Off Trail with a Turtle

I’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.


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.

But I got better. (Say with a strong British accent for full effect.)

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.

Young Mountain Goat among the hills of  Wales

The Ups and Downs of Spain

Hola.  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.


2600+' of vertical in 4K, and snow.  Like 3' at the top.
Pretty sweet photo by Ruben Fueyo, Thanks!



Zinca is 3rd from left, Raul is to my right.

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. 

Sunday was a 31K mountain race, Carrera Alto Sil.  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 Facebook page as there are more photos and links to photos.



The Wall - At 4K

Running up to mountain hut in Spainish Pyrenees

Some ruins under peak up the mountain behind our lodging



Oswaldo climbing behind ruins




 

Oswaldo, Stephan, and JB



Hopping around Spain

La Sportiva Mountain Cup

The 2012 La Sportiva Mountain Cup gets rolling this weekend at the Uwharrie Mountain Run. The Mountain Cup race is the 20 mile distance. I'm looking forward to racing again. I haven't really raced since October. I did a mostly uphill 5K in December, just my 3^rd run after 6 weeks off. You can guess how well that went. But the race was up my mountain, Pilot Mountain, so I wanted to take part. My only other “sort of race” was the NC Snowshoe Championship on January 7^th. There was no snow and no snowshoes, but a great 10K trail race. Though it only had 4 people in it. Alison and I accounted for half the people in the race. So anyway, I'm itching to race.

Uwharrie is nearly 100% trail which I like. Personally, I would not consider it a difficult trail. The main thing that slows it down is the constant twists and turns. I consider the footing as medium technical. No significant climbs or descents, just lots of short, somewhat steep, ups and downs. For me, it's a speed race. At least it is 20 miles and not a 8K or something.

One of the best things about the Mountain Cup for me is the friends, the ones I see regularly, the ones I get to see sporadically, and the new ones. It's a good time playing in the woods with friends. Added in the new places to see, great areas to run in and it only gets better. I like revisiting some favorite races as well. Still, the people in the trail running community are the best. And I like messing with Woodsy.

So Saturday should be fun regardless of the outcome, though I'm looking for something good. It's Mountain Cup time and game on.

Training Note:

On Tuesday, there was great rejoicing among all the clans within my head. I went back to Pilot Mountain for my run up the road workout, 2.25 miles @ ~10%. My climbing skills have been off badly since March of '10 when my back went haywire. Since then every attempt at this workout has been wretched. This was finally back to normal, plus there was very little pain in my ass. My glutes had been failing all together or felt like a knife was in my ass, especially when climbing. Hopefully, the good feeling in my ass will last for a while.

Reports of my Beheading were Somewhat Exagerated

One Man's Pass - Ireland

It's been a while since my last post. Oh well? I've written some stuff, but never got it posted. I'll

give a quick update for anyone who still checks or stumbles across my blog. The first half of the year was good running and racing. I raced in Slovenia in June at the World Long Distance Mountain Challenge. It was a beautiful place and a purely awesome race, as in brutally difficult. The race was 23.3 miles and was my slowest average pace in any race ever, ultra or not. (I did a write up for La Sportiva on the race.) In July, Alison and I traveled to Ireland for the IAU World Trail Championships. We got in some nice runs in the northern part of Ireland in the days before the race. Then the race was another brutal one, just as I like it. Still my average pace was faster than Slovenia even though the Ireland race was 44 miles. (Again here's the full write up for La Sportiva, if you're bored.) My back started going bad through July and I limped in on the

La Sportiva Mountain Cup. I hung on for 4th in the Cup, but in a sad looking way. Then began the DNFs. UROC 100K in a Virginia was supposed to be the focus race for the fall, but the bad back made me the first DNF of the day, I think. I still had a good time watching the race and cheering friends. I then went to North Face Atlanta 50 Mile a few weeks later for another DNF. I fully expected this one, though I lied to myself in the weeks leading up to it. I had already entered. Alison was running, so we were going regardless. So I figured I'd just as well to start, plus a good friend, Ryan Woods, was running. I went out easy, but that had no positive effects on my back. I regrouped, did some small, short distance, more local races at the end of October. Then broke my left forearm pretty bad on Nov. 2. I'll post a photo at the bottom of this post. DO NOT SCROLL DOWN IF DON'T LIKE TO LOOK AT TRAIN WRECK LIKE STUFF. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!

