15T18:47:00.002-04:002012-08-15T18:47:43.887-04:00TransRockies - Day 2Actually not the most to say about stage 2. We started, we finished. It was a rough day. We dropped a lot of time on teams. It was a big climb and descent, the views were beautiful and expansive. I think it is mostly going to be a high mileage training week at altitude. Which I handled the 12,500 elevation with no problems. Hanging with the trail community from around the US and world is great. My computer battery is dying and it's almost supper time. I plan to carry a camera tomorrow so should have some photos to post. Until tomorrow, tell your friend lies about me and I'll do something that everyone thinks can't be true.Mountain Goathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06461950075901993970noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-825770042039545511.post-81283340218189079252012-08-14T22:56:00.000-04:002012-08-14T22:56:18.617-04:00TransRockies - Day 1This will be brief as I need to go to sleep. I thought today's stage went well for Scott and I. It was a little tough, I think mainly just from being hot and altitude. Altitude and/or the dry air seems to be messing with my breathing/mild asthma. I was little tight in the chest and had a nose bleed for a half-hour or so. I was interesting to see Scott's and mine differences. I think that I am a stronger climber, but that is my norm. Scott is faster, which is normal for me compared to most. We finished in 5th place today in the open team category in 2:45.02. The first team was 2:15.?? and as I knew those guys, I knew they were fast. But that was smoking. Max King smoked the 3 day individual category with 2:11.??. I felt fairly good afterward and really fine later in the day. We'll see how I feel tomorrow. It was great see so many people I know to some degree and meet a few new folks.<br />
<br />
Tomorrow is going to suck. I haven't looked over all the day's stages, just thinking one day at a time. I looked over stage 2 this evening. 2.6 mile climb around 20% up to 12,500 elevation, then 17% descent over 3.8 miles. Now just 5 rolling hot miles to the finish. It's going to be a suffering day, but with great views I'm sure. Yea, it's just going to suck, so I'm going to sleep.<br />
<br />
Maybe I'll find some wifi tomorrow to tell you just how bad.Mountain Goathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06461950075901993970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-825770042039545511.post-53643410623680181832012-08-13T11:33:00.000-04:002012-08-13T11:33:39.533-04:00Is this blog about TransRockies?I am out in Denver staying with a guy with an undiagnosed mental disorder. That is Chris Payton says that he hasn't been diagnosed with any mental disorders. Same thing I said right? Or basically the same. I think we just agreed that I use some unique wording sometimes. Today, Scott Williams and I head over to Buena Vista for the start of TransRockies 2012. Scott may be in for a long week as I am already well into random story telling mode. He actually said that he was warned about that. So I come with a warning now. In all truth, I probably should. So you've been warned.<br />
TransRockies will definitely be a new experience, racing 6 days in a row. Our plan is to take the first day under control and stay consistent over the 6 days. We'll see how that works out. I think I am much better mentally than two weeks ago. I've caught up with the moth hunting and de-stressed a bit with other things. I just turned 40 last week although this won't really count as me racing as a master. Scott and I are racing in the open category. Though Alison congratulated me on my first masters sex last week. It made me laugh. There has been no drop off in performance as yet. Hopefully, if you've read my blog before you know I like finding humor in life.<br />
Hopefully this week will be filled with plenty of humor, testing, learning, socializing, and running. I'll try to post everyday I can with my experiences and the days results. I should have time unless I get to talking too much. Thanks Chris for letting us stay with you and listening to my foolishness.Mountain Goathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06461950075901993970noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-825770042039545511.post-86938052853961884092012-07-29T17:37:00.002-04:002012-07-29T18:09:19.579-04:00Napping at Speedgoat 50KThis is not the post I wanted to write, but it is what's real. I have been meaning to write something about my life being overbook right now. I was taking flight anyway with passengers sitting in the aisle figuring my plane wouldn't crash. Well I wouldn't say my life flight crashed, but I hit some major turbulence that left some of my aisle passengers injured. Okay I'll try to make that make sense.<br />
I've had a lot going on lately. Let's see if I can get most things listed. My contract gypsy moth work is going on and I have a large area to work with various deadlines in August and mid-September. I'm have summer XC practice 2 nights a week for any interested, plus school starts Aug. 8th and I'm the head coach. I've been working to finish getting our rental property remodeled. Continental Divide Trail Race is coming up Aug. 25. I'm doing TransRockies in mid-August. I'm helping coordinate the US long distance mountain team and going there to race in early September. I'll basically stop there, but throw in Speedgoat 50K that was yesterday.<br />
I arrived at race morning dog tired, having missed a lot sleep in the last two weeks. Plus stressed about work, since I smashed my car a couple of weeks ago and have been fixing it. But I can deal with anything right? Wrong. Speedgoat was a monumental disaster. My overall exhaustion and stress are the best explanation I can come up with for yesterday. I may not have been in perfect fitness, but it was good. The race started well enough, other than forgetting to actually tie my shoes. I was climbing really well, descending was good. But the mental struggle started early and hard. I wasn't even feeling bad, I just didn't care that I was in a race. I kept myself moving, figuring I'd get through it. I was trying everything in my bag of mental tricks. Nothing worked. I even tried some new things. Coming into the aid station at 15.5 miles, I was around tenth mixed in with a really good group. I was just behind Nick Clark, right with Jason Schlarb, only 2-3 minutes behind Anton Krupicka among others. A top five was a possibility at that point. Being very competitive I hoped my competitive fire would kick in. I didn't feel bad physically it was just time to push into the second half which always gets uncomfortable for everyone. I just didn't care. All I could think was how much I wanted to lay down. I took a little extra time at the aid station and hoped I'd get remotivated on the climb. Climbing is my strength and I like it. It wasn't happening. I sat down. Then ran with guy for a bit. Then went over into the woods and laid down to take a nap. I took at least a 20 minute nap and did feel better, but was definitely out of the race. In running up to the next aid station to drop, I caught Jeremy Duncan. I told my sad story and that I was dropping. He talked me into continuing with him. He had a sprained ankle and was having a rough one. I felt like a crappy running partner. I was in a mad kind of funk. I did snap out for a bit on this really tough climb that went straight up the mountain off trail. That was the best part of the day. Jeremy got me looking around and appreciating the views and wildflowers. Found out we are both mildly colorblind. But my mind was still mostly in the crapper. At the end I bypassed the chute. I just didn't want to be an official finisher.<br />
One thing I really thought would keep me going, pushing through the struggle, was what would I tell friends, the kids that I coach. Not to sound bad, but I really don't care what anyone else thinks. It has played over and over since I decided I was done. All I can tell is the truth. I blew up mentally. As strong as I may think, or want, myself to be, I also possess as much weakness as any other person. Maybe more. Admitting this is tough, but it is what's real.<br />
My take home from Speedgoat is this: human connection is the real value in life. Therefore I am blessed beyond measure. The community of trail running is one thing I love most about my sport. Friends, both at the race and that have contacted me about how it went, have been so encouraging. We all face struggles. Those struggles are more easily handled with friend's support. Talking to Alison afterward was good. One of my high school kids, Megan, texted me about the race. She just gave more reassurance.<br />