My doctor just said it was okay to start running again after 6 weeks off. So I ran Thursday and Friday. Then raced this morning at a 5K at Pilot Mountain State Park. It was an uphill trail race. I was second. Maybe good motivation to get my fitness back on track. My up coming races on the schedule are a snowshoe race at Beech Mtn. in January, Uwharrie 20 mile in February, and Nueces 50 Mile in March. Probably not much in between. Nueces will be my main goal, hope to run fast and see what happens.

Other updates, I got the head coach position for XC and Track at Surry Central HS this summer. I felt really good about our Continental Divide Trail Race. It was very competitive for the men and I think went well overall. I did a lot of gypsy moth hunting this year, over more really tough terrain. I did have a guy pull a revolver on me. That was the first time I've ever really felt in danger of being shot. The guy was mentally unstable. One minute I didn't see any gun, then the next he's holding one in his hand and waving it around. Another day I almost laid down on a rattlesnake. That's gypsy moth hunting.

Hopefully I'll become a regular at posting on my blog. We shall see.

DON'T GO FURTHER DOWN UNLESS YOU WANT TO SEE A HOLE IN MY ARM.

My somewhat broken arm

The Highs and Lows of the Past Month or So of Running

In typing up my running milage from the past several weeks, it was fairly frustrating to look back at my messed up training. My training log, which is a Curious George calendar and has been for quite a number of years, had as much info on what hurt as what I had been doing running. But it was also good to see all the notes of "good run", "fun run". Those were all runs that I had done with friends. Almost every time that we run together, Cory says that it is almost like not running. I have to agree. I did a 3 hour and 45 minute run with Mark Lundblad at the end of May. It felt more like an hour. My back felt good that day, or maybe I was enjoying Mark's company too much to notice the back. Then Mt. Washington was a disaster, but a fun weekend. I ran with a friend, Shiloh, on Friday before the race and warming up before the race. Then we lamented our poor performances after the race. Shiloh is a fun guy to hang out and run with. Alison and I stayed with a couple in their 70s, Richard and Joann Fedion. They are a blast. I could write a whole blog on them, but I don't think it would do justice unless you know them. Also at Mt. Washington, I got to visit and talk with several other running friends. Several of us went to dinner together that evening after the race. The mountain running scene is a great group of people. An added bonus is that Jacqueline Gareau, Boston Marathon winner 1980, was assigned to ride down with us. Alison and I ended up hanging out with her on Friday evening, then Saturday before and after the race. Maybe I could say we're friends with Jacqueline Gareau. The people and friends I interact with around running are a big high, so much so that the lows don't seem as bad. I admire the CMS crowd as I read Dave Dunham's blog and blogs of some other CMS guys. Sounds like they have a lot of fun.