So most important is where do I choose to go from here. I'll share what I wrote in 2008 after my first big ultra failure. Our failures define us just as much as our successes.Mountain Goathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06461950075901993970noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-825770042039545511.post-37191250412392251022012-07-27T23:41:00.000-04:002012-07-27T23:41:18.519-04:00La Sportiva announces their new mountain dancing shoes!Sorry I've disappeared for a while again. Maybe I'll get a blog up about that sometime. So about the dancing shoes, I'll get there, but a little lead in first. A couple of weeks ago, I did the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games track meet. The races are just run one after another, 100, mile, 440, 880, 220, and 2 mile. I was running the last five. I won the 880, mile, and two mile, but didn't get the overall prize as a sprinter took that title, winning the sprints and a field event. My toughest race of the day was actually the 220, maybe because I haven't run a flat out sprint in many years or trained for it. I had a hard race pulling ahead of a guy at the end, just enough to get 2nd. They had us as only .01 apart. I actually had that about to die feeling. I'm not talking literally dying, I'm talking about the dying as in falling apart running. In that last 50 yards or so my chest seemed to stop moving oxygen into my system. I was losing all feeling in my legs. I started to strain, but immediately remembered what I tell the high school sprinter that I coach. Relax, think about how to move your arms and legs, relax. It does work and was probably the difference in getting second. Didn't make it any easier, just faster, kind of the point right. My legs were wasted. I had also taken one of my high school athlete, Megan. She was pole vaulting and running 4 events. Which I really missed not being able to vault there myself because of the arm. Megan did well placing 2nd or 3rd in her events.<br />
<br />
So I mentioned going dancing to Megan and she was all up for it. We hadn't brought any clothes other than the running clothes and some work clothes. So we went by the local Goodwill. Megan got a dress, Alison got a skirt and top, and I got a shirt. All for less that $20. The dance was in an old barn and was a contra dance, similar to square dancing. I wore my La Sportivas for the dance. They provided great grip on the dance floor. I never felt any risk of slipping and falling. I'd give the La Sportiva dancing shoes an A+. It was a good weekend, too bad several of the other kids pulled out of going.<br />
<br />
I guess my next chance to use the La Sportiva dancing shoes is tomorrow. I'll be dancing down the mountains during the Speedgoat 50K. The men's race is loaded. I wasn't aware of hardly anyone coming until a couple of days ago, seriously. I got an email from a friend wishing me well that mentioned the competition. I generally don't spend much time looking at entry list, most of time I never look. If you're interested you can check out <a href="http://irunfar.com/">irunfar.com</a>. Thanks for the well wishes comment from anonymous.<br />
<br />
My random note for this post: I saw some copperheads mating, plus one watching, at Hebron Falls when I took Megan there the day before the track meet. She was freaked out, I tried to get some closeups on my phone's camera.Mountain Goathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06461950075901993970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-825770042039545511.post-57702591147452932132012-06-03T13:24:00.001-04:002012-06-03T13:53:48.403-04:00Last Stop Rothrock on my La Sportiva Mountain Cup Tour<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Friday night found me sleeping on the
air mattress in the back of Alison’s Vibe with some kind of bugs
eating at me. Alison doesn’t remember an bugs, but she kept
smacking or rubbing her face without ever waking up. The prelude to
our latest La Sportiva Mountain Cup race. I had commented on how I
hadn’t slept the best, but well enough. Alison said she had slept
well, what bugs was I talking about. I should have just put up the
tent, but it was raining when we arrived. So the car sounded easier.
I probably should have left the windows closed, but once I did that
about 11:30 to keep more bugs from getting in, I was hot. It must
have worked fairly well for me as I ran surprisingly well.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
About the race, I'd consider this course pretty technical. It leaves the stabilizing muscles of my lower legs a little sore afterwards. The trail is quite rocky, or only rocks in some places. There is a long boulder climb at about 13 miles. Lots of steep ups and downs. I really like the race, except for a few runnable, rolling sections. Alison would say that there are too many rocks, but some of the rolling sections are nice. I did my warmup run solo as I found no
one to run with me. The RD announced the race would start in 5
minutes, 3 minutes, 1 minute. I looked at Bryon Powell and
commented, “No Matt?” RothRock is in PA, so not an especially
long drive for Matt. Someone counted us down and we were off. I
actually led us out and up most of the first climb, which seemed
rather odd. Really I am seldom the one leading races out and the
past two years here I’ve been more like 10-15<sup> </sup>at the
start of the first climb about ½ mile in. No fast start today.
Near the top of the climb, Jacob Loverich passed, but I stayed close.
Jacob had won the race the previous two years. On the ridge, he
pulled away a little, but I caught him on the first steep and rocky
descent. Once we were on a more flat to rolling, non-technical
section that was the last I saw of Jacob. I saw one other guy when I
backtracked on the course to confirm that I’d gone the right way at
an intersection just after the first aid station. Probably an
overreaction to two weeks ago at Jemez. I had felt a bit flat and
dull early. I was also a bit flat mentally. I wondered often
whether I was running fast or not. One minute I’d think, “Yea
I’m moving.” The next, “I don’t think I’m moving well.”
Literally hours passed. I ran over technical rocky trails that is
Rothrock, streams in the trails created from heavy rain overnight,
puddles and muck in the low areas. Which my <a href="http://www.sportiva.com/products/footwear/mountain-running/crosslite-2.0" target="_blank">C-Lite 2.0s</a> were light, grippy, drained well, and provided great traction. Time just went by with my random
thoughts. I asked myself often how much am I racing?</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
At the bottom of a tough boulder climb
I heard Jacob was a little over 5 minutes up. I hadn't looked at any
splits from the previous two years. Was I running well? I hadn’t
even remembered my time from last year. At the last aid station I
was told Jacob wasn’t too far ahead. How far is not too far? Turns
out it was too far. I finished second. I was pretty sure I was
faster than last year. I knew I was closer to Jacob than either of
the previous two years. Ian looked up my time from last year on his
fancy phone. I was 3 minutes faster than last year. I was also only
3:31 behind Jacob. I am quite surprised by my day. The course was
sloppy, but is challenging even when dry. It's always hard to say how conditions affect a course. Jacob was a couple of minutes
slower than last year. For my races maybe I should blank out more often. I never
felt distressed or like I was forcing anything. After the race, I did call Matt to
check on him. Rothrock was just not his best choice at
that point. I was glad to hear nothing was really wrong for him.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Furthermore for myself, I had a
shockingly good run last Saturday out at Longbottom. I was absurdly
fast up and down the super steep Bluff Mountain trail, 16% average
for 2.8 miles one way. I was a couple seconds faster on the climb
run/hiking easy versus my previous best run steady. I was 2 minutes
faster for the descent without trying to run fast at all. I was just
blanking out again. I did another, more gentle climb up and down the
mountain for 16 total. I’m feeling pretty optimistic about Mt.
Washington in two weeks. Time to rest and get fresh legged. Plus
I’m feeling good about Speedgoat 50K in July. Maybe I should blank
out on those too, or not.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Disclaimer: No turtles were harmed in the running of this race, but a few humans were.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Results:</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Men -</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
1. Jacob Loverich 2:39.03</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
2. Jason Bryant 2:42.34</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
3. Stephen Hennigar 2:52.48</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Women - </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
1. Megan Kimmel 3:01.18</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
2. Ashley Moyer 3:19.54</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
3. Gina Lucrezi 3:2?</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
4. Alison Bryant 3:25.32<br />
<br />
Results courtesy of PA Runners at <a href="http://www.parunners.com/">www.parunners.com</a></div>Mountain Goathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06461950075901993970noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-825770042039545511.post-19550773089527120312012-05-30T09:44:00.002-04:002012-05-30T18:52:26.115-04:00The Legend Among the Turtles of Yates CreekA few days ago my work as a gypsy moth hunter took me back into some remote woods. It is a mountainous area with very limited access and just a few woods roads or atv trails. So a good bit of my day was spent traversing up and down the mountain ridges and hollows cross country style. Of course to make better time, I aim north, south, east, or west and just run through the woods. This day I was running down a hillside and I jumped over a log. As I cleared the log, there was a box turtle working up the mountain just where my foot was heading for landing. In that brief moment of danger for the turtle, I looked in his face, just before he jerked his head in to hope for the best. It seemed a shocked and fearful expression. I was able to readjust at the last moment and just barely missed landing right on top of the box turtle. With my high speed on this steep downhill I was suddenly gone from our brief encounter. Considering where I was, I imagine that box turtle had never seen a human before. I'm not sure what a box turtle would actually name me, human is our term. I imagine that turtle saying what the hell was that. He sees his friends and tells them how he was nearly crushed by this strange creature bounding speedily through the woods. They all laugh and tell him that he's confused or afraid of everything. He had probably jerked his head in so quickly that he had mistaken some deer or even bear for a strange bigfoot creature. The box turtle reaffirms to them that this was no deer or bear, he doesn't know what it was. But they had better be careful as they roam those woods. And that is how I became the Legend among the Turtle of Yates Creek.<br />
<br />
<br />
I must give credit for the Legend title to Cory since he came up with it on our run the other day as I told about my encounter. Other side notes, Alison said the snapping turtle that lives in our pond is Bob. I also drove on dirt roads for about 8 hours straight while working the last week. There was a Highway 90 I was on, a one lane dirt road.Mountain Goathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06461950075901993970noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-825770042039545511.post-32736050955006722352012-05-20T18:01:00.003-04:002012-05-20T20:09:55.660-04:00I got thrown off this Mountain Cup ride; Jemez Half Marathon<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Trp_j8eydG0/T7loLuXyahI/AAAAAAAAAPg/rWTErZ6Nxfk/s1600/Jemez+-+Driving.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Trp_j8eydG0/T7loLuXyahI/AAAAAAAAAPg/rWTErZ6Nxfk/s640/Jemez+-+Driving.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Driving through southern Colorado</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Trp_j8eydG0/T7loLuXyahI/AAAAAAAAAPg/rWTErZ6Nxfk/s1600/Jemez+-+Driving.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--ftzTUrFi-U/T7loEEpBy9I/AAAAAAAAAPQ/fr6zb0kHuZc/s1600/Jemez+-+Rio+Grande+Canyon.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--ftzTUrFi-U/T7loEEpBy9I/AAAAAAAAAPQ/fr6zb0kHuZc/s320/Jemez+-+Rio+Grande+Canyon.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rio Grande Gorge</td></tr>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Trp_j8eydG0/T7loLuXyahI/AAAAAAAAAPg/rWTErZ6Nxfk/s1600/Jemez+-+Driving.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"></span>For being overall tired from working like a manic lately, Jemez Half-Marathon was going fairly well. The top three guys had gone out fast and left me on the section over to the climb up the mountain. Once on the climb, it looked like I was gaining on all three. As I neared the top, I could see that Ryan Woods was pretty close. I tried to throw myself forward and let gravity yank me down the mountain. A few minutes after starting the descent I caught Ryan and passed him. I could tell he was having a rough one and told him to hang in there. But I was glad to have the opportunity to beat him and get one of the pottery prizes. Then I got thrown of the Jemez ride. I missed a turn as I bombed down the mountain. Since there had been few marking on many sections, I didn’t realize that I was off course until I was probably a mile down the mountain in the wrong direction. I knew my race was screwed and decided I was not interested in a climb back up the mountain. I just kept going down until I found a guy loading some post on his truck and caught a ride. I won’t pretend that I just took an “oh well” attitude. I was a bit pissed at the situation. Sorry, I’m not the “it’s a beautiful day to be lost on the trails” kind of guy. To sound like that wouldn’t be an accurate portrayal of myself. I like being out on trails, but I travel to races to compete at whatever level I’m capable of, not to roam around off course. I don't want to pretend I some super nice, love everything type of guy. Some things stink, get over it, and move on. Gina Lucrezi stayed on the same fireroad and realized it at the same place I did. She also went from racing in 3<sup>rd</sup> to out for a run in New Mexico. Alison actually missed the same turn, but fortunately a guy was close enough behind her and noticed the turn. I thought Ryan was pretty cool as he told me that I had beaten him today. He knows I’m competitive. He knows as well as I do that I don’t get a chance to beat those top guys unless they are having an off day. I told Ryan that I did not beat him. Ryan said I did, but it just wouldn’t be in the results. I just thought that was kind of Ryan to encourage and support me when he was having a rough day himself.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nAuliUIwGeA/T7ln3t1c7TI/AAAAAAAAAPA/EZymMzRKC6E/s1600/Jemez+-+JB,+Jason+Taylor,+Nate.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nAuliUIwGeA/T7ln3t1c7TI/AAAAAAAAAPA/EZymMzRKC6E/s400/Jemez+-+JB,+Jason+Taylor,+Nate.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me, Jason Taylor, Nate Bosey</td></tr>
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So enough with that, here are the salvaging parts of my weekend. I got to visit with Nate Bosey and some of his friends. I meet Nate in 2007 when I went to Albuquerque to run the La Luz trail race. I found Nate on MySpace (does MySpace still exist?) and that he was a local guy running La Luz. I contacted him to see if I could camp in his backyard. He agreed and I slept in a playhouse in Nate’s backyard before La Luz. I've since learned there's always some random place to camp, no need for planning. Nate and I have stayed in touch some and I had met one of his friends, Jason Taylor, at a race in Taos a couple of years ago. Another friend of theirs, David, was with them and was running the Half. Nate ran the 50K which was his 2<sup>nd</sup> ultra. Jason ran the 50 Mile and finished 2<sup>nd</sup>, less than 2 minutes out of first. It was cool to visit with Nate and Jason again, plus be around to see them finish their races. Another friend Jeremy Duncan was also running the 50 Mile and finished 3<sup>rd</sup>. Jason Schlarb won the 50K with a new course record and I got hear what is going on with him some afterwards. Yea, races are definitely a somewhat social thing for me. In fact it's get hard to have time to see everyone when I travel to these races.<br />