Anyway, on with a quick recap of my actual running and racing. At Rock2Rock, my back and right glute were feeling better. I climbed well as I hit the top very close to last years split, but I didn't have the legs to descend. But third was still helpful for my Mountain Cup standings. By RothRock Challenge I was feeling a good bit better physically. Michael Selig was there and I knew that I basically had to beat him to have any hopes of top 3 in the Mountain Cup. The course was tougher than I expected, which I didn't mind. The first climb came early and was steep. I was close to Matt Byrne on most of the climb, but had decided to take it a little easier early in the race. So he pulled away a little at the top of the climb. I expected the race to take close to 3 hours and I wanted to be running well in the last hour, not just the first. Reaching the first descent I knew this should be a good course for me. It was steep and overly technical, super rocky. I closed on Matt on this descent. Then there were several rolling miles, some technical, some very runnable. So not being a guy with speed, Selig caught me. We went back and forth for several miles, me pulling away on the climbs, Selig overtaking me on the descents. The 3 miles leading up to the aid at 12.8 were gentle rolling and very runnable. Selig went by early and I thought of trying to hang on to him. That thought was brief as I knew I'd be straining to match his speed. I thought, "Just be Jason and run your own race. That will be sufficient or it won't, but that's how you'll run best." I knew Selig was building a significant lead. During this part, I was really thinking that my Mountain Cup year was over. I thought of just running in, obviously I was struggling mentally. I prayed some as normal and the thought hit me that just running in was not very glorifying. I had to give my best and let the results be whatever they were.

The final descent into the aid at 12.8 was crazy, kind of scooting down on you butt stuff. The climb out from there was crazier. It was just a long boulder climb. I was told that I was 1.30 behind Selig and 3.00 back of Matt and the other guy. I could hardly imagine that I was making time on anyone here, but I kept telling myself that I good at this stuff. Sure enough I made up like 1.15 on Selig in about 1 1/2 miles. The next 1 1/2 miles Selig pulled away a little again down to the last aid station. From there it was a 5K to the finish with about a 9% 1 mile climb, then a mostly down and runnable 2 miles. I didn't think my chances of beating Selig were good with the down finish. I was climbing quite well and caught him near the top of the climb. As soon as I passed him, I looked up to see Matt Byrne. I went by and kept the hammer down on the final part of the climb. Then I knew the last 2 miles were not my thing, but more my thing after a couple hours harsh climbs and descents. I just kept scream inside to run crazy, reckless. Surprisingly, I held onto second and kept my Mountain Cup chances alive. I did that last ~5K in just over 19 minutes. I ran straight thru the finish, out a pier, and into the lake. I had been thinking about the lake since the middle of the race. I left RothRock feeling good about where I was at.

Now for the lows. My body didn't seem to leave RothRock in as good a condition as my mind. The next two weeks didn't go so well. My back was getting progressively achier. By Mt. Washington I was quite unsure what to expect, but got myself believing in the possiblity of a good race on the drive up. You have to believe. I didn't start as well as I'd have liked, but kept believing until just past mile 2. I felt the right side of my low back tremble, that is never good. I had slowed 1 minute in mile 3 off what I'd have expected. My back just got tighter and I got slower. It was downright laughable by mile 5. It was the 50th Mt. Washington and I wanted to finish. Glorifying to God? I don't know, but maybe. It was all my body had that day. Maybe I need to clearly see my frailty some days. I can live with it. I did run from the bottom to the top. So a running high or low?

The back is still exerting its control on my running. When it's okay, I can run good workouts. Some better than last year at this time or ever, some tempo I've done since 1989. When it's really unhappy, I just take the day off. I'm fit, just not so healthy. I'm seeing two chiroprators, one is Ryan Woods the Mountain Cup leader at this point. I've got a massage or two, plus some self massage. Icing. Bought a sleep number mattress. It'll come around at some point. So that's my running story and I'm sticking to it.

An Odd Running Talent, An Odd Basis for Faith

Alison and I are driving up to Mt. Washington Road Race. Mt. Washington is my type of running. After 200 yards the rest is all up, 7.5 miles at 11.5%. Alison and some close friends are probably the only people who really understand the oddity of my mountain running. I started running the first week of December 1988 in high school. I got serious fairly quickly and won the small school NC Cross Country State Meet the following November, running 16.37. That is still my 5K personal best. I struggled with plantar fascitis for the next 10 years. After my quick cross country success, I felt there was a good runner lying dormant inside throughout those years. I ran, but never more than 25-30 miles a week. I finally got the fascitis resolved and returned to training seriously for about the last 10 years. Through my early 30s I basically just proved I was not as talented as I believed I myself to be. Yet, I remained delusional, I could be good if I could just find what was limiting me. I did run 16.46 for 5K this past fall, so maybe I'll improve my PR someday, but I doubt I'll ever break 16. My half-marathon personal best is 1:18.10, marathon is 2:43.42. Times that say I'm okay, not nothing great.