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I was glad for Alison to run well, finishing 2<sup>nd</sup> for the women in the Half. We flew into Denver and drove down so we got to see a different part of Colorado. We always seem to enjoy traveling together, she's still laughing at my stupidity. Maybe I’ll keep her around for now. Speaking of stupidity, on the drive back to Denver we saw the La Sportiva van at a gas station. I got Alison to stop so I could show Ian my glutes as he came out of the store. For some reason he said that he didn’t need to see that. I thought the team manager was supposed help the athletes in <b>any</b> way. I just wanted to see if Ian might know what was causing my glute pain. Anyway, his reaction really cracked Alison up. Finally, we stopped by Manitou Springs to visit with Peter and Nora that evening after the race. It sounds like they’re popular people who get a lot of visitors. In some ways, I wish we lived somewhere that friends, runners, or people in general had reason to travel to. But if any of you friends or temporary strangers have reason to be in northwest NC, you’ve got an open invite to stay with us as long as you’re willing to feed the chipmunk.</div>
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Jemez Half Marathon:</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Y3NWDdm_AFs/T7ln_PEUWJI/AAAAAAAAAPI/ProID9TNW3w/s1600/Jemez+-+Free+Hugs.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Y3NWDdm_AFs/T7ln_PEUWJI/AAAAAAAAAPI/ProID9TNW3w/s320/Jemez+-+Free+Hugs.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;">We'll give free hugs if you stay with us as well.</span></td></tr>
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Men</div>
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1. Rob Krar 1:32:?? Course Record</div>
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2. Chris H.</div>
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3. Ryan Woods</div>
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Women</div>
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1. Megan Kimmel</div>
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2. Alison Bryant</div>
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3. Petra McDowell</div>
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4. Christina Bauer</div>
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Jemez 50K</div>
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1. Jason Schlarb - Course Record</div>
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Nate Bosey</div>
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Jemez 50 Mile:</div>
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1. </div>
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2. Jason Taylor</div>
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3. Jeremy Duncan</div>Mountain Goathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06461950075901993970noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-825770042039545511.post-20333014342233084232012-05-18T23:53:00.001-04:002012-05-23T18:39:54.602-04:00Random Thoughts<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">I wrote most of this two days ago, but my car was suddenly ready so I was back to work. I figured that I'd better get it posted or it'd never happen. So there may be some typos that Alison can correct tomorrow or sometime or never. I'll try to post a Jemez race report tomorrow evening or Sunday.</span><br />
<br />
Where to begin? I’ve had several ideas for blogs, but no time to write a blog up. That problem was solved today as my car began to die repeatedly on me while out working. I made it to a dealership who had openings to check it out and then fix it. So I was left with about 4 hours to kill; write up a blog for La Sportiva that I’ve been meaning to get to, do a run I wasn’t sure I’d get in today, do some emails I’ve been putting off, and now write this.<br />
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So I’ll rewind to a few random thoughts from several weeks ago. I was out working over the weekend, meaning I was working until dark, running, sleeping in the car, and up to work again the next day. As darkness fell that Saturday, I found myself hanging a trap at large golf course in the Greensboro area. A great place for a night run in the rain without a headlamp. I cruised along the golf course, drifting around, wondering if I’d be able to find my way back to the car within the distance I had planned on running. I began to think about the last time I was at that golf course. That was with the previous girlfriend before Alison. We were playing golf with her parents. She was crazy, like bad crazy. She had liked the stories of my foolishness and adventures when we were first getting to know one another. But that soon became “time for me to act more mature.” I believe she was confused about who she was talking to. The final straw as they say was when we got into an argument over what I wore to a wedding rehearsal for a friend of mine. It wasn’t overly outrageous, but a little loud. I was just having some fun; my friends there appreciated it. This girlfriend said I was seeking attention. I argued that what difference did it make to her, she wasn’t even there. She said that it made her look bad for dating a psycho like me. The tie from that evening is the same tie that I wore to my and Alison’s wedding. I roamed the course thinking how good Alison is for me. She rolls with my foolishness and still sees the humor. It just fun to do things together and laugh. Alison said early on in our dating, "I like dorks." Some people point out that she was calling me a dork. I point out to them that that was and is accurate. I like that she saw who I was, not who she could make me into. Plus Alison isn’t too concerned with what everyone else thinks might be wrong with her for being married to crazy, goat bearded Jason.<br />
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Then I thought about the previous time I was at this golf course. It was when cross country nationals were there. Adam Goucher won. I was there with Coach Mitchell and Amiean who ran at the high school. I helped Amiean procure a souvenir later in the day. Something I seem to be good at. The best memory from that day was while we were roaming the course between races. We walked by a guy and after we passed, I looked at Coach and said, “That’s Billy Mills.” I'm not even sure how I knew that it was Mr. Mills as I had only seen photos from his running days. I had read about Billy Mills in high school and seen a movie about him. Billy Mills is the only American to win the 10,000 at the Olympics, in 1964. In high school I had decided to be 10,000 runner and try to make the Olympics in the event. Oh well, just another failure from my delusional mind. I had to go speak to Mr. Mills. He was friendly and kept trying to introduce me to his author friend, Nicholas Sparks. I was not interested as I was talking with Billy Mills. As a young person there was only two athletes that I thought would be neat to meet someday, Billy Mills and Terry Bradshaw. That was a fun day. Though Terry Bradshaw was not there and I haven't met him.<br />
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Throughout my running on this evening, I had never checked my pace on my garmin. I was just roaming the golf course in the rain and thinking. When I looked at the end, I had been fairly quick. It was nice to just drift away on a run, unconcerned with how I was running. I found a puddle to bath in post-run, then a place to park and sleep in the back of the car.<br />
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As for my recent racing, I’ve run a few local races. I did a local 5K to work on my speed. The 5K mainly showed that I needed to work on my speed as I only ran 17.37. Most fitness was back from my break in the winter, but not all of it. I was second in the 5K as a fast guy from Texas who was in town for work and a co-worker told him about the race. The next weekend, I ran a friend's crazy trail race at Stone Mountain Park near home called the Drool Deer. I finally got my second win of the year. The following Thursday, I did the Critter Crawl 5K at Grandfather Mountain, as I was doing some work in the area. It started at MacRae Meadow and ran through the animal area on the way up Grandfather Mountain. I felt pretty good climbing on the both the more gradual sections and the steep sections. When I finished in 21.30, I assumed the course was short. But I spoke with someone who said it was wheeled and was actually closer to 3.2 miles. That would have put my average pace around 6.45. I was a little surprised, though I’d recently had a really good mountain workout at Pilot Mountain. Next I did the Shelton Vineyard Running of the Vines 10K. The race finishes 2.8 miles from my house. Most of the course is my 10 mile night time loop. I went hoping to run it at the fast end of my tempo pace, 5.45 pace. I was pretty steady around that pace, getting just a little under through 4 miles. Then there is a fairly big 1+ mile climb. I lost a little time there finishing in 35.52 with a 5.46 average pace. Plus I got another win to make it three in a row. The 10K time was actually a PR as I’ve never done a flat out 10K when fit or focused on a 10K. My previous 10K PR was on a trail course from 2009.<br />
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Now it is back to the more competitive races. Up this weekend is Jemez ½ Marathon in New Mexico. It is the sixth race on the La Sportiva Mountain Cup.<br />
<br />Mountain Goathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06461950075901993970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-825770042039545511.post-42604174927475566712012-04-08T23:40:00.002-04:002012-04-08T23:44:22.470-04:00Latest Stop on my La Sportiva Mountain Cup Merry-Go-Round: Hells Hills<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';font-size:130%;">How to prepare for a fast race: Number one, pick your parents well. Secure yourself some good genetics for speed, or not. Then blah, blah; other stuff like train hard, train smart, eat well, sleep, blah, blah. Skip to the week before the race, do masonry work laying rock around the foundation of a house most of the week. Since I had gotten a good report from my doctor on the broken arm two weeks ago, he upped my left arm carrying capacity to 20 lbs. So I laid rock this week leading up the race. A task I was supposed to do this past November. Staying bent over or kneeling constantly while working a trowel and holding somewhat heavy rocks will leave you perfectly refresh. Better yet, take 5 months off any real manual labor, then lay rock like you never missed a beat. You are probably getting the idea. I was so busy trying to get the job done that running just didn’t happen. I decided to call it a hard taper. In all truth, I actually enjoyed doing some real manual work again. I worked the skin off my fingers in places on my now wimpy, soft hands. My abs were sore, my back was sore, my arms were sore, and my hands were not only sore, but the right hand was swollen from returning to real work. Again, this actually felt good to be sore from tough physical work. Maybe that’s a genetic gift I got, or it was pounded into me throughout my childhood. I’m sure some of you understand. Plus it was nice to step back and see something accomplished. Oh yea, several of my personal bests or best races have come after a week of hard physical work. So I did go into Hells Hills feeling pretty good about my race potential. One other prerace preparation, a 6 mile run <b>inside</b> the Atlanta airport. I ran down by the “plane train” for the various concourses. Yea, I got a few looks and comments, but not too many. I thought it was a good use of a long layover and a chance to add to my list of unique run locations.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';font-size:130%;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';font-size:130%;">I did miss out a very important detail of my prerace preparation, that whole genetics thing. Unfortunately, I didn’t get much true endurance speed from my parents. And yes, I understand speed is all relative, but relatively I am not fast. Yet I did end up leading the race early on for about a mile. Ryan and Jared were at the front laying down a very pedestrian pace. I moved by them, giving them a hard time about the slow pace. I commented that I don’t do tactical. Tactical generally doesn’t work for me, unless you consider an even, steady pace tactical. Ryan, Jared, Rob Krar, and Chris McWatters settled right in behind me and joked about waiting for a final sprint finish. That'd probably be more enjoyable, right up to point were a whole train of folks fly by me in that last mile. Maybe I do have a tactic, wear guys out and don't slow down. Some mile PRs were tossed about. These guys are lowish 4 minutes, at least 4:10-20. I commented that my 4:55 PR speed would not fare well in that race. Soon Ryan’s GPS watch beeped, somehow that seemed to be the signal for Jared to start the race. So by me he went, then Ryan, then Rob. Later I found out that Jared pushed the pace for a couple of miles, then backed off and those three were together through about 10 miles. Around 3 miles I broke away from Chris a little, learning after the race that he tweaked a groin muscle a bit. So I spent most of the race alone chasing ghosts. As I passed 50K runners, I kept hearing the group was a couple of minutes up or a few hundred yards. Piecing things together afterwards, I think I was staying relatively close through 10 miles. At this point the winding, up and down, trail course changed to an open access road. The three began their race in earnest and my ghosts disappeared. Ryan said his GPS watch reported some 5:20 miles here. Again my genetic shortcomings, as that is my 5K PR pace. I won’t ever be running that pace 10 miles into a race, unless I’m falling off a cliff. Yet in that case, I could actually go faster than that since objects fall at roughly 10 meters/second or something under 3 minute pace. Your science lesson for the day, but I digress. Those three stayed fairly close with Ryan breaking away once back on the tight, twisting trails for last 1.5 miles.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';font-size:130%;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';font-size:130%;">It was a rather enjoyable Mountain Cup weekend again. This was a 25K personal best, so I guess hard work just before a race still works for me. I feel pretty good about my race performance. I’d consider the course a fast one for the most part. The main thing to slow it down was all the twists and turns of the trail with some sharp up and down dips. I had chosen this La Sportiva Mountain Cup race mainly because of friends in this part of Texas to visit. Plus RDs Joe and Joyce Prusaitis are good friends and put on a great event. Also this race fit into my schedule. It was a good race for Alison as she won the women’s race, passing Christina Bauer at about 11 miles. I believe Christina was sick and another competitive woman slept through the start of the race in her car a hundred yards or so from the start line. But I thought it was a good showing for Alison since she had just started back after her most recent winter stress fracture. As I say, just get on the starting line and you never know what might happen. That has never been more true than in the Mountain Cup as examples of points altering insanity include sickness, overcome with sleep, wrong turns, missed flights, moose attacks, trails blocked by closed signage, lost shoes, car trouble, missing aid stations, an overabundance of rocks, poor tactics, genetic shortcomings, old age. Maybe that’s a whole different blog. I think I’ve taken a crack at everyone with that list, I'll let you guess who's associated with each.</span></p><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Q3lbmkDJncg/T4JYCocnOhI/AAAAAAAAAO4/7jEeFinmqyE/s320/IMG_2958.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729238478209104402" style="float: right; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px; " /><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';font-size:130%;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';font-size:130%;">My next few races should start shift toward my genetic abilities; tough, suffering, delusions? Matt Byrne described me as a “mutter.” Is that a compliment? Another friend once described me as a grinder. I like either. But my mom has found my blog now, so she may take offense to your comment Matt. See you at RothRock, Matt, and let the trash talk begin.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; min-height: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';font-size:130%;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';font-size:130%;">Top Men:</span></p><div><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';font-size:130%;">1. Ryan Woods<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "> </span>1:35.22</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';font-size:130%;">2. Jared Scott<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "> </span>1:35.42</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';font-size:130%;">3. Rob Krar<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "> </span>1: 35.53</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';font-size:130%;">4. Jason Bryant<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "> </span>1:43.31</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';font-size:130%;">5. Chris McWatters<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "> </span>1:46.39</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';font-size:130%;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';font-size:130%;">Women:</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';font-size:130%;">1. Alison Bryant<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "> </span>2:02.16</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';font-size:130%;">2. Christina Bauer<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "> </span>2:08.45</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';font-size:130%;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';font-size:130%;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';font-size:130%;">This is after my run in the airport. If I get some other photos from someone, I'll add them later. I tend to socialize too much and forget to take photos at the races.</span></p></div>Mountain Goathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06461950075901993970noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-825770042039545511.post-25481381582647271072012-03-04T00:38:00.015-05:002012-03-05T22:36:38.715-05:00God Has a Plan for Me, It's 3rd<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9myhDQl4QEY/T1RFWdAkSRI/AAAAAAAAAOs/9Q47Bogb0VE/s1600/Nueces%2BRiver.