Then I discovered running uphill. In my early 30s, I ran Pilot Mountain at home periodically just for fun. I knew my times up it were relatively good, but I was only running a bit faster than 8 minute pace. I didn't know that was good for ~10% grade. Then I met Alison and we started running together. She wanted to know why I was running the hills so hard. My response: I am taking a break on the hills, running easy. I did a local NC hillclimb at 4% and did rather well. I was racing with guys I was never close to in regular road races. Looking on the internet, Mt. Washington looked seriously steep, plus it was the Mountain National Championship. The logical step, right. So June 17, 2006 I woke up a decent local road runner. Then I ran Mt. Washington and I was a mountain runner. At Mt. Washington, and other uphill races, I can race with much more broadly talented runners than me, i.e. generally faster. For example, that first Mt. Washington I was racing with a former US Mountain team member who had 14.20s 5K on his resume. I had discovered my running talent, an odd talent, but I'll acknowledge a natural running talent. I hadn't really done anything to develop my uphill running talent. It was just laying there undiscovered. Looking back, it was there from the start as I had always hammered people on the hills. Good for cross country.



Why I run up mountains so well is hard to put a finger on. My best guess is that I have some biomechanical difference that can't be obviously seen. When I discovered this talent, I couldn't help but think what if? What if I had the same natural ability of some that guys I race and my uphill ability? I'd be seriously good. Maybe. I would now say that is foolish talk and worthless. I'll take the talent that I have, develop it, and make the most of it. What ifs are dead end roads. Since there are a limited number of uphill races and many off road. I discovered that was good as well. The rougher, more technical the terrain is, the better I do. Longer races, ultra races are better for me. Repeated climbs in races are good. The bounds of my running talent seems to have expanded, maybe. My running talent: Not slowing down. I just seem to not slow at the same rate whenever there is something that causes running pace to be lost. An odd talent. It is still most dramatic climbing mountains.



So how does this relate to my faith in God? My faith in God has been a struggle since high school. I tend to believe what I see. I like being able understand things, prove the basis of things. God does not lend himself too well to that. God is a something you can't quite put your finger on. There is no proving God exists, just seeing the evidence of God. (There is also no proving God does not exist, or any other possible origins of life.) Running has always been a somewhat personal connection to God for me. But my uphill running talent made God make more sense to me. I believed there was a running talent inside me even in the years it would have been impossible to prove. Even after discovering my talent, it is hard to define or explain. I am still nothing especially fast for anything flat and easy. (Side note: Sometimes I wish my talent wasn't doing hard stuff. It means I get to hurt/suffer a lot. But "ifs" are still dead end roads.) If I could believe in my running ability, I can believe in God. My running experiences has made a passage from Hebrews 12, thus faith in God, make more sense for me. "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Faith or belief is often required to take the steps to see the evidence of something.

So Mt. Washington stands before me again tomorrow. To be honest, I'm a bit unsure of how it'll go. I like to predict my time at races. A little hard this time, since the last two months training has been all over the place. I finally settled on 1:05.30. Two months ago, I would have said a good bit faster. Two days ago, I would have hoped at least sub 1:10. Whatever it is, I'll run hard. In fact, I pray often that I glorify God with my running. Not sure what that exactly means, actually. I don't pray that just for races. I say that prayer on workout days that no one sees, long runs, slow easy runs in the woods. I hope my running is a thing of beauty. To be honest, when I picture myself running, it is to me. I had a thought yesterday that I want to place well for myself. I think that's okay, but I still come back to back to glorifying God regardless of place. I'll just plan on making the most of the opportunity to turn uphill once more.