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9myhDQl4QEY/T1RFWdAkSRI/AAAAAAAAAOs/9Q47Bogb0VE/s320/Nueces%2BRiver.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5716270079086446866" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PLOOPLC1mik/T1REpzNKCkI/AAAAAAAAAOg/FAJt8YMYCiY/s1600/Nueces%2B-%2BMichael%2B50K.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"></a>Nueces 50 Mile was today and was the USA 50 Trail Championship. It was my first focus race of the year and my first ultra of the year. As for my results, the blog title says it all, I was third. That is my 8th third place finish at a USA ultra or trail championship. It’s not that third is my favorite place. It’s just seems to be the place likes me. No real complaints, but I’d be lying if I didn’t confess that I’m trying or that I want to win. More training, get healthier to see if there is any faster in me. Or maybe see about adding a fist fight portion to these races?<br /><br /><div>The site of Nueces 50 Mile is at Camp Eagle along the Nueces River. It is a beautiful site and rocky challenging course. On the drive out you pass several hunting preserves with several boasting exotic game. That just left Alison looking for the exotic animal, but mostly saying those are just regular old cows, or horses, or deer, or turkey. We did see a few unique game species, plus a herd of goats. But they were regular old goats, no mountain goats. The rockiness of the course is one that wears your legs down from all the unstable running. It is a three loop course with four sections between aid stations. So roughly 5 miles to aid 1, 4 miles to aid 2, 5 miles to aid 3, and 2+ miles to complete the loop.<br /><div><div><div><div><div><div><br />As for my race today, it went fairly well. Dave James was here. Which leads to a funny Jason story right away. Dave and I have become friends over the past year and I hadn’t seen him in a while. So when I saw him on the starting line, I gave him a hug. After the race Dave said that he <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gaTy1lj63mc/T1MB13F3rGI/AAAAAAAAANw/XUqzLrECfwg/s1600/Nueces%2BGroup%2BEarly.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5715914376896556130" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gaTy1lj63mc/T1MB13F3rGI/AAAAAAAAANw/XUqzLrECfwg/s320/Nueces%2BGroup%2BEarly.JPG" /></a>has gotten handshakes and fist bumps on the starting line, but never a hug. He joked that the hug was the reason he took off and left us at the start. Maybe that could be my thing, hugging competitors on the starting line? Anyway, since Dave was off into the darkness on his own, that left a sizeable group of us together through the first two aid stations. It was me leading with Jordan McDougal, Paul Terranova, Dan Vega, and Steven Moore following, plus some others early on. After that second aid station 9 miles in, Jordan sped up. I was comfortable with my pace, so let him go. I basically always focus on running my pace and don’t ever try to cover anybody’s moves. The rest of us stayed together through the first loop of 16.67 miles. I was rather comfortable and glad to do that loop in 2:10.</div><div><br />The second loop had me leading again with Dan and Paul right with me as Steven took some extra time at the Pavillion. As we hit the biggest climb for each loop which comes about 10 miles in, I kept a running pace as Paul and Dan needed to walk. At the next aid, I had also closed on Dave and Jordan. But then I lost ground on the more runable last section of each loop. My time for that loop was 2:11. I was glad to be close to the time of the first loop and had </div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SEORQgyxTEE/T1MCL-ZVLvI/AAAAAAAAAN8/SD7vS-R5FFw/s1600/Nueces%2BResting.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5715914756814352114" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SEORQgyxTEE/T1MCL-ZVLvI/AAAAAAAAAN8/SD7vS-R5FFw/s320/Nueces%2BResting.JPG" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; width: 320px; float: right; height: 240px; cursor: pointer; " /></a><div> hoped for something close on the last loop. Unfortunately, I all too quickly found myself deep in the pain cave. The right quad that had been aching during that second loop was settling into a deeper ache. I had come in concerned really only about my right calf. Of course it didn’t hurt at all, but the left calf had developed a significant ache in that second loop as well. Now in the third loop, the calf pain became harsh. Not to mention, I felt overall dead legged, plus the heat was getting to me. It was that ultra game of just keep moving, breaking the remaining distance into smaller manageable pieces. I gained only a little on Dave through the first 9 miles of this loop and lost time on Jordan.<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Qov3P-XLEGY/T1MBBwFPB0I/AAAAAAAAANg/hmdrFPVyQ8o/s1600/Nueces%2BResting.JPG"></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Qov3P-XLEGY/T1MBBwFPB0I/AAAAAAAAANg/hmdrFPVyQ8o/s1600/Nueces%2BResting.JPG"></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Qov3P-XLEGY/T1MBBwFPB0I/AAAAAAAAANg/hmdrFPVyQ8o/s1600/Nueces%2BResting.JPG"></a> Again on this next section with the significant climb at 10 miles, I found that as bad as I felt, I could still run up the<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Qov3P-XLEGY/T1MBBwFPB0I/AAAAAAAAANg/hmdrFPVyQ8o/s1600/Nueces%2BResting.JPG"></a> climbs. I did feel good about that mentally. Over this section, I had cut Dave’s lead to 4 minutes which had been as much as 11, plus shaved a couple of minutes of Jordan’s lead. But the last 2+ mile section, wouldn’t help me catch Dave and would see <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rn7f5pv9XGo/T1MDNG9hV_I/AAAAAAAAAOI/FtufOHqIhsE/s1600/Nueces%2BFryar-Suszek.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5715915875805124594" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rn7f5pv9XGo/T1MDNG9hV_I/AAAAAAAAAOI/FtufOHqIhsE/s320/Nueces%2BFryar-Suszek.JPG" /></a>Jordan gain those minutes back. My last loop was a 2:26 high, which I consider basically dying to slow that much. My time was 3+ minutes faster than last year. Considering the broken arm and still missing fitness from that ordeal, I’m satisfied with my results.<br /><br />Of course I got to hang out with some Texas running friends, plus make some new ones. The race directors Joe and Joyce are great folks to visit with and put on a great event. It was another fun trip and social gathering for me. So on to a few more days of suffering and strained walking.</div><br />Shoes: Skylite 2.0 were very nimble on the rocky course.</div><div>Nutrition: Honey Stinger Gels and Chews, plus Clif Shot Bloks</div><div><br /></div><div>Top Few Nueces Results 2012</div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PLOOPLC1mik/T1REpzNKCkI/AAAAAAAAAOg/FAJt8YMYCiY/s320/Nueces%2B-%2BMichael%2B50K.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5716269311950719554" style="float: right; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000ee;"><br /></span><div>Men:<br />1. Jordan McDougal - 6:30.47<br />2. Dave James - 6:43.48<br />3. Jason Bryant - 6:47.53<br />4. Paul Terranova - 7:06.05<br />5. Dan Vega (1st Master) - 7:13.14<br />6. Steven Moore (2nd Master) - 7:17.05<br /><br />Women:<br />1. Michele Suszek - 7:25.41 CR<br />2. Melanie Fryar - 7:45.28<br />3. Lorena Devlyn - 9:54.50</div></div></div></div></div></div>Mountain Goathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06461950075901993970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-825770042039545511.post-89366108379057807892012-02-27T00:19:00.009-05:002012-02-29T01:15:29.650-05:00La Sportiva Mountain Cup: Ugly Mudder<span class="Apple-style-span"><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GLxluCzuwc4/T0263oJoVTI/AAAAAAAAAME/eMC0cOH9SEI/s320/Ugly%2BMudder%2BStart.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5714428967036409138" style="float: right; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 245px; " />I tricked Ryan Woods into driving up to PA together for Ugly Mudder this weekend. That way </span>I'd have someone to talk to on the long drive up and a back. Ryan and I have gotten together for several runs over the last couple of years, but this was our first road trip. On the drive up, we talk mostly about running, but as I do, I eventually drifted off into my story telling.Which had Ryan saying a couple of times, “I didn't know that about you.” Which tells me he obviously doesn't read my blog, at least the non-running parts. Anyway this made us realize that we've basically always talked running when we get together. The 14 hour up and back road trip, plus hotel stay, was much the same, mostly running with a few Jason stories. So on to the running.<div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 134px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-R1rNTWzhEi0/T027fyzZEHI/AAAAAAAAAMQ/9Ou49F7LhNc/s200/022612_ugly_mudder_maria_dalzot.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5714429657090691186" /><p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Ugly Mudder is the third stop on the Mountain Cup train and is a burner of sorts at just 7 miles. Fast is not really my forte, but I'm willing to put my head on the chopping block. Mine grows back like a lizards tail. Warming up, I saw Matt Byrne, then Gina Lucrezi, then Maria Dalzot with her coach Tad. There were a few Rosemont Running Club guys who come to my 10km Championships in NC. This trail racing thing is beginning to become a gathering of friends no matter where I travel. I like that. And as usually I met a few new folks here.</p> </span><div><br /></div>We had about 600 meters on a road at the start, then we turned up a trail and were on trail almost exclusively the rest of the way. The course was technical rocky, turns, mud. No long climbs but steep leg burners and quick rocky descents. My Highgear watch had</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-McgrGXgRLnA/T03CANQYbBI/AAAAAAAAANM/aFUtS7kTiOw/s200/022612_ugly_mudder_ryan_woods.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5714436811017186322" style="float: right; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px; " /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"> the total climbing at 1500'. By a mile I'd settled into 5<sup>th</sup> with a couple of guys right behind me. Around 2 miles we hit a big climb and I could see all but Woods spread up the hill. I could see 3rd and 4th were coming back a little. Then we began a longer descent with 4<sup>th</sup> staying in sight mostlyand 3<sup>rd</sup> just coming into view periodically. Near the bottom I lost sight of the other two guysand started to go off course, but the guy just behind hollered his off course warning. I'd just lost about 50 yards. As we came out to some open straights the other two guys didn't come back into sight. I was surprised as I had been closing on them some.<span class="Apple-style-span"><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AGYdth79uxk/T029bSREXjI/AAAAAAAAANA/iuVTJvp3syM/s200/Ugly%2BMudder%2Bjb.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5714431778660572722" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 194px; " /> Could they have taken off that much? Could they have </span>missed the same turn I had? I caught the guy who'd gotten in front me while I detoured and passed back in front of him. The last twenty minutes I tried to mount a little charge, but no one came into sight even on some very long straightaways. I finished and asked what place am I? Third. I'll take it with Ryan and Matt in the race. I was glad slip into this short Mountain Cup race and slip away with a third. My training has been ultra focused lately as well. Nueces 50 Mile next weekend.<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Ryan and I did quick cooldown, drive to hotel, shower, drive back to race and time to socialize. It was good to hang with Matt a little and his friend Patrick. I got to catch up some with Gina and Maria. Tell some lies to Ian. A good, quick road trip race. So am I running the Mountain Cup just to fill my social calendar?</p><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-u5AgHSTlTJc/T028pgmeEDI/AAAAAAAAAMo/Rukgty0dfmc/s200/022612_ugly_mudder_matt_byrne.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5714430923514974258" style="float: right; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px; " /><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; "><br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; ">The results I know:Guys -<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span></p><div> 1<sup>st</sup> Ryan Woods – 47?<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in">2<sup>nd</sup> Matt Byrne – 47?<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in">3<sup>rd</sup> Jason Bryant – 52?</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AfHKJtp0VLI/T028p8KlvKI/AAAAAAAAAM0/WGKKt0PNyC4/s200/022612_ugly_mudder_gina_lucrezi.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5714430930914229410" style="float: right; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 112px; height: 200px; " /></span></p><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></div><p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Ladies, plus Tad -</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in">1<sup>st</sup> Maria Dalzot (Her coach Tad finish before her)</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in">2<sup>nd</sup> Gina Lucrezi</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I'll try to get pics at the next race. That way I can showoff my goat beard I'm working on. It was Alison's idea... sort of... by accident. But don't give me any ideas, I'm very prone to suggestion.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Thanks to Janice Ellis and Perry Ligon for the pics.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in"><br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Other running news for those of you who are lost and found my blog:</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in">My good friend Mark Lundblad crushed (my words, not his) the Fastest Known Time for the <a href="http://foothillstrailultrarunning.blogspot.com/">Foothills Trail</a> along the NC/SC border this weekend. <b>14:26:18</b></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I really just wanted to post that on my blog just so I can be associated with Mark. I'd consider that a honored association.</p></div></span></div></div>Mountain Goathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06461950075901993970noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-825770042039545511.post-46350974489980921992012-02-13T21:01:00.007-05:002012-02-13T21:22:36.351-05:00A Trail of Regression?<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kOhTkoKg9z4/TznFD00Je-I/AAAAAAAAALs/EQ54kf7AbVg/s1600/Hanging%2BRock%2B-%2BMoore%2527s%2BWall%2BLoop-Climbing.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kOhTkoKg9z4/TznFD00Je-I/AAAAAAAAALs/EQ54kf7AbVg/s320/Hanging%2BRock%2B-%2BMoore%2527s%2BWall%2BLoop-Climbing.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5708810672176462818" /></a><div><p style="margin-bottom: 0in">For most of my life I have felt stuck at the age of 17, roughly. Before I was teenager, I often acted far more mature than my age, yet with a mix of childlike enthusiasm, optimism, and naivety. Once I passed the actual age of 17, I was still mature, maybe, but also still mixed with enthusiasm, optimism, and naivety. In my 30s I seemed to have begun to age and lose some of those qualities. I am probably more like a 23 year old just out of college. In recent years, I've found myself thinking a little too much. Especially things like: can I jump across those rocks? should I climb that? What is my point? This weekend I may have regressed a bit, thankfully. I had almost a perfect day Saturday. I won't bore you with the details of the entire day, just the most significant, my regression.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in">After pacing one of my high school girls to big personal best in a 5k that morning, I got back into my “Wild Specialist” truck and headed to the mountains for a run. A quick detour on the way turned into my unexpected regression. I stopped at Rob and Stacey's house to drop some things off for Stacey. Stacey and I talked a bit which is always good, but... As I was really preparing to head off for my mountain run, their kids, Harper and Isaac, asked me to come down into the woods to see the fort they were building. Fortunately, I had learned long ago to not hastily overlook the invitations of kids just to get on with our overly important tasks. They had already gone down as I finished talking to Stacey. I could tell they were surprised that I showed up as I had told them I'd come down before I left. They had piled sticks and hunks of bark around an old fallen tree. There was a wind flag up as the 20 mph winds kept it flapping. An old tire found in the woods was hang overhead in a tree along with a piece of concrete tile. Isaac had hidden light sabers in notches along the old stump. It was quite the fort. I began helping gather sticks and adding them to the fort. I helped pack leaves in between the sticks to insulate, then adding more sticks. We worked out a piece of the stump and dug out more to increase the room inside. Isaac wanted to show me an old airplane he had found in the woods. As he showed me the pieces and described how they would have fit together, he said it probably wasn't a real airplane. I said that didn't matter, it's good to see more than what is actually there sometimes.</p></div> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in">We returned to the house briefly and I went to my truck to add a hat and gloves. Stacey had sent her kids out to play in the woods in 30 degree weather with a howling wind. Sounds like good parenting to me. I had also gotten an old blanket with a couple of mouse chewed holes which worked perfectly to hang it as the door. We each took a turn inside, it's a one person fort, and talked of more building ideas. I had probably been fort building for an hour, an hour and a half. I don't know as I never looked at my watch. Finally, Stacey came down to inspect the fort additions and announce it was time for lunch. Stacey asked if I wanted a sandwich too. Of course my answer was yes. Somewhere in here I must have totally forgotten my age, as I asked Stacey if I could have some hot chocolate too. Soon after eating Rob returned and asked Stacey if she had fed the kids. Then looked at me, but asked her, “All of them?” I told Rob, “I consider that a compliment.” I'm glad I have friends who appreciate a 39 year old playing with their kids in the woods. All three of us turn 40 this year, at least in human time.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in"><br /></p><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LECC5mjotvA/TznDTu4velI/AAAAAAAAALg/24LJ9kYo6so/s400/Harper%2527s%2Bjoyful%2Bjump.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5708808746439768658" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " />I soon left and ran the 6 miles through Stone Mountain Park to the top of the mountain where it was 20s and 30 mph winds with a little snow. Then the 6 mile tumble back down. It was a great day. That is one of the things I love about trail running. The opportunity to still play as an adult. Jumping rocks, logs, and stumps, then sometimes jump on and off them as well. Splashing through cold creeks, sliding through snow. Playing a game of king of the mountain, only 6 mile style. I hope the trails continue to keep me young of mind and body for many more years. In the woods, I told Harper, who is 10, “Don't ever grow up too much, so you no longer build forts in the woods.” She gave me a strange face that said what a silly comment. Which if you know Harper, you know which face I'm talking of. Then still with that bewildered look, she said, “I won't.” <p style="margin-bottom: 0in">As I told Alison later, “Sometimes I forget that I'm not 39.” My tendency to misspeak things was probably more accurate than if I'd said it right.</p>Mountain Goathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06461950075901993970noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-825770042039545511.post-26677593297532072692012-02-09T08:11:00.005-05:002012-02-09T08:29:06.033-05:00His Hands<p align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in"><span style="font-size: 16pt;font-size:130%;">His Hands</span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in"><br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in"></p><span><span></span></span><span><span>she told him</span></span><div><span><span>not to hide his hands</span></span></div><div><span><span>but a life of work</span></span></div><div><span><span>had left their marks</span></span></div><div><span><span>so she said his hands</span></span></div><div><span><span>were tough</span></span></div><div><span><span>hardened</span></span></div><div><span><span>hands that knew</span></span></div><div><span><span>work</span></span></div><div><span><span>hands that knew</span></span></div><div><span><span>her skin</span></span></div><div><span><span>deftly<br /><br /></span></span></div><div><span><span>she said his hands</span></span></div><div><span><span>were gentle though</span></span></div><div><span><span>leaving her comfortable</span></span></div><div><span><span>an uncommon softness</span></span></div><div><span><span>to cover the tough</span></span></div><div><span><span>so she’d surrender</span></span></div><div><span><span>to the naked after</span></span></div><div><span><span>as she felt his hands<br /><br /></span></span></div><div><span><span>and she’d notice</span></span></div><div><span><span>the remnants left</span></span></div><div><span><span>beneath the nails</span></span></div><div><span><span>she said she didn’t mind</span></span></div><div><span><span>hands get dirty sometimes</span></span></div><div><span><span>his hands weren’t afraid</span></span></div><div><span><span>so she’d lay still</span></span></div><div><span><span>squeezing time<br /><br /></span></span></div><div><span><span>she felt his hands</span></span></div><div><span><span>she said too much</span></span></div><div><span><span>she couldn’t stop</span></span></div><div><span><span>so she said his hands</span></span></div><div><span><span>were strong</span></span></div><div><span><span>yielding a safeness</span></span></div><div><span><span>his hands could hold</span></span></div><div><span><span>so she left herself bare</span></span></div><div><span><span>and she left words unsaid</span></span></div><div><span><span>his hands knew</span></span></div><div><span><span>and she’d lay awhile</span></span></div><div><span><span>lingering<br /><br /></span></span></div><div><span><span>she said </span></span>this wasn’t</div><div>like her</div><div><span><span>she said </span></span>she’d miss</div><div>his hands</div><div><div><span><span></span></span><div><div><div><p style="margin-bottom: 0in"></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in"><br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in">It's been awhile since I posted a poem so here one is. I'll leave it without explanation. Sadly, my hands are growing soft from the lack of manual labor. I do look forward to really working again and toughening my hands.</p></div></div></div></div></div>Mountain Goathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06461950075901993970noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-825770042039545511.post-81639942254840040732012-02-04T18:57:00.005-05:002012-02-04T19:06:42.849-05:00First Stop on the La Sportiva Mountain Cup, Uwharrie Mountain Run: Chasing Ghost<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Today's race at Uwharrie Mountain Run went fairly well. I started out as I normally do, aiming for a steady pace. I quickly settled into 6<sup>th</sup> place with Scott Williams. Scott said he considers himself an even pace type of runner as well, so we were a good fit. He and I would end up running almost the entire race together, all but about 2 miles at about 1:36. I turn my balky right ankle again here and told Scott to go by. I'd be limp running for a bit. Scott was nearly out of sight before I got back to running and it took a while more before I was back to really running. It took about 2 miles to finally catch back up. It was nice to be running with Scott and to talk a bit. Those that know me, know I'm somewhat social.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in">By the the first road crossing at 16 minutes the other 5 guys were out of sight. About 45 minutes in, Tom Clifford came back into sight. He had run a 1:08 half-marathon 3 three weeks ago and came to the start with a bit of a cold. Tom ended up dropping at 8 miles. This race was more of the same for me, basically. That same being just pushing and believing someone will come back into sight. I call it “chasing a ghost.” Unlike road racing where you can typically see a long way, trail races can leave you wondering where your competitors are. I'm not good at going out fast and hanging on. So I figure on running the fastest I can and that'll beat whoever it beats. Around 17 miles, Duncan Hoge came into sight and our patient ”ghost chasing” was paying off. Then around 18, David Roche came into sight. He had led most of the race, but had gotten off course for a while. Somewhere around here I had the conversation with Scott about needing to race for the position for the Mountain Cup. I said that I was all good with any move he made. I didn't want to run with him for over 2 hours and then throw my own surprise move in the last mile. Scott said he was really training through for the Mt. Mitchell Challenge and he wasn't making any moves. Girls in high school never threw any moves on me either. I was glad of no moves this time, I'm married anyway. Which Alison won the women's race, promising to throw some moves on me. I hope that will be a good thing.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in">It was a good start to Mountain Cup season. Plus, it was nice to race again after the long layoff. Here's the guys top 5.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in">1<sup>st</sup> Ryan Woods</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in">2<sup>nd</sup> Patrick Reaves</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in">3<sup>rd</sup> Jason Bryant</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in">4<sup>th</sup> Scott Williams</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in">5<sup>th</sup> David Roche</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Mike Mason won the 40 Mile race with Jonathan Allen getting 2nd.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in"><br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in">By the way, typing with a contraption strapped to your arm is a little difficult. I started using a bone stimulator this week. I wear it for 3 hours a day for at least the next two months. Plus continuing the hour + in a twisting contraption. I'd recommend not breaking your arm. And if you do, most definitely don't do it quite so significantly as I did.</p>Mountain Goathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06461950075901993970noreply@blogger.com0